Hokage: You Call This Guy the Savior?!

The blade was so thin and light that even Naruto failed to notice it at that moment.

However, Keiichi saw it through the keen observation of his Sharingan, yet he was unable to utter a single word of warning.

Dodge, hurry! Keiichi's eyes widened, his expression twisted in desperation.

"That was close! Too close!"

Suddenly, a figure appeared before Naruto, catching the blade as effortlessly as plucking a flower, before flicking it right back.

A wound appeared in the center of Kabuto Yakushi's forehead, blood began to seep out, and finally, even his brains spilled forth.

He was dead beyond any doubt.

To be able to kill Kabuto Yakushi in a single strike, the man could hardly be an ordinary person. Looking at his shock of white hair, the heavy makeup on his face, the massive scroll strapped to his back, and the wooden sandals on his feet, how could one not know who had arrived?

It was none other than the Toad Spirit of Mount Myoboku, the Sage Immortal!

"Kabuto Yakushi is dead?" Naruto could not believe what he was seeing.

How could this formidable enemy, whom he and Keiichi had failed to defeat even after exhausting all their strength, suddenly be dead?

"Indeed!"

"Then... then... who are you?"

Only then did he realize a white-haired ninja had suddenly appeared beside him. Startled, he jumped and scrambled backward.

"Wah! I am the White-Haired Ghost come to claim your soul!"

Jiraiya made a goofy face at him, never expecting that the high-strung Naruto couldn't handle a scare and would pass out on the spot.

In truth, Naruto had already reached his limit; had he not been holding on by a thread, he would have collapsed long ago. Now that he saw Kabuto Yakushi was dead, the taut string in his heart finally snapped.

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, showing no self-reflection. Instead, he felt Naruto was a bit too cowardly and found it rather troublesome.

How could the son of the Fourth be such a scaredy-cat?

His gaze then fell upon Keiichi, who lay on the lake like a floating corpse. The boy had also fallen into a coma; if he weren't treated soon, he would hardly survive the night.

"Honestly, two kids running off to play in such deep, wild woods—they nearly ruined my mission!" Jiraiya grabbed one in each hand, hoisted them onto his shoulders, and vanished into the forest.

As for the dead Kabuto Yakushi, his corpse was doused in toad oil and cremated on the spot, ending the life of the double agent.

This character, who was supposed to stir up massive waves in the later stages of the story, had now died without a sound. Aside from Keiichi, I fear no one could grasp the profound implications of this event.

One day later.

Before Keiichi even opened his eyes, he caught the pungent scent of disinfectant. He began to survey his surroundings, taking in the bright room, the curtains fluttering in the breeze, and the fresh flowers on the bedside table.

This is the Leaf Hospital, he realized with a start.

As he tried to move, sharp pain stopped him. He could only move his eyeballs, and he saw that everything below his neck was wrapped in thick gauze; he assumed his head was in the same state.

This mummy-style bandaging was truly the signature of the Leaf Medical Corps.

What about Kabuto Yakushi?

Oh, he remembered—Jiraiya had killed him.

The moment he saw Jiraiya deflect that blade, he had passed out, for he had finally let his guard down.

If that didn't kill you, what do you think you are, Orochimaru?

He soon learned from the doctor just how severe the price of the Eight Inner Gates was.

His bodily functions had collapsed, multiple internal organs were failing, and over a dozen bones were shattered. Fortunately, he had been brought in on time; otherwise, even Tsunade wouldn't have been able to save him upon her return.

Hearing this, he could only offer a wry smile. Indeed, there's no such thing as a cheap bargain.

If he really wanted to use the Eight Inner Gates as a trump card, he would have to train his body as obsessively as Rock Lee, but that would mean neglecting all other forms of cultivation.

Furthermore, it might take years to see any real results.

Therefore, in every respect, it was a losing proposition.

The only thing that brought him comfort was that the moment he regained consciousness, the system notification chimed.

"Snake-uncle's subordinate attends the funeral, Kabuto Yakushi receives his lunchbox early: 80 Magic Modification Points earned."

