Chapter 1: Sorry, I'm an Undercover Agent
"Hiruzen, leave Hanekawa to me!"
Shimura Danzo said straightforwardly, with a serious face, "He is too dangerous! He might be a spy from the Hidden Cloud Village!"
"He is not," Sarutobi Hiruzen replied calmly, tapping his pipe.
"Don't forget that Kushina was kidnapped by the Hidden Cloud Village!" Shimura Danzo snorted and reminded him. "Hanekawa is an orphan adopted by Nono, and he should have joined ROOT."
"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "You have to understand that the orphanage is Konoha's orphanage, not ROOT's orphanage."
Shimura Danzo felt a little annoyed at this response and couldn't help but retort, "Hiruzen, you..."
"Are you trying to say that I will regret this?" Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted. "I will not regret it."
Shimura Danzo felt frustrated and stuck, and his thoughts became chaotic. 'Damn Hiruzen, is this also part of your plan? Should I congratulate you? Have you learned to answer quickly? These are all my words!' He wanted to assert his authority and say, "I am the Hokage," but he couldn't.
Bang! In a fit of rage, Shimura Danzo stormed out of the door.
He took a few steps, then suddenly turned around and said, "Hiruzen, you're going to regret this!"
After making the statement, he felt a bit lighter, as if some weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the empty doorway and shook his head.
Being an assistant to the Hokage has its challenges; you only need to talk back, but as a Hokage, you have to bear immense responsibility.
"Kiyoshi, ask someone to change the door and charge the expenses to Danzo's account."
Sarutobi Hiruzen lowered his head and examined Hanekawa's information on the table.
Hanekawa, male, six years old, a war orphan, was adopted by pharmacist Nono.
When examined by the ninjas of the Yamanaka clan, he unleashed a terrifying mental force.
After an investigation, it was concluded that this power was not due to activated spy ninjutsu but was instead an issue related to his innate mental capacity.
Although he had not received any training, his chakra reserves were several times stronger than those of his peers.
"Nono is Danzo's subordinate; I can't let Hanekawa live in an orphanage," Sarutobi Hiruzen said thoughtfully.
Yin Release symbolizes spiritual power, encompassing the secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan and the Nara clan, as well as the Sharingan.
However, the intricate secrets of ninja clans are seldom passed down to outsiders—unless they are civilian ninjas.
"Yuhi Shinku," Sarutobi Hiruzen mused.
Yuhi Shinku, a civilian jōnin specializing in illusions, also serves as an instructor for chunin and genin, making him a perfect candidate for what Hanekawa may need.
…
Hanekawa suddenly opened his eyes and felt pain all over his body—it was as if he'd hit the jackpot or had been ravaged by dozens of young women in a dream.
He looked around at the unfamiliar ceiling, his gaze darting about until he settled on a confused expression.
'What is going on? Is this still my room?'
Where are my Toosaka Rin, Celestine, Tsunade, and Tifa figures?
As he felt drowsy, something suddenly and forcefully penetrated his brain, and countless memories began to flood back.
He had traveled through time, or rather, awakened the memories of his past life.
Good news: he was now in Konoha Village.
Hanekawa had watched "Naruto." In the extremely chaotic ninja world, Konoha Village was relatively safer compared to other places.
With carefulness, waiting for the destined heroes Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke to save the world might allow him to survive until the end.
Bad news: he was a spy from the Hidden Cloud Village.
Hanekawa was born in the Hidden Cloud Village. Due to his exceptional intelligence, he was chosen as a spy and sent to Konoha Village to gather intelligence.
Now he faced his first significant hurdle—inspection.
In Konoha Village, the secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan can extract information even from the dead; much less from living individuals.
But he had fainted during the examination.
Just thinking about it made Hanekawa sweat profusely and feel a wave of unease.
Was he exposed? The fate of undercover agents isn't something to be taken lightly, as seen in tales of Infernal Affairs.
At that moment, several lines of text appeared in his vision.
—
[The system is loading.]
[You have loaded the Ninja Entry System.]
