Defecting from Konoha

Oguri Hayashi's victory had been bizarre, but he did not tell his subordinates about it. Battles between ninja were secrets; the fewer people who knew your fighting style, the better your chances of surviving on the battlefield.

Of course, someone like the Yellow Flash, who could completely disregard intelligence and possessed power that no one could resist, did not need to be so cautious.

Oguri Hayashi was still far from that level. Hiding himself was the most basic practice for a ninja.

Oguri Hayashi had lived here for twelve years. Although he still retained memories of his previous life, there was no doubt that his growth had changed with his environment, and his behavior had gradually become more ninja-like. These were good habits he had developed in order to survive the end of the Second Shinobi World War.

Or rather, because he had watched Naruto in his previous life, he was more of a ninja than some actual ninja.

Oguri Hayashi understood himself clearly. Without any bloodline or outstanding talent, he was neither someone with the immense perseverance of Might Guy or Rock Lee, capable of opening all Eight Gates and beating Uchiha Madara senseless, nor a great researcher like Orochimaru, nor a late-blooming genius of wisdom like Jiraiya.

The only reason he had survived until now was because of four words: cautious in all things.

But now that an opportunity to change his fate had suddenly fallen into his hands, there was no way he would let it slip away.

The four people's different outfits had already told him something. They had likely traveled to worlds like Harry Potter, Attack on Titan, and several others. Yet four people from different worlds had coincidentally appeared in the Naruto world at the same time. Anyone would have sensed that something was off.

Having read plenty of novels, Oguri Hayashi had roughly guessed that they came from some kind of reincarnation space or infinite world. But what did that have to do with him?

He was a native of this world. There was simply no way for him to enter that infinite world.

He could not leave the Naruto world. That was the greatest problem.

Seeking cooperation with them was one option, but it did not suit Oguri Hayashi's personality. No matter what, he was unwilling to rely on another person's charity to gain benefits.

And expect their goodwill? They were only here to earn short-term gains. Who could guarantee that they would not be shortsighted enough to kill Oguri Hayashi and squeeze him dry?

There was no foundation of trust between them, and all such speculation lacked any basis in reality. Oguri Hayashi would not foolishly dream of cooperating with them to ambush Konoha and Sand Village's Chunin and Jonin in order to obtain ninjutsu scrolls.

Besides, ninjutsu scrolls would not meaningfully improve him when he only possessed the Chakra reserves of an ordinary Chunin.

He was indeed still young, and his body had not fully developed yet. But even after he grew up, how far could his Chakra reserves really go?

Jonin? Kage-level? Greater than Kisame's?

Even if they rivaled a tailed beast, so what? By the later stages, even tailed beasts and Kage-level fighters would be nothing more than lambs waiting for slaughter.

Not to mention, Oguri Hayashi had merely used a few lines of chinese to trick them and had easily bluffed out a great deal of useful intelligence. During that conversation, he had weighed things in his heart, and his final conclusion was that killing them would maximize his gains.

Infinite Hall Reincarnators? Fellow countrymen from China?

How could that compare to the benefits he would gain after killing them?

Oguri Hayashi had already found a notebook on Ling Chaozong's body. Written on it were the words My Style Secret Technique.

Having not watched anime for more than twelve years, Oguri Hayashi truly could not remember what kind of school "My Style" was.

He tucked the notebook into his clothes and continued searching the corpse.

Searching corpses was an important part of Ninja Academy training. First, one had to guard against the enemy turning a body into a trap. Second, a corpse—including its head—held valuable intelligence. You could tell from the contents of someone's stomach what they had eaten recently, when they had eaten it, and how well their military rations and supply lines were doing.

After a head was brought back to a ninja village, ninja from the Nakano Clan could probe the secrets within the dead person's mind, extracting every last bit of value from the deceased.

But none of that had anything to do with Oguri Hayashi. What he wanted was their equipment and any notebooks that could make him stronger.

His three subordinates removed the Omni-directional Mobility Gear from the tree and brought it over along with the corpse.

Ruan Takou's corpse and Joe's corpse were also brought over, together with their equipment.

It seemed that Infinite Hall had not reclaimed their corpses or equipment. This Infinite Hall was somewhat different from what he had imagined. Was it because of this world's rules? Or did it simply not want to take them back? Or was it because of... him?

Oguri Hayashi took off the Multi-function Night Vision Goggles, put them on his head, fumbled with them briefly, and switched them on. The labels were entirely in English. Perhaps people in the Naruto world would not even know how to turn them on, and even if they did by chance, they would not know how to use them. But Oguri Hayashi had learned English just to play Divinity: Original Sin, so this much English was no challenge for him.

The display had three modes: Thermal Imaging, black-and-white night vision, and magnification and zoom functions. It was more powerful than real-world night vision goggles; the only question was how long the battery would last.

He hung the goggles around his neck and walked over to Joe.

The wizard from the Harry Potter world had had his throat cut by Kimura like a chicken. Blood had already drained from his carotid artery, turning his expensive British vest into a blackened, blood-soaked garment.

Yet the cloak draped over him had not been stained with even a single drop of blood.

This was an extremely precious magical item even in Harry Potter—the Invisibility Cloak, an heirloom left behind by Harry Potter's parents. He had not expected this guy to have brought it out.

Joe also had a spellbook on him, but it seemed to be encrypted. No matter how Oguri Hayashi flipped through it, there were no words on its pages. Muggles probably could not see them.

As for the Omni-directional Mobility Gear, he removed it as well and gave it a brief try. The physical ability needed to maintain balance in midair after long-term training was no problem for a ninja. After merely familiarizing himself with it, he could already use it somewhat clumsily.

He casually draped the Invisibility Cloak over himself and vanished before his subordinates' astonished eyes.

"Kimura, take these three corpses back."

Oguri Hayashi's voice echoed as though it came from the trees, yet also from somewhere else entirely.

"Tell Lady Tsunade that I, Oguri Hayashi, have defected."

His words left Kimura and the other two utterly shocked. They raised their heads and searched everywhere for Oguri Hayashi, but the entire forest was so quiet that it seemed devoid of any living creature, sending a chill down their spines.

In Year 35 of Konoha, Konoha Chunin Oguri Hayashi defected.

Amid the chaotic mess of the Second Shinobi World War, this news did not even make a ripple before quickly vanishing beneath countless more important and complex battle reports.

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