Chapter 2

Hokage Rock on the mountain behind the village had been blasted to pieces, the Third's face completely erased. All of Konoha erupted into an uproar.

The Shinobi World War was not over yet, and everyone thought the enemy had invaded.

The two six-year-old girls, Kurenai Yuhi and Shizune, picked themselves up off the ground.

"Th-that just now... that had to be as powerful as an S-rank ninjutsu, right?"

Shizune's little face was deathly pale, and even her voice trembled.

"No, that was swordsmanship! Even my dad couldn't do that... could it have been Uncle Sakumo? No, he uses Lightning Release..."

Kurenai Yuhi's father, Shinku Yuhi, was also a well-known swordsmanship and genjutsu ninja in Konoha. She recognized at a glance that the move was a sword technique.

But her father could never deliver a slash of that caliber.

Among the people she knew, only her father's good friend, the renowned White Fang, had that kind of ability.

But that did not add up either!

Eerie black flames were still burning on the cliff face. White Fang specialized in Lightning Release swordsmanship, which was nothing like this.

"Come on, let's go look!"

Kurenai Yuhi took her best friend's hand and ran toward the place where the sword energy had erupted.

"Hey! Wait for me! Kurenai!"

Asuma scrambled to his feet and hurried after them.

At this time, the Uchiha Clan Compound was still in the center of the village and had not been driven into a corner.

Uchiha Fugaku, who was only twenty-three and had yet to become clan head, stared blankly at the black flames still burning relentlessly on the cliff behind the village, too stunned to speak:

"N-no way, right? Could that be... the Undying Flame recorded in the Uchiha clan's history... A-Amaterasu?!"

Outside the Hatake Clan's gate.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke and the group of Sarutobi Clan ninja he led looked at Xuan Zhe holding his sword aloft. Their legs went weak with fright, and they collapsed to the ground.

They looked at his father's statue on the mountain behind the village, blasted to dust and utterly gone.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke and the others swallowed.

Was... was this really the eternal Genin mentioned in the same breath as Might Duy?

Behind him, Hatake Sakumo and his son Kakashi did not look particularly surprised.

The members of the Hatake Clan knew perfectly well just how frighteningly powerful this younger brother-and uncle-was.

"Still thinking of getting yourself killed?"

Xuan Zhe paid no attention to the terrified men sprawled on the ground and turned straight to his older brother.

He was just an extra who had not even lived long enough to appear in the original story or leave a name behind.

Hatake Sakumo's expression changed abruptly.

To be honest, the endless accusations from the other ninja lately...

Had truly made him consider giving up on living.

He had never expected this younger brother, whom he had not seen in so long, to see through him at a glance.

"Dad?!"

Kakashi was utterly dumbfounded too.

His father actually wanted to **?

"I don't know exactly what you did on your previous missions, but seeking death is the stupidest thing in this world."

Xuan Zhe slowly slid his sword back into its sheath, his voice indifferent:

"Once you're dead, there's nothing left."

"If you think like that again, I'll beat you up every time I see you."

Xuan Zhe folded his arms across his chest, his tone thoroughly blunt.

Back in his previous life, when he was a transmigrator, Xuan Zhe had thought Hatake Sakumo's death was a wretched one.

Now this man was also one of his only two remaining relatives.

There was no way Xuan Zhe could stand by and watch him die.

Hatake Sakumo could not find any words. Honestly, his face was still stinging **.

"Dad, you absolutely can't think like that!"

Kakashi looked on the verge of tears too, tugging at Hatake Sakumo's clothes as he cried out.

Looking at these two relatives, Hatake Sakumo felt a pang in his heart. He bit his lip and forced a smile:

"Don't worry. I won't."

"Who smashed the Hokage's statue just now!?"

Suddenly, a bone-chilling rebuke rang out.

The three members of the Hatake Clan turned to look.

More than a dozen figures wearing gray flak jackets and animal masks flashed into view with the Body Flicker Technique.

In an instant, they completely surrounded the Hatake residence.

