Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for only $7 to get early access to upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/inkshield <<
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 55
The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi finished issuing his orders—
Click—
The large doors of the Hokage's office were pushed open from outside.
"No need to go through all that trouble. I've already rescued Rina and the others."
Ling Yu's voice rang out—neither too loud nor too soft, but perfectly clear to every high-ranking figure present in the office.
"…"
All the higher-ups first glanced at the extremely handsome young boy who had just walked in, then exchanged looks with one another, faces full of confusion.
A heavy silence immediately fell over the entire office.
There was simply no way they could believe a child who hadn't even graduated could defeat a squad led by a jonin from the Hidden Cloud.
Moreover, the Cloud ninja who kidnapped the Uzumaki had moved so quickly—how could an academy student possibly catch up to them?
Unless… he possessed strength surpassing a jonin—strong enough to overpower the Cloud ninja and rescue the Uzumaki hostage.
But that was impossible. Absolutely impossible!
After a brief moment of mutual silence, the first to speak was Danzo Shimura—still holding a grudge from when Ling Yu had previously blocked his attempt to seize an Uzumaki.
"Senju Ling Yu! Do you not know that Konoha's highest leadership is currently in session?"
Danzo gave him a contemptuous glance before immediately launching into a reprimand:
"Why disobey direct orders from your superiors and barge into the Hokage's office without permission?!"
"And on top of that, you dare spout nonsense in front of us—claiming you've already rescued the Uzumaki hostage taken by Cloud ninja."
At this point, the disdain in Danzo's eyes grew even more pronounced. With a cold chuckle, he continued:
"Heh… even we haven't managed to do it, yet you—a student who hasn't even graduated—claim you succeeded? Ridiculous!"
Every word from Danzo dripped with accusation, clearly aiming to frame Ling Yu and pin a crime on him.
After hearing Danzo's words, the other high-ranking officials secretly nodded in agreement. Their suspicion toward Ling Yu's claim deepened.
For a moment, every gaze in the room—including Hiruzen's—turned unfriendly toward Ling Yu.
A mere child had the audacity to interrupt a meeting of Konoha's highest leadership?
Standing in the corner, Uchiha Tomiyama watched with obvious schadenfreude in his eyes.
The Senju brat sure has guts. First your sister Tsunade barged into our Uchiha compound alone, making our clan lose even more face.
Now you're barging into the Hokage's office by yourself. Truly ignorant of your place.
Tsunade's incident was one thing—she has real strength and the Hokage as her teacher protecting her. I couldn't touch her.
But now you've gone too far, kid. No one's protecting you today. Let's see how you get out of this.
"Ahem… very well, Senju Ling Yu. This is not a place for you to fool around. We still have important matters to discuss. You should leave for now."
In the end, it was Hiruzen Sarutobi who cleared his throat and spoke, offering Ling Yu an out—telling him to leave quickly.
This was Hiruzen protecting him, partly because of his teacher-student relationship with Tsunade, and partly to preserve the Senju clan's dignity.
"Huh? Why is it that when I tell the truth, no one believes me?"
But Ling Yu didn't take the hint. He spread his hands behind his back, scanning the room full of high-ranking officials while shaking his head helplessly.
What a bunch of idiots. In this era, Konoha should have the strongest foundation and military power among all the hidden villages.
Yet they can't even protect two Uzumaki survivors—letting a few small-time Cloud ninja kidnap them right under their noses.
And it took them this long—hours of discussion—before they even started sending people after the kidnappers. If they could actually catch up, I'd be shocked!
If I hadn't been there, the Cloud ninja would have long since escaped the Land of Fire and returned to their village with the hostages.
Then let's see what you people plan to do about the next Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Ling Yu's openly disdainful attitude toward the leadership once again drew every eye in the room. All of them now wore expressions of displeasure.
Even Hiruzen frowned slightly, taking another drag from his pipe. He was just about to speak—
But Ling Yu moved first.
Clang!
He casually pulled several Cloud ninja headbands and a single Cloud ninja scroll containing intelligence from his pocket, then dropped them onto the floor. The metallic clatter echoed sharply in the silent room.
"I don't feel like wasting words with you people. See for yourselves. These are the things I took after killing several Cloud ninja."
Pointing at the objects at his feet, Ling Yu spoke in a deliberately 'humble' tone.
In an instant, the Hokage's office fell into a silence so deep it felt like a funeral.
Every gaze was drawn to the dust-covered Cloud ninja headbands and the scroll bearing the Cloud symbol.
An ANBU ninja quickly picked up the scroll and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi for verification.
Hiss—
When Hiruzen opened the scroll and read its contents, he couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.
Then he raised his head and looked at Ling Yu standing across from him—eyes filled with disbelief.
It was too precise. Far too precise. The details matched exactly with the Cloud ninja's actions in Konoha.
Headbands could be faked easily—but a scroll containing such an accurate record of the plan to kidnap the Uzumaki survivor? That couldn't be forged so perfectly.
Everything pointed to one conclusion: Ling Yu had truly eliminated the Cloud ninja squad that kidnapped the Uzumaki—one led by a jonin.
"Ahem… very well done. You performed excellently this time."
Hiruzen cleared his throat and spoke with a smile, praising Ling Yu.
After hearing Hiruzen's words, the suspicion and contempt in every high-ranking official's eyes vanished.
In their place came shock, astonishment, and sheer disbelief.
A student who hadn't even graduated had actually rescued the Uzumaki hostage and killed an entire squad led by a jonin.
(Of course, Ling Yu had deliberately kept it low-key—he hadn't mentioned that he personally killed three jonin and seven or eight chunin.)
If he had revealed the full extent, no one would have believed him. Who would accept that his strength had already surpassed jonin and reached quasi-Kage level?
So he chose the middle ground—enough to prove his point, but still believable as "just" jonin level.
"By the way… where are the kidnapped Uzumaki girls now?"
Remembering the main objective they had been discussing earlier, Hiruzen asked next.
"They should be with Granny Mito by now. I already handed them over to my sister to handle."
Ling Yu shrugged casually.
After returning with Kushina in his arms, he had used Space Power to pass her to Tsunade, then came straight to the Hokage Tower to report.
As for Rina—Minato, who often walked her home, would naturally know where she lived. So Minato had already taken her back to Uzumaki Mito's place.
"Very good. Since you've completed the mission, is there any reward you'd like?"
In an attempt to calm his still-racing heart, Hiruzen put on a kindly smile and asked Ling Yu.
The boy had finished the mission before they could even begin. The least he could do was offer a reward—as encouragement, and perhaps to build a good connection.
Here they were, worrying themselves sick for hours, drawing up dozens of plans to rescue the Uzumaki hostage.
Yet before any plan could even begin, a child who hadn't graduated had casually brought her back.
In that moment, every high-ranking official in the room wore awkward expressions. Even Danzo, who had always looked at Ling Yu with cold disdain, now sat silently with a dark face, lost in thought.
Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for only $7 to get early access to upcoming chapters!
> > Patreon.com/inkshield <<
---------------------------------------------------------