“What does Dad want to ask me?”
Ino sat obediently, looking like the very picture of a well-behaved child.
“What do you think of Aoba Hayashi?” Inoichi decided to ask his daughter directly.
The moment Aoba’s name was mentioned, Ino’s eyes lit up.
“Aoba is an especially, especially wonderful person!
He’s handsome, cheerful, gentle, an amazing cook, and the stories he tells are super, super interesting!
Speaking of stories—”
“Stop!
Stop!”
Inoichi hurriedly interrupted her, his face covered in black lines.
That wasn’t what he wanted to know.
He had been asking about Aoba’s talent as a ninja, yet she’d spent all this time praising everything else.
Looking at Ino, who had instantly returned to her innocent, well-behaved expression, he couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.
Everything about this daughter of mine is great…
except she’s a little too lovestruck…
“Ino, what Dad wants to know is…
how talented is Aoba Hayashi as a ninja?”
“Oh?
That?”
“I don’t really know.”
The black lines on Inoichi’s face only deepened.
Fortunately, Ino still managed to give him a vague answer.
“Now that I think about it…
about a year ago, when Sakura and I were being bullied…”
“Aoba beat up a whole group of boys who were even older than him—all by himself.”
“He was sooo cool back then!
Waaah!”
As she spoke, Ino blushed furiously, covered her face, and began rolling around on the sofa.
Watching his daughter fall into another lovestruck trance, Inoichi sighed helplessly.
Still…
He now had a rough understanding of Aoba’s talent.
At only four years old, Aoba had been able to defeat several children his own age—and even older ones.
That meant he had likely already learned to use chakra at that age.
And just one year later, he had already reached the level of a genin.
That was undeniably the mark of an exceptional prodigy.
I’ll discuss this with Shikaku tomorrow.
After Minato Namikaze’s death, the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance had found itself in a rather awkward position.
“Dad!”
“I have to tell you something!”
While Inoichi was still thinking, Ino suddenly popped right up in front of him, her face full of excitement.
He smiled.
“Then why don’t you tell us?
What kind of story was it?”
“It’s about Lord Hokage and Elder Danzo!
Apparently they were…”
Ino enthusiastically retold the story Aoba had told them.
By the time she finished…
Both Inoichi and Rino’s expressions had completely fallen apart.
The husband and wife exchanged glances, each seeing the same strange look in the other’s eyes.
“Ino…”
“Did Aoba Hayashi really tell you this story?”
“Mhm!”
“The story between Lord Hokage and Elder Danzo was so complicated…
and so touching!”
“…”
The couple fell silent once again.
Oddly enough…
The story actually sounded strangely believable.
I’ll mention this to Shikaku tomorrow as well…
A similar scene unfolded that night in both Tenten’s and Sakura’s homes.
“Everything you said…
is true?”
Inside the Hokage Tower…
Hiruzen Sarutobi had only just begun recovering from the shocking revelation that his childhood friend, Shimura Danzo, might supposedly harbor “improper feelings” toward him.
Now…
Another surprising report had arrived.
The ANBU ninja answered truthfully.
“Shirakumo Jonin said it himself.”
“He made no attempt to hide his words, and anyone paying attention nearby could have heard them.”
Hearing this, Hiruzen’s expression gradually grew serious.
He sank into thought.
Kakashi…
Once Konoha’s most famous child prodigy.
He had graduated from the Academy after only a single year and quickly distinguished himself on the battlefield.
As the direct disciple of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, he would naturally have become one of the strongest candidates for the position of Fifth Hokage…
If everything had proceeded normally.
But that was the problem.
Nothing had proceeded normally.
Leaving aside his strength…
Kakashi’s current mental state alone had already disqualified him from inheriting the Hokage’s mantle.
If Aoba Hayashi truly possessed such extraordinary talent…
And, on top of that, came from a civilian background…
Then there was indeed plenty of room for political maneuvering.
Within Konoha…
Simply being powerful and famous wasn’t enough to become Hokage.
A Hokage also had to serve as the bridge that balanced the interests of the village’s many ninja clans.
Konoha possessed numerous clans with Bloodline Limit, secret techniques, and countless other large and small ninja families.
If a Hokage failed to balance those competing interests…
Then every succession would inevitably plunge the village into internal turmoil.
Take the election of the Fourth Hokage, for example.
In terms of reputation and strength, the young Minato Namikaze had been far inferior to any of the Three Legendary Sannin.
Yet the position ultimately went to him.
Because the overwhelming majority of Konoha’s ninja clans supported his appointment.
The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance had begun supporting Minato even before the war had ended.
The Uchiha Clan also largely approved of Minato becoming Hokage.
As for the Hyuga Clan…
They simply didn’t care who occupied the position.
Combined with Minato’s personality, extraordinary talent, and overwhelming strength…
He had been the ideal candidate.
Over the past several days, Hiruzen had also quietly ordered people to investigate Aoba.
According to the neighborhood…
He was a kindhearted, enthusiastic boy who always helped anyone in need.
His personality was somewhat similar to Minato’s.
The only difference was that his methods tended to be a little more…
violent.
Still, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
If his talent truly matched the reports…
Perhaps…
He could be groomed as the next Hokage.
The only weakness was his background.
“If only he also had talent in medical ninjutsu…”
[Medical Ninjutsu Talent MAX] ×1
[Small Amount of Chakra] ×8
[Explosive Tags] ×4
[Shuriken] ×51
[Kunai] ×36
Current Draws: 189
21 draws until guaranteed SR.
111 draws until guaranteed SSR.
811 draws until guaranteed UR.
Inside his bedroom…
Aoba stared at the rewards he had just drawn.
His eyelids twitched violently.
A wave of frustration welled up inside him.
He wanted to vent…
But there was nothing nearby to vent it on.
All he could do was take deep breaths over and over, forcing himself to calm down.
Looks like I’m really going to hit the hard pity.
“It’s just unexpected extra money.”
“Don’t get mad.”
“Don’t get mad.”
“Besides, this Medical Ninjutsu Talent isn’t only useful for medical techniques.”
“My chakra control has already reached the highest level because of it.”
“Who says these pulls were unlucky?”
“This reward is amazing.”
Aoba successfully hypnotized himself.
Now…
He genuinely believed this had been a pretty good reward.
After examining it more carefully, [Medical Ninjutsu Talent MAX] really was surprisingly versatile.
If he could effortlessly master medical ninjutsu…
Then naturally, most other basic ninjutsu would also become incredibly easy to learn.
As for where those hundred draws had come from…
That story began earlier, while he had been sparring with Yugao Uzuki in the courtyard…