XX-level Hokage

“I saw this cheongsam and pendant a few days ago when I bought a cheongsam for Sakura. The price of them together is equivalent to more than a year’s expenses for our family,” Haruno Zhao said in surprise.

"What should we do then? How should we reciprocate?" Haruno Meifuku couldn't help but worry.

Haruno Chizuru, however, was quite optimistic, saying, "We'll just do our best. Didn't you say he's a very reasonable child? Let's go first..."

Let's eat inside.

Hearing Haruno Chizuru say this, Haruno Mebuki calmed down, put away the gift, and said to Sakura, "Sakura, let's go eat." "Okay."

Sakura finally came to her senses, but one thought kept swirling in her mind: "Was she specifically choosing this gift for my parents...?"

Meanwhile, Mashiro, walking down the street, suddenly heard a notification in her mind: "Sakura Haruno's affection level +50, reward obtained: Medical Ninjutsu Mastery."

Immediately afterward, a panel appeared in front of Mashiro's eyes. [Name: Haruno Sakura]

Gender: Female Age: 11 Affection Level: 90 Relationship: Master/Servant

Affection Reward (50): Increased Chakra Control (Already Obtained) Affection Reward (90): Mastery of Medical Ninjutsu (Already Obtained)

Mashiro's mind was flooded with a wealth of knowledge: the methods of using various medical ninjutsu, human anatomy, meridians, and so on.

Mashiro savored this novel experience and continued walking forward. Neither in his past life nor in this one, he had ever learned medical ninjutsu.

After a while, the data on the panel changed. [Name: Chunye Lou]

Gender: Female Age: 11 Affection Level: 55 Relationship: Master/Servant

Affection Reward (50): Chakra Control Improvement (Already Obtained) Affection Reward (90): Medical Ninjutsu Mastery (Already Obtained) "Affection decreased by 35 points.

Mashiro was not surprised at all. Having just experienced those shameful things, Sakura's heart was undoubtedly filled with self-loathing and inferiority. If Mashiro then mentioned meeting Sakura's parents, Sakura would inevitably be apprehensive and terrified. If Mashiro then gave Sakura's parents gifts and said nice things, that gentleness would create a strong contrast with everything before.

As Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, she also relaxed about all the bad things Mashiro had done earlier. At this moment, all that remained in her mind was the doubt of surviving the ordeal and gratitude for Mashiro's kindness, and her affection level would naturally increase dramatically.

But this feeling won't last forever. Once Sakura's initial tension subsides, the disgust and fear she had previously forgotten will naturally return.

The next time they return, their favorability rating will drop drastically.

This is an experiment conducted by Mashiro. She tests whether the rewards she receives will be taken back if her affection level rises and then falls. The outcome of this experiment will affect her future actions. It seems that once a reward is obtained, it won't be taken back. So…

Mashiro walked with a smile to the Hyuga residence, where Hiashi had been waiting for some time. The two looked at each other.

Mashiro silently thought to herself, "It's about to begin."

Chapter 8: Hinata (Part 2)

"Why are you back so late?" Hiashi asked sternly. "I was shopping with friends and got carried away," Mashiro replied calmly.

"Did you ask your teacher for leave?" Hiashi asked, neither confirming nor denying. "I already told Iruka-sensei," Mashiro replied.

Hiashi nodded and said to a Hyuga clansman beside him, "Yoya, take the young lady to the confinement room."

Then Hiashi turned and left. Hyuga Hyouya nodded respectfully and said to Mashiro, "Young lady, please come with me." "Let's go to Hinata first. I have something to say to Hinata," Mashiro said to Hyuga Hyouya.

“But the head of the family said…” Hinata Hyouya was interrupted by Mashiro before he could finish speaking. “I said I need to go see Hinata, Hyouya.”

Hinata Haruta looked at Mashiro, who had a smile on her face. "Yes, young lady."

In the courtyard of the field, Mashiro knocked on Hinata's door.

Hinata opened the door and saw Mashiro. Overjoyed, she hugged Mashiro tightly. "Onee-sama, you're back."

Mashiro ruffled Hinata's hair and whispered in her ear, "Sleep in my room for the next few days." "What?"

Hinata was about to ask Mashiro what he meant when Mashiro left with Hinata Hyouya.

A moment later, the two arrived at the Hyuga clan's confinement room.

Hinata Harutani opened the door to the solitary confinement cell. The cell was about the size of Mashiro's room, pitch black and completely empty, except for a table with a book, a stack of papers, and a candle on it. It was this candle that brought a faint light to the cell.

"Young Miss, the head of the family wants you to copy the clan rules inside until you've thought it through. You are not allowed to leave the confinement room during this time, and your meals will be delivered by a special person," Hinata Hyouya explained to Mashiro.

Mashiro nodded and went into the confinement room.

