To be honest, Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly stunned by Ge Liang at this moment.
He understood Danzo's strength; even if he was slightly weaker than Hiruzen, the difference wouldn't be significant.
But even Danzo, who brought a group of Root members with him, couldn't take down Ge Liang and instead got himself trapped.
Furthermore, there was a very strange point about this matter.
There was actually no major commotion last night.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could understand if negotiations failed and they started fighting, but what did it mean that there was absolutely no movement?
Was it possible that Danzo and all those Root members were just wooden dummies, standing there letting Ge Liang kill them at will?
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, this incident was deeply unsettling; even if the First Hokage were resurrected, it would be impossible to eliminate so many people silently.
"Could Ge Liang's strength have already surpassed the First Hokage's?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was unwilling to believe this idea. After all, Ge Liang was only about twenty years old. Surpass the First Hokage at that age? 'I think you're dreaming.'
Alright, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know how massive the power-ups Naruto and Sasuke would activate later, managing to surpass the First Hokage Hashirama Senju together at the age of sixteen, becoming the new 'aces' of the Ninja World.
"In short, it is not appropriate to provoke Ge Liang at this stage."
"Hmm, we can first send some people to continue probing."
Regardless of whether Ge Liang held malice towards Konoha, judging by his actions, he didn't reject Ninja coming to play games to increase their strength.
From this perspective, there was absolutely no need to antagonize him.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a little regretful.
He regretted being so greedy initially. After learning about the Internet Cafe's wonders, his first thought was to seize it for himself. Now he had hit a wall.
"But the good thing is, I didn't get involved personally; I sent Danzo."
"Even if Ge Liang is suspicious, he has no proof."
"Alas, I truly regret my initial actions."
...Regardless of how much Hiruzen Sarutobi regretted it, life still had to go on.
Today, Ge Liang uncharacteristically slept in late. He didn't open the doors in the morning, moving the opening time to the afternoon.
He couldn't help it; he was truly bothered by the two 'people' in his bedroom, which caused him insomnia yesterday.
"As expected, sleeping until you wake up naturally is the best feeling."
Getting out of bed, Ge Liang casually ate something, then opened the Internet Cafe's door and began today's business.
"Sure enough, what happened last night must have stunned Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"He shouldn't act rashly for a period of time."
"At the very least, he won't make a move until he clarifies the extent of my true strength."
"As for blockading the street... he already experienced the benefits of the Internet Cafe yesterday. If he still wants to increase the strength of the Konoha Ninja, then he won't seal off the street; he might even promote me."
"It can't be helped; he is the Hokage, after all. Strengthening Konoha is his duty."
Ge Liang was not worried about Hiruzen Sarutobi's retaliation at all.
The Third Hokage had crafted his image too perfectly: all the good deeds were attributed to him, and all the bad deeds to Danzo. If he specifically targeted the Internet Cafe, Ninja like Kakashi might start having doubts.
Furthermore, he hadn't figured out Ge Liang's strength and didn't know that Ge Liang could only show off inside the Internet Cafe. Once outside, Ge Liang was, at most, a slightly stronger Special Jonin.
This was the cognitive gap caused by information asymmetry.
That's why the importance of intelligence is emphasized in the Ninja Academy textbooks.
"Today is Naruto and the others' first day as Ninja. I wonder how they are doing."
...Today was the first time the rookie nine's classes were executing missions.
Unlike in the original work, Naruto was absolutely thrilled about these d-rank missions.
Even if they had to pull weeds or search for objects, he was happy.
Because he could finally earn money.
Although d-rank missions were slightly tedious to complete and the pay wasn't much, ranging only between five thousand and fifty thousand Ryo, the Jonin leader also took half.
But Naruto wasn't afraid.
With a Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, he immediately took on ten d-rank missions.
If the Mission Dispatcher hadn't forbidden it, Naruto could have taken on even more.
In his estimation, completing fifty d-rank missions every day would be simple.
It couldn't be helped; having a large amount of Chakra allowed him to be so unrestrained.
Unfortunately, he could only take a maximum of ten d-rank missions per day.
Well, ten was ten. Excluding tasks requiring patience, like babysitting, most of the d-rank missions he accepted were physical labor, such as pulling weeds, farming, and moving things.
These missions were child's play for Naruto.
Sasuke and Sakura, also members of Team 7, benefited greatly. They barely had to exert themselves, and Naruto had already completed all the missions.
Furthermore, during the missions, Naruto taught the method of cultivating the Shadow Clone to both of them.
Watching Naruto, who had split into dozens of Shadow Clones yet still looked energetic while instructing Sasuke and Sakura, Kakashi admitted he was envious.
If he had possessed that much Chakra back then, perhaps Obito wouldn't have died.
Thinking of Obito, Kakashi thought of the Internet Cafe.
In the original work, Kakashi liked icha icha paradise so much, probably partly because he wanted to immerse himself in the book and avoid thinking about sad things.
Now, with the Internet Cafe, the sense of immersion from playing games was much stronger than from reading a book.
Therefore, playing games not only allowed Kakashi to increase his strength but also helped him temporarily forget past tragedies... Around three in the afternoon, Team 7 had perfectly completed ten d-rank missions.
After going to the Mission Office to collect their rewards, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura greeted Kakashi and started heading to the Internet Cafe.
"Wait, I'm going with you."
Hearing that Kakashi wanted to join them, the three of them were startled.
After all, they had agreed earlier not to casually expose the existence of the Internet Cafe.
"Kakashi-sensei, you want to go too? Actually, there's nothing fun there; it's quite boring. We are just going there to chat."
"Yes, yes."
"Naruto is right."
Hearing the trio's evasive answers, Kakashi instinctively rolled his eyes and then said, "Alright, I've been to the Internet Cafe once already. I'm very clear about what that place does."
Before the three could react, Kakashi added, "Not only me, but even Hokage-sama has been there."
"What? Grandpa Hokage went too?"
Hearing that the Third Hokage had also gone, Naruto didn't know what to do.
Naruto's thoughts were simple: he was afraid the Third Hokage would cause trouble for the Internet Cafe. If the Internet Cafe was sealed off later, where would he go to play games?
Playing games was secondary; the main reason was that he would have nowhere to increase his strength.
In fact, all of the rookie nine, except for Sakura, had already completed the legend of jin yong heroes, and the Martial Arts suited to them had been cultivated to the highest level.
It could be said that the legend of jin yong heroes could no longer increase their hard strength.
At most, they could spar with those top-tier NPCs to gain some combat experience.
But if they couldn't play games, they could still watch TV series.
Watching TV using the Possession Mode not only increased their experience but also improved their mental state, enhancing their soft strength.
Haven't you noticed that Naruto isn't as foolish now?
Sasuke is also not as gloomy and cold as before.
This is all thanks to 'watching TV series.'