Konohamaru and the other children still had two years until graduation.
Many things were already being prepared well in advance.
Asuma inviting Ino to the Sarutobi Clan's old residence was precisely to have her serve as Konohamaru's Jonin team leader after his graduation.
This was full of human relations and etiquette.
The friendship between the Ino–Shika–Choji and the Sarutobi Clan needed to be continuously passed down. How would it be passed down? The relationship between Asuma and the three of them, and the relationship between Ino's generation and the next Sarutobi generation, would be the connecting link.
In the original timeline, because the sixteenth generation Ino–Shika–Choji hadn't matured, Ebisu, as their private tutor, stepped in.
In reality, Ebisu, with little family background and only reaching Special Jonin in Ninja rank, was clearly unqualified.
As a private tutor, setting aside their personal feelings, having a Special Jonin lead Konohamaru's team was already a bit of an injustice to Konohamaru.
The future heir of the Sarutobi Clan, the Third Hokage's direct grandson, and the Village only assigned a Special Jonin to lead his team? What a joke.
If there were no other options, that would be one thing, but now that Ino had risen to prominence, unfortunately, Ebisu could only step aside.
With Ino's abilities, she wouldn't even need to go through the Special Jonin rank; becoming a Jonin within two years would be no problem at all.
The Sarutobi Clan's three thousand Ninja army was just a running gag, but it had to be said that their clan had many Ninja, and they had a traditional friendship with the Ino–Shika–Choji. So, Ino leading Konohamaru and Moegi would be a natural progression of events.
Konohamaru and the others were still unaware of this, but the Sarutobi Clan elders had already discussed it with Inoichi and Shikaku.
Ino of the sixteenth generation Ino–Shika–Choji would lead Konohamaru and his team, Shikamaru would wait a few more years to lead Asuma's son or daughter, and once Konohamaru and Moegi matured, they would then lead the seventeenth generation Ino–Shika–Choji, in a continuous cycle. Faced with such a Ninja clan alliance, it didn't matter who became Hokage; they certainly wouldn't suffer any losses.
During lunch, Konohamaru excitedly brought up the Rasengan, implying he wanted to know if he could learn it. Ino told him he was still too young and his Chakra pathways were relatively fragile. If he was interested, she would teach him the Ninjutsu in two years.
The Sarutobi Clan was very generous, presenting her with a scroll for the A-rank Ninjutsu, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique."
It involved forming eight hand signs, then throwing thousands of Shuriken Shadow Clones straight ahead.
This Jutsu had only one use for Ino: saving money!
Danzo assigned the task to his subordinates, then waited patiently.
Two days later, Fu Yamanaka reported that many elders of the Hyuga Main Family simply didn't leave their homes. The Hyuga Clan's old residence was heavily guarded, and under the strict surveillance of the Byakugan, outsiders couldn't sneak in at all.
The clan head, Hyuga Hiashi, was incredibly strong; they couldn't defeat him.
Hyuga Hanabi was always picked up and dropped off by a crowd of people when going to and from school. The Konoha School was too close to the Hokage's office building; making a move there would bring Jiraiya in less than two minutes.
Logically, Hinata would be a good target, but Ino had been inseparable from Hinata these past few days.
Kakashi, Asuma, and others would occasionally appear nearby, leaving no opportunity to act.
Once they made a move, the commotion would certainly be significant.
If Root could successfully assassinate and safely withdraw under such circumstances, then they might as well go assassinate the Hokage.
Danzo was having a headache; if only he had the Mangekyo Sharingan!
He was, after all, a Konoha Ninja, and couldn't engage in large-scale combat within the Village.
Several potential targets for a sneak attack were unassailable for various reasons.
What to do?
His eccentric nature quickly led him to think of the Byakugan left behind in Hidden Mist Village.
He was constrained within the Village, but outside, there were fewer reservations about taking action.
The relationship between the two Great Ninja Villages? That was entirely outside his consideration.
Danzo had a lot of information and informants in various countries. He quickly used some connections to create an opportunity.
Two elder families from the Land of Water originally intended to form a marriage alliance. Danzo secretly helped them remove obstacles, and the two families happily prepared for the marriage. To guard against potential saboteurs, they commissioned a mission from Hidden Mist Village.
Hidden Mist Village didn't interact with the outside world, but they still undertook missions within their sphere of influence.
Such missions involving prevention and reconnaissance of potential enemies were usually handled by the Sensing Team. The 360-degree, all-seeing Byakugan was very effective. Ao himself was an elite Jonin of Hidden Mist Village and an important subordinate of the Fifth Mizukage. His status and abilities made him suitable for attending such an important minister's wedding banquet. Without much thought, he accepted the mission with a small squad.
Upon receiving the news, Danzo immediately dispatched Aburame Torune to handle the "recovery" of the Byakugan.
Jiraiya was watching closely, so Danzo himself couldn't leave the Village. Plus, the Hashirama cells had just stabilized, making it impossible for him to act.
Fu Yamanaka was also quite conspicuous; if such a Jonin suddenly disappeared, it would certainly raise suspicion.
Aburame Torune, who usually had a very low presence, was perfect.
His nano-level venomous insects killed invisibly, making him the best choice for assassination missions.
The Aburame Clan was moving further and further away from Danzo, which had nothing to do with Aburame Torune personally. He himself remained loyal to Danzo. Upon receiving the order, he immediately led his team out of the Village.
Watching Aburame Torune leave the Village with two squads, a total of nine Ninja, Ino roughly guessed their target. She immediately left a Shadow Clone in the Village, changed into Deidara's attire, and secretly followed them out of the Village.
The two important ministers of the Land of Water held their wedding in their own castle.
The hall was filled with guests. Besides hiring Hidden Mist Ninja, the two ministers also had many samurai and soldiers under their command, all patrolling outside the venue.
Danzo could usually seal the Sharingan on his arm, so even the Byakugan couldn't see the secrets of his arm and right eye. He was quite skilled in Sealing Technique.
Aburame Torune didn't rashly rush in to "recover." They used a sealing cloth that concealed their tracks and blocked the Byakugan's vision to quietly infiltrate the venue, successively poisoning three Hidden Mist Ninja. Then, the nine of them burst into action, attacking Ao together.
They sealed off several of Ao's escape routes. The Kunai of several of them were coated with highly potent, fast-acting poison, aiming for an instant kill.
To prevent Ao from destroying the Byakugan at a critical moment, they also prepared numerous sealing tags.
"Who are you? Are you here for me?"
Root Ninja, acting so aggressively in Hidden Mist Village territory, naturally wouldn't wear Konoha Ninja headbands. Ao couldn't tell the origin of these nine Ninja for a moment.
He ignored the ordinary guests present and quickly formed hand signs: "Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
The stream of water sprayed from his throat repelled the Root Ninja. Aburame Torune, worried that his nano-venomous insects would damage the Byakugan, withstood the water stream, launched a kick, and engaged Ao in a deadly Taijutsu battle.
I owe one chapter and will make it up in a couple of days. The holiday was truly exhausting.
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I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
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