"You have to understand that every era has its own unique problems, and heroes belonging to that era will naturally be born to face them.
There's no need for any supernatural external forces; the world will always correct itself and move forward."
Hane Genma followed closely behind Xiao Qi, offering some earnest advice. Truthfully, even when he was convincing Senju Tobirama to take part in the war to annihilate the Hagoromo clan, Genma hadn't racked his brains this hard.
Because in this case, persuasion was his only option. If he tried to forcefully interfere with Xiao Qi's actions or control it, the fox would simply use its Mangekyo Sharingan to hide inside a time rift, and then... well...
"The current situation in the shinobi world is steadily improving, and our long-cherished wish for peace will soon be realized. There's no need for you to waste your Mangekyo's visual prowess on this..."
"By the way, if you really want to summon something, why don't you summon a bolt of divine lightning to strike dead an old man named Senju Butsuma? Using his life as nourishment, the Senju clan might just cultivate a fruit called 'peace.'"
Genma was telling the absolute truth. Through the various efforts of his Yinghuo Organization and the Senju brothers, the shinobi world was indeed heading in a better direction. It could be said that the turning point for a major transformation was right before their eyes.
Under these circumstances, Xiao Qi's misuse of the Mangekyo was the absolute definition of adding legs to a snake—completely redundant.
Summoning ninjas from the future who possessed the intellect, the will, and the power to change the shinobi world, and letting them shine in this era—that was Xiao Qi's guiding principle.
The problem was that it was a fox, and its actions were highly erratic. Its summons were basically like a gacha game; good or bad, it was entirely random. It could easily accidentally summon a ticking time bomb for Genma.
Uchiha Sasuke from earlier was a living example.
What if it pulled over a Six Paths Madara... Alright, that was just groundless anxiety. Xiao Qi definitely didn't have what it took to summon such a heavyweight figure due to the massive gap in sheer mass between them.
Think about it: how much energy would it consume to move a figure like Six Paths Madara back and forth along the timeline?
Theoretically speaking, since Konohagakure was still successfully founded in the future, it meant that Xiao Qi's summoning shenanigans wouldn't cause any catastrophic damage to history.
But theory is one thing, and reality is another. Genma didn't possess a god's-eye view, so he still couldn't help but feel anxious at a time like this.
As Xiao Qi listened to Genma, its ears twitched involuntarily—a clear sign that it wasn't absorbing a single word. You say what you want, I'll summon what I want. Anyway, once I lay this egg, I'm out of here. I'm not taking responsibility for the aftermath.
Genma: "..."
Seriously, it wasn't like he could just step up and kill Xiao Qi, right?
Taking a step back, Xiao Qi currently had a severe lack of trust in ninjas. What if he couldn't even kill it?
Genma gritted his teeth. Fine, if it wants to play the gacha game, let it. I'll just watch one more time before deciding what to do next.
Deep within the woods, though not in the exact same delivery room as Uchiha Sasuke, it was still within the same forest. The Sharingan in Xiao Qi's eyes shifted once more into the pattern of the Mangekyo.
Once again, it activated Umasuikashu.
There was no need to dwell on the process; it was virtually identical to the last time. However, Genma noticed that its mastery over the Mangekyo had grown more refined, as the summoning process this time was much smoother... This was definitely not a good sign.
The space ahead began to tremble. Genma immediately heightened his vigilance, ready to strike at any moment.
Then, a figure clad in a certain uniform tumbled out of the space-time rift.
He landed flat on his back, and one look was enough to tell he was right on the verge of biting the dust.
As expected, the moment the summon was complete, Xiao Qi bolted.
Scanning the stranger, Genma identified the Konoha uniform he was wearing. However, this did not lower his guard; in fact, it made him even more tense. After all, it was a well-known fact that most of the masterminds pulling the strings behind the shinobi world hailed from Konoha.
"Huh, did I just catch a live broadcast?"
This guy was in a much worse state than Sasuke had been. When Sasuke was summoned, he had only received a slap from Genma. But this man had a short blade piercing straight through from his right clavicle up to his neck.
Genma raised an eyebrow as he recognized the man's identity. He let out a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness, this person wasn't a threat and could even be put to good use. While his ceiling certainly wasn't as high as Uchiha Sasuke's, his strength was exceptional and stable, and he might even follow Genma's orders.
