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

Danzo encouraged him, "Although you are not the youngest Chunin, the situation is very different now than it was back then. You have the opportunity to become the youngest Jonin in the village. Keep up the good work."

The youngest Jonin in Konoha's history is Kakashi, who became a Jonin at the age of twelve. However, given Shimura Gengetsu's talent and background, there is a high probability that he will surpass him.

Gengetsu Shimura was examining the Konoha headband, wondering where he should hang it. His forehead wasn't wide, so he didn't need to put it on his head and affect his appearance. Just then, the system gave him a timely notification.

[The host establishes a bond with Konoha Village, obtains a position (Genin), and gains a special status: Backed by a Great Tree.]

[Effect: While within the Land of Fire, training speed increases by 20%, and chakra recovery speed increases by 20%. The effect increases with rank.]

[Congratulations, host, on becoming a Konoha genin and achieving the first stage of 'Mom Loves You'. Would you like to claim your reward? (Note: Rewards will be available for 24 hours.)]

"I will not accept it for now."

Xuan Yue silently replied in his heart, then looked up at Danzo and laughed, "Old man, what's so great about being the youngest Jonin? If you're going to be someone, be the youngest Hokage."

He wasn't particularly interested in the 'organization' at first. As the true crown prince of Konoha, even Jonin wouldn't dare to put on airs in front of him, lest they attract Danzo's attention.

However, upon receiving a system notification, Shimura Gengetsu immediately changed his mind.

No one in this world can be trusted; only one's own strength is real.

"Good!" Danzo's one eye lit up. "You have ambition. You are worthy of being my grandson. The position of Hokage should have been given to our Shimura family. Don't worry, Grandpa will pave the way for you to become Hokage as soon as possible."

Danzo calculated that he could still serve for another twenty years. By then, Gengetsu would be under thirty, at his peak, making him the perfect candidate to become Hokage.

Then Xuan Yue also has a son and grandson, who, if properly raised...

In the future, the Hokage might just be able to pass down the lineage like the Daimyo!

The thought of that scene filled Shimura Danzo with a burning desire; he couldn't wait to bring Hiruzen Sarutobi down from his horse right now.

But that's just wishful thinking. Right now, the most important thing is to make arrangements for Shimura Gengetsu's future.

Danzo composed himself and said in a deep voice, "Now that you have become a genin, according to Konoha's tradition, you need to be assigned a jonin to lead the team and two teammates."

"However, your situation and Itachi's are special. You two are the only ones who graduated early; the teams for the current graduates have already been arranged..."

"I won't team up with Uchiha Itachi." Shimura Gengetsu immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Just kidding, that's a jinx.

In the original storyline, Itachi Uchiha awakened his Sharingan a year later than he is now, and the price he paid for it was the death of his teammates, which traumatized him.

Shimura Gengetsu wasn't lacking confidence in his own strength, nor was he afraid of becoming the one sacrificed to the heavens.

It's because Itachi Uchiha is now being targeted by Kenji, and even the awakening of his Sharingan was orchestrated by Kenji.

In the vast ninja world, there are very few people he can't afford to offend now, besides the Kage.

Xian Er is the most dangerous among them, so it's better for him to play it safe and develop his strength.

“Then we won’t team up with him.” Danzo nodded slightly. “We’ll leave Itachi Uchiha to Hiruzen to worry about. You can go to Root for training for a while. I’ll arrange the instructors and teammates for you.”

“Okay.” Xuan Yue nodded and agreed, which would be a good opportunity to farm the rewards from the Root group.

.......

After agreeing on the follow-up arrangements, Shimura Gengetsu and Danzo had dinner before making up an excuse to return to their rooms to collect their rewards.

Unfortunately, the system only gave him one day. Otherwise, he really wanted to save up all the attributes and max them out before claiming the reward, so he could reach the level that breaks the limit in one step.

What does "breaking the limit" mean?

He's at least on the same level as Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha.

Unfortunately, the system was quite thoughtful and didn't give him a chance to exploit the bug.

In fact, Gengetsu Shimura had considered staying at the Ninja Academy until he reached the pinnacle of all attributes before making his comeback, but after careful consideration, he ultimately gave up on the idea.

We shouldn't give up the whole forest just because of one talent effect. There are still too few people you can meet within the Ninja Academy. Only by becoming a ninja can you truly establish a connection with this world.

That's why he chose to graduate now. It's all about talent; with hard work, he can eventually reach the level of breaking limits.

"System, issue the reward."

Shimura Gengetsu silently recited in his mind, but the system did not respond. This thing was not very intelligent; at most, it could answer some rule-related questions.

The reward was distributed quietly, and Shimura Gengetsu felt a warm sensation throughout his body. His cell activity and chakra activity suddenly increased by more than one level.

