This is the Aura of Deterrence

Deep in the night, the Hokage Office.

An Anbu ninja appeared within the Hokage Office.

"Lord Hokage, a ninja from Root just went to find Yeyu."

The Third Hokage frowned slightly. "That guy is moving too fast."

"How did Yeyu react?"

Although the Root organization was technically subordinate to the Anbu, the Third Hokage could not command them.

Root only took orders from Danzo.

Kakashi also looked at this Anbu ninja.

"Yeyu didn't make a move, yet it seemed as if he did."

The Third Hokage and Kakashi's expressions tightened. "What do you mean?"

The Anbu ninja recalled what he had just witnessed, carefully choosing his words. "Yeyu seemed to use a mental-type ninjutsu, or perhaps, he released his killing intent."

"The other party suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness."

The Third Hokage looked at Kakashi, who nodded. "It must have been killing intent."

"Back when Orochimaru defected, he once released that kind of killing intent toward me."

"Even now, I still remember that feeling."

When Orochimaru defected years ago, the injured Orochimaru had merely released his killing intent toward Kakashi, and he hadn't even had the courage to strike back.

His body had been unable to move at all.

"But Yeyu is only 12 years old; how could he possess such intense killing intent?"

Kakashi couldn't understand it. Although Yeyu was strong, he was only 12; how could he have killing intent on the level of the battle-hardened Orochimaru?

One had to remember, when Kakashi tried to stop Orochimaru back then, he was already a Jonin.

That ninja from Root was also a Special Jonin.

Yet, back then, Orochimaru had only rendered Kakashi unable to fight.

Yeyu had actually caused that Root Special Jonin to pass out.

This could no longer be explained by simple killing intent.

The Third Hokage thought for a moment and said to Kakashi, "Let's go take a look."

The Third Hokage was somewhat worried that Yeyu might have psychological issues.

Yeyu was one of the Hokage candidates he had selected, and absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Currently, the Third Hokage only had two Hokage candidates: one was Kakashi, and the other was Yeyu.

Yeyu's priority was even far above Kakashi's.

Although there were two candidates, in reality, there was only one, and that was Yeyu.

He did not want Yeyu to have any problems at such a critical time.

Kakashi also realized the severity of the situation.

Together with the Third Hokage, he vanished from the Hokage Office.

The two arrived at Yeyu's door.

After hesitating for a moment, the Third Hokage knocked on the door.

Yeyu opened his eyes.

He released his Observation Haki.

After sensing who had arrived, Yeyu felt a bit helpless. "Why do people keep coming one after another?"

Yeyu felt a bit annoyed.

He opened the door.

He looked at the two people outside. "Lord Hokage, Kakashi-sensei."

Yeyu was in the same class as Sasuke and Naruto, so it was natural for him to call Kakashi "sensei."

This was also the first formal meeting between Kakashi and Yeyu.

He invited the two inside.

The three sat around together, drinking tea.

The Third Hokage saw that Yeyu didn't seem to have changed at all.

He smiled. "Yeyu, a Root ninja came to find you just now, didn't he?"

Yeyu nodded. "He said he was an Anbu ninja, and that a man named Danzo wanted me to see him."

"Was that person a ninja from Root?"

Theoretically, Yeyu shouldn't know of Danzo's existence, which was why Yeyu phrased it that way.

The Third Hokage looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi explained to Yeyu, "Root is a branch of the Anbu. Although it is affiliated with the Anbu, it operates independently and can be considered Anbu ninjas."

"Lord Danzo is the leader of Root."

Danzo's position as a Hokage advisor was stripped by the Third Hokage on the night he authorized Itachi Uchiha to massacre the Uchiha clan.

Now, he only holds the position of the leader of Root.

Yeyu nodded, "It seems such a person really exists, and his status is quite high."

Despite saying this, Yeyu felt no fear at all.

It was only Danzo; if it were his former self, he might have felt it was a bit troublesome.

But now, whoever he is, it doesn't matter.

Yeyu had no interest left.

Yeyu's words left the Third Hokage and Kakashi speechless for a moment.

The Third Hokage thought for a moment and asked Yeyu, "Did you use a mental-type ninjutsu?"

Kakashi also looked at Yeyu.

He was curious about how Yeyu managed to mentally knock a Special Jonin unconscious.

Even if it were a genjutsu, the level of such a genjutsu must be very high.

Hadn't Yeyu just graduated from the Ninja Academy?

Yeyu said casually, "It's just a type of aura, similar to what you often call killing intent."

Kakashi frowned, "Killing intent? I know it, but can killing intent really reach that level?"

"At most, it's just a deterrent, right?"

Yeyu looked at Kakashi, "Teacher Kakashi, there is a difference between one killing intent and another."

"This is my killing intent!"

BOOM

In an instant, Yeyu's Conqueror's Haki enveloped Kakashi.

Kakashi immediately felt his spirit surge, as if his brain had been struck hard by a heavy hammer.

Just as Kakashi was about to faint, Yeyu withdrew the Conqueror's Haki.

"Is the difference a bit large?"

Yeyu took a sip of tea and said with a smile.

Kakashi's nose was bleeding, his eyes were tearing up, and he had nearly passed out.

In fact, even Yeyu was somewhat shocked.

His Conqueror's Haki was ridiculously strong; it could actually stun Kakashi.

In the world of One Piece, Kakashi would definitely be a master at the level of a Vice Admiral.

Yet he could be stunned by his own Conqueror's Haki; if Yeyu hadn't stopped in time and controlled the intensity, Kakashi would have fainted instantly.

Yeyu thought to himself, Could it be the enhancement of chakra?

There were two forces within Yeyu's body: one was chakra, and the other was the power of Akainu.

His chakra had surged to 30 times that of Kakashi due to the power of Akainu.

When releasing Conqueror's Haki, it consumed not only Yeyu's physical strength but also his chakra.

With the two forces fused together, the intensity of the Haki was several times higher than Akainu's original.

Moreover, it was incredibly precise; he released the Haki at Kakashi, but the Third Hokage on the side did not feel it at all.

Kakashi's head was spinning.

He looked at Yeyu, his eyes filled with shock and fear.

It's several times stronger than the killing intent Orochimaru had back then. How could Yeyu's killing intent be so terrifying?

He just graduated from the Ninja Academy; he shouldn't have had enough time or opportunity to cultivate such killing intent, right?

The reason Orochimaru possessed a killing intent capable of deterring Kakashi was because it had been honed through many life-and-death battles.

But Yeyu was just a newly graduated ninja; where would he have had the opportunity to hone it?

Although the Third Hokage didn't feel it, he saw Kakashi's condition very clearly.

"Yeyu, is this your ninjutsu?"

The Third Hokage couldn't help but ask.

"It's not ninjutsu, but an aura—an aura used to deter others."