Inside the Hokage Office, the air was as heavy as lead.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, smoke curling from his pipe, yet unable to dispel the gloom from his brow. Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, Konoha's two Advisor elders, stood on either side, their expressions solemn.
Uzumaki Naruto stood before them, the tears in his orange jacket still bearing the dust of the arena.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Hiruzen Sarutobi finally spoke, tapping his pipe against the ashtray.
"Your actions in today's preliminary match were a blatant challenge to the Hokage's authority! What do you take Konoha's rules for?"
"I did not challenge authority," Naruto replied, his tone as flat as if he were proofreading a report, "I merely executed another set of rules at the end of the existing ones."
"Impudent!" Homura Mitokado harshly rebuked, "Naruto, do you not even have the attitude to admit your mistake?"
"I am not quibbling," Naruto turned to him, "I am merely stating facts. Rock Lee is Konoha's valuable military asset. His fighting will and Taijutsu potential are irreplaceable among all Genin. With Gaara having already won, his subsequent attack was malicious damage in a non-combat state. My intervention was to mitigate losses."
"Mitigate losses?" Utatane Koharu sneered, "Easier said than done. You even said you wanted to purify and judge Gaara. Do you not know how your actions will make the Hidden Sand Village view us? This is a diplomatic issue!"
"Diplomacy is a game based on equal strength," Naruto said, "Demonstrating our resolve to 'protect our vital forces at all costs' to our allies is far more valuable than a hypocritical peace. This will give them another consideration before betraying us."
"What's more, Konoha, why should it consider Sunagakure's attitude?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted slightly.
Naruto's logic was cold, cruel, yet self-contained and unassailable.
"Then what about your relationship with Root?" Hiruzen Sarutobi changed the subject, his tone even heavier. This was actually the main reason he had called Naruto here; the previous discussion was just a preamble. "Don't tell me that unique weapon of yours, and your un-Ninja-like Taijutsu, have nothing to do with Danzo."
"My cooperation with Lord Danzo is based on a shared understanding," Naruto openly admitted, "The radiance of the will of fire needs a purer, more efficient shadow to protect it. And I will become that shadow."
He took a step forward.
"Third Hokage-sama, the 'will of fire' you believe in is too warm, and too weak. It can unite hearts, but it cannot effectively eliminate threats. It will sacrifice an 'absolutely loyal' soldier for an enemy who 'might be reformed.' This is the most efficient internal friction."
"Your era needs love and trust. But the coming era needs order and steel."
"I am the error-correction mechanism responsible for clearing all threats, unburdened by emotion, ensuring that the Konoha system can continue to operate. A true shadow."
In the office, there was a deathly silence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado, and Koharu, Konoha's three highest authorities, were completely stunned by a twelve-year-old boy, with a theory they had never heard before.
They felt a dizzying sensation.
The Naruto before them was not Minato's son, not the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, but an absolutely rational monster in human skin.
He did not want to become Hokage, but to become the master of Konoha's dark side.
Hiruzen Sarutobi realized that things had completely spiraled out of his control. Danzo could not control him, and neither could he.
He must… he must find someone.
Someone who could, in another way, pull him back onto the "right track."
"You may leave," Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand wearily.
Naruto turned, not lingering for a moment, and walked straight out.
After he left, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately ordered the Anbu behind him.
"Secretly contact Jiraiya, and have him return to the Village immediately!"
"Hokage-sama," the Anbu knelt on one knee, "According to intelligence, Lord Jiraiya… already returned to the Village a few days ago."
Naruto walked out of the office, the door silently closing behind him, isolating the astonishment and contemplation of the three elders inside.
The young guard standing at the door was ramrod straight, his breathing steady, like a lifeless statue.
Naruto did not stop, but as he brushed past him, the corner of his eye flickered over him.
The guard's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly in that instant.
That was enough.
According to Zero's intelligence, this person, ostensibly Anbu, was actually Danzo's informant in the Hokage Tower.
The shocking remarks in the office just now, seemingly a showdown with Hiruzen Sarutobi, were in fact a meticulously designed performance report.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the two Advisor elders, their minds already rigid, would only be wasting words on them. They were relics of an old era, system vulnerabilities that needed to be "corrected."
The true audience was the leader of Root, lurking in Konoha's deepest shadows.
Danzo needed to be controlled with a carrot after a stick… the Root base.
Cold, damp, the air filled with a strange mixture of disinfectant and earth.
Danzo sat at the head of the table, his bandaged right face appearing even more sinister in the dim light.
A Root Ninja knelt on one knee, repeating everything that had just happened in the Hokage Office, word for word, in an emotionless tone.
When he heard, "Your era needs love and trust. But the coming era needs order and steel," the muscle beneath Danzo's bandaged eyelid twitched slightly.
And when the line, "I am the error-correction mechanism responsible for clearing all threats, unburdened by emotion, ensuring that the Konoha system can continue to operate," was repeated, the air in the secret room seemed to solidify.
