XX-level Hokage

This time, however, he felt something was strange; it was too quiet, and there wasn't a sound coming from the Hokage's office.

At this moment, Zhenzi pushed open the door and came out. He saw Su at the door, nodded in greeting, and then left.

For some reason, Su felt that the young lady of the Hyuga clan had changed a lot in temperament, from being reserved to... how to say it, unrestrained? Just as Su was pondering this, the Hokage's voice called out, and Su hurriedly went inside.

Mashiro returned to her clan and went to her room. In the afternoon, all the Hyuga clan members who had been detained were released. In the evening, a piece of news shocked the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

The Third Hokage will take Hyuga Mashiro, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan, as his disciple. Furthermore, due to the current head of the Hyuga clan being suspected of leaking internal Konoha information, Hyuga Mashiro will temporarily assume the position of head of the clan until the truth is revealed.

On the night the news was announced, all the Hyuga clan ninjas gathered in Mashiro's courtyard.

Mashiro remained indoors until the next morning, when her door opened and she emerged, dressed in a pure black clan robe. She had always admired the Keihinaga clan's attire, and Mashiro herself preferred black, especially after acquiring the Shadow Legion.

Looking at the courtyard full of Hyuga clan members, Mashiro calmly said, "Don't you all have to work? Those who need to carry out missions should do so, those who need to work should do so, and those who need to go to school should go to school."

"Master... Clan Head, I would like to ask how Lord Hiashi is doing? What is the Hokage's opinion of the Hyuga clan now?" asked an elite Chunin of the Hyuga clan.

"I don't know much about my father either, but the Hokage said he'll be released soon. As for his opinion on the Hyuga clan, the Hokage clearly told me that the Hyuga clan is extremely important to Konoha. Despite what has happened to the Hyuga clan in recent days, he still has faith in them. So, you don't need to worry about your lives changing or that the Hyuga clan will suffer the same fate as the Uchiha." Mashiro said softly, looking around at all the clan members.

Hearing Mashiro's words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. In the eyes of many Hyuga clan members, the Third Hokage's acceptance of Mashiro as a disciple was a sign of his respect for and attempt to win over the Hyuga clan.

However, many elders of the Hyuga clan know that the current Hokage has no need to specifically court any particular clan, so they are currently unconcerned about the Third Hokage's recruitment efforts.

Mashiro was still very puzzled by the matter of taking on a disciple, knowing that the Third Hokage's last disciple was one of the Legendary Sannin. "Clan Head..."

Some clansmen wanted to ask more questions, but Mashiro was losing patience.

"Everyone, I am issuing this order in my capacity as the head of the clan: Hinayuri Neji stays; everyone else, dismiss." "Yes, sir."

Hyuga is a very traditional and decadent country. They never disobey the orders of the head of the family, no matter who the head of the family is.

Within a very short time, everyone in the courtyard suddenly left, leaving only Neji, who had just been stopped by Bai, and... "Master, is there something you need?" Neji asked coldly.

Mashiro looked at Neji. [Name: Hyuga Neji]

Gender: Male Age: 12 Affection Level: 30 Relationship: Cousin

Favorability Reward (50): Jujitsu Mastery

Affection Reward (90): Increased White Eye Power

It seems Neji has a lot of opinions about what has happened recently. That makes sense, since neither the main family nor the branch family has discussed these matters with him.

For the branch family, Neji, who was heavily cultivated by the main family, was different from them. For the main family, Hyuga Neji was ultimately a member of the branch family.

He has always been an outcast in the Hyuga clan.

Mashiro slowly approached Neji and whispered in his ear, "Do you want to avenge Uncle Hizashi?" "What are you saying, Master? I don't understand," Neji said, taking two steps back.

"It's nothing, you can leave now." Mashiro patted Neji on the shoulder, signaling him to leave.

At this moment, only Mashiro and Hinata remained in the courtyard. "Sister?" Hinata called out somewhat hastily.

She hadn't seen Mashiro for several days. She was overjoyed to hear that Mashiro had become the Hokage's disciple, but she was also a little worried for her father when she heard that Mashiro was temporarily taking over as the head of the clan.

When I finally saw my sister, whom I had been longing for, today, I became timid. My sister now made me hesitant to approach her.

"Hinata, it's been several days. Have you been eating well? Have you caught a cold since the weather got colder these past few days?" Mashiro smiled gently and walked forward to hug Hinata.

Feeling the familiar warmth, Chuyou gently closed her eyes. Sure enough, her older sister was still her older sister.

Meanwhile, Danzo, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane were gathered in the Hokage's office.

They were also puzzled by the Third Hokage's announcement that he had accepted Hyuga Mashiro as his disciple. They didn't care who the head of the Hyuga clan was; a clan that was only decaying could not obtain much core power in the village. But it was different for the Third Hokage to be a disciple. This identity destined him to enter the core of the village.

“That child is very intelligent, loves his clan and loves Konoha. I have only taught three disciples in my life. I have given them great strength but I have not instilled good character in them. I am getting old and want to leave behind someone who can truly inherit my mantle,” Sarutobi said, smoking a cigarette.

