The clamor of the Ninja Academy graduation day faded away, and the setting sun draped the Village in warm light.
Inside the Hokage Office, however, it remained utterly silent.
Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was not, as usual, bent over the mountain of paperwork.
Instead, he stood at the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down on Konoha Village
On the table beside the window, the crystal ball was now dim and lifeless.
In today's graduation exam, besides Naruto, there was another figure he could not get out of his mind.
Tejima Shinichi.
Hiruzen slowly exhaled a smoke ring, his brows knitting together.
"Tejima Shinichi..."
The name, the sound echoed unusually clear in the empty office.
He tapped the pipe lightly against the window frame, shaking off some ash.
"Mori Chie's son… a Senju Bloodline… truly terrifying talent."
He recalled the scattered images he had once glimpsed in the crystal ball—what Tejima Shinichi displayed was strength far beyond his peers.
From the moment he entered the Ninja Academy, Tejima Shinichi's name had always sat above the Uchiha family's genius, never once shaken.
Whether it was perfect scores on theory exams or the effortless, unfathomable poise he showed in practical drills.
Every confrontation with Uchiha Sasuke ended in an overwhelming victory.
This was definitely not the level of an ordinary graduate. He had already surpassed many seasoned Genin… even Chunin.
At the same time, he remembered the evaluation report the Anbu had just delivered.
The report described the boy's Chakra reserves as "vast." "At such a young age, to possess such vast Chakra… the Senju constitution truly lives up to its fame," Hiruzen's gaze deepened. "Chakra as large as his mother's—no, perhaps even greater."
A genius like this is a treasure anywhere; but the main thing was how to guide and how to place him—right now, that was the problem he needed to weigh.
"Who should I entrust him to?" Hiruzen murmured. "Kakashi? No, not now, Kakashi is still…"
He considered every suitable Jonin in the Village, trying to find the best mentor—and observer—for this unpolished jade.
Right at that moment—
Clatter!
The Hokage Office door was flung open with a sudden crash.
Hiruzen glanced backward; although he couldn't see who it was… the entire Leaf had only one person who would barge into the Hokage Office so brazenly!
—Danzo Shimura.
Danzo leaned on his cane, stepped to the center of the office, his single eye sweeping over Hiruzen's back before finally resting on the crystal ball by the window.
"Hiruzen."
Danzo Shimura's hoarse voice shattered the room's silence.
Hiruzen still didn't turn around, seemingly unsurprised by his arrival, merely taking another puff as he gazed at the Village outside.
You didn't need brains to guess what his old friend—once the Hokage's aide—wanted at a time like this, right after the Academy graduation!
"For this year's graduates?!"
Hiruzen used a statement, not a question.
"Mm." Danzo moved to his side, also looking out. "In the graduation exam, the boy from the Tejima family… performed brilliantly."
He paused, a gleam flashing in his single eye.
"So I believe I need to do something."
Hiruzen kept silent, exhaling smoke rings as he waited for what came next.
"Hiruzen,"
Seeing Hiruzen say nothing, Danzo turned his head, his single eye fixed on Hiruzen's profile;
"Hand that boy over, along with the Uchiha kid and… the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, all to Root."
"Ahem! Ahem—!"
Even with mental preparation, Hiruzen was choked by Danzo's outrageous demand, coughing so hard he forgot to smoke.
He spun around, face flushed from coughing, eyes instantly razor-sharp.
"Impossible!" he refused flat-out. "Danzo, don't even think about it!"
He wouldn't let go of even one, let alone the three—the three most special, most important seedlings of this year!
It was simply wishful thinking!
"Not a single one." Hiruzen's voice dropped; he turned back, gaze returning to the bustling Village outside. "Their paths will be chosen by themselves, under the sun."
Danzo's single eye flickered a few times at Hiruzen's unyielding stance.
Knowing his old friend's stubbornness, the sky-high demand was merely to gain greater bargaining room.
"If three won't do, at least one," Danzo insisted. "I too must think of Konoha's future."
Hiruzen finally turned around, eyes behind the smoke appraising him.
He was curious which of the three special children Danzo had truly set his sights on.
"Who do you have your eye on?"
Seeing room to bargain, Danzo spoke without hesitation, a flash of certainty in his single eye:
"Tejima Shinichi."
Hiruzen's gaze sharpened.
Danzo Shimura, seeing this, simply continued:
"The Senju Bloodline is born with Chakra and physique far beyond ordinary people. This Tejima Shinichi is the cream of that crop."
The report shows his Chakra reserves far exceed Jonin level… With such talent, yet a detached temperament—unmoved by external things—he is exactly the kind of talent Root needs. Only by casting off useless emotions can the power of that bloodline be pushed to its limit, forging the sturdiest shield and sharpest sword to protect Konoha.
