"Are you accustomed to being in the presence of authorities?"

Although he was thinking about other things, it wasn't difficult for Yujin to respond to the Hokage's inquiries.

"Not much."

"You seem quite calm for someone meeting the Hokage."

Hiruzen observed Yujin calmly but couldn't really find anything, which truly surprised him.

"I have perfect control over my physical and emotional functions due to my training, so I can remain calm in the most difficult situations."

"Hoho, and what kind of training is that?"

Hiruzen was curious about Yujin and how he accumulated so much strength.

"Martial arts."

The Hokage put his hand on his chin and thought for a long time, trying to understand what martial arts meant. In the village, something similar would be taijutsu, but it was far from the same.

"I think I've heard of something like that... Martial arts."

Hiruzen has access to all the knowledge present in the village—things only the Hokages would know. The only other person with such access would be Mito, and that's because of her influence as the wife of the First Hokage, the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, as well as the numerous contributions she made to the village.

She literally built the village with her own hands, so it's not strange for her to have the same influence as the Hokage.

"Well... Let's leave it at that; I'll look into it further later."

As they conversed, Hiruzen walked around the room, circling Yuji slowly, observing him. Yujin didn't react to the Hokage's actions, but he was starting to feel displeasure.

Suddenly, without any warning, the Hokage moved. With a kunai in hand, he attacked Yujin from behind, aiming for his neck. It all happened in less than a second.

When Hiruzen snapped back to reality, Yujin had already turned around, using his left hand to stop the kunai and his right hand to throw a punch at the Hokage's head.

Everything happened so fast that even the Hokage was surprised. He knew Yujin could thwart the attack, but he didn't expect a counterattack. When he tried to think about how to defend himself, the punch stopped just inches from his face.

Along with the halted punch, a gust of wind hit his face, and papers in the room started flying everywhere. Although the wind that came with the punch was powerful, Hiruzen made an effort not to be affected by it and stood still, locking eyes with Yujin.

"You're better than I thought."

"That was very rude."

Yujin seemed quite relaxed as he said that, but there was displeasure on his words. Hiruzen couldn't see any caution on his part, so he wanted to know how he would react but didn't anticipate the speed and fluidity of his response.

"Impressive. I apologize. I just wanted to test you so I can confirm your skills."

The Hokage slowly sheathed the kunai, returned to his desk, and began searching in some drawers. A few seconds later, he handed three scrolls to Yujin and explained.

"I'll give you a chance. I've specially chosen these three missions for you. If you can complete them perfectly, I'll allow you to take missions up to A-rank in the future."

Yujin looked at the three scrolls in his hand and nodded. Tsunade had already discussed with the Hokage the type of work he was willing to do, so he didn't question it.

"I wanted to ask something before I go."

Hiruzen waved his hand, giving permission, while calmly smoking his pipe.

"If I complete these three missions, will I also be treated as a resident? I know that currently, my status is that of Tsunade's guest, something I intend to change if possible."

The Hokage nodded slightly and explained.

"If you can complete these three missions, I'll give you permission to live here. You'll be treated like any other resident."

Satisfied, Yujin left the Hokage's office.

The Hokage remained silent after Yujin's departure. Initially, he planned to talk more with Yujin, try to better understand what kind of person he was. However, after hearing the words "martial arts," he decided to cut the conversation short and test him to see how strong he was.

He had read about "martial arts" in some village scroll and planned to find out what it was before Yujin returned with the mission results. He thought he could learn more about Yujin just through conversation, but this need for research intrigued him even more. The little test earlier also yielded interesting results.

'What's the secret of this mysterious strength he possesses?'

Although most people couldn't sense it, individuals at the level of Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiruzen could vaguely feel his power.

***

As Yujin left the academy, he quickly read through the scrolls to learn more about the missions. At the same time, he was concerned about the dates. Currently, it was not the time to go on a mission since two days later, he needed to be present at Mito's ritual.

He had a bad feeling about this ritual.

After looking at all three, they were all escort missions. Two of them were item escorts, and one was the escort of an important person. All of them were scheduled after the ritual.

The Hokage chose the missions well.

It was quickly getting dark, and as he returned to the apartment where he lived, Yujin saw a man running with both hands in the distance. Yujin had seen this man several times before and had always been curious about him. Once he asked Tsunade about the guy who spent the whole day exercising in the village, and she replied that he was a rarity.

He was the only ninja in the village who couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu.

Ninjutsus were the magical techniques that ninjas could perform; using Chakra and hand seals, they could summon elements and perform other impressive feats that even Yujin couldn't. Genjutsus were techniques capable of using Chakra to affect people's psyche, creating illusions to confuse them.

This man, Might Duy, couldn't use either type of technique, which were things ninjas had to learn. Might Duy had consulted many doctors, including Tsunade, about his condition, and her response was that he had little Chakra.

His condition was only slightly better than that of ordinary civilians, which would normally prevent someone like him from becoming a ninja.

What made him a rarity was that, despite this condition, he never gave up and became a Genin, the lowest rank among ninjas. Genins, Chuunins, Jounins—these were the three ninja classifications.

Genins were ninjas who graduated from the academy. They had just learned and mastered the basics a ninja should know, so they were always inexperienced, but in a few years, they became Chuunin. In most cases, they only needed experience and specialized training to become Chuunin.

Might Duy, even more than ten years after leaving the academy, remained a Genin, earning him the nickname Eternal Genin.

Nevertheless, he never gave up and continued to train to improve. According to Tsunade, although he couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, he was one of the most powerful ninjas in the village, and the reason he hadn't become a Chuunin was that he prioritized training so much that he forgot to do missions, or when he did, he didn't achieve good results because he was tired from training.

Might Duy was a person who caught Yujin's attention precisely because of his determination to train.

Yujin recognized that determination because he shared it. Yujin was extremely diligent in his training; hardly a day passed without him training.

He could see that determination in Might Duy. At the same time, he learned from Tsunade that he was the village's greatest Taijutsu specialist, something similar to Martial Arts but involving the use of Chakra.

For various reasons, Yujin was interested in Duy. When he was around, Yujin would stop what he was doing and watch him from afar, curious about him.

In recent days, he had been studying the differences between Qi and Chakra and was determined to find someone to try to teach his Martial Arts. Tsunade seemed interested, but now that they were apart, he was tempted to teach Duy.

Seeing him in the distance training, Yujin thought for a moment and decided to have at least a first contact.

Approaching, Yujin greeted him warmly.

"Good evening. My name is Yujin; may I know yours?"

Pushing himself up with his hands, Might Duy stood up and greeted Yujin with a big, jovial smile.

"Pleasure to meet you, Yujin. My name is Might Duy."