And the amount of chakra is still increasing rapidly.

Open the system panel, and the number in the Chakra level column is constantly changing.

5.2 SIM card, 5.7 SIM card, 6.2 SIM card, 6.5 SIM card, 7 SIM card...

After about ten minutes, it finally stopped at position 9.

Among the special talents, the development of the Thousand Hands bloodline has become ordinary.

As for Wood Release...

There was no shadow at all.

Many people have a misconception that Wood Release and the Senju bloodline are inseparable, but this is actually incorrect.

Thousand Hands is Thousand Hands, and Wood Release is Wood Release.

Throughout history, over thousands of years, only one ninja has been recorded as having awakened Wood Release: Hashirama Senju. Even whether the Sage of Six Paths knew Wood Release is debatable.

What's special isn't Senju, but Senju Hashirama.

God knows how this freak created such an outrageous escape technique, and how he was able to connect with the divine tree.

Suddenly, Shimura Gengetsu felt a stinging pain in his eyes and instinctively reached out to cover them.

A tear of blood streamed down his cheek, wetting his arm.

When he opened his eyes again, Shimura Gengetsu's pupils had turned blood red, and a tomoe (magatama) had appeared in each of his eyes...

Chapter Twenty-One: The First Lesson of Becoming a Ninja—Killing

Standing in front of the mirror, looking at the magatama in his eyes, Shimura Gengetsu couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Izumi told me during the day that awakening the Sharingan too early was bad for his health, and that very night he awakened it.

On the system panel, the Uchiha bloodline has gone from being abundant to being at its peak.

Sensing that the power in his eyes was still increasing, Shimura Gengetsu suspected that he could naturally grow to the level of three tomoe without any stimulation.

He couldn't guarantee the kaleidoscope, but activating it would definitely be much easier than for others.

"Mom...you really gave me a wonderful gift..." Shimura Gengetsu murmured softly.

There are geniuses in the Naruto world who work hard, but reaching the peak is impossible.

Mighty?

That kick was indeed amazing, but in the end, all it brought was Madara Uchiha's physical recovery, and he himself had to sacrifice his life. If Naruto hadn't obtained the Six Paths Yang Power, he would definitely be dead.

The ninja world is vast, yet also very narrow.

Only those with the bloodlines of the Uchiha and Senju clans can reach the pinnacle. Now that Shimura Gengetsu possesses both, he finally has considerable confidence.

After closing his Sharingan, Gengetsu Shimura returned to his bed.

The one-tomoe Sharingan would offer him little improvement and would likely only cause trouble.

Until he can sweep through Konoha and eliminate all troubles, he should keep his Sharingan hidden.

......

Anbu, short for Assassination Tactics Special Forces, was founded by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Or rather, most of Konoha's current systems and mechanisms were established by Tobirama Senju, and the so-called First Hokage was merely his henchman.

Equivalent to Zhuge Liang's Great General Who Conquers the North.

Aside from his ability to develop forbidden techniques, Tobirama Senju was also an absolute genius in politics.

The establishment of the secret service was one of his proudest achievements.

The main function of the Anbu is to protect the Hokage and carry out special assassination missions. It is a very special organization that is independent of the Genin-Chunin-Jonin system. The identity of each member is a secret, and they all wear masks when they appear.

But besides carrying out high-difficulty tasks, the biggest role of the Anbu is actually to centralize power. It is a force that obeys the Hokage unconditionally and does not accept orders from Jonin squad leaders or any other high-ranking ninjas.

It's like Konoha's version of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, acting first and reporting later, with royal permission.

Unfortunately... the system was good, but it changed by the third generation.

Nominally, Danzo Shimura's Root was just a small squad in the Anbu, but in reality, given Hiruzen Sarutobi's trust in Danzo and Danzo's own recklessness, Root has now grown into a behemoth.

The Dark Division has one Captain and one Deputy Captain, and is divided into four battalions. Each battalion has a Captain, and each Captain is in charge of sixteen Dark Division members.

The sixteen members of the secret service were divided into four teams, each with a squad leader and three members.

This is the visible setup of the secret operations; the number of members might be larger in secret, but it would be no more than a hundred.

Logically speaking, Root should only be one large battalion of the Anbu, with about twenty people. However, according to Shimura Gengetsu's understanding, Root's ninjas numbered over fifty, making it practically another Anbu in size.

It's easy to imagine how far Danzo's power had grown under Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence.

Furthermore, compared to the more well-known Anbu, the missions carried out by Root were more brutal, Danzo's selection methods were more ruthless, and the overall quality of its members was actually stronger.

.........

With his headband hanging from his waist, standing in front of the cave at the entrance to the Root base, Shimura Gengetsu couldn't help but sigh, "Being the leader of Root is more comfortable than being the Hokage. What's the old man still fighting for?"