XX-level Hokage

"Orochimaru, how dare you appear before me? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" Danzo said, squinting. "Danzo, I need your Root to help me investigate someone," Orochimaru said.

"Why should I help you? You're a rogue ninja of Konoha," Danzo said coldly. "Heh, Danzo, do you know Uchiha Zero?" Orochimaru suddenly said.

“Uchiha Zero?” Danzo’s expression changed as he recalled the dream about Uchiha Zero.

“He seems to really exist, and he’s right here in Konoha,” Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice. “Do you think I’d believe that?” Danzo touched his right eye, which was bandaged.

"Just take it as me talking nonsense. Something will happen in Konoha in a while," Orochimaru said, looking directly at Danzo. Danzo poured himself a cup of tea and said after a moment, "It has nothing to do with me."

Orochimaru got the answer he wanted, transformed into a group of snakes, and disappeared from the spot.

Shortly after Orochimaru left, a member of Root approached. "Lord Danzo."

"Riku, inform Root to start monitoring for any unusual activity in the village, and then try to find out who Orochimaru has been in contact with in Konoha," Danzo said. "Yes, sir."

After Lu finished speaking, he disappeared from the spot.

Danzo looked around the empty room.

Should I agree to Orochimaru's offer? Cooperate with him? Join forces to attack Konoha, and then seize power in Konoha?

Thinking of this, Danzo shook his head inwardly. He didn't even know what kind of power Orochimaru was backing, so why would Danzo join forces with him for no reason? Why would he gamble his chance on Orochimaru? How could that be possible?

"I am still the root of Konoha."

Indeed, he did want to gain power, even to become Hokage. He was willing to use dark methods in Konoha to achieve his goals.

However, regardless of the circumstances, these conflicts are merely internal struggles within Konoha Village. It's impossible for outside forces to intervene!

Meanwhile, Mashiro went to find Hinata after leaving the audience.

"Sister, I actually got a bye! I was so worried about what kind of opponent I would face, but I waited and waited and waited, and I never heard my name called. I didn't even realize until the very end that I had a bye!" Hinata said excitedly, but then she became dejected.

"What's wrong? You seem a little down." Mashiro asked Hinata gently.

"No, I'm happy, but I also feel a little guilty towards the others. Besides, I've trained for so long but haven't been able to play, so I feel a little empty," Hinata said.

“It’s your luck to get a bye. Even without anyone else, your efforts won’t be in vain. There’s still the official fee coming up,” Mashiro comforted her.

Actually, among the candidates in the preliminary rounds, Hinata's strength was still considered average. What worried her was her personality. Hinata's personality was too weak and somewhat timid. And because of Mashiro's presence, Hinata's timidity had never been eliminated.

"Go home and make your arrangements first. I'll go invite the others; we're having a party at our house tonight," Mashiro said with a smile. "Okay, big sister!" Hinata was happy at the thought of having lots of friends to play with, and then ran off.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Gathering

After Hinata ran over, Mashiro turned and walked towards the others.

Perhaps knowing that Shinji would come, Sakura didn't rush to leave the venue.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, let's have a party at my house today and chat," Mashiro said with a smile. "A party! Yay!" Naruto was very happy.

"Do you need us to buy anything?" Sakura, who was initially upset about losing to Ino, felt a little better upon hearing this news. "No need, I've already asked Ida to inform the clansmen to prepare. Just arrive at eight o'clock." Mashiro waved her hand and said.

Sasuke actually wanted to refuse, but Mashiro turned and glanced at him. Remembering the days when Mashiro beat him up in the underground training room, he silently shut his mouth.

"Alright, it's decided then. Naruto, go and inform Kiba and Shino who just left." Mashiro turned to Naruto and said. "Why me?" Naruto said unhappily.

"Sasuke's still injured, or do you want Sakura to go?" Mashiro said, pinching Naruto's cheek. "I'll go, Mashiro-neechan, I'll go! Stop pinching me, it hurts!"

Mashiro released his grip, and Naruto gave him a resentful look before quickly running out of the venue. Mashiro then went to Ino and the other two.

Ino didn't leave because she saw Mashiro in the audience. Since Ino didn't leave, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio remained, and naturally Shikamaru and Choji wouldn't leave either.

"Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, do you want to come to my house for a party tonight?" Mashiro said to the three of them. "Sure, Mashiro's parties always have lots of good food," Choji said happily.

