This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not take Mitsusuke back to the Hokage Office. Instead, he took him back to the Sarutobi Clan's compound.
As soon as they entered Hiruzen Sarutobi's house, Mitsusuke saw Asuma, already wearing his Jonin vest, about to head out.
Asuma saw his father return with Mitsusuke, and with a Body Flicker Technique, he appeared before them: "What was that explosion just now? I was just about to go assist."
Mitsusuke looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, wanting to ask if he could tell Asuma about it. He himself didn't care.
Seeing Mitsusuke's questioning gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately understood his meaning and said, "That commotion just now was caused by Jie. It's nothing serious, I've already sent people to deal with it, so you don't need to go."
"Jie?" Asuma looked at Mitsusuke and asked in a low voice, "Did you light up the room storing exploding tags? That commotion was too loud."
Mitsusuke gave Asuma a look as if he were an idiot and retorted unhappily, "Yes, I lit the exploding tags, and there's still a whole big box of them! I'll light them again in a bit to help you test the quality of your house."
Cough, cough... Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed twice, interrupting Asuma and Mitsusuke's conversation: "Come, sit in the living room! Asuma, go make some tea."
"Me?" Asuma pointed at himself in disbelief, confirming.
Mitsusuke had been to his house before, but the Old Man had never been so polite.
Hiruzen Sarutobi led Mitsusuke to the living room, leaving Asuma alone and confused in the hallway. There was no need to ask now; he was indeed being told to make tea.
After they sat down, Asuma quickly brewed a pot of tea and then sat next to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In the living room, the three heavy smokers didn't smoke or speak, just silently drank tea.
They weren't smoking because Konohamaru was upstairs! They were afraid of choking the child.
Konohamaru was now one year old and could crawl everywhere.
And indeed, Konohamaru was robust and endearing, truly likable.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the first to break the silence: "Jie, tell me your thoughts on the clan and the Village."
Mitsusuke sighed inwardly. He had guessed on the way that Hiruzen Sarutobi would ask him this question.
There was no other way; Mitsusuke's abilities were too strong. Hiruzen Sarutobi had to know his attitude towards the clan and the entire Konoha, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully.
Mitsusuke played with his teacup, not rushing to answer, but instead asked, "Old Man, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
"Also, are you asking this in the name of the Hokage, or in the name of the clan head?"
"Different identities mean different answers from me. Different stances mean even more different answers."
"So, I need to know in what capacity you are asking me this question."
Hearing Mitsusuke's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi became interested: "Is there a difference between the Hokage and the clan head?"
"Of course, there's a difference. If you ask me as the clan head, I will tell you that if the Sarutobi Clan is in trouble, I will not stand by idly, and I will even fight to the death. I will not allow the clan that raised me to be annihilated. If I truly cannot prevent the clan's demise, I will drag the enemies down with me to their graves."
"This is what I told you before: the Village should be glad I'm not the Uchiha clan head, otherwise, I would have fought the Village to the death long ago."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared intently at Mitsusuke, as if trying to discern something from his face.
Draining the tea from his cup, Mitsusuke showed a look of reminiscing, saying, "Although the clan members curse me as the disgrace of the sarutobi clan."
"A few elders in the clan would also scold me when they saw me, but the subsidies were never withheld. So I interpret the elders' scolding as a form of 'hating iron for not becoming steel.'"
"Without the clan's subsidies and protection, I wouldn't have lived so comfortably these past few years. This is why I will fully protect the clan."
"Having spoken about my attitude towards the clan, let's talk about my attitude towards the Village."
"I like the Village; it's my home, and I will do my best to protect it. But to ask me to lay down my life for ordinary people, I'm sorry, I can't do that. Because you are asking me as the clan head, I don't want to lie to you."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. Although Mitsusuke's answer wasn't exactly what he wanted, it was still quite good. At least he knew that Mitsusuke was a grateful person.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was now very pleased. If it weren't for him, a genius would have become estranged from the clan, and such things were not uncommon in other clans.
After a moment of secret satisfaction, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of a very important matter: "Jie, your Bloodline Limit is so powerful, does it consume a lot of Chakra? How many times can you fire that Laser beam at once?"
"Once," Mitsusuke held up a finger, "I can only fire the Laser beam once right now. The consumption of Light Release is too great; after one shot, my Chakra is basically depleted. So I am also developing skills that can be used continuously. Currently, I've only developed a skill similar to the Body Flicker Technique, which is much faster than ordinary Body Flicker Technique."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, very satisfied with Mitsusuke's attitude. He wasn't wasting his abilities and knew to secretly develop them.
Putting down his teacup, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and took a scroll from the cabinet behind him, placing it on the coffee table: "This is the Sarutobi Clan's Chakra Cultivation Technique. It's much stronger than what you've been practicing before. Take it back and practice it; it should increase your Chakra a bit."
Looking at the scroll, Mitsusuke didn't hesitate and directly tucked it into his embrace. This item wasn't of much use to him, but it was better than nothing.
After giving away the scroll, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the Hokage Office to work. He hadn't asked Mitsusuke any questions in his capacity as Hokage.
Because there was no need to ask, he already knew Mitsusuke's attitude.
From Mitsusuke's attitude just now, it would be difficult to make him fight to the death for Konoha, but it was possible to make him fight to the death for the Sarutobi Clan, and that was enough.
After Hiruzen Sarutobi left, Asuma moved closer to Mitsusuke, a lewd expression on his face: "Jie, what's your ability? Show it to me."
"Show what? If I really demonstrated it, your house would need to be rebuilt. Haven't you seen that the Training Ground is still being put out?"
With that, Mitsusuke stood up and walked towards the door. It was almost time for his class, and the children were waiting for the irrigation of knowledge!
Not seeing Mitsusuke's ability, Asuma was a bit disappointed. He decided to go chat with Kurenai to relieve his inner frustration.
As soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the Hokage Office, Danzo came looking for him: "Hiruzen, Mitsusuke's ability is too dangerous. Hand him over to me, and I guarantee I'll train him into a sharp blade to protect Konoha."