What Fox Demon? It Was All Fake

Konoha, Root's underground base.

By candlelight, Danzo's face flickered between light and shadow. Suddenly, he spoke. "That squad has gone missing?"

"Yes, we can't contact them." Before him, Aburame Ryoma spoke while kneeling on one knee.

Within Root, Aburame Ryoma was a veteran ninja with seniority comparable to Orochimaru's.

"Based on the situation, they were likely killed. Their bodies have yet to be found."

"Useless trash!"

Danzo spat out those two words coldly.

He had never considered the possibility that Root might betray him. Every Root member bore a seal he had left on them; there was no way they could defect.

The moment they defected, death would be their only path.

Moreover, Root's ninja had essentially been trained by him into emotionless Killing Machines. Even if ordered to assassinate the Hokage, these Root members would dare to do it.

Now that contact had been lost, there was only one possibility: they were dead.

His first suspicion was Kitahara Kaede, but when he considered Kitahara Kaede's strength, he felt it was impossible.

The three members of the Kitahara Kaede Squad were all merely ordinary Chunin. They should not have possessed that kind of strength.

No, if he considered the possibility that Kitahara Kaede was a spy from another village, then perhaps he himself did not possess such strength—but could he have brought in an expert from another village?

"Whether he did it or not, keep a close watch on him." Danzo issued his final order.

"Yes!"

Aburame Ryoma replied.

After the gathering ended, Kitahara Kaede returned home.

The Kitahara Family was not some great clan, so naturally they had no clan territory. Their home was not in the village's central district either, but on the outskirts where the city met the countryside—a small Japanese-style courtyard.

This house had been bought by Kitahara Kaede's father with a mortgage. They had gradually paid it off over the years, but before Kitahara Kaede became a ninja and began earning an income, the Kitahara Family had truly gone through some hard times.

Only after Kitahara Kaede became a ninja and desperately completed missions, eventually rising to Chunin, did his income become enough to cover the mortgage.

After all, Kitahara Kaede's father had only been a Chunin. That was simply the reality of his situation.

After transmigrating for so many years, he was probably the only workhorse still stuck paying off a mortgage.

The world of the Hokage was a strange blend of ancient and modern. Some places did not even have electricity, while others were brightly lit, with movies and television—and in a few years, even computers would appear.

They had even developed a whole pile of Scientific Ninja Tools, constantly coming up with all sorts of flashy nonsense.

Kitahara Kaede himself had no particular prejudice against Scientific Ninja Tools. The greatest difference between humans and animals was that humans knew how to use tools.

But this was the world of the Hokage. In the end, it was a terrifying world where immeasurable power could be wielded by an individual. There were races like the Ōtsutsuki Clan, beings who could be considered gods among native worlds, capable of crossing the entire starry expanse on their own. What kind of terrifying race was that? It was something the natives of the Shinobi World simply could not comprehend.

The few Ōtsutsuki who had appeared alone had already posed a terrifying threat to the Shinobi World. If not for Ōtsutsuki Kaguya having a lovestruck fit a thousand years ago and marrying a native human king, bearing Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura, and thereby leaving behind the bloodline from which the Ninjutsu Sect and ninja descended—

The local natives would have had virtually no chance of posing any threat to the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

Although the Shinobi World's Sage Art system was also quite extraordinary, its structure was unclear and incredibly difficult to enter. It was entirely different from ninjutsu, a system that could be widely taught and learned on a massive scale.

After returning home, Kitahara Kaede silently helped his mother, Kitahara Yoshiko, with some housework. What a shame I don't know the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Cleaning would go much faster otherwise.

Come to think of it, it really was the ultimate technique for a workhorse!

But then Kitahara Kaede could not help mocking himself. What a workhorse's fate—his first thought after learning ninjutsu was that this technique was best suited for working himself like a mule.

"Big Brother Kaede!"

Around dinnertime, someone knocked on the courtyard gate. Kitahara Kaede opened it and found Uzumaki Naruto standing outside.

"Why are you here?" Kitahara Kaede looked at Uzumaki Naruto. He was slightly dirty, but his expression was brimming with excitement.

He had clearly just finished a trash-collecting mission.

Such missions were common among low-level assignments, and they paid very little.

Yes, Genin were cheap labor.

Of course, the trash-collecting missions that required Genin were not simply ordinary trash collection. They involved places tucked away in remote corners that ordinary people could not handle, but which ninja could clear out with their superhuman stamina and the miraculous power of Chakra.

"I asked around and found out this was Big Brother Kaede's home. I was passing by after finishing my mission, so I wanted to come in and take a look!"

Uzumaki Naruto explained.

"Come in." Kitahara Kaede pulled him inside.

"Kaede, is this your friend?" Kitahara Yoshiko came out and saw Uzumaki Naruto.

"Mom, he's one of my juniors. His name is Uzumaki Naruto," Kitahara Kaede explained.

"We just finished making dinner. If you don't mind, come have a bite with us."

Kitahara Yoshiko said.

"No, no, I'm not hungry."

The moment Uzumaki Naruto finished speaking, his stomach began to rumble like thunder, and he immediately felt awkward.

But then Kitahara Kaede pulled him into the dining room.

"This is so good!"

Perhaps he was exhausted after finishing the afternoon's mission, or perhaps it was because someone had rarely invited him over for a meal at their home. Uzumaki Naruto gave it his all, eating several bowls before finally stopping.

"If it's good, eat more. Come by often from now on." As Kitahara Yoshiko watched Uzumaki Naruto, she recalled his identity—the incarnation of the Demon Fox rumored throughout Konoha.

He didn't look like much of anything now.

Her husband and son were both ninjas, so she naturally knew more than the average village woman. Coupled with her son Kitahara Kaede's attitude toward him, she never believed that nonsense about a fox demon.

Hearing that, Uzumaki Naruto nearly burst into tears again. Unless one had lived in his circumstances, it was hard to imagine how even the slightest ordinary kindness could make him weep uncontrollably.

After dinner, while Kitahara Yoshiko cleared away the dishes, Uzumaki Naruto pulled Kitahara Kaede into the yard. "Brother Kaede, look! I just learned a really powerful ninja technique. I heard it's a forbidden technique."

As he spoke, he immediately began forming hand seals.

"Ninja Art, Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

The moment his words fell, Uzumaki Naruto's figures filled the entire little yard.

Kitahara Kaede felt relieved. Naruto had still learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique according to the original script, so there was no need to fear any unexpected accidents along the way.

"This technique really is impressive. The Shadow Clone Technique is something only Jonin can learn, and the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique is a forbidden technique sealed away by the Second Hokage."

Kitahara Kaede nodded as he spoke.

Shadow clones were one thing, but the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was deadly for ordinary people. Their Chakra simply could not withstand that kind of strain.