"This person... cannot be fought."
Gaara immediately categorized Shiro as a threat beyond his capabilities.
Although Gaara was undeniably a battle-crazed sociopath, he wasn't a masochist.
From the very first glance, Gaara had been utterly shaken by the sheer volume and density of the chakra residing within the boy sitting across from him.
"How is it possible... that a human possesses more chakra than me?" Gaara whispered, his hands trembling slightly.
This was the first time in his life he had encountered an existence so fundamentally beyond his comprehension. Being a Jinchuriki meant possessing a near-inexhaustible well of chakra and enhanced sensory abilities. Yet, right now, every fiber of his being—and the demon screaming inside him—was telling him one thing:
*The boy in front of you is ten thousand times more terrifying than a mere Tailed Beast.*
"Gaara, listen to me," Temari whispered urgently, gripping his shoulder. "Do not act rashly."
Although she couldn't sense chakra like her brother, she trusted Gaara's instincts implicitly. If even the monster of the Sand was afraid, they were in deep trouble.
Despite her young age, Temari already carried the commanding aura of a protective older sister.
*If she were just a few years older,* Shiro mused, taking a sip of his broth, *I really wouldn't mind becoming Gaara's brother-in-law.*
But right now, his other potential 'little brother-in-law' seemed particularly unconvinced. Kankuro was still twitching, clearly itching for a fight.
"If I were you three, I'd leave quickly," Shiro advised casually, not looking up from his bowl. "After all, this is Ichiraku Ramen. I have a strict policy against fighting in establishments that serve good food."
Shiro wasn't about to be the one to break the sacred 'absolute safety' rule of the ramen shop.
"Let's go," Gaara commanded, his voice tight. He stood up abruptly, sand swirling back into his gourd.
At this moment, Gaara officially revoked his earlier underestimation of Konoha. With a monster like Shiro guarding it, the Leaf Village would be a far harder nut to crack than they had anticipated.
*But thankfully,* Gaara thought as they hurried out, *with strength like that, there is absolutely no way he will be participating in the Genin-level Chunin Exams.*
---
"Finally, a bit of peace."
Shiro sighed contentedly as the door closed behind the Sand siblings. He picked up his chopsticks again, ready to finally savor the rich flavor of his tonkotsu ramen.
"Lord Shiro! The Hokage requests your immediate presence!"
*SLAM!*
Shiro slapped his hand onto the counter, rattling the bowls.
"Does that old man have a personal vendetta against my lunch?!" Shiro groaned, turning around with a look of profound annoyance. "I just want to eat my noodles in peace! Can't a man finish a single meal?"
He glared at the intruder standing in the doorway. It was an Anbu operative with distinct, flowing purple hair.
*Well,* Shiro thought, his annoyance fading slightly. *I can't deny, purple hair certainly has a unique charm.*
"Wait until I finish this bowl," Shiro stated flatly, turning back to his food.
He had been training in isolation for a solid week. It wasn't easy to drag himself out for a meal, and he refused to let it go to waste.
To her credit, the Anbu kunoichi didn't argue or try to hurry him. She simply stood silently by the door, patiently waiting.
Under her watchful gaze, Shiro leisurely finished his ramen, savoring every bite. Afterward, he casually pulled a ten-thousand ryo bill from his pocket and slapped it onto the counter.
"Keep the change on my tab, Teuchi-san!"
Ever since he had 'liberated' that massive fortune from Gato's vaults, the smallest denomination Shiro carried was a ten-thousand ryo note.
Without giving the stunned chef time to react, Shiro stood up and followed the purple-haired Anbu toward the Hokage Tower.
"By the way," Shiro asked casually as they leaped across the rooftops. "You're Yugao Uzuki, right?"
The Anbu stumbled slightly mid-jump, clearly caught off guard by the direct question.
"No," a crisp, professional voice replied from behind the porcelain mask. "My codename is Nightingale."
"And you're seriously going to stick with that? Even after I called you out by name?" Shiro chuckled.
Shiro's circle of acquaintances within the Anbu was incredibly small. He really only knew Kakashi, Yamato, and Yugao. That distinct purple hair, the sword on her back, and the familiar voice... how could she be anyone else?
"You really enjoy teasing your seniors, don't you?" Yugao sighed, indirectly admitting her identity after a long silence.
Faced with this handsome, perceptive young man, she found it hard to maintain her strict professional distance. She couldn't recall ever meeting him officially, yet he seemed to know her.
