Chapter 7

"Why didn't you tell me that fusing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit would be so painful!" Jason angrily exclaimed as he woke up early. The pain was still fresh in his memory.

"Please refrain from insulting the system. Otherwise, you'll bear the consequences. The pain is a natural part of the fusion process," the system calmly replied.

"Why didn't you mention it earlier?" Jason asked, still irritated.

"Because you didn't ask," the system responded matter-of-factly.

"Fine, I won't bother with you. I'm going to experiment with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power," Jason said excitedly and headed to a nearby forest.

Using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, he placed his right hand on his left arm, slightly tilting his body (resembling Whitebeard's classic move). A faint white halo appeared around his fist. As his fist was about to touch a tree with a diameter of over half a meter, a cracking sound echoed, and tiny fissures spread through the air like shattered mirrors, creating an appearance as if the space itself was breaking apart.

The tree was reduced to debris in no time.

Looking at the effect, Jason was stunned. Despite the move seemingly requiring his full strength, in reality, he hadn't exerted much force at all. He felt ecstatic; his normal attacks were more powerful than others' ultimate moves. He decided to try some other moves by Whitebeard.

"Inuichi, that child must enter the Root," an old man with bandages covering his head said in the Hokage's office, exposing one eye.

"No, Inuichi. I won't let him," Asuma responded coldly.

"Inuichi, give him to me. I will make Konoha have another powerful weapon," Danzo said in a sinister tone.

"Danzo, don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Forget about it. Don't forget that I'm the Hokage," Asuma said angrily, releasing a strong aura. The current Third Hokage was in the prime of his life, possessing the pinnacle of strength in the shinobi world.

"Then how about Kakashi? Shouldn't that child join the Root?" When Inuichi saw Asuma's resistance, he tried to compromise.

"No, he shouldn't," Asuma said firmly.

"What? Asuma, you're going too far," Danzo retorted angrily.

"Inuichi, you should know that their father was the White Fang of Konoha," Asuma said calmly. "If you want Kakashi to join the Root, you'll have to ask for his opinion. After all, I cannot interfere with that decision."

"Hmph!" Danzo had no choice but to back down.

Meanwhile, Jason finished experimenting with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power. However, his power was still far from Whitebeard's level because his physical fitness and chakra were at the level of a lower-level shinobi. Nevertheless, the increase in strength was significant. With this power, he could now defeat some elite Chunin. After all, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit allowed for both offensive and defensive capabilities, combined with the Six Paths, even weaker special Jounin couldn't beat him.

"Training so early?" Hatake Sakumo, who had bandages wrapped around his head and one eye exposed, asked curiously.

"Yes, I became a lower-level shinobi, didn't I?" Jason replied.

"Hahaha... good... good," Hatake Sakumo said happily, looking at his eldest son. With his talent and hard work, Jason wouldn't be weaker than him even at his worst.

"Oh, by the way, you don't need to go to school today. The Hokage wants to see you. Kakashi can go get his forehead protector himself," Hatake Sakumo said.

"The Third Hokage wants to see me?" Jason asked curiously.

"By the way, Dad, do you know who our team leaders are?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I know Kakashi's team leader. It's your Uncle Shishui," Hatake Sakumo said. As Shishui and he were good friends, the two brothers knew Shisui too.

"As for you, the Hokage didn't specify. You'll find out when you go," Hatake Sakumo said with a smile. In truth, he had already guessed, but he decided to let Jason find out himself.