Chapter 53: Strange Achievements and Determination

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"Oh, so Sasuke took the initiative to seek out Natsuro? And ended up getting beaten up?" The Third Hokage smiled upon seeing the news. It was no surprise that Sasuke couldn't defeat him at this point. Considering Natsuro's current level, even if he were thrown into a sixth-grade class, he would likely have trouble finding a worthy opponent.

The disparity in physical prowess would be offsetted and even surpassed by Natsuro's mastery of Lightning Release. His ninjutsu and taijutsu far exceed the level expected of a genin. The only thing he lacks is a large amount of chakra, but at his age, it's something that can't be rushed.

Every time the Third Hokage reviewed Natsuro's attributes, he felt they were nearly perfect. Among those of Natsuro's age, the only ones who could compare were the Fourth Hokage and Kakashi in his memory.

Seeing the reason behind Natsuro beating up Sasuke, the Third Hokage nodded in agreement. From his perspective, it was a well-deserved beating. After all, in one-on-one sparring among first-year students, there shouldn't be any teachers watching or using shuriken.

It also seemed that Sasuke didn't hold a grudge against Natsuro after being beaten too, which was quite significant. It seemed that Sasuke was somewhat different from the other Uchiha. The Third Hokage mused.

Thus, having them interact like this might not be a bad thing; it could lead to unexpected outcomes.

With that thought, the Third Hokage smiled.

The Third Hokage glanced at another scroll. As someone he had personally chosen to focus on, His actions were all under his watch. After all, that special kunai could not be lost.

His observations during this period had made the Third Hokage more at ease with Natsuro. The boy's character was undoubtedly good, and most importantly, his most significant connection was with Konoha.

The Third Hokage had also collected information on his mother, Shinai. Over the years, due to being classmates with the Akimichi clan, Shinai had been subtly looked after and had no dissatisfaction with the village.

That was already enough. With Shinai around, the Third Hokage felt that Natsuro would definitely not betray Konoha.

Not to mention, he was also close to that little girl from the Yamanaka clan.

"The Yamanaka clan is quite reliable." the Third Hokage said with satisfaction, setting down the scroll about Natsuro. He felt he could largely trust him now.

As the Hokage, what reason did he have not to trust the three great families?

Then, the Third Hokage stood by the window, gazing at the direction of the Uchiha clan's district, his expression complex.

At this point, he felt a bit disoriented. Did he really wipe out the Uchiha clan with his own hands? Now there was only Sasuke left in the village? And most importantly, the preparations he had made earlier had hardly been used, which made it hard for him to believe.

Could Itachi and Root really have killed all the Uchiha directly? What changes had occurred that he didn't know about?

The Third Hokage took a deep breath of his tobacco, then exhaled, his face partially obscured by the smoke.

"Bang!" At that moment, the door was opened again, and Danzo, wrapped in bandages, walked in.

"Hiruzen." Danzo was about to state his intention.

However, the Third Hokage didn't even turn around. He said, "I've told you many times, Sasuke will not be handed over to you. I promised Itachi."

"That's just a rogue ninja. Don't be so foolish, Hiruzen. The only Uchiha left in Konoha is him. It would be the correct choice to let ROOT 'protect' him!" Danzo stared intently at the Third Hokage.

"There will be more discussion about this." The Third Hokage's tone was resolute. Although he didn't know why Itachi could eliminate the entire Uchiha clan, he still felt a strong sense of unease about that power. If Itachi saw that he had not kept his promise and handed Sasuke over to ROOT, would Itachi turn against Konoha?

Conversely, if he took good care of Sasuke, then Itachi's card might still be useful. Even if it wasn't, Itachi probably wouldn't have any dangerous intentions toward a Konoha that took good care of Sasuke.

So, no matter what, the Third Hokage could not hand Sasuke over to Danzo.

"And Natsuro…"

"Enough!" The Third Hokage interrupted Danzo before he could finish, his tone showing irritation.

Danzo understood that today's attempt had once again failed. He had come many times before, only to be rejected each time. This frustration made him clench his fists and growl.

"Hiruzen, you will definitely regret this!"

The Third Hokage slowly turned around. Under the Hokage's hat, his eyes, though aged, were still sharp as he fixed Danzo with a gaze and stated a fact calmly.

"I am the Hokage, Danzo."

