"Brat! You're courting death!" Danzo's Chakra surged violently, its oppressive aura almost tangible, but it couldn't scare Ling.
"Enough, Danzo! And Ling, both of you stop right now!"
The Third Hokage felt a bit weary. Ever since Danzo forced Ling to join Root last time, Ling and Danzo had been mutually resentful, which left him quite helpless.
"Hmph!" Danzo closed his eyes haughtily.
"Tch!" Ling also turned her head away. Who wasn't a baby?
"No problem, Hokage-sama, when do we depart?"
Minato loved the Village, so he naturally wouldn't refuse such a mission in a time of crisis.
"Depart immediately. Three Anbu squads have already been assembled. Only you can perfectly complete this mission."
The Third Hokage understood how to use psychological manipulation. Because Minato had the strongest mobility, he was most suitable for small-scale pursuit and expulsion missions.
"Alright, Ling, this is my personal cultivation experience for the Rasengan. It's a pity I can't discuss it with you."
Minato took out a small scroll from his Ninja tool pouch and handed it to Ling. After Ling accepted it, she immediately used the Summoning Technique to summon a scroll and handed it to Minato.
"Senior Minato, this is the Ninja technique structure for the Compressed Orb that I created. I hope it's useful to you."
The two of them openly exchanged Ninjutsu in front of everyone, making the four-person group of old, weak, sick, and disabled stare at them.
"Haha, Lord Third Hokage, and the three Hokage assistants, I'll take my leave first. Ling, please inform Kushina and the others."
Minato didn't even bother with the door. After carefully putting away the scroll Ling gave him, he quickly left the area and headed towards the Anbu base.
"Teacher, why did you call me here?"
Ling asked the Third Hokage, who was smoking, again. Logically, there shouldn't be anything for her to do.
"Ling, your strength has already reached Jonin, hasn't it? I plan to arrange for you to join Anbu."
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe and looked at his disciple, who was only five years old but had already created her own Ninjutsu and Ninja Body Technique, with strength comparable to an Elite Jonin. His expression was somewhat unreadable.
"Ah? But Teacher ~ I still want to study and settle down for a few more years. Anbu won't have too many or too few people with me there, right?"
Ling knew what Anbu life was like. Calling it 007 was being generous; she would be on standby 24 hours a day, and the missions she completed were all of the highest danger levels, like dancing on the tip of a blade.
One wrong move and her life could be forfeit. She would constantly be fighting or on her way to a fight.
Moreover, employing child labor was illegal, wasn't it? Although the Ninja World didn't have labor laws or child protection laws, sending young children to fight was also inconsistent with the First Hokage's fire will.
The Third Hokage was naturally prepared for Ling's answer. Although this disciple was extremely diligent, she preferred a peaceful life, just like those old Ninja who were tired of fighting.
"Hmph! Monkey! Hand this brat over to my Root for training! She definitely won't defy her superiors like she does now."
Danzo seized the opportunity to badmouth Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he genuinely wanted to recruit Ling into Root.
"Ling, Konoha has only been eight years since the Second Great Ninja War. Konoha has not yet recovered its vitality, and Anbu is also experiencing a talent gap, with no Ninja who can truly stand out."
The Third Hokage played the emotional card. Although what he said was true, Anbu currently, apart from his son and daughter-in-law, had no other Elite Jonin, and even Jonin were scarce.
Moreover, he also felt that Ling needed experience. He knew that Ling had achieved her current strength through self-training, but he believed that with Anbu's training, Ling's strength would advance further.
Since the Third Hokage couldn't be tough, he became soft. He and Danzo played good cop, bad cop. It was impossible for her not to agree now, but she had to fight for some benefits, lest she be forced to do everything for free in the future. She might as well defect.
"Um, Teacher Sarutobi, I can join Anbu, but your disciple is still lacking some powerful Ninjutsu to deliver a decisive blow, aren't I?"
Ling blinked her clear eyes. Although she was cautiously asking for benefits, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo both saw that Ling was bargaining.
"Your disciple doesn't need many S-rank Ninjutsu for self-defense, just three or five will do. After all, you wouldn't want your disciple to sacrifice herself because she lacks powerful Ninjutsu, would you?"
Ling stood with her hands behind her back, her head bowed, as if making a small request.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched. He was shocked by his young disciple's outrageous request. Three to five S-rank Ninjutsu? He wanted them too.
But if he didn't agree, Ling clearly wasn't going to join Anbu. Even if she did, she'd probably just slack off.
"Ling, Konoha does have S-rank Ninjutsu, but most of them are very dangerous forbidden Ninjutsu, and they are also very difficult to learn. How about we reduce it to one?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had a headache. Most of Konoha's S-rank Ninjutsu were left by the First Hokage and the Second Hokage. Most of the First Hokage's were Wood Release, while most of the Second Hokage's were forbidden Ninjutsu.
"Ah? Only one? At least one for self-defense and one for offense, right? Besides, if I learn these powerful Ninjutsu, won't it still be for Konoha's service?"
Ling spun on the tip of her left foot, speaking righteously while advocating for personal gain.
"Moreover, if I become stronger, isn't it also to better complete missions? To better kill enemies, that also benefits Konoha, right?"
Ling looked up at the Third Hokage, who was weighing his options. She knew it was probably settled. The Third Hokage was inherently soft-hearted. As long as you had a good relationship with him and spoke nicely, you could achieve your goal.
"Monkey, Anbu has no precedent of granting Ninjutsu in advance without any merit."
Danzo, adhering to the idea of making Ling's life difficult, opposed all of Ling's requests with badmouthing.
"Tch! Old man Danzo, that's not what you said when you invited this girl to join Root! At that time, you said I could learn any Ninjutsu or forbidden Ninjutsu! If Root can do that, why can't Anbu? Teacher, Anbu is your sharp sword, how can you weaken the sharpness of your own sword?"
Ling used Danzo's past empty promises to shut him up, and the Third Hokage definitely knew about Danzo arbitrarily granting forbidden Ninjutsu to Root Ninja.
"Alright, you've convinced this old man. How about this, I'll give you my Five Release Great Combination Barrage and Super Beast Imitating Drawing Ninjutsu. Although Super Beast Imitating Drawing doesn't reach S-rank, its function and power are not inferior to S-rank."
The Third Hokage felt that these two Ninjutsu were more suitable for Ling. One for offensive combat, and one for escape and reconnaissance. They were definitely the best choices.
"However, I'll give you these two Ninjutsu, but you can't break Anbu's rules. You now owe the Village two A-rank mission merits. How about it?"
The Third Hokage rummaged through a drawer for a while, took out two scrolls, and tossed them to the already beaming Ling, finding it amusing. His disciple was still very cute.
"Okay, thank you, Teacher. I will definitely study hard in Anbu and not disgrace you, old man."
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