Hokage Tower, the Third Hokage's office.
Looking at Uchiha Yusuke standing straight in front of him, the Third Hokage fell into thought.
He had originally planned to have Yusuke lead a mission to protect someone, but yesterday, while chatting with his son, Asuma, he had inadvertently brought up the matter of Yusuke's fight with the Uchiha clan members at the teahouse, and the Third Hokage changed his mind.
This was a young genius with incredible talent. According to Asuma's description, his strength currently surpassed Kakashi's.
More importantly, he didn't seem to value family ties very much. If he could be absorbed into his faction, he would have another capable expert under his command.
The Third Great Ninja War had recently ended, and this was Konohagakure's most prosperous period since the death of the First Hokage.
The powerful Uchiha clan was still around, and the Yellow Flash's reputation was skyrocketing. Tsunade, one of the Sannin, had left Konohagakure due to the deaths of her brother and lover, but Orochimaru and Jiraiya remained in the village. From the outside world's perspective, the Sannin were still a formidable force.
This period of Konohagakure, while not as dominant in the ninja world as during the time of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, would require at least three of the other four great ninja villages to work together if they wanted to challenge Konoha.
Although the Third Hokage admired Yusuke's talent, he wasn't in dire need of talent at the moment. Therefore, the Third Hokage decided to give Yusuke a mission to test him.
Taking a puff of his pipe, the Third Hokage said slowly, "Yusuke, I've called you here to give you a very important mission."
Yusuke didn't speak, waiting for the Third Hokage to explain the mission.
"After the Third Great Ninja War, the village, as the victor, needs to collect compensation from the defeated nation. This time, Danzō will be responsible for negotiating with the defeated nation, Amegakure, to discuss the post-war compensation."
The Third Hokage paused, took another puff of his pipe, and continued, "You, as my representative, will supervise Danzō. I need to know everything about the entire negotiation process and the agreement he reaches with Hanzo."
This mission was something the Third Hokage had been thinking about for a long time. Danzō himself was very domineering and ruthless. Without any strength, it would be difficult to deal with him.
The Third Hokage had not been without assigning personnel to supervise Danzō in similar missions before, but every time, the ninja sent to carry out the mission was either controlled by Danzō or died for various reasons.
The Third Hokage had given up later. Even the experts under his command were limited, and he wasn't willing to let those experts be lost to Danzō.
Now that a capable person like Yusuke had appeared, and he wasn't part of his direct lineage, the Third Hokage was naturally happy to make good use of him. Whether Yusuke succeeded or not, he wouldn't suffer any losses.
Another very important point was the conflict between Danzō and the Uchiha clan. Danzō inherited the Second Hokage's prejudice against the Uchiha clan, and the Uchiha clan naturally didn't have any affection for Danzō. Assigning Yusuke to supervise Danzō would also serve to balance Danzō and the Uchiha clan, a win-win situation.
Yusuke could guess the Third Hokage's intentions from the mission's content. However, he wasn't the kind of ninja who naively believed in the so-called "Will of Fire." He wasn't surprised by the Third Hokage's arrangement.
"When does the mission start?" Yusuke asked expressionlessly.
"Three days from now. Someone will come to notify you then." The Third Hokage said.
Yusuke nodded. "Understood. If you have no other instructions, I'll go back and prepare."
The Third Hokage hummed in response, indicating that Yusuke could do as he pleased. As Yusuke stepped out of the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage reminded him, "Danzō may use some underhanded methods. Be careful."
After receiving the mission assigned by the Third Hokage, it was just past noon.
"I have three days. I can start laying some groundwork for Kabuto. This mission should take a while, so while I'm gone, Kabuto can do some training on his own," Yusuke thought to himself.
"Before I go home, I should pay a visit to Uchiha Fugaku." Thinking of Souichiro coming to find him earlier, Yusuke decided to go see what Fugaku wanted.
Uchiha clan territory, Uchiha Fugaku's mansion.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." A six or seven-year-old boy stood by the lake, using the Uchiha clan's signature fire-type jutsu, aiming at the center of the lake.
A large amount of flames erupted from the boy's mouth, forming a giant fireball above the center of the lake. It was clear that the boy had successfully completed the jutsu.
The fireball lasted for about five seconds before the boy stopped releasing chakra, and the Great Fireball Technique stopped.
A middle-aged man in a kimono standing beside the boy laughed happily in satisfaction, praising him proudly, That's my son! The middle-aged man had not expected his son to be able to perform the complete Great Fireball Technique after only watching him demonstrate it once.
