"Asana, if you were to fight Uchiha Yuan again, could you win?" Hyuga Chiwa asked with clear displeasure on her face.
"I could. No matter how many times we fight, I'll always be the winner!" Hyuga Asana answered without hesitation.
Hyuga Chiwa was obviously satisfied with that answer. She smiled and said, "Then next time, help me teach him another lesson!"
"Yes, Lady Chiwa."
In a certain sense, Hyuga Asana wasn't lying.
Because neither Uchiha Yuan nor Hyuga Asana were the type to care overly about winning or losing, nor did they have excessive pride.
Moreover, Uchiha Yuan understood well that if he defeated Hyuga Asana, Hyuga Chiwa would give her trouble.
So at least during their time at the ninja academy, no matter how many practice bouts they had, Uchiha Yuan could never beat Hyuga Asana.
After the training session ended, the Third Hokage encouraged the children briefly and then had their teachers take them back.
After that, the Third Hokage had the teachers of the other classes bring their students over too.
This time there was only a brainwashing speech, no training.
There was no need to arrange training for the later classes; their skills were far too poor. On the battlefield, they'd just be standard cannon fodder.
The Third Hokage stayed at the ninja academy the entire day and didn't leave until it was nearly time for school to end.
Upon returning to the office, the two Hokage advisors and the Hokage's assistant Danzo were already waiting for him.
"Hiruzen, I heard you went to inspect the ninja academy?" Danzo asked.
"Yes. This group of students will soon be on the battlefield. I went to gauge their overall strength and give them some encouragement," the Third Hokage replied.
"How did these kids perform?" Homura Mitokado asked.
"Not bad overall. There are some students with excellent potential and strength."
"Speaking of which, Hiruzen, isn't your son Asuma among this batch? How do you plan to assign him?" Koharu Utatane asked.
"He will be treated just like the others in his class. I won't give him any special treatment just because he's my son," the Third Hokage responded firmly.
"Hiruzen, you just mentioned that there are some very talented seedlings among this group. Are there any suitable for Root?" Danzo suddenly changed the topic.
"Danzo, your Root division should not be replenished right now. The front lines are in a critical state. What's most important now is to stabilize the situation," Koharu objected before the Hokage could reply.
"Koharu is right. Stabilizing the battlefield is what we should be focused on," Homura added.
"I think so too. Danzo, your Root won't be absorbing any of this year's graduates. I plan to send most of them to the Land of Bears," the Third Hokage said.
"Still haven't figured out how to deal with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?" Danzo frowned.
"No. They're very difficult to handle. The only thing I can think of is to send more people to stall them," the Third Hokage replied.
After a moment of silence, Danzo asked, "The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is still in the village, right?"
"Kushina can't be moved. Only by keeping her in the village can we ensure its safety," Homura said.
"Indeed, the situation hasn't yet reached the point where we need to use the Nine-Tails' power," Koharu agreed.
"Hmph! Don't you all know that the Sand's One-Tail, the Cloud's Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, the Rock's Four-Tails and Five-Tails, and the Mist's Three-Tails have all appeared on the battlefield?" Danzo snorted.
"Of course we know that. But the Nine-Tails is different from the other tailed beasts. Danzo, surely you know how dangerous the Nine-Tails is?" Homura countered.
"If you had handed over the Jinchuriki to me earlier, no matter how unruly the Nine-Tails was, by now it would have no choice but to obey," Danzo said flatly.
"The Nine-Tails is right there. You can take it—if your Root can handle Minato and his teacher, Jiraiya," Koharu replied.
"If you all supported me, what could those two do? Would they dare go against the entire village?"
"We could never support such a thing. Don't forget, Danzo, that Kushina was chosen as the Jinchuriki by Lady Mito Uzumaki."
"So what? She's already dead! We can't let one dead person—"
"Enough! Danzo, watch your tone. Lady Mito was the wife of Lord Hashirama!" the Third Hokage cut them off coldly.
"Hiruzen…"
"Say no more, Danzo. The Nine-Tails will not be sent to the battlefield. The Jinchuriki is not just a weapon to Konoha."
Danzo's face darkened as he sat down in silence.
"I didn't call you here to argue about this. Recently, I received intelligence that the Mist ninjas near the Land of Bears are gathering strength, intending to seize the Hyuga clan's Byakugan," the Third Hokage changed the topic.
"Seize the Byakugan? But the Hyuga clan mostly sends branch family members. At most, one or two from the main family—and they rarely participate in combat, only showing up when it's absolutely safe to earn some battle credit. When would the Mist have a chance to seize a Byakugan?" Koharu asked.
"I found it strange too, but this intel was confirmed through many sources by the ANBU. The Mist has been making active preparations for this. It doesn't look like a smokescreen."
"Then let's just have the Hyuga main family not go to war. They're not that useful anyway," Danzo suggested.
"That won't do. The tension between the Hyuga main and branch families is already severe. If the main family doesn't send anyone, how do you think the branch family will feel?" Homura countered.
"Homura is right. The main family must send people. Even if the village mediates and explains everything to the branch family, they won't believe it. They'll just think the village is making excuses to protect the main family," the Third Hokage said.
After a moment of silence, Danzo said, "In that case, we'll just have to increase protection for the main family."
"That's what I was thinking too. Danzo, how about assigning this mission to you?" the Third Hokage asked.
"To me? You want Root to secretly protect the Hyuga main family?"
"Exactly."
"I refuse." Danzo didn't even hesitate.
"Why?"
"Every Root ninja is an elite. Having them protect some useless trash is a waste. The value Root can create on the battlefield far exceeds that of guarding the Hyuga main family."
Just as the Third Hokage was about to speak, Homura interjected, "Hiruzen, I agree with Danzo. Having Root guard the Hyuga main family would be a waste. Why not place them near the center of the camp, and have a few squads with good sensory skills take turns guarding them? Wouldn't that work just as well?"
(To Be Continued...)