The Shimura Actually Has Ice Release

Seeing that his son refused to talk to him, Hiruzen didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. He could only watch helplessly as Asuma shut himself in his room and didn't come back out.

"Hmph, even as the Hokage, there are still things you can't handle, huh."

Carrying dishes out from the kitchen, Sarutobi Biwako glanced at the dazed Hiruzen standing in place and let out a cold snort of ridicule.

"Hahaha, what can I do? As the Hokage, there really are some things that aren't up to me. I'm sorry, Biwako." Hiruzen knew he owed a lot to his family for the sake of Konoha and could only sincerely express his apologies to Biwako.

"What's the use of saying that to me? Go say it to your son." Rolling her eyes at him, Biwako turned and went back into the kitchen to prepare the next dish.

"As my son, he'll understand me one day."

Watching Biwako's back, Hiruzen gave a self-deprecating smile. He didn't go after Asuma as his wife had suggested, and instead turned to the front door and picked up his Hokage hat.

"I'm heading back to handle some matters. I won't be back for dinner tonight." He called toward the kitchen, and before Biwako could respond, Hiruzen opened the door and left the house.

The reason he had come home early today was to check whether Asuma had been injured, and to see if this failure had put any pressure on him. Judging by Asuma's condition, everything seemed fine.

Feeling reassured, Hiruzen's thoughts turned to the documents waiting for him in his office, and he left in a hurry.

...

Shimura residence.

"There's a lot of meat dishes today, huh."

Looking at the dishes on the table, Takeshi nearly drooled with no regard for his image.

Grilled pork belly, sliced soy-braised meat, and a fish stew of some kind—just looking at it all made one's appetite surge.

"As a shinobi, your diet must be well-balanced. You can't lack meat, but you also shouldn't go overboard with greasy foods." Danzō lectured Takeshi with a stern expression.

"Yes, yes, you're right. Let's just start eating already." Unable to wait any longer, Takeshi grabbed his chopsticks and picked up a slice of grilled pork belly, placing it into Danzō's bowl.

Seeing Takeshi's action, the corners of Danzō's tightly pressed lips softened ever so slightly.

"Hmph, just praised you and now you're doing this nonsense. You don't look like a proper shinobi at all." Though he said that, Danzō still ate the piece of meat Takeshi gave him with his rice.

It had already been two years since Takeshi arrived in Konoha.

During these two years, Danzō had gradually gotten used to this life filled with bonds, and had come to somewhat understand the feelings of a father.

These bonds formed by blood were far more solid than the loyalty gained through ROOT's coercion and brainwashing.

For someone as naturally suspicious as Danzō, he could suspect the Uchiha of plotting rebellion, and doubt his own subordinates' loyalty—but he would never doubt that his son would try to harm him.

That was the power of blood.

Of course, if he could read minds, he would find out that his seemingly filial son was thinking every day about how to inherit his legacy.

"How's your Ice Release training going? You didn't seem to use it in the recent drill." Danzō was curious about Takeshi's progress with Ice Release.

"Not bad, I guess. I just felt it wasn't necessary to show that kind of power in front of my classmates." Takeshi raised his left hand and gathered chakra in his palm. A senbon made of ice formed instantly.

"Hmph, so you know how to hold back now." Danzō was a bit disappointed. If his son had shown off this Ice Release technique in front of everyone, he surely would've outshined that Kakashi boy.

So far, only a few of their close circle knew about Takeshi's Ice Release; it hadn't been widely spread.

To Danzō, if you wanted to inherit the Hokage title, the first thing you needed was a memorable nickname.

Like "White Fang of the Leaf," the "Three Legendary Sannin," or the "Professor of Ninjutsu"—with a nickname, villagers would remember you, and even the daimyō would take notice.

Still, since Takeshi didn't want to reveal his abilities yet, so be it.

Danzō prided himself on being an understanding parent. As long as the general direction was correct, he'd let Takeshi fine-tune things however he liked.

After dinner, Takeshi followed his usual routine and went out into the courtyard. Aburame Ryōma was already waiting there.

After two years of training, their sparring had evolved from Ryōma standing still and beating up Takeshi to Ryōma moving while still beating up Takeshi.

But today, Takeshi was feeling confident. After all, he'd defeated the Third's son. His strength might not be at jōnin level yet, but for a chūnin? That should be more than enough… right?

Glancing nervously at the whip in Yamanaka Akira's hand, Takeshi flexed his wrists and made the first move, launching an attack at Ryōma.

He threw a punch toward Ryōma's abdomen. Ryōma merely shifted his body slightly and reached out to grab Takeshi's collar.

Sensing the wind rushing at the back of his neck, Takeshi ducked his body to evade Ryōma's grip and turned his punch into an elbow strike aimed at Ryōma's stomach.

Having missed his grab, Ryōma didn't panic. He stepped back to dodge the elbow, then suddenly kicked toward Takeshi, trying to send him flying.

Takeshi forcefully took the hit, spun in midair, and wrapped himself around Ryōma's lower leg.

Ryōma, surprised by Takeshi's agile movement, froze for a moment. In that instant, Takeshi suddenly threw the ice senbon he had just created straight at Ryōma's face.

"Senbon may be nimble and easy to carry as weapons, but compared to kunai, their attack range is smaller and their damage far less." Reacting quickly, Ryōma caught the senbon between his fingers and even had the leisure to comment.

"But mine are limitless, Ryōma-sensei!" With a mischievous grin, Takeshi created a few more senbon and viciously stabbed them into Ryōma's leg, which he was still holding onto.

"Nani?!" Even someone as experienced as Ryōma didn't expect Takeshi to pull off this kind of move.

He quickly used all his strength to shake his right leg, trying to throw Takeshi off.

"If I hit this acupoint, you won't be able to move that leg for a while!" Following the acupoint diagram taught by Nonō, Takeshi stabbed down hard. As expected, Ryōma's leg went numb.

"Then I'll just fight without that leg!" Unable to shake Takeshi off, Ryōma simply dropped to his knees, aiming to pin Takeshi down with his body weight.

Realizing what Ryōma was planning, Takeshi quickly let go and rolled away just in time to avoid being crushed.

"Don't blame me for being underhanded, Ryōma-sensei. You're a jōnin, after all!" Rolling several times across the ground, Takeshi pulled a few shuriken from his pouch and threw them toward Ryōma.

With one leg disabled, how are you going to dodge such a large-scale attack?

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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