XX-level Hokage

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.

"Why are the Iwa ninja suddenly participating in the Chunin Exams?" Mashiro asked abruptly as they walked behind the house. "I don't know either, it was the Tsuchikage's idea," Kurotsuchi said with a smile.

"Is it because of Deidara? Or because of the culprit who stirred up trouble between Iwagakure and Konoha?" Mashiro asked casually. "You know?" Kurotsuchi's smile faded.

"Don't worry about it so much. Since the message was passed on to the Tsuchikage by the Hokage, it's not surprising that I, as the Hokage's disciple, would know about it. Besides, I actually admire the Tsuchikage quite a bit," Mashiro said, looking at Kurotsuchi.

"Yes, that seems to be the case." Kurotsuchi said with a smile after realizing what was happening. "What do you think of Konoha?" Mashiro continued to ask.

"It's great, the environment is good, the population is large, and the commerce is thriving," Heitu said after thinking for a moment. "That's good."

Mashiro nodded, then suddenly called Kurotsuchi's name: "Kurotsuchi." "Hmm?" Kurotsuchi looked down at Mashiro.

Just as Kurotsuchi lowered her head, Mashiro wrapped her arms around Kurotsuchi's neck and pulled her down sharply.

Their lips touched. After a long while, they parted.

Kuroto's cheeks flushed crimson as he stared at Shinpaku in utter shock. "You, you, you..."

"You kissed me just now, consider this returning the favor, don't worry about it," Mashiro said calmly. "Can this really be returned?" Kurotsuchi was very puzzled, and even began to doubt herself.

"Alright, alright, let's hurry up, it'll look weird if we're too slow." Mashiro said, touching Kurotsuchi's hair. Hmm, the hair quality is pretty good, it feels nice to the touch.

Kurotsuchi didn't know what to say, so he quickly ran off and took Mashiro back to the yard.

"Game time is over. Let's have some snacks and chat. That concludes today's party," Mashiro said, getting off Kurotsuchi.

Everyone had no objections and returned to the long table. Only Heitu said, "It's getting late, let's go back first."

Then he took Akado, who was eating, and Kishimoto, who was sleeping, and left.

"Kurotsuchi seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Was something wrong?" Ino asked. Mashiro shook her head, indicating that she did not know anything about it.

Only Sakura noticed the expression on Kurotsuchi's face; her brows furrowed slightly.

After they finished chatting, the others left one after another. Hinata was also persuaded by Mashiro to return to her room. Now, only two people remained in the courtyard: Mashiro and Sasuke.

Shinji looked at Sasuke, and then the shadow beneath his feet began to change, like mud, sinking Sasuke into it. After emerging from the shadow, Sasuke looked around at the scene.

"This is the Hyuga clan's underground training ground. I don't know when it was built, and it hasn't been used for many years. I only discovered it by chance," Mashiro said as she appeared beside Sasuke.

"Why did you ask me to stay?" Sasuke asked.

"What else could it be? It's the curse mark on you." Mashiro replied.

“But Kakashi-sensei said that this cursed seal cannot be removed,” Sasuke said, touching his neck.

"Do you want to remove this cursed seal?" Mashiro asked, looking into Sasuke's eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, then Sasuke looked away.

“I feel that this cursed seal contains immense power. Although it’s not as powerful as the mask Zero gave me, it can still make me stronger,” Sasuke said, his head bowed.

“I know your thirst for power, so I’m glad you’ve managed to hold out until now without using the power of the cursed seal,” Mashiro said, stroking Sasuke’s hair.

After a year together, especially during Sasuke's most helpless times, he now vaguely regards Mashiro as half a family member. "I can sense an incredibly evil aura within this power," Sasuke said.

The Sasuke in this world is not like the one in the original story. He has a mask and the Shadow Legion, so although he craves power, he is extremely cautious about things like the Cursed Seal, which has obvious flaws.

This cursed seal is called the Sage Transformation Curse Seal. It is a product of natural chakra. After activating this seal, chakra, strength, and speed will increase exponentially. "Mashiro said leisurely.

"Natural chakra?" Sasuke was somewhat puzzled.