"But having said that..."
Right at that moment, Shiro suddenly stopped in his tracks. They were currently navigating a deserted alleyway, moving further away from the bustling center of the village. He leveled a flat, unamused stare at the two "Anbu members" escorting him.
"This doesn't seem to be the quickest route to the Hokage Building."
Torune Aburame, beneath his ox mask, paused. A low chuckle escaped him. "Hahaha... as expected of a genius's intuition. You truly are different from ordinary academy students."
Even Torune couldn't help but inwardly applaud Shiro. The boy had remained perfectly calm in the face of alleged authority, yet his mind was meticulous enough to realize they were deliberately taking him off the grid.
It was no wonder Lord Danzo had taken such a keen interest in him.
"What a pity," Torune sighed, turning fully to face the boy. A fierce, predatory glint appeared in the eyeholes of his mask. "How nice it would have been for you if you had simply pretended not to notice. Now, we have to do this the hard way."
---
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Kakashi arrived at the Ninja Academy.
"Excuse me, is Shiro still here?" Kakashi asked a group of lingering students, looking around the emptying playground.
Instead of answering directly, the students began buzzing with excited chatter.
"Wow, Lord Hokage really values Shiro!"
"Yeah! He actually sent two different waves of Anbu to summon him in succession. Must be super urgent!"
Many of the students, unaware of Kakashi's true identity or the severity of Anbu protocols, simply thought it was a massive honor. However, when a few recognized Kakashi as the legendary Copy Ninja, their envy only grew.
"Shiro has definitely caught the Hokage's eye this time."
"I know, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't send someone as important as Kakashi-sensei to fetch him!"
"Wait... what's going on?" Kakashi's visible eye widened, and a jolt of cold dread pierced his chest. He looked completely bewildered. *Did the Hokage send a separate detail? No, he explicitly gave this mission to me.*
"Not good!"
Kakashi instantly realized what had happened. There was only one other faction in Konoha that operated with masks and impunity. He spun on his heel, preparing to track the boy's chakra signature.
*BOOM!*
A violent, earth-shaking explosion echoed from the distance, sending a plume of dust into the afternoon sky. It immediately locked Kakashi's attention.
"That direction... the outskirts near the Root sector... damn it!"
Kakashi almost cursed aloud, his blood running cold. The key point was that Danzo was a ruthless, subhuman fanatic. If he had taken an interest in Shiro's sudden display of power...
Kakashi gathered chakra into his legs and shunshined toward the explosion, praying desperately that he wasn't too late.
"What is this...?"
The closer Kakashi got to the epicenter of the explosion, the more terrifying the atmosphere became. The surrounding air was thick and heavy, completely saturated with a massive, ancient aura of chakra.
It felt as though a battle between Kage-level titans had just concluded.
"This is impossible!"
Kakashi landed on a rooftop overlooking the destroyed street, his lone eye widening in absolute shock at the scene before him.
What met his eyes was a massive, sprawling thicket of dense, intertwining trees that had violently erupted straight through the cobblestone street. The thick trunks and jagged branches had rapidly grown and twisted together, forming a miniature, impenetrable forest right in the middle of the alleyway.
"What happened here?"
Kakashi couldn't believe the surreal sight. Suspended in the air, tightly bound and slowly being crushed by the thick, constricting branches of the newly formed trees, were the two Root Anbu agents. They were completely immobilized, groaning in pain.
"Do you two wish to dance as well?"
Standing casually atop the highest, thickest branch of the newly birthed forest, Shiro looked down indifferently at his two defeated captors.
Dressing up as the Hokage's Anbu to trick him?
Little did these Root agents know, Shiro had seen through their flimsy disguises from the very beginning. He had lived in Konoha for nearly a decade; it wasn't as if he didn't know the exact layout of the village and the direct route to the Hokage Monument.
Furthermore, the brief flash of blond hair from the boar-masked agent, coupled with Ino's sudden, terrified departure, immediately led him to deduce the man's identity: Fu Yamanaka, one of Danzo's top subordinates.
"Are you... Shiro?"
