Chapter 21: Third Hokage: Qianye is the Inheritor of the fire will
As far as Qianye knew, besides the Uchiha Clan Territory, there was only one BBQ restaurant in Konoha Village.
He had been there a few times with Uchiha Izumi.
It seemed to be called Kōzō BBQ.
"Of course, my father owns it!" Upon mentioning her father, Akizuki Airi excitedly covered her chest with both hands, a faint blush appearing on her delicate and lovely face.
"May I ask, who is your esteemed father?" Seeing Airi's father-complex demeanor, Qianye's mouth twitched fiercely, and he secretly thought to himself, 'Could her father really be Akizuki Kōzō?'
"Akizuki Kōzō," Airi said with a blush, her face full of admiration, and a smile.
"..." Qianye's mouth twitched fiercely.
Damn it, it really is him!
Black messy hair, a Konoha Ninja forehead protector, handsome and prominent facial features, dressed in a black form-fitting combat suit, with a zanpakuto kyoka suigetsu and a Ninja tool pouch at his waist, and a kunai pouch strapped to his right leg, standing over 1.7 meters tall with a well-proportioned and slender physique.
This was Qianye's appearance and attire now.
Three days later.
Qianye, led by Kurenai Yuhi, arrived at the Hokage Office.
"Hokage-sama, I've brought Qianye. Qianye, quickly, greet Hokage-sama." The latter part was directed at Qianye.
"Hello, Hokage-sama."
"From a very young age, I've admired you."
"You are the Most Powerful Hokage of All Time and the greatest Hokage of Konoha, for the Village..."
"My greatest dream is to become a great Ninja like you."
Adhering to the persona of admiring the Third Hokage, Qianye didn't hold back, immediately showering Hiruzen Sarutobi with praise.
He brought up Hiruzen Sarutobi's 'glorious resume' from the Ninja Academy textbooks.
His expression was as if a fan from his previous life had met their favorite singer.
He was just short of screaming out loud.
Kurenai Yuhi, standing by, heard this and her mouth twitched fiercely. She suddenly realized that Qianye was somewhat unlike the person she usually knew.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was secretly observing Qianye, wanting to discern something from him. Seeing the other party immediately express admiration for him and list his 'glorious resume' one by one, with a pair of clear, bottomless dark eyes that contained not a single trace of falsehood.
His favorability towards Qianye greatly increased.
Indeed, Danzo was overly suspicious.
How could an excellent Ninja who inherited the fire will, was determined to protect the Village, and so admired him, the 'Most Powerful Hokage of All Time,' possibly betray Konoha?
It was pure nonsense.
Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled, "Hehe, what a sensible child."
"Qianye, speaking of which, this is our first official meeting. In fact, I've been watching you since you were very young. You are an excellent Ninja who, like your parents, inherited the fire will. I am proud of you."
Qianye spoke earnestly, but with nonsense, "Thank you for your praise, Hokage-sama. Qianye will certainly dedicate himself to Hokage-sama and the Village, even to the point of death."
Look at that expression, that tone.
He placed the Hokage before the Village.
It was as if, with just one command from the Third Hokage, he would gladly die for Konoha.
By all appearances, he was an excellent Inheritor of the fire will.
"Dedicate himself to the point of death, even to the point of death, huh?" Hiruzen Sarutobi repeated, liking Qianye more and more as he looked at him. He laughed, "It's good that you have this intention, but it's not a time of war now, don't keep talking about death. You are the new sprouts of Konoha, and what you need now is to grow strong. Konoha still needs you to carry on."
"I will certainly not let Hokage-sama down." Qianye said with solemn respect. Anyway, flattery was free, so he could just keep piling it on.
This gave Kurenai Yuhi, who was standing by, goosebumps.
Was this still the Qianye who remained calm and composed no matter what he encountered?
"Mm." Hiruzen Sarutobi did not notice Kurenai Yuhi's change in expression. At this moment, he was almost soaring to the heavens, delighted by Qianye's flurry of praise. He stood up and said, "I presume Yuhi has already told you about the Chunin promotion."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Qianye replied respectfully.
"Then come with me. Yuhi said you already possess strength comparable to a Jonin, and this is a good opportunity to test it. If you can truly demonstrate sufficiently powerful strength, then I can make an exception and promote you to Jonin."
As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the way out of the Hokage Office. Qianye and Kurenai Yuhi exchanged glances and followed closely behind.
Soon, the three arrived at an open space adjacent to the outer perimeter of the Death Forest.
At this time, most of Konoha's core figures, including Danzo, two Hokage Advisors, and many Anbu, were almost all present.
Uchiha Itachi and Kakashi Hatake were prominently among them.
The others merely showed slight curiosity upon Qianye's arrival, without much emotional change. However, Uchiha Itachi's face beneath his fox mask appeared particularly grave, because under the gaze of his Mangekyo Sharingan, Qianye seemed to have become even more unfathomable.
The unusually powerful and strange Chakra on him seemed to be deliberately hidden; had he not possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.
Uchiha Itachi secretly thought, "Could the one who took Shisui's right eye be you? Qianye, what is your purpose in suddenly becoming so ostentatious?"
What everyone didn't know was that Uchiha Itachi, whose emotional intelligence was zero but whose intelligence in other aspects was off the charts, had already begun to suspect Qianye was the mysterious person who had snatched Danzo's prize and taken Shisui's right eye.
Of course, Qianye was not the only object of his suspicion.
There was also the Masked Man, Uchiha Obito, who had killed his teammate when he was eight years old, causing him to awaken his Sharingan.
Qianye's perception was incredibly keen, so he naturally noticed Uchiha Itachi's unfriendly gaze.
But he didn't pay much attention to it; after all, his goal would soon be achieved.
"Qianye, these two are the Hokage Advisors, Utatane Koharu-sama and Homura Mitokado-sama. As for this one, he is the leader of Konoha's Root, Danzo Shimura-sama."
Upon drawing closer, Kurenai Yuhi quietly introduced them to Qianye.
Upon hearing this, Qianye adopted an extremely sunny and respectful demeanor, bowing to the three old foxes, "Koharu-sama, Homura-sama, Danzo-sama..."
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado nodded, clearly very satisfied with Qianye's attitude, while Danzo remained expressionless. He, who detested sunlight, said indifferently, "Since you're here, let's begin. Your opponent is him."
"Kakashi, come out."
As his voice fell, a white-haired man dressed in Anbu attire and wearing a dog-head mask walked out.
"Kakashi Hatake, huh? I never thought we'd meet in this way." A subtle, playful expression flickered in Qianye's eyes as he thought to himself.
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