Uchiha Tunan, dressed in a white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, walked down the quiet street with a scroll in hand.
He had barely taken two steps when an Anbu appeared in front of him.
"It seems you're alright. Enemy village spies have appeared in the village, and the situation is urgent. Please come with me to the Hokage Building." The Anbu unusually said a few extra words, his gaze unconsciously flicking toward the scroll in Uchiha Tunan's hand.
He had more or less formed a guess in his heart.
He could already kill a Chunin at such a young age? What a genius.
Clearly, this Anbu also knew Uchiha Tunan's standing in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart. Now that he had guessed at Uchiha Tunan's strength, he tried to soften his tone as much as possible.
Uchiha Tunan nodded, his expression solemn as he said,
"I happened to have something to discuss with the Third Lord. Sorry for the trouble."
After saying that, he gave a deep, extremely polite bow.
Combined with Uchiha Tunan's attire, his manner seemed refined and courteous, naturally inspiring goodwill.
The Anbu nodded, came to Uchiha Tunan's side, grabbed his shoulder, and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply, puffing on his pipe as he anxiously paced back and forth.
From time to time, he shifted his gaze toward the crystal ball.
The crystal ball displayed Uchiha Tunan's house.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally been resting at home when an Anbu suddenly reported that an enemy village spy had infiltrated the Hatake Family to assassinate Kakashi.
However, the enemy spy had not expected Hatake Sakumo to return to Konoha that very evening.
The moment the enemy spy stepped into the Hatake Family home, Hatake Sakumo cut off both his hands and feet with a single strike.
He was then sent by the arriving Anbu to Konoha's interrogation room, where every method was used to force the information out of him.
The Anbu also learned that another Chunin spy's assassination target was Uchiha Tunan.
One Anbu immediately set off for Uchiha Tunan's home, while another went to the Sarutobi Clan territory to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the Hokage's office, he used the crystal ball to observe Uchiha Tunan's home.
However, the crystal ball's view of matters within the village came through Konoha's barrier, so it could not see inside buildings.
That was why Hiruzen Sarutobi could only watch those outdoor scenes whenever he had free time...
In truth, before Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the Hokage's office, the quick-moving Uchiha Tunan had already left the Uchiha Clan Compound and was walking down the street.
"Lord Hokage, Uchiha Tunan has arrived."
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was burning with anxiety, the Anbu's voice sounded from outside the door.
"Quick, come in."
Creak—the door to the Hokage's office was pushed open.
Uchiha Tunan rushed in with an excited expression, staring straight at Hiruzen Sarutobi with blazing eyes.
His gaze was filled with reverence and closeness.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked Uchiha Tunan up and down. Seeing no injuries on him, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Child, are you alright?"
Such an outstanding and loyal tool—thankfully, he was fine. Otherwise, it would have been a huge loss.
At those words, visible emotion surfaced in Uchiha Tunan's eyes. He smiled and said, "Third Lord, you needn't worry about me. I already killed that spy.
For such a minor matter to disturb your rest, I'm truly very sorry."
After saying that, Uchiha Tunan gave a deep bow, then presented the scroll to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted the scroll, becoming even more satisfied with Uchiha Tunan.
He had only awakened the Three Tomoe not long ago, yet he could kill a Chunin in return while caught unprepared. This talent was truly exceptional.
A perfect tool.
"How did you kill this Kirigakure Chunin?" Hiruzen Sarutobi placed the scroll on his desk and asked as though it were an offhand question.
Uchiha Tunan explained succinctly, "I used genjutsu to confuse him."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. The Three Tomoe Sharingan's genjutsu was indeed powerful. It seemed Uchiha Tunan's talent for genjutsu was also extremely high.
Otherwise, he could not have subdued a Chunin with genjutsu so soon after awakening the Three Tomoe.
He then summoned an Anbu and handed the scroll over to him.
Then he returned to his seat and gestured for Uchiha Tunan to sit opposite him.
"Since you're alright, stay here for a while. The Anbu still need to search for any fish that slipped through the net.
I'm very worried about your safety." Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a concerned expression.
Uchiha Tunan looked hesitant and said uncertainly, "But, Third Lord, it's already so late. If you don't go back to rest,
how will you have the energy to handle official business tomorrow?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and waved his hand.
"Heh heh, I'm fine. Just rest with your head on my desk. You still have class tomorrow."
Yet Uchiha Tunan shook his head firmly. "No, Third Lord. I rested very well during the first half of the night. You should rest for a while instead."
"This..." Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the earnest Uchiha Tunan, then nodded kindly. "Alright, then I'll rest for a while. You should rest too."
"Mm." Only then did Uchiha Tunan nod in agreement.
The two sat facing one another across the desk, while Uchiha Tunan simply stared fixedly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The staring made Hiruzen Sarutobi somewhat uncomfortable. He awkwardly said, "Go to sleep," then set an example by lying facedown on the desk and pretending to sleep.
After a while, Uchiha Tunan slowly rose to his feet, walked to the nearby rack, picked up Hiruzen Sarutobi's Hokage Robe, and gently draped it over him.
He then returned to his seat, vigilantly guarding against an attack that could never come, his expression resolute.
This little fellow was truly quite good.
Uchiha Tunan had already honed such skills to perfection in the workplace during his previous life.
The results were very good. At the very least, Hiruzen Sarutobi responded well to this sort of thing.
About two hours later, Hiruzen Sarutobi pretended to have just woken up.
By sheer coincidence, an Anbu also arrived at that very moment.
"Reporting to Lord Hokage, this is the intelligence obtained from the interrogation room."
With that, he handed the scroll to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
They could still extract intelligence after the person was dead. It seemed he would need to be even more cautious in whatever he did from now on.
Uchiha Tunan thought to himself, but his face continued to wear an expression of reverence as he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the scroll and read it. Only after confirming that there were no other Kirigakure spies in the village did he order,
"Take Tunan back so he can get some proper rest. Keep watch over him in secret for a while as well."
"Yes."
Upon hearing that, Uchiha Tunan stood and bowed to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Then I'll be leaving first, Third Lord. You should hurry back and rest as well."
"Alright, I'll go back and rest right away." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled as he saw Uchiha Tunan off.
After Uchiha Tunan left, Hiruzen Sarutobi's smile faded. He walked to the window and gazed into the distance.
"Have they abandoned even their spies? It seems this local war is truly about to end."
It was now Konoha Year 42.
Five years had passed since the Second Shinobi World War.
But ever since Kumogakure ninja infiltrated Konoha and attempted to abduct Kushina Uzumaki a year ago, the other hidden villages had begun making moves again.
Numerous local wars had erupted in the small buffer nations between the great powers.
Kirigakure in particular, having implemented its Bloody Mist policy, had gone mad as an entire village, constantly harassing the Land of Waves at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water.
But after fighting for several years, Kirigakure should settle down for a while.
Otherwise, if they kept fighting like this and tempers flared, the Third Shinobi World War would not be far off.
Before you continue