XX-level Hokage

Unfortunately, no fire broke out. "The wind is picking up."

Many things in life are inexplicable, such as that strange dream. Few people are troubled by dreams, but Hong happens to be one of them.

That night, when she got home, Kurenai had another strange dream. She was sitting on her bed, and a man was standing in front of the French windows with his back to her. The man's identity was none other than Uchiha Zero, who had been troubling Kurenai all along.

"Are you deceiving everyone, including me?" she asked in the dream.

“Yes,” the figure replied. “That’s good.”

She seemed to be laughing in my dream.

After a moment, he said, "Zero, you have everyone in your hands, using lies and threats to force all those who oppose you to bleed, but have you ever thought about how you will face the wrath when all your lies are exposed?"

The figure did not answer, but slowly turned around.

Just as Kurenai was about to see Uchiha Zero's true appearance, countless shadows enveloped her, and she vaguely saw a pair of Byakugan eyes before waking up.

Meanwhile, Mashiro was also having a dream, an incredibly long dream. "Hello, my name is Kurenai Yuhi."

"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I would probably be dead by now."

“I am very scared, scared of my own weakness. When I am agitated, I often walk alone in the woods.”

"Yes, I think I've fallen for you." "Did you do that?"

Are you deceiving everyone, including me?

"Besides Quan, we are all your playthings, subject to your power, your money, and your coercion." "If there is another life, please let me go, okay?"

Mashiro woke up in bed, rubbing her forehead. "What a long dream."

Chapter Nineteen: One Year

Kurenai ultimately failed to find him, something Mashiro had anticipated, but she wasn't worried; there would be plenty of opportunities. A year passed quickly, and Mashiro accomplished many things during that time.

Training, interacting with various powerful figures, transferring Sakura, transferring Yakumo, and carrying out missions.

For her future plans, Mashiro needed a very high reputation, so she began to carry out various missions as a third-generation disciple. With the fourth generation and Minato leading the way, most of the village's leaders did not find it inappropriate and were happy that another talented person had appeared in the village. As a result, the third generation secretly continued to build momentum for Mashiro.

At the border between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire, there is a group of rebels who form a band of bandits.

The eldest brother, Sato Yasushi, the second brother, Yamamoto Toru, the third brother, Sato Riki, and the fourth brother, Kariyama Kaoru, led a group of underlings to fight on both sides of the border between the two countries.

Because they were extremely powerful and had never robbed any important figures from either country, Konoha hadn't bothered them in recent years. Of course, no one was willing to pay for their services.

Ye issued this mission primarily because killing one Jonin and four Chunin would cost a lot of money.

"Fourth brother, how's it going? Has that woman caught up with us yet?" a middle-aged man with a full beard asked.

“No, I sensed her chakra.” A pale, gaunt man beside the bearded man answered, his hands on the ground. These two were Sato Yasushi and Kariyama Kaoru.

Sato Yasushi visibly breathed a sigh of relief, then asked his fourth brother with a grim expression, "Fourth brother, what exactly happened?"

"My second and third brothers and I were discussing the goods we had just stolen when a group of black-clad ninjas suddenly appeared and attacked us. My drunken second brother and injured third brother were caught off guard and killed by the ninjas. Because I'm a sensory ninja, I sensed something was wrong beforehand and managed to dodge their attack. After killing a few of them, I ran to find you, boss. As you know, our underlings in the courtyard were in chaos, with many black-clad ninjas attacking everywhere. When I found you, I saw you fighting that woman," Kaoru Kariyama said, still shaken.

After listening to Kaoru Kariyama's words, Yasushi Sato also said with a cold face, "I was almost the same. I was drinking alone in my room when a dozen black-clad ninjas appeared out of thin air and attacked me. I quickly dodged and then used earth spikes to eliminate those black-clad ninjas. Then a woman wearing a fox mask attacked me with a water dragon bullet. I fought with her until you came. I used the Dust Path to stir up sand and dust and escaped here with you."

"A black ninja appearing out of nowhere, a fox mask, could it be...?" Kaoru Kariyama hadn't finished speaking.

Sato Yasushi interrupted him with a stern face: "Hyuga Mashiro, the head of the Hyuga clan and a disciple of the Third Hokage, has risen to fame in the past year. His price on the black market has been driven up to the top ten on the assassination list. His summoning beast, which has the Byakugan and the black shadow, is also known as the Black and White Phantom."

Then Sato Yasushi looked at Kariyama Kaoru and asked in a cold voice, "Why did she come here? I remember we have no conflict with Konoha. Did you and the second and third brothers do something behind my back?"

Kaoru Kariyama was extremely nervous and said in a trembling voice, "A week ago, my third brother and I ambushed a caravan."

