"Which ninja village are you from, young man? I've never seen you before," Hiruzen Sarutobi said after thanking him, beginning his inquiry.
Seems like he's trying to recruit me!
Ye Liang casually snapped his fingers. A stream of water flowed beneath his legs, transforming into a soft little stool, on which he calmly sat down.
If you're going to act, commit fully. And if you're showing off, make it believable!
This was the usual attitude for someone who had crossed over into another world.
"What terrifying control!" Hiruzen exclaimed inwardly. To manipulate Water Release freely and shape it into a small stool under one's own bottom—such mastery was even difficult for himself, known as the Professor of Ninjutsu!
"I'm from Otogakure. You should have heard of it, I suppose."
"Otogakure? Never heard of it!"
"Because it's a ninja village that I founded myself. That's why you haven't heard of it. It's near the Land of Snow."
"The Land of Snow?" Hiruzen mused thoughtfully.
As the Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen knew about the Land of Snow, though it was too far away for him to know much about it.
"So you're from the Otogakure in the Land of Snow. Honored to meet you," Sarutobi said respectfully, bowing toward Ye Liang.
"..."
Praise my foot!
Ye Liang had a giant sweatdrop forming.
Could this flattery get any smoother?
In this timeline, there was no Otogakure in the Land of Snow at all—it was entirely fabricated by Ye Liang. Yet the way Sarutobi bowed with such an expression made it feel almost authentic!
If Ye Liang didn't know he was lying,
he would've believed it himself.
Seemed like, across all eras, polite formalities were always standard for powerful figures.
Ye Liang stood up and continued, "I came to Konoha just to visit my maternal cousin. But being new here and a bit of a direction disaster, I got lost in the village."
"My maternal cousin? Who might that be?"
"My cousin, Minato Namikaze."
!!!
Hiruzen's face changed dramatically!
Minato Namikaze was a great hero protecting the Hidden Leaf and the Fourth Hokage of Konoha. However, Sarutobi had never heard Minato mention having any cousins.
Minato was Jiraiya's disciple, but since they found him on the battlefield, his origins remained largely unknown.
This was precisely the cover Ye Liang had created for himself.
"Oh! So you're Minato's younger brother! Forgive me; I didn't realize earlier—I shouldn't have doubted your claim! Unfortunately, Minato passed away more than ten years ago!"
"What! My older brother is dead!" Ye Liang's pupils widened in shock.
"Never did I expect that after merely a decade apart, he'd leave us forever! We even had the same wet nurse back then! How could we be separated by death like this!"
Ye Liang burst into theatrical sobs. With his dry eyes blinking furiously hundreds of times, he actually managed to produce two genuine tears. Not only that, but his nose seemed to run too—he looked exactly like a grieving younger brother who had just suffered the loss of his dear elder sibling!
Could what he said possibly be true?
The thought popped into Sarutobi's mind.
Initially, when Ye Liang claimed to be Minato's brother, he hadn't believed it at all.
However, Ye Liang's strength was undeniable. Even if his words might not be entirely truthful, Hiruzen had no interest in exposing him, as from Konoha's perspective, it was a good thing as long as there were no strong enemies around.
But still, Ye Liang cried!
No matter how he managed to do it, his grief over Minato's passing seemed so authentic. It wasn't just those two emotionally moving tears; even the bloody drool pouring out truly conveyed deep emotion.
What an excellent actor!
Hiruzen suddenly thought that even if Ye Liang's background was suspicious, he must certainly be a close friend of Minato's.
Therefore,
Hiruzen immediately lowered his guard toward Ye Liang.
There was more to it than that.
Today, for some reason unknown to him, Hiruzen felt that Ye Liang looked incredibly familiar—as if they had once lived together for a period?
Could he be my illegitimate son?
Seeing that Hiruzen seemed to believe his story, Ye Liang simply wiped the corners of his eyes and continued, "The thing is, when my older brother wrote me his final letter, he mentioned that he had another child. Since I'm here now, he asked if I could properly take care of him while I'm in Konoha."
Could it be that he even knows about Naruto?
This time, Hiruzen truly believed Ye Liang's words!
He nodded.
"That child is named Naruto Uzumaki. Because he has the Nine-Tails sealed within him, he took his mother's surname. If you're genuinely willing to look after him, I'll introduce you to him tomorrow."
"Great, I really appreciate this then."
Ye Liang gave a nod to Hiruzen.
Plan to infiltrate Konoha—
success!
The very next day.
"Kakashi-sensei, who exactly is this quirky guy anyway?" little Naruto complained, glancing at Ye Liang. The latter wore modern casual clothes—just a plain T-shirt—with a summoning scroll strapped to his back, looking completely at ease.
"Naruto, since you asked, I won't beat around the bush. This gentleman is called Ye Liang, and apparently he's your distant uncle."
"Ha?"
Naruto's mouth dropped open wide. He stared at Ye Liang like he was crazy.
"How can this quirky guy possibly be my uncle? I'm thirteen years old, and I've never seen him before!"
"Believe it or not, little Naruto, I really am your uncle."
Ye Liang stepped forward.
Actually, early that morning, when Hiruzen introduced him to Kakashi, Ye Liang had already prepared his explanation. But now, standing face-to-face with Naruto, he completely blanked out.
In the previous dimension, Naruto used to call him Dad...
"Kakashi-sensei, you're not seriously joking with me, right?"
"He really is your uncle."
Kakashi replied.
However, Kakashi himself had some doubts too.
Firstly, Ye Liang appeared no more than twenty years old. Secondly, as the father of Naruto—Minato Namikaze—he himself was Minato's student. Minato was already forty; unless Minato's mother had given birth again at fifty, which was highly unlikely.
There was a twenty-year age gap!
"Don't doubt it," Ye Liang said. "Let me ask you, isn't there a mole on your mother's belly button?" He intended to confirm Kushina's identity by mentioning her distinctive feature.
"Slap!"
Ye Liang smacked himself hard across the face!
Damn it, what an idiot move!
He had barely finished speaking when he realized something was off. Kushina had passed away right after Naruto's birth—how could he even know about his mother's birthmark? And more importantly, how would he even know what his parents looked like?
Sakura and Kakashi gave him a look like they'd just eaten shit.
"Wait, you actually knew what Naruto's mom's navel looked like?"
"Wait a minute—is there *something* going on here?"
"Uh… right, you never even saw your mom, huh," Ye Liang awkwardly chuckled. "Actually, I learned those details from letters your father sent me back then. We were super close—told each other everything, haha!"
The others all pulled disgusted faces.
That especially went for Kakashi.
Never thought Sensei was this kind of person! Sharing private details about his wife with his own brother?!
In his mind, Minato-sensei's heroic image had been shattered forever.
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