When Danzo saw who had arrived, his whole body felt unusually hot.
The newcomer was Shisui Uchiha, the Uchiha genius who had earned the title Body Flicker Shisui on the battlefield.
"Shisui, you're here. Thank you for your hard work on the mission."
When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw that the visitor was Shisui Uchiha, a smile appeared on his face, though it looked somewhat strange on that old face of his.
"Lord Hokage, as a ninja, carrying out missions for the village is my duty."
Hearing Shisui's answer, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction, smiling until his wrinkles resembled orange peel. The more he looked at Shisui, the more he liked him. This Uchiha who had inherited his dear friend Kagami's will was simply wonderful.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was rejoicing that his old friend Kagami's will had found a successor, an ill-timed voice rang out.
"Monkey, I think this child Shisui has limitless potential. Why not let my Root train him..."
Before Danzo could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi cut him off mercilessly.
"How many times have I told you? Use my title at work. Stop calling me Monkey. Call me Lord Hokage."
At Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, the corner of Danzo's mouth twitched, and his expression turned rather ugly. If I hadn't taken that step back back then, would you have the chance to stand here barking now?
"Tch. Then, Lord Hokage, can you hand Shisui over to my Root for training now?"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly set down his pipe, a dark brown storm reflected in his eyes, Danzo knew things were going wrong. His old friend might really be angry.
Before Danzo could say anything else, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the desk, pointed at Danzo's nose, and berated him:
"Danzo, what exactly are you trying to do? Don't forget, I am the village leader! I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden change startled Danzo too. He couldn't quite understand what he was trying to do, but he was still somewhat angry. This fellow was saying things that infuriated him again.
Refusing to back down, he slammed the door and left.
"Hmph, Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Sure enough, a world where only the door and desk suffered had been achieved.
Seeing this, Shisui hurried to urge Hiruzen Sarutobi to calm down... little did he know that these two would soon sell him out...
At the Ninja Academy, the students were fortunate enough to have a practical combat class today.
Iruka asked the students to fight in pairs and began taking notes.
"All right, today is your first practical combat class since starting school. All talk and no practice amounts to nothing. Today, don't hold back. Spar, fight, and only then will you know just how strong you are. Who's first?"
Hearing this, Sasuke stepped forward first.
"Sasuke Uchiha, who would you like to choose as your opponent?"
Sasuke pointed at Naruto, who stood some distance away. Iruka paused in surprise, but still let the two begin their match.
"Then, Naruto Uzumaki, do you have any objections?"
Seeing Naruto shake his head, Iruka announced the start of the match.
"All right, if neither side has any objections, please form the Seal of Confrontation."
Almost the instant they finished the Seal of Confrontation, Sasuke drew back half a step and swung a powerful roundhouse kick at Naruto's head.
Naruto merely tilted his head slightly and avoided Sasuke's fierce strike. He even had time to taunt Sasuke across from him.
"Not enough power. Not enough speed either."
"Damn it, what are you showing off for?"
Sasuke was on the verge of overheating. Why was this blond so good at showing off? Without realizing it, he put much more force into his hands, each strike like an attempt to vent his anger as he tried to land a hit on Naruto.
Yet even such fierce attacks still couldn't touch Naruto. Before long, Sasuke was panting with exhaustion.
Seemingly because he could barely even touch Naruto after attacking for so long, Sasuke lost his composure.
"Damn it, you're a man! What are you dodging for? Do you dare fight me head-on?"
"Oh? Are you sure?"
Naruto looked at Sasuke playfully and beckoned with a finger, signaling him to keep attacking.
Seeing Naruto act so arrogantly, Sasuke drove a straight punch toward his face, seemingly intent on making Naruto look pathetic, unaware that Naruto thought nothing of him as he was now.
After Naruto's system underwent a recent update, the Ninja Chronicles feature had appeared. Naruto game players all knew that Ninja Souls could be claimed in Ninja Chronicles, and the number of Ninja Souls one could claim depended on how many ninjas one had obtained. Ninja Souls could not only increase combat power, but even allow the painless inheritance of those ninjas' combat experience. In other words, Naruto would grow stronger and stronger with time.
Dealing with the little Sasuke before him couldn't have been easier for Naruto.
As the straight punch came, Naruto dodged effortlessly. Before Sasuke could pull his fist back, Naruto grabbed his wrist and swept his foot along with the motion, sending Sasuke straight to the ground.
That left everyone around them dumbfounded.
"Holy crap, is this handsome blond really that tough?"
"Naruto, you can do it!"