As he spoke, Danzo Shimura studied Hiruzen Sarutobi's profile, but the Third's face remained as calm as ever.
In the end, Danzo shifted the topic, unveiling the true intention he had weighed for so long:
"Hiruzen, you know very well that the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki… Uzumaki Naruto, is unstable. That child is too emotional, too uncontrollable. Entrusting the Village's strategic deterrent to such an uncertain factor is an enormous risk."
At these words, the fingers holding Hiruzen's pipe twitched almost imperceptibly.
"What are you getting at, Danzo…"
Seeing Hiruzen react, Danzo curled his lips and pressed on:
"We… need an insurance policy, a contingency. And Tejima Shinichi carries the Senju Bloodline—of the same origin as the Uzumaki Clan, older and even mightier. He was born with the vast Chakra and robust body needed to host a Tailed Beast… He is a natural Jinchuriki vessel!"
His single eye bored into Hiruzen as he declared with absolute certainty:
"Hand him to Root. I will forge him into the perfect weapon—not merely a blade ready for use now, but, should the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki ever fail, the reliable fallback to assume control of the Nine-Tails and keep Konoha's strength intact! That is the most responsible course for the Village."
The moment these words fell, the air in the office seemed to solidify.
Hiruzen turned fully around.
The composure he had maintained finally cracked; his brows locked, eyes boring straight into Danzo.
He had never imagined Danzo Shimura could harbor such a terrifying notion!
"A… backup Jinchuriki?" Hiruzen's voice shook with shock and fury. "That's your scheme, Danzo?"
Danzo met his gaze without flinching: "It's for Konoha's absolute security—a necessary safeguard."
"Enough!" Hiruzen cut him off sharply. "I will never agree! Labeling a child a 'vessel' and 'backup weapon' in advance—this is what you call responsibility to the Village?"
"Responsibility?" Danzo sneered. "Hiruzen, you're naïve. Precisely because we must answer for the Village do we need foolproof preparations! Should the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki lose control…"
"Then guide Naruto properly!" Hiruzen stepped forward, his Hokage cloak stirring though no wind blew. "Not sacrifice another child's future!"
"Future? Without power, what future can there be!" Danzo's single eye glinted harshly. "With Senju blood and massive Chakra, he is the ideal spare vessel! Sentiment will only doom Konoha!"
"This isn't sentiment!" Hiruzen's voice rose sharply. "Where leaves dance, the fire burns eternal. The young generation is the Village's hope, not weaponry to be forged at will!"
"New leaves? In the cruel Ninja World, how many saplings die before they bud?" Danzo mocked. "Only absolute power guarantees survival!"
"Strength twisted in darkness will devour itself!" Hiruzen retorted. "His future should lie under the sun, growing alongside comrades!"
"Your Will of Fire is too idealistic, Hiruzen!" Danzo slammed his cane. "Reality demands concrete safeguards!"
"Not at the cost of strangling a child's potential!" Hiruzen's eyes blazed. "As for Naruto, I believe in Kakashi, I believe our Jonin can guide him. Konoha has no need for such a cold 'backup plan'!"
Confronted with the stubborn Hiruzen, Danzo spoke again in irritation:
"Hiruzen, you should understand…"
Before he could finish, Hiruzen bellowed:
"Enough!"
The roar echoed through the office, shaking the very walls and cutting Danzo short.
"I will never hand that child over to you!"
Hiruzen declared with absolute finality.
Danzo glared at him; the two stood locked in confrontation, mere inches apart.
The air in the office felt frozen solid.
After a long silence, a twisted expression surfaced on Danzo's gloomy face, cold light flickering in his single eye.
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
Hiruzen met his stare without yielding and proclaimed aloud:
"I am the Hokage!"
At those words, Danzo's face changed, the rest of his sentence dying in his throat.
His gaze bored into Hiruzen, the fury in that lone eye nearly spilling over.
"Hmph!"
After a moment he let out a cold snort through clenched teeth, spun on his heel, and strode away, cane thudding.
"Bang!"
The office door slammed shut so hard the walls trembled.
Hiruzen remained where he stood, the tobacco in his pipe long extinguished.
He exhaled slowly, eyes drifting back to the Jonin roster on the desk.
"I must find him a reliable mentor…"
Tejima Shinichi… Hiruzen gazed toward a part of the Village where the Tejima family roughly resided.
The growth of a prodigy is always accompanied by wind and rain.
And what he had to do was shelter the sapling, carving out as normal a sky for it as possible.
At least, while he remained Hokage!
But for now, something more urgent—Hiruzen stepped to the crystal ball and formed hand seals.
"Telescope Technique."
Mist swirled within the sphere, and gradually the figure of Uzumaki Naruto appeared!