"Danzo, you've disappointed me."
The Daimyo glared coldly at Danzo, who stood bowing before him. "Explain why things turned out this way—give me a satisfactory answer! Otherwise, you'll rot away in Hozuki Castle's prison, reflecting on your failure for the rest of your life."
At this, Danzo straightened and met the Daimyo's gaze head-on.
Boom.
A sudden, overwhelming pressure erupted from him. The Daimyo's expression changed instantly as the oppressive aura struck. As ruler of the Land of Fire, he had always stood above others—but now, for the first time, a flicker of fear rose within him.
Just as quickly, the pressure vanished.
"Your Excellency, please grant me another chance."
Danzo locked eyes with the Daimyo, speaking slowly in a deep voice. "I admit—I underestimated Uzumaki Heiyan's ambition. I never imagined he would lead Konoha to completely oppose the Daimyo's Mansion. The facts show Heiyan has no respect left for you at all. If he truly wished harm, he could march here now, and no one would be able to stop him. Your safety then..."
His words made the Daimyo visibly pale.
"What should we do?!" Sweat poured down the Daimyo's face as he anxiously asked.
"Stay calm, my lord."
A sharp glint flashed through Danzo's eyes as he calmly analyzed, "Uzumaki Heiyan doesn't only have the Daimyo's Mansion as enemies—he also faces the Four Great Villages. From what I understand, each village's elders deeply fear him, suspecting that he may use force to unify the shinobi world and enslave the other villages under Konoha. For us, the best course is to unite with the four villages and combine our strength to eliminate Heiyan at the right moment. I ask that you send me as an envoy to other nations so I may persuade their leaders into forming a united alliance, together deciding how to deal with Heiyan."
"...Fine. I'll give you one more chance."
After hesitating briefly, the Daimyo finally agreed to Danzo's request—but not without warning, "However, if you fail again, you will answer with your life. And I...will send a full army to destroy Konoha, no matter the cost!"
"Yes."
Danzo bowed once again. Facing the Daimyo's threat, a faint, barely noticeable smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth before he stepped back and left the room.
The Daimyo watched silently as Danzo vanished through the doorway, his gaze growing colder.
Just moments ago, when Danzo dared to challenge authority by releasing chakra-infused pressure against him, the Daimyo had already decided Danzo would die.
But he also understood—the true and greater threat currently facing the Daimyo's Mansion was Uzumaki Heiyan.
So for now, he would allow Danzo to live, using him to contact the other villages first. Once Heiyan was eliminated, he'd erase Danzo alongside him.
There's an old saying: The tallest tree is the first to fall.
To many across the ninja world, Uzumaki Heiyan was just like that—he rose too fast. In merely two or three years, he advanced from an ordinary Genin to become the strongest shinobi recognized across all lands in the shinobi world.
No matter how each village's leaders outwardly treated Heiyan, they all secretly shared the same emotion—fear.
Because they knew, if he continued growing unchecked, someday soon, he would become another Hashirama Senju, ruling over the entire shinobi world with unmatched might.
Back in the day, Hashirama Senju was known for his integrity and kindness—universally acknowledged as a genuinely good man. Yet he had still forced other ninja villages to pay exorbitant prices for the Tailed Beasts during the Five Kage Summit, causing much bloodshed.
Now, Uzumaki Heiyan was an even more ruthless figure than Hashirama Senju. If he succeeded to the Hokage position and decided to launch a war to unify the shinobi world, all the great ninja villages would inevitably fall into chaos and ruin.
Therefore, rulers from every village longed for Heiyan's death.
Only after his death could they finally rest easy at night. Only then would the other villages no longer suffer under Konoha's crushing dominance.
Danzo decided to exploit this mentality among these leaders, gathering together all major forces outside Konoha across the entire ninja world to launch a decisive attack against Heiyan.
If necessary, he would also seek assistance from Madara Uchiha to ensure absolute success of this plan.
"Uzumaki Heiyan," Danzo muttered to himself, "although you've won every confrontation so far, there will come a day when you'll understand—only the one who laughs last is the real winner."
Staring toward Konoha with a sharp, merciless gaze, Danzo's expression remained cold and unyielding.
...
During this turmoil, the Daimyo's Mansion—the ruling authority of the land—remained unusually quiet regarding the collective refusal by Konoha ninjas to take positions within its ranks, applying no pressure or punishment against Konoha whatsoever.
