On October 18th, Sarutobi Asuma was born in Konoha Hospital. Kakashi was supposed to be born on September 15th of the following year after Asuma's birth. Let's just say Sakumo's marksmanship was a bit off, and his wife got pregnant earlier than expected!
Back in June, the wife of Yuuhi Shinku, the instructor of the genin and chunin teams, gave birth to a girl named Yuuhi Kurenai at Konoha Hospital.
The births of Asuma and Kurenai marked the beginning of a new era for Konoha, a period more familiar to Kizaru.
"Poor kid! He looks just like sensei," Kizaru remarked with a sigh as he looked at the newborn just brought out of the delivery room.
"Cough!" Hiruzen expressed his dissatisfaction with a cough and gave his disciple a disapproving look.
"Shut up!" Tsunade interjected, schooling Kizaru.
Hearing Tsunade's words, Hiruzen smiled with relief. It's good to have a caring female disciple like his own daughter!
"It's normal for a newborn to look ugly like the old man," Tsunade added, intentionally poking fun.
"Cough cough cough!" Continuing to cough, Hiruzen expressed strong dissatisfaction.
"Old man, if you're sick, go away! Be careful not to infect the child," Tsunade scolded Hiruzen loudly.
Looking at the ceiling, Hiruzen sighed, "Stop crowding around the child. Let the nurse take him away!"
"Old man, have you named the child yet?" Moving away from the scene with Kizaru in sync, Tsunade, feeling a bit excited and curious, asked.
"Asuma!" Hiruzen smiled and said, "If this child can achieve half of Kizaru's success in the future, I'll be satisfied."
Half? Asuma would have a tough time!
After forcing two major ninja villages to retreat single-handedly in the Land of Wind, Kizaru's reputation reached new heights in the ninja world, and the completion of the fusion rate reached 91%.
Kizaru's Devil Fruit ability development had also reached the level of awakening.
Awakening his Devil Fruit ability, Kizaru could now not only turn into light, absorb light, and emit light, but also control light in the surrounding environment.
Facing the further improvement of his Devil Fruit ability, Kizaru also began to develop a new ultimate move.
By fusing his awakened Devil Fruit ability with genjutsu, sealing techniques, and barriers, Kizaru planned to create an S-rank genjutsu capable of creating a super-large-scale genjutsu space.
According to Kizaru's estimation, once this genjutsu was truly formed, it had the potential to trap an entire country in genjutsu.
At the same time, Kizaru was also attempting to merge light particles with Wind Release: Rasenshuriken to create a huge energy sphere with both extremely high thermal energy and Wind Release cutting ability.
Once these two ninjutsu were completed, Kizaru would dominate the entire ninja world in terms of firepower and attack range.
At the same time, anticipating the possible appearance of Rinnegan Madara and Sage Six Paths-level powerhouses in the future, Kizaru was also envisioning a completely new form of the ninja world.
By accumulating a large amount of natural energy in the body and using natural energy as a power source, pushing the development of Devil Fruit ability to the extreme, and temporarily massively enlarging the body, the attack power could be increased by tens of times in a short period of time.
This strongest form, still in Kizaru's mind, was designed to counter the potential appearance of Rinnegan Madara with complete body Susanoo, as well as the one developed by a certain deceased widow. Adopting anime settings
To be honest, if the envisioned strongest form could be successfully developed, Kizaru would be quite interested in having a physical confrontation with them.
Of course, it would be best if they never showed up!
"Poor kid, Sensei's expectation is too high!" Kizaru couldn't help but lament.
Seeing Kizaru's expression, Hiruzen didn't want to deal with this heartless disciple beside him.
"Didn't I treat you well usually? Why are you treating me like this?"
"Don't put too much pressure on the child as soon as he's born! Old man!" Tsunade added.
"I'm tired, you guys go on!"
Exhausted, Hiruzen watched his two disciples, standing in an intimate posture, and said thoughtfully, "Maybe in a few years, I'll be able to see your children."
Blushing, Tsunade shouted angrily, "Old man, don't talk nonsense!"
"Oh ho ho! I'll do my best, Sensei!" Touching the back of his head, Kizaru said with an embarrassed expression.
"Shut up!" Threatening Kizaru by pinching his waist, Tsunade said fiercely.
With Tsunade's character, she wouldn't usually be this shy, but her shyness was due to the significant age difference between them; Kizaru was not yet 12 years old.
Faced with such an age difference, Tsunade felt a bit shy, while Kizaru felt a bit excited.