"Have you ever considered that your new disciple is from the Hyuga clan? What kind of power will a Hokage's new disciple bring to her and the Hyuga clan? What if the Hyuga clan develops ambitions?" Danzo said sarcastically.

“If that day ever comes, I will leave Hyuga to you to deal with,” Sarutobi said calmly.

Danzo squinted at the Third Hokage's reply and said nothing more. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu also stopped objecting.

"How do you plan to resolve the matter of the Iwa ninja?" Danzo asked.

"The Hyuga clan was attacked suddenly, resulting in the deaths of a young Chunin and three elders. Iwa ninja headbands were found at the scene. I've already informed Onoki; he'll know what to do," Sarutobi said.

"You've got the flair of your youth, Sarutobi." Danzo said with a smile, clearly quite satisfied with the Third Hokage's actions.

After the Third Shinobi World War, both Iwagakure and Konoha cherished the hard-won peace and would not go to war over a few border ninjas. The only conflict was which side should pay a higher price. Now that Mihagakure has lost a Chunin and three clan elders, Kanpei has been tilted in his favor.

The next day, Mashiro went to the Ninja Academy to take the graduation test. Although it wasn't graduation time yet, as the Hokage's disciple, she had this privilege.

After mastering the Three Bodies Technique, Ika gave Mashiro a perfect score, and then the Third Hokage personally came to distribute headbands to his future disciple.

After completing the graduation process, Mashiro returned to her class to say goodbye to her classmates. Although her classmates had not yet adapted to Mashiro's change in status, they still gave her their blessings.

When saying goodbye to Sasuke, Mashiro used a secret signal known only to the two of them. When saying goodbye to Naruto, Mashiro said many caring words.

As she said goodbye to Koro, Mashiro whispered in her ear, "Come to the Hyuga residence on Sunday to see me."

After saying goodbye to all her classmates, Mashiro returned to her clan. The gatekeeper was still Hyuga Naoki. "Young lady, no, head of the clan, you're back. He's very happy that Mashiro has become the head of the clan. Naoki, would you like to come and help me manage the clan?" Mashiro said with a smile.

"I'm not strong enough," Naoki said, scratching his head. He was only a Chunin, and even then, he was relatively weak. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent to guard the gate.

"So, do you want to gain power?"

Mashiro stared directly into Naoki's eyes, her gaze deep and alluring. Late at night, Sasuke waited quietly in his room.

Around 2 a.m., two shadowy ninjas emerged from the shadows on the ground. They grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and sank into the shadows together. Sasuke's expression was calm, as if he had experienced this many times before.

In the mysterious basement of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke was pulled out of the shadows by shadowy ninjas, while Mashiro was already waiting ahead. As Mashiro approached Sasuke, the shadows on the ground twisted and contorted, and six shadowy ninja soldiers of various shapes emerged from the shadows. Sasuke stared in shock at the six "monsters" before him.

Mashiro said softly, "Weren't you always curious about the black ninja power I possess? This power was bestowed upon me by Lord Zero. Now, Lord Zero..."

And this will also be bestowed upon you.

Then Mashiro walked up to the ninja soldiers and said, "Now you are facing six types of Shadow Legion ninja soldiers: the Remaining Blade Legion, the Night Bat Legion, the Troll Legion, the Samurai Legion, the Hunter Claw Legion, and the Mantis Legion. You can choose one as your force."

While meditating in the confinement room, Mashiro learned that the Shadow Legion consists of one commander and nine generals, each commanding a type of ninja soldier. Mashiro can bestow the title of general upon others, granting them the ability to control Shadow Legion ninja soldiers.

From that time on, Mashiro wanted to replicate the Shadow Legion system, and the most important step in that was to select nine generals.

She kept the Shadow Squad for herself. While these ninja soldiers weren't the strongest among the Shadow Legion, they were versatile, and their human form offered many advantages. The Shadow Squad's abilities were too powerful, and Mashiro didn't intend to pass them on to anyone else.

As for the Alien Squad, Mashiro has already assigned it to someone else. So now Sasuke has six ninja squads left to choose from.

Sasuke looked at the various ninja soldiers, hesitated for a moment, and then pointed in one direction: the Blade Squad.

Chapter Twelve: Naoki

Mashiro has been very busy these past few days. After graduating from the Hyuga Academy, he immediately had to attend the apprenticeship ceremony, followed by visits from various high-ranking and middle-level officials in Konoha. During this time, something else happened: Mashiro reorganized the Hyuga Guard and promoted Hyuga Naoki to be the captain of the Hyuga Guard.

Like the Uchiha Guard, the Hyuga Royal Guard is a very important organization within their respective clans, and the captain of the guard wields considerable influence within the clan.

The organization, which was originally abandoned by Hiashi after the Uchiha clan was captured by the Fire Clan, has now been reorganized by Mashiro, who even made a branch ninja the captain of the guard team. This has caused dissatisfaction among many ninjas from both the main and branch families.

