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After leaving the place where Konan lived, Hayata Hayato headed straight for the Land of Fire. Along the way, he ran into a few ninjas, but he took care of them easily and eventually reached the outskirts of Konoha. He hadn't seen the village itself yet, but there were already plenty of hidden Konoha operatives scattered around.
"Stop right there!"
"Who are you?!"
Hayato didn't bother hiding his presence—not that he was good at it anyway. So it didn't take long for the Konoha ninjas to spot him. They shouted at him, clearly on high alert, ready to strike at any moment.
"I'm here to see Hiruzen Sarutobi! Get him out here!" Hayato took a deep breath and yelled at them.
"Huh?" The Konoha ninjas were stunned. Who the hell was this guy, and why did he sound so arrogant—calling the Third Hokage by name like that? Without hesitation, they pulled out their kunai, clearly about to either attack or at least detain him and drag him to the Third Hokage.
Hayato frowned, quickly flipped backward, dodging a flurry of shuriken and kunai.
"Stop!" Hayato shouted. "I'm not here to fight! My name is Hayato! Once Sarutobi hears my name, he'll definitely come see me. Don't believe me? Then go tell him! But if you keep attacking me, you'll be dealing with consequences you can't handle!"
The reason Hayato said this was simple—he didn't come to fight. He came to negotiate with Konoha. If a fight broke out now and he turned into the Hulk, then negotiations would be off the table.
Sure, Hayato knew he was insanely strong. Once he transformed into the Hulk, he was almost unstoppable. Almost. He also knew this world was full of weird and powerful jutsu—like the Reaper Death Seal that Sarutobi controlled. Until he was sure those techniques wouldn't pose a threat to him, he really didn't want to fight the guy.
Right now, he was still in control of himself. He could talk and think clearly. And in the middle of a major war, Konoha definitely wouldn't want to make an enemy they couldn't handle. That meant there was still room for discussion. But if he turned into the Hulk, then there'd only be one outcome—either he got wiped out, or he destroyed the entire Konoha alliance.
"Hayato?" The Konoha ninjas paused their attack after hearing his name. They looked confused, but one of them quickly ran off toward Konoha's main camp. The rest stayed behind, keeping a close eye on Hayato and slowly surrounding him. They hadn't received any new orders yet, so they didn't act, but they definitely didn't let their guard down either.
Seeing someone go to report to Sarutobi, Hayato let out a sigh of relief and sat down cross-legged on the ground. He wasn't too worried about his own safety. Thanks to the Hulk's bloodline, he was basically immortal. At least for now, none of these guys could threaten his life.
Meanwhile, at the Konoha main camp, Hiruzen Sarutobi was discussing strategy with his three students—Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru. They were trying to figure out how to deal with the combined forces of the Rock and Sand villages.
Even though the two villages didn't trust each other much, their alliance was putting a ton of pressure on Konoha. And thanks to Hayato, Konoha had lost a lot of its top-tier fighters.
Even Orochimaru had been seriously injured—so badly, in fact, that he couldn't use even a third of his usual power. He was basically out of commission for now, only able to offer advice but not lead troops into battle. For Konoha, that was a huge loss.
Sarutobi was even starting to regret sending people after Hayato again and again. Not only had they failed to catch or kill him, but they'd also suffered heavy losses, which left them in a tough spot on the battlefield.
"Lord Hokage!"
Just then, a scout showed up in front of Sarutobi.
"Hm? What is it?" Sarutobi looked at him and frowned.
"Lord Hokage, someone's shown up at the front lines. He's demanding to see you—won't stop saying your name."
"Huh?" Sarutobi frowned even more. "Who is it?"
"He said his name is Hayato."
Boom!
"What?!"
"Hayato?!"
"Him?!"
"....."