The Dark Gaze of the Hokage Building and Flawless Acting

As Namikaze Minato's words fell, the air in the underground interrogation room seemed to be sucked away in an instant.

The smell of charred flesh mixed with the pungent scent of tobacco, fermenting wildly in the cramped space, stinging the throat and tightening the chest.

"Namikaze Minato, don't you dare touch him!" Kushina, like a lioness whose pride had been wounded, glared at Minato with crimson, slit-like pupils. Far from letting go, she shielded Baishi even tighter, the intense heat of the Nine-Tails' chakra evaporating the stagnant water on the floor with a sharp, hissing sound.

Buried within that scorching, soft embrace, the gaze behind Baishi's mask was as cold as ice.

What a ruthless, calculated trap.

Minato's move of retreating to advance—seemingly magnanimous in accepting a romantic rival—was actually a ploy to keep him under his thumb, where he could be skinned and gutted at will. Once he left the ANBU system to become Minato's direct subordinate, with Minato's monstrous tactical prowess and the mobility of the Flying Thunder God, all his secrets would be laid bare, let alone finding an opportunity to activate the simulator.

He absolutely could not go with him.

He had to stay in the building, under the eyes of the Third Hokage and Danzo. Only by letting the higher-ups view him as a "perfect tool"—one without threat, perhaps even useful for keeping Minato and Kushina in check—could he survive.

"M-My Lord..."

Baishi bit his tongue hard, using the sharp, piercing pain to force a cold sweat to break out across his forehead. He shoved Kushina away with a sudden, violent force, his movements crude and desperate.

The action was so abrupt that Kushina was caught off guard, stumbling back half a step as she looked at him in disbelief.

The next second, Baishi scrambled toward the Third Hokage, his knees slamming heavily onto the rough stone floor. Ignoring the blood seeping from his wrists where the shackles bit into his skin, he smashed his forehead against the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The dull, heavy impacts echoed through the basement. After three strikes, a glaring pool of blood had already stained the stone.

"Your Excellency Hokage!" Baishi's entire body trembled like a leaf, his voice raspy and broken. "This subordinate is nothing but a code name, unworthy of even a proper name! I am a man of the Konoha ANBU in life, and I shall be a ghost of Konoha in death!"

He jerked his head up, his face a mess of mud, tears, and blood. His eyes revealed an extreme terror of the class divide and an absolute submission to the system.

"How could a piece of trash like me be worthy of personal guidance from Lord Minato? I would never dare to harbor any improper thoughts toward Lady Kushina! I beg you, Your Excellency, show mercy and let me remain in the darkness... As long as I can carry out missions for the village, I will not hesitate to die!"

Dead silence.

The entire interrogation room fell into an eerie, suffocating silence.

Every word Baishi uttered hit the exact sweet spot for both the Third Hokage and Danzo.

The Third Hokage exhaled a cloud of thick smoke, a flicker of imperceptible satisfaction crossing his cloudy, aged eyes. This was the perfect product of the Will of Fire—devoid of self, knowing only obedience. Even when misunderstood or dragged into the power struggles of the elite, he could still clearly recognize his position as cannon fodder, placing the village's interests and rules above all else.

Danzo's single remaining eye narrowed slightly, his hand loosening its grip on the hilt of his cane-sword.

He had originally intended to kill Baishi, but now, it seemed this pawn was far more useful than he had imagined. A low-level piece of trash who was deeply loved by the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, yet terrified of the higher-ups and afraid to overstep his bounds, was the perfect valve to control Kushina's emotions.

It would be a waste to kill him; keeping him in the ANBU as a hostage who could be crushed at any moment was the path to maximizing profit.

"Minato, you heard him." The Third Hokage tapped his pipe, knocking out the ash. His voice was gentle, yet carried an unquestionable weight. "The village respects the wishes of every ninja. Since Owl is accustomed to the ANBU, do not force him."

Minato's golden bangs fell, shielding the surging emotions in his eyes. He looked at the back of the man on the ground, who had humbled himself into the dirt, his fist clenched tightly at his side.

His intuition told him that this genin's disguise was too perfect—perfect to the point of having no flaws at all. But at this critical juncture, he could not refute the Third Hokage, nor could he force the issue; that would only make Kushina despise him further.

"Yes, Your Excellency Third." Minato took a deep breath, forcing a stiff smile.

"No... don't..." Kushina stared blankly at the blood on Baishi's forehead, her heart feeling as if it had been torn apart by a giant hand.

He would rather smash his head open and remain in that ANBU unit where he could die at any moment than go with her. He was still using this self-destructive method to protect her, trying to distance himself from her!

Several ANBU from the Sealing Team stepped forward, forming hand seals to suppress her leaking chakra.

Kushina did not resist further. She stared fixedly at Baishi, who was still kneeling on the ground, her crimson, slit-like pupils filled with obsession and madness. Gritting her teeth, she left him with one final sentence: "Baishi, you remember this. Even if you hide in the depths of the earth, I will drag you out!"

Accompanied by heavy footsteps, Kushina was forcibly led out of the interrogation room. Minato cast one last deep look at Baishi before vanishing on the spot using the Flying Thunder God.

The storm had passed.

"Owl, go back and rest. Tomorrow, go to the logistics department to collect a new uniform." The Third Hokage waved his hand.

"Th-Thank you, Your Excellency Hokage!" Baishi knocked his head against the floor once more.

Two dog-masked ANBU stepped forward, unlocked his chakra shackles, and hauled him up, dragging him out of the underground passage.

The moment he stepped out of the Hokage building, the night wind, laden with the chill of autumn, rushed to meet him. Baishi kept his head low, his messy bangs obscuring his vision.

But beneath that half-shattered mask, the timid, fearful expression vanished completely, replaced by a look of extreme coldness and mockery.

Higher-ups? Geniuses? Jinchuriki?

They were nothing more than NPCs, shackled by their own emotions and interests.

Half an hour later.

On the outskirts of Konoha, in the ANBU single-occupancy dormitory.

It was narrow and damp. Thick cobwebs clung to the corners, and the air was filled with the smell of moldy bedding.

Baishi pushed the door open without turning on the light. Using the pale moonlight from the window, he skillfully set three hidden tripwires at the door gap, windowsill, and under the bed, and attached an Explosive Tag to a load-bearing pillar in his blind spot.

Only after finishing all this did he walk to the water-stained mirror and tear off his tattered ANBU uniform.

His lean, muscular torso was exposed to the cold air, and the deep, penetrating scar on his flank—where Kushina had forcibly ripped off the bandages—looked particularly gruesome in the moonlight.

Baishi stared at himself in the mirror, his mind shifting to summon the virtual panel that only he could see.

[Simulation settlement complete.]

[Successfully intercepted Namikaze Minato's core destiny.]

[Reward: Max-level Lightning Release (including shape transformation and ultimate nature transformation), massive chakra.]

Watching the golden text flickering on the panel, Baishi's heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. In this ninja world where human lives were as cheap as blades of grass, the power held in one's own hands was the only truth.

[Warning: Extracting this reward will subject the current body to deep cellular restructuring; the process will be accompanied by extreme pain.]

[Extract immediately?]

"Yes." Baishi did not hesitate in the slightest, issuing the command in his heart.

The very moment he clicked confirm, a force of thunder so violent it reached its peak surged into his crown like a bursting flood.

"Urgh--!"

Baishi's eyes widened abruptly. Before a muffled groan could even escape his throat, he suddenly stared fixedly at the shadow on the ground.

Under the illumination of the pale moonlight, the shadow beneath his feet did not tremble with his movements; instead, it stretched and twisted eerily, silently climbing up his ankles!