"Backing? What does that mean?" Little Blonde blinked.
"Connections, influence, someone powerful to lean on..."
After a brief moment of thought, Wang Yan gave a rather blunt answer. "In short, once you receive this gift, no one in all of Konoha will dare bully you again. Everyone will have no choice but to respect you, admire you, and protect you."
"Tch..."
Sasuke, pinned inside the invisible wall of air, sneered disdainfully.
He had watched Naruto for years. Better than anyone, he knew Naruto's status and treatment in Konoha.
Curses, humiliation, slander, beatings.
Would someone like Naruto be respected and admired just because of a gift?
What kind of ninja-world joke was that?!
This was absolutely the conclusion he had reached after calm, rational consideration, not because he had developed a bias against Teacher Wang Yan after being teased earlier.
Though he was somewhat displeased about having his mind toyed with, after calming down, Sasuke still felt a trace of gratitude toward Wang Yan.
Being able to awaken the eyes—and even directly reach the two-tomoe stage—would greatly improve his strength.
If he had not come here today, he probably would not have achieved this even after training bitterly for several more years.
"This squad leader teacher really has some skill. If I can make him teach me everything he knows..." Sasuke's eyes shifted as a few calculating thoughts arose in his mind.
Little did he know, Wang Yan saw through every one of his thoughts as clearly as flames.
Sakura, who had been quietly standing nearby, showed no reaction at all.
Her facial muscles had been strained from excessive movement, so she was temporarily unable to make any expression to convey her emotions.
Smack!
A richly illustrated booklet appeared in Naruto's hands.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and read the words on it one by one. "Guide to Quick Makeup Sorcery."
He flipped through more than a dozen pages with great interest, becoming more intrigued the further he read.
To him, this so-called makeup sorcery was the equivalent of a long-lasting Transformation Jutsu! And it was an advanced ninjutsu that did not even require Chakra to maintain!
Though he was pleased and delighted inside, Naruto still puffed out his cheeks. "What the heck! Teacher, you're such a liar! This gift is way worse than Sasuke's!"
"That's because you don't understand my deeper meaning."
Wang Yan said earnestly, "I have stories. Do you have wine?"
Naruto and Sakura shook their heads. Sasuke, unable to move, rolled his eyes left and right in an endless cycle.
"Forget it. I'll just tell you directly. It's about Konoha's Fourth Hokage."
The three children all made disgusted noises in unison. "Eww~"
The Fourth Hokage, Konoha's protector. He had died protecting Konoha during the Nine-Tails Fox's attack.
Sakura glanced worriedly at the little blonde beside her.
Naruto was rumored to be the reincarnation of the legendary Nine-Tails Fox, the being responsible for the deaths of many Konoha residents...
"The Fourth Hokage, named Namikaze Minato, excelled at the space-time ninjutsu Flying Thunder God and the self-created Rasengan. He was an extraordinary man."
After a brief moment of thought, Wang Yan snapped his fingers.
Whoosh!
A colorful light screen instantly appeared before the three of them.
The colorful screen displayed a portrait of a man.
Blond hair, blue eyes, a ceremonial Hokage cloak bearing the words "Fourth Hokage," and a brilliant, sunny smile that was incredibly infectious.
At that moment, Sasuke realized the invisible wall of air had disappeared, and he could move freely again.
He raised his head and looked at the Fourth Hokage's statue on Hokage Rock, then looked back at the glowing screen.
They were identical!
Then he turned to look at the little blonde beside him...
He looked as though he had been carved from the same mold as the Fourth Hokage.
"Could it be... Hiss..."
A bold thought showed in Sasuke's mind. He could not help sucking in a breath, his face full of shock.
If his guess was true, then Konoha's hidden side beneath the light might be dark enough to suffocate anyone.
What Sasuke could think of, Sakura could naturally think of as well.
She felt as though she was having trouble breathing.
As for Naruto Uzumaki, thick-nerved as ever, he stared at the light screen and began commenting on it. "Wow! The Fourth Hokage was this handsome? He's way better than that old Third! But now that I think about it, he looks a lot like me..."
But Wang Yan had no intention of sparing the three of them emotionally. He continued on his own. "Namikaze Minato's wife was Kushina of the famous sealing family, the Uzumaki Clan. Both of them died during the Nine-Tails invasion."
"In order to let the villagers remember the couple's sacrifice, for the village's safety, and also so their child could grow up happy and healthy, they decided to seal the Nine-Tails Fox inside their own child's body."
"For some unknown reason, the Ultimate Sealing Technique, which had originally been perfectly compatible with the Uzumaki bloodline, inexplicably loosened a little. As the Fourth Hokage's child grew older, traces of the Nine-Tails Fox began appearing on his face."
"At the same time, rumors began spreading through the village that the Fourth Hokage's child was the Nine-Tails Fox from that year, the culprit behind Konoha's devastation."
"That child was named Naruto Uzumaki."
Wang Yan's story was over.
Sasuke covered his forehead with one hand, his eyes filled with gloom.
Sakura covered her mouth, her face overflowing with terror as she worried that she would be silenced for learning such an earth-shattering secret.
Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son! And Sasuke was the Uchiha Clan's only surviving orphan apart from the rogue ninja Itachi!
What was she?
Just a civilian child...
Sakura stood frozen, but an angry voice roared deep in her mind. "I'm dead! I'm dead! I'm totally screwed this time!"
Wang Yan sent her a reassuring look. "Don't worry. With me watching over you, no one in Konoha will dare touch any of you."
Under the powerful effect of Mind Suggestion, Sakura immediately calmed down.
Naruto looked as though he had been struck dumb by a winning lottery ticket. He pointed blankly at his own face. "Teacher, you're not messing with me too, are you?"
Sasuke's earlier example was vividly remembered.
Wang Yan neither confirmed nor denied it. He loosely clenched his fist, and Psionic Energy twisted reality. The originally illusory colorful screen was instantly filled with countless particles, eventually condensing into a scroll.
He tossed the Fourth Hokage portrait scroll to Naruto and said irritably, "Go back and study that makeup sorcery book properly. Figure out how to make yourself look more like your dad. There are still plenty of villagers who know what he looked like. Take hold of your own fate."
After saying that, Wang Yan glanced at his remaining Resource Points.
After giving Sasuke and Naruto their meeting gifts, his Resource Points had directly soared from 60,000 to 80,500!
"Once I turn them into Reincarnators, I can harvest another wave. That's the long game."
Wang Yan nodded imperceptibly, still considered fairly satisfied with this harvest.
"As for Sakura..."
Wang Yan's smile made Sakura Haruno's heart pound.
"I wonder if you have the concept of a 'grand finale' here?"
Having reached the peak of nervousness, Sakura instead completely let go. While singing a funeral song in her heart, she answered, "The most important thing is often saved for last. This concept has been extended to many fields. For example, the protagonist always appears last."
"Excellent!"
Wang Yan snapped his fingers and pressed one finger against Sakura's forehead, his face full of approval.
"You are the protagonist!"
On September 15th, I finished optimizing all the chapter titles in this book.
Emmm.
Doesn't that sound impressive?
Actually, I just added a space between the numbering and the titles...
Hiahiahiahia.
Please collect! Please recommend! Wuwu!
Before you continue