“With me here, what are you afraid of? If anyone’s got a problem, let them step up themselves!”

  Tsunade was blunt and straightforward.

  Sure, Kyoichi cked seniority.

  But…

  Did seniority even matter at this point?

  With three major shinobi vilges about to attack Konoha, only the capable should take charge. Letting a bunch of old relics call the shots would only lead to endless cessions, dragging the war effort into disaster.

  “Besides…”

  Tsunade smirked. “The old man is paving the way for me, making sure I have enough power under my and. The better you perform, the smoother things go on my end.”

  Kyoichi was no fool.

  So…

  Tsunade saw no reason to hide anything.

  To push Kyoichi’s policies through smoothly, and to ensure Konoha didn’t crumble in the hands of those old geezers…

  She had to bee Hokage!

  “I figured as much,” Kyoiodded slightly.

  Under normal circumstances, with Tsunade’s qualifications, she wouldn’t o worry about much—she could just bulldoze her way to the top.

  Take Danzo, for example.

  As soon as Tsuook power, he immediately scaled back Root, not daring to make any moves.

  However…

  The issue now was that her hemophobia wasn’t cured yet.

  The Third Hokage hadn’t pried, but he had undoubtedly gathered enough information from Biwako Sarutobi. Pieg it together, it wouldn’t be hard to deduce Tsunade’s current dition.

  That’s why he assigned Kyoichi to the Eastern Front.

  Tsuhough displeased, couldn’t do much about it—her fear of blood meant she was unfit for the frontlines.

  Jiraiya was stationed in the north.

  As for Orochimaru…

  That guy had a whole mess of his own to deal with—he o up his name first.

  After thinking it through, aside from Kyoichi, the only other option was Minato. But when it came to dealing with Hiding in Mist teiques and Water Release, Kyoichi was clearly the better choice.

  That was also the Third’s reasoning.

  “I’ll take some time to figure it out. I o create that jutsu!”

  Tsunade gritted her teeth with determination.

  Kyoichi would have to head to the frontlines.

  But…

  If she could master Creatioh, it would greatly boost his survivability.

  Of course…

  Aside from Creatioh, Kyoichi had plenty of ways to improve.

  One was his system.

  Over time, he had accumuted various rewards. Though individually small, together they had signifitly strengthened his mediinjutsu, Water Release, and evesu.

  Another was the Rasengan.

  He wasn’t pnning to copy Naruto’s Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. Without enough Sage Chakra, using a Rasenshuriken ractically suicide. He had his own idea—

  A high-pressure water bde bined with Rasengan.

  Once he perfected high-pressure Water Release sword teiques, Water Release: Rasengan would be within reach.

  And then there was Shikkotsu Forest.

  But…

  Slug Sage was gentle and kind. If he truly met the criteria, Katsuyu would have already invited him—there was no need for him to seek it out.

  After some thought, Kyoichi decided to work on both the first and sed routes simultaneously.

  Just as the in Exams ed up, Kurenai, Shisui, and Asuma returned.

  Three prime targets, all groomed for the pig.

  How could he not seize the opportunity?

  ---

  At that moment, outside the Uchiha grounds, deep in a wooded area—

  Shisui sat across from another boy.

  Both were battered, covered in wounds. But pared to his oppo, Shisui was in much better shape.

  “You have the strength—why don’t you step up? Don’t you want t glory to our ?”

  “Idiot. Does our eed more fame?”

  Shisui sneered. “Who in the ninja world doesn’t know the Uchiha? Our pride isn’t something outsiders uand. Even if we took first pce, it wouldn’t ge how others see us.”

  “So you’re just pretending to be weak?” Uchiha Tekka scoffed.

  “It’s not pretending. Guy held back his secret teique.”

  “He has a secret teique?”

  “Ever heard of the Eight Gates?” Shisui smirked. “My teacher told me that Guy has mastered the ability to open the Eight Gates. At full power, he multiply his strength several times over. And back then, he had only opehe First Gate.”

  “Huh?”

  Tekka knew of the Eight Gates.

  But the idea that that goofy, bowl-cut weirdo could possess such strength?

  Impossible!

  He was stunned for a long time.

  Shisui could tell Tekka’s hostility had faded.

  He smiled, then said, “Do you know who our ’s biggest enemy is?”

  “Of course it’s—”

  Tekka goward the vilge, hesitating.

  “Actually, I’m ag uhe leader’s orders.”

  “No way!”

  “You don’t uand. There are two fas within the vilge—ohat is leoward the Uchiha, and ohat wants us dead. To them, a dead Uchiha is a good Uchiha. The prime example? Danzo.”

  Shisui carefully checked for any surveilnce before tinuing.

  “So you’re saying…?”

  “The leader believes we should align with those who support us. Instead of seeing the entire vilge as our enemy like the elders do, we should take down our real foes first. No matter how strong the Uchiha are, we ’t fight all of Konoha.”

  Shisui was smooth, persuasive.

  This ure ce—

  Tetsuka, suspicious that Shisui had thrown the in Exam, had e looking for a fight.

  But after a bit of "education," Shisui realized he was the perfect test subject for his teacher’s ideology.

  And so…

  Here they were.

  Holy, ving a ten-year-old with his teacher’s arguments was almost too easy—Tekka was pletely lost in thought, utterly bewildered.

  “You might not fully get it, so let me put it simply. Imagihree people—two want to beat you up, and one wants to break up the fight. oal isn’t to take on all three but to get the peacemaker on our side first, then deal with our enemies.”

  “That makes sense!”

  Tekka had an epiphany.

  Brilliant!

  “So what do we do ?”

  “The Hokage preaches the Will of Fire, right? We should do the same! Just tweak it a bit, make it sound close enough to fool people.”

  “Uh-huh!”

  Tekka nodded furiously.

  “And be frieo civilians and smaller s. Show them that the Uchiha aren’t hostile.”

  “This… I guess that’s doable.”

  Tekka hesitated for a moment but agreed.

  “Most importantly, Danzo has to go. Only by eliminating him will the Uchiha have a real future. But right now, not enough people support the leader…”

  “My brother, Inabi—he might be someone ull in.”

  “No rush. Heal up first.”

  Shisui decided to stop there for now—he hadn’t pnned for this, and pushing too hard might make Tekka suspicious.

  Tekka, following Shisui’s lead, sought out Kurenai for treatment.

  But soon after, he sent a shadow e to “Tsunade’s pce.”

  Even if Kyoichi wasn’t there, his shadow e surely would be.

  “Sensei, help me out! Is there a way to rewrite the Will of Fire so that the Uchiha embrace it? Hurry, this is urgent!”

  Gcell