After thinking it through, Gisei Shiraishi began to smile bitterly.
That guy Danzo wanted to drag him into the ANBU right when the Ninja Academy started. He didn't know what his uncle was thinking, actually coming back to ask for his opinion.
Did he want him to side with the Third Hokage?
There was no chance in hell of that happening. Leaving aside whether the Hokage's faction would even accept him, Gisei himself would be the first to refuse.
Danzo was shady as hell. If Gisei fell into his hands, the man might just slap a Cursed Seal on him, and then who would he cry to?
Wait. A lightbulb went off in Gisei's mind. He suddenly thought about his parents' deaths.
They didn't die in the Ninja World War; they died during ordinary missions. At the time, he had felt it was very suspicious.
Moreover, when his parents died, the Third had just taken office. If his whole family was killed off, who would benefit the most?
The Third Hokage.
Thinking of this, Gisei sucked in a breath of cold air.
He was the only one left in his family. Danzo and the Third had plenty of means to toy with him. By controlling him and eventually absorbing his clan's power, the Hokage's status and influence would inflate even more.
If that was really the case... Gisei looked at his "good uncle," Eisawa Shiraishi, and felt grateful to this man from the bottom of his heart.
The fact that he had been able to live so easily these past few years was undoubtedly because Eisawa had withstood the pressure from the outside.
Thinking about how Eisawa once fought with Danzo, that must have been a demonstration of his tough stance—a warning not to let Danzo and the Third be too presumptuous, while also carving out some room for Gisei to have a choice.
If he really joined a ninja squad, what would likely follow would be the shadow of death.
He estimated that Eisawa had also been hesitating for the past two years, and only found a way out for him when Gisei mentioned he wanted to enter the hospital.
Gisei didn't know if there really was a person like him in Konoha's history. If there was, he probably didn't live long.
Danzo would absolutely not let him go. Now that he had made it clear he wouldn't be controlled, Danzo might decide there was no other way but to kill him to make his political opposition collapse.
He hadn't realized it before he really thought about it, but now Gisei broke out in a cold sweat.
He rejoiced at his choice to enter the hospital but also worried about the future.
The interest group led by Takemoto would definitely not let him live so comfortably in the hospital; they would try every means to push him into a high position. When that time came, for their own interests, he would definitely have to fight against the faction led by the Third Hokage.
Whether he could win or not was unknown, but Gisei felt there was no need to do such a thing.
It was just that the matter of his parents had now become a thorn in his heart.
If it really was done by the Third and Danzo...
Gisei sneered, dropping one word before leaving.
"Boring."
Eisawa looked at his retreating back and smiled bitterly.
"It is indeed very boring."
Back in his room, Gisei opened a ninjutsu scroll but couldn't focus on it no matter what. After forcing himself to read for a while, he put down the scroll and began to space out.
What should he do?
Get rid of the Third and become the Fourth Hokage himself? How?
Unless something unexpected happened, the Third would live longer than him. Because of the clan's damned secret technique, there was a high probability Gisei wouldn't live to see fifty.
A coup d'état was also difficult; the faction led by the Third was massive.
Moreover, the ninja clans led by Takemoto only wanted him to fight for their interests. If he really let them stage a coup, he feared he would be the first one abandoned when things went south.
So, was his only choice to stay in the hospital?
Stabilize first, lay low, and then evolve a "double Sharingan" into a "Rinnegan"? Wait until his strength was great enough to launch a coup and become Hokage?
Boring!
The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Gisei felt that since he had managed to live again, how could he be bound by the village? Boring things like politics didn't suit him.
Did he live again just to be a small village head?
Hey, hey, hey, don't make that kind of joke.
His clan and relatives had already been buried by the rotting leaves of Konoha Village. Was he going to become just another layer of compost?
Only a fool would do such a thing. Being a saint was incompatible with his nature.
Thinking of this, Gisei's gaze became eerie.
"Since you treat my clan and relatives as nutrients to be absorbed, don't blame me for treating you as nutrients."
Hehe. Gisei let out a strange laugh. He found a book on the bookshelf, and the more he read, the eerier his smile became.
After a long time, Gisei closed the book, shut his eyes, and began to ponder.
If the records in the book were correct, then what he needed was a Cursed Seal.
A Cursed Seal capable of controlling people.
It was just that most of the Cursed Seals in the plot were vague, and Gisei didn't understand how Cursed Seals were formed right now.
Was it related to Fuinjutsu?
