"Send Danzo in."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was low as he ordered the empty air.
A moment later, Danzo Shimura, his face clouded with gloom, marched straight into the Hokage's office.
As soon as he pushed open the door, Danzo spoke impatiently:
"Hiruzen, I heard intel has come in from the Land of Whirlpools. What's the situation?"
"The Whirlpool Village has fallen. The Uzumaki clan is all but extinct."
"Hmph. Useless allies."
"Where were the ROOT agents I ordered you to send? Why is there no mention of reinforcements in the report? Instead, you sent a fresh Genin squad on a suicide 'infiltration' mission." Hiruzen's gaze was sharp, pinning Danzo down.
Danzo stiffened but replied calmly:
"ROOT is understaffed. I told you this before—I need to recruit more ninjas from the clans."
"Danzo! You really are something! You cherish your own subordinates so much, but you treat the village's ninjas and my orders like they're nothing!" Hiruzen's suppressed anger finally broke through, and he shouted at his old friend.
"If Night Namikaze hadn't miraculously survived, I would still be in the dark!"
Being yelled at like this stung Danzo's pride. He retorted:
"Everything I do is for Konoha! Who knew the Uzumaki would be so weak? As for that kid who escaped—there must be something wrong with him. I suggest we use the Yamanaka clan's techniques to interrogate him thoroughly..."
"Shut up!" Hiruzen stood up abruptly, the aura of the Hokage flaring around him.
"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. If I catch you acting on your own again without orders, there will be consequences."
"I don't regret anything."
Danzo said his piece, glanced at Hiruzen's flowing Hokage robes, and turned to leave without hesitation.
Silence returned to the office.
Hiruzen sank back into his chair. His usually straight back looked hunched.
He knew Danzo wasn't entirely wrong. Konoha was fighting on multiple fronts and was stretched too thin. Avoiding a direct conflict with the Mist Village right now was technically in Konoha's best interest.
Hiruzen turned his gaze to the window, staring at the stone faces of the First and Second Hokage for a long time.
---
Dragging his exhausted body, Night finally made it back to his familiar little house. Even with the Uzumaki Sage Body giving him insane vitality, the mental fatigue was real.
He had sprinted all the way back, keeping Mind's Eye of the Kagura active at max range the entire time. Even inside the Land of Fire, he hadn't relaxed. He was completely drained. Not a drop of energy left.
From his brief meeting with Hiruzen and the flash of shock on the Hokage's face, Night was certain the mission was rigged.
Combining that with his knowledge from his past life, he knew without a doubt that Danzo, the "Shadow of the Pot," was behind it.
Too tired to think, the accumulated exhaustion from days of killing and running hit him like a tidal wave.
He stripped off his filthy clothes, collapsed onto his bed, and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.
---
Sunlight flooded the room. Night slept until the sun was high in the sky before finally waking up.
"Ah—Ah—"
"That hit the spot!"
He stretched, his joints popping satisfyingly. All the fatigue was gone, replaced by vibrant energy.
"Is this the recovery power of the Uzumaki Sage Body? It's a cheat code..."
Normally, after such intense exertion, he would be sore for days.
He thought of his future "nephew" Naruto. No wonder the kid could spam Shadow Clones like crazy. Anyone else would have died from exhaustion.
Night felt the chakra surging through him and the powerful life force in his veins. He even felt like he had grown taller overnight.
He balled up his tattered, bloodstained uniform and threw it away. After washing up and changing into clean civilian clothes, he stepped out onto the street, feeling refreshed.
The small two-story building he lived in was an inheritance from his parents in this world, who had died early in the Second Great Ninja War.
Luckily, Night had his past-life memories and a decent pension, so this "mature" kid lived comfortably during his Academy days.
Although the Namikaze weren't a major ninja clan, his relatives took good care of the talented youngster.
The midday streets of Konoha were noisy and full of life, as if the war had never touched this place.
"Night! Haven't seen you for a few days. Were you on a mission?"
Just as he was looking for food, a familiar voice called out.
Night turned and saw Auntie Keiko from the dango shop waving at him, flour on her apron.
"Hey, Auntie Keiko. How's business?"
"Thanks to your idea, it's booming!"
Her shop used to sell plain white dango until Night suggested adding cherry blossom and matcha flavors, creating the now-popular Three-Color Dango.
It was a casual suggestion, but Night had actually bought the shop space with his pension as a backup plan in case he flunked out of the Academy. Now, he rented it to Auntie Keiko for some passive income.
"Ohayo! Night, you here for dango too?"
[Ding! Scan Complete. High-Value Pawnable Item Discovered:]
[Extremely Rare Senju Bloodline x1 ... Valuation: 1000]
Night didn't need the system to tell him who it was. That goofy voice gave it away.
An idea sparked in Night's mind.
"Hey, Nawaki. You've been following Lord Orochimaru for a while now, so why are you still so reckless?"
"Hahaha! Don't joke, Night. I graduated in the top three of our class!"
"And who was number one?"
"Okay, fine, you win. But I've learned a ton from my sensei! You definitely can't beat me now."
Their graduating class didn't have many standouts, but Nawaki Senju was one of them.
Nawaki was a genuine genius in terms of raw potential and chakra volume, far surpassing Night's Academy stats.
The problem was his personality. He was straightforward and reckless. He had power but zero tactical sense. Against average Genin, he could brute-force his way to victory. But against someone like Night, who had the mind of an adult and fought with calculation, Nawaki was full of openings.
Night took two skewers of dango from Auntie Keiko. He shoved one into his own mouth and the other into Nawaki's hand.
"I'd like to see how much you've improved. Want to spar at the training grounds?"
"Loser buys lunch?"