Before even entering the Ninja Academy, he had learned to extract chakra without any guidance—a true prodigy through and through.
On top of that, Aoba possessed an exceptional Transformation Technique.
Aoba had even transformed into him right in front of his eyes several times just to buy groceries, claiming that since Shinku Yuhi was a well-known civilian Jonin, the shopkeepers would always give him discounts.
At first, he had chided the boy a bit, but seeing that Aoba was genuinely just trying to save money, he had quietly turned a blind eye to the trick.
Yet walking out of the Hokage’s office today, his standard of what defined a “genius” had been raised once again.
And the reason was none other than the Yamashiro Hotpot Restaurant that Aoba had started.
He had indeed tried this novel style of cooking known as “hotpot” a few times.
Before the restaurant even opened, Aoba had whipped it up for them to taste-test.
Nadeshiko and Kurenai had sung its praises, and he himself had enjoyed it on several occasions.
The flavor was great, and the dipping sauces Aoba concocted were genuinely delicious.
Aoba had mentioned wanting to open a shop so the entire village could enjoy hotpot.
Hearing that at the time, he had merely smiled, never imagining that a six-year-old child could actually pull it off.
Setting aside the storefront, interior design, and renovations, just sourcing the various ingredients was an enormous headache.
Most crucial of all was getting approval from Konoha’s Logistics Department—that alone should have been enough to strangle Aoba’s ambitions in the crib.
What Shinku Yuhi never expected was that Aoba actually succeeded.
Not only did he succeed, but it had become an overwhelming hit.
Having been away on a mission, he had no idea what was happening in the village; if Lord Third hadn’t summoned him back, he would still be entirely in the dark.
In truth, if the hotpot shop hadn’t exploded in popularity, the Third Hokage wouldn’t have noticed it either.
After all, as the leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha boasted a thriving business environment and had always been a magnet for merchants.
With thousands of commercial property transactions taking place each year and plenty of quirky shops popping up, the village’s Kage was hardly bored enough to micromanage what merchants were opening.
As for safety hazards or threats to the villagers, Koharu or Homura’s departments handled the vetting; trivial matters like that never reached the Hokage’s desk.
Yet with this novel hotpot cuisine drawing massive crowds and rave reviews, Lord Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, naturally caught wind of it.
Once the Hokage took notice, his Anbu subordinates naturally conducted a routine check—only to stumble upon an anomaly right away.
The registered owner was none other than Shinku Yuhi.
However, at the time the paperwork was filed with the Logistics Department, Shinku Yuhi had been away on a mission assigned by the Hokage himself.
As close as the forged signature was to the original, a fake was still a fake, and the trail quickly led to Aoba Yamashiro.
From there, all of Aoba’s wild antics—transforming into Shinku Yuhi and leveraging his identity—were promptly unearthed.
Had Aoba’s guardian not been Shinku Yuhi, the Anbu would have detained him on the spot.
Since the matter involved one of the village’s Jonin, the Anbu had no choice but to escalate their findings to the Hokage.
While his subordinates only saw a kid running scams under a Jonin’s name and skirting village regulations, Hiruzen Sarutobi saw a bona fide genius.
To deceive so many people—including personnel in Konoha’s Logistics Department—with a flawless Transformation Technique before even stepping foot in the Academy clearly demonstrated extraordinary talent for ninjutsu.
Of course, being skilled at ninjutsu alone wouldn’t have been enough to truly captivate Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He was, after all, the Third Hokage, the man renowned as the “Professor of Ninjutsu.”
Countless Konoha shinobi mastered ninjutsu; a simple Transformation Technique was hardly enough to turn his head.
What truly captured Hiruzen Sarutobi’s fascination was the sheer ingenuity Aoba displayed in getting the shop up and running—and turning it into an overnight sensation.
That went far beyond being merely “talented.”
The sheer number of moving parts involved required no less competence than qualifying as a Chunin.
Carrying out missions, assassinating targets in the shadows, or making someone vanish into thin air—there were plenty of people who could do that, and the Anbu were masters of the craft.
But ask them to run a successful business, and they would be completely out of their depth.
Had this been done by an adult, or even an older teenager, Hiruzen wouldn’t have been so astonished.
