"That's it. Try to keep your flame under control." Asuma instructed as Shiro tried out the Burning Ash jutsu.
Shiro's whole body was sweating due to the heat and his flame started to diminish as it became smaller and smaller before disappearing altogether.
Shiro's body collapsed while panting heavily.
"For your first day, you did pretty well," Asuma said.
He then placed a small bottle of water near Shiro.
"Practise hard during this period," Asuma said.
Shiro picked up the bottle as he got up.
He then sat back down again as he started chugging down the water.
"Our next training session is next week. The same day. At the same time." Asuma continued.
"Next week? Do we need to wait that long?" Shiro asked.
"Controlling the heat without completely being exhausted is not something that you can overcome with talent. You need to train on your own so that your body can handle the heat. I have my students and my own life so I can't spend most of my time with you.." Asuma conveys his thoughts to the young ninja.
Shiro knew what he said was right. Asuma does not owe him anything.
He should be thankful that he was even teaching him in the first place. But for some reason, he feels like he is being treated as a burden which he does not appreciate.
Shiro continued to sit down to rest for a while before going back home as he was still a little tired from the training even after Asuma went home.
Then suddenly he senses the presence of another living being near him.
No, it's more accurate to say that the unknown being revealed himself to Shiro instead of the other way around.
Shiro quickly reached out to a kunai that was near him as there was some distance between himself and the place where he put his sword.
"You don't have to worry. I am not your enemy. And as you can see I am also a Konoha Shinobi just like you." The man said.
Shiro put away his kunai after hearing the man's words.
"Lord Danzo is satisfied with your progress." The man continued.
As an orphan, Shiro was only able to become a Shinobi because of the support that Danzo provided, Danzo was also a well-respected elder in Konoha so Shiro had a good opinion of him.
"So what are you here for," Shiro asked.
"Lord Danzo wanted to make you an offer." He continued.
"Are you not going to tell me what it is?" Shiro asked.
"I don't think talking about it out in the open like this would be a good idea." The man said.
Shiro looked around to see a few civilians and Shinobi near the training field.
"Let's go to my apartment instead," Shiro said as he led the unknown man to his house.
*****
The man puts a scroll on the table that is directly in front of Shiro the moment they sit down inside the apartment.
"This scroll contains a B-rank jutsu that the second Hokage himself created. As long as you agree to lord Danzo's three conditions you can have this scroll all to yourself." The man stated.
"A B-rank jutsu?" Shiro was taken back.
The highest-rank jutsu that he was able to use was a C-rank jutsu. Despite just being separated by one rank the difference between a B-rank jutsu and a C-rank jutsu is quite large.
A B-rank level jutsu can even be in the rotation of some Jonin-level shinobis while a C-rank level jutsu is something that even some gifted Genins were able to use.
The weakest B-rank jutsu is always superior to the best C-rank jutsu while the gap between the best B-rank jutsu and the worst A-rank jutsu is much closer.
"What are his conditions?" Shiro asked.
"The first is that you will never betray the leaf village." The man said.
"That is a reasonable condition," Shiro said as nodded.
"The second is that you will never reveal to others that the agreement that has been made the moment that you accept the deal." The man continued.
"That is also reasonable. I can agree with that condition." Shiro also agreed easily to the seond condition.
"And lastly you have to get a seal on your body that will instantly kill you the moment that you break one of the two conditions that you agreed to." He said.
Shiro frowned. Unlike the first two proposals, this was an unreasonable request.
He could agree to the first two conditions easily but the last conditions might take away his freedom and his life if Danzo ever feels like he wanted to eliminate him.
Shiro only knows Danzo as a powerful shinobi and a respectable elder but even then he still doesn't think he should entrust his life to someone that he does not know personally.
"I am sorry. I have to decline." Shiro replied.
"And you don't have to worry about me informing this deal others or betraying the village. It's just that I don't want to entrust my life into the hand of another just yet." Shiro continued.
He rejected Danzo's proposal.
But he does not want to be his enemy so he turns down the proposal lightly and even reassures that he will still follow the first two conditions even without any kind of reward.
The man just stared at Shiro for a whole minute and didn't say anything to him.
He then got up and prepared to leave as he walked towards the door.
"Hey. You forgot the scroll." Shiro said when he saw that the B-rank jutsu scroll on this table.
"You can keep it. Lord Danzo mainly wanted to test your loyalty to the village. You can think of it as a gift from him." He replied.
He then left quietly leaving Shiro alone in his apartment.
At that time Shiro didn't know that Danzo's underling approached him under the orders of the man with many eyes because of his potential usefulness as a puppet or a tool.
The B-rank scroll was just bait to lure Shiro to his side so that he could get another Shinobi with great potential under his wings.