"Why do I feel like he's incredibly weak?"

  Orochimaru stared at the spot where Natsume had vanished, suspicion creeping into his mind.

  Those two wooden clones hadn’t posed the slightest threat.

  They felt like... genin.

  But would someone with just genin-level strength know so many secrets?

  Obviously not.

  Which left only one expnation—he was pying weak on purpose, deliberately concealing his true power.

  “What a troublesome one.”

  Orochimaru’s wariness toward Natsume deepened.

  This boy was dangerous.

  Dealing with him would require extreme caution.

  Next on the list was Shimura Danzo.

  A flicker of cold light passed through Orochimaru’s eyes.

  He and Danzo had been colborators, each holding the other’s secrets like a loaded kunai at the throat.

  If even one of those secrets got out, it wouldn’t just be reputations ruined—they’d be lucky to survive the fallout with their skins intact.

  Their retionship was one of fragile equilibrium.

  But now? Orochimaru was livid.

  Mokuton—the Wood Release—thanks to Hashirama Senju, was considered the most powerful of all bloodline limits.

  It was at the top of Orochimaru’s wishlist, even above the Sharingan.

  Of course, he didn’t yet know about the Mangekyō Sharingan.

  Danzo’s betrayal was something he couldn’t tolerate.

  Confronting him directly wouldn’t work—unless he captured Danzo himself.

  Orochimaru decided to sneak into the Foundation and investigate personally.

  With his level of skill, no one would notice. Not even in Root.

  Sure, he could’ve sent someone else to gather intel.

  But that risked tipping Danzo off.

  It was safer to handle it himself.

  Without hesitation, Orochimaru headed for Root.

  Under cover of night, his infiltration was fwless—no one sensed a thing.

  The Foundation had many hidden training facilities.

  Orochimaru had worked closely with Danzo in their Mokuton experiments and knew where to look.

  Plus, Natsume had mentioned the survivor’s codename—A.

  That meant he was already part of Root.

  That narrowed things down.

  All Orochimaru had to do was check each of the Foundation’s training centers.

  He released a swarm of snakes.

  It didn’t take long for them to return with results.

  Northern Konoha.

  Orochimaru slipped into a nondescript building.

  It was one of Root’s training bases.

  Root, being Konoha’s most ruthless organization, had brutal training methods.

  They turned children into emotionless tools—perfect weapons.

  Ninja, despite the "hot-blooded" reputation of the genre, were, beneath it all, cold-blooded killers.

  Forget Uzumaki Naruto—real shinobi would kill anyone for the mission: men, women, children.

  If ninja existed in real life, best advice? Run far, far away.

  Inside the building, Orochimaru found plenty of people.

  He quickly locked onto one boy.

  Ten-year-old Yamato.

  Orochimaru followed patiently, watching and waiting—until the boy finally used Mokuton.

  “So it’s real?”

  A jolt of excitement shot through Orochimaru.

  The mysterious informant hadn’t lied.

  And if this was only a small secret...

  What was the big one?

  Was there something even more valuable than Mokuton?

  Orochimaru’s curiosity exploded.

  As for Yamato—he vanished without a sound.

  The next morning.

  Natsume woke up to a faint pulse from the Ring of Fate.

  [Due to your actions, Yamato’s fate has changed. You have received 90 Fate Points.]

  Ninety points—proof that Yamato’s future had veered wildly off course.

  There was almost no chance he’d join ANBU now, let alone become a direct subordinate of the Hokage.

  Natsume stroked his chin, a thought surfacing.

  In the original timeline, Yamato would become Naruto’s squad leader.

  The reason? His Mokuton could suppress the Nine-Tails.

  “Maybe... I could use this to get close to Uzumaki Naruto?”

  Natsume mulled it over. It was definitely possible.

  By then, Tsunade would already be Hokage.

  And she did know about his Mokuton.

  With the Fate Points in hand, what Natsume wanted most was the Sage Body.