Kakashi landed cautiously on a nearby branch, looking at the domineering figure bathed in the afternoon sun with utter disbelief.
Was this... was this truly the same lazy, untalented Shiro he had read about in the academy files?
"Ah, Kakashi-sensei. They attempted to kidnap and harm me under false pretenses, so I simply taught them a minor lesson in return. Self-defense isn't against village law, is it?"
Shiro had naturally sensed Kakashi's rapid approach. But he didn't care. The Root operatives had struck first, attempting to use paralyzing insects and mind-transfer jutsu. He had simply acted in perfectly reasonable self-defense. Who could possibly blame a poor, frightened academy student for overreacting?
"Wait... is this..." Kakashi swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he finally registered the most important, paradigm-shifting detail of the scene. He ran a hand over the rough bark of the tree beneath him.
"This is Wood Style!" Kakashi gasped, his eye wide with terror and awe.
Shiro was actually wielding the legendary Wood Style!
At this moment, Kakashi's heart hammered against his ribs like a surging tide. Everyone in the ninja world knew that Wood Style was the mythical, exclusive Kekkei Genkai of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. Since the God of Shinobi's passing, the bloodline had been considered entirely extinct.
It wasn't as if Kakashi had never seen a Wood Style user before. He had served alongside Yamato, the sole surviving Root experimental subject, in the Anbu.
But Yamato's Wood Style was a mere parlor trick, a fragile imitation, compared to the raw, untamed vitality radiating from the forest Shiro had just summoned. With a single, seemingly effortless attack, Shiro had obliterated a city street and instantly subdued two Elite Jonin-level Root operatives.
Kakashi suddenly felt that the very political landscape of Konoha was about to undergo a violent, tectonic shift.
"Shiro... you need to come with me to the Hokage Building. Right now," Kakashi stated, moving to Shiro's side and scanning the perimeter with intense vigilance, half-expecting Danzo himself to step out of the shadows.
"No problem," Shiro replied, his demeanor extremely calm.
He brushed some dust off his shirt. Exposing his true strength was only a matter of time anyway. Now that he had publicly utilized a top-tier, politically massive Bloodline Limit like Wood Style, his value to the village had skyrocketed. Things were about to become much more interesting.
---
Shortly after, under Kakashi's intense, close-quarters protection, Shiro finally stood before the Third Hokage.
"You are telling me... that Shiro has awakened the Wood Style?!"
After hearing Kakashi's frantic, detailed report, Hiruzen Sarutobi's breathing became audibly rapid. He gripped his pipe so hard the stem nearly snapped.
The Wood Style! The legendary power that had subdued the Tailed Beasts, the power that had literally built the foundations of Konohagakure!
"Shiro, my boy... do you have any immediate requests?"
Hiruzen's gaze toward Shiro was now filled with a burning, intense heat that made the boy feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Please rest assured, regarding the deplorable actions of Danzo's subordinates today, I will personally see to it that you are given a full and satisfactory explanation!" Hiruzen promised fiercely.
Seeing Shiro remain silent, Hiruzen mistakenly assumed the boy was deeply traumatized or brooding over the attempted kidnapping. Eager to placate his newly discovered, priceless asset, Hiruzen directly utilized his highest authority as Hokage. He unlocked a hidden compartment in his desk and pulled out a weathered, highly classified scroll.
"Within this scroll are the personal notes and foundational theories regarding Wood Style, penned by the First Hokage himself," Hiruzen offered, sliding it across the desk.
Initially, Shiro thought the old man was going to gift him actual Wood Style ninjutsu scrolls. He hadn't expected it to be mere cultivation theory and basic experience logs.
*Do I really look like I lack experience?* Shiro thought, almost wanting to laugh out loud.
He currently possessed the system-maxed, absolute pinnacle of Wood Style mastery. He likely understood the element better than Hashirama himself had in his prime.
However, maintaining his humble facade, Shiro accepted the scroll and flipped through it respectfully. To his mild surprise, a few of the First Hokage's philosophical insights regarding the nature of life energy and chakra molding were actually quite profound and mildly useful.