"A gathering? Won't it be troublesome for us to go?" Ino asked with some concern. As far as she knew, large families always had strict rules. "It's fine. It'll be held in my courtyard. It won't affect the other family members," Mashiro said with a smile, noticing Ino's worries. "A gathering? That sounds like a lot of trouble," Shikamaru said lazily. He wasn't very good at interpersonal communication.

"Alright, I originally wanted to try out a new board game with you," Masami said casually. "Board game? Is it as interesting as shogi?" Shikamaru asked with interest.

"Let's meet at the Hyuga residence at eight o'clock tonight." Mashiro said, then waved and walked away.

Just then, Shiro spotted Kurotsuchi not far away. Kurotsuchi also looked at her with interest and walked over. Shiro smiled and said, "Would the three of you be interested in coming to my house for a party at eight o'clock tonight?"

"Are you Hyuga Mashiro?" Kurotsuchi suddenly asked. "Yes," Mashiro nodded.

"I've heard of you in the village, the rising star of Konoha, 'Black and White Phantom' Hyuga Shiro, a genius who surpasses Copy Ninja Kakashi and rivals the Yellow Flash." Kurotsuchi said, looking at Shiro with curiosity.

"To say that he is on par with the Fourth Hokage is indeed an overstatement," Mashiro said modestly.

"My grandfather has said many times that if Iwagakure had a genius like you, he wouldn't hesitate to take you as a disciple. It's just a pity that the younger generation of Iwagakure ninjas are all disappointing," Kurotsuchi sighed.

The younger generation of Iwagakure truly lacks geniuses; even Deidara, who emerged later defected, is a prime example. Mashiro simply smiled at Kurotsuchi's words.

"I'll be visiting the Hyuga clan tonight. Thank you for the invitation." Kurotsuchi smiled, nodded to Mashiro, and then turned to leave.

Upon reaching the exit, Mashiro encountered Tehan and his two companions again, and out of politeness, she extended an invitation. Unsurprisingly, she was politely declined.

Indeed, given that the Sand Village ninja were planning the attack on Konoha, how could the three of them, who played an important role in the plan, possibly be in the mood to attend any gathering?

"What a pity. After this, the three of them probably won't be able to go back," Mashiro said wistfully, then left. 8 PM.

The courtyard of the real white house was already very lively. In the center of the courtyard was a huge long table, on which were placed various delicacies, snacks and drinks. Four street lamps were set up around the table, and the street lamps were connected by silk threads, with various colored lights hanging on the threads, making it look very beautiful.

Those invited by Mashiro have all arrived by now.

However, at this moment, apart from Choji and Akatsuchi still eating snacks at the long table, everyone else was gathered around a small round table, where Mashiro, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Naruto were playing cards.

Mashiro threw out two cards.

Shikamaru looked at the cards in his hand, then at the cards in Mashiro's hand, and could only pray that Naruto wouldn't play a pair.

Naruto scratched his head for a while, then finally played two cards. "Ace"

"No," Shikamaru said weakly.

"I don't want to either." Sasuke didn't think as deeply as Shikamaru. He really had no cards to play, and now he just wanted to finish what he had.

"No," Mashiro didn't answer.

Naruto played a card, leaving him with two cards while Mashiro had five, putting him in the advantage. "Pass!" Shikamaru didn't take the card; he could only pray that Mashiro didn't have any brats.

Sasuke played a card, leaving him with three cards. "Kid," Mashiro said with a laugh, throwing down a card.

"No!" "No!" "No!"

"Three against one, unfortunately Shikamaru, I won again." Mashiro said with a smile.

Shikamaru kept scratching his head. At this moment, he experienced the wickedness of human nature for the first time. He could always figure out which cards to play, but his teammates had no chemistry with him at all, leaving Shikamaru to watch helplessly as he lost.

"Want to play again?" Mashiro asked after shuffling the cards.

Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke and a bewildered Naruto, then shook his head violently.

“That’s true, this game is too boring with only the four of us participating. How about we play a game that everyone can participate in?” Mashiro said.

"What game?" Ya, who had long wanted to participate, asked eagerly. "The King's Game."

Then Mashiro explained the rules to them.

After hearing the rules, Naruto, Kiba, and Shino exchanged glances. "I'll participate!" (x3)

"Is there anyone else who wants to participate?" Zhen asked himself.