  Sage Body plus Mokuton? A match made in heaven.

  Too bad ninety points wasn’t nearly enough.

  He’d only managed to buy Mokuton because of a newbie discount—it normally cost 990 points.

  If he tried to buy it now, the price would be triple: 3,000 Fate Points.

  And the Sage Body was no less rare or powerful.

  “Guess I’ll take my time.”

  Natsume wasn’t in a rush. He was only seven—plenty of time ahead.

  For now, he pnned to enjoy Tsunade-nee’s affection to the fullest.

  “Natsume, morning!”

  Tsunade, busy in the kitchen, looked up and greeted him with a dazzling smile.

  Natsume’s mood instantly brightened.

  What a beautiful start to the day!

  Seriously, waking up to a gorgeous woman smiling at you—what’s not to love?

  “Natsume, time for your medicine.”

  Shizune suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

  Natsume’s smile froze.

  Betrayer.

  He picked up the bowl and downed the bitter liquid in a few gulps. Then he ran over to Tsunade, mouth wide open—clearly asking for candy.

  “Natsume, take it yourself. I’m busy.”

  Tsunade was focused on making rice balls, her hands full.

  Natsume blinked.

  At his height, his eyes were right at Tsunade’s waist.

  But... she didn’t have pockets.

  Where did she keep the candy?

  His eyes nded on the bck cloth sash at her waist.

  The visible part didn’t show anything, so it had to be under the apron.

  He reached out, groped around—and bingo. Candy.

  But along with the sweets came something else: warmth.

  The soft heat of her body, filtered through the fabric.

  Tsunade gnced down instinctively but didn’t seem to care.

  She wasn’t the type to get flustered over a little touch.

  And Natsume wasn’t a stranger.

  With the candy in his mouth, the bitterness faded.

  Natsume trotted off to the living room to wait for breakfast.

  Shizune was reading quietly nearby, as usual these days.

  “Today, I’ll take you to school,” Tsunade said after breakfast. “Shizune, stay here and keep studying.”

  She’d promised to let Natsume attend school, and she wouldn’t go back on her word.

  Besides, the sooner he started school, the sooner she could sneak off to gamble.

  She’d just tutor him at night.

  Natsume was genuinely looking forward to school.

  It was the perfect pce to meet canon characters and earn more Fate Points.

  Unfortunately, his timing was a bit awkward.

  The Konoha Twelve—Naruto and the rest—wouldn’t start school for another six years.

  Kakashi’s generation had graduated four or five years ago.

  Natsume was stuck in between, with slim pickings for canon interactions.

  Konoha’s Ninja Academy had survived the Nine-Tails’ rampage mostly unscathed.

  After a couple weeks of repair work, csses resumed today.

  Natsume was enrolling as a transfer student—first grade, Css A.

  “Lady Tsunade.”

  First-grade teacher Yamanaka Naoto greeted her warmly. “I’ve been notified. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Natsume.”

  Tsunade nodded.

  Officially, Natsume was her disciple.

  No one in their right mind would mess with him.

  “Natsume, I’ll pick you up after school.”

  Tsunade patted his head before turning to leave.

  “Natsume, I’m Yamanaka Naoto. Just call me sensei,” the teacher said with a smile. “Come on, let’s meet your cssmates.”

  As a transfer student, Natsume couldn’t escape the cssic self-introduction.

  “Hi everyone, I’m Natsume. I don’t really have any hobbies—just want to live a peaceful life.”

  It was a simple line, yet it caught a lot of attention.

  Because he was pretty.

  Several little girls stared at him with sparkly eyes.

  “Natsume, you’ll sit in the back row by the window.”

  Naoto patted his shoulder. “Your desk mate is Uchiha Itachi. He’s top of the css—you’ll learn a lot from him.”

  Clearly, this was a special arrangement, thanks to his status as Tsunade’s student.

  But Natsume froze in pce.

  He hadn’t expected his desk mate to be Uchiha Itachi.