Hatake Sakumo froze for a moment before remembering the bathroom break Hatake Shibu had taken before leaving home that morning.
“You little brat! A Shadow Clone? You took quite a lot of supplies from my cabinet, didn’t you?”
Sakumo’s expression gradually became rather…
lecherous.
Clearly, some very questionable thoughts had entered his mind.
“But Shibu, this world is a cruel place. Since you’re going to play dirty, don’t blame your father for using a few tricks of his own!”
As he spoke, he pulled a firework from inside his clothes and launched it into the sky.
“Whoosh! Boom!”
A relatively small firework bloomed in the sky.
When the Anbu shinobi in the distance saw it, they immediately seemed to receive some sort of signal and rapidly headed toward the area.
This was a secondary Anbu assembly signal.
As the Anbu commander, Sakumo naturally had the authority to summon them.
It could be said with certainty that this was the first time Hatake Sakumo had used his position for personal purposes.
But he quickly got used to it.
As the saying went, if you don’t use the authority you have, it’ll eventually expire.
This twisted piece of logic, which had originally come from his son, had become Sakumo’s best excuse.
Soon, the Anbu members who weren’t currently occupied appeared before him.
Sakumo coughed twice.
“Ahem. I believe everyone already knows about yesterday’s epidemic incident. I’ve summoned you today for the purpose of finding the mastermind behind it.”
He then pulled a stack of photographs from inside his clothes.
Every single one was a photograph of Hatake Shibu.
Clearly, using the Anbu hadn’t been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
He had planned this from the very beginning.
His goal was to deceive and trap the several-year-old little comrade, Hatake Shibu.
After distributing the photographs, Sakumo continued.
“This individual is extremely dangerous. None of you are a match for him.”
“So I order you to contact me immediately if you see him. I’ll personally handle the situation.”
“Pay attention: do not take his life. The moment you find him, notify me.”
“That is all. Dismissed!”
The moment Sakumo finished speaking, the surrounding Anbu members immediately dispersed, disappearing without a trace.
“Shibu, don’t blame me. I just don’t want you to go down the wrong path.”
After murmuring those words, Sakumo headed toward the small stall Shibu had been using.
He intended to rest there while waiting for his subordinates to report any sightings of Shibu.
But after Sakumo had gone some distance away, Hatake Shibu climbed up from the ground.
That’s right.
It was the Transformation Technique!
At the critical moment, Shibu had successfully used the Transformation Technique to create the illusion that he was a Shadow Clone.
Watching Hatake Sakumo disappear into the distance, Shibu stroked his chin.
“Looks like I was a little better this time. Dad, I win!”
Shibu quickly left the area.
He had another target for today.
The training grounds, restaurants, and other densely populated areas would obviously have Anbu stationed nearby now.
But Shibu knew two places where there definitely wouldn’t be any Anbu guards.
That’s right.
The largest clan in Konoha since the disappearance of the Senju Clan:
The Uchiha Clan!
The Uchiha had a somewhat unpleasant relationship with Konoha, so security within their clan compound was handled by the clan itself.
Although it appeared open from the outside, it wasn’t actually open to outsiders.
But to Hatake Shibu, that place was a gold mine!
Because nobody would care about the Uchiha Clan’s well-being.
Once Shibu thought of this, his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
And in the place he had just left, another person appeared.
“Damn, that was close. If I hadn’t felt that something was wrong and come back to take another look, you might really have gotten away with it!”
It seemed that his son’s vigilance had far exceeded Sakumo’s expectations.
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also observing the situation.
The Telescope Technique wasn’t only useful for peeking into the women’s bathhouse.
Watching a father-and-son showdown was also quite entertaining.
The moment Hiruzen saw Hatake Shibu transform from what had appeared to be an ordinary paving stone back into a human, he knew that this child would definitely become a staunch successor to the Will of Fire in the future.
As for Shibu’s own opinion?
That wasn’t important.
“As expected, both of Sakumo’s sons are geniuses.”
“Kakashi was already a monster of a talent. I never expected this one to be even more extraordinary.”
When Hiruzen saw Hatake Shibu arrive at the Uchiha Clan’s compound, he frowned slightly.
His prejudice against the Uchiha wasn’t as deep as that of his own teacher.
But to some extent, he had still inherited his teacher’s ideology.
Therefore, he didn’t want someone he valued to become too close to the Uchiha Clan.
However, he soon shook his head.
The previous night, he had already thoroughly reviewed Hatake Shibu’s intelligence.
Shibu’s relationship with Uchiha Obito and their friendship wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
After all, Obito was also someone Hiruzen had taken an interest in. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
He was an Uchiha who had broken free from the shackles of the Uchiha name.
Just like Uchiha Kagami.
Therefore, Hiruzen had already made a decision.
He would grant Obito the qualifications to be considered a potential Hokage candidate—in other words, bring him into the Hokage faction.
This would also serve as a temporary means of appeasing the Uchiha and preventing them from causing trouble at this stage.
In reality, the village leadership had an extremely clear understanding of what was happening within the Uchiha Clan.
After all, this was Konoha.
With all the methods available to the village, learning what was happening inside the Uchiha Clan wasn’t difficult.
Trying to secretly discuss rebellion without the village’s higher-ups finding out was practically impossible.
Meanwhile, Hatake Shibu quickly arrived at the Uchiha Clan’s training ground.
He casually glanced around and immediately identified his target.
The entire place.
Because the Uchiha were marginalized within Konoha, most of them worked in the Konoha Military Police Force.
Their usual career path was simple.
They would spend some time among the genin, and once they reached the level of chunin, they would leave the regular shinobi ranks and join the Konoha Military Police Force.
Therefore, the people who trained at this particular practice ground were basically the Uchiha Clan’s elite.
And they were loaded.
“Sorry, Auntie Mikoto. I can only take a little money from your Uchiha Clan.”
“Afterward, I’ll make sure you avoid the fate of being wiped out. Consider this compensation.”
After murmuring those words, Hatake Shibu rapidly formed hand seals.
Then he quietly shouted,
“Fire Release: Hot Air Technique!”
Just as the technique was about to activate, a hand silently appeared on his shoulder.
“Sorry, Shibu. This is where it ends.”
“You’d better think carefully about how you’re going to explain yourself later.”
Hatake Sakumo’s smiling face appeared directly in front of Shibu.
Clearly, he believed that he had finally won.
He had caught Shibu red-handed.
What excuse could you possibly have this time?
But there was no trace of defeat on Shibu’s face.
Instead, he smiled at Sakumo.
“Father, sometimes what you see is simply what someone else wants you to see.”
“This time, I win.”
“Bang!”