At the Hidden Leaf Root, Shisui stood quietly, waiting for Danzo to arrive.
He was there to report on the day's events.
"You're here!"
A figure dressed in plain clothes walked in.
He went straight to the seat of honor and sat down, fixing an expectant gaze on Shisui.
"Go on, how did it go today?"
He already knew everything about Zhou Cheng from the Root shinobi, so asking again was a test to see whether Shisui would lie.
Danzo was a suspicious man who never fully trusted anyone.
Shisui nodded and slowly began recounting what had happened that day.
Danzo nodded, quite satisfied. Shisui's account was basically the same as the Root's.
At least for now, Shisui was trustworthy.
"Was he really that strong? Even Tsunade's monstrous strength couldn't hurt him?"
Danzo found this hard to believe.
He knew Tsunade's strength better than most. As Hiruzen Sarutobi's friend and a Hidden Leaf Advisor, he had practically watched the Sannin grow up. He knew their abilities inside and out.
When Tsunade used her monstrous strength, she could flatten a mountain if she wanted to. It was only a matter of time.
Yet Zhou Cheng had taken the full force of her strength with his body and emerged completely unscathed!
This was so shocking and unbelievable that if it was true, Danzo's attitude toward Zhou Cheng would have to change.
"Of course it's true. Hundreds of people saw it today!"
"Hatake Kakashi included."
The wily Danzo showed no emotion, but inside, his thoughts were already churning like a stormy sea!
"Were the things that came out of the boxes real, too?"
Danzo asked again, bringing up the question he cared about most.
If precious treasures like the Chakra Fruit were real, then Zhou Cheng's strength would be even more terrifying.
Any one of those items entering the Ninja World would cause an uproar and bring bloodshed in its wake.
Yet Zhou Cheng handed them out so casually—and asked for nothing in return!
Would attacking him count as a return?
If so, then every assumption about Zhou Cheng's identity and background could be thrown out.
He wasn't a Genin, nor a young member of the Uchiha Clan. Perhaps he was an ancient monster of immense power who possessed a secret technique for eternal youth.
His living among the Uchiha Clan might mean he had once been a member—or perhaps he wasn't Uchiha at all!
Danzo sank into thought. Could those Blind Boxes contain something that would let me seize the Hokage Position?
Perhaps I need to go there myself.
"I've heard all I need to hear. You may go. Report again tomorrow!"
Shisui nodded and turned to leave.
He had been brainwashed by the so-called Will of Fire and trusted the Hidden Leaf and the Third Hokage unconditionally.
He even casually turned his back on them.
As soon as Shisui turned away, Danzo's gaze grew greedy—the greed of a man hungry for power.
"How are the preparations coming along?"
He spoke slowly, though it was unclear whether he was talking to himself or asking someone else.
A figure appeared where Shisui had been standing. The person knelt on one knee, head bowed.
"Everything is ready. It's a deadly poison, and there's no antidote!"
Danzo nodded in satisfaction. The Mangekyō Sharingan would be his, no matter what!
Shisui, blame your birth into the Uchiha Clan. I'll take your eyes and use them to watch the Uchiha Clan fall!
Once I've fully figured out Zhou Cheng, I'll take your eyes.
"You few, take off your Root uniforms tomorrow and challenge people at the Arena, too. Find out what those boxes are all about!"
Kakashi pushed open the door to the Hokage's office and walked in.
"You're here!"
A voice, old yet vigorous, rang out. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone behind the Hokage's desk, puffing on his pipe. The room was thick with white smoke and the pungent smell of tobacco.
Kakashi furrowed his brow. You want me to breathe your secondhand smoke? If you weren't the Hokage, I'd have beaten you up by now.
He strode to the window and opened it, then formed several hand signs.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The room's air was sucked out along with the smoke. Once the smell had faded a little, Kakashi turned around, satisfied, and looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I experienced it myself. It was all real!"
Then he recounted the day's events. Hiruzen Sarutobi listened in shock, like some country bumpkin who had never seen the world.
He'd taken Tsunade's monstrous strength head-on without a scratch! How was that possible?
Even I wouldn't dare take that kind of force head-on.
What's more, Zhou Cheng had taken it with one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body: his head.
Even a Jonin would die on the spot if Tsunade hit them in the head with her Heavenly Pain Kick.
"Unbelievable! There's someone like that in the Hidden Leaf, and we never knew!"
"What reward did you get?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Kakashi expectantly. If he had received something remarkable, that would be good news for the Hidden Leaf, too.
But Kakashi didn't answer for a long while. Puzzled, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up and saw in Kakashi's single visible eye that the matter was inconvenient to discuss.
"You brat, what can't you tell me?"
"If it's inconvenient, then never mind!"
"What do you think Zhou Cheng's strength is, and where do these rewards come from?"
"Many of them are things even I've never heard of or seen!"
"And every single one is incredibly precious. He gives them away so easily and asks for nothing in return?"
Kakashi shrugged. How would I know? Ask me something I can answer!
"Maybe he really is bent on dying! He can't take those rewards with him when he dies, so he might as well do some good and give them to others!"
"As for his strength, he's definitely at least as strong as me!"
"I used seventy percent of my strength on that Lightning Blade, but I couldn't even damage his clothes!"
At the thought, Kakashi's expression changed at once.
He looked deeply wary, and the memory still made him uneasy!
Listening to Kakashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into thought.
It was hard to believe everything about someone like Zhou Cheng without seeing it with one's own eyes.
He had to find a time to meet Zhou Cheng. Perhaps he could try attacking him and see how strong he really was.
"You can go for now. Tomorrow..."
Before he could finish, Kakashi interrupted him.
"I'll go again tomorrow. He still owes me something!"
Kakashi couldn't stop thinking about the rest of the Make-Out Paradise books Zhou Cheng had promised him.
The book he'd gotten from the Blind Box was a little different from the version sold in stores. It was better, more thrilling, had more emotion between the characters, and included more lifelike illustrations.
If the first volume was already like that, what would the second and third volumes be like?
Thinking about the steamy scenes in the book, Kakashi's face flushed red. If he hadn't been wearing his mask, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have noticed.
"Tomorrow, I'll allow you to use your full strength!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at Kakashi, his eyes shining. He wanted one last test to find out exactly how strong Zhou Cheng was.
At Kakashi's current level, if he went all out, even Hiruzen Sarutobi himself would have to give him a wide berth.
It wasn't that he was old. Kakashi simply knew too many jutsu, and he was far too unpredictable!
"That was what I had in mind, too!"
"I want to get an even better reward!"
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