Chapter 19: I Really Am Kimura Yō
Nighttime.
After dinner with his wife, the Third Hokage brought a box of sashimi sushi—specially prepared by his wife—and made his way to Interrogation Room Three at the ANBU headquarters.
Sniff!
Sniff!
Li Yao, who had fainted from hunger, twitched his nose twice and slowly regained consciousness. But his eyes remained shut—this time, he didn't even have the strength to open his eyelids.
Creaaak... As the door opened, the savory scent of rice and fresh fish invaded his nose, striking straight at his empty stomach and fiercely agitating the hunger that had plagued him for a full day.
His stomach instantly secreted acid, but with not even a drop of water to protect it, the sudden flood of gastric acid tore at the lining, triggering a wave of corrosive pain like a fire burning in his gut.
Nggh...
Unable to speak, Li Yao could only groan in anguish through his nose.
The Third turned and closed the door behind him, walking alone to stand in front of Li Yao. He placed the open lunchbox down right in front of the boy.
The smell of the food grew stronger, even more torturous, triggering a deeper acid surge in Li Yao's stomach, intensifying the pain until it felt like his insides were being seared by the sun.
The Third simply watched him quietly, staring at Li Yao writhing in agony from hunger and acid-induced pain.
After a while, both physical torment and starvation pushed Li Yao to the brink of collapse, mentally and physically.
The Third remained calm. Just as Li Yao was about to faint again, he suddenly formed a string of rapid hand seals.
"Genjutsu – Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"
The illusory chakra immediately surged toward Li Yao, attempting to slip into his own chakra network.
Boom!
As expected—even with his body and spirit near collapse, Li Yao's chakra, fused with his consciousness, instantly rejected the infiltration of the illusionary chakra.
"Even under mental exhaustion, it still doesn't work, huh..."
The Third lowered his hand, frowning slightly, a hint of regret in his voice—but the gleam in his eyes only grew hotter.
From last night to tonight—it had been a full day.
He had specifically instructed Baku not to let the boy fall asleep, and with no food, his mind and body were at their absolute limit.
Even so, he could still effortlessly resist a genjutsu of this level. That confirmed it for the Third:
At the very least, illusions cast by a Three-Tomoe Sharingan were completely useless on this boy.
As for Mangekyō-level genjutsu? To be honest, the Third wasn't sure.
From what he knew, every pair of Mangekyō Sharingan had unique abilities. If it was a genjutsu-focused one, even this boy might not be immune. But regular ones? Probably.
After all, Mangekyō was referred to as "a divine power" for a reason—it defied common logic.
Still, even if that were the case, the boy's near-complete immunity to genjutsu beneath Mangekyō level was enough to make anyone envious.
"Release."
The Third formed a single seal and lifted the paralysis jutsu from Li Yao.
Now that genjutsu and memory-probing had proven ineffective, there was only one method left to extract the secret of the modified Spirit Transformation Technique:
A good old-fashioned conversation.
"Ah—!"
As soon as his body regained movement, Li Yao curled up, groaning loudly as he clutched his stomach in pain.
"Eat."
The Third picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks and brought it to Li Yao's mouth.
Driven by instinct, Li Yao bit down so hard he nearly bit the chopsticks in half.
Gulp.
He swallowed, the sushi sliding down his throat and into his stomach.
Immediately, the sea of acid already pooled in his gut swarmed around the incoming food like bees to nectar.
"Whew..."
Li Yao exhaled deeply as the fiery pain in his stomach began to fade. With some relief, he could finally process his surroundings.
"Eat."
That warm, measured voice spoke again, and another piece of sushi appeared in front of him. Li Yao swallowed it instinctively, then looked up.
A middle-aged man with a face somewhat reminiscent of a monkey. His eyes were keen like a primate's too—but calm, steady.
A man of wisdom.
That thought flickered across Li Yao's mind.
He wore a hat with the large red kanji for "Fire" on it. Over his shoulders was a long white and grey robe.
Even though Li Yao didn't have many memories of the Third Hokage from this body, he instantly recognized him from his knowledge in his previous life—
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Recognizing him instantly, Li Yao stayed composed. He didn't act surprised to see the Hokage here.
After all, from the conversation he overheard last night, he already knew it was Hiruzen who had ordered his capture.
He had to act like someone confused and innocent—wondering why he'd been imprisoned.
"Hokage-sama, why did you bring me here? Did I commit a crime?"
The tone could be questioning, but the delivery had to reflect respect or fear—showing the image of a good child wrongly accused.
However… what Li Yao believed to be Oscar-worthy acting fell apart instantly in front of the Third Hokage's seasoned eyes.
To Hiruzen, it was nothing but—
"A poor performance."
That was his only evaluation of Li Yao's attempt.
He didn't bother with games. He asked directly:
"Tell me—who are you really?"
The tone made it clear: the Third did not believe he was Kimura Yō.
Li Yao's expression changed, but he feigned ignorance, replying calmly:
"Hokage-sama, I'm Kimura Yō. I live at 3 Torii Street, in the northern district."
Heh.
Even now, he was still trying to bluff.
The Third chuckled coldly.
"You really think that taking over Kimura Yō's body means no one would notice?"
"You don't know that everyone's chakra is unique?"
Then he explained how Minato discovered that Li Yao's chakra temperature was different from the real Kimura Yō's, and how he later confirmed discrepancies in their food preferences and behavior.
"I..." Li Yao opened his mouth but said nothing.
He could've explained away the differences in eating habits as grief-induced. That excuse could still hold.
But chakra temperature—proof on the level of DNA?
He knew it was useless to keep pretending. Hiruzen would never believe him now.
A wave of dizziness washed over him.
Heh…
Li Yao's lips trembled, a hopeless laugh escaping.
He hadn't expected this.
Not like this!
To be exposed by… a six-year-old Minato?
It finally dawned on him—he must've been captured because Minato saw through him and reported him to the Third. That's how he ended up here.
And to think—yesterday he had vowed to grow stronger, to protect Minato and his wife from their tragic fate, to become Hokage, to bring peace to the world.
And that very night, he got exposed.
How ironic.
This really was… a dream.
He wasn't Kimura Yō. He could never be Kimura Yō.
To Konoha, he was merely an enemy who had stolen a child's body.
Minato's report? Understandable.
But why did it leave him with this deep, soul-crushing hatred?
"I guess... I just don't want to die."
Li Yao remained silent, his mind in turmoil, unwilling to give up.
He looked at the Third.
He didn't want to die. He needed one more chance.
Then, he spoke:
"Hokage-sama, I admit I'm not Kimura Yō… but I'm not an enemy of Konoha either. I'm not even a ninja. I don't know what happened. I just fell asleep and woke up in someone else's body…"
(END CHAPTER)