" Shinsei!!"
Naruto was shouting and yelling, frantically digging at the mud in the round pit with his hands.
Sakura felt completely weak and collapsed to the ground.
Temari was a little stunned, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly, and she quickly lowered her head.
Sasuke also seemed to be in a daze, his red Sharingan open, the Futatsudomoe spinning incessantly in his eyes.
"What happened?" Naruto knelt on the ground, his body weak, only able to support himself with his hands, tears streaming down his face.
Why did Kakashi-sensei attack Shinsei?
"Because that's not Kakashi at all." Shinsei stepped out from behind the tree, his face as cold as frost.
" Shinsei, you're still alive?" Naruto rushed out of the pit and grabbed Shinsei, the force of the impact making him stagger.
"You..." Shinsei was about to say that the hug was too tight.
"You're still alive, that's wonderful!" Shinsei could feel the vibration in Naruto's chest as he spoke.
While I was somewhat touched, the scene felt a little strange.
He pushed Naruto aside and looked at Sasuke beside him, whose eyes were still flashing with the Futatsudomoe.
"What a pity, you didn't even get to get the Mitsudomoe." Shinsei stared intently into Sasuke's eyes. "Huh, were you crying?"
"No." Sasuke quickly turned his face away.
"What just happened?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.
"They're just some dark rats from the sewers." Shinsei didn't want to say more, afraid of implicating them.
Danzo, it's only polite to retaliate. If I don't teach you a lesson, do you really think I'm someone you can just bully?
Naruto wanted to ask again, but Shinsei refused to say anything more.
Danzo saying it was for Konoha's sake, but if Shinsei hadn't been more careful, that sealing Ninjutsu would have exploded in the crowd.
" Pakkun, they didn't recognize Kakashi, so why didn't you?" Shinsei turned to look at the Ninja Dog Pakkun not far away.
While Transformation Technique can change one's appearance, it cannot change one's scent.
Pakkun lowered his head, looking aggrieved.
"Because it's downwind, I can't smell Kakashi's scent, woof!"
As expected of Root, they even managed to outmaneuver Pakkun.
After this incident, no one wanted to delay, and the group returned to Konoha.
Konoha had calmed down, but an eerie atmosphere seemed to linger in the air.
After returning home and finding his parents unharmed, Shinsei went to the Anbu's basement.
Pushing open the door, Shinsei saw Wood Kite, Hashihime, and the Giant Beast he hadn't seen in a long time.
Even through their masks, you could sense the seriousness on their faces.
" The Lord Hokage has sacrificed himself." Wood Kite said solemnly.
Shinsei had already guessed it.
Where is Orochimaru?
He got away.
This news didn't surprise Shinsei either.
After all, Orochimaru, as a veteran Kage -Kage Level ninja, is not so easy to kill, not to mention his survival skills are arguably the best in the Shinobi World.
"What do we do now?" Shinsei asked about the arrangements for the Anbu, since the Konoha Anbu was an organization belonging only to the Hokage.
Wood Kite shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either. This situation was extremely rare. The Third Hokage had been in power for many years and then suddenly passed away without leaving behind a designated successor.
Although the Hokage of Konoha is strictly speaking elected by a vote of Jonin, over the years a set of fixed rules has been established.
First, the previous Hokage selects two to three candidates for Hokage, and then the Jonin vote to elect the Hokage.
In reality, each successive Hokage would communicate their preferred candidates with the various ninja clans. When it came to the voting process, it was merely a formality.
Orochimaru was eliminated in this way. If it were a vote by all the Jonin, given Orochimaru's deep roots in Konoha over the years, whether Minato Namikaze could become the Fourth Hokage would still be a huge unknown.
Any news?
Wood Kite understood Shinsei's meaning.
"They favor Lord Jiraiya."
Shinsei knew who they were: Konoha elders Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, classmates and teammates of the Third Hokage.
" Lord Jiraiya?" Shinsei recalled his eccentric personality. He wondered if Hokage, if he were truly elected Konoha, his first order would be for all Konoha residents to buy a copy of his " Icha Icha Paradise " magazine?
Shinsei couldn't recall why Jiraiya didn't become the Hokage of Konoha in the original story. But he knew that the Fifth Hokage of Konoha was Tsunade.
For Jiraiya, the choice between Hokage and Konoha as Tsunade wasn't a big deal. But for Shinsei, the difference was huge.
Shinsei, who possesses the bloodline of the Senju clan, is Tsunade's natural ally. Once Tsunade power, Shinsei can become one of her core members.
But if Jiraiya were to take over, then to Jiraiya, Naruto would simply be Naruto's classmate.
Shinsei was unwilling to wait for Tsunade to become Hokage, because he, as a transmigrator, had already become a variable in the Shinobi World.
If you drop a pebble into a calm lake, the surface may appear unchanged after the ripples subside, but in reality, the position of every water molecule has shifted.
Even though Jiraiya and Tsunade are of similar prestige, Jiraiya currently has a huge advantage: he is in Konoha.
Compared to Tsunade, whose whereabouts are unknown, the public would much rather see Konoha, currently in Konoha Jiraiya Hokage.
Do you have any information about Lady Tsunade now?
Wood Kite glanced at Shinsei in surprise, then tilted his head and thought for a moment.
" The Anbu should have information about Lady Tsunade, but I need to organize it. I'll give it to you tomorrow."
"Okay." Shinsei nodded.
Shinsei looked left and right, and found that only Wood Kite and Hashihime were left in the room. These were his teammates who had fought together, but not Sai, that traitor.
"Do you have any information about Root?" During his time in the Anbu, Shinsei naturally learned some information about Root, but it was still far less than the information that the Anbu specifically collected.
"They attacked you again?" Wood Kite's words seemed calm, but Shinsei could hear the hatred in them.
"Yes." Shinsei nodded and recounted what had just happened.
Wood Kite placed his right hand on the table; his right wrist was severed at the wrist. That was the Root injury, leaving him with permanent pain.
Wood Kite's tense body suddenly relaxed. He shook his head and said, " Shinsei, I know your current strength, but it's still not enough to deal with the Root organization."
Those ordinary Root ninjas have no will of their own; we only have one enemy.
Wood Kite's words seemed to be spat out from between her teeth.
" Shimura Danzō!"
If he could kill Shimura Danzō, Shinsei wouldn't hesitate. But he doesn't have that ability yet, so he'll collect some interest first.
"Give them some intelligence."
"Alright." Wood Kite said no more, took out a scroll from her body, and with her left hand Hand Seals, took out another scroll from the first scroll.
It seems Captain Wood Kite isn't someone who forgets hatred so easily; she even carries this intelligence scroll with her at all times.
A dark and windy night is the perfect time to commit murder.
On the outskirts of Konoha, a boy dressed in black and wearing a black mask stood on a large tree, gazing at a solitary wooden house in the distance in the dim moonlight.
The boy jumped down from the tree and went into the wooden house.
The room was simply furnished, with only a solitary stone tablet in a prominent spot.
This is a base at the Root.
Pushing the stone tablet reveals a dark cave entrance, with a stone staircase leading deep into the cave, where a faint light can still be seen.
The boy Hand Seals, blue Chakra emanating from his hands, and placed them above the cave entrance, causing an invisible Chakra barrier to dissipate.
The boy descended the stone steps. At the end of the steps was a long corridor with electric lights hanging on both sides and a row of tightly closed wooden doors.
"Password." A voice devoid of any emotion came from inside the first room.