Hyuga Arin, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Danzo had all been summoned to the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi continuously smoked from his pipe, thick smoke filling the entire room.
The reason they had all been gathered here—
Was because of the missing Sakumo Hatake.
"I strongly suspect Sakumo Hatake has defected from the village," Danzo said coldly. "We should immediately issue a bingo book warrant and send people to capture him. If he joins another force, Konoha will be in danger."
"Impossible," Jiraiya immediately refuted. "Sakumo would never do something like that. He absolutely wouldn't leave for no reason."
"Then explain why he disappeared," Danzo shot back icily. "A ninja must always await the Hokage's summons. Leaving without permission is absolutely an act of betrayal."
"I believe in Sakumo-kun as well," Orochimaru calmly said from Jiraiya's side. "That man deeply loved the village."
Danzo turned a cold gaze toward Orochimaru.
After staying in Root for so long, this man still wasn't truly on his side.
"Then tell me where Sakumo Hatake is," Danzo demanded.
"I think you just want to condemn Sakumo-senpai from the beginning!" Tsunade glared furiously at Danzo. "Did you manipulate that mission back then?"
"If you have no evidence, don't slander people casually," Danzo coldly replied. "Since all of you trust Sakumo Hatake so much, then tell me where he is."
While arguing fiercely against the Sannin, Danzo simultaneously kept throwing frantic looks toward Arin.
But Arin acted like he saw absolutely nothing.
He was simply staring blankly at the ceiling in a daze.
No one knew what the hell he was thinking about.
Danzo glared at him angrily.
That bastard didn't even notice.
"Enough!!"
Hiruzen roared furiously, instantly interrupting the confrontation.
Pulling down the Hokage hat slightly, he said solemnly:
"Each of you will lead a squad and search for traces of Sakumo Hatake. Even if he left, he couldn't have gone far."
At this moment, Hiruzen genuinely could not understand what Sakumo was thinking.
The international situation was becoming tense again.
Just when Konoha needed his strength—
He suddenly vanished.
"Yes!"
The others responded immediately.
In the next instant, the Sannin disappeared from the office.
They intended to find Sakumo as quickly as possible.
Only Hiruzen, Danzo, and Arin remained behind.
The two elders turned their gazes toward Arin simultaneously.
Sensing their eyes on him, Arin looked back at them in confusion.
"What?"
"We told you to go search for Sakumo Hatake, so why are you still standing there spacing out?!" Hiruzen roared angrily.
"Oh."
Arin answered calmly.
"Then I'll go look for him."
His figure instantly vanished.
Hiruzen and Danzo looked at each other.
Something about Arin today felt... off.
"Could Arin have something to do with Sakumo Hatake's disappearance?" Hiruzen frowned and asked Danzo.
After all, Arin was technically Danzo's man now.
"Probably... not?"
Even Danzo looked somewhat uncertain.
That brat absolutely was capable of killing Sakumo Hatake.
But after thinking carefully, Danzo shook his head.
"It shouldn't be him."
"If he were the one responsible, he wouldn't be acting like this."
Based on Danzo's understanding of Arin—
If he had really killed Sakumo, he would probably be loudly shouting about wanting to kill another one.
Not acting abnormally calm and lost in thought.
"Could it be..."
"He's in love?" Hiruzen finished the sentence naturally.
As expected of Danzo's closest confidant.
The two looked at each other.
The more they thought about it—
The more likely it actually seemed.
…
Completely unaware that his reputation had somehow become even stranger, Arin was currently leading Nawaki and the others outside the village as they searched for traces of Sakumo Hatake.
"I don't believe White Fang-senpai would defect," Minato stated firmly.
"Right, I absolutely don't believe it either," Nawaki added from beside him.
"Then search carefully."
Arin yawned lazily.
"If you find him, call me."
Anyway, it was all pointless.
Only Arin knew where Sakumo Hatake's body truly was.
He had specifically chosen an excellent resting place to bury him.
Hopefully Sakumo would like it there.
"Big Brother Arin, don't you trust Sakumo-senpai?" Nawaki asked curiously.
"Of course I trust him."
Arin jumped onto a tree branch and lazily reclined there while speaking to the two below.
"That man loved the village more than anyone. There's no way he defected."
"But you both know my position. If I find him, battle is inevitable."
"If you two find him instead, you can at least ask him questions."
Nawaki and Minato immediately understood.
"So that's how it is."
"Well then hurry up. If you find him, call me. I'm taking a nap first."
Arin spoke with complete irresponsibility.
He had absolutely no enthusiasm for this mission.
"Yes!"
Nawaki and Minato immediately began leading their teams to continue searching.
Arin closed his eyes.
But he wasn't actually sleeping.
Instead, he was examining the rewards Sakumo Hatake had dropped.
[Consumable: Sakumo Hatake's Lifetime Swordsmanship Experience]
[Equipment: Swordsman's Instinct — greatly enhances intuition]
[Skill: Hatake Swordsmanship]
Only three rewards.
Arin silently stored the Hatake Swordsmanship skill into his inventory and used the swordsmanship experience item directly.
As someone who had originally only existed as background lore within the game, Sakumo's drops weren't particularly numerous.
But the understanding contained within his lifetime of swordsmanship—
Surpassed the value of most other rewards.
Arin closed his eyes and quietly experienced Sakumo Hatake's life through the sword.
The endless sweat-filled daily training.
The lessons accumulated through countless battles.
In truth, Sakumo's style was still fundamentally ninja swordsmanship.
But combined with his terrifying intuition and extreme reaction speed—
His blade became overwhelmingly lethal.
And that lethality would not disappear with his death.
It would continue through Arin.
With his Hollowfication abilities—
Arin could now fully unleash the true terror of Sakumo Hatake's combat style.
The strongest one-on-one combatant.
During their battle, Sakumo had held absolutely nothing back.
But Arin himself still had hidden cards remaining.
He never used his true suicidal techniques.
Nor did he use level-up recovery mid-fight.
Though Sakumo's loyalty to Konoha was somewhat foolish—
He was still someone worthy of Arin's respect.
As for why Arin had been spacing out earlier—
It was because he had suddenly realized something.
There might no longer be anyone in the ninja world capable of defeating him.
In a true one-on-one battle—
Any Kage-level fighter who faced him would ultimately end in death.
As long as Uchiha Madara wasn't included—
Arin now stood at the very peak of the ninja world.
Reaching the summit so suddenly gave him an oddly unreal feeling.
Now only a single step remained before reaching Super Kage level.
"So I've really become a top-tier player already."
For some reason—
It gave him a slight sense of frustration.
"When exactly should I use Edo Tensei?"
[Edo Tensei Lv1 (0/5000 EXP)]
[Traits: None]
He had finally obtained the Edo Tensei technique from Danzo.
Also commonly known as—
Advanced Monster Summoning Technique.
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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