"Forced plot intervention, Naruto creates a jutsu that shouldn't have existed: 60 Magic Modification Points earned."

Good heavens, 140 points in one go—this wave was definitely worth it!

But this was also bought with his life. He secretly resolved that next time, he really couldn't be this reckless. If he died, no amount of Magic Modification Points would matter!

That brought his total to 190 points. He almost couldn't resist redeeming the annual gift pack, but after some thought, he held back.

What if I have an urgent need for them later?

Not long after he woke up, his first visitor arrived. It was actually Kakashi.

Chapter 59: Gaara Attacks

From Kakashi, he learned that Naruto's condition was relatively much better; he had only suffered an arm injury and had been discharged as soon as he woke up.

Naruto had wanted to come and look after Keiichi, but Jiraiya had dragged him away by force. He was likely already being put through special training.

What saddened Keiichi was that Gekko Hayate had indeed died.

According to news relayed from Kikyo Castle, Gekko Hayate's body had been discovered, and a note was found in the lining of his clothes detailing his recent surveillance of Kabuto Yakushi.

Thus, it could only be confirmed that his death was related to Kabuto Yakushi, a man highly suspected of being a spy who had betrayed the Leaf Village.

Later, Kabuto Yakushi's ambush on Naruto and Keiichi further proved his sinister intent to kidnap Naruto; fortunately, Jiraiya arrived in time to kill him on the spot.

Kakashi did not know the situation at the time, nor did he know Kabuto Yakushi's true strength, so he did not feel anything was amiss, even thinking that Naruto had dragged Keiichi into trouble.

After all, Keiichi was merely a civilian ninja; no matter how one looked at it, he could not possibly be a target for Orochimaru.

But only Keiichi himself understood that Kabuto Yakushi had come specifically to cause him trouble, and that Naruto had suffered an unprovoked disaster instead.

Kakashi did not stay long; after briefly explaining the situation, he returned to continue giving Sasuke special training, clearly feeling the pressure from Jiraiya.

The second wave of visitors were his two former teammates who had been hospitalized for a long time.

They had clearly come to mock him, as they had just finished their discharge procedures while Keiichi was still hospitalized.

They were truly "hand-off" teammates.

After chatting for a few sentences, they found there was nothing left to talk about. Although everyone was a civilian ninja, the things Keiichi had come into contact with were clearly beyond the reach of civilians, and the gap between them had widened, leaving little common ground.

Keiichi could only briefly introduce his teacher, Gekko Hayate, but as he spoke, he found it uninteresting because these two teammates had never spent any time with Gekko Hayate at all.

Keiichi was Gekko Hayate's only disciple; he had no one who could understand the feelings he wanted to pour out.

He just didn't know what kind of teacher Hiruzen would arrange for him in the future.

No, whether Hiruzen could even live until that day was an unknown.

Sasuke, who had been "talk-therapied" by him, did not come, but Sakura did.

She came to complain, and the reason was simple: Naruto and Sasuke had both gone off for special training, leaving her alone with nothing to do all day.

She wanted to train, but there was no one to guide her, and she didn't know what to do.

If she didn't train, she was afraid she would become a burden.

She was the only one who didn't have to participate in the third round, and she didn't know the meaning of her own hard work.

In short, she was incredibly conflicted, so she ran over to chat with Keiichi, implying throughout her words that she wanted to ask him what she should do.

Keiichi couldn't very well tell her that once Tsunade arrived, she would have a powerful backer to rely on, and that worrying about this now was useless.

So he could only stall and change the subject.

Sakura also saw that Keiichi was brushing her off, so she didn't come again the next day, and Keiichi finally found some peace.

He only knew so many people in the Leaf Village, and as a civilian ninja, even fewer people cared about him.

At this moment, he only hoped to recover as quickly as possible to catch up with the third round of the tournament.

He knew very well how serious his injuries were; if things continued like this, he feared he would still be lying in the hospital recovering when Orochimaru launched his plan.

