At the Village Gate
The Uchiha guards on night watch immediately bowed when Hiruzen and Orochimaru returned.
"Hokage-sama!"
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Hiruzen nodded with a mild smile.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Then he glanced at Orochimaru's abdomen.
"Your injury?"
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"It's nothing, Sensei. As long as you don't pursue what happened tonight."
Hiruzen's expression hardened.
"You still understand the severity of what you did?"
Orochimaru tilted his head slightly.
"Sensei… he isn't truly a direct descendant of the First, is he?"
Hiruzen's gaze turned cold.
"Don't speculate."
"If he were suspicious, the Uzumaki would never have allowed him to stay in the village this long."
"Now Old Lady Mito treats him like family. He's moving back under her protection tomorrow."
Hiruzen's tone deepened.
"If you act recklessly again, I won't be able to shield you."
Orochimaru chuckled softly.
"I was merely testing him. I didn't seriously injure him."
Hiruzen gave him a long look.
He wasn't entirely convinced.
Orochimaru, however, was still replaying the fight in his mind.
He hadn't gone all out.
But neither had Kazuki.
And that was the unsettling part.
"Who told you about his Wood Release?" Hiruzen asked suddenly.
"When I rescued Sakumo Hatake and Minato Namikaze. They mentioned it."
Hiruzen sighed.
"Even so, the First Hokage's cell experiments were stopped long ago."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.
"Perhaps they shouldn't have been."
"No."
Hiruzen's voice was absolute.
"You will not pursue that path again."
"You think I don't see it? You want to experiment on the only awakened Senju bloodline left."
Orochimaru spread his hands lightly.
"Just a small sample of blood, Sensei. For the Senju clan, a little blood is insignificant."
Hiruzen's tone sharpened.
"I said no."
Silence lingered.
Orochimaru eventually sighed.
"Very well. I'll rest, then."
"Two days," Hiruzen said. "Then return to monitoring Kumogakure."
Orochimaru blinked slowly.
"I was seriously injured tonight. Surely I deserve half a year."
Hiruzen stared at him.
"A month is sufficient."
Orochimaru smiled lazily.
"My chakra signature was exposed. The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki may have sensed it."
"Surely you don't want me dying in Kumogakure, Sensei?"
Hiruzen exhaled.
"Where you recuperate is irrelevant. You're one of Konoha's Sannin."
Then he added quietly:
"Do not trouble Kazuki again. Many eyes are watching him now. If you provoke the wrong person… I won't protect you."
Orochimaru's smile sharpened.
"Then perhaps someone else should go to Kumogakure."
He turned to leave.
"I recommend Kazuki."
Hiruzen froze.
"He has talent, mobility, and no one outside the village knows his true strength."
"Isn't that ideal?"
And with that—
Orochimaru disappeared.
Hiruzen stood alone, conflicted.
Kazuki going to Kumogakure…
Strategically, it made sense.
Politically—
It was dangerous.
And emotionally—
Mito would never allow it.
The Next Morning
Sunlight filtered through the trees.
Kazuki yawned lazily in his cabin.
"So early?"
The door creaked open.
A masked shinobi from Root was dragged inside by thick wooden roots.
Bound.
Chakra draining.
The Root operative stared in horror.
How did a so-called chūnin capture me instantly?
"State your business," Kazuki said flatly.
The masked shinobi swallowed.
"Danzo-sama requests your presence."
[System Notification — Three options available:]
Option 1:Go to Danzo Shimura and join Root.Reward: B-Rank Ninjutsu — Wind Release: Vacuum Wave.
Option 2:Report to Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and become Konoha's rising star.Reward: C-Rank Ninjutsu — Telescope Technique.
Option 3:Stay home. Do nothing.Reward: ×10 Hashirama fusion speed.×10 ninjutsu experience gain (excluding character card abilities).
Kazuki stared at the panel.
"…Is that even a question?"
Option 3.
Obviously.
He flicked his wrist.
The Root operative was thrown outside like trash.
"Tell Danzo I'm busy."
The shinobi trembled but didn't dare retaliate.
He fled immediately.
Kazuki lay back down.
Hashirama fusion progress:
5.0% → 5.1%
He slept another hour.
5.1% → 5.2%
Kazuki sat up.
"…An hour equals a full night?"
He grinned.
"Turns out being lazy is efficient."
Still—
He couldn't just lie there forever.
That would be boring.
He tossed a marked Flying Thunder God kunai across the clearing.
In the next instant—
He teleported to it.
Again.
And again.
Each jump refined his control.
Flying Thunder God experience increased rapidly.
"This is actually a pretty fast way to grind skill levels…"
Hokage's Office — 10:00 AM
Hiruzen's face was dark.
Kazuki hadn't arrived.
Mito Uzumaki sat calmly.
Kushina beside her.
Orochimaru leaned against the wall, amused.
Hiruzen muttered under his breath:
"He dares to skip my summons…"
Kushina puffed her cheeks.
"Maybe he overslept."
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Or perhaps he simply doesn't fear authority."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly.
The village was changing.
And the center of that shift—
Was a boy who chose to stay in bed instead of answering Danzo or the Hokage.