Challenging the Third Hokage

Although Danzo and Orochimaru were cooperating, they were mostly using each other.

Orochimaru had originally controlled the medication that prevented rejection of Hashirama Cells, giving him the upper hand in their cooperation.

But Danzo clearly had no intention of being at someone else's mercy. Once his subordinates developed a new anti-rejection drug, he planned to abandon Orochimaru.

And so, information about Orochimaru conducting human experiments appeared on Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk.

As he looked at the intelligence in his hands, Hiruzen felt deeply pained.

The evidence wasn't entirely conclusive yet, but based on what he knew of Orochimaru, it was all true.

Still, the Third Hokage wanted to see it with his own eyes, so he led two Anbu to arrest Orochimaru.

Uchiha Chen's appearance had inadvertently caused Danzo to put his plans into motion early. This led to Orochimaru's premature defection, leaving him no time to search for the brat who had escaped the Cursed Seal.

Completely unaware of all this, Uchiha Chen was thinking about how to defeat the Third Hokage. The obvious methods wouldn't work.

But after considering several possible approaches, he rejected them all.

Although the system hadn't set a time limit this time, based on Chen's past experience, there wouldn't be any follow-up missions unless he completed this one.

If he were just an ordinary member of Konoha, Chen wouldn't have cared. With his talent, becoming strong wasn't impossible.

But the problem was, he was Uchiha Chen. In the massacre of the clan a few years from now, without overwhelming strength, he wouldn't just fail to change Itachi and Shisui's fates—he wouldn't even survive.

Though he hated it, Chen understood that he had to rely on the system for now.

"Hey, there's no time limit. Why are you in such a hurry?

This system was kind enough not to give you a timed mission. Shouldn't you be grateful?"

"Oh."

This wasn't the first time the system had tried to tempt Chen into taking a break. He didn't know what it was plotting, but given how devious the thing was—

If he followed its lead, he'd probably be left without even a scrap of bone.

So Chen ignored all of the system's temptations.

"Hey, you..."

"I'm going to complete the mission early."

With that, Chen didn't wait for the system to respond. He grabbed the things he'd prepared in advance and headed for the Hokage Office Building.

Although it was daytime, Uchiha Chen deliberately chose to sneak in.

Of course, the Anbu stationed near the Hokage Office Building noticed his infiltration from the start. They just couldn't figure out what a little kid was up to.

"Oh? Someone from the Uchiha Clan?"

The Third Hokage was a little puzzled when he heard the Anbu's report.

Orochimaru's defection had left him deeply saddened. Part of it was because of the human experiments, and part of it was because a student he'd once favored had gone so far astray.

"Leave him alone for now. Let's see what he does."

The Third Hokage had barely finished speaking when he sensed Uchiha Chen heading his way.

He motioned for the Anbu to leave, then pretended nothing was happening and continued reviewing the documents in front of him. Uchiha Chen was just outside the door.

After making it here without a hitch, Chen figured the Third Hokage had probably wanted to see what he would do.

So...

"I challenge you, Lord Hokage!"

He kicked open the door to the Hokage's office, Shuriken clutched in both hands, and took a fully guarded stance.

But with an expression like that on a four-year-old, no one could take him seriously.

"You're Uchiha Chen, right? Why do you want to challenge me?"

Chen wasn't surprised that the Third Hokage knew who he was. If the Anbu had failed to gather even a little information after a suspicious person had been sneaking around for so long, they might as well quit.

"Because Lord Hokage is the strongest. If I beat Lord Hokage, then I'll be the strongest!"

Uchiha Chen spoke with deliberate childishness as the Shuriken in his hands flew toward the Third Hokage.

Faced with this, the Third Hokage motioned for the Anbu not to interfere and casually dodged.

Although Uchiha Chen had already mastered the Shuriken, this kind of attack obviously couldn't hurt the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage dodged Chen's attack with ease. Before Chen could react, he grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.

Feeling himself being whisked through the air, Chen was at a loss for words.

Was he going to dump me on Ibiki?

I thought the old man was supposed to be nice to kids. Was that a lie?

Chen was utterly exasperated. Nothing was going according to plan.

"See? You just had to insist on completing the mission now. Who else can you blame for bringing this on yourself?

And you say I'm the one who gets you into trouble, when you're the one who loves courting death."

"Shut up. If you hadn't issued the mission, would I have challenged the Third Hokage?"

The system's gloating only made Chen angrier. What did it mean, he loved courting death?

If the system hadn't kept issuing all these missions, he would have built up his strength and bided his time. Why would he have revealed his talent so soon?

It would be fine if the Third Hokage took an interest in him, but if that Pot Kage Danzo set his sights on him, who knew what might happen?

"All right, this should do."

Chen was still fuming when the Third Hokage stopped. This wasn't Konoha's interrogation room.

The area around them was wide open, more like a training ground.

"This is where I train. There's no one else here. Let's see what you can do."

Orochimaru's betrayal had left the Third Hokage feeling gloomy, so he figured he could take a break by spending some time with Chen.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

At the Third Hokage's words, Chen immediately unleashed a ninjutsu.

The Great Fireball Technique had already been exposed, so there was no need to hide it.

A massive fireball appeared, and the Third Hokage was taken aback.

He'd thought Chen was just a mischievous child, but he hadn't expected this.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

He hesitated for only an instant, but the Third Hokage formed Hand Seals too quickly. He easily blocked Chen's attack.

But this was all within Chen's expectations. Without hesitation, he threw a large number of Shuriken.

"Hey, want me to help?

Should I give you a mission to hit the target with every Shuriken you throw?

Your aim's about as good as Jiraiya's 'throw all his Shuriken in every direction' technique."

"Shut up. Don't distract me. Just don't shortchange my reward if I beat the Third Hokage."

The Third Hokage was surprised that Chen was this strong at his age, but he still handled the attacks with ease. What he didn't know was that Chen had a "little something" in store for him next.

Apparently deciding that he alone couldn't hurt the Third Hokage, Uchiha Chen began forming Hand Seals.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

A Shadow Clone appeared, and the two Chens attacked the Third Hokage. Just then, something the Third Hokage hadn't expected suddenly appeared.