[If you meet certain conditions, you can obtain the corresponding entries; some special entries can be deduced and synthesized into high-level entries.]
[The entries are divided into E, D, C, B, A, and S levels; there are three major categories: Ninjutsu, Ninja Tools, and Talent.]
—
"Um?" Hanekawa couldn't help but widen his eyes.
'Has my plug-in arrived?'
As a "three-no" ninja with no bloodline, no secret skills, and no ninja clan, making any progress in this shinobi world was incredibly challenging.
Now there was finally hope. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but hum softly to himself.
Hanekawa examined the system and found it extremely simple, with only one entry panel displaying the entries he had currently obtained.
—
[A-level talent entry: Lurker.]
[Trigger condition: Newbie gift pack.]
[Effect: When others explore, your memory will be falsified.]
[Note: Cannot be synthesized.]
—
Very good. A classic beginner's gift pack.
Hanekawa couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Now he didn't have to worry about falling victim to the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques.
—
[C-level talent entry: Innate Full Soul Power.]
[Trigger condition: Fusion of the souls of two lives.]
[Effect: Yin Release talent is increased by 100% of the original basis.]
[Note: Cannot be synthesized.]
—
Why is the innate full soul power not awakened? Blue Silver... Oh no, it's Wood Release?
Hanekawa fell silent as reality sank in.
Yin Release is notoriously difficult to harness.
He doesn't possess a Sharingan, nor is he from the Yamanaka or Nara clan. Was he destined to learn illusion techniques?
But let's be realistic about illusion ninjas.
Kurenai Yuhi has studied illusion techniques her entire life, yet she is not as adept as the Uchiha clan members, who can merely open their eyes to unleash superior techniques.
Now that things had come to this, all he could think about was food.
Hanekawa felt a strong wave of hunger hit him.
He suddenly wore a regretful expression.
Before traveling through time, he remembered staying up late to play the duel arena and smacking his head in frustration. As a result, he felt an entire lifetime had passed in the blink of an eye.
He couldn't help but wonder what condition he had left behind in his previous life. If he was missing, there's no doubt his phone would have been hacked and left exposed.
Just thinking about it made his eyes water.
The sound of a door creaking open filtered through the silence.
Hanekawa subconsciously raised his gaze, looking at the girl who had just entered.
It wouldn't be entirely accurate to call her just a girl; she was a lovely little girl.
The most striking feature about her was her gemstone-like ruby eyes.
Hanekawa couldn't help but feel an air of confusion wash over him.
'Who is this? Where am I?'
This was not an orphanage—he had vivid memories of the other children from the orphanage.
But perhaps this was a fortunate turn of events for him.
The pharmacist Nono, who manages the orphanage, is a subordinate of Danzo Shimura.
If he were targeted by ROOT, he would be indoctrinated with the Will of the Root and wouldn't be able to escape the peril of annihilation.
"Are you awake?" Yuhi Kurenai asked, a gentle smile on her face. "I am Yuhi Kurenai."
"Hanekawa."
Looking at the beautiful little girl's enchanting smile, Hanekawa couldn't help but feel more at ease.
Is it truly Yuhi Kurenai?
In the original story, she ended up marrying Asuma Sarutobi and eventually became a widow.
"Can you walk?"
Kurenai paused and added, "I'll take you to see my father; he will explain everything to you."
"I can walk."
Hanekawa got out of bed, consciously planning his next steps.
Yuhi Kurenai's father is Yuhi Shinku.
And most importantly, he is not a subordinate of Danzo Shimura.
As a genjutsu jōnin, the one who could most likely give him orders is the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The reason it would be Sarutobi Hiruzen and not Namikaze Minato is that Kurenai Yuhi is still quite young; she was likely not even born when the Fourth Hokage was active.
Though Sarutobi Hiruzen has been the source of much debate, he devoted his life to the welfare of Konoha Village.
Compared to Shimura Danzo, he can be described as kind-hearted; at least he won't place curse seals on your private parts, unlike the curse seal on the tongue.
End of this Chapter