Hinata Yoru shot a shot at the white figure who walked in, then closed the door to the solitary confinement room, and then formed a few hand seals to activate the seal on the solitary confinement room.

Sensing the changes in the confinement room, Mashiro tried using her Byakugan, but couldn't see through it. It seemed that the room had been sealed with some kind of magic.

Mashiro didn't care at all, sat down on the table, and gently closed her eyes. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Hyuga clan was holding a clan meeting.

Inside the head of the family's room, the core members of the Hyuga clan were gathered.

"Regarding the matter of the branch family secretly passing on ninjutsu, I have investigated and confirmed that it was indeed Mashiro who did it. I have already punished her by sending her to the confinement room." Hiashi spoke first.

"The young lady is still young, and it's easy for her to be misled by people with bad ideas. The most important thing is to find out as soon as possible who is secretly influencing her."

"This idea came to mind," said an elder of the Hyuga clan.

"Who else could it be but those branch family members?" said a hot-tempered Hyuga main ninja. Upon hearing this, the expressions of the branch family ninjas in the meeting all turned sour.

"Ichiro, be careful what you say! I will investigate this matter thoroughly." Hiashi reprimanded, sensing something was amiss.

"Patriarch, since cooperating with Gato, our Hyuga clan has received substantial assets almost every year. Now, every member of the Hyuga clan receives a large share of resources. Seeing this, I can only praise the patriarch's foresight," another Hyuga clan elder said with a smile.

At this point, Hiashi's expression softened, and he said, "It was actually Nagato who took the initiative to find our Hyuga clan. It still seems a bit unbelievable when I think about it now."

"What's so hard to explain? With the demise of the Uchiha clan, only our Hyuga clan remains of the original three major clans of Konoha. Now, the entire Konoha..."

"The only clans that can be considered truly powerful are our Hyuga clan and the Sarutobi clan, the clan of the Third Hokage. But the Sarutobi clan is mostly made up of people within the village's power structure, so why would they endorse a mere merchant? While our Hyuga clan is also a prestigious clan, we lack influence at the core of power. If Gato wants to cooperate, he will naturally come to us," said Hyuga Yuki, sitting in the corner.

Hyuga Yuki is a member of the branch family, but at a young age he is already an elite Chunin, and is the most likely ninja in the Hyuga clan to become a Jonin, thanks to his talent...

Fu successfully entered the core of the Hyuga clan. The clan has made a promise that Hyuga Yuki's child can break free of the Caged Bird Seal and become a member of the main family.

Three members of the branch family attended the meeting: Hyuga Yuki, Hyuga Sousuke, and Hyuga Saji. Hyuga Sousuke was the Hyuga clan's instructor, while Hyuga Saji was in charge of managing the Hyuga clan's businesses. They all shared a common trait: due to their outstanding abilities, they were given special treatment as members of the main family.

Hyuga Yuki's words silenced everyone in the meeting room. What he described was the most painful thing for the entire Hyuga clan: having fame but no power. Of course, this was the Hyuga clan's own choice. Of the original three major clans, two had already disappeared in the power struggle, further diminishing the Hyuga clan's strength.

They were no match for the Senju clan or the Uchiha clan, so they could only be loyal, focus on being tools, and stay away from the center of power.

But money often breeds a desire for power.

In the silence, a Chunin from the main branch of the Hyuga clan suddenly spoke up: "We should make the Hokage aware of the Hyuga clan's existence and then give them an important position." "So how can we make the Hokage realize the importance of the Hyuga clan?" Hyuga Yuki asked quietly.

"Yes, yes, that's good. By the way, in war, it would be great if ninjas from other villages attacked. That would show the capabilities of our Hyuga clan. Luckily, we have clan members on the border of Iwagakure..."

"Chiba, shut up! Do you know what you're saying?" Before Hyuga Chiba could finish speaking, Hiashi slammed his hand on the table, interrupting him. "Let's end the meeting here. No one is to talk about what happened today. Dismissed."

No one noticed that in the dark corner of the ceiling in the main room, a pair of blood-red eyes were silently observing as the meeting ended, and the eyes disappeared into the shadows.

At the same time, Mashiro gently opened her eyes in the confinement room.

Mashiro stood up from the table, then picked up a pen and began to write on the paper.

Afterwards, a shadowy figure emerged from the shadows, took the papers from Mashiro, and disappeared back into the shadows. "I was planning to film a few more scenes, but it seems we can wrap it up now," Mashiro said coldly, then blew out the candle. The next day, at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, at the Iwa ninja's base.

Suddenly, screams of pain came from his teammates, followed by more screams. Yamamoto Ohashi quickly got up to look and saw seven or eight corpses lying in the Iwa ninja camp, with two strange guys wearing red cloud patterns standing there.

Yamamoto Ohashi assumed a fighting stance, but the two men paid no attention and instead chatted amongst themselves.

