A visit from the Third?

However, Itachi Uchiha focused on something different from Kakashi!

His weary expression held a serious gaze as he stared fixedly at the video, which had paused on a particular frame!

It was the moment when Tsunade spoke with the Deva Path. His eyes were fixed on Tsunade-not because he liked her, of course, but because something seemed strange!

Seeing the Hokage robes Tsunade wore, Itachi Uchiha was stunned and muttered under his breath.

"Why is Tsunade the Hokage? Where's the Third?"

If the Third had stepped down, where did that leave him as an undercover agent? Had his cover already been blown by then?

For Itachi Uchiha, tonight would be another sleepless night.

Meanwhile, Luo Mang, the culprit behind all of this, knew nothing of their situation.

A little suspicion had already taken root in his mind.

He stared at the video, somewhat dazed. This was just supposed to be a diary. Writing things down was one thing, but why could it play videos too?

How was he supposed not to find that suspicious?

Still, it was only a suspicion. Maybe it was simply meant for storing things. That was at least a slight possibility.

Maintaining his skepticism for now, Luo Mang began today's draw.

Rattle, rattle~

Amid the sounds of the draw, a white ball dropped out.

Luo Mang: •﹏•

Fine. His luck just wasn't that good. Three days, all white lights.

White lights were one thing, but at least give him some money! He loved worldly possessions. He was a worldly man who liked worldly things, yet the damn thing wouldn't even give him money. Three white lights had yielded two ordinary kunai and a weed.

He was utterly speechless. The white lights he had drawn before had been much the same.

There were already nearly a hundred kunai in his diary inventory. They were useless to him. Was he supposed to become a kunai merchant?

The future looked bleak!

Looking at how overwhelmingly powerful Pain was in the video, he would need at least a Mangekyo to stand a chance. He only had two tomoe now. Surely he couldn't go kill a few people close to him.

Even with Uchiha blood, he didn't have an Uchiha's temperament. Naturally, he wouldn't look down his nose at people or harm innocents.

All he could do was wait for the next draw.

If he could draw a one-tomoe from the diary and merge it into his own to make Three-Tomoe, that would work too. Three-Tomoe put him on par with a jonin.

A Mangekyo put him straight on par with an elite jonin. If he was an expert fighter, reaching Kage Level was possible too.

He needed at least a jonin's strength to protect himself.

Sigh~

All this overthinking was useless. Luo Mang simply lay down on his bed and went to sleep.

Time passed in a flash, and the moon hanging high overhead gave way to the sun as daylight arrived.

On the morning three days later.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

A series of gentle knocks sounded outside the door. In his second-floor bedroom, Luo Mang stirred from his sleep, his eyelashes fluttering as he slowly woke.

"Who is it this early in the morning?"

He gazed sleepily at the ceiling and muttered under his breath.

He didn't have any friends to begin with. Even the elderly neighbors he knew wouldn't come knocking on his door. At most, they would exchange a few words if they met on the street.

Still, whatever his thoughts, he had to go check. Otherwise, the constant knocking would ruin his chance to sleep in. Another two days of draws had yielded nothing but white lights. It was downright painful to look at, so he wanted to escape through sleep. At least in his dreams, he might get something gold.

Anyway, he had already done a mission yesterday. Sleeping in wouldn't hurt.

His plan for today was to train at home, but with the visitor knocking nonstop, he had no choice.

Clack, clack~

He slipped on his slippers and headed downstairs, his footsteps clacking. Hearing the knocking continue, Luo Mang called out helplessly.

"Coming, coming! Stop knocking."

Sure enough, once he spoke, the knocking outside stopped.

Luo Mang didn't dawdle either. He hurried a few steps into the entryway, went up to the door, and opened it.

The first thing to greet him wasn't a face, but a smell. The scent of pipe tobacco flooded his nose, and Luo Mang's expression changed instantly.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Luo Mang coughed for quite a while, squeezing a tear from his eye. Only after recovering did he look up at his visitor.

Ah, wearing Hokage robes and holding a pipe-who else could it be but Hiruzen Sarutobi? A trace of embarrassment showed on his face as well.

"Hokage... Lord Hokage, what brings you here?"

He had initially meant to call him Hokage, but on second thought, that seemed inappropriate, so he hastily added "Lord" before asking why he had come.

Even without asking, he could guess a little. Had the Hokage heard he had withdrawn from school and come to check on him? Or did he suspect Luo Mang had joined another country as a spy and want to investigate?

Rather than answer directly, Hiruzen Sarutobi put away his pipe and spoke with concern.

"Heh heh. It seems you really dislike the smell of smoke."

It felt a little insincere, but as a child, Luo Mang couldn't expose that. He still had to play along.

"Yes, it irritates my nose. I've never really liked it."

"Hmm. Aren't you going to invite me in for a bit?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a meaningful glance into the house.

Ah. Luo Mang hurriedly opened the door wider to let him in.

"Of course, Lord Hokage. Please come in."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stayed in the entryway without going any farther inside. He looked around at the surroundings and asked curiously.

"I came to ask why you took leave from the Ninja Academy. You were only a few months away from graduation. Although your performance at the academy was average, you would have had no trouble graduating."

"As you know, Lord Hokage, I'm the only one at home. Usually..."

Luo Mang immediately played the sympathy card, recycling the explanation he had given Iruka that day.

In short, it all came down to having no money. He needed time to do missions and had none to spare for school.

Hearing this, embarrassment appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face again. It wasn't as though he didn't know those people had pocketed Luo Mang's money. There hadn't been much to begin with, and taking it wouldn't make them rich.

But it really could starve someone to death. Yet he had no grounds to stop them. After all, their argument was that the boy might be a spy sent from another village, so they needed to test whether he was willing to contribute to the village.

That explanation had left Hiruzen Sarutobi with nothing to say. Besides, the boy had been utterly unremarkable, so he hadn't drawn much of his attention.

He had only come to check this time because Kakashi had visited him last night.

"Has the village offended any powerful individuals?"

"Have you ever seen robes in this style?"

"A student named Luo Mang withdrew from the Ninja Academy before graduating."

Kakashi had said some things that left him baffled, then finally mentioned Luo Mang. That was why he had come to investigate.

His embarrassment faded, replaced by scrutiny. Even now, Hiruzen Sarutobi still hadn't found anything about the boy that warranted his attention.

Because Kakashi had specifically mentioned him, he had assumed the boy was some sort of civilian prodigy. Talented civilians were his favorites, so he had come to pay him a visit. Yet so far, he hadn't seen the slightest sign of genius.

The one thing that drew attention, obvious at first glance,

was that he was a little handsome. But good looks couldn't put food on the table-unless his stomach couldn't handle anything but a soft life.