Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

He wanted to take the Inuzuka family members away because he wanted to win over Inuzuka's power. (Gekko Hayate)

That was something Shimura Gengetsu forced on him.

Both of them achieved their goals and laughed heartily.

The next day, Hiruzen Sarutobi was no longer smiling.

Shimura Gengetsu, along with the sealing team, set up protective barriers against helmets in all the women's bathhouses in the village, which won praise and support from the women. However, it made Sarutobi Hiruzen so angry that he almost vomited blood.

That damned Gengetsu Shimura!

I lost my wife in middle age and my son in old age. Now all I have left is this hobby. You're not even giving me a way to survive!

What use would I have for this crystal ball?!

For a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi even considered smashing the crystal ball he had once treasured.

Damn Danzo! Only he and Jiraiya know about my hobbies. Jiraiya hasn't been back for so long. Danzo must have told Shimura Gengetsu so he could come and take revenge on me.

Enraged, Hiruzen Sarutobi began to improve his telescope technique, determined to make it able to penetrate barriers.

Saturday.

Gengetsu Shimura took Karin to the Hyuga clan and had a private chat with Hiashi Hyuga for a while.

Then Hiashi called Hinata in.

When she finally came out, the girl with the white eyes fainted from embarrassment.

Hanabi was stunned when she saw that it was Shimura Gengetsu who had unleashed Hinata. After a moment of stunned silence, she came running over on her short legs, her face full of eagerness, and asked:

"Lord Xuan Yue, why did my sister suddenly faint?"

"It's okay, you know Hinata is too easily embarrassed."

"Oh."

Hanabi nodded as if she understood, but her little brain clearly couldn't figure it out. They were just talking inside, so how could she faint from shyness?

Fortunately, Hinata woke up soon after, without missing the lunch gathering.

However, her face would flush every time she looked at Shimura Gengetsu, but she couldn't help but steal glances at him along the way.

Even the title has changed to Lord Xuan Yue.

Since Hinata had been picked up, Gengetsu Shimura also went to the Yamanaka family's flower shop to pick up Ino as well.

Ino loves flowers and helps out at the flower shop whenever she has free time.

Jingye was pleasantly surprised when Xuan Yue came to pick her up, and she was overjoyed when she heard his praise.

"These cosmos flowers are really beautiful."

Of all the flowers, Ino's favorite is the cosmos, and the few that Shimura Gengetsu praised were the result of her careful tending.

Suddenly, Ino's initial interest in Shimura Gengetsu, which was initially just based on his looks, surged.

Brother Xuan Yue and I have the same aesthetic sense!

Gengetsu Shimura stopped there and didn't try to win her over any further. He just surrounded the bok choy, not because he was going to eat it right now.

He took the three people to a barbecue restaurant for a delicious meal, and then sent the two people back one by one.

Hinata, who had already entered the house, cautiously turned around. Although timid, she still performed a ladylike manner.

"Please take good care of me in the future, Lord Xuan Yue."

"Huh?" Karin was confused. What did Hinata mean by that?

Only Gengetsu understood Hinata's meaning, and nodded with a smile, "It's too early to talk about this now. Let's talk about it when you're older."

"Mmm." Hinata smiled faintly.

Five days later, all the renowned Jonin from all the major and minor ninja clans in Konoha received invitations.

The Hyuga clan and the Shimura family have formed a marriage alliance!

He is also the grandson of Hinata Hyuga, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan leader, and Danzo Shimura, and now one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha, the Konoha Shinigami, Gengetsu Shimura.

This is a powerful alliance that could absolutely cause an earthquake in Konoha.

Almost everyone who received the invitation attended the engagement banquet at the largest restaurant in Konoha, unless they had a mission or had to go out on the day of the banquet.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also there, and not only him, but the other two elders were also there.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were in a good mood, believing it to be a signal that the Hyuga clan was aligning itself with the Konoha leadership. However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not so happy.

Are we starting a team now?

Although the Hyuga clan does not have the high-end combat power of the Uchiha clan, there are members of the Hyuga clan in the reconnaissance team, sensory team, and intelligence department. Especially now that the Uchiha have been wiped out, it is somewhat justifiable for the Hyuga clan to be called the number one clan in Konoha.

With Hyuga openly joining forces with Shimura, his influence as Hokage is likely to decline significantly.

