The sound of knocking echoed through the room. Hayashi Ren's eyes showed a hint of confusion.
He glanced out the window.
Snow was falling gently outside, and it was already past midnight.
He murmured, "It's so late… who could be visiting us now?"
Creak…
The door slowly opened. A gust of cold wind blew in, sending a slight chill through the room.
Even though the Land of Fire had the most favorable geography in the entire shinobi world—and the Hidden Leaf Village sat in the most temperate part of the country—the early spring air was still bitterly cold.
Hayashi Ren shivered.
But it wasn't just the cold wind that made him tremble—it was also the sight of the old man standing at the doorway.
The elderly man's face was lined with deep wrinkles. His skin had long since lost its firmness, sagging like a withered husk of flesh draped over bone. He gave Hayashi Ren a smile that others might interpret as kind and warm, but to Ren, it was nothing but insincere.
"Ah, little Ren, I saw your match today. It was quite a spectacle," the old man said with a chuckle, reaching out with his shriveled hand to pat Ren on the head, like some doting neighborhood grandfather.
"Lord Hokage, what brings you to our place at this hour? Don't tell me you came to give us our allowance early?" Hayashi Ren forced a polite tone, suppressing the disgust rising in his chest. Despite his unease, he stepped aside to let the man in with a look of mock joy.
The old man was none other than Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage—a hypocritical politician through and through.
"Haha, you little rascal. Always thinking about allowances." Hiruzen stepped into the house, closing the door behind him as he chuckled and gave Ren's head another gentle rub.
"Heh…" Hayashi Ren gave an awkward laugh, but inside, his revulsion toward the man was beyond words.
Having read the original story in his past life, Ren knew exactly why the old man had come tonight.
It wasn't some friendly visit—it was to extract information. He wanted to know what kind of rewards Ren had received from the MOBA Battle Arena, to test his loyalty to the village—no, not to the village, but to him, personally. To gauge how much Ren aligned with the so-called Will of Fire—which, frankly, was just a nice way of saying brainwashed obedience.
To Hayashi Ren, this entire visit felt like eating a beautifully decorated cake… that had a piece of rat poop hidden inside.
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. And still—disgusting!
"Lord Hokage!"
"Sir Hokage."
Naruko and Sasuko, seeing Hiruzen enter, both greeted him respectfully.
"Hahaha, haven't seen you two in a few days, and you're already looking more beautiful!" Hiruzen smiled warmly at them.
Naruko immediately lit up with a grin. Even Sasuko, who remained quiet, had a hint of happiness flicker in her eyes.
"Oh, right! I actually did come to give you all some money today—but not your usual allowance. This is a little pocket money from Grandpa Hokage himself," Hiruzen said with a laugh, pulling a brown envelope from inside his Hokage robe.
"Wow! Lord Hokage, you're always so good to us!" Naruko said, clearly excited.
"Lord Hokage… isn't this a bit unusual?" Sasuko asked softly, her brow furrowed.
Something about this felt off. Why was he suddenly handing them pocket money?
As far as she could remember, since the day they began receiving their stipends, Hiruzen had never given them a single extra coin outside the official payments.
"Yeah, Lord Hokage. Isn't this a bit out of the ordinary?" Hayashi Ren added, while reaching straight for the envelope without hesitation.
He didn't care about any of it.
This so-called gift was nothing more than a small, calculated gesture from Hiruzen—an attempt to win favor after seeing their potential.
But did he really think he could buy loyalty so easily?