The moment it happened, every pair of eyes in the classroom snapped toward the scene.
Hirofumi Ito glanced around, taking it all in.
Well, damn!
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was here? His dad and grandpa were here too… And over there—that guy! Wasn't that the infamous "First Pot-Shadow," the 5.5th Hokage, Danzo Shimura?!
What was that old schemer doing here?!
"Hey, everyone! What's with all the excitement?" Hirofumi said, flashing a carefree grin.
He'd already braced himself for this. Vanishing from the classroom out of nowhere was bound to cause a huge stir. There was no way people with ulterior motives wouldn't take notice.
Sure, he now had Uchiha Madara as his summoning beast, but Madara wasn't exactly the obedient type. Ordering the guy around? Yeah, that was a pipe dream. At best, Madara might step in to save him if his life was in danger—only because if Hirofumi died, Madara would go back to being a flicker in the flames of the Spirit Realm. As it stood, being summoned was pretty much as good as being revived.
So, back in the Spirit Realm, Hirofumi had come up with a plan. No way was he spilling the beans about the system or the whole "spirit resurrection" thing. His strategy? Play dumb. Act like he had no clue what happened.
"I just ended up in some weird space, and I don't know anything about it. Then, poof, I was back!"
They couldn't prove he was lying, right?
As soon as he spoke, his grandfather, Daiga Ito, rushed forward and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug. "My precious grandson! You scared me half to death! I'm too old for this kind of shock! Whatever you want to do from now on, Grandpa's got your back—just promise me you won't pull a disappearing act like that again!"
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Hirofumi's father, Aoyama Ito, let out a long sigh of relief. If his son had really been gone for good, he wouldn't have known how to face his wife. Thank goodness Hirofumi was back—safe and sound!
Neither Aoyama nor Daiga cared much about the details of Hirofumi's so-called "reverse summoning." To them, all that mattered was that he was okay.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing nearby, was also anxious to know what Hirofumi had been through, but seeing Daiga's emotional state, he held back from interrupting. He could relate—if his own grandson disappeared, he'd be just as frantic.
Danzo Shimura, however, wasn't so patient. Leaning on his cane, he marched right up to Hirofumi. "Ito Hirofumi!" he barked. "I'm Danzo Shimura, elder of the Hidden Leaf Village. Tell me exactly what you experienced! Why did you disappear, and what happened while you were gone?"
Hirofumi patted his grandfather's shoulder, trying to calm him down before the old man's snot ended up all over him. "Grandpa, I'm fine, see? No need to worry!"
"Ito Hirofumi! I'm speaking to you!" Danzo snapped again, his tone harsh.
Hiruzen frowned slightly, barely noticeable. "Danzo, the boy just got back. Give him a moment."
"Hmph! Fine!" Danzo grumbled.
Hirofumi reassured his grandfather again and gave his father a nod to signal he was okay. Aoyama nodded back, relieved.
Then, Hirofumi turned to Hiruzen. "Lord Hokage!" he said, deliberately ignoring Danzo.
Hiruzen's eyes lit up with approval. This kid's sharp. Polite, too.
"Ito Hirofumi, right?" Hiruzen said warmly. "You're a good kid, aren't you? Your grandfather was one of my subordinates back in the day, so no need to be so formal with me. You can call me Third Grandpa or Hokage Grandpa if you like!"
Hirofumi put on an exaggerated look of surprise, playing the part perfectly. "Really, Hokage Grandpa? I can call you that?"
His family was as loyal to the Hidden Leaf as they came, and his youthful appearance was the perfect cover.
"Haha, of course you can!" Hiruzen chuckled.
Say what you will about the Third Hokage, but Hiruzen Sarutobi was a master politician. If Hirofumi weren't a transmigrator, those few words would've been enough to win him over completely. Hiruzen's casual mention of his connection to Daiga pulled the Ito clan closer, and calling Hirofumi part of his "family" was a clever way to earn their loyalty—especially with both the current and former Ito clan heads standing right there.
Danzo, meanwhile, grew visibly darker as Hirofumi ignored him, a village elder, entirely.
"So, Hirofumi," Hiruzen continued, "can you tell Hokage Grandpa what happened? Everyone here's curious!"
Hirofumi scratched his head, putting on a clueless, innocent act. "Uh… Hokage Grandpa, I'm not really sure what happened. Iruka-sensei was teaching us about summoning jutsu and the hand signs. I tried them out, just to see, and then—bam! I ended up in some weird space! I have no idea where it was."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. That confirmed it—Hirofumi's disappearance was due to a reverse summoning jutsu. The place he went to could very well be one of the three holy sites!
"Did you see any strange creatures there?" Hiruzen pressed.
"Nope, nothing!" Hirofumi replied, still playing dumb. "It was just… empty. I wandered around for a bit, totally confused, and then I was back here!"
Hiruzen's brow furrowed. Nothing? That didn't add up. When Jiraiya had been reverse-summoned to Mount Myoboku, he'd met the toads and started learning sage jutsu. If Hirofumi had gone to a holy site, he should've encountered something.
Was it not a holy site after all? Or maybe Hirofumi hadn't been recognized by whatever was there? Or… was the kid hiding something?