Looking at the golden couple on stage—Shimura Gengetsu, Hyuga Hinata, and Uchiha Izumi...

Ok?

Hiruzen Sarutobi blinked and looked at Koharu Utatane beside him. "Why is Izumi Uchiha here too? Weren't they engaged a few years ago?"

Didn't you hear me?

Koharu Utatane gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a strange look. "Gengetsu said the last engagement ceremony was too shabby, so this time there are more people, so we'll have another one."

"The Hyuga clan agrees to this?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was incredulous. Who would book two engagement parties at once? This was practically a slap in the face to the Hyuga clan.

He subconsciously glanced at Hiashi Hyuga's table and found that Hiashi's face showed no displeasure at all; on the contrary, he was smiling like a flower, completely different from his usual serious and rigid image.

No, is this guy under the influence of Kotoamatsukami?

Hiruzen Sarutobi was even more bewildered.

Hiashi Hyuga was completely unaware that the Third Hokage suspected him of being under a genjutsu, and he was still laughing there.

He originally thought it would be difficult to persuade the elders, and that was indeed the case at first. When they heard that the eldest daughter of the main family was going to marry out, the old folks immediately objected.

However, that very night, a specially made Flying Thunder God kunai appeared by the bedside of every elder of the clan. When they woke up the next morning, they were almost scared to death, and some of them even fell ill from the fright.

The fact that Shimura Gengetsu was able to release the Flying Thunder God Kunai so quietly today means that he can easily take their lives.

In order to remain useful and better serve their families, they chose to compromise.

Now that the weight has been lifted from Riji's heart, his two daughters no longer need to carve caged birds.

He's already showing some restraint with his laughter; he wouldn't care about such trivial matters.

And who said this is a slap in the face to the Hyuga clan?

This shows that Gengetsu Shimura is genuinely good to his fiancée, and it has nothing to do with his family's influence.

Only by handing his daughter over could he feel more at ease.

The simple ceremony ended, and all that was left was to eat and drink. However, some ninja clan leaders also took this opportunity to exchange ideas.

They always felt that the winds in Konoha were starting to shift.

Danzo and Gengetsu Shimura are becoming increasingly prominent, and Danzo has recently made some personnel changes, becoming less extreme than before, which has led to a reversal in his public image.

On the contrary, the Third Hokage's voice was much quieter. He was over sixty years old and had not yet trained a successor, which worried some of his followers.

Nara Shikaku glanced at Shimura Gengetsu, who was serving food to Hinata, and then at Hatake Kakashi, who was engrossed in reading a book. He sighed.

"Haiyi, I heard that Ino and Gengetsu have a good relationship?"

"It's alright, mainly because the kids get along well."

"Have you ever thought about...?"

"Get lost! I only have one daughter. Aren't you thinking this far too soon?"

"He already has two fiancées, Ino is impossible!"

"Sigh... let's see. Why isn't my Shikamaru a girl?"

The two adults chatted idly, completely unaware that Ino had already pricked up her ears.

The banquet lasted until 4 p.m., and the guests left one after another. Shimura Gengetsu also took Hinata home and introduced her to the other people.

After that, Hinata's personality became slightly more cheerful, and she often visited Shimura Gengetsu's house, but other than that, nothing changed.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yue continued to diligently search for information about Uchiha Hikaru every night.

He had already read through the Senju clan's genealogy in the forbidden book section, but he couldn't find a single record of Uchiha Hikaru.

However, the cursing of the Uchiha clan made up 30% of the article.

To be able to become friends with the Uchiha clan under such information bombardment and brainwashing is truly remarkable; being like Tobirama Senju is the norm.

Left with no other option, Shimura Gengetsu had to shift his focus and set his sights on the Sarutobi family's collection of books.

Compared to the guards in the village's forbidden book area, the Sarutobi ninja clan's library was much easier to sneak into. Whenever he passed by Hiruzen Sarutobi's house, Gengetsu always wondered if he should go in and scare him.

That evening.

Shimura Gengetsu yawned as he flipped through a clan history book from over three hundred years ago called "The History of the Sealing of the Warring States Period." His gaze fell on a line, and he suddenly froze. Then, he immediately sat up straight, his eyes shining brightly.

Finally found it...