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Chapter 19: Two Months of Training
Chapter 19: Two Months of Training
In the Land of Fire, on the border, in a room at an inn in a small town, Danzo sat cross-legged on a cushion, a map of the Land of Fire spread out before him.
Recently, he had clashed with the ninja of Kirigakure several times, retaliating harshly against their probes into Konoha and showing no mercy as he slew them all without exception.
"At this rate, war will break out sooner or later. Hiruzen, your attitude is still too soft... In times like these, taking the initiative is the most appropriate decision."
Danzo murmured to himself as he studied the map.
In his opinion, Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions were too conservative. The Third Hokage merely retaliated against the probes from other villages, but given the current situation, it would be better to take the initiative and crush one of the hidden ninja villages.
With Konoha's current strength, it would be easy to concentrate their forces and defeat one of the hidden villages. However, if they were attacked by a coalition of the other villages, they would be dragged into a protracted war, which would be troublesome.
In Danzo's view, Hiruzen was simply unwilling to bear the infamy of initiating a war, but this was a necessary step on the path to unifying the shinobi world, and sacrifices had to be made.
Swish!
As Danzo carefully studied the map and considered his next move against Kirigakure, a Root ninja appeared silently in the room.
Without looking up from the map, Danzo asked calmly, "What's the situation in the village?"
Even though he was on the border of the Land of Fire, he had left a portion of his Root ninja in Konoha to monitor the village and report to him at regular intervals.
The Root ninja replied in an emotionless tone, "The Fire Shadow's attitude has not changed significantly. He still advises you to maintain the current situation... Orochimaru returned to Konoha and brought back intelligence on Sunagakure, but the specifics are unclear."
The Root ninja proceeded to report the latest intelligence, from the most to the least important.
Danzo listened with an indifferent expression.
After reporting for nearly half an hour, the Root ninja continued, "Kakashi's older brother, Hatake Feng Ye, killed a Kirigakure elite scout and is suspected to possess talent and strength superior to Kakashi's."
"Oh?"
Danzo paused, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
It wasn't that this piece of information was particularly important; compared to the previous reports, it was almost insignificant. However, the difference was that while the other intelligence had been within his expectations, this one came as a complete surprise.
"Is the information reliable?"
"Yes."
The Root ninja replied in a low voice.
Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly, deep in thought. "So, White Fang's eldest son also possesses such high talent, and he's been hiding it all this time..."
Feng Ye's father, Sakumo Hatake's death, was directly related to Danzo, although it hadn't been his intention to have Sakumo killed.
Sakumo Hatake's decision to abandon his mission for the sake of his teammates had been an unexpected development, but Danzo had manipulated the villagers' reaction, including the guilt and subsequent blame directed at Sakumo by the teammate he had saved.
The purpose of this manipulation had been to undermine Sakumo's prestige.
At that time, Sakumo had been all but confirmed by Hiruzen as the next candidate for the Fourth Hokage, and Danzo could not allow that to happen.
What he hadn't anticipated was that Sakumo Hatake would fall into self-doubt because of this incident and eventually take his own life... That hadn't been his intention, as Sakumo, despite their differences, was still a powerful asset to Konoha.
Had he become the Fourth Hokage, Sakumo could have been a useful tool.
After a moment's thought, Danzo said to the Root ninja, "Continue your report."
Although Feng Ye's situation had brought certain issues to mind, Danzo was currently focused on dealing with Kirigakure and didn't have the time or inclination to deal with such matters. He would address them when he returned to the village.
The Root ninja nodded and continued with the report.
...
Konoha's Hinterlands
Two months had passed since Feng Ye had killed the elite scout from Kirigakure.
During these two months, Feng Ye continued to attend school as usual, but the incident where he had effortlessly defeated Hinata Hyuga had caused all the students to view him with added reverence, and girls like Kurenai Yuhi were even more infatuated with him.
The fact that he could easily defeat Hinata Hyuga meant that Feng Ye's strength was likely at the level of a Chunin, and even if he wasn't as strong as Kakashi, he certainly wasn't as weak as the rumors suggested!
This admiration from his peers, especially the young girls, sometimes led to 'excessive' behavior, which left Feng Ye feeling a bit helpless and occasionally amused, given their young age.
Two months.
His training results were also quite remarkable.
Due to his ability to accelerate time, his physical age was now almost eleven, even though he had just turned nine. Both his physical prowess and chakra control had steadily improved, advancing from the level of an elite Chunin to one that was exceptional even among them.
Additionally, although he hadn't been able to cultivate the Hatake Sword Style to its second stage, he could already open the first two gates of the Eight Inner Gates!
Even though the first two gates of the Eight Inner Gates didn't provide a burst of power, they still represented a tangible increase in Feng Ye's strength.
Hah! Hah!!!
In a clearing within the forest, Feng Ye was engaged in intense training.
"Still a bit away from opening the third gate..."
After a few heavy breaths, Feng Ye stopped his training and sensed that the third gate's lock hadn't loosened enough to be easily broken through.
For the Eight Inner Gates, the third gate represented a qualitative change.
The first gate served to bring out one's physical strength to its fullest potential, resulting in a decent but not overwhelming increase in power. The second gate, on the other hand, focused on recovery, allowing one to squeeze out their body's energy to rapidly resist fatigue. Only with the third gate did one truly experience a burst of power.
"If I can open the third gate, my strength, combined with the Hatake Sword Style and the White Fang Ninja Sword, should be on par with a special Jonin, even without using time acceleration."
Feng Ye mused to himself.
After training with the Eight Inner Gates, his strength became difficult to measure by simple standards. With his speed, any enemy who couldn't react in time would struggle to last more than a move or two against him.
Only the Uchiha clan, with their Sharingan, and the Hyuga clan, with their Byakugan, had the qualifications to withstand his attacks, but even then, seeing and keeping up were two different matters!
(End of Chapter)
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