Throwing Out Two Corpses

Hiruzen Sarutobi's concerned inquiries and long-overdue pleasantries with Yun Yan included, but were not limited to:

Yun Yan's work with the Twelve Guardian Ninja over the past few years, his living conditions there, whether his strength had improved, how well he had completed missions, whether he had been injured or faced danger, and the circumstances of the other Twelve Guardian Ninja...

And... in the end, he seemed to casually bring up his concern for the Daimyo, asking Yun Yan about the Daimyo's situation in order to judge the true nature of Yun Yan's relationship with him.

Ha, what an out-and-out old fox.

The benevolent Hokage persona he had cultivated was flawless as well.

Faced with a Hiruzen Sarutobi like this, how would Yun Yan react?

Yun Yan did not possess Hiruzen Sarutobi's exquisite acting skills, nor could he be bothered to put on an overwhelmed, deeply moved expression.

Thus, his attitude could be summed up in eight words: businesslike and superficially agreeable.

Whatever the Hokage asked, he answered. Whatever he had to say, he said. In short, he behaved with impeccable normalcy and remained utterly unruffled.

But being so normal was the greatest abnormality!

As Hiruzen Sarutobi continued questioning him in a gentle tone, he felt increasingly puzzled.

Why was this brat not falling for his act?

Anyone else would have long since been moved by him. Even if they did not immediately bow in submission, they would at least have agreed with him to a considerable degree.

But this brat... no. His replies were entirely stiff and ordinary, without a single noteworthy point. He showed no trace of gratitude whatsoever.

Even if he was from the Uchiha Clan and naturally at odds with the Hokage faction, he should not be like this, should he?

This brat... something was wrong... This was not normal.

His smile and kindly demeanor remained unchanged, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had already become wary.

After exchanging pleasantries for roughly two or three minutes, Yun Yan truly could not be bothered to maintain this surface-level act any longer. It was exhausting!

So, he took the transfer order from his clothes and placed it on the desk.

"Lord Hokage, in accordance with your transfer order, I officially return to the ranks of Konoha ninja today."

After accepting the order and confirming that there was no mistake, Hiruzen Sarutobi became slightly more serious since this concerned official business.

He nodded, his expression earnest.

"Mm. Uchiha Yunyan, welcome back to Konoha.

You may have returned a little late, but it is still timely. Konoha needs outstanding young talents like you now."

Yun Yan did not care in the slightest about the lofty title of outstanding young talent that Hiruzen Sarutobi had placed on him. What concerned him was Hiruzen Sarutobi saying that he had returned a little late.

Was he not a little late? At a normal jonin's speed, he should have returned yesterday rather than today.

But since the matter had been brought up, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had handed him the opportunity himself, Yun Yan naturally intended to make something of it.

Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who sat there as steady as a mountain, Yun Yan smiled faintly. There seemed to be another meaning hidden within that smile, and though his tone was calm, it concealed thunder.

"I truly apologize, Lord Hokage. I did indeed return somewhat late.

The reason I was delayed for a day and only returned now was because I encountered some unexpected incidents on the road.

I believe Lord Hokage can certainly understand. After all, those incidents were truly unforeseen."

Unexpected incidents within his words and outside of them—the focus of Yun Yan's words was the word "unexpected."

Hearing this and seeing Yun Yan's expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who knew the whole story, instinctively felt that something was amiss. Still, he naturally followed up with a question.

"Oh? Yunyan, it sounds as though there is a reason behind your words. What unexpected incident caught you off guard?"

To be honest, Hiruzen Sarutobi's question was merely a probe, an entirely ordinary tactic.

But Yun Yan's next reaction exceeded Hiruzen Sarutobi's expectations and nearly made his eyes pop out of their sockets!

Apparently deciding to answer Hiruzen Sarutobi's question with action, Yun Yan took two steps back, pulled out the scroll from his clothes, and spread it open directly on the floor before Hiruzen Sarutobi. Then he formed hand seals and clapped his hands together!

With a bang and a burst of white smoke, the storage scroll's seal was released.

The headless corpses of the two Root ninja, along with their heads, appeared starkly on the floor of the Hokage's office before Hiruzen Sarutobi!

Good lord, who opened with their ultimate move like that?

When something like this happened, should you not keep playing along for a few more exchanges? Then slowly hint at it, gradually make it clear, grow heated in your words, and only then present the evidence?