The reporting Ninja knelt silently, not daring to make a sound.
After a long time.
"Hmph."
A light, unidentifiable chuckle escaped Danzo's throat, dry as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
"Hiruzen… that old man, is probably so vexed right now he wants to chew his pipe to pieces."
He could imagine the expression on his "dear friend's" face at this moment; it must be absolutely priceless.
Danzo increasingly felt he had made the right gamble.
"Hiruzen will go to Jiraiya; he wants to use that hypocritical master-disciple bond and the ties of sunlight to pull this 'monster' back onto the right track."
"Simply ridiculous."
Danzo stopped, his single eye gleaming with excitement and greed.
"How can a beast that has already tasted blood and power go back to nibbling on boring grass?"
What he wanted was never a hero bathed in sunlight.
What he wanted was a shadow who could understand him, execute his will, and be even more extreme and efficient than him!
Uzumaki Naruto perfectly fit all of this.
As for control… "Continue to monitor," Danzo ordered, "Keep a close eye on the Chunin Exams main event."
"I want to see with my own eyes what other surprises this kid can bring."
...Naruto's apartment was as neat and clean as ever, like a military barracks dormitory.
He took off his damaged jacket and threw it into the trash can. Then he sat at his desk and began to review.
Death Forest, battle against Orochimaru.
Preliminary match, intervention with Rock Lee.
In his mind, he dissected and analyzed every detail of these two battles.
The conclusion was quickly drawn.
His tactical system had a clear weakness.
Shadow Clones were perfect "soldiers," absolutely obedient, fearless in death. But these soldiers were unarmed. Against an enemy of Orochimaru's caliber, ordinary Taijutsu attacks were too inefficient.
The Chainsword was perfect "standard equipment," but with his current energy, mass production by one person was too difficult; it was impossible to equip everyone.
He needed a mass-producible ranged attack method that all Shadow Clones could be equipped with.
A cost-effective solution for increasing combat power.
His fingers tapped lightly on the desktop, and soon, a Ninjutsu he had overlooked surfaced in his mind.
The Third Hokage's A-rank Ninjutsu—Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu.
A thought suddenly became clear in his mind.
Since one shuriken could clone into hundreds.
Then, what about one Chainsword?
Naruto walked to the corner and picked up an encrypted communicator—this was the "Crow" channel.
He entered the command.
["White Crow" requests to retrieve A-rank Ninjutsu scroll: "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu."]
[Reason: Develop a new group combat mode.]
On the other side, the Root base.
Zero reported Naruto's request to Danzo, word for word.
"Oh?" Danzo sat in his seat, a hint of interest flashing, "He wants this Jutsu?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo." Zero lowered his head, "Lord White Crow believes that Root's combat methods can be further optimized to increase the lethality of group combat."
"Very good." Danzo's lips curved into a satisfied arc.
Actively seeking power and pursuing efficiency—this was also the will of Root.
This Uzumaki Naruto was even more perfect than he had imagined.
"Approved." Danzo did not hesitate, "Give him the scroll. Tell him that Root needs to see results."
"Yes."
Zero looked up, the process so smooth it made him a little uncomfortable.
None of the flattery he had prepared for so long was needed.
As expected of the Political Commissar, has he already gained such a level of trust from Danzo?
I need to learn from him… A few days later.
Konoha's public bathhouse.
The steaming heat blurred vision, and the gushing sound of water covered the outside noise.
Naruto, naked, leaned against the edge of the bath, his eyes closed.
Regular training, combat, and high mental tension all required periodic "maintenance" to keep the body's machine in optimal condition. Bathing was the simplest and most effective way to relax.
He was currently organizing his plan for the upcoming Chunin Exams finals, and how to use this time to fully master the "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu" and apply it to the Chainsword.
Just then.
A strange "hehehe" laughter broke the tranquility of the bathhouse.
A tall figure appeared on the dividing wall between the men's and women's baths.
The man had lion-like white hair, wore a forehead protector with the character "Oil" written on it, and wooden clogs on his feet. He was stealthily peeking over the wall towards the women's bath.
"Oh ho ho ho… Inspiration, inspiration has come! This is youth!"
The man let out a lewd laugh while pulling out paper and pen, seemingly recording something.
"For the readers' experience, research is a must! It's definitely not because I'm lecherous."
Naruto opened his eyes.
His ice-blue pupils calmly watched the abnormally behaving man on the wall.
According to the database comparison, this person's characteristics had a 99.9% similarity to Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Three Sannin and a fellow disciple of the S-rank rogue Ninja Orochimaru.
A top-tier combatant who should have been on a long-term mission outside the Village was now peeking into the women's bath like a pervert.
Naruto did not speak.
He simply stood up from the water, took the towel nearby, and dried his body.
Then, he walked behind the white-haired man who was still by the wall.
He reached out and picked up a bar of soap.
The next second, his arm muscles instantly tensed, and with a standard throwing posture, he threw the soap in his hand hard at Jiraiya's back of the head.
The movement was precise and powerful.
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