Chapter 7 : Watanabe is graduating early

  There were footsteps outside the door.

  Hiruzen looked up and saw a middle-aged man with half of his face wrapped in bandages walking into the office.

  Hiruzen casually put the report presented by Osaka Rukawa aside and asked the middle-aged man: "Danzo, how is the investigation of the Hidden Rain Village?"

  "The situation is not good." Danzo said in a low voice.

  "The conflict between the Hidden Rain Village and the Iron Country has become increasingly intensified recently. The two sides are incompatible and may become the fuse for the Second Shinobi World War."

  Hiruzen frowned.

  He will never forget how tragic the First Shinobi World War was a few years ago. Konoha was besieged by Sand Village, Stone village, Cloud village, and Mist Village. There were no casualties, and even the second generation Hokage Tobirama died heroically.

  If it weren't for the assistance of the Whirlpool Country, it would be unknown whether Konoha could survive that catastrophe.

  Although the First Shinobi World War ended with Konoha's victory, it was only a temporary victory. Hiruzen knew that the Second Shinobi World War was brewing. Once it broke out, the storm at that time would be more fierce than the First World War.

  "Hiruzen, we need to prepare in advance." Danzo said, "According to my estimation, the Second Ninja World War will definitely break out in one year at the shortest and three years at the longest. Students who can graduate from the Ninja School should not be kept any longer. Let them experience the experience in advance so that they can be more useful when the war comes."

  Hiruzen: "I will consider it."

Danzo hesitated. In his opinion, there is no need to consider it at all. Danzo felt that the life of students in the Ninja School was too comfortable. There were many people who did not graduate over the age of ten, especially Tsunade. She even had the strength of a special jonin, but she still stayed in the Ninja school. This was a serious waste of talent resources.

  In the Warring States Period, children of various ninja clans were forced to go to the battlefield at the age of five or six. Why not now? The problem with the Ninja School system is huge.

  Unfortunately, Danzo is not a Hokage after all. He can only make suggestions. The person who really has the power to change the Ninja School system is Hiruzen.

  After a moment of silence, Danzo suddenly saw the reports piled on the table and asked casually, "What outstanding talents are there in the school now?"

  The "Root" he made needed to absorb fresh blood.

  Hiruzen understood what he meant: "Look for yourself."

  Danzo picked up a report that was already spread out, which was exactly what Hiruzen had just read.

  "This kid named Watanabe is very good, leave him to me."

  Soon, Danzo closed the report and said bluntly.

  The Root specializes in dealing with the dirty and filthy, carrying heavy burdens and enduring what ordinary people cannot endure. It needs such people with strong will.

  Hiruzen hesitated slightly.

  Of course, he knew the nature of the existence of the Root. Anyone who entered the Root would be entangled in filth and might be brainwashed by Danzo into a numb machine without self-awareness.

  He wanted to arrange a normal growth path for Watanabe, and even recruit him into the Anbu in the future, but Danzo had asked for it himself, and he couldn't refuse Danzo for a student of the ninja school.

  "Okay, Watanabe is indeed qualified to graduate early because he can fight with Tsunade for so long."

  Finally, Hiruzen agreed.

  ...

  ...

  It was a dark and windy night, and the hands of the clock on the wall pointed to three in the morning.

  Watanabe did not sleep, he was staying up late, or to be more precise, he was staying up late and being lazy.

  [Staying up late: Health +4, Kidney function +3, Fatigue -6...]

  [Lazy: Chakra (Qi and blood) +5, +5, +5...]

  "It was such a good night!"

  Watanabe was excited.

  He felt full of energy and vigor, and his chakra (Qi and blood) were growing continuously.

  The attribute panel showed that his Chakra (Qi and blood) value had reached 230, which increased tenfold in just half a day!

  "If I don't have the opportunity to learn advanced ninjutsu in the future, it is possible to specialize in physical skills. After all, my Chakra (Qi and blood) are so strong."

  Watanabe thought to himself, thinking that he had the potential to become a master of physical skills.

  After a while, it was five o'clock in the morning and the sky was bright.

  Due to the effect of cause and effect reversal, Watanabe became more energetic the more he stayed up late, and his brain seemed to be soaked in Cold water.

  "No, it's too energetic. This state is not normal."

  Watanabe was worried that he would be too energetic and die suddenly. After thinking about it, he decided to take a nap to keep his body functions balanced.

  So he closed his eyes, counted sheep boringly, and forced himself to sleep.

  [Sleeping: Energy -3, Fatigue +4, Sleepiness +5...]

  It would have been fine if he hadn't fallen asleep, but after closing his eyes, Watanabe became more and more sleepy, and completely lost consciousness.

  The sky in the east was lighting up, and the first ray of dawn was shining down.

  ...

  ...

  The ninja school was very lively in the early morning, and the children came to school in an endless stream in the rising sun, and there was a lot of noise inside and outside.

  "Tsunade-chan, good morning!"

  Jiraiya greeted Tsunade happily.

  Tsunade's eyebrows twitched twice, and she took a deep breath: "Get lost."

  "Okay!"

  Jiraiya was a shameless person. He didn't care about being treated coldly, and continued to greet other girls in the class with a smile on his face.

  "Akiri-chan, good morning."

  "Emi-chan, good morning."

  "..."

  'This guy is so annoying' Every time she saw Jiraiya, Tsunade always wanted to beat him up, but he didn't learn his lesson even after being beaten, and continued to laugh.

  Tsunade shifted her attention and looked at the seat in the corner of the back row.

  'Is Watanabe not here yet?'Tsunade thought to herself, a little nervous.

  In the actual combat yesterday, Watanabe was undoubtedly injured by her, and he refused her to use medical ninjutsu to treat him. Tsunade was angry and helpless about this but there was nothing she could do. She had to be responsible for Watanabe's injuries, so today she brought a lot of precious medicinal herbs to school, thinking of giving them to Watanabe to take.

  If you don't want me to treat you, you can't refuse to take the medicine yourself, right?

  This was the first time Tsunade gave something to someone, and the other person was of the opposite sex, so she was inevitably nervous and didn't know how to give it later.

  But to her surprise, Watanabe still didn't come until the first class bell rang.

  'Late?'

  'Watanabe seems to have never been late before.'

  Tsunade felt uneasy for some reason. Could he have been hurt by her yesterday and couldn't get out of bed?

  The first class in the morning was a ninjutsu theory class. Tsunade was absent-minded throughout the whole class, often intentionally or unintentionally looking at the empty space in the corner, wanting to see the familiar figure appear.

  If Watanabe really couldn't come to school because he was hurt by her, then she had to bear the responsibility.

  After three consecutive classes, Watanabe still didn't show up. Tsunade felt more and more guilty.

  The last class was Osaka Rukawa's taijutsu class. As soon as school was over, Tsunade caught up with him and asked, "Teacher, did Watanabe ask for leave from you? He didn't come this morning."

  Osaka Rukawa smiled with relief and said, "Watanabe didn't ask for leave. He's graduating early."

  Tsunade was stunned.

  "Graduate early?"

  "He?"

  (End of this chapter)