The basement level of the Hokage Building.
The Anbu Ninja wearing a cat-faced mask walked into the interrogation room with a file folder in hand, looking thoroughly annoyed.
She'd been slacking off for most of the day and had thought she'd get through it peacefully. Who knew this mess would come up just before she got off work?
Looking at the white-haired boy across from her, dressed in Senju clan attire, the cat-faced Anbu held back her complaints, walked behind the desk, sat down, took out the file, and began the standard procedure. "Name!"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"..." The cat-faced Anbu rolled her eyes at him.
"Shimura Danzō works too!"
"..."
"Tamaki Nara?" Uka Senju looked curiously at the Anbu across from him, who wore an Anbu combat uniform and a cat-faced mask, but had her hair tied in a high ponytail, as if asking whether the name was appropriate!
Over the past two years, he'd become a regular here. Every time something blew up, he was brought here, though usually he had a clan member with him. This time, he was on his own.
And the cat-faced Anbu across from him was an old acquaintance too. She'd handled him almost every time he came in.
He knew her well both with and without the mask.
She was the older sister of Uka Senju's classmate, and her name was Tamaki Nara!
Seeing Uka deliberately fool around, Tamaki Nara's eyes rolled beneath her mask of their own accord. She stopped asking questions, wrote four characters on the form, and continued, "Sex!"
???
Sitting in his chair, Uka Senju stared at the person across from him, utterly confused.
He didn't know what kind of game she was playing today. Was there any need to ask something like that?
So he asked tentatively, "You... why don't you... check for yourself and make sure?"
Hearing this, Tamaki Nara looked at the boy leaning toward her and took a deep breath behind her cat-faced mask, holding it in. She slowly nodded and made a hefty mark next to Uka Senju's name in the little book in her mind.
This brat had already made her work overtime, and now he was trying to piss her off during the interrogation too. Great... just great!
After writing "little brat" in the form, Tamaki Nara skipped the pointless questions and went straight to the point. "Tell me exactly what happened!"
Seeing that she'd finally gotten to the main issue, Uka Senju stopped fooling around and slowly explained, "Early this morning, I went fishing by the river behind the Senju Clan Compound. But I didn't catch anything all day, so in a fit of anger, I threw in three bombs, thinking I had to get something out of it. Not long after they went off, someone floated up from underwater!"
"Oh, before I blew up the fish, I also used Sensory Ninjutsu. I checked and confirmed there were no people or summoned beasts nearby before I set them off!"
Tamaki Nara, who was taking notes, asked with some confusion, "You used a Sensory Technique?"
"I... did!"
After answering, Uka Senju's expression gradually darkened.
It had all happened so suddenly, and he hadn't thought much about it before.
But after describing everything just now, he felt like something might be wrong!
He'd gone to the river early that morning, and hadn't seen anyone in the water nearby.
And before blowing up the fish, to reduce the punishment for playing with bombs, he'd specifically sensed the area around him and confirmed there was no one within a hundred meters!
Though he'd only just learned the Sensory Technique, even this crude method was quite effective!
Deliberately hiding from sensory detection?
In the village, it seemed only shinobi carrying out missions did that!
Although he hadn't had time to inspect the shinobi he'd blown out of the water before being brought to Anbu, he was sure the clan crest on the man's back was that of the Sarutobi.
Hiding in the river all day, concealing his presence... Sarutobi...?
Thinking this, Uka Senju habitually propped his elbow up and rested his chin on his hand, rubbing it thoughtfully.
On both banks of the great river, the nearest settlements outside Senju territory were beyond the forest on the opposite bank.
They were a long way off, and the people living there were all civilians who'd come to Konoha in recent years to farm.
There was no mission worth sending a Sarutobi shinobi to carry out there.
It seemed... there was only Senju!
Was this Sarutobi shinobi's mission... to spy on the Senju?
Was that why he'd concealed his presence?
Was that why no fish had taken the bait all day?
It seemed he'd really blown up a big fish by accident!
Uka Senju couldn't help raising his eyebrows, then felt a little puzzled.
Spying on the Senju in Year 26 of Konoha!
Was Sarutobi planning to compete with the Kuomintang in Year 49?
Although the Senju weren't as prosperous as they'd once been, they weren't as down and out as they'd been during the Second Shinobi World War.
Never mind Mito Uzumaki; the Grand Elder and his aunt alone would be enough to give the Third Hokage a headache.
And in recent years, the Senju had consistently supported Sarutobi. There hadn't seemed to be any conflict.
Why would they send someone to spy on the Senju?
Could it have something to do with the Senju's disappearance, something he'd never been able to figure out?
He compared what he'd observed in this life with the few theories from his previous life about the Senju's disappearance.
The tangled clues left Uka at a loss for a while. He couldn't confirm what the truth was!
He could only make a note of it and consider it later!
Anyway, he was only a Genin now and had no way to fight back. He could only go with the flow. But with his aunt there, he didn't need to worry about his safety.
Since the man had already been blown out of the water, the elders and his aunt would deal with any problems. It wasn't his turn to step forward yet!
Still, his aunt would definitely find out that he'd used "hand grenades" again today.
The next few days would probably be rough!
