Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

His insight was incredibly sharp; he could discern much about Shimura Gengetsu's background simply by using two ninjutsu techniques.

Generally speaking, ninjutsu clashes are essentially a contest of chakra and nature transformation.

Judging from the scale of the ninjutsu, Shimura Gengetsu did not use much chakra. The two ninjutsu combined were only slightly more than the Great Fireball Jutsu. However, the fact that he was able to defeat the Great Fireball Jutsu in one fell swoop and almost destroy Uchiha Fugaku's Earth Release: Earth Wall was due to the power of the nature transformation, which made the quality of the ninjutsu extremely high.

What pleased Hiruzen Sarutobi even more was Gengetsu Shimura's fighting style.

Combination ninjutsu, isn't that his forte?

He has no bloodline limit, nor has he mastered any secret techniques of Yin and Yang attributes. All he has are the nature transformations of the five attributes trained to the extreme, and a dazzling array of combination escape techniques.

If the occasion hadn't been so inappropriate, Hiruzen Sarutobi would probably have slammed his fist on the table and stood up, shouting, "This kid is like me!"

Once his love for talent took hold, it was unstoppable. Hiruzen Sarutobi finally revealed his true purpose: "Danzo, Gengetsu is a promising talent. If you can't handle him, why not let me train him? I guarantee he will become a pillar of the village."

"You're dreaming!" Shimura Danzo's face changed drastically, and he slammed his hand on the table, the loud noise of which could be heard even outside the door.

“Xuan Yue is my grandson, and I will naturally plan everything for him. You don’t need to pretend to care!”

They're all old turtles in their fifties or sixties, how could Shimura Danzo not understand Sarutobi Hiruzen's style?

This guy is so good at brainwashing people. If he manages to brainwash Xuan Yue into talking about the Will of Fire and only talking about the flying leaves of Konoha, he'll be devastated.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked displeased. What do you mean by hypocrisy? He genuinely cherishes talent, you know.

"Danzo, your nature is too dark. You can't ruin such a promising talent as Gengetsu with your methods."

“He is still a child and needs to receive proper guidance. Stay by my side and I will teach Xuan Yue how to become an excellent ninja.”

"You're talking nonsense!" Danzo cursed angrily.

"An excellent ninja? Your three disciples are involved in gambling, prostitution, and drugs, and two of them even ran away. How can I trust you to teach Xuan Yue?"

"And you call me dark?" Danzo looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

“The Root ninjas are just tools, but Gengetsu is the one who will master those tools in the future. What makes you think I would teach him using Root’s methods?”

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned bright red.

Lies don't hurt, truth is the knife.

The fact that his three disciples had ended up in this state was his greatest pain, and Danzo had precisely broken through his defenses.

The following words thoroughly humiliated his intelligence.

In the past, he had always used his intelligence to suppress Danzo, but today the tables have turned.

"You really won't hand Xuan Yue over to me?"

"Hiruzen, I am Xuan Yue's grandfather!"

"Danzo, you will regret it!"

"boom!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stormed out of the building, slamming the door shut behind him. He was almost out of the Hokage Building when he realized something was wrong and quickly jumped back in, pushing the door open again.

"Danzo! This is my office. You're the one who should be leaving!"

Danzo was practically laughing his head off inside. Usually, it was him slamming the door, but today it was finally that old bastard Hiruzen who did it.

However, he appeared calm and collected on the surface, displaying the shrewdness and composure befitting a root leader.

If he laughed now, Hiruzen Sarutobi would probably be really worried; Danzo is very good at striking the right balance.

"You don't need to worry about Xuan Yue's future."

Danzo left after saying just one sentence.

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a deep sigh.

He truly envied Danzo for having such a good grandson, unlike himself. Shinnosuke had been married for several years but still hadn't started a relationship, spending all his time on missions with his wife, and his youngest son was a complete bachelor.

No.

"Shinnosuke!" Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his voice slightly, and soon, an Anbu member wearing a dog-face mask entered the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him and commanded in an unquestionable tone:

"You're on leave from now on. Go back and work hard with Keiko. Don't come back to the Anbu until you give me a grandson!"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke: "???"

Chapter 18 Shisui's Evaluation of Shimura Gengetsu

Inside a single ward at Konoha Hospital.

Uchiha Itachi had already woken up.

