Megumi's grin was wide as the remaining Root ninjas fell like dominoes.
"What's going on with Megumi? Why is he so strong?" Kaede muttered to herself, shocked by her son's power. The Root forces had lost their strongest captain, and now someone needed to report to Lord Danzō.
Suddenly, a system message appeared before Megumi's eyes:
[HOST, you need to end this fast! Your curse energy reserve is being drained drastically!]
"Crap," Megumi muttered.
He stepped back, then launched himself at the Root ninjas who had formed a defensive wall. He delivered a swift kick to one's neck, followed by a punch to the side. Jumping into the air, he brought his fist down, creating a massive crater on the ground with a loud
"Boom!"
One of the Root ninjas charged forward, trying to take advantage of the dust cloud. But Megumi effortlessly sidestepped and followed up with a clean cut. He then charged into the remaining group, cutting them down like vegetables. He was left standing in the middle of a bloody scene, struggling to stay upright.
Just as Megumi was about to fall, his mother's hand caught him. "It's okay, son, rest," she said, pulling him back and resting his head on her lap while gently stroking his hair.
At that moment, the Divine Dog turned its head toward the road leading to the clan compound. Kaede knew someone would have to take the blame for the incident. She was about to command the Divine Dog to return to Megumi's shadow, but both the summons and her son entered her shadow on their own.
"Phew, that'll do for now," she said, standing up. She saw her son's sword and realized he had killed an elite squad of Jōnin that she couldn't have beaten herself. She went to where the Root ninja bodies lay and damaged their brains to prevent anyone from trying to read their memories.
Just then, various shinobi from different clans appeared. They saw a scene that looked more like a massacre than a battle, and in the center stood a woman in a blood-stained white kimono, holding a blood-covered sword. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stepped forward. He recognized the woman who was once an Anbu captain under him and, seeing the pieces of the Root ninja, he immediately knew who was pulling the strings.
"Care to explain what happened here, Kaede?" the Hokage asked, his tone deceptively sweet.
Kaede was disgusted to see the Hokage's face again, but she knew she had to give an account of what happened. "These spies attacked my son, so I had to kill them," she replied, barely showing any respect.
Hiruzen knew she was lying. After all, her position as an Anbu captain meant she was well aware of the Root organization's existence. "Did they want something, and where is your child?" he pressed, glancing at the others who seemed to agree with his line of questioning.
Kaede immediately squatted and touched her own shadow.
"Divine Dog!" she called. "Nue!"
Immediately, a huge bird and two wolves emerged from her shadow. On the back of one of the wolves lay a four-year-old boy.
"Wow, a summoning wolf and a bird!" one ninja exclaimed.
"I can't sense any chakra from them," a Hyūga member added, activating his Byakugan.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless; he had never heard of a chakraless summoning. The three summons stood protectively beside Kaede.
"Now do you believe me, Hokage?" Kaede challenged. "If you don't mind, I would like to go to the hospital to treat my injuries."
Shikaku, who stood beside the Hokage, noticed the tension between his sister-in-law and Hiruzen. He stepped forward. "Hokage, I think treating her injuries is the most important thing."
The Hokage nodded. He ordered an Anbu squad to clean up the scene and escort the mother and son to the village hospital.
Somewhere inside a cave
"What?! They were all killed by just one woman with a strange summon?" a man's voice echoed inside a dark cave.
"Useless," Danzō growled, his anger reaching its boiling point. How could a single person kill a squad of Jōnin? "Show me the file on the woman."
"It's you again, Kaede." Danzō couldn't suppress his rage. He grabbed a file, and when he saw her son's information, a mechanical smile crept across his face.
A Few Days Later...
Megumi woke up and saw his mother, his uncle, and his wife talking beside his bed, but he couldn't understand what they were discussing.
"Ahhh!" he groaned, and they all stopped talking and turned to him.
"Calm down," his mother said. "You're still hurt."
"Okay, we have something to attend to, and don't forget to bring him to the party tomorrow," Shikaku said to Kaede. He waved his hand, signaling his wife to follow him.
Megumi said goodbye to the departing guests. Now it was just Megumi and his mother in the room. A tense silence fell between them.
"Mo..." Megumi tried to break the silence, but his mother hugged him tightly.
"It's okay, I understand. You can keep your secret to yourself."
"I can't breathe!" Megumi cried out, already feeling suffocated.
"Sorry," she said, freeing him. She sat on the bed beside him with a smile, looking at her handsome little boy.
"I need you to tell me something about yourself and about some people in this village," she said, placing her hand on his and rubbing it. "You knew that I was an Anbu, right? Those people you saw were not Anbu members serving the Hokage. They are owned by a man who is a Hokage adviser, and they are nothing like real Anbu, okay?"
"Why are you telling me this?" Megumi asked, confused as to why his mother was telling him such a huge secret.
"Listen to me first, young man," she said, gently bumping his head with her fist. "The man who attacked us is a troublesome person, and I don't want you to ever believe what the Third Hokage says or the concepts he speaks about, especially the 'Will of Fire.' That concept is a brainwashing tool, so be careful when you start school."
"Okay," he nodded.
"System, why did you say that my curse energy reserve was draining fast? Wasn't I supposed to have infinite curse energy?"
"And care to explain why I fainted after the incident?"
[Your curse energy reserve is still growing, and you don't have control over the power yet.]
[Even the strongest don't have the volume of curse energy you possess as a four-year-old.]