"Hmph!" Danzo's face darkened, and after a cold snort, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"By the way, withdraw the ROOT operatives monitoring Sasuke. I don't want to be forced to take action."

After Danzo left, the Third Hokage's voice floated in from behind, making Danzo's face turn even darker. He was tempted to slam the door once more.

Isn't this just allowing the officials to set the fire while forbidding the common people from lighting lamps? Aren't you doing the same thing yourself?!

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Natsuro sat quietly reading a book, fully aware that he was being watched by ANBU during the day.

After all, with his heightened sensory abilities in the Void state, even the skilled ANBU could not remain undetected by him.

However, even though he noticed the ANBU, he didn't feel it was problematic. If one showed talent, one had to bear the corresponding troubles.

The ANBU had only appeared after he received the Flying Thunder God kunai, likely worried that he might lose it. It didn't matter if it got damaged, but if it fell into the hands of other villages and was researched, it could be problematic.

Though he didn't particularly enjoy being watched, but it didn't bother him much. Since he wasn't doing anything illegal, having ANBU around could even be seen as a form of protection.

At this moment, Sasuke approached him again.

"What is it now?" Natsuro's tone was still somewhat unfriendly.

"I hope we can continue today." Sasuke said, looking intently at him. He needed to improve quickly, and only by sparring with Natsuro could he elevate his skills. Others were much less effective.

"I don't wish to spar with someone who doesn't follow the rules. In fact, it wasn't really a sparring match." Natsuro stated plainly. It was more of a one-sided beatdown of Sasuke.

"This time I won't use shuriken. What happened yesterday was my fault," Sasuke said, clenching his fist until his knuckles turned white. His voice trailed off by the end.

Having an arrogant Uchiha apologize was indeed an achievement. He felt that Sasuke was an exception; other Uchiha would likely never apologize even if they were beaten to death.

Natsuro realized that he shouldn't let his relationship with Sasuke become too strained. After all, Sasuke was one of his key allies. If Sasuke developed a poor impression of him, it could lead to trouble later.

Thinking about the noticeable lump on Sasuke's head, which was his handiwork, Natsuro almost laughed. His own finger joints were still aching from the previous day's beating.

"Let's make it once a week. I don't have that much time to waste on you." Natsuro said after some thought.

Given that he was now more capable than before, managing interactions with both Naruto and Sasuke was no longer an issue. The Third Hokage might even prefer him to build such connections; that old man seemed to value it highly.

"Then it's settled. I'll be waiting for you at the same place next week." Sasuke said, his eyes lighting up.

Natsuro nodded, reflecting on how he was now beating both Naruto and Sasuke. This was turning out to be a rather strange achievement.

"Looks like you gave him a good beating yesterday." Shikamaru commented after Sasuke left.

"Eavesdropping is rude." Natsuro responded.

"You weren't trying to be discreet. I was right next to you, of course, I could hear." Shikamaru retorted.

"Well, I guess it was a beating. Did you see the lump on Sasuke's head? I did that." Natsuro said, reflecting on the incident.

Shikamaru fell silent, then couldn't help but glance at Sasuke's protruding bump. Even from a distance, it was obvious, and he muttered an expletive before saying, "You're ruthless!"

"Not really. He used shuriken first." Natsuro said casually.

Shikamaru made a face, looking at him, who seemed unscathed. It was clear that the difference of their levels during their sparring was significant.

It was quite something for Sasuke to actively seek out being beaten. Shikamaru noted that Sasuke was serious about his revenge.

During the break, Natsuro also told Ino about the situation.

Ino was a bit confused. His time wasn't being taken up those girls but another guy?

Who could she talk to about this?

"Um, can I watch from the sidelines?" Ino asked, still reluctant to give up even one day.

He understood Ino's thoughts. The village had calmed down recently, and he had been considering whether to stop the escorting sessions.

Now it seemed that Ino wasn't willing to lose even a single day. If he said he'd stop permanently, what would happen?

Ino's personality would probably lead her to agree, but it was inevitable that she would be sad.

So, he decided to continue for now. It didn't take up much of his time anyway.

Natsuro also realized that, while he didn't exactly love her, he had come to regard her as important, and he never wanted to see someone important to him unhappy.

"Alright." he said, nodding at Ino's hopeful gaze.

"That's great!" Ino hugged Natsuro's arm, beaming like a flower.

