At the village entrance, the Uchiha clan members standing guard bowed respectfully to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru.
"Naruto-sama!"
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and smiled, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."
Then he turned to Orochimaru and asked, "How's your abdomen?"
Orochimaru smiled and replied, "It's fine, Sensei, as long as you don't hold me accountable for what happened earlier."
"Hmph, so you do realize how serious this is?"
Orochimaru shook his head slightly and said, "Sensei, I don't think he's actually the First Hokage reincarnated…"
Hiruzen's gaze turned cold as he stared at Orochimaru. "Don't talk nonsense. Otherwise, the Uzumaki Clan wouldn't have allowed him to live here for so long."
"But now, Lady Mito treats him like her own son. Tomorrow, he'll officially move back to live with her. After that, it will be very difficult for me to pull something like this again."
"I see. Don't worry, Sensei. Earlier, I deliberately went easy on him, and I didn't actually hurt him."
Hiruzen glanced at Orochimaru, still half-suspicious.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was still silently savoring the earlier fight with Takayama Haru. Although he hadn't gone all out, he could tell that Haru still had hidden trump cards he hadn't revealed yet.
And what kind of trump cards were those? Seemed like he might have been caught for experimentation if he wasn't careful...
Suddenly, Hiruzen asked, "Who told you about him?"
"When I rescued Sakumo Hatake and Minato Namikaze, they mentioned it."
Hiruzen glanced at Orochimaru's still-bleeding abdomen and said, "Even so, you must not act recklessly. The experiments with the original cells were terminated long ago."
Orochimaru smiled slightly and said, "Sensei, I think you can still fight for another chance…"
"No," Hiruzen cut him off firmly. "Absolutely not. Don't even think about it. Forget the original cells—using the Senju Clan's last bloodline inheritance for experiments is outright suicidal!"
Orochimaru quickly added, "Sensei, I only need a little blood. Just a small amount. For the Senju Clan, that's nothing."
Hiruzen shook his head. "I said no, and that's final."
Orochimaru sighed. "Alright, I understand, Sensei. I was just curious, nothing more. If it's okay, I'll take my leave."
"Wait," Hiruzen stopped him. "Rest for two days, then continue monitoring the situation in the Hidden Cloud Village."
"Sensei, I'm seriously injured. I'll need at least six months of recovery."
Hiruzen gave Orochimaru a deadpan look. That kind of injury? One month tops—and you're asking for six?
"You can hide out in the Hidden Cloud for a while. Rest and recuperate."
"My chakra signature was exposed today. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki probably already noticed me. Sensei, are you trying to get me killed in the Hidden Cloud?"
Hiruzen took a deep breath. "Cut the nonsense. No matter where you rest, you'll recover. As one of Konoha's Three Legendary Sannin, even the Hidden Cloud wouldn't dare act against you."
"And stop pestering Takayama Haru. Not just me—other eyes are watching him too."
"If you cause any trouble, even I won't be able to protect you."
Orochimaru laughed and said, "Rest assured, Sensei, I won't do anything foolish. But perhaps you could send someone else to monitor the Hidden Cloud?"
"Hey, I haven't agreed to that yet! Come back here!" Hiruzen shouted.
But Orochimaru, still smiling, said, "Sensei, I recommend Takayama Haru. I think he's the perfect candidate. He can take care of himself, and no one inside or outside the village knows his full capabilities."
Without waiting for a reply, Orochimaru turned and left.
Hiruzen sighed heavily. "Forget it. Let Orochimaru rest for a while. He's been through enough…"
Still, a shadow passed over his heart.
He was also thinking about Orochimaru's final suggestion.
"Send Takayama Haru to the Hidden Cloud? Orochimaru does make a point. Haru has an overwhelming advantage... but if something happened to him, with the entire future of the Senju bloodline in his hands, could I really afford that risk?"
...
The next morning, the sun rose brightly, its golden light shining into the room. Takayama Haru yawned.
"Why are you here so early?" Haru muttered, wiping his sleepy eyes.
The door swung open. A masked ninja tied up by a tree root stumbled inside, fear all over his face.
He had done his homework before coming. There was no way a lower-ranked ninja should have been able to subdue a mid-level ninja like him!
Yet here he was, completely restrained, and his chakra was still being drained.
"What's going on here?"
The mid-ranked ninja quickly stammered, "Takayama Haru, Lord Danzo requests that you move to his estate and live there for a while!"
[Due to the host's current situation, three choices are now available!]
[Choice 1: Move to Danzo's estate and become part of Konoha's darkness! Reward: B-Rank Jutsu — Wind Release: Vacuum Wave.]
[Choice 2: Go to the Hokage's office, meet Hiruzen Sarutobi, and become Konoha's new rising star! Reward: C-Rank Jutsu — Stretching Technique.]
[Choice 3: Stay where you are and live like a salted fish, auto-leveling up! Reward: Tenfold fusion speed for Hashirama Senju's character card and tenfold experience gain for all ninjutsu (excluding the character card itself).]
Was there even a choice?
Of course, Choice 3!
Be a salted fish, auto-upgrade!
Takayama Haru immediately tossed the mid-level ninja out of the house and flopped back onto his bed.
"Courting death!"
The Root ninja was furious. How dare this brat disrespect Root and Lord Danzo!
He thought about retaliating, but eventually held back and hurried back to report.
Haru glanced at the fusion progress of the Hashirama Senju character card. After last night's sleep, it had risen from 5% to 5.1%.
After another hour of lazy napping, it ticked up again from 5.1% to 5.2%!
"One hour, one night's worth of progress!"
"Salted fish really do have a bright future."
"It's just a little boring here…"
Thinking for a moment, Takayama Haru tossed out a Flying Thunder God marker to Ku'u, his training partner, and instantly teleported to Ku'u's side.
"This way, my skill training is way faster!"
Thus, Haru began intensely practicing Flying Thunder God and other mobility techniques, causing his experience points to skyrocket.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office, Hiruzen's face was growing darker by the minute.
It was already ten o'clock, and Takayama Haru still hadn't shown up.
Mito Uzumaki, Jounin Commander Shikaku Nara, and Orochimaru were all waiting in the office.
And Haru... had completely ghosted them.