"Lord Hokage!" an Anbu guard suddenly appeared, kneeling. "The heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan Alliance have arrived and are requesting an immediate audience!"
---
*What are those three doing here right now?*
Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily puzzled by the abrupt interruption, especially given the highly sensitive nature of the current meeting. However, he couldn't simply turn them away. He gestured for the Anbu to invite the clan heads inside.
Moments later, the three imposing figures of Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, and Shikaku Nara strode confidently into the Hokage's office.
"Shikaku, Choza, Inoichi. What urgent wind blows the three of you to my office at this hour?" Hiruzen greeted them warmly, masking his internal stress.
Even Kakashi's posture stiffened slightly upon their entry. These three men were the absolute foundational pillars of Konoha's political and military structure. The combined influence of their clans was so pivotal that, on certain matters, even the Hokage had to yield to their consensus.
"Good evening, Uncle Inoichi," Shiro greeted the blonde clan head with a polite, familiar nod.
"Lord Hokage," Inoichi began, returning Shiro's nod before addressing Hiruzen with a serious expression. "I received urgent intelligence that Shiro was in grave danger. We immediately mobilized our personal guards and came straight here to ensure his safety."
"It's fine, Uncle," Shiro explained smoothly, taking control of the narrative. "It was just a misunderstanding. Some rogue elements within the village attempted to use the Hokage's name as a pretext to escort me somewhere else. I have already dealt with them accordingly."
Shiro's calm explanation downplayed the severity of the Root attack, but seeing Uncle Inoichi rushing to the Hokage's office to advocate for his safety caused Shiro to silently note the favor in his heart. The Yamanaka clan's support was a valuable asset.
However, the specific detail that Hiruzen and Kakashi zeroed in on wasn't the attack itself, but the undeniable familiarity between the civilian orphan and the powerful clan head.
"You two... know each other?" Hiruzen asked, his eyebrows raised.
He honestly hadn't expected that such a significant social connection existed right under his nose without his knowledge. It seemed he had been relying a bit too heavily on his Crystal Ball jutsu to observe the village from afar; he was missing the crucial, ground-level interpersonal dynamics.
"Of course we do," Inoichi stated proudly, stepping forward to place a reassuring hand on Shiro's shoulder. "My daughter, Ino, has brought this brilliant young talent over to our compound many times for study sessions. One thing led to another, and we've gotten to know him quite well!"
Inoichi immediately and firmly stated his protective stance over the boy.
This revelation actually left Shiro caught between laughter and tears. The truth was far less dramatic. He had simply been unable to resist Ino's relentless, whining pleas for help with her academy homework and had reluctantly agreed to tutor her at her estate a few times.
What Ino *hadn't* told him was that she had apparently spent those study sessions relentlessly praising him to her father, making her infatuation glaringly obvious. One must remember, Ino was the sole, highly pampered heiress of the Yamanaka Clan. What she wanted, her father usually supported.
"It's true," Shikaku Nara drawled lazily from the side, a knowing smirk playing on his lips as he added fuel to the fire. "The last time Shiro visited the compound, Inoichi wouldn't stop bragging to Choza and me about how he fully intended to recruit Shiro as his future son-in-law."
"Uncle Inoichi, please. I really don't have any such plans right now," Shiro sighed, feeling a headache coming on, making him look even more exasperated.
But Inoichi didn't seem to mind the rejection in the slightest. He merely laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! It doesn't matter, my boy! I'm still young and strong; I can afford to wait! Besides, Ino is a beautiful, talented kunoichi. You two are a match made in heaven!" Inoichi declared, making it abundantly clear that he had already unilaterally decided Shiro's future marital status.
"Setting that aside for a moment," Inoichi's jovial expression vanished, replaced by the cold, calculating glare of the head of Konoha's Intelligence Division. "Who exactly was it that dared to attempt to harm Shiro?"
Inoichi's brow furrowed deeply. He had received a frantic, telepathic message from his daughter, claiming Danzo had snatched the boy. But looking at the situation now, Shiro was perfectly fine, standing comfortably in the Hokage's office.
What exactly had transpired?