Inside Hokage Building, deep within an office on the lower floor, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat quietly with a report in his hands.
His gaze lingered on the pages, thoughtful and absorbed.
Across from him sat Danzō Shimura, while standing silently behind him was Owl.
Both of them looked somewhat bewildered.
They had already read the report together with Hiruzen earlier—only much faster.
Unlike Hiruzen, who after finishing it once had gone back and carefully read through it again, pondering every detail.
Owl, in particular, had reason to take this report seriously.
After all, he had once been thoroughly beaten by Natsuhiko himself.
He knew better than most just how terrifying that kid could be—even if, at the time, the fight had involved a bit of a sneak attack.
But in the world of shinobi, methods didn't matter.
A ninja did whatever it took to win.
Although Owl still harbored deep resentment toward Natsuhiko, he couldn't honestly claim that Natsuhiko had done anything wrong.
When Natsuhiko had volunteered for the mission to infiltrate Sunagakure, Owl hadn't shown any outward reaction.
But inwardly?
He had been delighted.
Because he knew perfectly well that such a mission would be anything but easy.
If anything went even slightly wrong…
That damn brat might end up buried forever in the Land of Wind.
And at first, things had unfolded exactly the way Owl expected.
For reasons he still didn't understand, Natsuhiko had sent Kakashi Hatake away temporarily.
Soon after, the boy had been targeted by Ebizo.
But what happened next completely shattered Owl's expectations.
Facing Ebizō and his forces alone, Natsuhiko had killed six ANBU members right in front of them—
—and escaped.
Not only escaped.
On the way out, he wiped out five entire squads, throwing Sunagakure into chaos.
The entire village was on edge.
Even their defensive forces had been mobilized.
This outcome was something Owl had never imagined.
And deep inside, a small seed of fear began to grow.
If that kid had used the same methods against me back then…
Would I still be alive?
That question lingered endlessly in Owl's mind.
And the answer he eventually reached was clear.
No.
If Natsuhiko hadn't held back that day…
Owl would already be dead.
Just how did that brat become this strong?
Owl clenched his teeth as the thought echoed in his mind.
He had tried to appear calm ever since that humiliating defeat.
But this report…
To him, it was nothing short of terrible news.
Yet Owl wasn't the only one whose thoughts were unsettled.
Danzō's emotions were no less turbulent.
Ever since Natsuhiko had joined the Konoha ANBU, Danzō had been quietly keeping an eye on him.
After all—
Natsuhiko was a member of the Senju Clan.
That alone made him impossible for Danzō to ignore.
Because very little of the Senju clan's legacy had ever ended up in his hands.
And Danzō refused to believe the Senju had truly handed everything over to the village.
To him, this was an opportunity.
One he absolutely needed to seize.
But having the idea didn't mean it would happen.
From the beginning to the end, Hiruzen had refused to hand Natsuhiko over.
Not once had he even considered it.
And that left Danzō feeling powerless.
Over the following five years, the boy had steadily grown stronger.
He became a squad captain.
His strength continued to rise.
Up until that point, everything had seemed like a normal progression.
But the moment Natsuhiko acquired that giant lizard in Kubisaki Castle, everything began to change.
With that creature at his side, Natsuhiko's overall combat evaluation shot up significantly.
And then came the most unbelievable part.
He had actually mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
As a disciple of Tobirama Senju, Danzō understood better than anyone just how terrifying that technique truly was.
Even he hadn't expected the boy's talent to reach such heights.
Meanwhile, Danzō himself had been plagued by one misfortune after another.
First, Root had been crippled to the point that it had to be reorganized.
Then, during the political struggle over the Hokage's authority, he had suffered a crushing defeat—
—and lost his chance to take control of the ANBU entirely.
Not long after that, the only division commander Danzō still had left within the Konoha ANBU died during a mission.
The blow was nothing short of devastating.
If Danzō hadn't known it was truly an accident, he might have suspected that someone was deliberately targeting him.
Now Root had finally been reorganized and restored to a stable state.
But at the same time, that brat—Natsuhiko—had been rising higher and higher.
Back when the boy had competed for the position of division commander, Danzō had already tested the waters, probing Hiruzen Sarutobi about his stance.
The answer he received had been a firm refusal.
And now, seeing everything Natsuhiko had accomplished, Danzō didn't even need to think about it.
If he went to Hiruzen again about the matter…
He would only be humiliating himself.
Why is it that all the good things end up in Hiruzen's hands… while I get nothing?
