In Zhang Miao's eyes, everything before him was nothing more than a far-fetched dream. Maybe he had watched too much Naruto during the day, which was why he was having such a dream at night.
Based on Zhang Miao's past experience, as long as he realized he was dreaming, he could wake himself up quickly if he wanted to.
Unfortunately, that method seemed to have failed this time. Zhang Miao tried several times but still could not escape the strange dream, so he settled for the next best thing. Raising his fair, tender little hand, he slapped himself across the face.
Smack!
The crisp, resounding sound immediately snapped Hiruzen Sarutobi out of his daze.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was in a heavy mood. The Nine-Tails' attack had dealt Konoha a devastating blow. Many outstanding ninja, including his wife Biwako, had perished in the catastrophe.
Now even the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, were dead. Whether to him personally or to all of Konoha, it was a crushing blow.
At the same time, Kushina Uzumaki's final words had left Hiruzen Sarutobi deeply puzzled. Minato Namikaze had actually said that there was darkness in this child's heart before he died?
What darkness could a newborn possibly have in his heart? Wasn't that nonsense?
But Hiruzen Sarutobi had no time to dwell on it now. Although the Nine-Tails had been sealed once more, there was still much aftermath to deal with, and he would likely have to handle all of it himself.
With that in mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi scooped up Zhang Miao and Naruto, then nodded to the ninja beside him.
"I'll take these two children back first. I'll leave everything else to you!"
"Yes, Third Lord!"
After receiving the affirmative reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and vanished in an instant with the Body Flicker Technique.
The instant Hiruzen Sarutobi disappeared, cries of alarm rang out across the area.
"Ah... the Fourth Hokage's corpse is gone! The Jinchuriki's corpse is gone too!"
"They were just here! How did they disappear? Could ninja from another country be hiding nearby? Hurry and report to the Third Lord! Everyone else, split up and search!"
"Yes!"
The mysterious disappearance of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's corpses was quickly reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi. The moment he heard the news, he frowned.
"Minato and Kushina set up a barrier around the area before sealing the Nine-Tails, and I didn't detect anyone else's presence nearby at the time."
As a Kage Level powerhouse known as the Ninja Hero, Hiruzen Sarutobi was confident that no one could hide under his very nose without being discovered.
Furthermore, the ninja present had all been Anbu directly under the Hokage's command. Given their abilities, it should have been impossible for anyone to silently steal Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's corpses from right under their noses.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and turned his sharp gaze toward the Anbu kneeling on one knee before him.
"This matter ends here. There is no need to investigate any further!"
"Yes!"
To the Anbu, the Hokage's orders were absolute. Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, he immediately acknowledged the command and withdrew from the Hokage's Office.
After the Anbu left, Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled a long stream of smoke.
Through the swirling smoke, a glint flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
"Was this Minato's doing...?"
As the Professor of Ninjutsu, he had never heard of any ninjutsu that made corpses disappear after being cast. Yet the possibility that someone had stolen them was minuscule. That left only one explanation: Space Ninjutsu.
And the person best at Space Ninjutsu on the scene had undoubtedly been Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash. If he had left a Flying Thunder God Technique on himself and Kushina Uzumaki that could activate after a delay, then their corpses suddenly vanishing before the Anbu would not be hard to explain.
"But why would Minato do this? What reason could he have had?"
With that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into deep contemplation.
While Hiruzen Sarutobi racked his brains, Zhang Miao, lying on a large bed elsewhere, was completely stunned.
So I wasn't dreaming. I freaking transmigrated?
Zhang Miao had reached that conclusion because of the crisp slap from earlier.
When he had slapped himself, Zhang Miao had not "woken up" as expected. Instead, his face had hurt.
At the same time, a strange voice had sounded in his mind.
High-value item detected. Pick up?
Hearing that voice, Zhang Miao had been dumbfounded and had not known how to react. It was not until Hiruzen Sarutobi picked him up that the strange voice sounded again.
No response from host. System will pick up by default... Ding... Obtained Super Kage-level corpse (male) x1. Obtained Elite Jonin-level corpse (female) x1. ...
In the Naruto World, the corpses of powerful people were indeed extremely valuable items.
Not only could information about the deceased be obtained from them, but they were also necessary for certain forbidden techniques. Sasori of the Red Sands' human puppets, Orochimaru and Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation—all of them required corpses.
The stronger someone had been in life, the more valuable their corpse was. That was why every ninja village had dedicated corpse disposal units: to prevent their own ninja's corpses from being used by other villages.
Zhang Miao naturally knew all that, but what surprised him was not the corpses. It was the thing that had spoken in his mind.
The system!
Zhang Miao loved reading webnovels, so he was naturally familiar with the system, that classic transmigration cheat.
More importantly, he had already found it unbelievable enough that he could dream about the Naruto storyline. Something as high-end as a system could never possibly appear in a dream!
More importantly, as Hiruzen Sarutobi carried him back to the village at full speed, the icy wind whipping against his face kept telling Zhang Miao that this was a real world.
Looks like I really transmigrated!
Having struggled in society for many years, Zhang Miao quickly accepted the fact that he had transmigrated. And judging from the current situation, his circumstances were not too bad.
First of all, based on what Kushina Uzumaki had said earlier, he had indeed transmigrated to Konoha. His identity should be Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki's son—Naruto's older brother.
And from what had happened earlier, Minato Namikaze initially seemed to have intended to seal the Nine-Tails inside Zhang Miao. But later, he seemed to have sensed darkness in Zhang Miao's heart, so he sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto instead.
From that, there was no doubt Zhang Miao was their biological son.
Zhang Miao agreed with Minato Namikaze's assessment as well. Only a child's heart could be pure and spotless. As an adult, Zhang Miao's life in society had not exactly been smooth sailing. Even he himself would not believe it if he claimed his heart was full of sunshine without a trace of darkness.
Thinking of that, Zhang Miao could not help feeling some admiration for Minato Namikaze.
He saw the darkness in my heart the first time we met. As expected of the famous Fourth Hokage of the Naruto World—or should I say, as expected of my real dad?
At that moment, a thought suddenly came to Zhang Miao. If Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had not died, then this transmigration journey of his would probably have been a very happy one.
Of course, that thought vanished in an instant, because Zhang Miao, who was familiar with the Naruto storyline, knew that the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha was only the beginning.
According to the plot, about ten years later, Orochimaru would launch the Konoha Crush Plan, followed by Akatsuki's attack on Konoha.
After Nagato died, Obito and Kabuto would launch the Fourth Shinobi World War together. In the end, when Madara Uchiha was revived, he would use the Infinite Tsukuyomi and trap everyone in an eternal illusion.
Zhang Miao felt that, given his strength, even if he did not die during Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan, he would have a hard time surviving when Nagato controlled Pain's Deva Path to attack Konoha.
Even if he escaped both disasters, when the Infinite Tsukuyomi arrived, being hung from the God Tree like a slab of cured meat and left to die was not what Zhang Miao wanted.
And if he wanted to avoid all of that, his greatest hope would probably have to rest on the system in his mind!
Thinking of that, Zhang Miao immediately asked anxiously in his mind.
System, what exactly can you do?
Before you continue