XX-level Hokage

“I don’t blame you. Going to Konoha is a good thing for me, a chance to experience a new life,” Haku said softly. “Then why did you come to find me?” Haku asked.

“I wanted to ask when you were leaving so I could prepare in advance, and then I accidentally overheard your conversation with Lord Kado,” Bai said softly.

"So, what are your thoughts?" Mashiro asked softly, watching the sunset.

"You are a very gentle person. If ordinary people all had stable jobs, perhaps the ninja world could be at peace," he replied.

Bai, you are a very intelligent person, but you have misunderstood one thing. While ordinary people are indeed the foundation of stability in the world, whether or not peace can be achieved depends on their ability to manage it.

"It was the strategists who decided. Alright, you should go back now. I'll take you back to Konoha this morning," Zhen Bai said leisurely.

Bai bowed respectfully, then turned and left.

I heard from Nagato that Akatsuki has already collected the Six-Tails, and the time has long since come for what I promised Konan.

Now we can start making some plans. Let's first make Nagato lose his Rinnegan. Then, we'll have Nagato lead the Six Paths of Pain to the Hidden Lightning Village to capture the Eight-Tails, and then…

Mashiro pondered, then disappeared into the shadows.

The next day, Mashiro, accompanied by Haku, set off for Konoha.

Mashiro did not use the Shadow Legion, and it took her two whole days to finally arrive in Konoha. But after arriving in Konoha, Mashiro first informed Tsunade, and then took Haku to her villa.

“Choose one of the empty rooms, and you’ll be staying there.” Mashiro showed Haku around all the remaining empty rooms. In the end, Haku chose the third room on the east side of the third floor, next to Yugito’s room.

"Here's your key. There's money in the cabinet in your room. You can wander around Konoha and buy whatever you need." Mashiro handed the key to Haku and said. Haku took the key, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Lord Mashiro, what should I do?"

"For now, you just need to sit quietly in the warm bed every day. In a while, there will be some experiments that will require your cooperation. After the experiments, you can work as a waitress in one of my shops," Mashiro said.

An experiment? A waiter? Bai was a little confused, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, sir."

Bai didn't pay attention to "warming the bed," assuming it meant going to sleep.

At that moment, Yugito suddenly came out of the room and happened to see Mashiro and Shiro. Then she silently went back into the room and closed the door.

Chapter 77: Hinata and Hanabi

Mashiro always has all sorts of things going on, Hinata needs to carry out all sorts of missions, and Hanabi is still attending classes at the Ninja Academy, so for a long time only Temari, Tayuya, and Yugito are in the villa.

They were aware of each other's existence, but since Shouhan and Duoyu were on the second floor and Yukito was on the third floor, and they usually went out at different times, they didn't communicate much. When they occasionally met, they would just greet each other.

Temari and Tayuya believe that Yugito is another of Mashiro's maids, while Yugito believes that Temari and Tayuya, like her, are prisoners captured by Mashiro.

Mashiro was naturally aware of this situation. Since Haku had moved in, and Hinata and Hanabi were also in the villa, she decided to have everyone get together for a meal so they could all get to know each other.

So, when it was time for dinner, Hinata, Hikaru, Temari, Tayuya, Yugito, Haku, and Mashiro herself—everyone in the villa—gathered in the living room.

The long table in the living room was filled with delicious food that Mashiro had sent over.

When they took their seats, Mashiro sat in the main seat, with Hinata and Hanabi sitting to Mashiro's right as her sisters, and Tehan and Tayuya as her attendants.

The maids, by all accounts, were not entitled to sit, but due to other special circumstances, the two of them sat to Mashiro's left, while Yukito and Shiro sat to each other, one on the left and one on the right, and each was separated from the person next to them by one seat.

Judging from their seating arrangement, it's clear they weren't actually close. They were only able to sit together for a meal because of Mashiro. So Mashiro planned to take this opportunity to improve their relationship. Although she wouldn't dare say they'd become close, at least they wouldn't be like strangers anymore.

"The main reason I called everyone out today is to introduce our newest member to the villa. Shiro, why don't you introduce yourself?" Shiro said softly.

Haku is a very intelligent person, and since Mashiro had given her a hint beforehand, Haku knew exactly what to say.

She said gently, "Greetings everyone. My name is Mizuki Shiro, and I am a student of Mashiro-sama. Since I just came to Konoha from the Land of Waves, I don't know much about Konoha. Please feel free to guide me."

After Bai finished speaking, he bowed slightly.

"Welcome, Shiro." Hinata and Hanabi clapped softly.

There were no Xin people present, and they quickly understood what Bai meant.