When news spread, many realized that the Daimyo's Mansion had backed down.
In this conflict between both sides, Konoha had once again gained the upper hand, achieving a significant victory.
Under such favorable circumstances, Konoha's high-ranking elders decided to strike while the iron was hot and push forward with further reforms.
The next wave of reforms zeroed in on education—specifically upgrading the ninja academy system.
Ever since the Second Hokage established the ninja academy, it had produced countless talents for Konoha. Still, shortcomings remained—for example, teaching too few ninjutsu techniques and a curriculum increasingly outdated, failing to keep pace with Konoha's developmental achievements.
Faced with these problems, the Third Hokage—who served as headmaster—personally drafted a set of solutions and demanded strict enforcement.
During this period, Hiruzen Sarutobi consulted with Heiyan, asking whether he had time available because he happened to have three freshly graduated students from the ninja academy he hoped Heiyan could help train.
Unable to turn down the Third Hokage's request, Heiyan accepted and became their instructor.
Incidentally, after rising to jonin rank, serving as an instructor for a period had become a proud tradition among Konoha's ninja—an embodiment of the Will of Fire.
Before beginning this assignment,
Heiyan made a detour to visit Shikkotsu Forest.
As soon as he arrived at the crater lake in Shikkotsu Forest, he took out a storage scroll and released Samehada.
Given its current condition, keeping it sealed inside the scroll was no longer appropriate.
At this moment, the shark-like spikes covering Samehada's body were shedding one by one, fresh skin forming over its surface, its form evolving in unexpected ways.
A red glow pulsed from Samehada's body, emitting powerful energy fluctuations sourced from the Dragon Vein (a mysterious and potent energy force), spreading across nearly half of Shikkotsu Forest.
The Six-Tails and Seven-Tails had been alerted. The two of them leaned against each other, hiding at a distance to watch curiously, feeling both wariness and intrigue.
Heiyan approached the Sage Slug and explained Samehada's condition, asking the immortal creature to keep watch during its transformation.
[Dragon Vein?]
The Sage Slug also showed surprise upon hearing this. It could sense the natural energy contained within Samehada—perhaps not quite matching Shikkotsu Forest's levels, but still extremely close.
If this strange fish could successfully undergo rebirth, its future potential would be immeasurable.
Judging from Samehada's current state, its evolution was progressing much faster than Heiyan had anticipated. At this rate, its physical reorganization would complete in about ten days to half a month, transforming it into an entirely new creature.
Heiyan had a premonition that Samehada would surely bring him some pleasant surprises when the time came.
After parting ways with the Sage Slug, Heiyan returned to Konoha, finding a mission roster already waiting on his desk.
This list contained detailed records of three recently graduated students, including their names, photos, family backgrounds, and mastered Ninjutsu abilities.
Seeing this list, Heiyan faintly understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's intentions, prompting a wry smile.
It seemed this Third Hokage truly wanted to pave the way for Heiyan, gradually transferring all resources belonging to the Hokage lineage into Heiyan's hands.
Shaking his head slightly, Heiyan stepped outside, heading toward the training grounds.
At Training Ground No.7,
Three young students, representing Konoha's most powerful triad of clans, had already arrived.
On the far left stood Choza Akimichi, a plump boy with a fiery red frizzy afro. A large "Food" character decorated his shirt front as he happily munched noisily on a big bag of chips.
On the right stood Inoichi Yamanaka, whose long golden hair flowed down to his waist, looking rather gentle while crouching there examining wildflowers growing on the ground.
In the center stood Shikaku Nara, a lean boy sporting a distinctive pineapple-shaped hairstyle, holding a book and reading attentively.
Although these three looked quite different outwardly, they shared one common feature: all wore identical earrings.
These three formed the legendary new generation of the Ino–Shika–Cho trio — hailing respectively from the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans.
Ever since their alliance was forged during the Warring States era, these three mighty clans had stood as one of Konoha's foundational cornerstones.
In Konoha, even common villagers recognized the power of the ancient Ino–Shika–Cho truce — a bond so strong it functioned like family unity.
They'd known each other since they were kids, bonded through years of growing up together.
Each had been raised from birth to inherit leadership of their clan — destined to form the next Ino–Shika–Cho alliance.