Tadashi, Sakura, and Ino raised their hands one after another, each with their own purpose. Kurotsuchi found it interesting and also raised her hand. Then, under Mashiro's gaze, Sasuke silently raised his hand as well. Shikamaru, who had just suffered a crushing defeat in a card game, also wanted to change his mood, so he raised his hand as well. Only Kishimoto was not interested in this and silently walked over to Akatsuchi to drink his beverage.

Mashiro found a blanket and laid it on the ground, then took out the fortune-telling container that she had prepared.

Then he said: Let me emphasize again, whoever draws the general can command any number of people to do anything, provided that the bottom line is not violated, and a draw must be made every round.

Then the divination tube was placed on the blanket, and everyone began to draw lots in turn.

Mashiro drew number 4. This time, the general is Shikamaru.

Shikamaru held up the general's token in his hand, shook it, and said, "Then, the person who drew number 6, stand up and dance."

Then, Shino silently got up and performed an awkward dance, which made Naruto and Kiba burst into laughter, and even Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh.

In the second round, Mashiro drew number 8. Kiba excitedly raised his general's token. "Number 3, carry number 4 and run a lap!"

Sasuke stood up with a dark expression, while Naruto stared in disbelief at the sign in his hand.

"Naruto is number 4." Shino glanced at Naruto's name tag and said. "Sasuke, what do you want to do?" Naruto hurriedly backed away.

Sasuke, with a dark expression, simply picked up Naruto and carried him around Mashiro's yard. Seeing how unwilling the two of them looked, everyone laughed.

Seeing the increase in favorability, Mashiro certainly wouldn't throw a banquet for no reason; gaining favorability was her goal, even if it meant gaining more favorability individually.

It wasn't much, but it accelerated the progress of a whole group of people.

In the third round, Mashiro drew number 1.

"I should have cheated," Mashiro thought, staring at the number one lot in his hand. This time, Shino drew the Shogun.

Shino, holding the general's token in his hand, said, "Number 8 kisses Number 1."

Everyone present was shocked by Shino's instruction; no one expected that the most embarrassing request would be drawn by the seemingly most honest person. Makoto candidly revealed his number 1 draw.

Sakura and Ino looked at their draws, not number 8. Hinata looked at number 6 in her hand and was also very disappointed. Naruto looked at number 7 in his hand and was also very sad. They were so close.

While everyone else was looking at each other searching for the number 8 fortune stick, Kurotsuchi stood up and showed the number 8 fortune stick in her hand. "This is really interesting," Kurotsuchi said with a smile.

Then she walked to Mashiro's side. Mashiro smiled slightly as she looked at Kurotsuchi. Kurotsuchi moved closer little by little.

Looking at Mashiro's beautiful face, Kurotsuchi kissed her cheek, but whether intentionally or unintentionally, Mashiro tilted her head slightly, and Kurotsuchi kissed her again.

The upper back, the two lips meet, the two sides facing each other.

Hei Tu realized what was happening instantly, blushing as he returned to his position.

At this moment, the onlookers were filled with mixed emotions. Sakura Namino had almost fainted. Shino was very excited. Naruto and Kiba were dumbfounded. Sasuke's face also turned red.

"Black Soil's Favorability +10"

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Seal

The game continued, but this time a new rule was added: commands involving overly intimate actions were no longer allowed, only commands of an entertainment nature were permitted. This new rule was initiated by Sakura, and the others all agreed, but Makoto didn't seem to care.

Several more rounds were played, with instructions including singing, acrobatics, teasing Choji, and eating chili peppers with eyes closed. "Let's do one last round, it's getting late," Makoto said, glancing at the time.

After drawing his lot, Mashiro looked at the "4" on his slip and sighed inwardly. His luck wasn't good today after all. "Great! Finally, it's my turn!" Naruto excitedly held up the slip that read "General."

"Um, let me think... Oh right, whoever draws number 6, carry number 4 around the house once." Naruto gave his command, the same one Sasuke had given him earlier.

"I'm number 4," Mashiro said, holding up her number. "Then who's number 6?"

Kurotsuchi stood up again and gently picked up Mashiro in her arms, amidst the astonished gazes of the Chunin.

"It's lighter than I expected." That was Kurotsuchi's first impression. Holding Mashiro, Kurotsuchi began to circle around.