"Just because we haven't met face-to-face doesn't mean I haven't heard of the famous swordswoman of the Anbu," Shiro said smoothly. "So, what does the old man want with me this time?"
Yugao automatically filtered out the disrespectful 'old man' comment. In all of Konoha, who else would dare address the God of Shinobi with such casual irreverence? Only Shiro, the village's prized unicorn, could get away with it.
"I honestly don't know," Yugao admitted. "I was simply ordered to retrieve you."
"Fair enough."
Soon, under Yugao's guidance, Shiro arrived at the Hokage's office.
"Finally! I managed to drag you out of your cave!" Hiruzen exclaimed the moment Shiro walked through the door.
The Hokage looked relieved. "I've never seen a ninja stay cooped up inside their apartment for an entire week without stepping foot outside. If I hadn't seen you eating at Ichiraku earlier, I might have sent a medical team to check for a pulse."
"I was busy researching a new ninjutsu," Shiro replied, rolling his eyes at the Hokage's dramatics.
"Researching... ninjutsu?" Hiruzen blinked, his jaw nearly dropping.
Although he was known as the 'Professor,' at Shiro's age, Hiruzen had still been struggling to master basic nature transformations. Yet here was this boy, barely a teenager, casually developing original jutsu in his spare time?
*Truly, the new generation is terrifying,* Hiruzen thought with a mixture of pride and inadequacy.
"Do you require any assistance? Resources? Archives?" Hiruzen offered, thinking he was just being polite. He fully expected Shiro to decline. After all, what help could an old man offer a genius who had already reinvented the Shadow Clone?
"Actually, yes. I do need something," Shiro said, breaking the script.
"Uh..." Hiruzen blinked, suddenly wanting to retract his offer. But as the Hokage, he couldn't go back on his word now. "What do you need?"
"I need the official scroll for the Eight Inner Gates," Shiro stated bluntly.
Hiruzen nearly fell out of his chair.
"You even know about the Eight Gates?!" the old man gasped, staring at the boy who had grown up right under his nose. For a moment, he felt like he was looking at a complete stranger.
"How did you find out about a forbidden taijutsu like that?!"
"Just tell me if you'll give it to me or not," Shiro interrupted impatiently.
Shiro knew perfectly well that he didn't actually *need* the scroll to learn the technique; he had already memorized and mastered it from the Scroll of Seals he stole earlier. What he needed was a legitimate, paper-trail reason to use the Eight Gates publicly without raising suspicion about where he learned it.
Of course, he could have just gone to Might Guy, but dealing with the Hokage was slightly less exhausting than dealing with Guy's 'Youth'.
"Shiro... you must understand," Hiruzen began his lecture, his expression serious. "The Eight Gates is a kinjutsu for a reason. It causes immense, irreversible damage to the user's body. It is a double-edged sword."
For a genius like Shiro, destined to reach the pinnacle of the world through safe, powerful ninjutsu, why bother risking his body with such a self-destructive technique?
Seeing the Third Hokage digging his heels in, Shiro decided to change tactics.
"Forget it then," Shiro sighed, turning to leave. "I was actually planning to research a method to eliminate the physical drawbacks of the Eight Gates entirely, making it safe to use. But if you're going to be stingy about the source material..."
"Wait! I'll get it for you right now!"
Hiruzen practically performed a masterclass in face-changing. He leaped from his chair with the agility of a man half his age.
"Seriously, my boy, you should have led with that!"
Hiruzen didn't doubt Shiro's claim for a second. After all, Shiro had already created an S-rank clone jutsu and awakened Wood Style. If anyone could fix the flaw in the Eight Gates, it was him. And if Konoha could gain a safe version of the Eight Gates? Their military power would skyrocket.
The Third Hokage practically sprinted to his private library, retrieved the scroll, and shoved it into Shiro's hands.
"Here. Take it. Let me know the moment you make a breakthrough."
"You should have just done this from the start," Shiro muttered, pocketing the scroll. "By the way, old man, what did you actually call me here for?"
---
"Right, right. The reason I summoned you," Hiruzen said, settling back into his chair and regaining his composure.
"It's like this. Konoha is about to host the joint Chunin Exams. It is a highly significant political event, vital for maintaining our relationship with the Daimyo and projecting strength to our neighbors..."
Hiruzen droned on about the political importance of the exams, the economic benefits, and the prestige involved.
"Okay, and?" Shiro interrupted, still not grasping the main point. "What does any of that have to do with me? I'm already a Tokubetsu Jonin. I don't need to take an exam meant for Genin."
"That is true," Hiruzen nodded. "However... we have a unique situation."