Danzo knew about the connection between Hiruzen and Natsuhiko.
Hiruzen hadn't hidden it from him—something that, in theory, was meant to show trust.
But sometimes that trust twisted into something unpleasant.
More than once, Danzō had felt that Hiruzen was deliberately flaunting it in front of him.
After all—
Hiruzen was the Hokage.
And he was not.
When people sought power, they gravitated toward the Hokage.
Not toward him.
...
"Now this is interesting."
While Owl and Danzō were lost in their own thoughts, Hiruzen finally lifted his head.
His expression was complicated.
There was surprise.
There was satisfaction.
And there was also something deeper—something difficult to describe.
Natsuhiko's performance this time was unquestionably good news.
After all, his actions had delivered a heavy slap to the face of Sunagakure.
Between villages, conflicts were fought in more ways than simple war.
War was the most direct and brutal method.
But there was another battlefield as well—
reputation.
If a ninja village's reputation took a serious hit, trust in that village would gradually decline.
And once trust declined, the number of missions entrusted to that village would drop sharply.
Fewer missions meant less money.
Less money meant fewer resources to train new shinobi.
The chain reaction that followed could be devastating.
What Natsuhiko had done might not be enough to push Sunagakure to that extreme.
But it had certainly struck their prestige hard.
Of course, Sunagakure's current response was mainly driven by revenge—and by their desire to capture Natsuhiko alive.
They wanted to interrogate him.
To extract more information.
For example—
the secrets behind the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But didn't that alone prove Natsuhiko's value?
In their very first encounter, he had killed six enemies.
After that, he wiped out another twenty shinobi.
And according to the report, those fights hadn't even been proper battles.
They were one-sided massacres.
Such strength.
Such capability.
For Konohagakure, that was unquestionably good news.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was indeed a calculating man.
He had schemes of his own.
He had factions he protected.
And he had certainly maneuvered against plenty of people to preserve his own political interests.
But there was one thing that could not be denied.
He genuinely wanted Konoha to become stronger and better.
Natsuhiko's potential was enormous.
Given enough time—and sufficient resources—
Hiruzen believed the boy could one day become a pillar of Konoha.
"To think…"
Hiruzen placed the report down on the table.
"…that the pawn I placed simply to gather more information about Minato Namikaze would grow into someone like this."
Even he had been surprised by Natsuhiko's performance.
And now, he had to think more carefully about the future.
"I trust this kid," Hiruzen murmured quietly.
"And he clearly possesses the Will of Fire."
"Perhaps… I should give him more."
More than what the Fourth Hokage could offer.
More than what the Senju clan could provide.
If he did that…
Perhaps he could bind that boy firmly to Konoha.
But before any of that—
First, the boy had to come back alive.
Hiruzen gently tapped the stem of his pipe against the desk.
And for the first time in a while, a new thought surfaced in his mind.
Perhaps…
It was time for him to make a move.
"Owl."
After thinking it over, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally spoke.
"Inform Takumi. Tell him to personally lead a team and prepare to enter the Land of Wind."
Owl froze for a moment.
Then he looked up in disbelief.
"Lord Hokage… enter the Land of Wind personally? Should this be an official operation… or an unofficial one?"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Hiruzen's mouth.
"Well, of course…"
"Unofficial."
...
"Alright. Now we just wait for the results."
Several kilometers away from Rōran, within a hidden oasis, Natsuhiko stood before a towering tree and nodded to himself.
Earlier, he had carved open a hollow in the trunk.
Inside it, he had placed the mysterious chunk of flesh—suspected to belong to Hashirama Senju.
After sealing it inside, he carefully repaired the opening so the tree looked completely normal again.
Now, all he needed to do was wait.
If the tree showed any kind of abnormal change…
Then perhaps he could extract the thing he had always dreamed of obtaining.
And that wasn't the only preparation he had made.
For example, he had also used Earth Release to seal a "seed" inside another tree nearby.
He already possessed a Earth Release seed, but thanks to the strange nature of his system, he wasn't limited to just one.
If his method worked—
He could replicate the process again and again.
Eventually, he might be able to complete all of his chakra attributes.
That prospect alone made him excited.
After all, his long-term plan was clear.
By fusing multiple chakra natures, he hoped to eventually reach the level of a Kekkei Mōra.
"Still… Yin Release and Yang Release are a headache."
Natsuhiko sighed softly.
But as he stared at the tree, his mood quickly steadied again.
