The Third Hokage Was Stunned: Who Is This Kid in the Crystal Ball?!

Just as Sen stood there staring blankly at the orchard that had appeared out of nowhere, even beginning to plan his wonderful future as a "fruit tycoon."

At the same time.

Hokage Building, top-floor office.

The lingering glow of the setting sun streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, dyeing the entire room a warm orange-red.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, reclined leisurely in his broad office chair.

His wrinkled old face carried the contentment of a man who had finished handling his official duties.

With his signature old pipe clenched between his teeth, he took a deep puff and exhaled a string of round smoke rings.

"Whew—"

"What a peaceful day."

The old Third Hokage narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

The Konoha Crush Plan was still years away, and Akatsuki had yet to officially start causing trouble.

This rare tranquility allowed even his old bones to relax a little.

He stretched out a withered hand and brushed it across his desk.

"Telescope Technique."

The crystal-clear crystal ball on the desk gradually lit up with a faint glow.

This was part of his daily routine.

He used this ninjutsu, said to be able to see every corner of Konoha, to inspect the village's security.

And, incidentally... satisfy his small urge to peek.

The scenes inside the crystal ball flickered rapidly.

At the training ground, Might Guy was leading a group of brats in shouting about "youth."

At Barbecue Q, members of the Akimichi Clan were holding another eating contest.

On the shopping street, housewives were practically trampling one another over discounted vegetables.

Everything seemed so harmonious and wonderful.

The old Third Hokage nodded repeatedly as he watched, the smile at the corner of his lips growing wider.

"Mm, very good, very good."

"With me here, Konoha will always flourish like this."

He controlled the crystal ball and slowly shifted its view toward the edge of the village.

He intended to take one last look at those remote, neglected corners before ending today's "patrol."

Suddenly.

The image in the crystal ball jolted violently.

As if it had been hit by intense chakra interference, static briefly flashed across the screen.

"Hm? What happened?"

The old Third Hokage frowned.

He increased his chakra output, and the image in the crystal ball became clear once more.

The view happened to lock onto the outskirts of Training Ground 44.

The next second.

The old Third Hokage's cloudy eyes widened abruptly!

"W-What is that?!"

Inside the crystal ball.

The barren grassland he knew so well had somehow become a lush, sizable orchard!

Dozens of towering trees, each requiring several people to encircle them, had sprung from the earth. Their canopies nearly covered half the sky.

The branches were heavy with bright red fruits, each larger than a human head.

The entire orchard radiated an incredibly rich vitality, so intense it seemed about to spill out of the screen!

The old Third Hokage instinctively rubbed his eyes, thinking his age had made his vision blur.

He even vigorously wiped the crystal ball's surface with his sleeve.

Yet the image remained incomparably clear.

An outrageously large orchard had truly appeared out of nowhere where the wasteland should have been.

"A genjutsu? No!"

The old Third Hokage immediately dismissed the thought.

His Telescope Technique could even see through barriers. How could a mere genjutsu possibly fool it?

He abruptly leaned toward the crystal ball, nearly pressing his face against it.

His gaze locked firmly beneath the orchard.

A small figure stood there.

A six-year-old brat wearing old orphanage clothes.

The brat was hugging an apple larger than his own head, juice smeared all over his face as he bit into it.

That face looked somewhat familiar to the old Third Hokage.

He searched his memories desperately.

"Wait... isn't that the one Iruka mentioned in his report this morning? The kid with chakra but who can't even throw a shuriken properly..."

"Sen Senju?!"

The instant that name burst from his mouth.

The old Third Hokage felt as if his brain had been smashed by a heavy hammer.

With a buzz, his mind went blank.

Senju!

Wood Release!

Those two words exploded in his mind like lightning.

He stared fixedly at the vibrant forest within the crystal ball.

That domineering aura unique to the Senju Clan's bloodline limit—even through the screen, he could feel it.

There was no mistake!

This was absolutely the divine technique the First Hokage had once used to pacify the warring era—Wood Release!

And!

The old Third Hokage recalled the instant when the image in the crystal ball had shaken.

From the moment the image stabilized to the moment the orchard took shape, only a few seconds had passed.

What did that mean?

It meant that the brat named Sen Senju had unleashed Wood Release on such a massive scale without forming a single hand seal!

Instant cast!

This was instant-cast Wood Release, something even the First Hokage could not achieve easily!

Fear!

An extreme fear mingled with wild joy instantly seized the old Third Hokage's heart.

He felt as if even breathing had become difficult.

Konoha Village had silently given birth to such a monster without anyone knowing!

A Senju descendant who could instantly cast large-scale Wood Release at the age of six!

If the other ninja villages learned of this, they would definitely pay any price to snuff him out in the cradle!

And if Danzo, that old man obsessed with the First Hokage's cells, learned about this...

The consequences would be unimaginable!

The more the old Third Hokage thought about it, the more terrified he became. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his Hokage robes.

He had to act immediately!

Before anyone noticed, he had to protect this child!

No, he had to bring him under control!

Clack!

A crisp sound rang out.

Overwhelmed by emotion, the old Third Hokage's beloved pipe dropped straight from his mouth onto the desk.

The burning tobacco instantly scorched through the confidential document regarding genin graduation assignments on the desk.

But the old Third Hokage had no attention to spare for that.

He sprang up from his chair, moving with an agility that did not resemble an old man nearing seventy in the slightest.

He rushed to the office door and yanked it open.

Then, facing the two ANBU who had guarded the entrance for years, he let out an almost roaring shout.

"Someone!"

The two ANBU shuddered and immediately dropped to one knee.

"Lord Hokage!"

The old Third Hokage's chest heaved violently. He pointed toward the intelligence room, his voice trembling slightly from agitation.

"Immediately! At once! Bring me every file in the archives concerning 'Sen Senju'!"

"Not one document can be missing! Go!"

Though the ANBU ninja had no idea what was happening, they did not dare ask questions when they saw the Third Hokage looking as tense as if he faced a great enemy.

"Yes!"

The two moved at once, turning into afterimages and vanishing at the end of the hallway.

The old Third Hokage stood in the doorway, both hands gripping the doorframe so tightly that his knuckles had gone pale.

He turned his head and looked once more at the crystal ball still glowing on his desk.

Inside the crystal ball.

The brat named Sen Senju seemed to have noticed something.

He stopped biting the apple and slowly raised his head.

Those previously lazy eyes seemed to cross the distance of space through the crystal ball's surveillance, colliding fiercely with the old Third Hokage's gaze in midair!

The old Third Hokage's heart sank.

"This kid... did he discover me?!"

Just as he wanted to take a closer look.

Crackle—

The image in the crystal ball suddenly warped violently. Like an old television that had burned out, it instantly turned into a screen full of static.

The Telescope Technique had been forcibly interrupted by an overwhelmingly powerful force!

A deathly silence filled the office.

Only the old Third Hokage's increasingly heavy breathing remained.

"This is bad!"

Alarm bells blared in the old Third Hokage's mind.

In the crystal ball just now, he seemed to have seen another blurry figure standing beside that child!

That figure's clothing...

It belonged to Danzo's Root!

"Danzo, that bastard, has really set his sights on this child too!"

The old Third Hokage could no longer sit still.

He grabbed the Hokage hat from the desk and put it on, not even having time to tie the sash of his Hokage robes.

Then he leaped directly from the window and raced toward Training Ground 44.

"Kid Sen, nothing must happen to you!"

The old Third Hokage sprinted madly across the rooftops, with only one thought in his mind.

"No matter what, I can't let you fall into Danzo's hands!"

"You are..."

"Konoha's last, and greatest, hope!"