Yet Aoba was only seven years old.
It was a brilliant gift—one that immediately brought the Nara clan to mind.
Best of all in the Third Hokage’s eyes was Aoba’s civilian background.
A native-born Konoha child whose parents had died early, sacrificing their lives as heroes of the village.
Was he not a textbook inheritor of the Will of Fire?
For this very reason, he hadn’t hesitated to recall Shinku Yuhi immediately from his mission.
After an earnest, impassioned sermon on the Will of Fire appealing to both reason and emotion, Hiruzen ultimately arranged for Aoba Yamashiro to enter the Ninja Academy via the supplementary admission list.
…
Returning home, Shinku Yuhi’s mood was rather conflicted.
*Exceptional shinobi talent.*
*At seven years old, he already possesses the mind of a Hokage!*
Faced with such high praise from the Third Hokage, Shinku Yuhi had no grounds to refuse.
To the point where now, he honestly didn’t know how to face Aoba.
Aoba had made it clear very early on that he had no desire to become a ninja, never once hiding his thoughts and skipping the Academy’s enrollment drives multiple times.
The only reason he had refined chakra and learned the Transformation Technique was to turn into his late parents.
Just look at what a thoughtful, sensible child he was.
The thought only deepened the guilt in Shinku Yuhi’s chest.
“Oh!
Father!”
The moment young Kurenai opened the door upon returning home, she saw her father sitting by the tea table and threw herself delightfully into his arms.
“You’re really back!
Aoba was actually right!”
Shinku Yuhi dotingly stroked her hair, then turned his gaze toward Aoba standing at the entrance.
“Uncle Shinku!”
Aoba offered a polite bow from the genkan.
“Come in.
Have a seat.”
“Excuse me, then.”
Aoba nodded, took off his shoes and neatly aligned them, then walked over to the tea table and sat across from Shinku Yuhi.
What a well-mannered boy.
Even though he had been taken under his wing, Aoba remained impeccably polite and never overstepped his bounds.
He poured a cup of tea and set it before Aoba.
“I take it you already know?”
“Yes.
I just came back from the Ninja Academy.
My name was on the bulletin board’s supplementary list.”
“I’m sorry, Aoba.
It was so sudden.
Lord Third recalled me…”
Aoba’s maturity had long kept him from treating the boy like an ordinary child.
The two of them often communicated as adults.
“Hold on a second, Uncle Shinku!”
Aoba quickly cut off whatever Shinku Yuhi was about to say.
“I should be the one apologizing.
If I had to guess, this is all because of the hotpot restaurant.”
“I honestly didn’t expect it to cause such a commotion—enough to alert the Hokage himself and have you summoned back.
I’m truly sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
With that, Aoba stood and bowed deeply to Shinku Yuhi in apology.
Shinku Yuhi took a deep breath, stood up, and patted Aoba on the shoulder, gesturing for him to sit back down.
He turned and went into the back room, returning shortly with a wooden box in his hands.
He pushed the wooden box toward Aoba.
“Inside are the ninjutsu scrolls your parents left behind.
I originally planned to give them to you when you were older, but since you’re heading to the Academy now, you might as well have them early.”
“You can read through their notes and insights, but under no circumstances should you attempt the ninjutsu inside on your own.
Neither your age nor your chakra reserves are sufficient right now; forcing it would be dangerous.”
“If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me anytime.”
Reaching into his robes, he produced several more scrolls and offered them to Aoba.
“My specialty lies in genjutsu.
These contain my personal insights and experiences with the craft.
Your mental energy is exceptionally strong, so you should excel at genjutsu as well.”
Aoba stood up, about to decline, but the elder shinobi raised a hand to cut him off.
“I know becoming a shinobi isn’t what you wanted.
But only as a ninja can you truly fulfill your potential and protect yourself.
In the end, this world revolves around strength; power dictates your right to speak.”
“Lord Third holds you in high regard and went out of his way to make an exception for you.
As your father’s dearest friend, all I want is for you to survive and thrive—and to carry on your father’s will.”
A flicker of genuine emotion crossed Aoba’s face.
Accepting the scrolls with both hands, he bowed his head and offered his solemn thanks.