The front of the green Konoha flak jacket looked standard. Ignoring the man's terrified gaze and the gurgling sounds coming from his throat, Genma flipped him over. Don't worry, his windpipe is just severed; he won't die immediately.
Upon flipping him, Genma noticed that the center of the uniform's back—where the Uzumaki clan crest would normally be—had been replaced by the emblem of the Yinghuo Organization.
To be perfectly fair and objective, whoever designed this had made the uniform look even uglier.
The lines of the Yinghuo emblem were quite minimalist, but no matter how minimalist they were, they couldn't compare to the simplicity of the Uzumaki crest. Using such a logo as a clothing design element made it look overly convoluted.
"So here's the question: what happened to the Uzumaki clan? Were they wiped out ahead of schedule, or..." Genma thought of another possibility.
Part of the sleeve on the man's shoulder was also torn. Genma noticed what appeared to be a tattoo on his shoulder skin, so he pulled the sleeve back, revealing the tattoo...
It was the emblem of the Yinghuo Organization again.
"Oh, so he's one of us."
Having this emblem tattooed on his shoulder meant that he belonged to the Yinghuo Organization in the future. Calling him "one of us" was entirely accurate.
Genma flipped the dying man over once more. Looking at the shock of silver hair and the weathered, middle-aged face with a sharply defined jawline, he nodded again. Yep, no mistake, it's definitely him.
By now, the man was right on death's door. Only then did Genma unhurriedly reach out to draw the short blade and begin treating his wounds.
The man seemed quite rational. Although he didn't quite recognize Genma, once he realized what Genma was doing, he cooperatively refrained from struggling. To be precise, he found the younger version of Genma somewhat familiar but couldn't quite place his identity.
"Haa... haa..."
Moments later, his breathing finally cleared, indicating he was out of mortal danger. Well, medical ninjutsu truly worked wonders.
Genma took a few steps back to maintain a safe distance. Once the man sat up, he asked, "What's the matter? Feeling down and decided to try some performance art via suicide?"
Konoha, suicide, white hair—who else could it be? Go ahead and guess.
"Cough, cough, cough."
The man coughed violently a few times, then instinctively touched his neck.
"Thank you for your help. Just now, I was merely wiping down my blade when the sudden space-time tremor caused it to slip from my hand, and then... cough... Anyway, thank you for your help."
He couldn't quite bring himself to finish the sentence.
Genma: "..."
Alright, so he had guessed wrong.
But damn, this guy was incredibly unlucky. He had practically almost died from the summon itself.
"You might be confused right now, but listen closely: everything you're experiencing is real. My name is Genma. Have you heard of me?"
"Lord... Lord Genma? Why are you so young?" Looking at Genma's face, the man finally recognized him.
Upon hearing Genma introduce himself, the guy dropped to one knee on the spot—the standard, formal posture for a subordinate reporting to a superior ninja.
Huh, why did he suddenly get so tense?
"I am still me, but I need to bring you up to speed on a critical piece of information... This is the era before the founding of Konohagakure."
"Huh? Are you joking, my Lord?"
Logically, it made no sense. If Genma belonged to the era before Konoha's founding, how could the word "Konoha" come out of his mouth?
"You can take a quick look around at the surroundings. I'll wait for you here."
The man hesitated slightly but left in a hurry, only to return just as quickly. Even in such a brief window, he had already noticed several anomalies.
Dropping to one knee once more, he said, "Lord Genma, if everything you say is true... then Sakumo, a carrier of the Yinghuo Will from the future, offers you his respects."
See? He really was one of them.
Without a doubt, Xiao Qi's gacha luck was excellent this time. While the "White Fang of Konoha" might not have the strongest mental fortitude, his combat prowess was the real deal.
As a legendary slasher of Konoha, he was the type of ninja who could carve a bloody path from one end of the world to the other without blinking an eye.
A pure, high-skill mechanical player like him would be a rare talent in any era.
A top-tier worker—a premium asset, really. The question was, would Genma take him or not?
"Then Sakumo, you're in tremendous luck. In this era, you can witness your own birth, and if you're interested, you can even spectate it. Truly a wonder of the world."
Alike—so alike. This manner of speaking perfectly matched the rumors of Lord Genma... Sakumo, thirty-three years old and in his prime, was now as anxious as a primary schooler.
