Reunion with an Old Acquaintance

High in the sky.

Beichen Haotian held a wine flask and ate a piece of roasted meat, replenishing the strength he had expended while gradually recovering his depleted Chakra.

"I've been out for so long, fought quite a few battles, and my Chakra is almost at Kage-level. I'm only missing that final step. I'll wander around outside a little longer, and once my Chakra breaks through the Kage-level threshold, I'll return to Konoha." Beichen Haotian swallowed a piece of meat and murmured to himself.

For two months, Beichen Haotian had wandered throughout the Ninja World. He traveled through scenic places, ate delicious food, and drank fine wine while accumulating Chakra, studying the fusion between Chakra and Haki, and researching more techniques suited to him. His days were carefree and pleasant, yet he had not wasted them. His strength was growing bit by bit.

On this day, Beichen Haotian felt that the time to break through his bottleneck had arrived. He sat cross-legged on a boulder beside a stream and smoothly, silently, broke through to Kage-level. From that day onward, both Beichen Haotian's Chakra reserves and strength entered the Kage-level, making him a true Kage-level powerhouse.

That year, Beichen Haotian had just turned fifteen and was not yet sixteen. To possess such strength at such a young age was extremely rare, even if he did not claim to be unmatched throughout history or unprecedented in the future. Although he possessed the cultivation of his previous life, in the world of Naruto, where bloodline mattered more than anything else, Beichen Haotian had still put in a great deal of effort to reach this point.

"It's time to go back." Beichen Haotian stood up from the rock and stretched, his bones cracking all over. The aura around him grew increasingly steady, making it easy to overlook his age.

Three days later, Beichen Haotian arrived at the gates of Konoha at an unhurried pace. He took out his pass and walked inside, heading straight for the First Hokage's residence. Tsunade had left, so the large mansion the First Hokage had left behind now belonged to Beichen Haotian. Aside from the servants who cleaned the place, he was usually the only one there. When he thought about it, it was rather lonely and desolate.

After returning home to wash up and resting for a while, Beichen Haotian went to Root and arrived at Danzo's office. The door was tightly shut, but Beichen Haotian pushed it open without hesitation and walked in.

Danzo and someone Beichen Haotian was quite familiar with, Orochimaru, were sitting in the room. Who would have thought that these two had already started working together so early?

"Yo, Lord Orochimaru is here too." Beichen Haotian walked over and casually pulled up a chair.

"You're back," Danzo said calmly.

"Mm, old man, I'm back. I had a great time on my trip."

"Hehehe, when did you return, Haotian? Even I can't quite see through your current strength. You've improved quickly." Orochimaru's hoarse voice rang out, filled with interest in Beichen Haotian.

Of course I improved quickly. After all, I've killed more than ten thousand people. Fighting to the death really is the shortcut to increasing one's strength. When the next Shinobi World War begins, I think I'll be able to battle the experts from the other villages to my heart's content.

"I didn't realize you were so fond of fighting, Haotian. I never noticed it before."

"Fighting strong opponents makes my blade sharper. They are all stepping stones for honing my edge. By the way, Lord Orochimaru, do you have any good blades or swords? If you do, give one to me, and I can do something for you in return."

"Unfortunately, I also want you to do something for me, Haotian, but I don't have any high-grade blades or swords."

Could it be that Orochimaru still hasn't obtained the Kusanagi Sword at this time? Beichen Haotian thought.

"In that case, Lord Orochimaru, what I said today still stands. If you obtain any good blades or swords in the future, you can come and trade with me. I won't disturb you two any longer. I'll be going." Beichen Haotian rose from his seat and walked straight toward the door.

"Lord Danzo, Haotian's strength has probably already reached Kage-level. Your judgment is excellent." Orochimaru's pale face held a trace of astonishment.

"Mm. I'm also very satisfied with the speed of his improvement. He has great potential. Let's not discuss that anymore. Let's continue discussing the details of our cooperation." A stiff smile appeared on Danzo's face.

"Okay."

Beichen Haotian walked around Root. After discovering that there was nothing interesting to him, he left. As for Orochimaru and Danzo's affairs, he was not interested. As long as they did not harm him or the people he cared about, they could do whatever they wanted.

After leaving the Root base, Beichen Haotian wandered around the streets. He happened to hear passersby discussing how the Ninja Academy was holding its graduation exam and graduation ceremony that day. He immediately became interested, changed direction, and headed straight for the Ninja Academy.

By the time Beichen Haotian arrived, the Ninja Academy's graduation exam had already ended, and they were holding the final event. It was the event he had hated most when he was a student: the graduation ceremony. The rest of the ceremony was fine, but there were speeches from all kinds of officials, especially the Third Hokage's speech. Listening to it always made him want to fall asleep.

However, that was only Beichen Haotian's personal opinion. With the mentality of an adult, and three lifetimes added together, the Third Hokage's speech naturally sounded dull to him. To these rookie ninjas who had just left school, however, the Third Hokage's speech was still exciting and inspiring.

He found a seat in the very back row of the Ninja Academy auditorium and sat down, quietly watching the Third Hokage's performance onstage. It had been so many years since he graduated, so he might as well experience his school days of the past again.

Suddenly, Beichen Haotian felt someone pat him on the back. When he turned around, he saw a man with a smile as warm as sunlight quietly looking at him.

"Yo, Haotian. Long time no see. What brings you here?"