Then, Shouhan stood up and said with a smile, "Since Miss Shiro has started, let me introduce myself as well. My name is Shouhan, and I come from the Sand Village. Due to some accidents, I was imprisoned along with my two younger brothers. Later, we were rescued by Lady Mashiro, and I am very grateful to her! So, instead of returning to the Sand Village, I voluntarily stayed to take care of her."

After Shouhan sat down, Tayuya stood up immediately and said nervously, "I am Tayuya from Otogakure. Like Shouhan, I was also saved by Mashiro-sama for some reason. Since I had nowhere to go, I voluntarily stayed by Mashiro-sama's side."

After Tayuya sat down, Hinata was about to get up when Hanabi stopped her.

Mashiro smiled and glanced at Hanabi, then said, "Shiro, these are my two younger sisters, Hinata and Hanabi. They are both quite busy, so you may not have many opportunities to meet each other."

Upon hearing this, Bai smiled gently at Tian and Hanabi.

Finally, Yugito stood up and said, "My name is Yugito Nii. I am a ninja from Kumogakure and the Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails. Like the two ladies before me, I was unexpectedly saved by Mashiro. Mashiro has given me a lot of help, and I am very grateful to her. I will be staying here for a while, and I hope we can get along well."

After she finished speaking, Mashiro smiled gently and said, "If you have time, you can try to get to know each other. As future sisters, you should have common topics to discuss."

The sisters of the future.

Tian and Hanabi simply thought that Mashiro hoped they could get along well.

Shiro and Yukito didn't care much. Both of them had suffered hardships since childhood, making it difficult for them to get along with others in a friendly, sisterly way.

Tehan and Tayuya seemed to have a different opinion. They looked at each other and then their faces inexplicably turned red.

After dinner, Yukito went straight to the third floor, and Shiro also went up to the third floor after saying hello. Tian and Tehan went outside together, seemingly to buy something.

Handan and Duoyou placed the dishes in the kitchen and were just about to wash them when Mashiro came up behind them, gently patted their waists, and whispered, "Let's wash them tomorrow."

Tehan blushed, and Tayuya's face turned even redder, reaching her ears, but for some reason, there was a hint of excitement in her eyes. Mashiro, holding the two of them, went into her room.

Tian entered the villa. She and Hanabi were shopping, but when it came time to pay, Tian realized she hadn't brought her wallet. So she asked Hanabi to leave it there while she ran back to get the wallet.

"Bite? Didn't you find it?" Wei searched his room for a long time but couldn't find the wallet.

"I remember leaving it in the room." Hinata rolled her eyes and began carefully examining every corner of the room. "There!" Despite the eye roll, Hinata spotted the wallet tucked away in a crevice of the cabinet.

"Did it fall in there when we moved the cabinet last time? That's strange," Tian muttered to himself.

Then she picked up her wallet, turned around, and her Byakugan saw through the wall three chakra bodies intertwined. "What is this?" Hinata's face instantly turned red.

She kicked her way to the door, then picked up the key from under the study carpet, opened the study door, and quietly went inside. Then she pressed her ear against the wall.

A charming voice instantly reached Hinata's ears, combined with the scene she saw through her Byakugan. "My sister is with Temari and Tayuya."

The scenes from the manga Hinata had been secretly reading began to replay in her mind. She touched the wall, listened to the sounds coming from within, and watched the blurry images. Her sister.

Hinata sat on the ground.

One hand covered her mouth, while the other reached towards her absolute territory.

"Sister, sister~, my dear sister." The floodwaters rushed out of the bus.

Hinata bit her hand tightly, and soft whispers escaped from between her teeth. "Sister, you're so slow," Hanabi said, looking at Hinata who had returned with her wallet. "What's wrong?" Hinata asked, snapping out of her daze.

"It's nothing, I just feel like you're acting a little strange," Hanabi said somewhat suspiciously. Hinata seemed distracted after returning, and her face was quite red.

"Hanabi, don't use your Byakugan carelessly in the villa anymore," Hinata suddenly said. "Why?" Hanabi was a little confused; she didn't understand why Hyakki would suddenly say that.

"Everyone in the villa has their own privacy. We live together every day, and it wouldn't be good if I saw something I shouldn't with my Byakugan," Hinata said, her eyes darting around.

"Okay, I understand." Hanabi nodded, but she still felt something was off about Hinata. Back at the villa, Mashiro was sitting alone in the living room drinking tea.

"Where are Tehan and Tayuya-neechan?" Hanabi asked, looking around.

"They're a little tired today, so they've gone back to sleep. Hanabi, you should go back to sleep too, you have class tomorrow." Masahiko said with a smile. "Okay, big sister," Hanabi obediently replied.

