The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was the direct disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and was proficient in all of Konoha Village's Ninjutsu, especially Ninjutsu of the five elements. He could even skillfully combine five different elemental Ninjutsu, earning him the title of the Professor of Ninjutsu.
The three disciples he trained also made a formidable name for themselves in the Ninja World; it could even be said that the three of them dictated the outcome of the Second Great Ninja War.
Furthermore, the 52-year-old Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently at the peak of his power.
Looking at the entirety of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength was firmly ranked in the top three. The only one who could reliably defeat him was probably Jiraiya in Sage Mode.
The combination of strength, status, and excellent disciples made Hiruzen Sarutobi's prestige in Konoha soar like the midday sun.
This could be seen from the students' fervent expressions.
Uchiha En's feelings toward Hiruzen Sarutobi were actually quite complex.
If he hadn't been an Uchiha, but just an ordinary Konoha villager, from that perspective, Hiruzen Sarutobi's tenure as Hokage was certainly not bad; in fact, his merits arguably outweighed his faults.
Leaving aside everything else, during the Second Great Ninja War, after Konoha initiated the conflict, they fought fiercely and secured victory in the Ninja World War by fighting four opponents simultaneously.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha was in a weakened state with dwindling talent, but they still managed to secure a victory and protect Konoha's foundation.
From the Second Great Ninja War until the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze took office, Konoha never ceased fighting; they were constantly at war.
To achieve victory in two Ninja World Wars fought on 'hell mode,' Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Hokage, deserves credit, even if only for his sheer effort.
But setting aside the wars, the decline of talent in Konoha after the Second Great Ninja War, and the subsequent events—the forced death of Hyuga Hizashi and the Uchiha Clan massacre after the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage and his wife during the Nine-Tails' Rampage—these were all orchestrated by the Konoha higher-ups.
Could Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Hokage, have been completely unaware? Is it possible that he wasn't involved?
In a sense, Danzo among the Konoha higher-ups was Hiruzen Sarutobi's glove, and many of the things Danzo did were tacitly approved by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
As for those two old fossils, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu, there's even less to say; they are nothing more than two troublemakers.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence and tacit approval of such people becoming Konoha's higher-ups and wielding power means that, from this perspective, his performance as Hokage was clearly unqualified.
"Students, I believe you all know that you are about to graduate and head to the battlefield to fight in defense of Konoha. I apologize for having you rush to the front lines at such a young age; this is a failure on my part as Hokage."
The Third Hokage's words interrupted Uchiha En's thoughts. Afterward, the Third Hokage launched into a lengthy speech on stage—things like the Will of Fire, and how the shadow of the fire would illuminate the Village—all of which made Uchiha En feel drowsy.
This level of brainwashing was too crude. Forget Uchiha En, who graduated from a top university in his previous life, even a middle school student wouldn't fall for it.
However, people in the Hokage World clearly didn't possess this level of critical thinking. When the students below heard Hiruzen Sarutobi speak, they became more excited than the last, all looking eager to shed blood for Konoha.
Uchiha En could only follow suit and feign excitement.
The only person in the entire venue who looked utterly impatient was the Third Hokage's son, Asuma Sarutobi.
Once the Third Hokage's speech concluded, the practice spar between the two classes officially began.
Those whose names were called by the teachers went up to spar.
Uchiha En observed that generally, the people called up to spar had scores and abilities that were relatively similar.
Based on this calculation, Hyuga Asana would almost certainly be matched against the Third Hokage's son, Asuma Sarutobi.
They were the top students of Class One and Class Two, respectively, making a match between them perfectly suitable.
But to Uchiha En's surprise, the teacher called Hyuga Asana's name when there were still over a dozen people left.
And Hyuga Asana's sparring partner was Kurenai Yuhi.
Kurenai Yuhi's scores were middle-to-upper-tier in Class One, but the gap compared to Hyuga Asana was still quite large. After only three exchanges, Kurenai Yuhi had her Chakra points sealed by the Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms and lost the match.
No one was particularly surprised by this outcome. Given Hyuga Asana's established strength, it was normal for Kurenai Yuhi to lose.
With Hyuga Asana exiting the arena early, everyone was curious who Class Two would send to spar against the Third Hokage's son, Asuma Sarutobi.
As time passed, groups of people went up to the stage one after another.
In the end, only Asuma Sarutobi remained in Class One, and on the Class Two side, there was only Uchiha En.
"Next match: Asuma Sarutobi versus Uchiha En!"
As the teacher gave the command, all the students' eyes focused on the two of them.
Uchiha En sighed inwardly. In fact, when Hyuga Asana was called up early, Uchiha En had already guessed that the Third Hokage might arrange for him to fight his son.
After all, the Third Hokage had been observing him for so many days; he couldn't have been spying for nothing, right?
After Uchiha En learned the Mind's Eye, the Third Hokage observed him for a total of three days.
The Third Hokage only stopped observing him after Uchiha En received the condolence money.
But Uchiha En didn't know how long the Third Hokage had been secretly observing him before he learned the Mind's Eye.
Although Uchiha En didn't understand why the Third Hokage was observing him, such prolonged observation must have yielded some insights. Arranging a spar between him and Asuma now was likely intended to verify those findings.
Since he couldn't avoid it, Uchiha En stopped hesitating and walked straight to the center of the training ground. Seeing this, Asuma Sarutobi followed him onto the training ground and stood opposite Uchiha En.
"Uchiha En, I heard you awakened the Uchiha Clan's Bloodline Limit, the Sharingan?" Asuma Sarutobi asked.
"Yes, I did awaken it," Uchiha En replied calmly.
"Good! I won't hold back." Saying this, Asuma Sarutobi gently reached a hand toward his Ninja Tool Pouch.
Uchiha En nodded from where he stood and said, "I will also give it my all."
Although he said he would give it his all, Uchiha En did not activate his Sharingan. Asuma Sarutobi felt slighted, and his expression grew serious.
Actually, Asuma Sarutobi misunderstood. Uchiha En didn't activate the Sharingan simply to conserve Chakra. Opening the Sharingan just to show off before the spar started would only waste Chakra; what was the point?
"The match officially begins!"
The moment the teacher finished speaking, Asuma Sarutobi instantly made his move, launching three Kunai in a triangular formation toward Uchiha En.
The Third Hokage, watching from the side, shook his head and thought, "Asuma's mindset is still too impatient! He was provoked by Uchiha En's attitude before the fight even began."
"In comparison, Uchiha En's state of mind is much calmer."