"Lord Genma, if everything you say is true... then how did I come to this era?"
Sakumo's inner self was inherently resistant to the concept of time travel, which was why he instinctively prefaced his question with the same words again.
"Someone decided this era needs people like you, so they summoned you. You aren't the first, nor will you be the last..."
"So, are you willing to dedicate your strength to the peace of Konoha, the Land of Fire, and the entire shinobi world?"
This explained why the current Genma already knew about Konohagakure.
Sakumo still found it mind-boggling. However, unlike Sasuke, he was a true Konoha shinobi. Faced with a question that carried absolute political correctness, he didn't hesitate for a split second.
"I am willing... but I feel I need some time to adapt to the current situation."
"It's fine. Follow me, we're heading back to Yinghuo Village."
"Has Yinghuo Village already been established, Lord Genma?"
"Yes."
Sakumo followed behind Genma. After a moment of thought, he asked again, "Has my clan joined the village yet?"
"The Hatake clan? No. I don't know much about them, and I don't even know their territory... Is the Hatake clan also a ninja clan under Yinghuo? How did you all join the organization?" Genma asked out of curiosity.
"Supposedly, the organization sent a ninja named Gan Wencui to the Hatake clan. This powerful shinobi won over the Hatake clan—who made their mark in the shinobi world through kenjutsu—with his own exquisite sword skills. Because of that, the Hatake clan willingly joined Yinghuo Village."
Genma's forward steps came to a sudden halt. He turned around, staring at Sakumo behind him with a look of utter shock.
"Lord Genma, is there a problem?"
"You're fine, but there's a problem with Gan Wencui... Because you are Gan Wencui."
Gan Wencui. The moment you heard this ridiculous name, you knew Genma had personally assigned it to Sakumo as a codename. No one else in the world would pull something like that.
The universe worked in mysterious ways. Sakumo had only just arrived in this era, yet he found that his future actions had already been written into history.
"Me? It turns out it was me? Truly me?"
Sakumo wasn't stupid, so he quickly caught on to what Genma meant.
He instinctively slowed his pace, pondering the possibility of him being the one to lead the Hatake clan to Yinghuo Village.
Nope, my head hurts. My brain is turning into mush.
Right then, Genma suddenly asked a completely out-of-left-field question, "Sakumo, did you come from a dysfunctional family? What I mean is, did your parents fight a lot when you were a kid?"
Sakumo had absolutely no idea where Genma was going with this. At this point, he assumed some previous time traveler had spilled his background to Genma. Although it was a private matter, there was no harm in admitting it, so he nodded. "It seems there was indeed something like that."
"Well, there you go. Have you ever thought about why they fought?"
"Household trivialities. What else could it be?"
Genma shook his head, delivering the fatal blow, "That's because your father discovered his son was growing up to look more and more like Old Man Gan from next door. Get it?"
Sakumo, normally refined and gentle, felt his heart drop as a massive what the fuck echoed in his mind.
To be fair, while a person might look like their father, they will undoubtedly grow up to look exactly like their future self.
Genma's angle for proving Sakumo was a time traveler was truly unconventional. While this little family drama joke wasn't exactly brain-melting, an ordinary person would never think to explain the facts this way.
The topic was intensely awkward. Sakumo twitched the corner of his mouth and quickly hurried to keep up with Genma ahead of him.
To prevent things from getting any more awkward, he forcefully changed the subject.
"By the way, Lord Genma, why did you suspect I was committing suicide when you first saw me? Shouldn't the normal reaction be to assume I was ambushed by an enemy?"
"What kind of shinobi would choose to end their own life? That would be far too immature, entirely failing to qualify as a proper ninja."
Genma: "..."
Sakumo currently had a wife and child, a harmonious family, immense prestige, and a successful career... Suicide? Why would he ever commit suicide? The word seemed lightyears away from his life.
It just goes to show that people always overestimate their own mental resilience, believing they can remain aloof from the world and ignore external opinions.
Aloof? Heh. That was a luxury Sakumo wouldn't be able to afford later on.
Genma sighed. Turning around, he reached out and patted Sakumo on the shoulder.
"Sakumo, if an author has a fragile psyche, the best thing they can do is stop reading the comment section. Got it?"
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