New Check-In Mission

New Check-In Mission

Inside the Hokage Office at the Konoha Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, sat at his desk. He took out a pipe, lit it, drew lightly on it, and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke.

Before him, Kakashi knelt on one knee, reporting on everything that had happened today.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was far less calm inside than he appeared.

For one thing, according to Kakashi's account, Xu Fan had slaughtered Root, which Danzo had spent years cultivating, with overwhelming strength.

That was not strength an ordinary Jonin could possess.

In other words, it also confirmed that Xu Fan truly had the power to kill Cloud Shinobi and destroy the Border Forest!

If Xu Fan also possessed the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai...

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help drawing in a sharp breath. He was immediately shocked by the possibility that Xu Fan might be even more formidable than he had imagined.

On the other hand, he had never expected Danzo to form a ten-man squad and send them to assassinate Xu Fan.

Had he gone mad?

Xu Fan was not only a member of the Senju Clan, but also a rare genius.

With proper training, he would surely become an even more outstanding ninja than Itachi Uchiha and protect Konoha.

"No wonder Danzo suddenly came to me earlier and demanded that we deploy defenses against the Uchiha Clan..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured inwardly, yet he could not understand Danzo's motive for targeting Xu Fan.

He was not even from the Uchiha Clan.

Could it be...

Danzo could not tolerate even the Senju Clan?

For a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help recalling the past.

Over the years, Hiruzen Sarutobi had always felt guilty about Nawaki's death. If not for his death, Tsunade would not have developed hemophobia and left Konoha.

Thus, whenever he saw Xu Fan, he sometimes thought of Tsunade and Nawaki.

But the village now was no longer what it had been back then.

No one had expected Orochimaru to conduct inhuman human experiments and ultimately defect from the village.

Minato Namikaze would sacrifice himself on the night of the upheaval.

Though Konoha now presented itself as a major power, its economic development ranked near the bottom among the Five Great Nations. Kumogakure watched from outside like a tiger eyeing its prey.

And within, there was the Uchiha Clan...

It was no exaggeration to say that Konoha was now beset by troubles both within and without.

"Kakashi." Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe and said slowly, "Protect him in secret during this time."

This time, he would never allow Danzo to stir up any further trouble.

Especially not at a time like this.

With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a gesture, signaling that Kakashi could leave.

"Yes."

Kakashi answered crisply, then turned, pushed open the office door, and left for the Senju Clan's compound.

As the office door closed once more, Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze gradually deepened. He muttered to himself meaningfully.

"Danzo, Danzo..."

Meanwhile, Xu Fan had already escorted Naruto home. He left him some money and told him to remember to buy breakfast the next day.

Xu Fan remembered that, when he had watched Naruto, there had been a scene about Naruto's childhood.

Little Naruto had stood in front of Ichiraku Ramen for a long time. When he reached into his pocket, he found only a few scattered coins, so he had no choice but to run to the back mountain to pick mushrooms to eat.

But that whole scene was filled with something strange.

Minato Namikaze was not only the Fourth Hokage, but also a hero of the Third Shinobi World War.

How could someone like that possibly have had no savings?

Don't tell him Minato Namikaze was like the grown-up Sakura, busy paying off a mortgage all day.

He was the leader of a village, yet they could not even assign him a house?

How was that possible?

Even the explanation that everyone was treated equally felt far-fetched.

Just look at how Konohamaru had been treated as a child. A private tutor followed him around every day, patiently advising him.

And even setting that aside, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had chosen to sacrifice themselves for the village. Forget hiring Naruto a ninja tutor.

Would it have been so hard to hire a housekeeper?

Would it have been so hard to find someone who could care for Naruto's daily needs around the clock?

Even if Minato Namikaze had truly left behind no savings, could the Third Hokage not have paid out of his own pocket?

Did Naruto really have to drink expired milk?

"And Nawaki's death..."

Xu Fan lay on his bed, staring straight at the ceiling, his thoughts running wild.

Though he knew Danzo's way of doing things, Xu Fan had been greatly surprised by the attempt on his life.

But looking at it from another angle, it also meant Danzo had no qualms about the Senju name.

Could Nawaki's death also have been connected to Danzo?

"If I remember correctly, among his own students, Hiruzen Sarutobi's favorite was actually Orochimaru. Even after Orochimaru carried out human experiments, Hiruzen's response in the beginning was baffling."

"And it wasn't just Hiruzen Sarutobi. Danzo admired Orochimaru as well."

"Even after Orochimaru defected from Konoha, Danzo still kept in contact with him in secret."

"And during that period, Tsunade was undoubtedly Orochimaru's strongest rival."

The more Xu Fan thought about it, the more he felt that something strange permeated the entire Konoha leadership.

It made him feel that Hiruzen Sarutobi had been using Danzo's hand to eliminate dissidents.

Especially when Orochimaru attacked Konoha, Danzo, Koharu, Homura, and the rest of the Konoha leadership had all vanished to who knew where.

And when faced with the Four Violet Flames Formation, not a single one of them went to help.

Even if the Third Hokage had been hailed as the God of Shinobi in his youth, how old had he been by then?

Did they seriously think Orochimaru, who could even kill the Kazekage, had no trump card and could not defeat the Third Hokage?

Jiraiya had gone off to catch snakes...

Might Guy wanted to open the Eight Gates to help, but Kakashi stopped him...

So they really were not afraid the Third Hokage might die, huh?

"Rather than saying Danzo is Konoha's Root, it would be more accurate to say the entire Konoha leadership is Konoha's Root."

Xu Fan could not help shaking his head. He himself did not like this kind of conspiracy-theory speculation.

But aside from that, he could not find a better explanation for everything.

Could it be...

Did he really have to accept that the later parts of Naruto had gone off the rails, which was why so many details did not add up?

Maybe that had been possible before he transmigrated, but now...

The place he was in was not some manga, but a real world.

Even if the Naruto manga itself had plot holes, Xu Fan felt that this world could correct them on its own.

Just as Xu Fan could not help pondering these matters, the assistant's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

A new check-in mission has been issued!

You have three days. Please proceed to the Hokage Office and check in. Upon successfully checking in, you will receive a check-in reward!

Xu Fan unconsciously frowned. "Three days?"

"The Hokage Office?"

This check-in mission surprised Xu Fan a little. It was his first time seeing a time-limited mission.

Still, a time limit should count as an increase in difficulty. If he successfully checked in, perhaps the reward would be even more generous.

"Mm, I'll use that matter as my excuse."

I saw some people saying this was gay and that they were dropping the book, so let me explain. How did an invincible power-fantasy novel for a male audience get imagined into that kind of thing... The protagonist's feelings toward Naruto are more like those of an older boy next door toward a younger boy next door. He sees that Naruto cannot take care of himself, gets treated coldly, and suffers school bullying, so he feels a little sorry for him and treats him gently. Wouldn't any normal person feel that way? Ahhh, this has had me depressed all afternoon! What I'm writing is an in-vin-ci-ble power fantasy!