Chapter 32

Hiruzen Sarutobi had never stopped suspecting him over Sarutobi Shinnosuke's death.

The only reasons he had yet to act were his lack of evidence and the fact that, as he grew older, his strength had begun to decline.

The same was true on Xuan Zhe's side.

Snow fell thick and fast, and red lanterns hung outside every home in Konoha.

Xuan Zhe felt little about the year-end festivities.

His spendthrift woman Tsunade, on the other hand, had recently lost everything again at ** and racked up a mountain of debt.

Knowing about their relationship, those creditors had nearly come knocking at his door with their IOUs.

Just then, however, something rather interesting happened.

Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze finally returned after spending three full years away training.

In the countryside outside Konoha, the river had long since frozen into a thick sheet of ice, covered by a broad expanse of snow.

A golden flash darted around Xuan Zhe.

Xuan Zhe drew his sword and slashed at it, but the golden light instantly flashed to the other side, too fast for the eye to follow.

"My god... this is the first time I've seen anyone dodge Uncle's sword!"

Standing on the riverbank, Kakashi stared wide-eyed, his face full of shock.

Beneath a tree, Jiraiya smiled without saying anything.

Whoosh-

Something hurtled toward him with a rush of wind.

Xuan Zhe raised a hand and knocked the incoming object away.

It was a specially made three-pronged kunai.

The kunai flipped over in midair.

A golden figure flashed into existence before Xuan Zhe.

A rapidly spinning sphere of chakra had already formed in his palm, and he thrust it straight at Xuan Zhe's face.

"Rasengan!"

Minato Namikaze shouted.

The chakra sphere came to an abrupt halt less than five centimeters from the tip of Xuan Zhe's nose.

"...Just what I'd expect from Lord Xuan Zhe."

After three years, Minato Namikaze had grown considerably taller, and his gaze was steadier than before. An admiring smile rested on his face.

He looked down-

At some point, Xuan Zhe's sword had come to rest against his stomach. One more push would drive it straight through him.

"This kid is improving way too fast."

Watching from the side, Tsunade had to admit that Minato Namikaze's progress was frightening.

"Hahaha! Anyone would pale in comparison to Minato!"

Jiraiya stood with his hands on his hips, laughing loudly, as though he were the one whose strength had soared rather than his student.

"Looks like this kid will surpass you before long, Xuan Zhe."

Jiraiya grinned, looking rather punchable.

I won. I finally beat that guy who's always so full of himself.

Sure, I didn't do it myself, but since it's **, doesn't that mean I won?

Xuan Zhe merely smiled faintly and said nothing.

"Lord Jiraiya, Lord Hokage requests your presence."

The moment those words rang out, an Anbu ninja appeared before Jiraiya with the Body Flicker Technique.

"...Understood. I'll go right away."

Most of the smugness instantly drained from Jiraiya's face, and his expression even turned a little stiff.

"We'll go ourselves. No need to show us the way."

"...Yes."

Hearing the distaste in Jiraiya's voice, the Anbu member wasted no more words and vanished again with the Body Flicker Technique.

The Anbu were the Hokage's trusted troops, and even elite jonin generally preferred not to deal with them.

But the people standing here now-Hatake Xuanzhe, Tsunade, Jiraiya...

With so many important figures gathered together, he wouldn't dare put on airs even with the Hokage backing him.

"Let's go, Minato."

Jiraiya tipped his chin toward Minato Namikaze.

"Yes, Master Jiraiya."

Minato Namikaze put away his specially made three-pronged kunai and bowed slightly to Xuan Zhe.

"Thank you for the lesson."

With that, he followed Jiraiya back to the village.

"That Mr. Minato... he could actually fight Lord Xuan Zhe on equal terms. I've never seen that before."

Rin Nohara, who had grown from a little girl into a young woman, murmured to herself.

"Why... weren't you fighting seriously just now?"

Just then, from the woods behind them-

A young, puzzled voice rang out.

Tsunade, Rin Nohara, and the others turned to look.

A boy of about four or five with curly black hair was staring straight at Xuan Zhe.

The Uchiha Clan?!

Seeing the clan crest on the boy's shoulder, which looked like a table tennis paddle... no, a flame-emblazoned gunbai, the name sprang into Kakashi's mind.

That guy Obito pestered him at school every day. He could recognize that crest with his eyes closed.

But although this boy also had black hair, his was curly, and his nose bridge was rather flat.

He looked somewhat different from the other members of the Uchiha Clan.

"I wasn't trying to kill him, so why would I go all out? Anyway... the little mouse who's always hiding back there watching finally decided to come out?"

Without even turning his head, Xuan Zhe leisurely slid his sword back into its sheath.

Over the past few days, he had kept sensing someone watching him.

Unlike those Anbu idiots before, though, there was little hostility in this gaze.

So Xuan Zhe couldn't be bothered to pay it any attention.

"I heard the [Konoha Black Blade] was the strongest swordsman in the village, so I couldn't help..."

The Uchiha boy scratched his head sheepishly, then bent at the waist and bowed.

"My name is Shisui Uchiha. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Xuan Zhe."

"These days, the weirdos just keep coming."

After repeating the name to himself, Xuan Zhe's face was full of distaste.

Shisui Uchiha, who was not yet five, tilted his head, completely confused.

Xuan Zhe had originally thought the way his elder brother Hatake Sakumo died was absurd enough.

But after hearing how Shisui Uchiha had died, he felt Sakumo's case was nothing by comparison.

What baffled him most was that Shisui had actually volunteered the secret of Kotoamatsukami to those four old fossils.

Was that something you could just tell people?

Back when Xuan Zhe was still a reader, that move had left him at a complete loss.

An ability of that caliber had to be kept secret even from one's own parents.

Who knew when their consciousness might be rewritten without them even realizing it?

Let alone those four, each more cunning than the last.

In the original story, Shisui had proposed using Kotoamatsukami to control Uchiha Fugaku in an attempt to stop the rebellion.

But what Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others feared was whether Shisui might use that move on them.

"Um... Lord Xuan Zhe, have you heard of me?"

Shisui blinked, his face full of curiosity.

He hadn't even entered the Ninja Academy yet. How could he be that famous?

"I've heard a little. I get the feeling you'd get along well with my elder brother."

The corner of Xuan Zhe's mouth curled into a slightly strange smile.

"Really? Hehe..."

Shisui scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

The Konoha White Fang was second only to Black Blade.

Was he complimenting me?

The reason he had come here was that he had happened to catch Xuan Zhe and Sakumo practicing their swordsmanship.

The way those two wielded their swords had left him staring.

After all, he used a sword himself.

"You're both idiots."

That single remark from Xuan Zhe made Shisui's face fall, leaving him looking as miserable as if he had swallowed a fly.

"Minato, you've grown quite a bit."

Inside the Hokage's office, the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat in his chair, smiling as he studied the young man before him. Only seventeen, yet he had shot up in height. Most of the childishness had faded from his features, and he exuded a steady air as he stood there.

His scrutiny made Minato Namikaze's skin crawl.

That look... why does it feel like he's inspecting an object?

A thought rose unbidden in his mind-Lord Hokage couldn't have that sort of taste, could he?

Outwardly, however, he remained perfectly composed and stood respectfully.