"Thank you, Senior Shinnosuke!"
Ning Feng spoke at once, not addressing him as Anbu Captain. After all, that identity was still a secret to many people in Konoha.
Seeing that Ning Feng was so powerful yet so modest, Shinnosuke's favorability toward him immediately rose considerably. "No need to thank me so much. Work hard!"
With that, Shinnosuke gently patted Ning Feng on the shoulder, then turned and left.
Watching Shinnosuke leave, Ning Feng took advantage of the lack of people around him and vanished in a flash, returning straight to his home at the Uchiha Estate.
As soon as he returned, Ning Feng eagerly clicked to use the [Sarutobi Clan Secret Medicine].
At that very instant, Ning Feng felt a powerful force pouring wildly into his body, filling every cell with chakra energy.
Congratulations! Your maximum chakra has increased by 10,000 points! Congratulations! Your blood contract has advanced by one tier. You can now summon stronger summoning beasts from the Enma clan!
Several crisp, pleasant notifications sounded in succession. Ning Feng felt indescribably good, like a shut-in who had stayed home for decades suddenly experiencing the freshness of a forest.
"Phew!"
Taking a long, deep breath, Ning Feng did not do much else. Instead, he quietly settled into training, waiting for the next day to arrive.
In fact, this was Ning Feng's first time experiencing life as an Anbu ninja, and he was looking forward to it immensely!
What Ning Feng did not know at that moment was that his existence-or, more precisely, his entry into the Anbu-had already thoroughly shaken many of the Hokage's higher-ups.
Aside from the Hokage Advisors, another person shaken by this was Danzo, the man who led Root.
The reason Danzo was shaken was simple: Ning Feng joining the Anbu was actually a signal to him, a signal that Minato Namikaze wanted to break free of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's control completely!
Only if the two sides broke with each other could Danzo successfully stir up trouble between them.
At that moment, in a dark location somewhere.
A Root ninja responsible for intelligence knelt quietly on the ground.
"So the Anbu mission Sarutobi Shinnosuke gave Kakashi and the others is to infiltrate Amegakure?!"
Having just received the intelligence, Danzo looked at the Root ninja before him, his eyes glinting thoughtfully.
"Yes. We also learned that Kakashi is not merely serving as captain this time. His team members are Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Minato, and a medical ninja. In short, they are all Minato Namikaze's trusted people."
The Root ninja spoke calmly, a hint of coldness already flashing at the corners of his eyes.
"Excellent!"
"It's time for you to act!"
The corners of Danzo's mouth lifted slightly. As he spoke, he cast a cold glance at the several Root ninjas behind him.
The Root ninjas all nodded, then vanished without a trace, as though they had never existed.
Watching his subordinates leave, Danzo's smile grew even wider!
Ever since that day when Tobirama Senju encountered the Kinkaku and Ginkaku unit and faced a grave threat to his life, when he wanted to decide on the next Hokage and Danzo had not dared to step forward, while Hiruzen Sarutobi had...
Danzo had been filled with regret, regretting why he had not stepped forward himself. Otherwise, the position of Third Hokage would have been his, not Hiruzen Sarutobi's.
All these years, he had concealed his abilities and bided his time. Now that infighting between Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi had finally given him a chance to ascend to the Hokage position, how could he let it slip by?!
After all, the members of the Anbu squad led by Kakashi were essentially all Minato Namikaze's trusted people. Once they were all eliminated...
Minato Namikaze would inevitably suspect Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Then the position of Fifth Hokage would belong to him, Danzo!
Just as Danzo was indulging in this lovely dream, another Root member suddenly knelt on the ground. "Lord Danzo, the Sarutobi Clan gave Uchiha Minato their clan's blood contract just yesterday. We suspect the Sarutobi Clan wants to win Uchiha Minato over!"
"Hmm?"
Danzo's eyes flickered slightly, and he was deeply puzzled.
The Sarutobi Clan was so proud, yet they were willing to invest so much to win over this fellow named Uchiha Minato?!
Could this Uchiha Minato have something that set him above ordinary people?!
At this thought, Danzo immediately said, "Wipe out Kakashi's Anbu squad, but leave Uchiha Minato alive!"
"Yes!"
The Root member who had delivered the report once again vanished without a trace.
Ning Feng, who knew nothing of Danzo's schemes-or, more accurately, could not be bothered with them-trained straight through until the next day.
It had to be said that training was enormously beneficial to the body. In that single night alone, Ning Feng increased his maximum chakra by more than 150 points.
While no one was paying attention, Ning Feng vanished from the Uchiha Estate in a flash.
When he appeared again, he was already at Konoha's gates.
In front of the gates, several teammates wearing Anbu masks were quietly waiting for him.
The teammate at the head was about the same height as Kakashi and seemed to be wearing a face covering beneath the mask as well. The other teammates varied in height.
Of course, had their names not all appeared in red, Ning Feng would absolutely have believed these were his Anbu teammates.
Hyuga Caihong: Level 29, Chunin, reserve Root member, silver-tier BOSS! Akimichi Caina: Level 27, Chunin, reserve Root member, silver-tier BOSS! Orochi Xishui: Level 26, Chunin, reserve Root member, silver-tier BOSS!
After briefly scanning their various attributes, Ning Feng was startled. What a clever scheme Danzo has cooked up.
To assassinate them quietly before they even infiltrated Amegakure.
There was probably bound to be a genjutsu ninja among these three. Otherwise, he would not have come before them without realizing it.
Of course, Kakashi and the others had probably encountered the same situation.
Ning Feng had no fondness for Root members.
"Password!"
Just as Ning Feng was thinking, the impostor "Anbu Captain" at the head slowly spoke.
Anbu ninjas had to exchange passwords to confirm whether they were teammates.
Although this was his first time going through this procedure, Ning Feng still appeared quite practiced as he pretended to give a false password.
Sure enough, after hearing the false password, these three impostor "Anbu ninjas" did not notice anything wrong at all. Instead, their leader immediately said, "The password is correct..."
"Let's begin our mission!"
With that, the impostor "Anbu Captain" and his companions swiftly leaped into motion, heading straight into the distance!
They completely failed to notice that a sinister gleam had already flashed through Ning Feng's Sharingan. He was ready to strike!
Before you continue