Checking in at Amegakure

In the end, Jiraiya took Naruto as his student.

The Third Hokage, who had been watching in secret, also breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet his heart was still heavy with worry.

Naruto seemed to have formed a powerful bond with Feng Yao and Sasuke.

Originally, the Third Hokage had planned to leave Sasuke alive after Itachi massacred the clan and let Sasuke form a bond with Naruto.

But now, things seemed to have gotten out of hand.

The key problem was that Konoha could no longer defeat the Uchiha Clan.

Now Feng Yao was in the picture too. Sasuke was manageable, but Feng Yao really was a madman.

The stretch of ruins outside Konoha still had not been fully cleared away.

The Third Hokage even felt that Feng Yao's strength was already comparable to the legendary Madara Uchiha's.

If he struck the village a couple of times with that slash, probably not many people would survive.

The thought of those three left him feeling helpless and filled him with lingering fear.

Remembering how relentlessly they had targeted the Uchiha before sent a chill through the Third Hokage. If Feng Yao had been a little more radical, or had designs on the Hokage position, wouldn't they have been finished?

Now that Naruto had become Jiraiya's student, Jiraiya probably would not leave the village anytime soon.

It also gave Naruto a good place to go and strengthened his bonds.

Konoha was now on shaky ground. Having lost the Uchiha Clan, its prestige in the shinobi world had plummeted. It urgently needed a powerful shinobi to remain in the village and deter enemies lurking in the shadows.

As a hero of the Second Shinobi World War and one of the Konoha Sannin, Jiraiya was more than capable of deterring outside enemies.

The Third Hokage sighed. "How did things end up like this?"

His dear old friend Danzo kept pulling little stunts all day, leaving him to clean up the mess behind the scenes.

Who knew where Tsunade was fooling around with Shizune?

And then there was Orochimaru. At the thought of Orochimaru, conflicting feelings rose in the Third Hokage's heart, but in the end, he simply shook his head.

Not a single one of them gave him any peace of mind.

Amegakure.

Feng Yao had Setsuna, Fugaku, and the other elders settle the clan members in and deal with all the miscellaneous matters.

Seriously, they expected him to handle everything.

Old fellows like Setsuna were more familiar with these matters than he was.

So Feng Yao boldly delegated authority.

At first, a few stubborn old men absolutely refused, saying it would not do and would undermine the clan head's dignity.

Fugaku: ?

Feng Yao had no choice but to explain that he would leave those minor matters to them and only make decisions on major issues.

Only then did Setsuna and the others agree.

Watching Setsuna and the others organize the clan members in an orderly fashion, Feng Yao nodded in satisfaction.

"That's more like it. Leave these little hassles to Setsuna and the others. They're good at it anyway. If they had to ask me about everything, wouldn't I end up worn out like Naruto?"

At the same time, Feng Yao looked at Uchiha Itachi beside him.

Although Itachi's expression was calm, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he watched the smiles on the clan members' faces.

Feng Yao knew that although Itachi had changed his stance, he had yet to fully fit in with the Uchiha.

After all, many of the things Itachi had done before would have warranted execution.

Although everything that had happened had greatly reduced the other Uchiha's hostility toward Itachi, it would still take a long time for him to fully fit in.

Feng Yao felt it was still necessary to offer Itachi some guidance.

"Itachi, there's no rush. Our clan members are just a bunch of people who act aloof despite caring. They already trust you, really. They just can't bring themselves to show it."

Itachi nodded and said:

"Feng Yao, I think this is fine too. As long as the clan members accept me in their hearts, that's enough."

Feng Yao nodded. He understood Itachi's thinking.

"Feng Yao, I'm going to check on Sasuke. He's probably getting impatient waiting."

At the mention of Sasuke, even Itachi's gaze softened.

"Go on, go on." Feng Yao waved a hand.

Ah, so this was what being obsessed with your little brother looked like. Terrifying.

Afterward, Feng Yao went to the house temporarily assigned to him.

"System, check in!" Feng Yao rubbed his hands together excitedly.

What good stuff would he get this time?

What, you were asking why Feng Yao still wanted more when he was already so strong?

Come on, who would complain about having too many good things?

Earlier, when Feng Yao arrived at Amegakure, he had received a notification from the system.

But there had been too many people around then, and Pain had been right beside him.

It would have been bad if anything went wrong.

So, to be safe, Feng Yao had chosen to wait until now to check in.

[Ding! Checked in at Amegakure. Congratulations, host! You have received: Hanzō's peak strength! (Strong Kage)]

The next moment, Feng Yao gained many sensations that felt as though he had been born with them.

His chakra and taijutsu improved once again as well.

The most obvious improvement was in his swordsmanship.

If Feng Yao's swordsmanship alone had barely reached Kage level before, then now, his swordsmanship alone made him a Strong Kage!

Only then did Feng Yao marvel at how terrifying Hanzō's swordsmanship had been. Calling him the greatest swordsman in the shinobi world would have been no exaggeration.

Unfortunately, Hanzō had lost sight of his original aspirations. Otherwise, the Land of Rain might have risen to stand alongside the Five Great Nations, becoming the sixth great nation beyond them.

"Water Body Flicker!"

Feng Yao vanished and appeared on the other side.

"So fast, and this is indoors! Imagine what it'd be like in the rain!" Feng Yao nodded in satisfaction.

Water Body Flicker was Hanzō's signature technique.

In essence, it combined Water Release, the Substitution Technique, and the Body Flicker Technique. It was not actually a particularly sophisticated technique, and more than half of Amegakure's shinobi knew it too.

As the saying went, there were no useless ninjutsu, only useless shinobi!

This, however, was Hanzō's Water Body Flicker, which he had developed and used to its utmost limits!

Hanzō had primarily relied on his extraordinary swordsmanship and his fully developed Water Body Flicker.

During the Second Shinobi World War, he had used them to give Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya a sound beating.

Of course, besides those, there was also Hanzo of the Salamander's poison.

Feng Yao took out a Summoning Scroll. It was for Hanzō's giant summon, Ibuse.

As a rare giant summon, Ibuse would be a useful addition to his fighting strength.

With his advantage in size and his use of poison, his strength was certainly no lower than Kage level.

"Kamui!"

Feng Yao entered the Kamui Dimension.

He spread open the Summoning Scroll.

He dripped blood onto it.

Poof!

Beneath a mysterious riverbed.

A giant beast resembling a giant salamander lay asleep.

Suddenly, Ibuse sensed the summons from the Summoning Scroll.

He opened his round eyes, revealing a humanlike look of delighted surprise.

Inside the Kamui Dimension.

Ibuse appeared before Feng Yao. He was a giant salamander.

But when he saw Feng Yao, the delight in his eyes abruptly vanished, replaced by bewilderment.

This wasn't his master!

Seeing Ibuse's expression, Feng Yao knew what he was thinking.

"Ibuse, Hanzō is dead."

Hearing that Hanzō was dead, Ibuse looked grief-stricken, and droplets fell one after another from his round eyes.

Feng Yao gazed at the salamander with a complicated expression, feeling a little sympathy as well.

Ibuse and Hanzō had fought side by side for many years, and their bond had been incredibly deep.

Ibuse could not speak, but his intelligence and emotions were in no way inferior to a human's.

After all, not every giant summon could speak human language like those from the Three Great Sage Lands.

"I've inherited Hanzō's... legacy. Are you willing to sign a contract with me?"

Ibuse nodded.

As a giant summon, Ibuse had abundant natural energy within him. He could sense Feng Yao's strength, and Feng Yao was certainly qualified to sign a contract with him.