"I do not understand."
Haori leaned back in the wheelchair, her small legs swinging lazily like she did not have a care in the world.
Creak.
Groan.
The wheelchair voiced its bitter protest.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood with his back to her, his voice carried by the rooftop wind.
"What is recorded in there is Kumogakure's secret Lightning Release chakra mode. If you cannot see it, then forget it."
Creak.
The wheelchair noises suddenly stopped.
The scroll slowly unfurled.
Hearing the rustle of paper and the soft murmur of someone reading under their breath, Hiruzen shook his head with a quiet laugh. He rested his hands on the edge of the rooftop and waited in silence.
The sun was already high.
Golden light blazed.
He tilted the brim of his Hokage hat down, throwing an oval shadow at his feet. His hunched back made him look like a drawn bow that had once been fully taut.
After a long time.
Rustle.
The sound of paper being rolled back up came from behind him.
"Memorized it all?"
"Yes."
Haori watched as Hiruzen slowly turned and held out the scroll she had just closed.
He took it back and slipped it away, then glanced at her.
"I have already handed your spoils over. Do not say this old man tried to pocket what is yours. Yotsuki Isao has been dead for quite some time. This Lightning Release Armor technique is the only thing left intact enough to be of use.
The village contributed to extracting it, so it will be sealed away afterward.
As for Naruto, you must keep his situation secret. He is special. The villagers must not learn the truth."
Haori nodded blankly.
Facing this nagging Third Hokage, she felt oddly at a loss.
She had thought that once her abilities were exposed, she would be met with torture, interrogation and pressure.
She had even prepared a full script in her head to spar with the Hokage in conversation.
Instead, the Third Hokage took her up to the hospital rooftop
and started lecturing her like a fussy old granny.
Hiruzen talked for a long while and finally realized Haori looked a bit dazed. He could not help frowning.
"Did you understand all that?"
"Yes. Is that really all?"
"What else did you expect?"
"I thought that you would…"
Haori hesitated, then again checked the emotional lights above his head.
She still could not find the malice she had imagined.
"Thought what?
That I would ask where your unusual body came from? Or your strange sensory ability? Or that tail beast chakra?"
He looked at the bewildered Haori and chuckled.
A flash of pride crossed his old face.
Hands still on the railing, he spread his arms like an eagle taking flight, as if he were sheltering the entire village of Konoha under his back.
"The Land of Fire holds the most fertile land in the world, and Konoha is without question the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Others covet us. We have never needed to covet anyone's scraps.
Is that bone-growing kekkei genkai of yours stronger than the Uchiha's Sharingan, or more mystical than the Senju's Wood Release?
Is your sensing finer than the Hyuga's Byakugan, broader than the Yamanaka clan's mind techniques?
I have seen pseudo-jinchuriki before. They are nothing new to me.
Every single tailed beast in this world was distributed by the First Hokage. The strongest of them all, the Nine Tails, is currently sleeping one floor beneath your feet in this very hospital.
Konoha's clans number in the dozens. We have so many secret arts that some jutsu in the Scroll of Seals are so powerful they have to be handpicked by those qualified to learn them.
So you tell me.
What exactly do you think you possess that is worth this old man, worth Konoha, throwing away our pride to try and steal from you?"
Whoosh.
The wind caught the hem of his Hokage robe and sent it billowing.
The great ceremonial cloak fluttered over the village.
The aged hero spread his arms wide, proudly embracing Konoha, and the overwhelming confidence he radiated left Haori deeply shaken.
Colors of confidence, pride, and sincerity glowed bright and steady above his head, like a cluster of fireflies.
These old monsters in Konoha are second-generation rich kids.
Haori finally realized where that strange sense of mismatch had come from.
She had been using Kirigakure logic to interpret Konoha behavior.
Kirigakure and Kumogakure scheming for the Byakugan, Danzō plotting after the Sharingan… she had subconsciously assumed Konoha was another village that would go rabid at the sight of a rare bloodline.
But the truth was the exact opposite.
This was the strongest village founded after Madara Uchiha and Senju Hashirama beat the entire shinobi world into submission.
Compared to the bloody mists of Kirigakure, you could almost call Konoha a hidden paradise.
Its foundations ran deeper than she had ever imagined.
Impure World Reincarnation to raise the dead.
The three great Sacred Places that taught Sage Arts.
The Flying Thunder God, the fastest space-time ninjutsu in the shinobi world.
The Reaper Death Seal, which ignored the body and locked away the soul itself.
Other villages cherished a single Byakugan like a priceless treasure.
Konoha could pile them in baskets.
Neither Sarutobi Hiruzen, nor Danzō, nor Orochimaru coveted every kekkei genkai they saw.
What they aimed for was the power that made someone the "God of Shinobi," or the "Shinobi of Legend."
In other words, Wood Release and the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Put simply.
