Chapter 6 — Back in Konoha, a High-Value Senju
"Bring Danzō."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was low as he issued the order into the unseen shadows.
Before long, Shimura Danzō, his expression dark and oppressive, arrived from outside the Hokage Tower and headed straight into the office.
The moment he pushed the door open, he spoke without preamble:
"Hiruzen, I heard intelligence has come back from the Land of Whirlpools. How bad is the situation?"
"Uzushiogakure has fallen," Hiruzen replied evenly.
"The Uzumaki clan is all but wiped out."
"Hmph. Useless allies."
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened as he stared straight at Danzō.
"Where were the Root forces I ordered you to dispatch? Why is there no sign of support in the reports—and why were rookie squads sent on so-called infiltration missions that were little more than suicide runs?"
Danzō's expression stiffened for a fraction of a second, but he quickly recovered his composure.
"Root is short on manpower. I told you long ago—we need to draw ninja from the clans to reinforce it."
"Danzō!" Hiruzen finally snapped, the anger he'd been suppressing breaking through.
"You spare no concern for the village's orders, yet you dote endlessly on your own subordinates!"
"If Namikaze Yami hadn't survived by sheer chance, I would still be completely in the dark!"
Being rebuked so harshly by an old friend made Danzō's face tighten. He shot back coldly:
"Everything I do is for Konoha. Who could have predicted the Uzumaki clan would collapse so easily? As for that boy who escaped the Land of Whirlpools—there's definitely something wrong with him. I believe we should use Yamanaka Clan techniques to conduct a thorough—"
"Enough!"
Hiruzen rose abruptly from his seat. The pressure of the Hokage's authority filled the room.
"I am the Hokage. I don't need you to tell me how to do my job. Go to the front lines and support Orochimaru—and do not let me see you act on your own initiative again."
"For this matter," Danzō said flatly,
"I have no regrets."
He cast a final glance at the Hokage's robe fluttering faintly around Hiruzen's shoulders, then turned and left without hesitation.
Silence returned to the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen slowly sank back into his chair. His once-straight posture now seemed subtly bent.
He knew Danzō wasn't entirely wrong. With Konoha fighting on multiple fronts and stretched thin, avoiding direct conflict with Kirigakure was in the village's best interests.
Turning his gaze to the window, Hiruzen stared for a long time at the stone faces of the First and Second Hokage carved into the Hokage Rock.
---
Dragging his utterly exhausted body along, Namikaze Yami finally returned to the small, familiar house.
Though the Uzumaki Sage Body granted him extraordinary physical resilience, mental exhaustion was far harder to dispel.
Especially after nonstop travel—keeping Kagura's Mind's Eye pushed to its absolute limit, maintaining constant awareness of his surroundings. Even after entering the Land of Fire, he hadn't relaxed for a moment.
He had been completely drained—empty to the last drop.
And during his brief meeting with Hiruzen, the flicker of shock that crossed the Hokage's face had confirmed Yami's suspicions.
That "infiltration mission" had been wrong from the very start.
Combining that with what he knew from his previous life, there was little doubt who was behind it.
The so-called "Pot Shadow"—Shimura Danzō.
Physically and mentally spent, Yami no longer had the energy to think further. The exhaustion accumulated from days of fighting and fleeing crashed over him like a tidal wave.
He barely bothered to strip off his filthy clothes before collapsing onto the bed.
Sleep claimed him instantly—deep, dreamless, absolute.
---
Under the glare of the midday sun, Yami finally woke well past noon.
"Ah—haa—"
"So good!"
He stretched lazily, his body crackling faintly with movement. One breath later, all the fatigue was gone, replaced by an overflowing sense of vitality.
"So this is the recovery speed of an Uzumaki Sage Body," he muttered.
"Absolutely ridiculous…"
Under normal circumstances, after such extreme exertion, he'd be sore and weak for days at the very least.
His thoughts drifted to that nephew he'd not yet met.
No wonder he can handle that many Shadow Clone 'accelerators'.
If anyone else tried that, they'd have dropped dead long ago.
Carefully sensing the surging chakra within him and the vibrant, overflowing life force, Yami even had the vague feeling that he'd grown a little taller overnight.
After crumpling up the tattered, blood-soaked ninja uniform and tossing it aside, Namikaze Yami gave himself a quick wash. Changing into a clean set of casual clothes, he finally felt refreshed as he pushed open the door and stepped onto the street.
The small house he lived in had been left behind by his parents in this world. They had both died at the very beginning of the Second Shinobi World War.
Fortunately, Yami had awakened memories of his previous life. Combined with the fairly generous survivor's pension, the "precocious" child had lived a relatively comfortable life during his years at the Ninja Academy.
And although the Namikaze weren't considered a true ninja clan, their blood-related relatives still showed plenty of care toward this younger generation member who displayed clear ninja talent.
At midday, Konoha's streets were as lively as ever, brimming with everyday warmth—so peaceful that it felt as though the shadow of war had never reached this land.
"Little Yami, I haven't seen you around these past few days. Were you out on a mission?"
Just as he was wondering where to grab something to eat, a familiar voice called out from the roadside.
Yami turned his head and saw Auntie Keiko, the owner of the dango shop, smiling and waving at him. A bit of flour still clung to her apron.
"Auntie Keiko. How's business today?"
"Much better, thanks to your idea!"
Her shop had originally sold only plain white glutinous rice dango. It had been Yami's casual suggestion to add sakura and matcha flavors—turning them into the now wildly popular three-color dango.
Though it had been an offhand remark, Yami had once seriously considered that, if he failed to graduate from the Ninja Academy, opening a food stall using memories from his previous life might be a viable livelihood. He had even bought a shop with his compensation money.
Now, it was rented out to Auntie Keiko, earning him a modest but steady income.
"Good morning! Yami—are you here for some three-color dango too?"
[Ding! Scan complete. High-value pawnable item detected:]
[Extremely rare Senju bloodline ×1 — Estimated value: 1000]
Even without the system's alert, Yami knew who it was the moment he heard that slightly goofy voice.
His eyes flickered—and a plan instantly took shape.
"I say, Nawaki, you've been following Lord Orochimaru for quite a while now. How are you still this reckless?"
"Hahaha, don't joke around, Yami. I graduated top three in our academy class, you know."
"Then who was first?"
"…Alright, you win. But I've learned a lot from my teacher since then. The current you definitely isn't my match."
Their graduating class hadn't produced many stand-out figures. If one had to name someone, Senju Nawaki certainly counted.
Nawaki was the true prodigy of their class. Though his theoretical scores were slightly weaker, his combat potential and chakra reserves far surpassed his peers. His graduation evaluation ranked well above Yami's.
The problem was his personality—straightforward and impulsive. He possessed overwhelming power but lacked tactical thinking. Against ordinary genin, brute force alone was enough.
But against someone like Yami—armed with an adult's mind and careful calculation—his flaws were glaring.
Taking two skewers of dango from Auntie Keiko, Yami popped one into his own mouth and shoved the other into Nawaki's hand.
Then he said casually,
"I'd like to see just how much you've improved."
"How about a spar at the training grounds?"
"Loser treats the winner to dinner—deal?"
---