Chapter 14

After last night's Nine-Tails Rebellion, only a few ninja clans remained relatively intact. Among them, the Sarutobi family was one of the few to escape significant damage. However, the neighboring Shimura clan wasn't so lucky; the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb had leveled their estate.

With the Hokage Office Building and the Hokage statues reduced to rubble, high-ranking officials like Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Elder Council had temporarily relocated their offices to their own clan lands.

In the Sarutobi clan's estate, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo, two of Konoha's four top leaders, sat in a room with darkened expressions. Before them stood two bandaged shinobi, their faces bruised, swollen, and missing several teeth. The sight was enough to deepen the scowls on the faces of Hiruzen and Danzo.

Ordinarily, the injuries inflicted by Yusuke would have put these shinobi in Konoha Hospital for months. But because one of the injured was Sarutobi Hiruzen's own son, Shinnosuke, the hospital made an exception. Tsunade herself had been called in to treat them, allowing them to recover about 80% within just a few hours. They had come to report the incident as soon as they could.

"...Alright, you can go," Sarutobi Hiruzen finally said, his voice calm but his face still dark.

"Dad, that guy—" Shinnosuke began, his frustration evident. He was the Hokage's eldest son, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had never suffered such a humiliating defeat before.

"Get out!" Hiruzen interrupted, his voice rising in anger.

Instantly, Shinnosuke and the other members of the ANBU team felt the pressure and, though still resentful, they retreated with unwilling expressions.

Once the shinobi had left and the room contained only the four elders who had controlled Konoha for nearly two decades, Koharu Utatane spoke up, her voice filled with anger:

"He's become too arrogant!"

"This time, it can't be excused as him losing control of his emotions over Hatake Sakumo's death," Mito Homura added coldly. "His actions are a blatant disregard for Konoha's laws."

"And we need to discuss his strength," Danzo said, his tone serious. "Just half a month ago, he was a jonin, nearly killed by an enemy, and only survived because of White Fang. In just two weeks, he's gone from being a jonin to having Kage-level strength. Isn't that a bit suspicious?"

Danzo's words dripped with jealousy. After all, power can be unpredictable. During the Fourth Ninja War, Naruto Uzumaki had skyrocketed from Kage-level to the pinnacle of the Kage level, then to the Super Kage level, and finally to the level of a Sage.

"What are you going to do, Hiruzen?" Danzo asked, looking at his old friend, who was still on good terms with him at the moment, unlike in the future. "Don't tell me you're going to let him off the hook like last time."

Hiruzen slowly exhaled a puff of smoke from his pipe, then tossed the decision back to the others. "What do you think we should do? Send the police department to arrest him?"

"Is that even a question?!" Koharu shouted immediately. "We can't let this slide!"

"Do you think he's afraid of the police department?" Hiruzen retorted, silencing both Koharu and Homura.

Would Yusuke be scared of the police department? He had just beaten the Hokage's son nearly to death in broad daylight. Would he really fear the Uchiha clan, who didn't even have a Kage-level shinobi at the moment? If the Uchiha Police Department tried to arrest him, they would only end up getting beaten themselves.

"So what should we do?" Koharu asked, gritting her teeth in frustration. "He can't possibly think he can offend everyone in Konoha without consequences."

Just then, a masked member of the Anbu appeared, kneeling before Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama, Yusuke requests an audience."

The voice, still youthful, couldn't have belonged to anyone older than fifteen. The Anbu wore a red-striped mask and had spiky blonde hair. Even through the mask, his identity was unmistakable—Namikaze Minato.

"He's coming here on his own?" Koharu, Homura, and Danzo were taken aback. They hadn't expected Yusuke to approach them of his own accord. Only Hiruzen remained calm, as if he had anticipated this outcome.

"Let him in," Hiruzen said indifferently.

"Yes, sir," Minato replied before disappearing with a Body Flicker Technique.

At the gate of the Sarutobi clan's compound, Minato reappeared in front of Yusuke with another Body Flicker.

"Yusuke-senpai, Hokage-sama will see you now," Minato said, still using a respectful tone.

Half a month ago, Yusuke had still been a member of the Anbu, and his seniority was above Minato's, so it wasn't unusual for Minato to address him with respect.

"Hmm," Yusuke glanced at Minato, a mysterious smile on his face. He patted Minato on the shoulder and headed into the Sarutobi clan compound .

Behind his mask, Minato looked puzzled, unable to decipher the meaning behind Yusuke's smile. But he quickly followed him inside.

As they walked through the Sarutobi clan's grounds, many members of the clan whispered amongst themselves, their faces filled with anger or hatred as they looked at Yusuke. Clearly, the news of Yusuke beating Sarutobi Shinnosuke and his team in the street had already spread.

"What are you all whispering about?" Yusuke shouted at the Sarutobi clan members without bothering to lower his voice. "Are you envious? Do you want to be beaten up too?"

The crowd was startled and immediately scattered like birds, fleeing in all directions.

"Amazing..." Minato murmured, feeling as though his worldview had been completely turned upside down.

"Ha, what a bunch of cowards," Yusuke sneered openly at the Sarutobi clan members before striding confidently toward Sarutobi's mansion.

Unlike White Fang, Yusuke wasn't one to tolerate these self-righteous advocates of the Will of Fire. If they dared to gossip about him, he would silence them in the most direct way possible.