They did not even bother to look at the bloodlines and secret arts that other villages would kill for.
They had not even finished studying their own.
Senju Tobirama's ninjutsu were powerful and demanding.
The Scroll of Seals was practically stacked to the ceiling.
Who had the spare time to tinker with some unknown bloodline from a minor clan?
Even if they fully researched your "amazing" kekkei genkai, could it really surpass Senju Hashirama?
If they had time to do that, why not study Wood Release?
Why not study the Sharingan?
Other villages treasured their tailed beasts like priceless relics, but if you lined up One Tail through Eight Tails, could they match the Nine Tails in a head-on clash?
Konoha, which still knew nothing of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's existence, could not even be bothered to covet what she left behind in the first place.
When they studied Wood Release and the Sharingan, it was not because they longed for those bloodlines.
They were searching for the root of Hashirama and Madara's overwhelming, unbridgeable power.
"I really did overthink this."
Haori fell silent for a while and had no choice but to admit she had just gotten looked down on.
Once she saw that she had finally understood, Hiruzen lowered his arms and spoke more gently.
"Your talent is extraordinary. It surpasses every ninja I have ever seen.
Even the First Hokage at your age was not as strong as you.
But talent is the most valuable and least valuable thing in this world.
You cannot transfer it. You cannot copy it.
And you never know when you might decide to throw it away like trash.
Konoha has no need to kill the hen for a single egg.
That is something only the starving poor, whose eyes have gone red with hunger, would do."
His rich-man speech left Haori's head spinning.
So this was what they meant by "when granaries are full, people know courtesy, when clothing and food are sufficient, people know honor and shame."
A little rat who had escaped from impoverished, war-torn Kirigakure was, for the first time, experiencing how domineering the rich kids raised in the strongest village could be.
"Lastly, I have one more question.
What is your true identity?"
"Did you not say you would not ask?"
Haori raised a brow, studying that open, straightforward old face.
Could it be that everything just now was nothing more than a smokescreen to coax the truth out of her?
Seeing her wariness, Hiruzen rubbed his temples with the heel of his hand.
"If I wanted to harm you, I could have had the Yamanaka clan dive into your memories already. Why would I waste my breath like this?
You saved many of the Academy students.
Even if you are a spy from another village, I am willing to give you a chance to turn over a new leaf.
So speak."
Haori looked up at the emotional lights above his head.
Resignation, suspicion, goodwill.
As she continued to hesitate, unwilling to reveal anything, the light of suspicion steadily grew stronger while the light of goodwill slowly dimmed.
Sometimes.
Saying nothing was the same as saying everything.
This was very clearly his final test.
If she did not put some real cards on the table, Konoha would always keep her at arm's length.
She would never get close to the core, and the jutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals that she desired so much would remain a fantasy.
"Have you heard of the Taketori clan of Kirigakure?"
At her words, Hiruzen thought for a moment. His gaze sharpened.
"The Taketori with Shikotsumyaku. So you are one of them."
"You might not know this, but the Taketori clan was wiped out two months ago. The order came from the Fourth Mizukage. The ANBU captain in charge was someone named Kuryu Shun."
"The reason?"
"Officially, they called it treason. In truth, they were after the heirloom our clan protected."
"What heirloom?"
"I do not know."
Haori shook her head with genuine confusion.
"The ANBU searched everything.
They flipped over every single corpse in the clan compound.
I was fortunate.
My bloodline awakened at the last moment, and I killed a few of the Kirigakure ANBU and escaped.
After that I fled through Haikawa Port to the Land of Fire.
I heard the shinobi of Konoha were the strongest, so I came here to find a way to grow stronger and one day avenge my family.
Everything after that, you already know."
Haori spoke in great detail.
Cause, process, result, all laid out clearly.
She did not skimp on any names.
And under Hiruzen's questioning, she shared more from that final slaughter.
The direction the enemy forces had come from, how they had deployed their troops…
The timing of her breakout…
Haori answered every question without the slightest hesitation.
If she had not truly been there, she could never have fabricated so many details.
Her bone manipulation matched Shikotsumyaku.
Her origin in Kirigakure fit with Hiruzen's earlier guesses.
A clan like the Taketori having strange secret arts of their own was quite reasonable.
Gradually.
The bright light of suspicion above the Third's head dimmed, though one tiny speck remained.
For all that Haori had been exhaustive with her answers, he still did not completely believe her.
He would need to send people to investigate what was left of the Taketori clan.
With a talent like hers, spending some of Kirigakure's spies to confirm it would be far from a waste.
If everything Haori said was true, and the Taketori clan had been slaughtered by Kirigakure's leadership, then although she came from Kirigakure, she had a blood-deep feud with them.
Her identity would be clear.
She would not have come to Konoha with the intent to harm it.
If, after that, she was slowly steeped in the Will of Fire and grew bonds with the village, it would not be impossible to make her truly one of their own.
