"Tonight, you want to challenge me?" Danzo, standing in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, frowned as he looked at Kizaru.
Three days! It had only been three days since Kizaru proposed to challenge the Uchiha clan's Jonin in the graduation exam, demanding that he must pass Danzo's test within a month.
Danzo had given him a whole month of preparation time, yet Kizaru had only prepared for three days. This child seemed a bit full of himself!
The praise from the village and the weakness of his peers over the past month had made him arrogant, preventing him from truly understanding himself.
Danzo was a bit angry and worried about this. This couldn't go on. Pride and arrogance were the greatest enemies of genius, and Kizaru needed to realize this.
"For this exam, I won't hold back at all! You must think it over, Kizaru!" Danzo emphasized his words.
"How frightening, my dear uncle!" Kizaru said with a carefree smile, completely ignoring Danzo's warning.
"Hmph!"
While inwardly snorting with anger, Danzo maintained a calm expression on the surface, staring at Kizaru and continuing, "Since you're so confident, then I'll agree. Tonight at 8 o'clock, right at the clan's training ground, I'll be waiting for you."
"Don't worry, Uncle! I'll be there on time," Kizaru replied with a smile.
"I hope you won't disappoint me," Danzo said seriously.
"Well, you better get ready, don't let me scare you!"
"Very well, I'll be looking forward to it," Danzo nodded.
While the two were talking, a figure descended from the sky, facing Danzo, and half-knelt on the ground.
"Danzo-sama, the Hokage is here."
Hearing the reply from his subordinate, Danzo nodded slightly and waved, saying, "I know, you may leave!"
Seeing the person using Body Flicker Jutsu to leave, Kizaru knew Danzo had some business to attend to. So, he directly said, "Then we'll meet tonight, Uncle Danzo!"
After saying that, Kizaru waved to Danzo, didn't wait for him to respond, and turned around to leave.
...
"Shameless!"
Looking at the face with many wrinkles in front of him, Danzo really wanted to take off his size 40 shoes and smack him hard.
"Disgusting! Despicable!"
It was bad enough that he stole the position of Hokage from him back then, and now he wanted to snatch his nephew? Moreover, he was trying to take his disciple's disciple!
It was simply a case of putting the left cheek against the right cheek, acting shameless on one side while pretending to be righteous on the other!
Looking at Hiruzen, who was smiling in front of him, ready to take any hits or scolding, Danzo felt the anger rising in him!
But anger aside, for the future benefit of his nephew, Danzo had to admit in his heart that the advantages of having this shameless old bastard, Hiruzen, as his nephew's teacher were indeed greater.
If Kizaru's teacher was Orochimaru, then Kizaru's future was most likely to compete for the position of the Fifth Hokage, as there were still the Legendary Trio above him in his generation.
If Hiruzen became Kizaru's teacher, then Kizaru would be qualified to compete for the position of the Fourth Hokage, with a chance to become the youngest Hokage in the history of Konoha at the age of twenty.
The time difference between the two scenarios was huge, making Danzo reluctantly admit that the benefits brought by having Hiruzen as Kizaru's teacher far exceeded those of Orochimaru.
"Does Orochimaru have any objections?" Even though he had agreed in his heart, Danzo, who was still upset, didn't give a direct answer.
Maintaining a friendly smile and taking a puff of his pipe, Hiruzen slowly said, "They have no objections."
Nodding, Danzo said coldly, "In that case, I can only follow the arrangements of the Lord Hokage."
To mock Hiruzen, Danzo emphasized the two words "Lord Hokage" in his speech.
Hiruzen also caught the mocking tone, but instead of getting angry, he became even more cheerful.
"Danzo! I'm not trying to snatch Orochimaru's disciple. Everything I do is for the village and the future of Kizaru. Do you know? Yesterday afternoon, Kizaru defeated Jiraiya and sent him to the hospital."
"What?"
Danzo was shocked, but he still maintained a calm expression, pretending to be as steady as a rock.
"Although Jiraiya didn't use his signature jutsu to hide his identity, even so, defeating Jiraiya so easily is not something an ordinary Jonin can do." At this point, Hiruzen praised with admiration, "Kizaru, this kid, is really amazing!"
"Why did Jiraiya attack Kizaru?" Danzo, though amazed by Kizaru's strength, was more concerned about this question.
"This is on me." Hiruzen actively took the responsibility, "I informed Jiraiya about Orochimaru wanting to take Kizaru as his disciple. That idiot was too impulsive. Hearing about Kizaru's genius, he disguised himself as a ninja from another village and ambushed Kizaru, wanting to test the kid's strength."
"Ambushed?"
Now, Danzo was even more angry.
"Attacking fellow villagers is an act of betrayal. Jiraiya, he..."
"I've already reprimanded him. He was seriously injured by Kizaru, with multiple fractures all over his body, and he's lying in the hospital," Hiruzen interrupted Danzo, hastily explaining.
"What a mess!" Danzo commented angrily.
"Young people are too impulsive; we old folks need to persist and continue guiding them," Hiruzen said with a tone of emotion, trying to shift the topic.
Danzo fell for it, and in agreement, he nodded, saying, "Yes! For the sake of the young generation of the village, we must continue to persist!"
Once the conversation shifted to this topic, the two old foxes found common ground.
One sentence after another, they began to reminisce about the merits they had earned for each other in the past, sighing about the difficulties back then and the beauty of the present.
They also took the opportunity to complain about how the young generation in the village now enjoyed such a happy life compared to their own youth, and how today's young people were so corrupt and lazy compared to their own time.
"These kids now need more training!"
"Yes! Truly not as good as our generation!"
The two summarized their thoughts on this topic.
After reminiscing about the past, Danzo's anger dissipated, and he found Hiruzen in front of him a bit more agreeable.
"That kid Kizaru is preparing to challenge me tonight. Hiruzen, you should come and observe. Consider it evaluating your disciple."
Faced with Danzo's invitation, Hiruzen, who was already curious and interested in Kizaru, naturally agreed without hesitation.
"Hahaha! Okay, I'll definitely come tonight. I want to see how strong Kizaru really is."
"Tonight at 8 o'clock, I'll be waiting for you at the clan's training ground."