Chapter 18: Lord Third, I See the Aura of Death on Your Face!

Chapter 18: Lord Third, I See the Aura of Death on Your Face!

“Lord Third~”

Byakuya gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a slight nod in greeting.

The old Hokage cheerfully took the pipe out of his mouth,

pointed toward the bookstore with a warm smile, and said,

“You’re not going to invite this old man in to sit for a bit?”

“This bookstore prohibits smoking.”

“……”

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked slightly awkward as he quickly extinguished the pipe and tucked it away.

“Ahem~

Getting old… sometimes I just can’t control the urge.”

“Lord Third, please come in.”

The two entered the bookstore and sat down on the sofa.

Byakuya poured him a cup of tea.

Then the two simply sat there… staring at each other.

For some reason,

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly felt like he was being treated as prey.

“This kid’s eyes are so weird!”

Unable to bear the strange atmosphere any longer,

the Third Hokage spoke first.

“I already know about you teaching Hinata.

Helping a classmate on your own initiative—that’s a very good thing you did.”

He paused for a moment,

then glanced at Byakuya.

But he didn’t see the happy, flattered expression he had been expecting after the praise.

This made him feel a little deflated.

Still, he didn’t dwell on it and continued.

“Since you’ve decided not to become a shinobi,

I won’t try to persuade you anymore.

But since you have such a talent for teaching…

are you interested in coming to the Academy to become a teacher?”

“I don’t have the money right now to hire someone to watch the store.

So… let’s talk about it later.”

“I see~”

Hiruzen took a sip of tea and nodded slightly.

The reasoning sounded perfectly reasonable.

“Actually, you could start as a private tutor, you know~

Have your students come to the bookstore.

You teach them while keeping an eye on the shop.”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea.

Lord Third, I’ll think about it.”

“Mm~”

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded again.

He genuinely felt that Byakuya was quite a decent kid—strong, smart, sensible, and obedient.

“By the way, Lord Third…

Have you ever heard of divination ninjutsu?”

Sarutobi Hiruzen: “?”

“It’s a type of ninjutsu that can predict the future.”

Seeing the confusion on the old Hokage’s face,

Byakuya smiled and continued.

“I was fortunate enough to learn such a technique.

And I used this divination ninjutsu to perform a reading.

I received some secret techniques as a result.

The one I gave to Hinata was just one of them.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen: “!”

“Not long ago,

I used this divination ninjutsu to read the Chūnin Exams.

And I received a truly shocking result.

A man with a long tongue who loves sticking it out…

will come to attack Konoha.

And you, Third Hokage…

will die in this great calamity.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen: “???”

“Lord Third, I see the aura of death on your face!

You must be careful!”

Sarutobi Hiruzen: “???”

“He uses a mysterious ninjutsu to summon the First and Second Hokage.

You summon a monkey and turn it into a golden staff.

The four of you fight fiercely!

The battle situation looks extremely grim.

In the end, you summon the Shinigami,

forcefully sealing away the First and Second…

and when you try to seal that long-tongued man,

you get stabbed to death by his sword!

Lord Third, please be careful!”

Sarutobi Hiruzen: “？？？？？？？”

……

Not long after,

Sarutobi Hiruzen left the bookstore with a belly full of confusion and a mind full of panic.

“Am I… really going to die?”

If Byakuya hadn’t described the Shiki Fūjin—the Dead Demon Consuming Seal—in such precise detail (a technique almost no one else could possibly know),

he really would have thought the boy was just spouting nonsense.

After all,

what kind of “divination ninjutsu” sounds that unreliable?

Even a shinobi scholar like him,

who had mastered and studied countless techniques, had never heard of it.

“A man with a long tongue who loves sticking it out…?”

The image of Orochimaru instantly appeared in Sarutobi Hiruzen’s mind.

“Summoning the First and Second…

Could it be…

Edo Tensei?!”

If it really was that technique…

then being forced to use Shiki Fūjin would make perfect sense.

“Orochimaru…

I never thought you would actually go this far…”

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Hiruzen unconsciously quickened his pace,

planning to have the ANBU investigate immediately.

……

“Plot points received~”

Byakuya released the Telescope Technique,

a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

“I wonder what Orochimaru will do this time?”

Putting away the crystal ball, he immediately started another round of lottery draws.

【Congratulations! You obtained 1 ton of gold bars!】

【Congratulations! You obtained 1 Chakra Permanent Amplification Pill (0.1%)!】

【Congratulations! You obtained a Squirtle (Bronze) Card!】

……

Meanwhile…

Karin and Izumi had run into a very awkward problem.

They were out of money.

In the wilderness it wouldn’t have mattered—they could easily hunt something and fill their stomachs.

But in a city… it was a different story.

Although with their strength, stealing money would be child’s play,

neither of them could bring themselves to actually do it.

“Pear Blossom…

I just thought of something.”

Izumi looked at Karin in confusion.

“As far as I know,

for any organization to function normally, it has to take missions to earn money.

Will we be taking missions in the future too?”

“Uh…”

Karin pushed up her glasses.

“I heard Holy Master mention some mysterious organization called Akatsuki that operates like that.

I asked about it once too—how does our organization make money?

But Holy Master didn’t answer.

He just said that if we’re out of money, we should ask him.”

“In that case…

the organization is probably divided into money-earning members and field operatives, right?”

Izumi came to this conclusion and felt quite confident in her reasoning.

“Whatever! I’ll just ask Holy Master directly!”

Karin immediately activated the ring to communicate with Byakuya.

“Master~~”

Karin’s face turned red. She spoke in a shy, fidgety tone.

“I really want to soak in the hot springs… but I don’t have any money~~

If you’re willing to sponsor me a little~

then I…”

Thud! Thud!

Before she could finish,

two huge chests suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of them.

The chests hit the ground hard and popped open.

Instantly, rows upon rows of gleaming golden bars spilled into view.

At the same time, Byakuya cut off the communication.

“Sigh…”

Karin let out a small sigh.

Then she turned to the two chests of gold and excitedly told Izumi,

“We’re rich!”

“Uh…”

Izumi’s eyes instantly rolled back into white shock, black lines of exasperation appearing all over her forehead.

“This woman…

So bold!

To actually talk to Holy Master like that…

And even trying to…

seduce Master?

Hmph!

Shameless!”

Wanna read ahead? Join my Patreon and support the story: patreon.com/ArealMaster