The Land of Fire, Konoha Village.
At present, the world was in the midst of the Second Shinobi World War.
However, because Konoha was filled with talented individuals in this era, with Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo at the peak of their strength at the top, and the three direct disciples of the Third Hokage, known as the “Legendary Three Ninja,” all possessing Kage-level strength, the village was remarkably stable.
On top of that, there was Hatake Sakumo, the commander-in-chief of the ANBU, who was renowned throughout the shinobi world for his Lightning Release and swordsmanship and had struck fear into everyone on the battlefield.
By a rough calculation alone, Konoha had a total of six Kage-level combatants!
Therefore, the village had maintained a relatively peaceful atmosphere.
However, that peace was shattered today.
The hero known as Konoha’s White Fang, whose strength was said to surpass even that of the Three Ninja, and whose ability in a one-on-one fight might even have been beyond comparison with Sarutobi Hiruzen, had committed suicide at home early this morning!
And when the villagers and Konoha’s shinobi learned of the news, there was no sympathy or mourning.
Instead, there was only ridicule and disdain.
Because one week before White Fang’s death, his serious failure on a mission had caused Konoha’s impending victory in the war to fall through at the final hurdle.
As a result, the entire village blamed White Fang for the defeat.
Even though he had once been Konoha’s hero, not a single person attended his funeral.
His son, Hatake Kakashi, had fainted in terror after witnessing his father’s corpse that morning and was still lying in the hospital.
At this moment, in front of Konoha’s public ninja cemetery, a young man dressed in an ANBU uniform stood there.
He looked no more than twenty years old, with sharp eyebrows and bright, star-like eyes.
He was carrying White Fang’s body in his arms and gently placing it inside the coffin.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have successfully signed in at the target—Konoha’s White Fang.]
[Since this is the Host’s first sign-in, and the target’s Favorability toward the Host is 100, the perfect reward will be issued: White Fang’s Legacy.]
[Obtained: Hatake Style Swordsmanship · Perfect Level]
[S-Rank Lightning Release · Heavenly Thunder Attraction (Created by Hatake Sakumo)]
[S-Rank Lightning Release · Nine Yin Flash (Created by Hatake Sakumo)]
[…]
[…]
Yusuke had transmigrated into the world of Naruto a week ago, and by now, he had completely figured out the point in time he had arrived at—
The late stage of the Second Shinobi World War.
Identity: ANBU Squad Captain, Hatake Sakumo’s most trusted subordinate.
At the same time, he was also the person Hatake Sakumo had chosen to abandon an S-Rank mission to rescue during a previous operation.
It could be said that after that S-Rank mission failed and the war consequently failed to end smoothly, the two people most viciously cursed by Konoha’s shinobi were Hatake Sakumo and Yusuke.
After burying Hatake Sakumo, Yusuke stood silently in front of his grave, staring at the letter in his hand.
This was the suicide note Hatake Sakumo had left for him.
It contained only one simple sentence—
“Yusuke, take good care of Kakashi for me. Hatake Sakumo, signing off.”
“Damn (a common plant), I just transmigrated here and haven’t even had the chance to enjoy myself yet. Could you not dump a troublesome responsibility on me?”
Yusuke muttered unhappily to himself.
Although he had merely taken over the body of this original host and had no emotional attachment to Hatake Sakumo, if Hatake Sakumo had not abandoned the mission to save the original host, there was no telling whether he would have been able to transmigrate here at all.
And now, he had directly extracted peak Kage-level strength from Hatake Sakumo through the system.
No matter how he looked at it, he still owed Hatake Sakumo a favor.
“Sigh, forget it, forget it. Your son is basically evenly matched with everyone anyway, and he has protagonist-like plot armor. He even fought Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and survived. I’ll just do my best to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t die. That should be enough, right?”
After saying two words to the stone monument engraved with Hatake Sakumo’s name, Yusuke placed a white flower on it as a sign of mourning before turning around and leaving.
To be honest, seeing a hero die without a single person coming to mourn him made Yusuke feel somewhat melancholy.
“That person is… Yusuke?!”
“White Fang’s most trusted subordinate? I heard that when he graduated, White Fang was even his Jonin instructor.”
“Hmph! If that bastard White Fang hadn’t failed that S-Rank mission in the Land of Wind last time because he went to save that kid, our war with Sunagakure would have already been won!”
“He just came back from the cemetery. He should have been there to bury White Fang.”
“Hmph! Both master and disciple are sinners of Konoha. What’s there to pity?”
Yusuke walked out of the cemetery and strolled through the streets of Konoha.
Whenever a shinobi saw him, they could not help pointing at him and whispering among themselves.
Hearing this, Yusuke stopped walking and took a light breath before muttering to himself, “Keyboard warriors exist in every world, huh…”
Whoosh—
Without warning, Yusuke suddenly vanished from the spot.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
In an instant, more than a dozen heavy impacts rang out almost simultaneously.
The dozen or so shinobi who had been wearing disdainful expressions and gossiping moments ago were all sent flying.
They crashed heavily into storefronts, lampposts, and walls along the street, leaving them bloody and battered.
“Ahhh!!”
The civilians along the street were completely dumbfounded.
Some timid women even screamed in terror.
“So, so painful… It hurts so much—”
One of the shinobi who had been kicked into a utility pole and broken his nose was now clutching his bloodied nostrils.
He was the most arrogant one among them, and judging by his clothing, he was a shinobi of the Sarutobi clan.
He trembled as he said, “J-just now… what… what happened?”
At that moment, a shadow fell over him.
Yusuke stood before him, looking down with an emotionless gaze.
“You… what do you want? I-I’m a member of the Sarutobi clan…”
Smack!
Before he could finish speaking, Yusuke kicked him viciously in the side of the face, sending him flying several meters into the air before he crashed heavily back down.
As he flew through the air, the villagers even saw several bloody teeth spinning through the sky.
“The Sarutobi clan? So impressive? Huh? Go on, say it.”
Yusuke leisurely walked over and stomped hard on his face.
He lifted his foot, then brought it down again.
Lifted it, then brought it down again.
He kept stomping relentlessly until the Sarutobi clan shinobi’s entire face was covered in blood.
“If the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, hadn’t pushed for the democratization of the village, would your Sarutobi clan have ever had a chance to rise to power? Hmm? Answer me.”
Yusuke sneered as he continued stomping, feeling as though he was about to crush the other man’s face into a bloody pulp.
But under the oppressive presence of Yusuke’s peak Kage-level strength, neither the surrounding civilians nor the shinobi dared to approach.
“Stop!!!”
Just then, an angry shout rang out.
Yusuke turned his head.
It was a little boy who looked to be about six years old.
Beside him stood a cute little girl with delicate features and a pair of enormous crimson eyes.