“I didn’t stop just now. Luckily, there’s still one survivor. Now the younger generation of Iwa ninja are finished too,” said a person whose face was covered, only their eyes showing. “Get ready to begin. I just made a corpse of a Hyuga clan member yesterday.” Another strangely-looking person suddenly threw out a scroll, which summoned…

A person wearing white clothes should feel ashamed.

White rushed towards him, and then Yamamoto Ohashi lost consciousness.

"Deal with the rest of the bodies, this one will suffice." That afternoon, at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, at Konoha's position.

Hyuga Naruto was frantically searching for news when one of the five Hyuga clan ninjas stationed at the border suddenly disappeared early that morning. Just then, a ninja hawk suddenly flew up in front of Hyuga Naruto.

It was the clan's ninja hawk; Hyuga Naka unraveled the secret message carried by the hawk. It was the clan head's courtesy name.

Hinata's expression changed drastically after reading the contents of the letter.

That night, the remaining four Hyuga clan members disappeared from the position. Just as the captain of the position was feeling puzzled, the Iwa ninja attacked.

Chapter Nine: In the Rainy Night

It was another new day, and the minor border skirmish did not disturb the tranquility of Konoha.

However, this news reached the ears of Konoha's higher-ups through the escaped ninjas from the Konoha camp.

"They actually crossed the border to attack Konoha ninjas! Is Iwagakure going to start a war?" Mitokado Homura was furious upon hearing the news from the border. At this moment, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with his two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Koharu Utatane, were gathered in the Hokage's office.

The third generation sat at his desk, smoking a cigarette, and said with a frown, "This matter is not so simple." Then he took out a scroll from a drawer on his desk.

This was a message transmitted by Onoki via long-range communication. He claimed that the Konoha ninja attacked the Iwa ninja's position first and killed all the ninja inside.

The third generation tapped the table with his pipe, gesturing for the two to look at the contents of the scroll.

The two picked up the scroll, and after reading its contents, Koharu Utatane shook her head and said: "It couldn't have been done by Konoha ninjas. Killing all the Iwa ninjas in the Iwa ninja camp and leaving only one corpse, and a corpse killed by Gentle Fist, is too deliberate. It's obviously an attempt to smear Konoha."

"Of course I understand that. If that Iwa ninja was really killed by Gentle Fist, then that's troublesome. According to the information Kuroshi sent, on the border..."

Several Hyuga clan members from the territory had disappeared before Iwato attacked. "The Third Hokage said, puffing on his pipe,"

"Those Hyuga clan members are with me now," Danzo suddenly said, pushing open the door. The Third Hokage wasn't surprised by Danzo's arrival; in fact, it would have been unusual if Danzo hadn't come.

“This morning, Root captured those Hyuga clan ninjas who came from the border near Konoha. After interrogation, they said they received a secret letter from the head of the Hyuga clan in advance, saying that the Iwa ninjas would launch an attack and that they should hurry back to Konoha,” Danzo said as he walked into the Hokage’s office.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” the Third Hokage said, frowning. Hiashi had always been one of his confidants.

"Do you think this is fake? Or is someone forging Hiashi's secret message? Only the Sharingan can imitate handwriting so well that even one's own clansmen can't tell the difference. Could it be Uchiha Itachi who did it?" Danzo said with a laugh.

The Third Hokage knew that Danzo wouldn't lie to him about this, and that it couldn't have been Itachi who did it, so he shook his head and remained silent.

“Sarutobi, you’re too merciful,” Danzo said, standing before the Third Hokage. Finally, the Third Hokage removed his pipe and called to the Anbu outside the door. “Go and bring Hiashi here.”

At this moment, Hiashi was reading in the study, while Hyuga Sousuke stood to the side waiting.

"Sousuke, how is the situation now with the division of the family?" Hiashi asked, putting down the book he was holding.

"So the clans that privately taught ninjutsu have all been punished, but we still have no clue how they were taught," Hyuga Sousuke replied.

Just as Hiashi was about to say something more, two ANBU appeared in the study. "The Hokage requests your presence."

Hiashi seemed somewhat surprised upon hearing this, but he quickly put down the book in his hand and walked out with the two ANBU members.

After Hiashi left, Hyuga Sousuke also prepared to leave, just as he was about to walk out of the study. *Click*

A box fell from the ceiling.

Hyuga Sousuke looked up at the ceiling, but there was nothing there. Puzzled, he finally opened the box. When he saw what was inside, his expression changed drastically. He quickly looked around with his Byakugan, and finding that no one was there, he put away the box and hurriedly left the study.

Hiashi had not returned by nightfall. Although they found it strange, they assumed that the Hokage had important matters to discuss with the head of the clan. Some members of the main clan even hoped that the Hyuga clan could enter the power structure of Konoha.

But the branch family ninjas remained silent.

The second level was shrouded in dark clouds, with a light drizzle falling from the sky.