Dumbfounded Hiruzen Sarutobi

After all, Minato Namikaze was Hiruzen Sarutobi's grand-student, a bona fide member of the Hokage Faction.

Therefore, asking this question would not invite any suspicion.

Furthermore, if the identity in question did not involve any true secrets, Hiruzen Sarutobi would, in all likelihood, tell him.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reaction at this moment exceeded Minato Namikaze's expectations.

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he could not imagine why Hiruzen Sarutobi would display such a "strange" expression.

"Minato, describe the mask pattern of this ANBU member, as well as his height and other physical characteristics in detail!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi knit his brows, ordering Minato Namikaze with an urgency hidden in his tone that he himself had not even realized.

Minato Namikaze, however, noticed it keenly. He even faintly detected a slight tremor in Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice. Though he did not yet understand what was going on, he could only rely on his memory to describe the black cat pattern on the Yin Jie mask, as well as the physical traits that Yin Jie had revealed, to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Upon hearing Minato Namikaze's description, the heart that had been suspended in Hiruzen Sarutobi's chest finally plummeted.

How could he not know his own ANBU?

There was not a single Uchiha in the ANBU!

Therefore, it was clear: the "ANBU" member from the Uchiha Clan that Minato Namikaze described should actually be from the Root, which was comprised of members from the Uchiha Clan.

And this Uchiha Root member—was he not precisely Yin Jie Uchiha, whom he regarded as a "bridge" to communicate with the Uchiha Clan in the future!!!

Thus, at this very moment, even if he found it hard to believe, he had to accept it.

Yin Jie's growth had already veered off the track he had set, and his subsequent development had even faintly escaped his control.

Damn it!

He had been set up by his good friend Shimura Danzō in league with his prize student, Orochimaru!!!

The "bridge" he had pinned all his hopes on had, without his knowledge, quietly become a member of the Root!!!

This was truly a massive surprise.

It made him truly understand what, for heaven's sake, a real surprise felt like!!!

One had to know that ever since Orochimaru took Yin Jie as a disciple, he had rarely spied on Yin Jie's daily life.

On one hand, he trusted his prize student, Orochimaru, implicitly.

On the other hand, Yin Jie spent most of his time learning from Orochimaru or staying in Orochimaru's laboratory, and Orochimaru was capable of sensing the surveillance of the "Telescope Technique."

Therefore, for the past six months, he had hardly used the "Telescope Technique" to observe Yin Jie.

If not for Minato Namikaze, he likely would have waited a long time before discovering the "good deed" Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru had done regarding Yin Jie!!!

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time, his expression shifting constantly.

He felt as though he were a clown, having been thoroughly played by Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru.

However, in the end, he only let out a long sigh, swallowed his pride, and said nothing.

What else could he do?

The die was cast; Danzō would certainly not hand Yin Jie over.

Besides, Danzō was his old friend after all, and Orochimaru was his prize student.

So, of course, he would choose to forgive them!

After all, no matter what, the Root was still considered part of the Hokage Faction; although it had little to do with him, the meat was still in the same pot.

It had to be this way.

"Lord Hokage..."

"Lord Hokage?"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's momentary daze, Minato Namikaze called out repeatedly until he finally brought Hiruzen Sarutobi back to his senses.

"Are you alright?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's unusual behavior left Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, who stood by his side, looking worried.

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, momentarily clearing the myriad thoughts flooding his mind. "I am fine! However, this Uchiha is not a member of the ANBU, but belongs to the Root, which is led by Shimura Danzō."

"As for his identity, he is that genius of the Uchiha Clan who graduated from the Ninja Academy at age seven, Yin Jie Uchiha!"

Upon hearing this, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki both felt a jolt in their hearts.

The identity of the person who had done them a favor had indeed been found, but the result was not what they had expected.

Because the strength Yin Jie had displayed in the battle last night had caused them to guess in a direction that had veered off the right track from the very beginning.

However, this was perfectly normal.

After all, based on the information Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had gathered, this Uchiha genius, Yin Jie, had only possessed the strength to fight a Chunin when he graduated early from the Ninja Academy six months ago.

In the following period.

Yin Jie returned to his previous rhythm of life. Aside from completing the minimum number of missions required by the Root, he devoted most of his time to learning various forms of knowledge from his teacher, Orochimaru.

However, in the last few days, Orochimaru had suddenly become exceptionally busy. He spent most of his days deep within the laboratory, which was shrouded by an additional barrier.

Furthermore, as time passed, the duration Orochimaru spent inside grew longer and longer. He did not step out for several days at a time, and on the few occasions he did emerge, he was exhausted and only briefly dealt with essential documents or intelligence before returning inside.

Therefore, Orochimaru had no extra energy to spare to create a Shadow Clone to teach Yin Jie knowledge or Ninjutsu.

During this period, Shimura Danzō also visited several times, entering the barrier at the deepest part of the laboratory to discuss something with Orochimaru.

Thus, combined with the current timeline, it was easy for Yin Jie to deduce what the so-called highly confidential experiment that Orochimaru was busy with actually was.

That's right.

It was the famous Wood Release experiment, also known as the Hashirama Cells transplantation experiment.

Of course, initially, this experiment had received the approval of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, because too many people had died due to the experiment's failure, Hiruzen Sarutobi had eventually halted it.

But Shimura Danzō, who had always coveted the power of the Wood Release, had secretly reached an agreement with Orochimaru behind Hiruzen Sarutobi's back after the experiment was terminated, continuing the research and experiments on the Hashirama Cells in secret.