This father and son were Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi. Fugaku had originally planned to gradually guide Itachi in his ninjutsu after he entered the Ninja Academy, but he now had other plans, so he started teaching Itachi early.
However, the more he taught Itachi, the more shocked he was by his son's talent, making him believe that Itachi was the future hope of the Uchiha clan!
"Clan leader, Uchiha Yusuke is here to visit. He said you wanted to see him." An Uchiha clan member came to report.
"Bring him here." Fugaku said, his expression returning to its usual seriousness.
"Itachi, you don't have to leave. Just watch here." Fugaku said to Itachi, who was about to leave.
Itachi agreed and stood obediently to the side.
Soon, the Uchiha clan member who had delivered the message brought Yusuke to the small lake where Fugaku and Itachi were practicing jutsu.
Seeing Itachi standing beside Fugaku, Yusuke was slightly surprised. He had originally thought that Fugaku wanted to talk to him alone, to instill some ideas about valuing the clan, and to encourage him to participate more in clan activities.
In Yusuke's understanding, Fugaku was a responsible clan leader and a very loving father. It was just a pity that his control over the clan was insufficient. He couldn't restrain the arrogant and conceited members of the clan, and he couldn't persuade the clan's two genius prodigies, Shisui and Itachi, to stand by his side.
In the end, Uchiha Fugaku, with his Mangekyo Sharingan, was willing to die and sacrifice his entire clan to fulfill Itachi's will. It was a tragic story that was truly heartbreaking.
Seeing Yusuke arrive, Fugaku's expression became even more serious. He said in a deep voice, "Uchiha Yusuke, Ryuya and the others reported that you not only fabricated reasons to skip the clan meeting, but you also bullied them and injured them. What do you have to say about that?"
Yusuke frowned slightly. He had considered that Fugaku might be calling him out, but the possibility was low. After all, for a leader who lacked capable subordinates, attracting powerful members was the first priority.
In his opinion, Fugaku, with his intelligence, shouldn't make such a mistake.
"Clan leader, I apologize for not being able to attend the clan meeting. I had an important matter to attend to at that time, but some unexpected things happened." Yusuke said calmly.
Pausing, Yusuke continued, "As for those three who provoked me, I only gave them a slight punishment." Yusuke wouldn't compromise or admit fault for something he didn't do, not even to the clan leader of the Uchiha clan.
Fugaku sneered, "You're really arrogant. The outside world says that you and Kakashi are the strongest geniuses of the new generation in Konoha. They even gave you the nickname 'Flame Sword.' Let me see if you live up to your name." After speaking, Fugaku gestured for Itachi to step aside.
"Since the clan leader wants to give me some pointers, I'll humbly accept." Yusuke said calmly.
He hadn't expected Fugaku to want to fight him. But judging from the situation, it seemed like Fugaku wanted to give him a warning, to teach him a lesson. If he really wanted to deal with him, he wouldn't have let Itachi, who was currently unable to fight, watch from the side.
The two stared at each other quietly. Seeing that Yusuke didn't intend to make the first move, Fugaku prepared to launch an attack. At the same time, the pupils in his eyes changed from pure black to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Fugaku quickly formed hand seals with both hands. Yusuke immediately recognized that he was forming the hand seals for the "Great Fireball Technique." He decided to respond with the same jutsu, quickly forming hand seals with both hands. He was actually a step behind, but he managed to complete the jutsu at the same time as Fugaku.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" The two voices rang out simultaneously.
A large amount of flames erupted from their mouths, colliding with each other. The air nearby twisted due to the rapid increase in temperature.
The Great Fireball Technique was one of the signature jutsu of the Uchiha clan, used by Uchiha ninjas to test or disrupt their opponents' jutsu. It was basically impossible to burn an enemy ninja to death with this jutsu in a real battle.
Uchiha Fugaku, who was maintaining the Great Fireball Technique, was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Yusuke's hand seal speed to be so fast. He was able to complete the Great Fireball Technique at the same time as him, even though he started later.
Furthermore, Fugaku keenly realized that he had injected more chakra than his opponent, but the flames his opponent was spewing seemed to be more powerful. He needed to expend more chakra to match his opponent.
"What? He's still forming hand seals? His chakra control has reached this level?" At this moment, Fugaku suddenly discovered that Yusuke, who was currently clashing with him using the Great Fireball Technique, had begun forming hand seals again. His speed was incredible, and he completed the hand seals in the blink of an eye.
______________
for more advance chapter
Visit my p@treon page
p@treon.com/kane45