Late at night—
Inside the Hokage’s office.
A masked ANBU operative suddenly appeared kneeling before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
“Hokage-sama.”
“A Root operative approached Yoruha earlier tonight.”
Hiruzen’s expression darkened slightly.
“…Danzo moved quickly.”
Beside him, Kakashi Hatake quietly narrowed his visible eye.
The Third Hokage immediately asked:
“What happened afterward?”
The ANBU operative hesitated briefly.
“…Yoruha seemingly did nothing.”
“But the Root operative collapsed unconscious.”
Silence.
Hiruzen and Kakashi exchanged glances instantly.
The ANBU continued carefully:
“We suspect either mental interference or intense killing intent.”
“The operative lost consciousness immediately.”
Kakashi’s expression became serious.
“…Killing intent?”
The silver-haired Jonin slowly remembered something unpleasant.
Years ago—
When Orochimaru defected from Konoha, Kakashi once attempted to stop him.
At the time, Orochimaru merely released his murderous aura casually.
Yet even as a Jonin—
Kakashi found himself unable to move.
His instincts screamed so violently that attacking became impossible.
Even now, Kakashi still remembered that overwhelming fear vividly.
But—
That was Orochimaru.
A legendary Sannin who survived countless wars, experiments, assassinations, and battlefields.
Yoruha was only twelve years old.
How could he possibly possess killing intent surpassing a war-hardened monster like Orochimaru?
More importantly—
The Root operative who collapsed was not weak.
A Special Jonin-level shinobi should not faint from ordinary intimidation alone.
Kakashi frowned deeply.
“This can’t be explained through normal killing intent.”
The Third Hokage slowly stood up.
“I need to confirm his mental condition personally.”
Yoruha already ranked as Hiruzen’s highest-priority Hokage candidate internally.
In truth, although Hiruzen considered Kakashi valuable—
Yoruha’s potential completely surpassed him.
Kakashi represented a reliable elite Jonin.
Yoruha represented a possible future monster beyond Kage level.
The Third Hokage absolutely could not allow psychological instability to develop inside someone possessing that level of power.
Soon—
Hiruzen and Kakashi disappeared from the office simultaneously.
A short while later.
Outside Yoruha’s apartment.
The Third Hokage hesitated briefly before knocking.
Inside the room, Yoruha slowly opened his eyes from bed.
Observation Haki spread outward instantly.
After sensing the visitors, he sighed softly.
“…Why does everyone keep coming one after another?”
He was beginning to feel genuinely annoyed.
Yoruha walked toward the entrance and opened the door.
“Hokage-sama.”
“Kakashi-sensei.”
This was technically his first proper face-to-face interaction with Kakashi despite seeing him earlier during Team 7’s assignment.
Since Kakashi officially instructed Naruto and Sasuke, calling him “sensei” remained natural.
Yoruha stepped aside casually.
“Come in.”
Soon, the three sat together inside the living room while drinking tea quietly.
Hiruzen carefully observed Yoruha’s expression.
Calm.
Stable.
No visible emotional abnormality whatsoever.
Only then did the old Hokage relax slightly.
Finally, Hiruzen asked:
“A Root operative came to see you earlier, correct?”
Yoruha nodded.
“He claimed to be ANBU.”
“And said someone named Danzo wanted to meet me.”
Yoruha deliberately phrased things ambiguously.
Theoretically, someone like him should not fully understand Danzo’s existence yet.
Kakashi calmly explained:
“Root is a special subdivision originally connected to ANBU.”
“It operates independently under Danzo’s command.”
“Danzo himself was once one of Konoha’s senior advisors.”
Kakashi intentionally omitted several details.
Especially the matter involving the Uchiha Clan massacre.
After that incident, Hiruzen drastically restricted Danzo’s political authority.
Currently, Danzo mainly retained control over Root itself.
Yoruha nodded casually.
“So he really exists.”
“And apparently holds considerable influence.”
His tone remained indifferent from beginning to end.
Neither fear.
Nor caution.
As though Danzo’s identity meant absolutely nothing.
That reaction alone left both Hiruzen and Kakashi briefly speechless.
Most Konoha ninja—even Jonin—felt pressured after hearing Danzo’s name.
But Yoruha genuinely did not care.
Eventually, Hiruzen asked directly:
“Did you use mental ninjutsu against the Root operative?”
Kakashi also focused immediately.
He genuinely wanted to understand how Yoruha incapacitated a Special Jonin instantly.
Even elite genjutsu should not achieve that result so casually.
Yet Yoruha answered simply:
“It wasn’t ninjutsu.”
“It was merely aura.”
“Something similar to what shinobi call killing intent.”
Kakashi frowned immediately.
“Killing intent?”
“I understand psychological pressure.”
“But normal killing intent can only intimidate opponents.”
“It shouldn’t knock experienced ninja unconscious.”
Yoruha glanced toward Kakashi calmly.
“That’s because there are levels to killing intent.”
Then—
He smiled faintly.
“This…”
“…is my intimidation.”
BOOM.
In an instant—
Terrifying Conqueror’s Haki exploded directly toward Kakashi.
The pressure struck with horrifying precision.
Kakashi’s pupils contracted violently.
It felt as though an invisible warhammer smashed directly into his consciousness.
His vision darkened instantly.
His body froze.
His mind screamed danger uncontrollably.
For one horrifying moment—
Kakashi genuinely felt death approaching.
Then—
The pressure vanished immediately.
Yoruha withdrew his Conqueror’s Haki casually and took another sip of tea.
“…The difference is rather large, isn’t it?”
Across from him, Kakashi nearly collapsed sideways.
Blood trickled faintly from his nose.
Cold sweat covered his forehead instantly.
His visible eye widened with lingering shock and fear.
Even Yoruha looked slightly surprised internally.
“…That strong?”
Originally, he merely intended to demonstrate briefly.
Yet Kakashi almost lost consciousness immediately.
In the One Piece world, someone with Kakashi’s combat level would absolutely qualify among high-ranking Marine officers.
Yet his Conqueror’s Haki nearly overwhelmed Kakashi instantly.
Then Yoruha realized the reason quickly.
“Chakra amplification…”
Unlike pure One Piece characters, Yoruha possessed both chakra and Haki simultaneously.
And after inheriting Akainu’s power, his chakra reserves had already expanded to monstrous levels.
Meaning—
His Conqueror’s Haki now drew power from both systems simultaneously.
The result naturally exceeded ordinary standards drastically.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen observed Kakashi carefully.
Interestingly—
The Third Hokage sensed almost nothing directly.
Because Yoruha controlled the intimidation with absurd precision.
The pressure targeted Kakashi alone.
Even Hiruzen only noticed the resulting reaction afterward.
Kakashi slowly steadied himself while staring at Yoruha with disbelief.
“…That pressure…”
“It’s even worse than Orochimaru’s.”
“How is that possible?”
Kakashi genuinely could not understand.
Orochimaru’s killing intent came from decades of war, assassination, and experimentation.
But Yoruha only graduated from the academy today.
Where could such terrifying mental pressure possibly originate from?
The contradiction felt completely irrational.
Hiruzen finally asked carefully:
“Yoruha…”
“Is this some special ninjutsu?”
Yoruha shook his head immediately.
“It’s not ninjutsu.”
“It’s simply aura.”
“An intimidation born from overwhelming willpower.”
Then he added calmly:
“In your world, people call it killing intent.”
“But fundamentally…”
“…they are not the same thing.”
The room gradually fell silent again.
For the first time—
Both Hiruzen and Kakashi realized something unsettling.
Yoruha’s terrifying strength might not even belong fully within the normal shinobi system anymore.