Unfortunately, it was more like a daisy rather than a rose. He looked at Ino and felt a pang of guilt.

He sighed internally, wondering when he would grow up and when the guilt in his heart would lessen.

"Natsuro, did you also fight Sasuke yesterday? Did you win?" Ino asked curiously.

"Of course I won. Just look at the bump on his head. I did that." Natsuro said, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

"Oh, that's good." Ino looked at the bump on Sasuke's head. As long as he won, she didn't care about Sasuke being beaten.

"By the way, here's the kunai you lent me." As he handed the kunai back to Ino.

"Oh, this kunai. I almost forgot about it." Ino said, taking it. It was her father's weapon, not hers, but she still said, "Do you want it? If you do, I can ask my dad for another one. He has a few more, so it won't affect his use."

"Hmm, thanks, but no need." He didn't want to take something valuable from her family before their relationship was firmly established. 

In reality, Natsuro knew that if he really wanted it, Inoichi would probably give it to him, or he might not expect to get it back after lending it.

But Natsuro uneasy about asking for favors from a little girl. It didn't seem right.

As for his lightning chakra nature transformation, the first phase was already complete. However, since he was still familiarizing himself with it, he hadn't practiced much yet.

He was now proficient in using ordinary kunai with lightning chakra, so he no longer needed the specially-made kunai.

In the days to come, he would continue to practice with ordinary kunai. Later, he would look for some coal, as it had poor conductivity. If he succeeded with it, he could declare his mastery over lightning chakra conduction.

Regarding the lightning chakra's acceleration nature, His speed had indeed increased. However, transferring this acceleration externally, even to kunai, had only shown some progress.

Nature transformation remained challenging. For wind chakra's cutting nature, he had successfully attached wind chakra to ordinary kunai, achieving the required cutting effect.

Next, he would research the Rasenshuriken's nature transformation. Unfortunately, Rasenshuriken consumed too much chakra. His current chakra was insufficient for that.

He would need to continue refining his skills. When his chakra was sufficient, he would be able to use the Rasenshuriken with powerful results.

Thanks to the reference from the original work, learning wind chakra nature transformation was significantly faster than lightning chakra.

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"Dad."

One day, when Inoichi returned home, he was greeted by his daughter.

"What's up? Is something the matter?" Inoichi suspected that his daughter wouldn't be so affectionate without a reason.

"Well, Dad, I want to start learning ninjutsu. I also want to practice our family's traditional ninjutsu and taijutsu." Ino said earnestly.

"Huh? Didn't you used to show little interest in learning?" Inoichi was puzzled. Previously, he had to enforce learning on Ino, and now she was actively seeking him out to learn. What had changed?

"Well, I realized that Natsuro is really strong. I don't want to fall too far behind him." Ino explained. She had not given it much thought before, but after seeing him defeat Sasuke, and seemingly do so effortlessly, she was suddenly awakened.

"I see. But both training and ninjutsu require a lot of determination." Inoichi wanted to gauge his daughter's commitment.

"I will work hard!" Ino declared, shaking her small fist.

"Alright then, let's start now." Despite his fatigue, Inoichi felt invigorated. His daughter's newfound enthusiasm for learning touched him.

Although the reason for her motivation was that troublesome kid, it was still a good thing that she wanted to learn.

Inoichi, however, had some concerns. He knew a bit about Natsuro's situation and wondered if Ino could keep up with him given his talent. After all, Ino was already quite behind at the moment. He sighed, hoping that she would be able to accept reality and not be too discouraged in the future, but for now he couldn't let that affect her enthusiasm.

...

Time passed, and the first-grade year finally came to an end.

Natsuro's life was quite monotonous, consisting mainly of training, studying, spending time with Ino, and beating up Naruto and Sasuke repeatedly.

However, his skills were steadily improving.

As for the end-of-term results, he remained firmly in first place in all aspects. Because of this, he finally accumulated a full set of basic ninja tools, including two specially-made kunai and a set of shuriken.

Coming from a poor background, he had to rely on his achievements to earn rewards.

The end-of-term results had no impact on his life because everyone—classmates, teachers, and even his mother—had grown accustomed to his first-place status. It seemed almost expected.

Now, he was slightly excited.

Because this day was the day he would meet the Third Hokage, and it was the most crucial day to see if he would obtain the Flying Thunder God technique!

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