He wasn't seriously injured to begin with, except that his fist was fractured by Shimura Gengetsu.

The reason I fainted was because my body couldn't withstand the huge boost in mental power that came with opening my eyes, so it acted as a self-protective mechanism.

He woke up after resting for a while.

Uchiha Shisui has also arrived.

Yesterday, Uchiha Shisui also heard the news that the two were going to have a showdown, but suddenly an urgent mission came, so he had to rush over quickly and then return as fast as possible.

It was too late. They chased him all the way to Konoha Hospital and saw Itachi Uchiha lying in bed.

When Itachi Uchiha woke up, he met two pairs of concerned eyes looking at him.

"Father, Brother Zhishui..."

"Itachi, you're awake."

Uchiha Shisui smiled and said, "Even though you rushed, you were still a step too late. I heard it was a very exciting battle. Don't be discouraged. It's normal for you to lose to Gengetsu-kun. With hard work in the future, you will definitely catch up with him."

“That’s right, a temporary win or loss isn’t important, and you’ve even awakened the Sharingan, which is definitely an unexpected bonus.” Fugaku Uchiha chimed in, his face full of pride.

Itachi awakened his Sharingan at the age of seven, which was extremely rare during the period of the Five Great States after the end of the Warring States period. The last one to do so was Shisui. If you calculate the exact date, Itachi was actually half a year younger than Shisui at that time.

As expected of Fugaku Uchiha.

Despite hearing their words of comfort, Itachi Uchiha remained listless and showed little reaction.

Fugaku Uchiha thought for a moment, said a few words, and then left the ward.

Although his son usually behaved very well, Fugaku Uchiha knew that he also possessed the pride of the Uchiha clan and would definitely feel bad if he lost to a non-Uchiha of the same age.

His staying here won't do any good. It would be better to let Shisui, who is about the same age, persuade him; maybe that will have an effect.

Inside the ward, only Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi remained. The atmosphere had indeed improved somewhat, at least Uchiha Itachi had spoken.

"Brother Shisui, did you teach Shimura Gengetsu his throwing techniques and Body Flicker Technique?"

Uchiha Shisui was taken aback, not expecting Itachi to ask this, but he still nodded.

"Yes."

Uchiha Itachi's expression brightened, and he sat up from the bed. "You're his teacher, so how big do you think the gap is between us?"

Zhi Shui smiled bitterly, did not answer, and simply shook his head.

Uchiha Itachi was extremely unwilling to give up, "I've already awakened my Sharingan, do I still have no chance of winning?"

After awakening his eyes, his mental strength increased dramatically. Chakra is a mixture of mental and physical energy, so his chakra also made great progress.

Uchiha Itachi even wanted to challenge Shimura Gengetsu again now, but why did Shisui still think he couldn't win?

"Itachi, the Sharingan is not a panacea."

Looking at Itachi's stubborn eyes, Shisui earnestly advised, "You have only just awakened your Sharingan and have not yet mastered any usage techniques. Moreover, the Sharingan with one tomoe doesn't have much of an effect; it only enhances observation. Even without the Sharingan, Gengetsu-kun still possesses powerful dynamic vision."

"You have no chance of winning."

"Is Shimura Gengetsu really that strong?" Uchiha Itachi didn't believe it.

He went to the battlefield with his father when he was four years old and even killed ninjas from other countries with his own hands.

What about Shimura Gengetsu?

He was just a spoiled young master with a bad reputation in the village, often eating and drinking for free at certain shops.

Yeah, and it's free.

“Itachi, Gengetsu-kun is much more terrifying than you think. I have nothing left to teach him.”

Uchiha Shisui said something that shocked Uchiha Itachi.

"How can this be?"

Uchiha Shisui was his most admired older brother, even surpassing his father. He was proficient in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, and his Sharingan was the strongest three-tomoe Sharingan.

Is he not qualified to be Shimura Gengetsu's teacher?

Who else in the entire village is qualified? The Hokage?

“It’s not that Xuan Yue-jun’s strength has surpassed mine,” Uchiha Shisui explained, “but rather his talent and learning speed.”

"There are some things I can make an exception to tell you, but you can't tell anyone else, not even Chief Fugaku."

Uchiha Shisui's expression turned serious, and Uchiha Itachi nodded earnestly.

"Don't worry, Brother Zhishui, I won't tell anyone else."