Kakashi

"But a new harvest would be ready soon, too."

After glancing at his status panel, especially the seed section, Xia Yan felt considerably better.

Although these things devoured his chakra like parasites, part of the problem lay with Xia Yan himself.

When he first obtained this cheat, his curiosity had driven him to get a heap of seeds, especially an absurd number of basic attribute seeds.

As a result, although he had gained a decent foundation-excellent speed, reflexes, and strength-his chakra had suffered.

Some of his clansmen had even begun to question whether he was really a member of the Senju Clan.

He had grown both Genin and Chunin Chakra Fruits, but the higher the level of what he planted, the more chakra it consumed and the longer it took.

Fortunately, though, he was no weakling.

In particular, he had obtained a Senjutsu Chakra seed by chance, giving him an even better trump card.

To see just how powerful Senjutsu was, one only had to look at Naruto and Hashirama Senju.

Even though Xia Yan's Sage Mode belonged to none of the Three Great Sage Lands.

Even though it was only at an elementary stage, the boost it provided was already staggering.

With that boost, he had avoided plenty of trouble during missions and had even turned the tables on some powerful enemies, killing them.

In Sage Mode, the quality of Xia Yan's chakra improved dramatically, greatly increasing the power of the techniques he used.

Besides that, his resistance to Genjutsu and his sensory abilities also improved considerably.

Genjutsu was terrifying. In a battle between shinobi, a moment of carelessness could leave someone caught in Genjutsu, and even a lapse lasting a fraction of a second meant facing a lethal threat.

And shinobi were all "Ferraris"-fast and powerful, but they shattered on impact. Plenty of famous shinobi had died to things like kunai.

He did not think he could judge an opponent's moves without looking into their eyes the way Might Guy could.

That was why he especially needed a way to counter Genjutsu, and Sage Mode was the best option.

After putting on his Anbu uniform and quickly donning his mask, Xia Yan left his home.

He still had a mission today, so naturally, he dared not be late. Besides, the Anbu's strictness was beyond imagining.

Running across other people's rooftops, he quickly reached the area where the Anbu were stationed.

After entering the gate and identifying himself, Xia Yan picked a spot at random and settled down to rest.

He did not know what this particular mission involved. All he had to do was give everything he had to complete it once it was assigned.

Anbu missions were generally not disclosed ahead of time. They only learned the details just before carrying them out, as a measure to maintain secrecy.

After so many years in the Anbu, Xia Yan was long accustomed to this, and along the way, he had become a squad leader.

"Still, I've had a pretty miserable time as a squad leader. Just look at Uchiha Itachi. He was a squad leader too, but he could raise his blade and slaughter his entire clan."

Xia Yan thought with a sigh. It was now the end of Konoha Year 47, and the Third Shinobi World War had essentially drawn to a close.

On the battlefield in the Land of Grass, Minato Namikaze's team had performed exceptionally well on the Kannabi Bridge mission.

Although Obito Uchiha had been lost, cutting the supply line between the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass had left the Iwagakure forces in the Land of Grass stranded like wandering ghosts.

It had forced Iwagakure to choose a ceasefire and surrender, but the ceasefire agreement Konoha offered...

"Completely waive reparations, decline to hold Iwagakure accountable for attacking Konoha, and release the captured Iwagakure shinobi..."

Xia Yan roughly recalled the decisions Hiruzen Sarutobi had made during the Third Shinobi World War in the manga and anime.

It could absolutely be called selling out Konoha's interests, although from Hiruzen Sarutobi's perspective, there was nothing wrong with doing so.

After all, no one knew exactly where Iwagakure stood. If they went mad and chose to fight Konoha to the bitter end, things would be disastrous.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha had fought all four of the other great shinobi villages in succession. It was essentially exhausted, both physically and mentally, and had nearly suffered a gap in its ranks of powerful shinobi.

If Iwagakure went berserk, Konoha truly could not withstand it.

Besides, making things too difficult for Iwagakure would leave them struggling to resist Kumogakure, whose forces were strong and morale was high.

As for why Kumogakure had temporarily ceased hostilities with Konoha, that came down to the Third Raikage being overwhelmed by more than ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi.

Using Iwagakure to hold Kumogakure in check and give Konoha a chance to catch its breath was Hiruzen Sarutobi's decision.

But a ceasefire agreement that "sold out their own interests" like this would bring him trouble, too.

Thus, the Third Hokage had now stepped down, Minato Namikaze had officially taken over as the Fourth Hokage, and Konoha had entered a new era.

At least, that was how it looked.

"But this Fourth Hokage probably won't last long either. Still, that has nothing much to do with me. I'm not an Uchiha. Whoever becomes Hokage won't have much effect on my mission."

Xia Yan had still decided to complete his sole mission, titled "Become the true big boss of the Shinobi World," despite having absolutely no idea what its rewards or penalties were.

But to complete it, he had to attach himself to a faction-a sufficiently powerful one.

It was not as though he had never considered simply running away and joining Obito Uchiha. They had been classmates, after all.

But after thinking it over, he felt that staying in Konoha was the better choice.

Because whether it was Obito Uchiha, Madara Uchiha behind him, Black Zetsu, or Princess Kaguya, they were all his "competitors."

Ultimately, all of this was about controlling the entire Shinobi World.

That being the case, Xia Yan did not think there was much of a future in being a "terrorist."

Besides, staying in Konoha meant there would be two chosen ones, the saviors of the Shinobi World, in the future.

As for who became Hokage, it made no difference. In fact, Hiruzen Sarutobi remaining Hokage would be even better for him.

Even though Xia Yan did not particularly like him either, and the Senju Clan practically wished him dead.

Knowing the plot, he naturally knew that this Third Hokage would eventually be abandoned by everyone, with no one to help him even as he died.

Well, not no one. The only one had been stopped by Kakashi.

And the Hokage after him would be Tsunade. Whatever else she was, that woman belonged to their Senju Clan.

Playing it safe until then would be a sure bet.

Of course, if Xia Yan performed a little better, perhaps he could even take that position as Fifth Hokage himself.

Becoming an Anbu squad leader had given him one percent completion. How much would becoming Hokage give him?

"Fall in."

Just as Xia Yan was waiting and slowly thinking things over, a man wearing a dog mask walked in, leading a white-haired fellow wearing a cat mask.

"Captain."

At his voice, every Anbu member in the lounge immediately assembled. In less than thirty seconds, everyone had lined up.

"This is our new recruit. I imagine you've heard of him, Kakashi Hatake," the captain said calmly. "From now on, he's one of us. Codename: White Fang."

Kakashi?

White Fang?

Xia Yan could not help raising his eyebrows at the name, and the codename left him even more baffled.

He was not surprised to encounter Kakashi. He just did not know whether the captain had chosen that codename deliberately or Minato Namikaze had requested it.

Before he could figure it out, the captain spoke again. "Nightingale."

"Yes, Captain," Xia Yan immediately answered.

"From now on, he'll be assigned to your squad."

"..."

"Is there a problem?"

"No, Captain."