What if some blind Sunagakure ninja ran in and hacked him to death?

More importantly, he absolutely did not want to miss these Chunin Exams; he wanted to change the trajectory of his life, and this was his one shot.

So, although it was a heavy cost, he gritted his teeth and did it!

Consumed 100 Magic Modification Points, Uzumaki bloodline purity increased by 10%.

It could no longer be raised, unless the plot modification degree broke through to the next threshold.

However, he wasn't worried; ever since Kabuto Yakushi died, the plot modification degree had increased by about 3% directly, and it was still rising.

In this way, he now possessed a 15% pure Uzumaki bloodline, and with the characteristics of this bloodline, his recovery speed would be much faster than before.

Keiichi patiently recuperated in the hospital, and after about five days, he could barely get out of bed and walk around, though the bandages couldn't be removed yet, making him look particularly ridiculous.

When he had nothing to do, he would go to Rock Lee's room to hang out. Both of them had ended up like this because of the Eight Inner Gates; since they were both "mummies," they naturally had plenty to talk about.

For example, exchanging tips on how to "rise from the coffin."

Don't misunderstand, it was just about which posture made it easier to get up from the bed.

Of course, Keiichi's purpose was not pure; he attempted to extract the learning method for the Eight Inner Gates from Rock Lee.

Although he already knew it, the Leaf Village didn't know he knew it.

He didn't want to be locked in the Torture and Interrogation Force's dark room again because he was forced to use the Eight Inner Gates.

It was a pity that Rock Lee was only a casual acquaintance, so how could he easily pass on such a supreme martial art? Thus, the matter reached a stalemate.

Fortunately, just as Keiichi had foreseen, on the day before the Chunin Exams began, Gaara indeed snuck into Rock Lee's room, and Keiichi, who had been lurking in the room using an invisibility technique, caught him red-handed.

This tactic was called "entrapment"!

"That's far enough, Gaara!" A hand suddenly grabbed Gaara's wrist, and a calm voice spoke.

Gaara turned his head to look, his expression gloomy.

How did this person appear beside him without a sound?

"Let go, if you don't want to die." Gaara's expression was cold.

"This is the Leaf Village. Even if you kill me and Rock Lee, do you really think you can walk out of this hospital?" Keiichi appeared very composed.

"I can give it a try." Gaara rotated his wrists, and sand began to converge toward Keiichi's body.

But the moment the sand submerged Keiichi's ankles, it could go no further; Gaara suddenly felt unable to move, and his chakra ceased to circulate.

"That was close, way too close!"

The newcomer was naturally Shikamaru, who had taken advantage of their clash to hide in the shadows and silently activate the Shadow Possession Jutsu.

It had succeeded on the first attempt, just as expected.

"You..." Gaara felt a slight shock. How did they know he would appear here? It was as if they had set a trap in advance.

His guess was spot on; Shikamaru appearing here was, of course, thanks to Keiichi.

He had originally wanted to call Naruto for help, but unfortunately, Jiraiya kept him on such a tight leash that he had turned to his childhood friend, Shikamaru, instead.

Shikamaru certainly wouldn't refuse Naruto—after all, he was his "childhood sweetheart."

"Please leave this place. If you want to fight, I'll accompany you on the arena stage anytime," Shikamaru said calmly.

"That won't work. The monster inside me doesn't think so. If I don't kill him, it will get angry." Gaara revealed an exaggerated, grotesque smile, looking for all the world like a monster himself.

Shikamaru couldn't help but take half a step back, breaking out in a cold sweat.

What is wrong with this guy?!

Isn't he just too wicked?

"It wants me to kill all enemies, leaving no survivors, so he is no exception!" Gaara's gaze fell upon Rock Lee, his expression exceptionally ferocious.

At this moment, Shikamaru was already struggling to maintain control; it was his first time encountering someone who could still resist while caught in his Shadow Technique.

The sand floated up once more, this time pointing directly at the trio. At this moment, he only needed a single thought, and everyone present would be decapitated.

The tense atmosphere was ready to explode at any second!