At that time, a man claimed to be the brother of the wife of the daimyo of the Land of Fire. However, the third brother was injured by the guards and, in a fit of rage, did not believe the man's words and killed everyone in the caravan.

Then I found a letter on that person's body. That person was indeed the brother of the wife of the daimyo of the Land of Fire. He was preparing to return to the Land of Fire with the caravan because the caravan had an accident halfway through the journey.

When I found out about this, I panicked and asked my second brother what to do. He said not to worry, since there were no survivors, the people of the Land of Fire wouldn't know it was us. My third brother and I were afraid of being punished, so we didn't tell you, eldest brother.

Sato Yasushi was furious at the thought process of his brothers. He slapped the fourth brother and scolded him, "You bunch of idiots, can't you use your brains? Who else but us, the Wild Alliance, would be capable of doing something like this at the border between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire?"

"Boss, spare me! Boss, spare me!" Kariyama Kaoru realized his own foolishness at this point.

Sato Yasushi had no intention of doing anything to his brother; he only had one thought in his mind: revenge!

"I must avenge this; the second and third brothers cannot have died in vain," Sato Yasushi said, filled with resentment. Kariyama Kaoru nodded in agreement.

"That woman was just a teenager. If the second and third brothers hadn't been careless, those black-clad ninjas would have had no chance of killing them."

"You go first. I'll sneak over and kill that woman. If it weren't for your safety, in a one-on-one fight, she would have died by my hand," Sato Yasushi said.

These words deeply moved Kaoru Kariyama, and just as he was about to say something, a round of applause broke out. "Clap clap clap!"

"It really touched me."

Mashiro emerged from the shadows of the forest.

"Fourth brother, let's go," Sato Yasushi said, taking a step forward.

Kaoru Kariyama looked at Yasushi Sato ahead with immense grief, then turned and ran away.

“No need to make him run so far, I’ll send him on his way with you,” Mashiro said calmly. “You seem quite confident, Keiko.” Then several kunai flew towards Mashiro.

Mashiro easily dodged the kunai and walked step by step towards Sato Yasui. "Fire Release: Demon Hook Flame Technique"

Sato Yasushi formed hand seals, and several fire blades attacked Mashiro from all directions.

Mashiro pressed one hand to the ground, and instantly several stone walls rose up around her. Then, several water-style techniques appeared and surrounded the stone walls, which blocked the fire blade.

Just as Sato Yasushi was about to form hand seals again, Mashiro's voice rang out. "Illusion: Withered Vine"

Immediately afterwards, countless withered vines appeared out of thin air and tightly bound Sato Yasui. Sato Yasui hurriedly gathered his chakra to try to get rid of this illusion, but found that nothing happened.

"Is this real?!"

Sato Yasushi quickly realized the situation. At this moment, Mashiro had already walked to a short distance in front of him. Upon seeing this, Sato Yasushi hurriedly used his bound left hand to form a hand seal.

Sand Release: The Technique of Transforming the Body into Sand

Then Sato Yasushi's body turned into yellow sand and fell off the withered vines, before gathering again in a nearby location.

"This guy is strange, it's best to leave." After witnessing Mashiro's unsealed ninjutsu and strange illusions, Sato Yasushi immediately had the idea of ​​retreating. Just as he was about to escape, more than a dozen shadowy ninjas blocked his way.

Mashiro walked up to him and murmured, "A huge amount of chakra, powerful chakra control, all five types of chakra, and mastery of all five types of ninjutsu. Tell me, what do you mean by all of these combined?"

Sato Yasushi was utterly bewildered; he had no idea what Mashiro was muttering to herself. "The answer: Fusion Burial."

Mashiro extended her right hand and waved it at Sato Yasushi.

Flames rose from the ground, water dragons came from all directions, lightning struck from the sky, and fierce winds swept everything up, lifting up boulders and compressing them into a huge stone coffin.

"Fancy it is, but it's probably still no match for Wood Release." Mashiro sighed, then disappeared into the shadows. On the other side, Kaoru Kariyama was running for his life when suddenly a huge figure blocked his way. "What... what kind of monster is this?"

Looking at the enormous monster before him, Kaoru Kariyama could hardly believe his eyes. "This is a troll horde!"

Mashiro emerged from the shadows, and the troll ninja lifted her up and placed her on his shoulder.

"You did a great job, Mashiro," the Third Hokage said to Mashiro with a smile. "You flatter me, Master," Mashiro replied modestly.

"The Chunin Exams are about to begin. You should participate too, and protect the examinees during the second round," the Third Hokage said. "Yes, sir."

Mashiro looked down at the floor.

"Has the Chunin Exams finally begun?"