Their matching earrings carried deep symbolic meaning — passed down through generations as a sacred symbol of unity between the clans.
Swearing binding vows before these earrings had become a sacred ritual among the three allied clans across generations.
Not long ago, when these three boys had just graduated and become genin, they were personally received by Hiruzen Sarutobi. In the presence of high-ranking elders from the three clans, he gifted them each an earring.
One could say these three boys were true "Second"-generation elites of Konoha Village, born with silver spoons in their mouths.
That's why a regular jonin just wouldn't cut it as their instructor. Facing three students with such prestigious backgrounds, the pressure on any teacher would be tremendous.
"Hmm... you guys, who do you think our team leader will be?"
Choza Akimichi asked while crunching potato chips, his words slightly muffled.
"If there's no unexpected change, according to past tradition, it should be an elite jonin from the Sarutobi clan."
The long-haired Inoichi Yamanaka took over the conversation, expressing his small hope, "I hope our teacher is someone with a gentle personality rather than strict and humorless like the Third Hokage."
After hearing Inoichi's words, Choza nodded quite approvingly, then looked toward Shikaku beside him, asking the latter:
"Shikaku, aren't you even a bit curious about our instructor?"
Shikaku let out a yawn.
He put away the book in his hands, dug his ear with his little finger, and said indifferently with a casual expression,
"I don't care who the instructor is; I just hope he won't assign too many training tasks. Honestly, I hate troublesome things the most."
"Someone's coming."
Just at this moment, Inoichi Yamanaka, the one with the strongest perception ability among the three, suddenly said, turning his head toward the entrance of the training ground.
The other two also turned to look, but to their surprise, the person arriving wasn't their instructor, but instead a red-haired girl and a yellow-haired boy.
It was Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.
What was she doing here?
At the moment the three boys saw Kushina, all their hearts thumped, their expressions immediately changed.
After all, back when she was still at the ninja academy, Kushina had the reputation of the "Red-Hot Habanero," undefeated across the entire academy—he even beat some chunin outside the ninja academy.
She was an older sister figure nobody dared provoke.
As for the boy beside her, Minato Namikaze, though a civilian ninja, was also exceptionally talented. He graduated early alongside Kushina, and rumors said that he shared an especially good relationship with Heiyan.
Now, Kushina had already walked up to the three boys. She sized them up, tapping her chin thoughtfully, and remarked,
"Oh, so it's really you three."
"Senpai, I mean... what exactly do you mean by that?" Inoichi asked cautiously.
"Heiyan asked us to come here. He said we'll be training together from now on."
Minato smiled as he explained, his expression unusually bright.
Heiyan? Wait... you mean *the* Heiyan?
Both Inoichi and Choza widened their eyes after hearing this name. Did Minato mean...
Suddenly, everything around them seemed to blur, and the next moment, a young man with long black hair appeared right inside the training ground—the late arrival, Heiyan.
His appearance immediately caused Inoichi and Choza to grow excited, but Shikaku remained calm as always.
"So it really turned out like this."
Shikaku murmured quietly, completely unfazed.
Although he was young and appeared lazy and indifferent to everything, his mind was actually sharp and perceptive, showing extraordinary insight into many village affairs.
By assigning Uzumaki Heiyan as the instructor for these three students, the Third Hokage was clearly laying the groundwork early for Heiyan's succession, helping him gain future support from the Ino–Shika–Cho triad clans.
"Hello. Starting today, I will be your sensei for Team 10 and will be guiding your training."
Heiyan swept his gaze briefly over the three youths before offering a slight smile and greeting them, announcing his role as their instructor.
"Good day, Sensei."
The three youths wasted no time bowing respectfully toward Heiyan. After all, being a student of Uzumaki Heiyan was undoubtedly a great honor.
"I've heard you're Team 15 of the Ino–Shika–Cho. Let's see what you can do."
Heiyan got straight to the point, speaking directly to Shikaku and the others.
At those words, the trio immediately grew tense, exchanging uneasy glances. Were they really about to fight Lord Heiyan here? The suddenness of it caught them completely off guard.
Noticing their nervousness, Heiyan smiled and added, "I forgot to mention—your opponent won't be me, but them."
As he spoke, he pointed toward Kushina and Minato.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>