"The matter of forbidden teiques—we'll discuss it iail ter."

  The Third Hokage sighed.

  He was starting to get a sense of what was going on.

  Kyoichi had been deeply involved in this field tely.

  First, he submitted the Breath Activation Teique as part of his debt repayment. Now, he was demonstrating applications of Super Strength Teique—even though the tter wasn’t being widely promoted, the i was clearly simir.

  Forbidden teiques weren’t pletely off-limits; it was just a matter of timing.

  "Uood!"

  Kyoiodded.

  With the Third preoccupied, he no longer had the patieo watch the rest of the exam.

  At this point, the results were already clear. Even without the third round, he already had a mental shortlist of who would advance.

  Might Guy. Kurenai Yūhi.

  By all rights, he should include Shisui as well, though Kurenai wasirely up to par yet. However, two things stood out—

  First, that final kick of hers left quite an impression.

  Sed…

  Shisui was just too young.

  He had only just turned five years old.

  A genius, no doubt.

  But…

  "The tallest trees catch the most wind."

  The shinobi world didn’t have this exact phrase, but the meaning was the same.

  The Third Hokage was an old hand at politics.

  If he wao suppress the Uchiha, he could very well push Shisui's promotion, heavily publicize his record-breaking achievements, and even promote Obito alongside him.

  Obito…

  Apart from being a bit thick-headed, he was already at the level of a in in terms of bat ability.

  With a feutive moves, the more foolish members of the Uchiha would be eager to rush forward in the ing years… straight to their own demise.

  But…

  He actually liked Shisui.

  This child was the desdant of Uchiha Kagami and had noted the Will of Fire under Kyoichi's tutege. He was kied, reserved, and uhe other Uchiha.

  If they could protect him, there might still be hope for the Uchiha .

  With these thoughts in mind, the Third exhaled deeply, having made up his mind.

  This arra was for the best.

  After further sideration, he was relieved that Asuma hadn’t made it to the final rounds. If Asuma had performed well and Kurenai had already secured a spot, what would he have done? Reend Asuma just because he was his own son?

  The Third refocused otle.

  Then, his brows furrowed slightly.

  "How did Shisui get eliminated?"

  "Lord Hokage, after eliminating Nohara Rin and Shiranui Genma, Shisui attempted to assassinate Ebisu using his Body Flicker asu. However, he was affected by Kurenai's genjutsu. Though he broke free in time, he was ultimately taken out by Raido Namiashi."

  Nara Shikaku answered promptly, his resporictly factual, without any personal bias.

  The Third Hokage paused for a moment, then a strange smile appeared on his face.

  On paper, Kurenai’s team had superior overall strength, but reality wasn’t that simple.

  Might Guy had already charged in earlier, severely injuring Ebisu and f Kurenai to reveal her trump card.

  So…

  If Shisui had pyed the long game, Kurenai, having already expended a signifit amount of chakra and stamina, would’ve had zero ce of victory.

  A?

  He had chosen to assassinate Ebisu, someone who had just been healed and wasn’t even a major threat.

  Tactically speaking, it was an absurd decision.

  A in-level shinobi exging lives with a mere Genin—a dht foolish trade.

  Someone… didn’t actually want to win.

  How… iing.

  The Third Hokage gazed at Shisui, feeling both admiration and unease.

  A prodigy!

  Looking at him, the Third saw the shadow of Fugaku—no, Shisui was even more talehan Fugaku.

  But…

  What if, one day, he followed in Madara's footsteps?

  Would he bee anhtmare?

  The Third Hokage rubbed his temples, feeling another headache ing on.

  "The third round will take p a few days. Ihe Daimyō to observe. Let him see the strength of Konoha’s new geion and put his mind at ease."

  The Third spoke quietly to Shikaku.

  Shikaku nodded slightly.

  Kyoichi didn’t o eavesdrop to know what was being discussed.

  The final roster was already decided.

  The third round was just a glorified exhibition match—he couldn’t be bothered to himself with how it was structured.

  As for the final seles…

  He could already guess.

  Aside from those who had iionally underperformed, three stood out the most:

  Asuma, Might Guy, and Kurenai.

  Three into two…

  But since Asuma hadn’t made the top five, and sidering he was the Hokage’s son, his ces were slim.

  ---

  Meanwhile…

  "Hey, Shinku! Your daughter really takes after Lady Tsunade, huh?"

  "Yeah, absolutely!"

  "Wow, maybe she’ll be one of the Legendary Three!"

  "Uh…"

  On the way back, several shinobi greeted Yūhi Shinku with enthusiastients.

  Returning from his in-level training, Yūhi Shinku looked utterly fused.

  But…

  He had a good guess as to what had happened.

  Most likely, his daughter had successfully pulled off that move—making a spsh in the exam. And if she had also demonstrated mediinjutsu, then she must have really impressed everyone.

  A in promotion ractically guaranteed.

  Great news!

  He was ecstatic.

  And he couldn’t help but feel deep gratitude toward Kyoichi.

  Shinku uood that, while his owsu skills were det, they were nothing pared to the Uchiha. His daughter, meanwhile, wasn’t quite at his level either. If she only focused osu, her potential would be limited.

  But beyond that, he had nothing else to teach her.

  Yet, uedly, Kyoichi provided everything he couldn’t.

  "I o find a way to properly thank him!"

  ---

  Ihe Hokage’s Office…

  "Kurenai did well. Initially, I thought she would purely develop her genjutsu skills, but I didn’t expect you to train her as a mediinja as well."

  The Third Hokage gestured for Kyoichi to take a seat.

  After a brief pause, he sighed, "I used to think I retty good teacher. But ever since you started training students, I realized I have little to be proud of."

  "You're too modest, Lord Hokage. The Three Sannin are renowned across the ninja world—who doesn’t know their name?"

  Kyoichi shook his head.

  The Third fell silent.

  He wasn’t sure whether Kyoichi was being passive-aggressive or just genuinely plimenting him.

  After a few seds, he decided not to dwell on it.

  "Orochimaru was the only oruly put effort into training. Jiraiya learned from Mount Myōboku, and Tsunade… well, she had the Senju bloodline bag her. In the end, I really only produced one disciple."

  The Third Hokage stopped mid-sentence.

  "You traie soldiers; I handled rge-scale education—special times call for special methods. It’s not a fair parison. Any one of the Three Sannin is irrepceable."

  Kyoichi remained humble.

  However…

  He hadn’t expected su explosive opening to this versation.

  Frankly speaking—

  The Third had practically id his pride on the floor and was waiting to be stepped on.

  But now wasn’t the time for that.

  "He's getting old. His emotions are running high."

  The Third sighed, shaking his head.

  Then, lighting his pipe, he asked, "What are your thoughts on forbidden teiques?"

  "Not all forbidden teiques should be off-limits. Lord Sed didn't develop so many jutsu just for them to be locked away—his goal was tthen Konoha and protect the vilge."

  "Forbidden teiques should be categorized by risk level and, under voluntary ditions, discreetly introduced to a small, trolled group first."

  Kyoichi spoke slowly and deliberately.

  The Third Hokage fell silent.

  It wasn’t that he hadn’t sidered this before—but how does one define risk?

  Eadividual's circumstances were different.

  As if anticipating his doubts, Kyoichi tinued,

  "As long as a teique be safely trolled, doesn’t cause perma harm, and doesn't impair bat ability, I believe it has value in being promoted. For now, the usage should be limited to Tokubetsu Jōnin and Jōnin."

  The reasoning was simple: these ranks were posed of experienced, skilled shinobi with proven loyalty. They were far less likely to be spies from rival vilges.

  Gcell