Mashiro looked at the report in his hand, and between the lines he still expressed his dissatisfaction with Mashiro's promotion of an ordinary Chunin from the branch family to the captain of the guard. The reason was also quite good, as this position had always been held by the main family's shogun.

"Who sent this?" Mashiro asked.

Their family just held a funeral.

Although somewhat puzzled as to why Mashiro said that, Hyuga Sousuke immediately replied, "Yes." "That's a pity, he'll soon have to hold another funeral," Mashiro said regretfully.

Hyuga Sousuke felt a sudden chill, but quickly calmed down and continued to assist Mashiro in handling clan affairs.

"Naoki, why haven't you said a word the whole way?" Hinata Takashi couldn't help but say to Naoki ahead as they walked. "So what if he doesn't say anything? He's caught the eye of the new head of the family, hasn't he, Captain Naoki?" Hinata Rai said sarcastically.

Hinata Natsuyo, who was standing to the side, did not speak, but judging from his expression, it was clear that he also disdained Naoki for being able to become the captain of the guard. However, he was thinking about a question at the moment: why would the clan send the four of them together to carry out the village's mission? After all, the three of them were among the people in the clan who had the worst attitude towards Hinata Naoki.

Although she knew that the young lady who had just become the head of the family was a rather soft-hearted and kind person, and that Hyuga Naoki's strength was no threat at all.

There were three of them, but Hinata Natsuyo had a bad feeling about it.

After traveling for another day, Hinata Naoki stopped in a grove of trees.

"Isn't our mission to wipe out the mountain bandits entrenched near the border of the Land of Hot Springs? It's still early, why did we stop here? Don't tell me you're out of energy, Captain," Hyuga Rai mocked.

Naoki wasn't angry at Hinata Rai's words; he'd been in a state of boundless excitement for the past few days. "Miss Ten asked me to find a suitable place, this should be alright, right?" Naoki muttered to himself. "What are you talking about to yourself?" Hinata Natsuyo asked, sensing something was off.

Naoki's mind involuntarily recalled what the young lady had said to him that night.

He was sleeping that day when he opened his eyes and found himself in a cave. The young lady was there too. Then, seven monsters emerged from the shadows, and the young lady smiled and asked him which one he wanted.

He thought he was dreaming, so he followed the young lady's instructions and randomly chose one.

Then he felt a dark, oppressive force surge into his body, and he fainted. When he woke up, he found himself in his room. Just as he thought it was a dream, a monster he had encountered the day before emerged from the shadows of the corner of the table.

He was startled, then realized he could control the monster. One, two, three... monsters appeared one by one at his summons. He was incredibly excited, but at the same time, he felt his chakra constantly decreasing.

"The number of Shadow Legion soldiers is related to your chakra level," the young lady said to him as she appeared out of nowhere.

"Master of the family." He quickly bowed, but the young lady helped him up.

"I still prefer you to call me Miss." He clearly remembered Miss saying that.

"Do you like the power I've given you?" the young lady asked with a smile.

Only then did he realize that what happened last night was not a dream, and he hurriedly knelt down to express his gratitude.

"Naoki, you have great talent. Come and help me manage Hinata." The young lady's words were like a dream. "Naoki will risk his life," he couldn't help but promise.

When the young lady announced to the entire Hyuga clan that he had become the captain of the guard, he felt the gazes of everyone present—those who looked down on him, those who were high and mighty, those who were disdainful. He had never lived as vividly as he did that day.

But many in the clan were very unhappy about him becoming captain. He knew clearly that they still looked down on him, and he felt ashamed and angry. Yesterday morning, the young lady found him and told him about Hyuga Hayashige.

His anger and fear were beyond words. He was furious at the contempt and disdain of those people, and he was terrified that the young lady would really abandon him. At that moment, a thought that made him breathless suddenly came to mind: kill them, kill those who looked down on him.

The young lady seemed to see through his thoughts and told him that there was a mission that required him, along with Hyuga Takashi, Hyuga Rai, and Hyuga Natsuyo, to carry out, and asked him what he wanted to do.

Looking into the young lady's eyes, he remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Kill them."

For some reason, after saying those words, he felt a sense of relief and a faint excitement. The young lady wasn't angry or afraid when she found out; she simply told him to find a suitable place. Oh, right, what was the name of the ninja legion the young lady had bestowed upon him?

Just as Naoki was lost in thought, Hinata Rai finally couldn't hold back and nudged Naoki. "Stop daydreaming, let's get going."

Naoki, waking from his reverie, also remembered that name.

"Alien group"? "What?"

Just as Hinata Rai was wondering about this strange title.

From his shadow, a jet-black tentacle shot out and pierced through Hyuga Rai's chest.

Hyuga Rai stared in shock and confusion at the black tentacle that suddenly emerged from his chest, then collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, Hyuga Takashi was completely terrified, while Hyuga Natsumi, who had sensed something was wrong, quickly ran away. Hyuga Takashi then came to his senses and was about to run away with Hyuga Natsumi.