But Yun Yan did not. He bluntly threw out the corpses, throwing out irrefutable evidence of guilt. It was practically equivalent to tearing their faces apart on the spot! He was not following the usual script at all!

Realizing this, and realizing that matters had suddenly slipped beyond his control, especially as he saw the two shocking Root ninja corpses laid out before him, Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, which had always been as steady as an old dog's, was thrown into complete chaos, with raging waves rising within it!

It was not just Hiruzen Sarutobi who was utterly stunned. The other people in the Hokage's office—the elite ANBU jonin hidden nearby—were equally shocked!

My god! He directly threw out the corpses of Root ninja! Was this boy from the Uchiha clan really this wild!?

The hidden ANBU ninja were all in disbelief. They could barely believe their eyes, unable to imagine that anyone would dare do such a thing inside the Hokage's office!

Yun Yan, the person involved, could even clearly sense the auras the ANBU ninja had inadvertently leaked in their moment of shock.

They could not even keep themselves hidden without leaking their auras. It was clear just how stunned these onlookers were.

After releasing the seal on the scroll and throwing out the corpses, Yun Yan lowered his hands from the hand seals and slowly rose to his feet.

He raised his head and looked expressionlessly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was still seated there but whose expression had also turned cold.

Yes, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression had turned cold as well, though he did not display much emotional fluctuation and remained steady.

As expected of an old fox. As expected of the Third Hokage. No matter how shocked he was inside, he could still remain composed on the surface.

Silently praising him, Yun Yan made no further move and merely stared directly at Hiruzen Sarutobi without the slightest courtesy.

Yun Yan was the one who had taken the initiative. He had already played his trump card and could now wait at ease.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi could not. Faced with such nearly provocative behavior, he had to give some kind of response.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's response was no surprise to Yun Yan. His voice sank slightly as he asked:

"Yunyan, what is the meaning of this?"

Yun Yan could not be bothered to keep pretending to be ignorant with him. He directly kicked one of the Root ninja corpses before him.

"Lord Hokage can surely recognize that these two corpses do not belong to ANBU ninja, but to Root.

The unexpected incident I mentioned was none other than how, two nights ago, while I was resting in the forest, I was suddenly attacked by these two Root ninja.

If I had not possessed some skill and decent strength, I fear I would already have died beneath their blades. In that case, what Lord Hokage would be seeing would not be the corpses of these two Root ninja, but mine.

Perhaps even a corpse without eyes."

Yun Yan deliberately added that last sentence.

Yun Yan's straightforwardness made Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was accustomed to schemes and tactics, deeply uncomfortable. But he did not reveal it, merely allowing his expression to darken further.

His discomfort was a minor matter. Right now, Hiruzen Sarutobi was paying greater attention to something else.

He lifted his eyelids, stared sternly at Yun Yan, and asked the question he wanted answered.

"Yunyan, did you kill these two enemies with your own hands?"

See? He truly was an old fox. That question was quite interesting.

First, Hiruzen Sarutobi had defined the two Root ninja on the floor as enemies.

This was also a form of seizing the initiative, implying that Hiruzen Sarutobi knew nothing about them and certainly was not on their side. These two Root ninja were Yun Yan's enemies, and therefore his enemies as well.

Then came his main purpose: asking whether Yun Yan had killed the two Root ninja himself, so he could probe Yun Yan's current strength.

Yes, this was what Hiruzen Sarutobi urgently needed to determine.

Because Hiruzen Sarutobi had always believed that this boy from the Uchiha clan was, at most, jonin-level. He should not even have reached elite jonin level.

But now that the two corpses had been laid before him—one a jonin and the other an elite jonin—the bloody reality told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Uchiha Yunyan's strength was absolutely not so simple!

He urgently needed to determine Yun Yan's strength before he could formulate an appropriate response and countermeasure.

Yun Yan could more or less see through Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts and intentions.

He could not be bothered to hide anything, nor was there any need to. At the same time, he was clear-headed enough to know that there was no need to reveal his true strength. It was enough to leave Hiruzen Sarutobi guessing in a fog.

So, Yun Yan answered like this:

"I killed them with my own hands. I used a few methods and expended a great deal of effort before defeating them one at a time."

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a slight sense of relief.

One at a time, huh? Then it made sense. It seemed this brat had hidden his strength. He had probably reached elite jonin level, perhaps even among the best of the elite jonin.