Chapter 19: Chapter 19- Discussion with the Hokage
Ren Uchiha POV
"What do you mean by team placement?" He asked "Aren't I already in a team?"
"Before we get into that… how much do you know about what is going on outside the village?" Minato asked.
He put his high Intelligence stat to use and came up with the most probable scenario. "Since someone put a greater bounty on my head, it seems that news about some of my abilities have been leaked out. Which means that the higher ups of the other major villages must be in turmoil right now. They wouldn't want to face a shinobi of the same calibre as Madara Uchiha amd Hashirama Senju. So they must be planning to assassinate me." He then hummed. "Is that what you meant by team placement? You don't want me in the team because my mere presence puts everyone else at risk."
"You're not wrong. But there is more to it than that." Minato said. "Our spies informed us that while the higher ups of other major villages do see you as a threat. They're not sure about the extent of threat that you possess."
"I see." He said as he thought on this for a moment. "It seems like they don't have enough information about me. Or don't trust the information that they have."
Which was understandable, as it is pretty hard to believe that a 6-year-old child is able to defeat an S-class kunoichi. They likely assumed that Ringo was mainly defeated by Jiraiya-Sensei while he played a minor supporting role.
Even rumours about his second 'bloodline' might be hard to believe. Especially if the rumours became exaggerated (as they tend to do) before they reached the ears of those higher ups.
"Indeed." Minato nodded grimly. "Which is why our border patrols and gate guards have been apprehending more and more spies these past few days. One of the reason why I don't want you doing any D or C rank missions with your team is so that you can dedicate that time to uncovering more of these spies and infiltrators."
"Hm… that's doable."
Minato raised an eyebrow at his words. "You're being surprising accommodating about this entire thing."
He shrugged. "One of the main reason why I became a shinobi was to protect Itachi during those missions. Now, I can accomplish that just as easily from within Konoha."
"How?" Minato asked before his eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me! Did you…"
"Yup." He smiled before he stared at the anbu guarding Minato. "Can we get some privacy?"
Minato made a hand sign and the the team of anbu immediately vacated the room before it went into a Fuinjutsu lockdown.
"You can show us now." Minato said with a giddy smile on his face.
"Show what Minato?" Kushina-Sensei asked, looking confused at Minato's sudden enthusiasm.
"This." He said before took out a kunai from his Inventory. A flex of his will and chakra marked it with his Hiraishin symbol. Then he threw it on the other corner of the Hokage's office.
The next instant, he was in that corner, holding that marked kunai.
The widened eyes and open-mouthed expressions of both Kushina and Jiraiya were quite amusing.
"So, you've truly mastered it," Minato remarked, a hint of nostalgia and relief in his expression. "I suppose I shouldn't even be surprised anymore at this point."
"Ren. When did you learn Hiraishin Jutsu?" Jiraiya-Sensei asked.
"Just an hour ago." He replied. He then considered telling them about his newly upgraded Mangekyo Sharingan but decided to hold onto that piece of info for now.
It would be wiser to discuss this with Fugaku before he reveals this to anyone else. Or he might not reveal it to anyone at all. Having a Trump card is always useful for emergencies.
"I see." Jiraiaya said, looking lost.
Then, Kushina got up from her seat and walked over to him before pulling him up in a tight hug. "Well done Ren. I'm so proud of you."
Not used to much physical affection, he awkwardly hugged her back and patted her until she let go of him, a slight sheen in her eyes as she looked at him with pride.
"We're going to Ichiraku Ramen after this to celebrate!" Kushina announced before glaring at the two other men in the room. "All of us."
"Kushina you know-" Minato started to speak but paused as Kushina's glare intensified.
"All. Of. Us." Kushina said and Minato raised his hand in surrender.
"Very well. But, now that you've learned Hiraishin, I think it's safe to tell you about a few more things Ren."
"What few more things?" He asked.
"Well, you probably already guessed it, but Konoha might face a war in the future."
"Because of me." He said, a tinge of bitterness in his voice, acknowledging the many men, women, and children that might lose their lives due to his mere existence in the future.
Yet, it was his choice to become a shinobi, and he was determined to see it through to the end.
If the other major villages want to kill him, then he'll become the very monster that they feared and slaughter all their shinobi until they back off and sued for peace.
"I won't lie and say that it's not because of you." Minato said grimly. "Though the 3rd shinobi war lasted for over half a decade and ended only a few years ago. So there's is a chance that the other villages might decide that it's better to recuperate their losses rather than go to war again. However, if the war really does come to our borders, then I want you to participate in it."
Kushina immediately rose up in order to protest but a grim look from Minato shut her up. He was not speaking as her husband right now but as the 4th Hokage of Konoha.
Then Minato turned to him and smiled. "I'll not send you into the battlefield. But since you know Hiraishin, your main job will be to remove any of our injured shinobi from the battlefield and bring in more reinforcements to aid our shinobi. Will you be able to do that, Ren?"
"Of course. Who do you think I am?" He said, making his own plans on the role he'll play during the war, given that Minato seemed reluctant to involve him directly in the main battlefield.
He won't go against Minato's direct orders. But it didn't mean that he can't skirt around the edges and deal devastating blows to their enemies at the same time.
"I'm glad to see that you're so confident." Minato said. "However, now that you don't have a team anymore, I was hoping you could return to being Kushina's disciple."
"Hm... if it's all the same to you, Kushina-sensei, I'd prefer not to be your disciple anymore," he stated bluntly, wincing internally as he observed the disappointment that swept across Kushina's once cheerful expression.
"Why?" She asked with a heartbroken look.
"Because I've already learned almost everything that you can teach me in Fuinjutsu. Next, I want to master Iryojutsu. Having another medic of the calibre of Lady Tsunade who can instantly teleport to any of our injured troops would greatly benefit our forces during a war." He said.
And with his nigh perfect chakra control and the newly gained Skill Book System, he was confident that he would learn all of Tsunade's medical Jutsu in no time.
Then, he would only need to work on grinding those levels. And with the help of his Shadow Clones, that should be easy enough.
"You seem rather confident that you'll become another medic of Tsunade's calibre." Jiraiya-Sensei said with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how many other shinobi have tried and failed to achieve even a fraction of her accomplishments in that field?"
"Those shinobi aren't me." He said simply.
"That's… fair enough." Jiraya-Sensei said before he got up from his chair and turned to Minato. "I'll go and talk to Tsunade. See if she's up for having another student."
Minato nodded and Jiraiya immediately left through the window.
Once Jiraiya-Sensei was gone, he turned and gave an apologetic look to Kushina-Sensei. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright brat. I'm just sad that I cannot teach you anymore." Kushina said as she knelt down to hug him once again. Then she softly whispered in his ears. "You'll still come to babysit Naruko though, yeah?"
"Motherfu@#$#$"
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AN: Sorry this chapter is so small. I was trying to see whether I'll feel more comfortable writing shorter but daily chapters. It didn't work out so longer chapters it is.
To make up for this, I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow morning.
Have a nice day.
And as per the usual self advertisement: 8 advanced chapters in Patreon for those interested in reading ahead.
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ankit1
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