Sometimes Kizaru also wondered, would his life have been more exciting if he had become Tsunade's disciple in the first place?
"You bastard, are you thinking of something perverted?" Noticing Kizaru's increasingly lewd smile, Tsunade raised her right fist.
"No, I'm just thinking about what we should have for lunch?" Kizaru answered earnestly.
"Tch!" Not exposing Kizaru's lie, Tsunade retracted her fist and crossed her arms over her chest.
Standing in front of the two disciples, watching their interaction, Hiruzen couldn't help but smile.
How wonderful! Except for Jiraiya, everyone has a happy life!
"Ha-choo!"
At the periphery of the hot spring street in the Land of Hot Water, Jiraiya, who was gathering material, couldn't help but sneeze.
"Sensei, we should go!" Beside Jiraiya, Minato, with a helpless expression, advised, "We haven't completed the task Kizaru entrusted to us."
Gathering the material with a lingering feeling, Jiraiya wrote and drew on his notebook while saying, "I've left our contact information at the exchange center. That bounty ninja called Kakuzu will come looking for us."
"Sensei, you haven't guided me in my training today," Minato said in distress.
"Hahaha!" Laughing heartily as he put away his notebook, Jiraiya intentionally put on a serious expression, "Minato, collecting material is also a form of training."
"After we return, I'll tell Kizaru and Tsunade," Minato said with the warmest smile, uttering the most sinister words.
Looking flustered, Jiraiya quickly said, "Don't tell anyone about this. Let's go, I'll treat you to a big meal, and after eating and resting, we'll go train."
"Thank you, Sensei!" Minato said gratefully with a beaming smile.
This kid is becoming more and more like Kizaru!
Sighing helplessly in his heart, Jiraiya left the scenic spot with Minato.
"You're here."
"I'm here."
"After all, you did come."
"I... What's the matter? Don't beat around the bush!"
At night, with the dark clouds obscuring the moon, Kizaru and Kakuzu faced each other in the forest on the outskirts of Konoha.
"There's a mission. Are you interested?"
"How much?"
"5 million ryo..."
Kakuzu turned to leave.
"Once! Once a month."
Stopping in his tracks, Kakuzu turned back to face Kizaru.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Audit."
Kizaru grinned at Kakuzu.
"You want me to audit? Is Konoha short of people?"
"Because I trust you."
With an unchanged expression, Kakuzu said coldly, "Here's some advice for you. In this world, besides money, don't trust anything."
"Because you trust money, I trust you."
Nodding, Kakuzu accepted the statement.
"When does it start? How much is in the accounts? Any time limits?"
"If all goes well, it'll start next year, with an audit at the end of each month. As for the accounts, I'm not sure how much there is. Probably around several billion per month! Not much!"
Not much?
Kakuzu wanted to stomp on Kizaru's smiling face with the soles of his feet. Are you trying to show off to me?
"Understood. When it starts, have someone leave a message for me at the exchange center."
"If you find discrepancies in the accounts, if someone is embezzling, you can receive a 5% commission from each amount of embezzled funds recovered."
With green light flashing in his eyes, Kakuzu's motivation suddenly rose. "Deal."
"Your bounty has reappeared in the exchange center, now at ten billion."
Considering Kizaru as his employer, Kakuzu shared some recent intelligence he had acquired.
"Oh ho ho! Are you greedy for it, Kakuzu?" Laughing, Kizaru teased.
"Can't earn it." Having observed Kizaru's combat up close and realizing the gap in their strengths, Kakuzu said truthfully.
"Kakuzu, want to join Konoha? I can decide and assign the highest-paying missions to you." Though he knew there wasn't much hope, Kizaru still asked.
"I prefer being alone." Kakuzu refused directly.
After saying that, Kakuzu didn't waste any more time and turned to leave again.
"It's really regrettable!" Watching Kakuzu's back, Kizaru sighed.
Stopping in his tracks, as if remembering something, Kakuzu turned and said, "Recently, a mysterious organization has appeared in the ninja world, recruiting rogue ninja and bounty hunters."
"The one in charge of recruiting is a strange individual in black and white, extremely skilled in hiding their presence, able to move stealthily in the earth and forests."
Hearing Kakuzu's description, an image of a certain filial son suddenly appeared in Kizaru's mind.
Even Black Zetsu has been "created" ahead of time?
It seems like some people are getting impatient! But I won't say who.
"Have they approached you?"
