Time flowed like water, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Since eliminating the three Jōnin from the Furuyama clan half a month ago, Veigar's temporary residence had thoroughly become a battlefield within Konohagakure.
For the past half-month, Veigar had grown accustomed to people coming to his doorstep daily to assassinate him. And each time he eliminated them, Anbu ninja would arrive to collect the bodies.
If Konoha's Anbu hadn't been collecting the corpses, the pile of bodies outside Veigar's hut would probably exceed two hundred by now.
It was precisely because of his earlier action of eliminating the three Furuyama clan Jōnin that Veigar understood the overt plan of Hiruzen and Danzo:
Drawing the snake out of its hole.
During wartime, all sorts of shadowy figures within Konohagakure had become active. A large number of spies began operating, and intelligence reports regarding Konoha were continuously sent out of the Land of Fire.
To deal with these spies embedded in Konoha, Hiruzen had genuinely tried every method, but the results were never satisfactory.
Then, Veigar returned.
He returned with a massive bounty on his head.
So, Hiruzen and Danzo devised this plan of drawing the snake out.
To avoid alerting the enemy, Hiruzen and Danzo even kept Veigar completely in the dark, not revealing a single detail.
The purpose of their actions, besides testing Veigar's loyalty and strength to Konoha, was to make Veigar fully align himself with their faction.
They were truly uneasy about Veigar. Without this test, if Veigar didn't lean towards one of their sides, they wouldn't dare to give him significant responsibilities.
Because Veigar's talent was simply too immense.
A ten-year-old, a ten-year-old Kage-level powerhouse.
It was terrifying just thinking about it.
How great would the threat to Konoha be if Veigar were to defect in the future?
During this period, Hiruzen's allowance of external assassins to enter Konoha was also a tactic to show weakness to the enemy.
In recent days, the plan formulated by Hiruzen and Danzo was nearing its conclusion, because these assassins, who had come for Veigar, were truly terrified.
Veigar had terrified them to the point of submission.
They loved money, but they valued their lives even more.
Earning money only to die before spending it would be a tragedy.
Within Konoha, they couldn't possibly organize a large number of people to simultaneously launch an assassination attempt on Veigar, or it would only alert Konoha.
Little did they know, this was a deliberate plan orchestrated by Hiruzen, who held sway over Konoha.
It was precisely because they realized Veigar's strength was immense, and that as long as he was in Konoha, they couldn't possibly assassinate him, that Konoha bared its fierce fangs.
These assassins from the underground black market, who had come for Veigar, then discovered they couldn't leave.
Easy to enter, difficult to leave!
Unbeknownst to them, Konoha had secretly implemented a "no exit" policy. Under the plan of Hiruzen and Danzo, all active spies were either killed or captured.
And every underground black market assassin who attempted to leave was cut down outside Konohagakure.
As usual, Veigar sat on the roof of his wooden hut, training and waiting for the arrival of assassins.
After half a month of training and consuming large quantities of medicinal herbs, Veigar was close to completing the eleventh stage of his Body Enhancement Technique.
Swoosh.
Veigar, on the rooftop, heard a movement and slowly opened his eyes.
"Veigar-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence."
Looking at the Konoha Anbu kneeling before him, Veigar calmly replied, "I understand."
Whoosh.
Upon receiving Veigar's response, the Anbu ninja immediately departed.
"Third Hokage, hehe~"
Veigar on the rooftop looked towards the Hokage Residence, a cold sneer forming in his heart.
Although Veigar had gained a considerable amount of Life Essence during this period, he greatly enjoyed the thrill of being targeted by assassins and then turning the tables on them.
However, ever since he learned that Hiruzen and Danzo had kept him in the dark, using him as bait in their plan, he felt no goodwill towards either of them.
Though, truthfully, Veigar had never felt goodwill towards them to begin with.
But this incident had also allowed Veigar to truly witness the despicable faces of Hiruzen and Danzo.
'Just wait and see.'
The next moment, Veigar vanished from the rooftop.
The Konoha Anbu who had just left Veigar's presence had large beads of cold sweat running down his face beneath his mask.
When he looked at Veigar, he felt no discernible aura from him, but it was precisely that lack of aura that exerted immense pressure on him.
He was the Anbu member most aware of how many people Veigar had killed these past few days, as every single corpse killed by Veigar had been handled by him personally.
It was because he knew Veigar's strength and battle record that, even though Veigar was very young and also a Konoha Jōnin like himself, and despite having more seniority, he still sincerely addressed Veigar as "Sama."
It had nothing to do with status or background; it was simply because Veigar was strong enough.
In Konohagakure, the streets, which should have been bustling and crowded with people, were now eerily quiet due to the war and recent events in the village. A shadow hung over many faces.
Veigar rubbed his stomach, gazing around as he walked forward. Having lived alone in the forest these past few days, eating only roasted meat and fish, he greatly missed Ichiraku Ramen.
As for Hiruzen's order for him to go to the Hokage Residence...
'He can wait. I'll go after I've eaten.'
Otherwise, people might think he was young and lacked a temper.
Since Hiruzen was going to disregard the shinobi code in his actions, Veigar would act like an innocent child.
Even though Veigar was incredibly strong, he was still only ten years old. Didn't that still make him a baby?
Just as Veigar spotted the Ichiraku Ramen sign...
Suddenly, five figures surrounded him.
The Konoha Military Police Force, the Uchiha Clan.
Veigar stopped, calmly looking at the Uchiha members standing before him, saying nothing.
The Konoha villagers on the street immediately stirred upon seeing the situation, scattering in all directions.
However, they didn't go far, instead forming a large circle nearby, pointing and whispering about the Konoha Military Police Force, the Uchiha Clan members, and Veigar.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know!"
"Isn't that Veigar-sama?"
"Why are the Military Police surrounding Veigar-sama?"
Amidst the surrounding villagers' murmurs, Uchiha Kinzan, the captain of the First Division of the Konoha Military Police Force, spoke to Veigar with a serious expression:
"Veigar Koshima, we suspect you of colluding with spies and harming villagers."
"Therefore, by order of the Commander, we ask you to come to the Military Police Force to assist in our investigation."
Uchiha Kinzan's words immediately ignited a fresh wave of discussion among the onlookers.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]