The Hokage's office was quiet except for the soft scrape of Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe against the edge of his desk.
"Leave the boy to me," Danzo Shimura said, his voice clipped and urgent. "He's too dangerous. He could be a spy from the Hidden Cloud."
"He is not." Hiruzen tapped his pipe thoughtfully, the smoke curling in lazy spirals. His tone was calm—the tone of a man who had already made his decision.
"Don't forget what happened to Kushina." Danzo's eye narrowed. "The Cloud kidnapped her. And this Hanekawa—an orphan with no family, no connections, adopted by Nonō—he should be brought into Root where we can properly evaluate him."
"You forget yourself, Danzo." Hiruzen's gaze sharpened. "The orphanage belongs to Konoha, not to Root."
Danzo's jaw tightened. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, his words tangling uselessly. Damn you, Hiruzen. When did you learn to counter my own arguments?
"I suppose you're going to tell me I'll regret this?" Hiruzen continued, cutting off whatever Danzo was about to say.
"I will not regret it."
Danzo stood there, sputtering silently. He'd been outmaneuvered, and they both knew it. After a moment, he turned sharply and stalked toward the door. But halfway there, he stopped and spun back around.
"You're going to regret this, Hiruzen!" he snapped, then stormed out before the Hokage could respond.
Hiruzen watched the empty doorway and shook his head with a slight smile. Being an assistant to the Hokage meant you only had to talk back. Being the Hokage meant you had to think three moves ahead.
"Aoi," he called out to his ANBU operative. "Have someone repair the door. Put the damages on Danzo's account."
He turned his attention back to the file on his desk, studying the photograph of a young boy with dark hair and an unremarkable face. The report was far more interesting than the picture.
Hanekawa. Male, six years old. War orphan, adopted by Yakushi Nonō.
The key detail was buried in the middle: During examination by the Yamanaka clan's sensory specialists, the boy had released a burst of mental power so intense it had alarmed everyone present. Initial investigation ruled out spy seals or implanted jutsu. The conclusion was clear—his spiritual power was naturally several times stronger than that of his peers.
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, pipe smoke drifting upward. Nonō is Danzo's subordinate. We can't let the boy remain in the orphanage.
Yin Release—spiritual power—was rare and valuable. The Yamanaka clan's mind techniques, the Nara clan's shadow manipulation, even the Sharingan itself—all relied on it. But such techniques were clan secrets, passed down only through bloodlines.
Unless the person was a civilian ninja.
"Yuhi Shinku," Hiruzen murmured to himself. A civilian jonin, a genjutsu specialist, and an instructor for chunin and genin. Perfect.
The sun was setting red over the village. It seemed fitting.
---
Hanekawa's eyes snapped open to a ceiling he didn't recognize.
Pain radiated through his entire body—the kind of ache that came from being hit by something massive, or possibly from being tackled by an enthusiastic group of people. He blinked at the unfamiliar room, trying to orient himself.
This isn't my bedroom. Where are my figures? My Rin figurine? My Tifa? My—
Something crashed through his mind like a tidal wave.
Memories. Not his memories. Other memories. A life lived in a different world, a different time. A life that had ended the moment he'd stayed up too late playing a mobile game.
The memories settled, and with them came understanding.
Good news: He was in Konoha. He'd watched the anime. Konoha was relatively safe—at least compared to the rest of the ninja world. If he kept his head down and waited for Naruto and Sasuke to save the world, he might actually survive.
Bad news: He was a spy from the Hidden Cloud.
The memories were clear on that point. Born in the Cloud, selected for his intelligence, sent to Konoha to gather intelligence. A sleeper agent with no idea he was a sleeper agent until five seconds ago.
And he'd just been examined by the Yamanaka clan.
Oh no.
Hanekawa's stomach dropped. The Yamanaka clan's secret techniques could extract information from anyone—living or dead. If they'd detected anything suspicious during the examination, if they'd found any trace of his true origins...
He broke into a cold sweat.
Then text appeared in his vision, glowing softly.
[System Loading...]
[Ninja Ability System Initialized.]
[Obtain entries by meeting specific conditions. Certain entries can be synthesized into higher-level entries.]
[Entry Ranks: E, D, C, B, A, S]
[Categories: Ninjutsu, Ninja Tools, Talent]
Hanekawa's eyes widened. A cheat system? Now? Of all times?
He almost laughed. As a ninja with no bloodline, no clan secrets, and no special abilities, he'd been looking at a short, miserable life in the ninja world. But now...
Now he had a chance.
He hummed softly to himself as he examined the system interface. It was simple—just an entry panel showing what he currently possessed.
[A-Rank Talent Entry: Lurker]
[Trigger Condition: Starter Gift Pack]
[Effect: When others attempt to probe your mind, their memories of you will be falsified.]
[Note: Cannot be synthesized.]
Hanekawa exhaled in relief. Perfect. The Yamanaka clan won't find anything.
[C-Rank Talent Entry: Innate Complete Soul]
[Trigger Condition: Fusion of two souls across lifetimes]
[Effect: Yin Release talent increased by 100%]
[Note: Cannot be synthesized.]
He frowned at that one. Yin Release—spiritual power. It was powerful, but also difficult to train without proper instruction. Kurenai Yuhi had spent her entire life studying genjutsu and still couldn't match an Uchiha who could just open their eyes and use the Sharingan.
I'll figure it out later. First, I need to eat.
His stomach growled loudly, and he was about to swing his legs out of bed when the door opened.
A girl entered—no, a young girl. A very young girl with striking ruby-red eyes that seemed to glow in the afternoon light.
Hanekawa stared at her, confused. Who is this? And where exactly am I?
But then recognition clicked into place. Those eyes. That face.
Kurenai Yuhi.
"You're awake!" she said brightly, smiling at him. "I'm Kurenai Yuhi."
"Hanekawa," he replied, relaxing slightly. If he was with Kurenai, then he wasn't with Danzo. That was a win.
"Can I leave?" he asked, testing the waters.
Kurenai's smile didn't waver. "My father wants to see you. He'll explain everything."
Hanekawa nodded and got out of bed, his mind already working through the implications. Kurenai's father was Yuhi Shinku—a genjutsu jonin and instructor. Not a Root operative. Most likely working directly under the Third Hokage.
Which meant Sarutobi Hiruzen had claimed him first.
Well, Hanekawa thought as he followed Kurenai out of the room, that's one problem solved. Now I just have to figure out how to be a spy while pretending to be a loyal Leaf Village ninja.
He almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.
This was going to be interesting.
---
Welcome to the journey!
I've put a lot of work into ensuring this isn't just another low-effort translation. You can binge-read without worrying about "brain-dead" grammar—the quality here is top-notch.
I'm not here to drag this out for years. To prove it, I'm dropping 15 chapters today, with 5-10 daily updates moving forward. My goal is to finish the entire series within a month if the support is there!
The Deal: If you want the daily mass releases, I need your Power Stones. Let's climb the rankings together! Smash those stones,
stay healthy, and enjoy the binge.
Peace!