"I didn't agree." Kakuzu said directly.
"Kakuzu, let me give you some advice. If you encounter an old man who wants to dance with you, run away quickly." Kizaru kindly warned.
"Do you know who's behind this organization?" Kakuzu asked.
"I know a little bit," Kizaru raised his right hand as he spoke, skillfully gesturing, "That guy's name is Madara, yes! It's the Madara you're thinking of!"
"He didn't die at the hands of the First Hokage; instead, he stole the First's power and has lived until now. He holds many secrets and plans to bring peace to the world in his own way."
Is that what you call knowing a little bit?
Kakuzu didn't even want to comment on Kizaru's strange way of speaking.
"Have you seen Madara?"
"He wanted to dance with me, and I ended up beating him up."
Just how twisted is this guy? Even Madara isn't his match!
Having experienced the era of Hashirama Senju and Madara's rivalry, Kakuzu once again deeply felt Kizaru's strength.
"I understand, I'll be careful." Kakuzu nodded.
"Be careful of his genjutsu, don't look into his eyes."
"Thank you!"
Kakuzu noted Kizaru's reminder in his heart and prepared to repay the favor in the future.
After thanking Kizaru, Kakuzu turned his head, took a step forward, and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Kizaru called out to Kakuzu.
"What else?" Stopping once again, Kakuzu asked.
"Can you tell me where you keep your money? If you get killed, the money will go to waste."
"Hmph!"
With a snort, Kakuzu used Body Flicker Jutsu and disappeared directly.
"Is he angry? I was just being kind!" Laughing, Kizaru sarcastically remarked and then left the area.
As Kizaru sarcastically remarked, at this moment, Madara was indeed anxious, especially after Kizaru snatched a tailed beast from Sunagakure.
Madara has personally experienced Kizaru's strength and potential. He is undoubtedly a powerhouse on par with Senju Hashirama, or perhaps even stronger.
With such a powerful Kizaru, besides his prime, Madara couldn't think of anyone who could match him.
With Kizaru guarding, it would be incredibly difficult to snatch away three tailed beasts from Konoha, even Madara himself isn't confident.
What's even more frustrating is that the host of his Rinnegan is also in Konoha, protected by Kizaru.
Thinking of this, Madara couldn't help but regret.
He was too confident back then, looking down on today's shinobi, and allowing Kizaru and Konoha to take Nagato from Amegakure.
If only he had realized that the ninja world's evaluation of Kizaru was a statement of fact, not an exaggeration, he would never have let Nagato be taken to Konoha.
Now, his own Rinnegan is in Konoha, and three of the nine tailed beasts needed for his future plans are also in Konoha.
This situation made Madara feel extremely embarrassed.
In order to ensure the success of his future plans and leave some capital for his future successor to resist Kizaru and Konoha, Madara could only drag his aging body and start some layouts ahead of time.
Madara's layout has two directions. On one hand, he infiltrated the Land of Water, which has a relatively closed geographical location, and controlled the Third Mizukage with genjutsu, preparing to control Kirigakure from behind the scenes.
On the other hand, he used his partial consciousness and Yin-Yang Release to create Kurozetsu, using him instead of himself to recruit rogue ninja on the mainland and form a mercenary organization.
According to Madara's plan, once a successor and tool are selected in the future, he will hand over the renovated Kirigakure, which serves as the headquarters, to his successor and transform the mercenary organization he formed into a sharp weapon for him.
Madara's requirements for his future successor aren't high. As long as he can gather all six tailed beasts except for the first, second, and ninth tails, and induce Nagato to fall into darkness with Kurozetsu's help or retrieve the Rinnegan, it will be enough.
Isn't this mission easy?
With Kirigakure as the headquarters, a mercenary organization as a weapon, plus his careful cultivation, his future successor should be able to complete the mission according to plan!
Although he thought so, sitting in his position, Madara still felt a bit lacking in confidence.
Should he think of some ways to weaken Konoha's strength and reduce the difficulty for his future successor to complete the mission?
Madara fell into contemplation once again.
Perhaps he could use the Uchiha clan to make some internal changes in Konoha.
When Madara left Konoha, he saw that the village's ninja clan didn't trust him and the Uchiha clan.
Unfortunately, those fools in the clan, coveting the village's safety and status, betrayed him and chose to stay in the village.
Over the years, time has proven his judgment to be correct. Uchiha has always been suppressed and monitored by the village, floating on the edge of the village's power center, never being trusted.