Chapter 58
"You already have your answer."
Xuanming's pupils reflected Naruto's figure: "There's no need to consider whether you're acting impulsively."
Naruto nodded—he naturally understood this.
"Yuta harbors no malice toward the village. That's why you all became friends with him."
Xuanming turned and walked to the other side, back facing Naruto, his tail spreading out behind him.
"But he carries secrets—not just the fact that he can influence natural energy, but others…"
"What secrets?" Naruto asked curiously.
"I can't tell you yet."
Xuanming shook his head: "They're not good things anyway. So I need to think about whether there's any way to change them."
"Go on. First do what you need to do."
Xuanming returned into Naruto's body—he had his own matters to attend to.
…
The children returned together to Konoha village.
"Remember—our goal is to find Yuta and figure out how to get him out." Naruto's voice rang out.
"How are we going to find Yuta? Konoha is so big…" Kiba asked, Akamaru on his head.
Since they had decided to dive into this mess, Shikamaru naturally had to play to his strengths.
He responded: "Yuta is definitely crying from fear right now. Wherever he is, it'll be raining."
Kiba's eyes lit up: "Right! Yuta's ability affects the weather!"
Shikamaru pushed his forehead protector up: "The village has dense buildings. It's hard to observe from the ground."
Naruto and the others leaped onto nearby rooftops in a few jumps, standing high up and taking in the entire afternoon view of Konoha.
Their gazes swept across the sky above the village.
Sure enough, beside the Hokage Tower, above an inconspicuous building, a small patch of rain curtain had formed.
"Found him."
Naruto jumped down from the roof and nodded to the waiting group: "Follow me."
The line of children moved through the streets, approaching the target building.
The closer they got, the more obvious the humidity in the air became.
"Hinata."
Naruto turned to the girl who had been following right behind him: "Can you check the situation inside?"
Hinata took a deep breath and formed seals with both hands.
"Byakugan!"
Veins bulged around her eyes. The world in her vision turned black and white.
The building's walls became transparent under the Byakugan; its internal structure was clearly visible.
Because she was still young, searching bit by bit for Yuta's location over a long time was somewhat taxing for Hinata.
"Found him…"
Hinata's voice trembled slightly: "In the innermost room on the third floor. Yuta is tied to a chair. There are several Anbu around him."
Shikamaru spoke up: "I can think of a way to deal with the Anbu, but how do we get in?"
"Hinata, can you find a route inside?" Naruto placed his hopes on Hinata.
There were definitely patrols inside the building. They couldn't just charge in—the situation hadn't escalated to that point yet.
Hinata bit her lip and carefully observed the personnel and routes in the building's corridors.
"Yes… from the back. Enter through the side ventilation duct into the room. If you follow my directions… you won't be discovered."
…
Inside the interrogation room.
Yuta was tied to a chair, tears streaming down nonstop.
"Where are you from?"
The hawk-masked Anbu stood before him, voice devoid of emotion.
"What is your purpose in coming to Konoha?"
"I don't understand… it's too complicated…" Yuta couldn't grasp the Anbu's questioning.
"Which village are you from?"
"Who sent you…"
"Don't yell at me yo!"
Yuta couldn't give satisfactory answers and simply kept crying.
The same questions had already been repeated more than ten times.
Yuta was extremely uncooperative. He didn't even know why these people had captured him or why they kept asking strange questions.
The other two Anbu watched the reactions on the nearby instruments.
Under normal circumstances, they could judge from the prisoner's tone whether he was lying.
But he just kept crying nonstop.
"No progress. Asking more won't help." One Anbu said.
Another replied: "Before resorting to torture, we should ask the Third Hokage to come take a look!"
"This child is very strange. Perhaps the experienced Third Hokage can see something."
Yuta's crying grew louder.
At that moment, the hawk-masked Anbu—who had been staring intently at Yuta—suddenly had his pupils contract.
In his vision, a massive white snake emerged from thin air, coiling around Yuta.
The snake's eyes were an eerie gold, coldly staring at him; its tongue hissed.
"What—"
The hawk-masked Anbu instinctively leaned back.
The next second, the illusion vanished.
In the interrogation room, only Yuta remained, tied to the chair and crying.
"What happened?" The other Anbu looked at him alertly.
"…Nothing." The hawk-masked Anbu lowered his hand.
Genjutsu?
No—there was no sign of his chakra being disturbed.
Then what was it?
"I'll go report to the Hokage-sama."
The hawk-masked Anbu turned and left the interrogation room: "You two continue questioning him."
…
Hokage Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was dealing with a small mountain of documents.
"Hokage-sama." The hawk-masked Anbu knelt on one knee: "Situation report."
"What is it?" Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't look up.
"Today we captured a suspicious individual on the village outskirts."
The hawk-masked Anbu concisely reported the discoveries of the past few days: "According to observation, he has had repeated contact with academy students in the village."
"Students?" Sarutobi Hiruzen set down the scroll in his hand: "Who?"
"Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, Yamanaka Ino…" The hawk-masked Anbu paused: "And Uzumaki Naruto."
Hearing the last name, Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze shifted slightly.
"Naruto is involved too?"
He lifted the teacup from the table, took a gentle sip, and a trace of amusement flashed in his eyes.
Naruto possessed malice perception—that had been verified multiple times in past incidents.
If that child were truly an enemy, Naruto would have sensed it.
"What special traits does this suspicious boy have?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to learn more.
"He appears to be able to influence the weather." The hawk-masked Anbu reported what he knew to the Hokage.
Sarutobi Hiruzen walked to the window and looked toward the building where the interrogation room was located.
Clear skies turning partly cloudy, with localized light rain…
"Sunshower? Interesting."
Sarutobi Hiruzen grew interested. If there was no other harm, it wouldn't be impossible to let him live near Konoha.
Someone who made friends with Uzumaki Naruto—how bad could he be?
"But…"
The hawk-masked Anbu hesitated for a moment before speaking: "During the interrogation just now, I saw an illusion."
"Illusion?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen—about to take another sip of tea—asked in confusion.
"A massive white snake coiled around that child."
The hawk-masked Anbu's voice was low: "But there was no disturbance to my chakra. It didn't feel like genjutsu."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand paused in mid-air.
White snake—this made him think of one person.
Orochimaru!
The events from a few days ago had Orochimaru's shadow behind them.
He was exactly the kind of person who liked to collect all sorts of unusual abilities.
By the timeline, this suspicious boy really might be connected to Orochimaru.
"I understand." Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression turned serious: "Take me to see him."
No malice didn't mean no threat to the village.
And if he really was connected to Orochimaru…
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze deepened.
"Let's go."
The two walked out of the office.
…
While they were speaking in the office,
several small figures were quietly slipping in through the back door of the interrogation building.
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