"Sister, I'm going to the study. I need to check on something," Hinata said, and before Mashiro could speak, she quickly ran upstairs.

"That's strange," Mashiro shrugged and continued drinking his tea.

In the study, Hinata looked at the marks on the floor, her face flushing again. She needed to act quickly and clean up the mess.

Chapter 78: Uchiha Izumi

In the laboratory of the Sound Village, Mashiro looked at the experimental subject in the container. Under the observation of her Byakugan, she discovered that the chakra in the experimental subject's body was rapidly condensing, a phenomenon that had never been seen before.

Suddenly, a "crack" was heard, the glass of the container shattered, and the green nutrient solution poured out, wetting Zhenbai's shoes. "Cough cough cough, I'm... still alive?" Quan lay on the ground, coughing violently, then moved his hands, somewhat incredulous. Then Quan looked around.

"Where am I? How did I get here?"

Then, seeing the black hem of Mashiro's robe directly in front of him, he looked up and saw Mashiro in her entirety. "Hundred Eyes? Is she from the Hyuga clan?"

Quan looked at the girl, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "What is she saying?"

Izumi looked at Mashiro, who seemed to be saying something, but her mind was in complete chaos, and she was feeling extremely dizzy.

Izumi fell straight forward, and just as she was about to hit the ground, Mashiro bent down and caught her. That familiar scent was Izumi's last thought before she fainted.

Mashiro looked at the experimental subject in her arms with some helplessness. She was introducing herself when the experimental subject broke through the wall, but the experimental subject seemed not to hear her, and kept looking around before inexplicably fainting.

Looking at the face that was exactly the same as Izumi's, Mashiro sighed and muttered to herself, "It seems that I can't ignore this time."

Then Mashiro took off his robe and covered the test subject with it, then carried her and disappeared into the shadows. Izumi gently opened her eyes and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling.

"Was I dreaming? Where am I?" Quan Zong felt dizzy and disoriented.

Just then, a surprised female voice came from beside the bed: "You're awake!"

Quan turned her head and saw a red-haired girl with a youthful appearance; a slightly protruding canine tooth added a touch of playfulness and cuteness.

"If she were a little more arrogant, she would probably suit Zero's taste perfectly," Izumi thought to herself. "Excuse me, where is this place? And who are you?" Izumi asked with a smile.

"My name is Tayuya, and this is the Senju clan's territory in Konoha," Tayuya said. After these past few days, she had figured out some things about Konoha, including where she was currently living.

"The Senju clan?" For some reason, Izumi had a bad feeling. "May I ask who the current Hokage is?" Izumi asked softly.

"It's Lady Tsunade," Tayuya replied. Because it was the Senju clan's territory, Tayuya would sometimes run into Tsunade when she went out. Although Tsunade hadn't made things difficult for her out of respect for Mashiro, Tayuya was still very nervous every time.

"Is that so? Tayuya, have you ever heard of someone named Uchiha Zero?" Izumi asked, head bowed. Tayuya shook her head; she truly hadn't heard of him.

“Okay, I’m feeling a little unwell and would like some peace and quiet.” Izumi looked up and smiled at Tayuya.

"Then you should rest well, I'll go out first," Tayuya said. Although it was a little strange, she could only do as Mashiro said, since she was told to take good care of this person.

After Tayuya left, Izumi stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, then quickly got up, opened the window, and jumped out. Walking through the streets of Konoha, looking at the incredibly familiar buildings and the bustling residents, Izumi was somewhat disoriented. "Where...am I?"

Izumi wandered aimlessly through the streets until she reached the vicinity of the Hokage's office. Looking up at the Hokage Rock in the distance, Izumi's expression became dazed again.

Hashirama Senju. Mikazuki Senju. Hiruzen Sarutobi. Minato Namikaze. Tsunade Senju.

Everyone who should be there is there, except for that guy.

Izumi finally realized that she had appeared in a world without Uchiha Zero.

Recalling the events surrounding Uchiha Zero, Izumi felt dizzy again, as if her soul was not suited to this world.

"Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?" A very magnetic female voice came from behind Quan. Quan turned around and saw a woman with black hair and red eyes, who was incredibly sexy.

“Sister Hong?” Quan said unconsciously. “?” Hong asked, puzzled.

She had just returned from handing over her mission when she saw a black-haired girl not far away. The girl seemed to be in a bad state, so she kindly asked her what was wrong. To her surprise, the girl addressed her as "Sister Hong" in an incredibly affectionate manner.

"Do you know me?" Hong asked with a smile.