Chapter 20: The Chunin Exams

A few days before the Chunin Exams, the Third Hokage gathered all the ninjas in Konoha who were currently participating in the Chunin Exams.

Mashiro also arrived at the gathering place, looking at the ninjas in the room. The examiner in charge of the written test: Ibiki Morino.

The examiner in charge of the Forest of Death: Mitarashi Anko.

Preliminary round examiner: Hayate Gekko. Official round examiner: Genma Shiranui.

Then there are the team leaders who signed up for this Chunin Exam: Team 3 Might Guy, Team 7 Kakashi Hatake, Team 8 Kurenai Yuhi, and Team 10 Asuma Sarutobi.

Finally, there were some ninjas like Mashiro who were responsible for maintaining order and protecting the examinees. Iruka was among them. When he saw Mashiro, he smiled and greeted him, and Mashiro smiled back.

The pass rate for the Chunin Exams is not high, so many instructors will only choose to enroll after teaching their students for three to five years. The 7th, 8th and 10th teams that enrolled this time have only been in charge for a year, and the 3rd team has only been in charge for two years. This can only mean that they are extremely confident in their teams.

This is also the origin of the Konoha Twelve; ordinary people wouldn't have the courage to do that.

After taking her seat, Mashiro observed the ninjas around her with great interest; they were all familiar faces.

Kurenai noticed Mashiro as soon as she entered, but after a quick glance, she subtly looked away. Mashiro didn't seem to mind, smiling and greeting the people around her.

"Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura both like you very much," Kakashi said, sitting down next to Mashiro at some point.

"Really? I like all three of them too." Mashiro said to Kakashi with a smile. [Name: Hatake Kakashi]

Gender: Male Age: 26 Favorability Rating: 30 Relationship: Colleague

Favorability Reward (50): Mastery of the Hatake Sword Technique Favorability Reward (90): Divine Might

Upon seeing the words "Kamui," Mashiro's smile deepened.

“I heard from Xiaolou Ying that Kakashi-sensei is a very nice person,” Mashiro said. Kakashi was about to be modest when Mashiro quickly added, “He’s just a little indecent.” Kakashi was a little embarrassed and protested, “That’s dirty talk, I’m still very proper.”

Kakashi was completely speechless. He coughed and said, "It's nothing, just a cultivation manual for adults. Kids shouldn't be so curious." Mashiro didn't expose him, just said "Oh~".

Soon, the Third Hokage arrived and began explaining the specifics of the Chunin Exams.

"Besides Konoha, the major ninja villages invited for this Chunin Exam—Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Amegakure, Takigakure, Kusanagi, and Otogakure—have agreed to come. This is a great opportunity to promote Konoha. Of course, the lives of the examinees must be the top priority. Those who are not fit to continue the exam must be removed from the exam in a timely manner. This requires everyone's cooperation..."

After the Third Hokage finished explaining all the important matters, he left, and the other ninjas in the room followed suit. "I have some things to attend to, so I'll head back first," Kakashi said to Mashiro, before turning and leaving.

Mashiro knew what Kakashi had been busy with lately, so she entrusted Sasuke with the Lightning Blade. Of the three, Kakashi still valued Sasuke the most.

Soon only a few people remained. Besides Mashiro, Kurenai and Asuma were also there, talking together. "Is that so?" Mashiro looked at the two laughing and talking, lost in thought.

Noticing Mashiro's gaze, Kurenai was inexplicably frightened, so she suddenly said goodbye to Asuma and left, leaving Asuma completely bewildered. "Are you Asuma-sensei?" Mashiro asked with a smile as she came up behind Asuma.

Asuma turned around and saw Mashiro, immediately recognizing her: "Mashiro-chan? I've often heard my father mention you; I should have paid you a visit."

But because I've been on missions with Shikamaru and the others, I haven't had time to go there.

"Asuma-sensei is too kind. I should be the one visiting you. I heard before that you had stepped down from your position as a Guardian Ninja and returned to Konoha, but you've been busy with many missions for me this year, and we're only meeting now," Mashiro said modestly.

The two chatted casually like that.

Suddenly, Mashiro asked, "Does Asuma-sensei like Kurenai-sensei? I saw Asuma-sensei secretly watching Kurenai when they were sitting together." Asuma was startled at first, but didn't hide anything, smiling as she said, "Yes, I've liked Kurenai for many years, and she finally agreed to my pursuit recently. Oh, congratulations, Asuma-sensei. I'll head back now since I have nothing else to do," Mashiro said.

“Okay, I happen to have some things to take care of.” Asuma naturally had no objections. Mashiro turned and left.

At that moment, on a bridge not far from the conference room, Hong leaned against the bridge railing, looking at the flowing water below.