The Third and Danzo

After returning to his room, Yun Xi conducted another observation.

Only after confirming there were no enemies nearby did he deactivate the Heaven Curse Mark.

Under the curse mark state, my strength and chakra increase significantly, but... the physical stamina consumption is a bit severe...

After ending the curse mark state, Yun Xi also noticed something amiss.

Although the curse mark state could boost his strength by a large margin, Yun Xi estimated that with his current physical constitution, he could only maintain it for about two hours.

Even though his Heaven Curse Mark had been strengthened by the system, it still carried intense side effects.

Furthermore, activating the Sharingan while in the curse mark state increased the consumption even more...

My physical constitution is still not good enough...

Yun Xi sighed with emotion, but he was not panicked in the slightest.

Within the pay-to-win shop, Yun Xi had discovered many bloodline limits and secret techniques capable of increasing one's physical constitution.

Whether it was the Eight Inner Gates or Sage Mode, both could enhance his physical foundation.

The only thing Yun Xi lacked was one thing!

And that was pay-to-win points.

If Yun Xi chose not to spend money, taking Karin in as a subordinate would also be an excellent choice.

Because of her bloodline limit, Karin was definitely one of the most outstanding healers in the original Naruto series.

She could be called a human fountain of life.

After keeping Karin in mind, Yun Xi temporarily set those thoughts aside...

What a pity, there is no loot...

Short on funds, Yun Xi felt a trace of regret.

He regretted using Amaterasu to instantly kill the two Root ninjas earlier.

If he had killed them using taijutsu or Fire Release ninjutsu, there might have been some unexpected gains.

Just as Yun Xi was summarizing his strength, a tense atmosphere permeated the underground Root base in Konoha.

"Lord Danzo, the two chunin we sent out earlier have disappeared..."

Inside the Root hall, an elite jonin wearing a black top and a forehead protector knelt behind Danzo.

The slightly nervous expression on his face betrayed his inner thoughts.

Ninjas within the Root often encountered extremely dangerous missions.

Therefore, casualties were a common occurrence, but this time was an exception.

The two chunin had merely been sent to monitor a civilian in the village.

Yet, their contact had been cut off directly...

This made the Root jonin feel somewhat nervous...

Upon hearing the news, Danzo merely turned his head and looked at his subordinate with those dead-fish eyes.

His face carried a hint of anger...

"Tell me the information regarding the mission target..."

After hearing his subordinate's report, Danzo slowly turned around.

Within the Root, no one except Danzo had a name.

They were generally referred to by their mission targets and code names.

"Mission target: Yun Xi, war orphan, strength assessment: civilian..."

Hearing Danzo's command, the jonin who had been kneeling behind him stood up.

After reporting Yun Xi's information, he took a white file out from his bosom.

"Tell me about the situation before the two Root chunin disappeared..."

After reading through all of Yun Xi's data, Danzo asked again, while a subtle change appeared in his expression.

"Yes!"

Seeing Danzo inquire again, the Root jonin immediately said, "This morning, the Third Hokage met with this civilian, and the mission target left about an hour later."

"Afterward, this subordinate dispatched two elite chunin to monitor him secretly, and discovered that he also had contact with the Fourth Hokage's orphan."

"Then, this subordinate dispatched two more Root chunin to monitor him, but not long ago, the two of them simply disappeared..."

After listening to the jonin, Danzo slowly set down the file in his hand.

After pondering for a moment, Danzo spoke again: "Raise the surveillance level of this mission target to A-rank."

"Understood!"

The Anbu-level operative of the Root displayed a look of shock upon receiving the order.

Within the Root, there existed a unique system for mission grading.

The reason for the operative's shock was simple: an upgrade to an A-rank surveillance level meant that the target's strength had generally reached that of a jonin.

Even for most ordinary jonin within Konoha, the surveillance level was usually only B-rank...

Yet, the youth named Yun Xi was not even a genin...

However, out of professional conduct, the Root operative before Danzo did not ask any further questions.

After receiving the order, he left the Root immediately to rearrange the personnel assigned to monitor Yun Xi.

What is that old geezer Hiruzen up to...

After his subordinate left, a trace of doubt stirred in Danzo's heart.

He could not understand why his arch-rival would go to see an ordinary war orphan at such a time.

Moreover, the figure of the jinchuriki had also appeared in this matter...

After pondering for a moment, Danzo waved his hand again, and in the next second, two Root ninjas appeared.

Seeing them, Danzo spoke in a gloomy tone: "Increase the surveillance on the Hokage and the Uchiha clan. There must be no errors in this mission..."

For Danzo, the most important thing right now was to prepare for the upcoming plan targeting the Uchiha clan.

As for the matter of Yun Xi, Danzo was not particularly concerned.

If it weren't for the fact that his subordinates had suddenly disappeared during the surveillance process, Danzo wouldn't even have bothered to monitor a commoner.

Still, the fact that a commoner has had contact with Hiruzen Sarutobi and Naruto Uzumaki is something I must pay attention to...

While Danzo was planning how to deal with Yun Xi, the Hokage's office was brightly lit.

"Lord Hokage, it seems that the little guy you are concerned about is being monitored by Danzo..."

As the Third Hokage was smoking, an Anbu jonin suddenly appeared.

He reported the information he had gathered to the Third Hokage.

In Konoha, the Anbu and the Root rarely interacted.

The intelligence networks of these two major organizations were almost entirely focused on guarding against one another.

Upon hearing this news, a look of displeasure instantly appeared on the Third Hokage's face.

"I understand. You may go..."

"Wait, send two chunin to protect Yun Xi to prevent any accidents."

After the order was issued, the jonin who had appeared behind the Third Hokage vanished instantly.

Within the vast Hokage office, only the Third Hokage remained...

"Old classmate, has your reach grown this long? This person... I must protect him..."

The Third Hokage muttered to himself while gazing into the distance.

Yun Xi, who was sleeping at home at this moment, certainly had no idea.

A small commoner like him was actually being fixated upon by the two most powerful bigwigs in Konoha...

The night passed without incident...

"New people have come to monitor me again?"

Early in the morning, Yun Xi woke up with a helpless expression on his face, discovering that there were at least two jonin and two chunin in his vicinity.

That was why Yun Xi felt so helpless.

With so many people around, Yun Xi could not make another move.

Furthermore, if he were to make more Root members disappear, it would inevitably put Danzo on high alert.

Thinking of the Uchiha clan massacre that would occur before long, Yun Xi decided to endure it for now!