Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 6 The Arrival of the Dark Guard

"They can even detect hidden areas?"

"What a terrifying talent!"

Although he had anticipated Minato's talent, it still shocked the Third Hokage. Looking at the young-looking Minato, the Third Hokage's eyes showed increasing satisfaction and joy.

The hidden and motionless Anbu had reduced their chakra to its limit, so even he could only vaguely sense them at close range.

However, six-year-old Minato could easily sense it.

It's amazing that he has such a perceptive ability at such a young age.

Putting everything else aside, this perception ability is definitely no less than that of the second generation.

"Such talent cannot be wasted."

"We need to get Jiraiya and the others to watch out."

In that instant, the Third Hokage had already decided in his mind who Minato's future ninja teacher would be—one of his three disciples.

With such talent, it's a shame he didn't become Hokage.

To become Hokage, you have to join... cough cough.

Closer to home.

The thought only lasted a moment, but in that very moment, Minato couldn't wait any longer.

"Lord Hokage, hurry..." Minato cried anxiously.

"Don't worry," the Third Hokage said with a smile, "I'll handle that child's matter. You can go back now."

Minato didn't want to go back; he wanted to confirm his friend's safety as soon as possible. He whispered, "Hokage-sama, I... can I wait here?"

The third generation shook their head and said, "Go back. Your grandma is still waiting for you at home. Don't make her worry."

Upon hearing the word "grandmother," and thinking of his grandmother who was worried about not seeing him return, Minato stopped asking to stay. After saying goodbye to the Third Generation, he immediately ran home as fast as he could.

He didn't want his only relative, his grandmother, to worry because of him.

As for Yao's safety, let's trust the Third Hokage!

As soon as Minato left, the Third Hokage immediately gave instructions.

"Kari, notify the guards to line up in the village... never mind, no need to notify the Uchiha clan."

After thinking it over, the third generation withdrew the order.

According to Minato, the child was remotely controlled by the enemy, so there must be a chakra connection for remote control, just like how the Sand Village gathers special chakra threads to manipulate puppets.

The spy hiding in the shadows must have some kind of chakra connection with that child to ensure real-time control.

To find this chakra connection, the Uchiha clan, with their Sharingan that can see chakra, is undoubtedly the most suitable to investigate the spies that have appeared this time.

However... considering the Uchiha clan's growing strength and their dissatisfaction with him, the Third Hokage hatched a little scheme.

The police force guarded by the Uchiha clan originally had the responsibility of monitoring Konoha spies.

Spies have been discovered in the village, but the police force has not reacted at all.

If we ask the Uchiha clan for help this time, it will actually allow the Uchiha clan to make amends for their past mistakes.

On the contrary, this is an opportunity.

This presents an opportunity to hold the Uchiha clan accountable, reduce the scope of the police force's responsibilities, and suppress the Uchiha's power.

The Kimura couple had only recently sacrificed themselves for Konoha.

Their son was controlled by spies and may even have been murdered.

However, the Konoha Police Department knew absolutely nothing about it.

Given such a serious dereliction of duty, coupled with public pressure, it would be logical to propose that the Anbu (secret branch) investigate Konoha's spies, and no one would object.

As long as the spy is dealt with by the secret service, there will be no problem.

These thoughts only crossed my mind in a fleeting moment.

The Third Hokage then continued, "Notify the search team to expand their search from that child throughout Konoha, and to suppress any spies hiding in the shadows."

"Yes."

Hunt responded in a low voice, and then left with a teleportation technique.

……

shhhhhhhh!

Four figures quietly landed around Li Yao's house, each wearing a white mask of a different shape.

They are the Explosion Squad, directly under the command of Konoha's Anbu.

The team leader's codename is "Explosion," so it's called the "Explosion Squad."

The four quickly used invisibility magic to hide themselves like chameleons.

The Konoha Ninja Academy dismisses students relatively late.

It was already dusk, the sun had just set, and Konoha was already dark. There were few pedestrians on the streets, and no one noticed anything unusual about Li Yao's surroundings.

The four secret agents, with Bao as the captain, were responsible for commanding from the center, while the other two agents were stationed on three sides of the house to prevent the target from escaping.

Another ANBU ninja was crouching in the rooftop kitchen area.

Hiss... One by one, tiny black insects, almost invisible to the naked eye and resembling beetles, flapped their hard-shelled wings and flew out from the sleeve of this ANBU ninja, spreading around the house.

One of them slipped through a crack under the closed window into the kitchen and flew toward Li Yao, who was facing the window to the side.

Plop plop!

On the stove, noodles in the pot kept bubbling up with the boiling water, like a spring of fine noodles.

Li Yao held a pair of chopsticks in his hand, standing in front of the bubbling pot, turning the noodles to prevent them from sticking to the pot while looking thoughtful.

