"Well, at least the next harvest is coming up soon."
After glancing at his status panel—especially the Seeds section—Natsuhiko's mood improved considerably.
Although those things were like parasites, frantically devouring his chakra, part of the problem was his own fault.
When he had first obtained this cheat, driven by curiosity, he had created a whole pile of seeds—especially basic attribute seeds, which were ridiculously numerous.
The result was that although he gained a solid foundation—excellent speed, reaction time, and strength—his chakra reserves suffered miserably.
Some clan members had even started to doubt whether he was truly a member of the Senju clan.
He had already cultivated Genin- and Chūnin-level chakra fruits. However, the higher the level of the seed, the more chakra it consumed and the longer it took to grow.
Fortunately, his overall strength wasn't weak.
Especially after he had, by sheer luck, obtained a Sage Chakra Seed. That gave him a much stronger trump card.
As for how powerful Sage Mode was—just look at Naruto and Senju Hashirama.
Even though Natsuhiko's Sage Mode didn't belong to any of the Three Great Sage Regions.
Even though he was only at the beginner stage, the boost it granted was already astonishing.
With that enhancement, he had avoided plenty of trouble during missions—and had even counter-killed some powerful enemies.
In Sage Mode, the quality of his chakra improved tremendously, which greatly amplified the power of his jutsu.
In addition, his resistance to genjutsu and his sensory abilities also improved significantly.
Genjutsu was extremely terrifying. In ninja combat, if you were caught in an illusion—even for just a fraction of a second—the result could be fatal.
And ninjas were like "Ferraris"—fast and powerful, but fragile upon impact. Quite a few famous ninjas had died to something as simple as a kunai.
He knew he couldn't fight like Might Guy—who could judge an opponent's moves without even looking at their eyes.
Therefore, he especially needed a way to counter genjutsu, and Sage Mode was the perfect solution.
After putting on his Anbu uniform and quickly fastening his mask, Natsuhiko left his residence.
He still had a mission today, and he certainly couldn't be late. The strictness of the Anbu was beyond imagination.
Running swiftly across rooftops, he quickly arrived at the Anbu headquarters.
After entering the gate and verifying his identity, Natsuhiko casually found a spot to rest.
He didn't know the details of this mission yet. His job was simply to give it his all once the assignment was issued.
Anbu missions were generally not revealed in advance. You only learned the specifics right before execution—this was part of their secrecy protocol.
After so many years in the Anbu, Natsuhiko was long accustomed to it. Along the way, he had even become a squad captain.
Though my captain position is kind of pathetic. Look at Uchiha Itachi—also a squad captain, yet he could raise his blade and wipe out his entire clan.
Natsuhiko sighed inwardly.
It was now the end of Year 47 of the Konoha calendar. The Third Great Ninja War had essentially come to a close.
On the battlefield of the Land of Grass, the Minato Namikaze squad had performed exceptionally during the Kannabi Bridge mission.
Although Uchiha Obito had sacrificed his life, cutting off the supply line between the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass left the Iwagakure forces stranded.
This forced Iwagakure to choose a ceasefire and surrender. However, the ceasefire terms Konoha offered were:
"Completely waive war reparations, not pursue Iwagakure's responsibility for attacking Konoha, and release the captured Iwa ninja…"
Natsuhiko roughly recalled the decisions Hiruzen Sarutobi had made during the Third Great Ninja War in the manga and anime.
It could be said that this essentially sold out Konoha's interests. Though from Hiruzen's perspective, the decision wasn't unreasonable.
After all, no one knew what Iwagakure's attitude truly was. If they went mad and chose to fight Konoha to the bitter end, the consequences would have been disastrous.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha had already fought the other Four Great Ninja Villages in succession. They were exhausted in both body and spirit, and their ranks of powerful shinobi were nearly depleted.
If Iwagakure went berserk, Konoha truly wouldn't have been able to endure it.
Moreover, if Iwagakure were pushed too hard, Konoha might not have been able to withstand the well-equipped and high-morale Kumogakure either.
The reason Kumogakure temporarily agreed to a ceasefire with Konoha had to be mentioned—the Third Raikage had been worn down to death after fighting tens of thousands of Iwa ninja.
Using Iwagakure to restrain Kumogakure and buy Konoha time to recover—this was Sarutobi Hiruzen's strategy.
However, such a ceasefire treaty—one that "sold out Konoha's own interests"—was bound to bring him trouble.
As a result, the Third Hokage had now stepped down, and Minato Namikaze had officially taken over as the Fourth Hokage. Konoha had entered a new era.
At least, on the surface.
"Though this Fourth Hokage probably won't last long. But that has nothing to do with me. I'm not an Uchiha—whoever becomes Hokage doesn't affect my missions much."
As for Natsuhiko's so-called "Unique Mission"—titled Become the True Final BOSS of the Ninja World—a task with no clear rewards or punishments, he still intended to complete it.
But to accomplish that, he had to rely on a faction—a sufficiently powerful one.
It wasn't as if he hadn't considered simply running away and joining Uchiha Obito. After all, they had once been classmates.
But after thinking it over carefully, he decided it was better to stay in Konoha.
Because whether it was Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara behind him, Black Zetsu, or even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—they were all his "competitors."
In the end, it was all about controlling the entire ninja world.
If that was the case, Natsuhiko didn't think being a "terrorist" had much of a future.
Besides, staying in Konoha meant that in the future there would be two chosen children—the saviors of the ninja world.
As for who became Hokage, it didn't matter much. In fact, if Sarutobi Hiruzen continued being Hokage, it might even be better for him.
Although Natsuhiko didn't particularly like him—and the Senju clan would probably rather see him dead—
Having knowledge of the plot, he knew that in the future the Third Hokage would be isolated and betrayed, dying without anyone coming to help him.
Well, not exactly no one—there was one person, but Kakashi stopped him.
And after him, the next Hokage would be Tsunade.
No matter how you looked at it, she was still a member of the Senju clan.
If he played it safe and held out until then, it would be a guaranteed profit.
Of course, if Natsuhiko performed well enough, perhaps he could even replace that Fifth Hokage himself.
Becoming an Anbu Squad Captain already gave him one percent mission completion—if he became Hokage, how much would that increase?
...
"Form up."
Just as Natsuhiko waited and continued thinking, a man wearing a dog-faced mask entered the room, leading behind him a white-haired figure wearing a cat-faced mask.
"Commander."
At his voice, all the Anbu members in the lounge immediately assembled. In less than thirty seconds, everyone was lined up.
"This is our new member. I believe you've all heard of him—Hatake Kakashi," the commander said calmly. "From now on, he's one of us. Codename: White Fang."
Kakashi?
White Fang?
Natsuhiko couldn't help raising an eyebrow at the name. And when he heard the codename, he looked even more puzzled.
He wasn't surprised to encounter Kakashi—but he didn't know whether this codename was the commander's idea or Minato Namikaze's request.
Before he could think further, the commander spoke again.
"Nightingale."
"Yes, Commander," Natsuhiko immediately replied.
"He'll be assigned to your squad from now on."
"…."
"Any problem with that?"
"No, Commander."