The skirmish Senju Haruto had stirred up within the ANBU was quickly reported to the Third Hokage by Morino Ibiki.
Inside the Hokage's Office.
Ibiki had barely gotten halfway through his report when the Third Hokage shot up from his seat with a sharp thump.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
Kakashi and Yamato were both famously steady and disciplined shinobi. Even if Haruto had been appointed as their squad captain within the ANBU, they should have been able to follow orders without issue.
Yet, not only had the likes of Yaeko gotten involved, but even Kakashi and Yamato themselves had taken part in the clash.
"Haruto defeated Kakashi and the others using Mokuton…?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen drew in a sharp breath, an image of Haruto overwhelming them flashing in his mind.
No doubt, when Haruto unleashed Deep Forest Emergence, every ANBU operative present must have been stunned into silence.
"I can imagine it…" Hiruzen muttered, nodding slowly. Even now, recalling the details, he still felt a jolt of shock.
"Mokuton? What Mokuton?"
Ibiki's face was full of astonishment.
Haruto could use Wood Release?
Wasn't that a secret art lost since the days of the First Hokage himself?
Haruto… could actually use Mokuton?!
Ibiki's jaw went slack, forming a perfect "O" without him realizing. He had thought Haruto had shocked him only once today — but in the span of a single day, this mysterious newcomer had managed to floor him twice.
"Wait… hold on—"
It wasn't just Ibiki. Even Hiruzen was riddled with questions now.
"You're saying Haruto didn't use Mokuton when he beat Kakashi and the others?"
Hiruzen's tone rose sharply. He had assumed Haruto relied on his massive chakra reserves and the overwhelming might of Wood Release to crush Kakashi and Yamato's tactics.
But the truth was… Haruto hadn't used Mokuton at all?!
Then how on earth had he beaten them?
After all, Kakashi had already been a jōnin during the Third Great Ninja War, and had even transplanted Obito's Sharingan during the battle against Iwagakure's shinobi.
Yamato, meanwhile, had received the First Hokage Hashirama's cells, granting him the Mokuton kekkei genkai.
Put together, Kakashi and Yamato were essentially a replica of the legendary Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama pairing—albeit a "budget" version.
"It was genjutsu," Ibiki replied, sensing the astonishment radiating from Hiruzen's every word and movement, eager to reveal the truth.
"…But," he hesitated.
"But?" Hiruzen's brows knit tighter, his sense that Haruto was a complete enigma growing stronger.
Ever since Haruto's sudden explosion of chakra reserves, Hiruzen had been suspicious.
Still, since Haruto was both a descendant of the Senju clan and had expressed a wish to serve as a Konoha shinobi, Hiruzen had decided to merely assign Kakashi to keep an eye on him—to see if the source of Haruto's sudden strength could be uncovered.
Yet nothing had been found.
It was as if Haruto had simply… been touched by a miracle.
First came the colossal chakra.
Then Mokuton.
Now… genjutsu?
Just who was behind Haruto's meteoric rise in power?
Could it be Jiraiya?
Given Jiraiya's knowledge of the village's defenses, it was possible he could have slipped past the barrier undetected.
But even with Jiraiya's tutelage, this rate of growth was absurd.
"Huff…"
Ibiki took a deep breath, voicing the detail that had left even him baffled.
"This is just my personal guess… because no one actually saw Haruto make any move to cast a genjutsu. And no one could tell… when he even triggered it."
"What?!"
Hiruzen's shock deepened.
As the Third Hokage—the strongest shinobi in the village—no one understood better than him just how terrifying that was.
Normally, genjutsu wasn't like ninjutsu; it required some form of contact to activate—be it a touch, a sound, or locking eyes to transmit light.
Even if the victim didn't realize it right away, an observer could usually deduce it from the caster's movements, the sound they made, or the way light caught their eyes.
But Ibiki was certain—Haruto had simply stood there. He had done absolutely nothing.
And then, one by one, Kakashi and the others had collapsed, unconscious on the ground.
Most telling of all—Ibiki was no ordinary witness.
As captain of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Division, he dealt with genjutsu regularly. He knew the art inside and out.
And yet, even he could only guess.
Either Haruto hadn't been using genjutsu at all… or…
He had used a genjutsu so advanced, even Ibiki couldn't perceive it.
Shisui.
Hiruzen's eyes went wide again, the name of the Uchiha clan's genjutsu prodigy surfacing in his mind.
Shisui had once claimed his Kotoamatsukami could permanently rewrite another's will—even making the Uchiha clan abandon the thought of a coup entirely.
Such fearsome genjutsu was beyond anything even Hiruzen had ever seen.
He had once questioned whether such power was safe in the Uchiha's hands.
Even if Shisui stood on the village's side today—what if, one day… he didn't?
It was that very fear that had led him to pass Shisui's whereabouts to Danzō.
And when news came that Shisui had taken his own life, Hiruzen had… admittedly felt some relief.
"No…"
Hiruzen shook his head. Shisui's genjutsu relied on the Sharingan. And if transplanted into an outsider, the Sharingan couldn't be deactivated—Kakashi was proof of that.
Haruto's eyes were clear and bright. There was no sign of transplanted Sharingan.
"Lord Hokage," Ibiki said, raising his voice to break Hiruzen from his thoughts.
"Hm?"
Hiruzen quickly refocused. "And Yamato? How is he now?"
"Still unconscious. The medical team says he'll need some time to recover," Ibiki answered.
"I see…" Hiruzen nodded.
His original plan had been to take Haruto and Yamato with him to the Land of Iron for negotiations.
But with Yamato out of commission, that was no longer possible.
By protocol, such meetings required at least two escorts—one combat-oriented, one sensory-type.
Aside from Yamato, the best sensory specialists in the village were from the Hyūga clan.
But given the incident's origins, bringing them along would be… unwise.
As Hiruzen was mulling over possible replacements, a knock sounded at the office door.
"Come in."
With his permission, the door swung open slowly.
The newcomer was none other than Senju Haruto himself.
"Lord Hokage, Yamato will need time to recover. Looks like you'll have to find someone else for the mission."
Haruto stepped inside, noting Ibiki's presence but wasting no time getting straight to the point.
"I spoke with the other ANBU captains. For this kind of meeting, you'll need a sensory-type shinobi.
What do you think of Yamanaka Kaze?"
"I hear his sensory skills are excellent, he's calm under pressure, easygoing, and—" Haruto's mouth twitched into the faintest smirk—
"—he likes bananas."
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