Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

From a macro perspective, the Third Hokage's actions were beyond reproach—worthy of praise even. After all, everything he did was rooted in the interests of the village, aiming to bring it maximum benefit. But on a smaller scale, his treatment of the Daimyo always gave off the impression of bullying a child.

Konoha was the military organization protecting the Land of Fire, so naturally, the country should provide military funding, right? Originally, part of Konoha's military budget came from subsidies provided by the Land of Fire, while the rest was earned by taking on various external missions. The only difference now was that the Hokage insisted the Daimyo contribute just slightly more—a tiny increase at that. Was eighty million really such a huge sum?

As for the issue of the army not obeying government orders after receiving funding—well, it was obvious why. Since the Land of Fire had no way to impose logistical control over Konoha or balance its power, no matter who became Village Headman, they would inevitably act independently. Why would anyone allow the Daimyo to constantly interfere in their affairs?

In short, the Third Hokage's visit to the Daimyo's castle was a major strategic success—he didn't just secure the official appointment as Hokage but also reclaimed the right of appointment itself from the Daimyo. Military funding increased, and more importantly, Konoha's influence reached deep into the Daimyo's court. Konoha would dispatch twelve guardian ninjas to serve within the Daimyo's residence. But here lies the real question: though these twelve served as the Daimyo's personal guards, if ever forced to choose, would they follow the Hokage—or the Daimyo?

Though the Daimyo deeply resented this "suggestion," he had no choice but to accept it. The consequences of his own mistakes were his to bear—even if he'd already bitten off more than he could chew.

After witnessing just how sharp the Third Hokage's intellect truly was, Haseo decided he should keep his distance in the future to avoid being taken advantage of. Didn't he see how the Fire Daimyo, once used up like a tool, was then discarded without a second thought? Naturally, the Daimyo would grow increasingly dissatisfied with Konoha afterward—but what difference would that make? Truthfully, neither the Hokage nor any other ninja cared one bit about that.

When they returned to the village, since the frontline situation remained calm, the Third Hokage didn't rush back immediately. Meanwhile, Haseo and his squad's "temporary protection" status hadn't been revoked, so their unit temporarily remained in the village… There was no need for reinforcements at the front, meaning there was no urgency for Konoha's ninja to cluster along the borders.

Haseo wasn't exactly sure what tasks occupied the Hokage's time within the village, but some time later, he learned from Sansho that, to further strengthen his faction, the Hokage had decided to cultivate more direct forces—namely, Anbu units. For this purpose, a new organization called Root had been established within the village.

Root served as the training ground for Anbu forces, making it an even more loyal faction under the Hokage than foreign shinobi like Haseo could ever be. This wasn't surprising at all—after all, Danzo Shimura represented the core of the Third Hokage's most trusted allies, which explained why Root had been placed under his command…

A large portion of new Anbu recruits would come directly from Root, and since the Anbu themselves formed the actual security force responsible for protecting the Hokage, naturally such authority would be entrusted to those he trusted most.

As for whether Danzo and Root might go off track in the future, that would be an issue for later. Even if they eventually became problematic, right now they remained the Hokage's most relied-upon force.

Did the Hokage not understand rotation policies, or had Danzo already grown too powerful by the time the idea of rotation was considered?

In any case, how many people could a ninja truly trust in his lifetime? It was difficult to give an exact number—people varied—but if you really had to generalize, the answer was just two words...

Not many.

That was why the Third Hokage placed heavy trust in Danzo.

Haseo merely brushed off what he'd heard about Root. He didn't take it seriously. As long as Danzo didn't draft him into Root, what did he care?

While he still had some free time, Haseo had more pressing personal matters to attend to—like further increasing his own combat strength.

In Shikkotsu Forest, Haseo was locked in battle against a rather troublesome opponent.

"Haaah... So this is what it feels like... This fighting style, it's really... Gross?" Haseo stared intently at his opponent, panting slightly, somewhat out of breath. The high-intensity combat training had left him exhausted and disheveled.

"That's right. This fresh and unconventional jutsu-casting method can definitely catch enemies off guard—not only surprising them, but even killing them outright," said Katsuyu, perched on Haseo's shoulder.

Katsuyu fully agreed with Haseo's assessment.

The reason for this was because the opponent currently fighting Haseo was none other than his own clone. At this moment, Haseo finally understood what it felt like to be suddenly blasted in the face by a barrage of multi-elemental Ninjutsu—it was a terrible experience in every sense of the word. In a word: nauseating.

Where was the basic ninja combat etiquette here? Why wasn't it following the standard rules of engagement? Water Release mixed with Fire Release, while also channeling Lightning Release through the same hand seals—all performed simultaneously. Why don't you just fly into the sky while you're at it? As the original creator of this technique, Haseo genuinely wanted to slap himself across the face twice.

But what could he do? He'd chosen this training method himself—no choice but to see it through.

"Continue." Haseo exhaled slowly, steadying his breathing before saying so.

"No, I think that's enough, Master Haseo. Your Chakra reserves won't hold up much longer. Besides, such high-intensity training should always be done in moderation. Excess leads to breakage; going too far invites failure," Katsuyu advised him.

As if to prove its point, Haseo's clone wavered slightly in place before vanishing with a puff—the Chakra had been completely drained.

With Katsuyu already reducing Haseo's maximum Chakra capacity, plus the doubled Chakra consumption rate from this exercise, it was no wonder his reserves were quickly depleted.

Seeing his clone disappear, Haseo secretly let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, he never wanted to spar with such an opponent ever again.

After finishing this grueling training session, Haseo returned to Konoha from Shikkotsu Forest.

By now, he had long gotten used to the spatial disorientation caused by reverse summoning and no longer experienced dizziness.

He appeared directly in his room. After bathing and cleaning himself up, he entered that sage-like state one falls into after overexerting their energy. Yet even at such times, he kept clutching a single sheet of paper in his hand, its surface covered in messy scratches like those left by cat paws.

Obviously, this was part of his training too. It wouldn't be long before he could slice through such paper effortlessly... (well, that was the idea).

Haseo sat by the window, gazing down at the crowds bustling through the streets below. Suddenly, he noticed how unusually lively it was today. Even though night was approaching, instead of thinning out, the crowds kept steadily growing… everything looked like one of those rare nights of revelry once seen only within the Daimyo's Castle.

Wiping his face with the towel draped over his neck, he murmured to himself, "Is there some special occasion today?"

"Haseo-sama…" His lack of awareness startled Katsuyu slightly. "It's New Year's Day."

"…"

Well then. So it turned out to be New Year's Day after all. Haseo hadn't paid attention to the date before.

Come to think of it, this marked exactly one year since he arrived in Konoha. Strictly speaking, it was already his second New Year here. Last year, due to urgent wartime affairs and the recent passing of the Second Hokage, the village had been especially quiet. This year, however, was shaping up to be entirely different — celebrations were already underway.

In this reincarnation, Haseo had also reached the age of sixteen. At that age, Madara Uchiha had just recently awakened his eyes; Kakashi Hatake, whose eternal youth seemed almost timeless — both in appearance and in the power he'd possessed since age twelve. As for Haseo, what kind of changes awaited him in the days ahead?

Even he himself felt excited thinking about it.

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