The allowance Konoha gave him wasn't much; it was barely enough to keep him from starving each day. It was impossible for him to have enough to eat, let alone eat well.

But he is currently in the stage of physical growth and development, so eating noodles every day is definitely not enough; he needs to eat meat.

Otherwise, if his physical development doesn't keep up, his future potential will be limited.

After all, chakra is composed of bodily energy.

If your body is weak, how much energy can you have, and how much chakra can you have?

Therefore, physical development should not be delayed.

But... how can I get the money?

Li Yao habitually furrowed his brow slightly, completely unaware that a small black insect had quietly landed on his hair.

"Sigh! I'm only six years old, and I still have to go to ninja school. I don't have much time to make money."

Li Yao shook his head and sighed, completely unable to figure out where he could get money.

"Never mind, let's eat noodles first."

He shook his head, turned off the heat, took out the noodles, put in the bowl and seasonings, and then Li Yao carried Wan to the dining table and sat down.

Shh...shhh...!

Li Yao ate the noodles one bite at a time.

Tiny black worms clung to his hair, their small mouths opening and closing as if they were eating something.

However, judging from the little bug's constant grinding of its teeth and shaking of its head, it seems it didn't eat much.

Meanwhile, outside the house, the expression on the faces of those crouching on the roof gradually grew serious.

"Insect, is it ready yet?" The squad leader quietly approached the insect on the roof.

The ANBU ninja codenamed "Insect" is from the Aburame clan. He was the one who released the black insect. Upon hearing this, he whispered, "Captain, there's something wrong with the target. My little black ninja is extremely sensitive to chakra, yet I can't sense any chakra emanating from his hair."

Bao was stunned: "Can't sense even a trace?"

The insect affirmed, "I can't sense a single trace."

He frowned and said, "Impossible."

The insect didn't speak; he was also puzzled.

Humans naturally emit chakra.

Even their Anbu can only suppress chakra to reduce the chance of being detected by ninjas with chakra sensing abilities; they cannot completely prevent the natural dissipation of chakra.

However, the target inside the room, the insect, couldn't sense a trace of chakra emanating from him even when it touched his hair directly.

This is very abnormal.

It's like this kid is a dead man... um, wait a minute.

dead!!

The insects relayed information that the target was very cold, combined with the fact that there was no chakra naturally dissipating.

A guess instantly popped into the insect's mind.

"team leader."

The insect looked at the captain, who also frowned and looked at the insect. Clearly, both of them immediately thought of the same possibility.

Only the dead do not naturally lose chakra.

Moreover, it was a person who had been dead for a long time.

The only secret technique that allows one to control the dead is the puppeteers of Sunagakure.

But... can a human puppet be made to look so realistic?

Sensing that Li Yao was eating noodles while blowing on them, his movements were completely unlike those of a puppet, just like a living person.

The insect and the squad leader felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't figure it out for the moment, so they could only continue to deal with it based on their previous guesses.

Thinking of this, the squad leader lowered his voice and asked, "Haven't you found the chakra threads yet?"

The insect replied, "Not yet."

The squad leader frowned: "That shouldn't be the case?"

Even the insect himself was puzzled. Although he had released only a few insects, he was afraid that releasing too many would attract the enemy's attention.

However, given Xiao Hei's sensitivity to chakra, she should have sensed the presence of chakra threads around her long ago.

However, the reality is that the insects have not yet received any feedback from the black ones about the presence of chakra threads.

"Isn't he a puppeteer?" the squad leader frowned. "But that doesn't make sense!"

Besides puppeteers who can control the dead, what other types of ninjutsu can control the dead?

Could it be the Second Hokage's forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation?

No, no.

The Impure World Rebirth technique is a forbidden jutsu, and apart from the Second Hokage, no one in Konoha knows it, so it couldn't be the Impure World Rebirth technique.

Moreover, the little devil's face didn't have the cracks and lines that come with Edo Tensei, so it definitely wasn't a dead person summoned by Edo Tensei.

So here's the question.

What is the current status of the target?

"Captain, let Little Black take a bite."

The insect suggested, "If it only bites a hair, and the enemy is controlling it from a distance, they shouldn't be able to sense the change."

Even if you bite your hair, no one will feel it, just like a fingernail. But unlike a fingernail, hair contains cells, and where there are cells, there is chakra.

Since no chakra can be sensed from the outside, the body's cells must contain chakra.

As long as Xiao Hei absorbs the target's chakra, it can sense the chakra threads that remotely control the target, thereby finding the spy controlling the target.

"no."

The squad leader rejected the insect's suggestion, saying, "Continue to sense the target's chakra."

After saying this, the squad leader left and went to a team member. He explained the current situation and ordered, "Yoru, go and report the situation here to the Hokage. There's something wrong with the target; he might already be dead."

"Yes." Ye left silently, leaving the remaining three to continue monitoring Li Yao.

(End of this chapter)