"If this works… I might gain Yang Release."
"And once I confirm the method, I could always get my hands on a pair of Sharingan and plant them the same way."
"Maybe that would produce a Yin Release seed."
For now, stuffing a Sharingan into a tree and extracting a seed later was the only idea he could come up with.
Because in his memories, Yin Release mostly manifested as techniques rather than physical objects.
But there was at least one clear exception.
The Sharingan itself.
Of course, if his chakra-sealing method proved successful, then he wouldn't need to rely on such strange tricks.
As for the flesh he had just sealed into the tree—
Natsuhiko had already thought about what might come out of it if the experiment succeeded.
One possibility was Wood Release.
After all, that had been Hashirama Senju's signature ability.
But Wood Release seemed to have a strange limitation.
As far as Natsuhiko remembered, the first person to ever wield it was Asura Ōtsutsuki.
Over the centuries that followed, he had no idea who else might have used it.
But the only person who truly revived its legend was Hashirama himself.
Other users existed—people like Yamato, Obito Uchiha, and even certain White Zetsu.
But none of them came close to Hashirama's level.
That was why Natsuhiko suspected something else was involved.
Perhaps the chakra of Asura itself played a role in unlocking Wood Release's true power.
"After all," he muttered with a faint smirk, "there are plenty of Mangekyō Sharingan out there."
"But the only one who reached the level of Madara Uchiha… was Indra Ōtsutsuki."
Shaking his head, Natsuhiko stopped dwelling on the subject.
There was no need to rush. He had time.
After sealing everything inside the trees, nothing unusual had happened yet—unlike the immediate reaction he had seen before when Minato Namikaze's sealing technique had been involved.
But Natsuhiko wasn't worried.
Perhaps Minato's case had simply been special, triggering an instant response.
Or perhaps the thing Natsuhiko was trying to obtain was too high-level, requiring time to develop before showing results.
Either way, he had already set a limit for himself.
One to two months.
If nothing happened by then…
He would have no choice but to leave.
The first problem was simple enough—his supplies wouldn't last forever.
Even if he went into Rōran to purchase more provisions, staying here for too long would inevitably raise suspicion. Eventually, Sunagakure might send people out to inspect the area.
"Even though the attacks I carried out were all along the route between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain…"
Natsuhiko muttered quietly to himself.
"They've already mobilized their defensive forces. If I stay hidden for too long, they'll probably start wondering whether I ran in the opposite direction and am simply waiting for them to lower their guard."
Natsuhiko was fully aware of his situation.
Operating deep behind enemy lines meant that even the smallest stroke of bad luck could cost him his life.
That was why he had set strict time limits for himself.
If the deadline arrived, then regardless of whether his experiments had produced results—
He would leave immediately.
Even during what he believed to be a relatively safe period, he had taken extensive precautions.
Around the entire oasis, he had already arranged numerous small lizards to patrol the perimeter.
Through his ability to communicate with animals, he maintained constant awareness of everything happening nearby.
As for where he lived during this time—
He had used Earth Release to dig out a chamber underground, carefully disguising the entrance with bushes and wild grass.
If he had possessed any barrier techniques, he might have even deployed sealing barriers around the area.
Unfortunately, he hadn't studied anything like that yet.
Still, despite that limitation, he had already transformed this oasis into a well-concealed stronghold.
If anyone from Sunagakure approached, he would know immediately.
Once alerted, he could judge the situation based on the number of people arriving.
Should he eliminate them?
Or simply let them pass?
By observing their uniforms and equipment, he could even estimate their rank—and determine whether his presence had already been exposed.
"Everything's ready."
Natsuhiko turned his head.
Beyond the oasis, in the distance, stood the towering structure that resembled a massive spire.
"That means it's time to move."
Without hesitation, he set off toward it.
The fierce desert winds swept up endless curtains of sand, veiling the sky and dimming the blazing midday sun until it resembled the fading glow of sunset.
Yet far in the distance, Rōran still stood tall.
And as Natsuhiko drew closer—
The chakra emanating from that direction became increasingly overwhelming.
It was strange.
Ancient.
And unimaginably powerful.
The closer he got, the more clearly he could feel it.
That chakra was unsettling… yet intoxicating.
And the sensation only fueled Natsuhiko's determination.
Because he knew—
If he could obtain that power…
His strength would rise to an entirely new level.
"But if I fail to control it…"
Natsuhiko murmured under his breath.
"…then the one who suffers the consequences will probably be me."
...
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