As it happened, Kurenai Yuhi and the other children arrived just then.

There were also two more children their age, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara!

The two groups had run into each other on the way.

"Those outfits... are you Anbu or Root?"

Xuan Zhe looked the newcomers over and asked with interest.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's Anbu and Shimura Danzō's Root wore much the same clothes.

Supposedly, there were slight differences in the patterns on their masks.

But Xuan Zhe, a Genin, could not tell them apart at all.

The newcomers completely ignored Xuan Zhe's question.

In their eyes, Hatake Xuanzhe, an eternal Genin, was not even worthy of speaking to them.

Ultimately, strength was what counted in this world.

Otherwise, why had Kumogakure dared turn around and blame Konoha after its attempt to abduct Hinata Hyuga was exposed following the Third Shinobi World War?

Wasn't it simply because Kumogakure had been stronger than Konoha at the time?

"They're Root."

At that moment, his older brother Hatake Sakumo answered for Xuan Zhe.

"Oh, if it isn't Danzo's dogs."

Xuan Zhe gave a cold laugh.

"Shut up! You're an eternal Genin. You don't get to speak here!"

A Root member yelled at Xuan Zhe, utterly oblivious to anything being wrong.

"Hatake Sakumo, you unleashed that sword energy just now, didn't you? Come with us to the penal division!"

The eyes beneath the squad leader's mask stared coldly at Sakumo.

Clearly, these Root members had decided that Sakumo had unleashed that sword energy.

Never mind Konoha; there probably was not a second person in the entire Shinobi World capable of unleashing sword energy like that.

Although those strange black flames had nothing at all to do with Sakumo, who specialized in Lightning Release.

But who else could it have been?

Surely not that eternal Genin, Hatake Xuanzhe?

"The attack that destroyed Hokage Rock just now came from Kakashi's dad?"

Obito, whose hairstyle looked like a black-haired Naruto's, widened his eyes in shock, admiration gleaming in them. "S-so strong! That power was terrifying!"

Kurenai Yuhi's eyes went round as she said in disbelief:

"N-no way, right? How could Uncle Sakumo do something like that..."

Asuma snorted coldly:

"Hmph! He destroyed Hokage Rock, the symbol of the Hokage. That crime is enough to keep him in prison for life!"

"No... it wasn't Hatake Sakumo..."

At that moment, Sarutobi Shinnosuke and the others finally recovered from their shock. Pointing at Xuan Zhe, he spoke to the Root members through gritted teeth:

"It... it was him."

In an instant, everyone's eyes turned toward Xuan Zhe.

"Him?!"

As though he had heard the biggest joke in the world, the Root squad leader also pointed at Xuan Zhe and questioned Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

His tone practically said, "Are you messing with me?"

Was this some kind of joke?

This was the eternal Genin mentioned in the same breath as Might Duy!

"That's right. His swordsmanship... is almost on par with White Fang's... and he really was the one who unleashed those eerie black flames..."

Remembering the destructive power of that S-rank slash, Sarutobi Shinnosuke still felt shaken. His voice trembled as he said:

"You... you've hidden it far too well... what exactly are you trying to do?!"

Obito, Rin Nohara, and the others were completely stunned.

That slash just now had not come from White Fang, but from the man who lived on the edge of the village and usually tilled the soil and watered vegetables!?

As far as they knew, Xuan Zhe was just a vegetable farmer!

Even the Hokage's eldest son had said so.

However much the Root members struggled to believe it, they had no choice but to accept that fact.

When a failure whom everyone considered an eternal Genin suddenly became capable of unleashing S-rank ninjutsu...

No one's first reaction was respect or admiration.

There was only wariness and hostility.

All the more so for inherently suspicious forces like the Sarutobi Clan and Root.

The next second.

Every member of Root drew a weapon, and the Sarutobi Clan ninja whom Xuan Zhe had knocked down earlier also took up fighting stances one after another.

"**, this is quite a lineup!"

Obito shuddered in fright.