Thinking of this, Uka Senju looked sadly at his hands.
Based on past experience, he'd probably have to do one hundred thousand Hand Seals a day as training, and his hands would be out of commission for a while again.
He had an idea of how severe his aunt's punishment would be.
After all, he'd been in this world for nine years, and had spent eight of them living with his aunt. He knew her personality pretty well!
Besides, this wasn't the first time he'd blown something up. Before, he'd only blown up summoned beasts or houses.
This time, he'd blown up a person!
Of course, there was good news too!
With this explosion, he'd finally gathered enough energy today!
He'd finally gotten to eat the big radish after four years!
Putting all those unhappy thoughts out of his mind, Uka Senju opened the page that no one else could see. The energy bar had already reached 100%!!!
Beside him, after finishing the interrogation notes, Tamaki Nara took out another report a colleague had given her.
Looking at the file on the desk, the Nara brain in her head began working at high speed as she compared the details.
This... today's situation was a little strange!
She couldn't get involved!
She'd better finish the interrogation quickly and get out of here.
Having made up her mind, Tamaki Nara, wearing her cat-faced mask, looked up at the white-haired boy across from her to see if he'd noticed anything.
The boy had been frowning one moment, looking surprised the next, then looking sad, and then smiling again!
The complicated changes in his expression made Tamaki Nara wonder.
Had he... figured something out?
She parted her lips, but the mask in front of her and their current location made her swallow the question.
Her grandfather had said that the secret to a long life was not meddling in other people's business!
Suppressing her curiosity, Tamaki Nara asked coldly, without a trace of emotion, "Is there anything else you'd like to add? If not, I'll submit it as you just described!"
"No, that's everything. Can I leave?" Startled out of his thoughts by her voice, Uka Senju immediately asked.
"You can..."
She was just about to answer when an order came through her earpiece. Hearing what it said, Tamaki Nara's expression beneath her mask turned a little more unpleasant.
She couldn't help grumbling to herself: she was only here to collect a paycheck, so why make her get involved in all this?
Since they wouldn't let her out of it, they couldn't blame her.
Hidden behind the cat mask, Tamaki Nara replied with a hint, "You can't leave for now. Wait for Lady Toka to come and get you!"
"Wait for my aunt to come get me?"
Hearing this, and thinking about the relationship between the two clans and Konoha's current situation-especially now that her plan to leave early had fallen through-Tamaki Nara hinted again, "It's an order from above. We have to follow it. You'll have to wait patiently!"
After saying that, Tamaki Nara put the file back in its folder, then lay down on the desk and started slacking off, ignoring the little brat across from her!
That was all their acquaintance was worth. If he couldn't understand, there was nothing she could do!
An order?
We have to follow it?
Hearing Tamaki Nara's answer, he'd wanted to ask more, but then he saw her attitude.
So he said nothing more!
Returning to his seat, Uka Senju thought about what she'd said, and his expression darkened.
He hurriedly reached into his ninja tool pouch, crushed a white bug, and then grabbed the largest scroll in the pouch...!
After crossing over into this world, although his status was not low and his aunt was a powerful shinobi, none of that was power he could control.
But becoming a powerful person who could wield strength would take a long time, even with the system's help!
After all, this was a real world, not some mobile game where your first top-up made you invincible.
So Uka Senju had prepared a way to blow himself up long ago.
He figured that if he ever accidentally got killed, he could take his enemies down with him!
The scrolls in his bag held the massive thunderbombs he had commissioned from the Senju Weapons Workshop a year ago!
They used explosive-tag arrays over a dozen meters long for propulsion, and were loaded with thousands of pounds of steel nails and plates. They could be detonated instantly with just a small amount of Chakra!
As for their power!
By his estimate, each one was roughly equivalent to a ton of TNT!
And after his aunt, Senju Toka, learned what he had in mind, she had provided the necessary support!
As the strongest Genjutsu user in the Senju clan, she had inscribed a large-scale Genjutsu on the sealing scrolls.
The Genjutsu's effect was both strong and weak!
It could only make living things within a hundred meters daze and pause for an instant. On its own, it was completely useless!
But combined with the thunderbombs, it would ensure that the culprit couldn't escape the blast radius!
Aside from the one he'd used for testing, Uka Senju always carried two on him!
Two tons of TNT!
You'd better not try anything funny, or I'll have to invite you all on a one-way flight!
Tamaki Nara, who appeared to be slacking off with her head on the desk but had actually been watching the situation the whole time,
saw that Uka had understood her hint. Beneath her mask, her brows lifted with satisfaction, and she silently praised him for not being so dumb after all.
But when she saw Uka Senju reach into his ninja tool pouch, paired with that cold expression,
she couldn't stop herself from panicking.
What was going on?
This place wasn't safe to stay?
Born into a family of Yin Release secret techniques, Tamaki Nara had no doubt about her instincts. But right now, she couldn't get away-and she couldn't make a move either!
If that brat overreacted, it would all be over!
Suppressing her instinct to run, she stayed where she was, silently cursing the higher-up who'd given the order-and regretting that she'd said too much!
She'd only wanted to earn an easy paycheck!
Why drag her into this? As expected, she should've minded her own business!
Please, let everything be all right!