Chapter 8

Hokage's Office.

On the desk of Hiruzen Sarutobi, there was a file containing recent records of Kakashi's missions and actions.

Kakashi had already had conflicts with his new team for the third time, making it difficult to carry out missions normally.

Tobirama Danzo, leaning on his cane, stood in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk and said in a deep voice, "It seems you can't find a suitable place for that child, Hiruzen. If that's the case, why not hand him over to me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, holding a pipe, glanced at Danzo and said, "Do you want to turn Sakumo's child into a tool without emotions?"

Danzo, with a blank expression, replied, "If I were to train him, he wouldn't make the same mistakes as Sakumo. He would become an even more excellent ninja than Sakumo."

Hiruzen Sarutobi grunted, stood up, and said, "Don't tell me you came here just for this, Danzo."

Danzo looked deeply at Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "No, I just happened to hear about Kakashi. I came here to ask about your next move regarding the Hidden Mist Village. Are you preparing for war, or..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe.

He exhaled a ring of smoke.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the distant sky. After a few seconds, he said in a deep voice, "Take some action to intimidate them. Their recent probing has been too excessive. Leave this to you."

"Alright."

Danzo nodded and walked out of the office, saying, "Don't waste that child's talent, Hiruzen."

Kakashi, one of the two sons of Sakumo Hatake, had shown remarkable talent, which Danzo indeed cared about, otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned it. However, if Hiruzen Sarutobi disagreed, he didn't have the time to deal with such matters now.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't respond. After Danzo left, he turned his head and looked in the direction Danzo had disappeared.

He shook his head, and the image of Sakumo Hatake flashed in his mind. He sighed.

Sakumo's death had a significant impact on Konoha.

The frequent probing by other major ninja villages was partly due to Konoha losing a powerful force like 'White Fang.'

Kakashi was also affected by Sakumo's death. No matter which team he was assigned to, he would have conflicts with his seniors. It had been more than two years since his graduation, and he still couldn't be placed in a suitable team. Danzo's suggestion was reasonable.

"Your child is an excellent ninja, Sakumo, but he is too naive in dealing with people..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi mused.

Kakashi and Fuyu, the two sons of Sakumo Hatake, if Fuyu could be called 'excellent,' then Kakashi was undoubtedly a genius, inheriting Sakumo's talent. He might become the second 'White Fang' of Konoha in the future.

How to place Kakashi was a problem. He had already assigned Kakashi to several teams, but each time, it wouldn't last long before the issues would come to him.

Handing Kakashi over to Danzo was not an option.

Although the Root organization was indeed suitable for Kakashi, doing so would be a betrayal of the deceased Sakumo. Sakumo and Danzo had a poor relationship, and he would never want to see his son trained as a tool by Root.

"Let's do it this way."

After many thoughts, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a decision and said to the empty ceiling, "Call Jiraiya over."

Ordinary jōnin would find it hard to control Kakashi. The few jōnin he had considered before didn't get along with Kakashi, leaving only Minato Namikaze as the final choice.

After Sakumo's death, Minato Namikaze was the most suitable to become the Fourth Hokage. Minato also needed to cultivate his own loyal followers, and entrusting the genius Kakashi to Minato was a good fit.

"Yes."

The ANBU on the roof responded and quickly disappeared.

Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to his seat, took another puff of his pipe, and shook his head, "I didn't expect to have to trouble Minato in the end."

Due to the tense situation in the ninja world, many areas required Minato's involvement. He had thought of Minato early on but hadn't made a decision. Now, he had come full circle.

He wasn't worried about entrusting Kakashi to Minato, as Minato was his chosen successor for the Fourth Hokage. Teaching a genius teenager was a minor task for him.

While thinking, Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a file.

The file contained detailed information about the current students of the ninja academy, arranged by their relationship with Kakashi.

At the top was Fuyu's personal information, but Hiruzen Sarutobi only glanced at it and put it aside.

Placing brothers in the same team was inappropriate, especially since Minato was the candidate for the Fourth Hokage. If Fuyu had the same talent as Kakashi, it might be ignored for the sake of cultivating the next generation's elite, but now he had to consider the village's opinion.

"Kakashi... Uchiha Obito... Rin Nohara..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment and made his choice.

First, Uchiha Obito. Handing over an Uchiha clan member to Minato would reduce the Uchiha clan's opposition to Minato becoming Hokage.

Finally, he chose a civilian child. Since Might Guy was male, he was excluded, leaving Rin Nohara as the perfect choice, achieving balance in all aspects.

Click.

After making his decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and chuckled.

As the Hokage, he had spent so much time thinking about the placement of a single ninja and even intervened in the team assignments of the next year's academy graduates.

However, Kakashi's talent was indeed worth attention, and Minato was the best choice to make the decision.

There would be no problems.

After deciding on Kakashi's team, Hiruzen Sarutobi lost interest in the other students. He put the files about Fuyu and others back and set them aside.

"I hope Danzo's actions will stabilize the situation with the Hidden Mist Village."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at the ceiling and exhaled a ring of smoke.

What truly troubled him was the situation in the ninja world. Frictions between the major ninja villages were constant, and almost all centered around Konoha.

The reason was simple: the Land of Fire was the richest country, and Konoha had won the Second Great Ninja War, securing significant benefits. This was why all the villages were looking at Konoha.

However, he couldn't make concessions in terms of benefits.

In the ninja world, one concession would lead to another. He had to use strong measures to counter external covetousness to maintain peace. Hiruzen Sarutobi knew this too well.

So, if the situation couldn't be stabilized and the Third Great Ninja War was inevitable, Konoha would have to fight with all its might, using war to speak!

Thinking about this,

A cold glint appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

Konoha, which had gained abundant resources in the Second Great Ninja War, had a solid and large core force. Despite losing the 'White Fang,' his disciples Orochimaru and Jiraiya had grown into independent ninjas. The rising stars included Minato Namikaze.

If a war really broke out, Konoha wouldn't fear the other villages!