He didn't know, but it didn't matter. He was still young; there would be opportunities to come into contact with such things in the future.
The most important thing right now was Eisawa's health problem.
He didn't know if medical ninjutsu could save Eisawa's life, but he would try his best. Regardless of the reason, he didn't want this uncle to die.
After all, he was his last relative.
The next day, Gisei was dragged out of bed by his "good" uncle and forced to wear the clan robes.
That set of colorful clothes that looked extremely like cross-dressing.
After eating, Eisawa took him to the Takemoto house. From today on, he would be training with that old man.
"Uncle Eisawa, I'm going to train—why do I have to wear these clothes?"
"This is your first time going there. The significance is very important."
Upon arriving at the Takemoto estate, Gisei understood the meaning of wearing the robes.
Walking on the street, people bowed to them from time to time, making Gisei feel uncomfortable all over. Encountering this situation for the first time, he was extremely unaccustomed to it.
Most of the houses around his own home were empty. They didn't even have neighbors; living there was like living in a ghost district.
Here, it was not only lively and prosperous, but more importantly, full of the breath of life.
"Uncle Eisawa, who are those people bowing to us?"
"Clansmen."
When they met Shuichi Takemoto, Eisawa said, "Uncle Shuichi, I leave Gisei in your care. I'll go back first."
Shuichi nodded, then turned back and shouted, "Anna, come out quickly, we're leaving."
Training involves bringing the granddaughter along?
Gisei didn't understand Shuichi's thought process.
After they went out, Anna Takemoto, dressed in simple clothes, followed behind the two of them. Not far away, a training ground appeared before their eyes.
Shuichi stood on the field and said, "Gisei, your foundation is poor. I'm afraid I might accidentally hurt you if I train with you, so it just so happens that Anna can be your opponent."
Gisei looked back at Anna, and Anna was also staring at him.
"Is Sister Anna very strong?"
"Average."
That was Anna's answer. Very modest.
But when they actually sparred, Gisei was dumbfounded.
This "average" was truly anything but average!
Just her Taijutsu alone was enough to subdue him in an instant, leaving him with no power to resist.
So this day was quite miserable for Gisei; he was rubbed against the ground almost the entire time.
Anna probably already had the strength of a Chunin; beating him was like playing. And she wasn't even flushed or out of breath, while Gisei ended up lying on the ground too tired to move.
"Sister Anna, you really are amazing. How did you train?"
"Just trained like this."
Gisei pointed at himself. "Trained like I am?"
"Yeah."
Gisei was speechless. He had just been beaten up all day today. Did she get beaten up every day?
Shuichi, this old man, was a ruthless person.
After the day's training ended, Shuichi took them home.
"Gisei, your home is a bit far from here. Why don't you just stay at my house?"
Anna began to cough frantically.
Gisei had a strange expression. "No need, thank you Grandpa Shuichi."
Shuichi glared at Anna, then asked again, "When is your graduation exam?"
Speaking of this, Gisei remembered that Kawano would be bringing his daughter Mie to visit tomorrow, and he would only know the exact time then.
"My Ninja Academy teacher will visit my home tomorrow, I'll know then."
"Oh, I hope the time isn't too tight. The most important thing for you right now is improving your Taijutsu strength; Ninjutsu is actually not as important."
"I understand."
Returning home, he didn't see Eisawa, so Gisei went straight back to his room.
Lying on the bed, feeling the soreness all over his body, he grinned.
Of course, just one day of training didn't have much effect, but he could feel himself getting stronger.
Not physically stronger, but mentally stronger.
Something like combat experience might not play a big role at the Jonin level, but in battles between Chunin and Genin, experience was particularly important.
He began to look forward to tomorrow's training.
However, he couldn't be idle now. Although Shuichi said there was no rush for Ninjutsu, knowing more was always beneficial.
He flipped through the scroll and saw the Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin no Jutsu), thinking it would be better to learn this first.
After practicing three times, Gisei learned the Body Flicker Technique.
He wasn't too happy; after all, this was just a relatively simple Body Flicker. It was just that he felt his speed of learning Ninjutsu was a bit abnormal.
Was the butterfly seed in his body already starting to take effect?
He guessed secretly, never understanding why he learned Ninjutsu so quickly.
Could it be because of soul power? If calculating soul age, he should be an old man in his thirties this year, too.
Hmm, an uncle even older than Eisawa.
If Eisawa knew, he would probably be too disgusted to eat.
Gisei laughed wickedly.