The Game Behind The Scenes

Hiruzen left.

As the Hokage, he had busy affairs and couldn't stay for long.

Before leaving, Hiruzen watched the practical effect of the Rasengan and praised Kizaru's ingenious idea.

Without knowing the specific training method for the Rasengan, solely based on his vision and experience, Hiruzen accurately evaluated it as an A-rank ninjutsu.

At the same time, Hiruzen provided Kizaru with many suggestions for the further development of the Rasengan.

The core idea was to combine chakra with nature transformation with the Rasengan to further enhance its killing power.

After listening to Hiruzen's suggestions, Kizaru couldn't help but sigh in his heart. His teacher, true to his title of a ninjutsu professor, not only gave recommendations but also insights.

After discussing his suggestions and thoughts, Hiruzen also informed his disciple about the chosen candidate for his graduation assessment.

Uchiha Kensuke, 30 years old, promoted to Jonin three years ago, was an elite ninja of the Uchiha clan who had awakened the Sharingan.

He excelled in swordsmanship and Fire Release ninjutsu, possessing decent strength in both taijutsu and ninjutsu.

Selecting Kensuke was the result of negotiation between Hiruzen and the Uchiha clan members, including Kizaru.

Of course, the two sides had different intentions.

Hiruzen chose Kensuke because of his more rational and calm personality. Even if defeated by Kizaru, Kensuke wouldn't make any inappropriate moves.

On the Uchiha side, the reason for choosing Kensuke was simple: strength and discretion. Outstanding strength ensured that Kensuke could defeat Kizaru to avoid losing to a six-year-old child, saving the Uchiha clan from embarrassment.

Discretion was to prevent Kensuke from being too impulsive during the assessment, avoiding irreversible situations.

At this point, Kizaru challenging Kensuke, an Uchiha Jonin, wasn't a simple matter of a ninja academy student graduating early.

Behind this battle lay the influence of the Hokage's faction against the Uchiha clan.

If Kizaru could defeat Kensuke, it would not only confirm his extraordinary talent but also humiliate the Uchiha clan, harvesting a considerable amount of reputation and laying a solid foundation for future competition for the position of Hokage.

On the other hand, if Kensuke defeated Kizaru, the Uchiha clan could use this to consolidate their position and reputation as the strongest ninja clan in Konoha while simultaneously lowering the prestige of Danzo and the Shimura clan in the village.

The Uchiha clan's chief and elders, who only knew about Kizaru's performance at the academy, were very confident about this battle.

A ninja who was at the peak of physical fitness, opened the Sharingan three years ago, became a Jonin, completed numerous missions, and had rich combat experience. Facing a six-year-old child, how could he lose?

Even if Kizaru had astonishing talent and indeed possessed Jonin-level strength, his lack of practical combat experience would undoubtedly make it challenging for him to face an elite Uchiha Jonin with extensive experience.

Unless Kizaru was a reincarnation of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, or Kensuke had been bribed by the Hokage's faction for match-fixing.

Otherwise, the Uchiha clan's chief and several elders couldn't imagine Kizaru winning this battle.

On the other hand, Hiruzen and Danzo, who were well aware of Kizaru's true strength, had no worries about this battle.

These two old foxes had already started considering how to reap the maximum benefits after the assessment.

Kizaru sensed the behind-the-scenes maneuvering and roughly guessed the intentions of both sides but paid no attention to it.

His intentions were not complicated. First, he wanted to get back at the Uchihas for bullying Yoshihiko, and the second reason was he wanted to gain fame around the village, so he could speed up the fusion process.

Without extra thoughts, without complicated considerations, everything followed his heart!

After encountering Hiruzen, the following days for Kizaru continued as usual.

Go to school casually, train after school, and in leisure times, drink tea, fish, and relax!

Time passed quickly in Kizaru's leisurely lifestyle.

In the blink of an eye, several months had passed.

During this time, nothing significant happened, and the village remained very calm.

Outside the village, however, there was a strong figure in Amegakure named Hanzo the Salamander, who was stirring up trouble, planning to cause a major incident.

Now, Hanzo, who had become the leader of the Amegakure, was at the peak of his body and strength.

The strength's greatness led to an increase in ambition, and Hanzo's ambition was vast. He aimed to challenge the positions of the Five Great Nations and Hidden Villages, becoming the sixth Kage!

The Kages of the Five Great Nations were well aware of Hanzo's actions and intentions.

Naturally, they wouldn't tolerate such a challenger.

The ninja world's "cake" was only so big, and it was already enough for five. Now, there was a guy with big ambitions trying to get a share of the cake!

The attitudes of the Five Kages were clear on this matter: Dream on!

Hanzo and the Amegakure were only qualified to be pawns on the chessboard, to enjoy what's left of our scraps would already be quite good.

And yet, this guy wasn't satisfied; he even fantasized about becoming a player in the game? That's simply being too audacious!

In these few months, the two names Kizaru heard most from his uncle Danzo were Hanzo and Minato.

Hanzo was someone Danzo considered a person with ambitions that needed to be controlled or eliminated, while Minato was someone Danzo had a keen interest in.

After talking with Kizaru and receiving his warning, Danzo carefully observed Minato for over a month.

The more he observed, the more convinced Danzo became of Minato's talents and character. Firm in his decision, he was determined to take Minato as his adopted son.

After making the decision, the experienced Danzo didn't take direct action. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that Minato trained with Kizaru and the others at the clan's training ground every day.

Purposefully going to the training ground, Danzo watched the children's training, identified their issues, and guided their training.

In short, in these past few months, Danzo successfully established his stern yet amiable mentor image in front of Minato.

Kizaru, who was clear about Danzo's thoughts, couldn't help but admire his uncle. When Danzo used his brain, he indeed was a genius!

As for Danzo's sinister intention of luring the little Minato, Kizaru didn't expose it but rather supported it.

Minato's talent and future strength were well known to Kizaru, who had watched the anime.

If Danzo could truly adopt Minato, letting him join the Shimura clan, it would be an excellent thing for the family.

Not only would it greatly strengthen the family's power in the future, but it could also prevent some tragedies from happening.