"Minato, I just came back from outside. I heard the Ninja Academy was holding its graduation ceremony today, so I came over to take a look."

"You too? I came to take a look as well. Speaking of which, I really do miss those carefree days at school."

"Childhood has the joys of childhood. Although growing up brings more troubles, it also gives us more things we can do. By the way, you and Kushina have been dating for so long. Aren't you going to get married?"

At that, Minato suddenly became a little shy and said bashfully, "It's still too early. There's no rush, no rush."

"Is that so? Forget it, let's not talk about that. How have you been lately?"

"I'm doing all right. Most of the time, I've been carrying out missions. It's a little tiring, but I'm still very happy to contribute my strength to Konoha."

"Hahaha, not bad. I think you'll make a good Hokage in the future. I support you."

"Hmm? Haotian, don't tell me you don't dream of becoming Hokage?" Minato was extremely astonished. To someone like him, who regarded becoming Hokage as his lifelong dream and would not hesitate to sacrifice his life for it, this was inconceivable. After all, most of Konoha's ninjas dreamed of becoming Hokage.

It was merely something most people could aspire to but never attain. Beichen Haotian was different. He had some hope of competing for the Hokage position. Whether it was his influence, connections, or strength, he was qualified to contend for it.

"No. It's too tiring, and there are too many burdens to bear. It doesn't suit me. What I pursue is the ultimate path of the blade. I hope that one day, the sword on my back, named Asking the Way, will be able to shatter the void, allowing me to enter other worlds and take a look."

Minato was dumbfounded. He had no idea how to evaluate Beichen Haotian's dream. It was simply too far-reaching for him to comprehend!

However, Minato was a broad-minded and tolerant person. Although he could not quite understand Beichen Haotian's magnificent dream, he still offered him his blessing.

"All right. Although I can't quite understand it from my perspective, I still wish you the best. Come to think of it, since you aren't competing with me, I feel much less pressure. After all, I have quite a few outstanding seniors ahead of me." Minato said this with a smile.

"Haha, that's true. But I have more faith in you. Compared to them, you're more suited to take over from Lord Hokage."

Beichen Haotian did not say that Minato was more suited to become Hokage. Those two statements had different meanings. Among those qualified to compete for the Hokage position, aside from Beichen Haotian, who currently had no interest in it, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, whose blood-control formation had flaws, Minato was the only one whose ideas aligned with the Third Hokage's. The others either differed from the Third Hokage in some ways or completely went against him.

"Is that so? Then thank you for your support." Minato scratched his head and smiled gratefully.

"I've been traveling throughout the Ninja World and have heard your name many times. You're already somewhat famous in the Ninja World."

"Really? I'm already that famous? I hope that one day my name can bring peace to the Ninja World. At the very least, I want to intimidate our enemies and reduce Konoha's losses."

"That day will come. Your Flying Thunder God Technique is truly unreasonable. Ever since you learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, I haven't had any desire to challenge you."

"Hahaha, you know you can't beat me now, right?" Minato laughed smugly.

"Tch, you're slippery as an eel. In a head-on battle, you're no match for me."

As the two chatted, the Third Hokage finished his speech at some point and came up behind them.

"You two are back." The Third Hokage spoke with a kindly smile.

"Lord Hokage." Beichen Haotian and Minato greeted him.

"Haotian, you came back at just the right time. There's something I need you to do."

"Lord Hokage, is this to repay the favor from taking the Thunder God Sword?"

"How could it be that easy? At most, I'm repaying half of it. With your current strength, dealing with this matter should be fairly easy. Repaying the entire favor at once would be letting you off too cheaply." Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a kindly smile, his little scheme carefully calculated. Since he had a favor to use, he intended to make full use of it.

"All right, half it is. In any case, I've rested long enough. Taking on a mission to break up the monotony sounds fine. What is it? Please, go ahead." Beichen Haotian shrugged indifferently and spoke with complete ease.

"Sunagakure recently produced a Jonin known by the title Scorching Release User Pakura. She has extraordinary talent and considerable strength. Over the past month, she has performed exceptionally in clashes with the other villages and caused Konoha considerable losses. Minato and the others each have missions of their own to handle. Originally, this person could be dealt with or left alone; it wouldn't affect the larger situation. But since you're back, deal with her anyway. It's better for the other villages to have fewer talented ninjas." The Third Hokage smiled kindly, but his words were enough to make the people from the other villages curse him furiously.

"Pakura? Is it a man or a woman?" Beichen Haotian asked, pretending not to know.

"A woman."

"What does she look like?"

"The intelligence says she's quite beautiful. But why are you asking about that?"

"I'm going to bring her back. Minato has had a girlfriend for so long, while I'm all alone. It really is a little lonely!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato were rendered speechless. What kind of operation was this? Was this how he planned to deal with her?

"Lord Hokage, do you think this will work?"

"Do whatever you want. As long as you don't let her cause Konoha any more losses, I don't care what you do. However, there's one thing: if you finish dealing with this matter and Pakura still causes Konoha losses, I'll hold you responsible."

"Don't worry, don't worry. Lord Hokage can go to Root and check. I've never failed a mission I've taken on." Beichen Haotian spoke with absolute confidence.

"That would be best. Come to my office later, and I'll give you the relevant intelligence."

"Okay."

Thanks to Wuhui Yisheng and Zhuhán Wàndāndàn for the recommendation votes! Thanks to reader 121004 for the monthly vote!