Chapter 331: The Spectator
After Masahiko sent Toneri into the academy, he disappeared from Konoha Village. No one knew where he went.
Meanwhile, the family of the second-year Ninja Academy top student, Tenten, gained a chef with superb culinary skills named Indra.
...
Time flew by in a flash. A month passed. Late at night on April 1st, Konoha Year 54.
A humanoid dark shadow slipped out of the boudoir of the fast asleep Tenten-kun. The shadow passed through the wall, climbed onto the roof of Tenten's house, and sat down by the eaves.
"Finally done. That cat is really scamming its master. I really want to kill it and eat its meat."
The dark shadow revealed its face; it was none other than Masahiko.
A month ago, he discovered that his useless cat had lost all its morals. In order to make Tenten cultivate faster, it actually used its own blood as a tonic for Tenten to drink. Masahiko was truly helpless, and also felt a little worried in his heart.
That night, taking advantage of Tenten's deep sleep, he sneaked into her room. After a slight inspection, he found that as expected, Tenten's chakra had been tainted with the nature of the Two-Tails' chakra. Moreover, her chakra reserves far exceeded those of her peers, being even slightly stronger than Karin's... No wonder she could beat Neji. In the future, she might grow into a ninja like Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
This was indeed beneficial to Tenten's growth, but at the same time, it brought her some risks that originally had nothing to do with her. She might become a target for Akatsuki to capture. The fat cat was his summoned beast and very difficult to catch, so Akatsuki might just make do with Tenten.
Fortunately, Tenten's chakra hadn't been heavily infected by the Two-Tails yet, so no one else could sense it.
Masahiko didn't want to make a big fuss, so he could only sneak in every night to help her 'digest' the fat cat's blood and shield the fluctuations of the Two-Tails' chakra. Over the past month, Tenten's growth speed had been extremely fast. Coupled with having to train while carrying the fat cat, which he was feeding to be heavier and heavier, he feared Neji wouldn't be able to snatch back the top student position anytime soon.
During this month, Konoha Village also staged various tragedies and comedies, and Masahiko watched many grand shows.
The war ended, and the frontline ninjas returned. Masahiko originally thought he would first see the dispute between the Senju and the Uchiha, but instead, he watched a light comedy first.
One night, Tsunade quietly left Konoha with Shizune. Only Masahiko noticed, thinking some major event had occurred.
As it turned out, Tsunade, with a slightly red face, told him that when her mother Hoka passed away two years ago, she urged her to hurry up and get married, even specifically pointing out Jiraiya. She said her mind was a bit messy right now and wanted to go out for a stroll, and incidentally... gamble a bit.
As for Dan Kato, this obscure man dodged the Second Ninja War, escaped the Third Ninja War, but ultimately died in this Fourth Ninja War, which differed from the original story.
Besides his grief-stricken niece Shizune, only Obito and the group of students he had led mourned. Obito even completed his evolution from a two-tomoe to a three-tomoe Sharingan because of this. This was Dan Kato's final contribution.
With Tsunade's departure, Jiraiya naturally followed closely behind—to find Tsunade, to find his best friend Orochimaru, to gather material... Just like that, all of the Sannin left Konoha.
After this light comedy finished playing out, it was time for the grand drama of the struggle between the Senju and the Uchiha.
The current Konoha was occasionally referred to as the golden age of the Senju and the Uchiha. Although they lacked the invincible combat power of the two ninja gods, the combined combat power of the other ninjas had indeed reached an unprecedented peak.
In the Uchiha clan, three Mangekyou Sharingan possessors appeared simultaneously: Kagami Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha. Based on the original story, Masahiko suspected Fugaku had also awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, only he hadn't revealed it.
The Senju clan, due to Tsunade's departure, was slightly weaker in terms of peak combat power. However, when Itachi Senju, who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan at the age of twelve, sprouted a small sapling from his palm, the Senju became the more favored side by others. Wood Release was something too many people longed for and feared.
Because of this, the equally highly talented 'Masahiko Senju' was also pushed to the forefront of the storm. Without a certain 'thick-skinned' old senior to break the agreement, the Senju couldn't deny the past agreement, so they could only exploit a loophole.
'Masahiko Senju' had to change his name? Fine, change it. But after the change, Nawaki and Mikoto still kept him in the Senju clan, because the initial agreement only mentioned changing his name, not transferring custody.
Therefore, the Senju clan no longer had a person named 'Masahiko Senju'; instead, there was an extra child with the Uchiha surname—Sasuke Uchiha.
The Uchiha clan was naturally dissatisfied with this outcome. These days, Konoha was caught in a storm; the external war had just died down, and internal strife arose.
Hiruzen originally planned to retire, but in this situation, he could only hold on.
He hadn't skimped on pleading with Minato to become Hokage again. Looking at his increasingly aged face, Minato softened a bit, but... in their family, Kushina had the final say.
Helpless, Hiruzen couldn't select a Fifth Hokage at this time either; doing so would probably cause Konoha to explode instantly. He could only brace himself, win over the smaller clans, and expand the strength of Konoha's Anbu. Kakashi, Genma Shiranui, and a batch of newly matured young ninjas mostly entered the Anbu. Other ninjas with potential were appointed to other positions in Konoha; for example, Rin replaced Tsunade as the new captain of the Konoha Medical Corp.
Hiruzen was working hard to find a way to quell the disputes in Konoha, allowing the village to undergo a smooth transition of power.
In the past, he was actually somewhat dissatisfied with Masahiko always meddling in Konoha's internal affairs, but now he was hoping Masahiko would appear to cut through this mess with a sharp knife.
Masahiko's stance was: If you tell me to come and I come, wouldn't I lose a lot of face?
The general situation in the village was like this, while the children inside the Ninja Academy seemed to live in another independent world, with their own lives and thoughts.
Masahiko didn't have to worry about Naruto's orientation anymore, because he still ended up liking a girl in his class—Sakura Haruno.
Of course, Sakura-kun still looked down on Naruto. Pursuing good looks, she preferred Sasuke.
Ino and Sakura-kun didn't fall out over fighting for Sasuke. There were indeed quite a few handsome boys in this graduating class, and because Toneri seemed to have a soft spot for Hinata, Ino entangled herself with Sai.
Toneri didn't really know how to pursue girls, only knowing how to hover around Hinata. The scene was extremely awkward for a while. Hinata-kun shyly dodged here and there, leaving Masahiko to only smile and shake his head.
'Masahiko Senju' changing his name to 'Sasuke Uchiha' made him become a bit more silent, but to Naruto, it made no difference; he was still that bastard. After discovering that Sakura-kun liked 'Sasuke', the fights between the two became even more intense.
Naruto's grades were also very interesting. Sometimes he was third place, and sometimes he was dead last—whenever the Transformation Jutsu was tested.
But no matter what was tested, he always ended up behind Sasuke. Furthermore, the two of them had a common goal to surpass—Toneri.
...
The leisurely life continued. Masahiko planned to just be a spectator like this, scrounging up Witness Points. When he fully leveled up his main account and could use Edo Tensei, he would summon Madara, Hashirama, and the others out every day to relieve his boredom... Being able to truly resurrect them would be even better.
But accidents always happened inadvertently. Kimimaro's Kekkei Genkai illness flared up.
☆☆☆
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