"Huh? Am I the only one who thinks Sasuke is handsome?"
"He's all right, but I still think Naruto is handsome and strong. He's stronger than Sasuke, anyway."
He was a child, after all. Lying on the ground, Sasuke instantly flushed bright red. Listening to the whispers around him, he, who had been doted on by his big brother since childhood, had never received such treatment.
"Damn it, you forced me to do this."
Sasuke rapidly formed hand seals. Watching from the sidelines, Iruka immediately knew things were going wrong. How had a fight turned into forming hand seals? Could you actually know ninjutsu?
But Iruka soon realized he was wrong. He might not have known anything when he first started school as a child, but that didn't mean those geniuses knew nothing. This had gone completely off the rails.
Because he sensed chakra surging through Sasuke.
"Holy crap, this can't be real. How old is he, and he can already use ninjutsu like this? This is bad. Sasuke, stop!"
But Iruka's strength alone was nowhere near enough to stop him.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
A huge fireball shot toward Naruto. Beside them, Iruka was already breaking out in a cold sweat from fright. Although he disliked Naruto somewhat, he couldn't let something happen to him during his class.
But in the Naruto world, smoke meant no damage-that was a law. Fire Style really struggled to kill anyone in the Naruto world, much less Naruto, who was using cheats.
Everyone saw Naruto standing motionless and thought he had been scared stiff.
"Get out of the way, Naruto!"
Even students standing a little closer could feel the searing heat coming from the fireball, and silently broke into a sweat for Naruto.
But those familiar with Naruto knew he would be fine.
Shikamaru glanced at Naruto's utterly untroubled appearance and knew he was about to start showing off again.
"Tch, that Naruto really isn't afraid of trouble."
Choji chimed in beside him. "Yeah, Naruto really likes the spotlight."
Ino merely rolled her eyes at them.
"What do you know? Naruto is showing his muscles to intimidate some petty lowlifes. But he looks so handsome staying calm like that."
"Tch, fangirl. Women are such a drag."
Back on Naruto's side, red firelight illuminated his eyes. But when the smoke cleared, only a piece of wood was burning where the fireball had struck.
"Oh no, when did he-"
Sasuke was highly alert, but before he could act, Naruto suddenly appeared and sent him flying with a kick.
"Cough, cough... damn it, why are you so strong?"
Struggling to get up, Sasuke seemed unable to accept his defeat for the moment and was somewhat beside himself with anger.
Naruto merely gave him an indifferent glance and held both hands forward, palms facing outward.
Ze: Dust Release: Birth Mother Detachment Jutsu~
At first, Sasuke thought Naruto was about to unleash some powerful ninjutsu. Frightened, he covered his head and hastily fled, only to hear Naruto's taunt.
"You suck! Practice more."
Tears welled uncontrollably in his eyes, and Sasuke ran straight out of the school. It was simply too humiliating. Whenever he thought of how he had scurried away clutching his head like a clown, he felt a hundred million times more embarrassed and a hundred million times more overheated. He might as well hurry away. He simply couldn't bear the humiliation, turning and running without even forming the Seal of Reconciliation.
"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."
Seeing this, Iruka announced the result somewhat helplessly. Although these two were strong, they were far too flippant about it. After some thought, he decided to watch the other students instead. This year's students were rather difficult to teach.
"Wow, Naruto, you're so amazing."
"No, seriously, dude, you can actually do that?"
Although he had somewhat expected Naruto to put on a big show, Shikamaru really hadn't expected him to be this strong. From his effortless manner, it wasn't hard to guess that Naruto hadn't been serious at all during that fight.
"Naruto, that wasn't very fair of you. We clearly agreed not to work hard, but you've been secretly getting stronger. Truly despicable."
Even Choji felt that the chips in his hand had lost their appeal after seeing Naruto display such overwhelming strength.
In response to their praise, Naruto only smiled faintly and said nothing more.
Just then, Naruto suddenly felt someone watching him. Looking into the distance, he saw a black silhouette vanish from a tree in an instant.
"Oh? Interesting."
Naruto could already guess who that figure had belonged to. At that familiar feeling, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly into an intriguing smile.
Back home, Itachi was somewhat puzzled too. Was I spotted just now?
The moment that thought appeared in his mind, Itachi dismissed it. Naruto was at most around Sasuke's age. No matter how strong he was, how strong could he possibly be? Even if Itachi hadn't deliberately concealed himself, he wasn't someone a little child could spot. This was Itachi's absolute confidence in his own strength. Still, things were unpredictable, and a cheat user like Naruto couldn't be judged by common sense.