Amid the murmuring crowd, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Yamato stood together.
"…That's a bit much," Asuma muttered. He lit a cigarette, took a slow drag, and exhaled. His gaze swept across the battlefield—or what was left of it. The ground had been torn apart, a massive crater dominating the area, scattered with broken wooden stakes and debris. At its center, a towering wooden Buddha statue was slowly sinking, its immense form still looming over everything.
"It's beyond that," Kurenai said quietly, her face still pale. "That kind of power… it's hard to believe it belongs to a twelve-year-old."
"There's nothing to be curious about," Kakashi cut in, his visible eye glancing toward Tejima Shinichi, who was conversing with Hiruzen Sarutobi in the distance. "After all... he is our future Hokage."
Kakashi had voiced the unspoken truth known by everyone in Konoha.
"Yes..." Asuma's gaze was complex. "Our future Hokage."
"Speaking of which..." Yamato walked over with a wry smile. He looked up at Shinichi's distant figure, then down at his own hands. "I finally understand where my codename 'benevolent wood' comes from." He raised his hand. A pale green chakra glowed in his palm, and a few thin wooden branches sprouted out.
"Compared to Shinichi's world-altering Wood Release..." Yamato looked at the gentle creation in his hand, his mouth twitching. "Mine is indeed quite 'benevolent.'"
Kurenai couldn't help but stifle a laugh behind her hand. "Sorry!"
Asuma grinned and patted Yamato's shoulder. "Don't be discouraged, Yamato. Your Wood Release is still very practical for construction and defense."
"That's right," Kakashi added in his usual lazy drawl. "At least you won't instantly demolish the entire training ground... no, the entire Chunin Exams venue and the surrounding neighborhoods."
Yamato's shoulders slumped. "Are you guys trying to comfort me...?"
"Of course we are." Asuma laughed. "After all, not everyone can compare to that kind of monster... ahem, I mean, that kind of genius."
Kakashi offered a deadpan stare, noncommittal to Asuma's words. 'A genius? Perhaps. But I think calling him a powerful ninja would be more appropriate.'
Compared to the lively noise and excitement in the center of the ruins, the top floor of a relatively intact residential building a hundred meters away presented a completely different scene. A window sat half-open, its curtains swaying slightly in the wind. Beside it stood a silent figure leaning on a cane: Danzo Shimura.
His exposed left eye gazed toward the black-haired youth surrounded by the crowd in the distant ruins. The bulging veins on the back of the hand gripping his cane betrayed his inner turmoil. Finally, Danzo lowered his eyelid, concealing his emotions. "Fu... Torune."
Behind him, two figures stepped out of the shadows and replied in unison, "Lord Danzo."
"Starting today," Danzo began, keeping his back to them so they couldn't read his expression, "all plans concerning Tejima Shinichi are completely terminated."
Fu Yamanaka and Aburame Torune froze.
"Lord Danzo?" Fu asked cautiously. As the man responsible for intelligence analysis and action planning, he knew exactly how much effort Danzo had invested to obtain or control Tejima Shinichi. Given the boy's increasingly high status and power in Konoha, halting their operations now meant Danzo's path to the Hokage position would once again become unattainable. Furthermore, it would likely weaken their remaining influence for a long time.
"I do not want to repeat myself!" The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.
"Yes, Lord Danzo," Fu immediately bowed his head. "Effective immediately, all observation, contact, assessment, and action plans targeting Tejima Shinichi will be archived and terminated."
Danzo waved his hand dismissively. Taking the cue, Fu and Torune silently withdrew into the shadows.
Out in the darkened corridor, Torune stopped. He turned his heavily wrapped face toward his partner. "Fu, are we really giving up just like this?"
Fu did not answer immediately, simply looking at him calmly.
"Lord Danzo's orders must be obeyed," Torune continued, lowering his voice. "But I'm not resigned to it. Doesn't Tejima Shinichi have a weakness? Intelligence shows he has parents and a happy family. If we just—"
"Torune," Fu interrupted, his face tight with disappointment. Torune frowned, falling silent as he waited for an explanation.
