*Chapter 19: Hiruzen Sarutobi, You’ll Regret This*

"Do you have any suspects?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, lighting his pipe in a deep tone.

Danzo responded seriously, "I had my suspicions about you. But on second thought, you’ve always stayed in the light. You would never do something like this."

"Then there’s only one possibility left."

Sarutobi quickly followed up, "Who?"

Danzo sat down again, his face darkened. "Do you remember the man who controlled the Nine-Tails and attacked the Leaf Village back then?"

"It was him?" Sarutobi suddenly realized.

Danzo spoke gravely, "Someone capable of that level of teleportation, aside from the late Second Hokage, the Fourth Hokage, and the Fourth Raikage from the Cloud Village, it couldn’t have been anyone else. Even Shisui couldn’t do it. Only that Uchiha who controlled the Nine-Tails could have managed it."

The last few words, "that Uchiha scum," were spoken by Danzo with particular weight.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "I understand. But the village has just stabilized. Let’s end this matter for now. You don’t need to interfere anymore. I’ll have someone investigate it."

Danzo said, "Is it going to be Uchiha Itachi again? He was the last one to see Shisui, and there’s a good chance Shisui entrusted his left eye to him. But he didn’t mention it to you. Uchiha Itachi is no longer trustworthy."

"No, it’s not him." Hiruzen then revealed that he had sent Aizen Fujiwara as a spy.

"Foolish!" Danzo angrily said, "Hiruzen, how do you know that kid won’t turn on us and be bought off by the Uchiha?"

"What if he leaks our intel to the Uchiha clan?"

Sarutobi replied, "Danzo, you’re too suspicious. Aizen is Fujiwara’s child. His parents both died protecting the village, and he’s inherited their will to protect the village, to protect the Leaf. He’s just a civilian, not the Uchiha you’re so wary of."

"You never know. If he marries a girl from the Uchiha clan, he’ll become one of them. I’d rather—" Danzo made a sinister gesture as if slicing his throat.

"That’s enough, Danzo. I’m the Hokage," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, standing up and slamming the table with a sharp reprimand.

"Hiruzen, you’ll regret this."

Danzo gritted his teeth, slammed the table, and stormed out, his resolve to become Hokage stronger than ever.

The next day, Aizen arrived at the training ground as scheduled to meet Kurenai Yuhi.

Every team goes through a period of adjustment in the beginning, so there were no missions for the first three days.

During this time, the team’s Jonin leader not only needs to assess the strengths of each member to devise strategies but also offers guidance on ninjutsu.

Akizuki Airi and Akimichi Ponzu didn’t need much attention from Kurenai because they had their families supporting them in ninjutsu.

After confirming they had no talent for genjutsu, Kurenai gave them simple advice about their training progress and sent them off to train.

When it was Aizen’s turn, Kurenai performed Illusion: Triple Cherry Blossom on him.

"Aizen, you have quite a talent for genjutsu. This technique creates an illusion of cherry blossoms to confuse the enemy, allowing for a surprise attack. At a high level, you can even control the blossoms to cover and immobilize the enemy, possibly even suffocating them."

"The hand signs and technique principle are..."

As she spoke, Kurenai’s form dissolved into cherry blossoms in Aizen’s eyes.

"Did you get it?" Kurenai’s voice whispered in Aizen’s ear, as the petals reformed, revealing her graceful figure once more.

Aizen nodded. With the bloodline of Shisui and his Kyouka Suigetsu ability, his genjutsu skills were already maxed out.

Following Kurenai’s instructions, he quickly formed the hand signs.

In an instant, he vanished into cherry blossoms before Kurenai’s eyes.

"This... This is..." Amidst a sea of cherry blossoms, Kurenai was astonished, her voice filled with excitement and disbelief as she observed the incredible display before her.

"Sensei Kurenai, does this mean I’ve learned it?" Aizen’s voice echoed from all around, as if each petal was his real form, impossible to tell apart.

The petals quickly gathered, and Aizen’s form reappeared.

At that moment, Kurenai seemed to see the image of her late father, Yuhi Mahiro, in Aizen’s form.

Her gaze turned blank for a moment.

It wasn’t until Aizen spoke again that she snapped back to reality, praising him, "You’re truly remarkable, Aizen. In the future, you’ll surpass me—no, you’ll surpass the Uchiha in genjutsu mastery."

Aizen gave a calm smile, neither confirming nor denying it.

Six months quickly passed, and the next Chunin Exams were approaching.

Aizen was nearly twelve years old and had completed many missions with Kurenai, both large and small.

During this time, he encountered a wide variety of opponents, including a Jonin, all of whom were defeated by Aizen’s masterful genjutsu.

Due to his high mission success rate, Aizen had gained some notoriety among the Leaf shinobi.

In the Hokage’s office...

Just like before, team leaders gathered to recommend their students for the Chunin Exams to the Leaf’s leadership.

Kurenai Yuhi was among them.

When it was Kurenai’s turn, she respectfully handed in the profiles of her three students. "Lord Hokage, advisors, Lord Danzo, these are the candidates I’m recommending for the Chunin Exams."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the profiles of Akizuki Airi and Akimichi Ponzu before passing them to the advisors and Danzo. As he looked over Aizen’s profile, he asked, "Kurenai, I’ve heard that Aizen has been very active during missions recently."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. He’s a true genjutsu prodigy, with considerable talent in both ninjutsu and taijutsu as well. I don’t have much left to teach him," Kurenai respectfully replied.

Her words caught the attention of not only Hiruzen Sarutobi but also the other members of the Leaf’s leadership, as well as the team leaders present.

The large Hokage’s office suddenly became dead silent.

Kurenai’s evaluation of Aizen was extremely high, to the point where words could hardly do it justice.

It was almost as if she were saying Aizen already possessed Jonin-level strength.

The last time something like this happened, it was with Uchiha Itachi.

Danzo’s expression shifted as he glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi. After a moment, he broke the silence, "Kurenai Yuhi, should I take this to mean that Aizen already has the strength of a Jonin, perhaps even surpassing you?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo," Kurenai replied without hesitation.

Only those who had spent time with Aizen could understand his terrifying natural talent as a shinobi.

In just over six months, Aizen’s strength had grown at a rate that was visible to the naked eye.

Now, he had mastered all of her genjutsu techniques, and in terms of ninjutsu and taijutsu, he had already surpassed her.

There really wasn’t much left for her to teach.

Perhaps this was what people meant when they talked about geniuses.

PS: First chapter of the day.

(End of this chapter)