As for Shikotsumyaku, that could wait.
Konoha did not lack powerful bloodlines.
If Haori lived in Konoha, then married and had children, Shikotsumyaku would not be going anywhere.
What truly stirred Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart was the talent that surpassed even the First Hokage's.
A seven-year-old elite jonin was far too tempting.
He looked at Haori's short legs dangling from the wheelchair, not even reaching the ground, and his heart burned hot with desire.
He could say Konoha had plenty of secret techniques and bloodlines.
But in all his long years he had never seen such a young elite jonin.
Kakashi, once hailed as Konoha's greatest prodigy, had become a chunin at six and a jonin at twelve.
That was a height ninety-nine percent of shinobi could never touch, the ceiling of almost every genius.
And Haori had taken that timeline and cut it in half.
She was essentially a deluxe edition Kakashi with an innate bloodline and half a tailed beast's power.
It was almost guaranteed that she would one day stand shoulder to shoulder with the Kage of every village.
If not for the lingering doubts about her identity, he would already be scheming how to make her his disciple.
Konoha did not lack high-level ninjutsu.
What it lacked were young prodigies who could carry forward the techniques left by their predecessors.
Letting a talent like Haori grow freely outside any guidance would be no different from squandering a miracle.
It would be an insult to the very idea of genius.
Pop, pop, pop.
One emotional light after another bubbled up from his head.
Haori glanced up.
Suspicion had shrunk to a tiny dot.
Most of the colors now were hesitation, temptation, and fondness.
His goodwill toward her had clearly risen.
The overall glow was brighter, no longer the muddy blur she had seen in the ward.
Haori's tense heart loosened a little.
It seemed she had passed this test.
Her origin in Kirigakure had always been a hidden landmine.
If she could use this chance to clear it once and for all, the road ahead would be far smoother.
The wild rooftop wind gradually gentled, turning as mild as a spring breeze.
The Hokage robe stopped fluttering wildly and simply hung down. Only the hem near the ground still lifted and fell faintly.
"I will still have people investigate what you said. If it all proves true…"
Hiruzen thought for a long moment, then finally faced Haori's childish face and made up his mind.
"Then come.
Become my student."
Haori's eyes flew open wide.
She stared at the Third Hokage in disbelief.
"My identity…"
"If not for the questions around your identity, I would already have taken you in," Hiruzen said, his eyes full of hunger for talent.
Born with all five chakra natures, a body tough enough to withstand Yotsuki Isao's Lightning Release Armor, a battle style that matched his own almost perfectly.
And most importantly, she was young.
If Haori were ten or twelve, he would not be this tempted.
Youth meant her mind and will were not yet set in stone.
If she were soaked long enough in the Will of Fire, he could gently guide her in exactly the direction he wanted.
Wait too long and her thinking would fully mature.
By then, it would all be too late.
Looking at the stunned girl, he lowered his head, expression serious.
"Let me be clear.
Even if you become my disciple, that relationship cannot be made public. Only when I deem you worthy, can you make it known.
Until then, aside from instruction in ninjutsu, you will gain nothing else from me.
If, in the future, you do anything to harm Konoha, then whatever you have learned under me, I will take back with interest.
Knowing all that, are you still willing?"
Hearing his conditions, Haori could not help but laugh.
She had come to Konoha only to seek power.
She had never cared about titles like "student of the Hokage."
It was obvious Hiruzen could not bear to waste her talent, but also did not want her to use that relationship as a political stepping stone toward the Hokage seat.
So he had invented this awkward half-hidden apprenticeship.
Which suited her perfectly.
The Hokage's chair involved endless paperwork and troubles.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya would destroy the world in a few short years.
Power was what mattered.
She had zero interest in these political games.
For one short morning, everything had gone her way.
She had gotten a powerful Lightning Release chakra mode, cleared her identity, and now even picked up a Kage-level teacher.
Double blessings in a single day.
"It is a deal, then, Teacher Sarutobi."
At her words, something like sorrow flickered across the Third's face.
In all his life, he had taken three students.
Tsunade had left the village in anger for the sake of the Senju clan and refused to return.
Orochimaru had defected in his obsession with immortality.
Jiraiya had let the toads of Mount Myōboku talk him into wandering the world in search of some "Child of Prophecy."
"Abandoned by all" would not be an exaggeration.
This one phrase, "Teacher Sarutobi," felt both familiar and strangely distant.
"We are not master and student yet. Your identity is still not fully clear."
He rejected her words in principle, though not in his heart.
Watching the goodwill above his head tick upward again, Haori hid her smile.
"Understood, Teacher Sarutobi."
"I just said, not yet."
"Yes, yes."
He looked at Haori, sitting upright in her wheelchair with a bright grin and two tiny canine teeth showing, and for some reason he felt completely seen through.
He had never taken on a disciple of the "little witch" type before.
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