"All intelligence analysis concerning Tejima Shinichi has passed through my hands," Fu began, his gaze sharp. "I know his character better than anyone. It's true that he loves his parents and will protect them with everything he has. But if you think that's a soft spot we can exploit, you are gravely mistaken."
Torune narrowed his eyes.
"Based on our comprehensive assessment of his personality, decision logic, and risk tolerance," Fu continued, "if we attempt to coerce him by threatening or harming his parents, there is only one outcome. The moment he confirms he cannot save them, he will personally and irreversibly sever that 'weakness.' And then..." He glanced back toward Danzo's door. "...he will wipe us all from this world. Lord Danzo, and anyone who participated, planned, or even knew about the operation. Without exception."
Torune stiffened, his exposed eyes widening slightly.
"He is capable of doing it," Fu concluded with absolute certainty. "And with the power he displayed today, he has the means."
The corridor fell utterly silent. Torune stood rooted to the spot. He had never expected that the promising young man hid such a ruthless core beneath his calm exterior.
"So, give it up, Torune," Fu said, patting his shoulder. "Touching his family isn't grabbing a weakness; it's starting the countdown to our destruction. Lord Danzo saw this clearly, which is why he decisively called it off."
Previously, they had avoided the boy's family out of fear of infuriating the Third Hokage. Now, they were terrified of infuriating Tejima Shinichi himself.
Torune slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. "I understand."
Meanwhile, inside the room, Danzo stared out the window, overwhelmed by a surge of powerlessness. He was entirely unwilling to accept this outcome. He had plotted for years, watching Hiruzen grow old, watching Konoha suffer a drought of new talent, and waiting for the Hokage position to finally fall within his reach. And then, Tejima Shinichi had suddenly appeared.
A monster who, at just twelve years old, possessed the power to suppress all dissent and completely rewrite the village's balance of power.
Just as Fu and Torune had concluded in the corridor, Danzo had considered numerous extreme methods to control the boy, only to find them completely unfeasible.
Tejima Shinichi truly had no exploitable weakness. He was unassailable. Moreover, the current situation was completely out of his control. Without the Hokage's backing, Danzo's authority meant little.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had placed all his resources, all his expectations, and the very future of Konoha upon that boy's shoulders. And the boy had repaid that trust with an undeniable victory, firmly blocking Danzo's path to power.
Strength, prestige, and public justification all now stood with Hiruzen and Shinichi. Danzo slowly raised his left hand, staring at the bulging veins, before weakly releasing his grip on his cane.
Was it despair? Perhaps a little. After witnessing Shinichi effortlessly wield that world-altering Wood Release, Danzo realized that any military action targeting the boy was a fool's errand.
More importantly, a subtle chill crept into Danzo's heart. 'Now... it's his turn.' The thought surfaced uncontrollably. He understood Shinichi's character from his past actions. The boy clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment. He sought revenge and executed it ruthlessly. Danzo had repeatedly targeted him, even sending a Root squad to kidnap him. There was no way the boy would forget that debt.
Before, the boy might have needed to lie low and grow his strength. But after today, everything was different. Shinichi had used this victory to declare his unshakable status in Konoha, granting himself the authority to finally settle old scores. Retaliation was surely coming. And all Danzo could do was passively endure and hope to survive it.
He stared intently at the figure in the center of the ruins, trying to glean something from that calm profile.
Suddenly, in the center of the ruins, Shinichi turned his head away from the medical ninja reporting to him. His gaze crossed a hundred meters, pierced the half-open window, and met Danzo's spying left eye with terrifying accuracy.
Danzo's breath hitched, his heart trembling.
However, after only a moment of eye contact, Shinichi casually withdrew his gaze and looked back at the reporting ninja. But Danzo's face instantly darkened. 'He discovered me!' He hadn't expected Shinichi's sensing capabilities to single him out among such a massive crowd and from such a distance.
Back in the ruins, a faint flicker of amusement danced in Shinichi's calm eyes.
'Don't rush...' 'Old rat.'
'Your retribution... your final outcome... is coming soon.' 'I told you—' 'You've already sealed your own fate!'
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