Thus, his enrollment was simply decided. The Third Hokage chattered away with a beaming smile for quite a while, issuing various reminders about school precautions while eagerly itching to light his pipe.
"Report to the school next Monday, Narunari. Don't be late."
Next Monday—which meant the day after tomorrow.
That is to say, he was about to go to kindergarten, no, the Ninja Academy, with a bunch of little brats only a few years old.
With his instructions finished, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally struck a match, lit his pipe with a *snap*, clamped it between his teeth, and took several satisfied puffs.
Then, through the thick white smoke, his wrinkled eyes glanced over and spotted Nariya Ueshima sitting there with a terrible, greenish complexion.
Hmm? How come this child didn't seem very happy?
It looked as though he was still muttering something under his breath.
"Where on earth did Dad Terashima and the others put their passbooks?"
"Will I be kicked out if I don't have money to pay the tuition?"
"At my age, nobody at school is going to want to be friends with me, right?"
With sharp ears, the Third Hokage—whose hearing was quite good—took all of these words to heart. While stunned, he couldn't help but feel a swirl of mixed emotions and complicated thoughts.
After the Second Great Ninja War, the ninja world had finally enjoyed a few years of peace. But ever since the Third Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Wind went missing some time ago, those old fogies in Sunagakure had been growing restless, devising all sorts of ways to stir up trouble from the outside.
How many orphans were left in the wake of brutal wars? Naturally, some ninja villages that were willing to take in orphans had accommodated a portion of them.
Whether these orphans rooted themselves in the village to become assimilated as citizens, or served as future low-to-mid-tier combat forces, was an extremely important matter.
In the previous year, Hatake Sakumo had brought back a total of twelve orphans from other villages, regardless of age.
After careful, short-term surveillance, eleven of them were found to be completely ordinary. The only one about whom Sarutobi Hiruzen had been concerned enough to assign extra surveillance was the twelfth child—the very one standing before him who was about to enroll.
At the time, Hatake Sakumo had made a special report stating that this child's eyes were exceptionally unusual, as if he had seen them somewhere before, bearing a striking resemblance to some rare Bloodline Limit.
Hearing this, the well-traveled Third Hokage declared that in all his decades of life, he had never seen such a thing, and asked Hatake Sakumo to rack his brain. But the latter simply could not remember.
So, putting their heads together, they decided to extend the surveillance period a bit to see if the child would undergo any changes. The result, of course, was that he did not.
Present days were not as peaceful as the previous few years; they could no longer spare extra energy to focus on a single child. Besides, the child had been thoroughly well-behaved, sensible, and obedient over the past year and more, making him entirely trustworthy.
Even if it later turned out that the child's eyes truly possessed special powers, as long as it didn't endanger the village, they could simply guide him to use them properly.
"There's nothing else. Remember to enroll on time the day after tomorrow, and you needn't worry about the tuition."
Recovering his wits, the Third Hokage kept his pipe between his teeth as he gave a few final instructions, then had an ANBU ninja prepare to send the boy back.
Nariya Ueshima shook his head and politely declined: "Thank you, Lord Hokage, but I can walk back by myself. Along the way, I can even stop by the commercial district to buy some school supplies."
"Good, good." Hearing that tuition was not something to worry about, and seeing that the child seemed to have perked up a bit because of it, Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed cheerfully.
After the door to the Hokage's Office opened and closed, a few minutes passed before another person came and knocked rhythmically on the door.
"Lord Hokage."
With his pipe in his mouth, the Third Hokage glanced at the person who pushed the door open and smiled: "You're late, Sakumo. That child just left."
Hatake Sakumo, who had just returned from an outside mission, paused, then let out a light sigh and asked first: "Did Narunari agree to go to any villager's home?"
The Third Hokage shook his head, then stated frankly that he had arranged for the child to enter the Ninja Academy, starting school the day after tomorrow.
Hatake Sakumo's expression turned somewhat solemn. After a second of thought, he said: "Lord Hokage, let me go and talk to him. I'd like to personally discuss the possibility of him coming to the Hatake clan."
Hearing this, the Third Hokage realized that Hatake Sakumo wanted to mentor the child himself. He neither nodded nor shook his head, but instead teased: "Narunari has been here for over a year. Apart from having some rapport with your son Kakashi, the person he seems closest to is a child from the Uchiha clan."
Hatake Sakumo knew who that child was. His name was Uchiha Obito, Kakashi's teammate and also an orphan.
Yet, compared to the other boy, who looked gloomy and introverted, Obito was always optimistic and cheerful. Two such children knowing each other and finding kindred spirits—their friendly bond was deeply touching to outsiders.
"Go ahead. Let Narunari make his own choice." The Third Hokage took a fierce drag of his smoke, not planning to say any more.
Understanding his tacit permission, Hatake Sakumo nodded, then turned and walked out of the Hokage's Office.
Just as Hatake Sakumo went to see the Third, Nariya Ueshima, having just stepped out of the Hokage Office Building, felt once again that he was being tailed.
*...* Why was this endless?
Feeling depressed, he continued to act as though he knew nothing, walking with his head held high and chest out, intentionally wearing a happy expression of longing for his future life on his little face.
Two minutes later, as he was passing through an alley all by himself, a residual shadow suddenly flashed before him, blocking his path.
This time, it was a ninja wearing a dog mask.
Seeing a mere child freeze in place, startled by his appearance, the Root Organization member's expression beneath the mask grew even colder and utterly devoid of fluctuation.
"Lord Danzo is waiting for you here." His voice was exceptionally icy as well.
With that, his figure stepped aside considerately. Nariya Ueshima slowly turned his side to look, and saw that seven or eight meters deep into the alley, a man with his right eye wrapped entirely in bandages was standing quietly.
Half of his body was hidden in the shadows of the buildings, and his exposed left eye seemed to be sizing up a prey he was certain to catch. The whole person gave off a deeply unsettling, chilling vibe, as if one were being schemed against.
This was Shimura Danzo.
If you asked which jutsu in Naruto nobody knew who created, it was created by Senju Tobirama.
If you asked whose fault it was when nobody knew who was to blame, it belonged to Shimura Danzo.
Looking slightly surprised, Nariya Ueshima blinked as if he were clueless. Two years—no, two seconds later, he asked in an innocent and polite tone: "Sorry, I don't know him."
His words instantly caused Shimura Danzo, who was slowly walking out of the shadows toward him, to halt his steps.
On second thought, however, they were the Root, hidden deep within Konoha. If children from other villages didn't intentionally inquire about them, it was indeed quite possible they wouldn't know of their existence.
"This is the revered Lord Danzo!" The Root Organization member clearly didn't think so, and even emphasized his words with a heavier tone—though, naturally, it was an explanation wasted in vain.
Nariya Ueshima uttered an "Oh."
The Root member assumed he understood, and Shimura Danzo continued to walk over, putting on an air of profound mystery.
In the next moment, however, the Root member heard the child in front of him ask him innocently: "Since you're both 'lords,' is this Lord Danzo as impressive as Lord Hokage?"
"..."
"..."
A single simple sentence instantly plunged the other two people into silence.
The Root member seemed not to have expected a child to be able to ask such a question. The face behind his mask was startled, eyes widening in a trace of panic, and he didn't dare to speak casually again.
"What do you think?" At this moment, Shimura Danzo, having drawn close, stopped two paces away from them.