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When Hiruzen arrived with his team, they were met with an unexpected scene.
A large group of tall individuals dressed in white uniforms and a variety of summoned beasts were present, while one person was crouched on the street, slurping a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen.
"Is this some new promotional tactic?"
21-year-old Kakashi, who had been in the Anbu for nine years, had never seen such a novel promotion in Konoha.
It did seem plausible.
If it weren't for seeing Dak, Hiruzen might have had the same thought as Kakashi.
He even had the slogan ready: "Ichiraku Ramen, from small potatoes to big tough guys."
"That is the leader of this village, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of Konoha, and he's akin to Sengoku," Dak said while eating Ichiraku Ramen, informing Zephyr of Hiruzen's identity.
Sengoku: This is the worst misrepresentation I've ever experienced.
The taste of Ichiraku Ramen was indeed quite good, and it would be qualified to sell in Alliance City.
This wasn't to say that Teuchi's culinary skills were exceptional. If compared to the top chefs in the Navy or the Revolutionary Army, or even Sachi from the Whitebeard Pirates, Ichiraku Ramen wouldn't measure up.
It was just that Ichiraku Ramen was unique enough.
People in the pirate world rarely ate noodles, especially thick ones.
Because the pirate world had little land suitable for growing wheat, it was either too troublesome or had low yields, so there were few wheat-based foods.
And now, in Alliance City, all the shops were run by people from the pirate world. Both the food styles and clothing styles were of the pirate world, and something like Ichiraku Ramen from another world was needed to blend in.
"Oh."
Zephyr glanced at Hiruzen and the group of ninjas behind him, acknowledged them, and then continued eating.
Other Marines and Pokémon also noticed the uniformly dressed group, but they didn't react and continued eating.
In simple terms, they completely disregarded Sarutobi Hiruzen and his group.
However, some Marines had their eyes shining as they were curious whether these 'ninjas' could perform various cool jutsus.
"Third Hokage-sama."
Teuchi, upon seeing Hiruzen, bowed respectfully.
After all, Hiruzen was known as the 'Professor' of Ninjutsu and a 'Hero of the Ninja,' a man who once declared in his youth, "I will protect Konoha with my life." Regardless of whether he lived up to that, his image among the populace had always been well-maintained.
"Hmm."
Hiruzen nodded casually, then gestured for everyone to stay put.
He then approached Dak and Zephyr alone.
He could immediately see that these two had the most authority.
"Third Hokage Grandpa!"
Naruto waved enthusiastically at the approaching Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But Dak and Zephyr had no intention of initiating a conversation with Hiruzen.
Dak simply didn't think much of him. In his eyes, even Danzo was better than Hiruzen.
Regardless of Danzo's character, at least he dared to act. When it came to the Cloud Ninja delegation, Danzo would have handled it directly, rather than letting the Hyuga clan suffer and remain silent.
Hiruzen, on the other hand, always compromised, yielding a bit here and conceding a bit there, believing he was maintaining peace but actually just being cowardly, avoiding major incidents during his tenure.
As for Zephyr ignoring Hiruzen, it was because he didn't like such deep-thinking individuals. When Dak mentioned Hiruzen was like Sengoku, Zephyr lost interest in dealing with him.
But after future interactions, Zephyr might find that Sengoku was indeed much better compared to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
At least when war came, Sengoku never thought of retreating, fought and killed as needed, never disgraced the Navy, and would step down decisively if he lost.
"Gentlemen, may I ask the purpose of your visit to Konoha?"
Hiruzen nodded at Naruto and then looked at Dak and Zephyr.
His focus was on what these two intended, while with Naruto, he only needed to confirm that the Nine-Tails was still inside him.
"I'm here on business, and they're just taking a stroll."
Seeing Zephyr had no intention to respond, Dak spoke up.
Now, Zephyr truly didn't concern himself with worldly matters, delegating tasks to others and focusing solely on training new Navy recruits.
"Business? A stroll?"
Hiruzen took a puff from his large pipe.
Though he found it hard to believe, these people hadn't caused any trouble since arriving, and they indeed didn't seem like bad people.
"Which country do you come from?"
"We're from another world."
Dak's words were shocking.
"Nani?"
Hiruzen was so shocked that he almost choked on his saliva, his eyes widening.
"We come from different worlds but belong to the same organization. I come from Pokémon Island, and those kids are Pokémon." Dak pointed to the Pokémon beside the Marines and continued, "He comes from a world of oceans, which I call the Marine World."
When Dak said this, Zephyr glanced at him.
Zephyr remembered that Dak used to refer to their world as the 'Pirate World,' never calling it the 'Marine World.'
Back then, their world was in the era of pirates, so it was the Pirate World. But that name didn't sound good, so it was better to change it to avoid misunderstandings.
Hiruzen looked at Zephyr and then at the Pokémon, feeling confused.
In simple terms, he couldn't accept the concept of 'other worlds,' much like how the pirate world initially reacted.
Times have changed, and the solution was simple.
Just take these people to another world to see for themselves.
"Don't believe it?"
"I've lived for decades and never heard of other worlds, so forgive me for finding it hard to believe."
Hiruzen didn't hesitate, expressing his disbelief directly.
"No problem. It's late today. Tomorrow, when Naruto finishes school and Zephyr comes to pick him up, you can go with them to see."
Dak wasn't merely inviting Hiruzen to see for himself.
He was also informing him that Naruto now had family.
"Oh? In that case, I'll go and see."
An old fox like Hiruzen couldn't miss the hint.
He wasn't rushing to confront them, wanting to confirm the existence of 'other worlds' and investigate Dak and Zephyr's base.
Where is it? How many forces are there? Only then could he decide how to handle these outsiders.
"No need to be too surprised. If I wanted, I could even travel fifty years back in your world, greet the younger you, and then return."
Dak grinned.
With the power of Dialga, the deity of time, this was easily achievable.
However, Dak was concerned that traveling to a past time point might disrupt the future. But just greeting the younger Sarutobi Hiruzen shouldn't have much impact.
"Time travel?"
"Yes, I could even go back seventy or eighty years, eliminate Hashirama and Madara, forcibly integrate the nine-tailed beasts and the five great ninja villages, and unify the world."
Dak nodded and continued to frighten Hiruzen.
In reality, Dak would never do such a thing.
The system was linked to the current timeline, and only from this point could transactions with the Pokémon Nursery be made.
So, even if Dak went back and unified the world, he would still have to return to this time.
And by then, the world would be unrecognizable. Dak couldn't imagine what it would be like, possibly already destroyed by the Otsutsuki clan from space.
That would be worse than the current state, at least now it's familiar plots and characters he could gradually transform.
"That's an interesting idea."
"Give me two minutes, and... hmm, recall eight years ago, in Konoha Year 51. Did you see me?"
Dak finished his ramen and then disappeared under Hiruzen's gaze.
He didn't choose a distant memory, worried that Hiruzen, being old, might not remember well.
But he couldn't randomly pick a day. He had to choose a significant event that Hiruzen could never forget.
A flash of surprise crossed Hiruzen's eyes, but he maintained a calm appearance, taking a puff from his pipe.
As the villagers said, this person disappeared right under their noses.
Hiruzen had no time to think about this. He quickly recalled the events of Konoha Year 51.
That year was dark for Konoha.
Because the Nine-Tails rampaged, the Fourth Hokage died, and on October 10, Konoha Year 51 — 'The Nine-Tails Incident.'
After waiting for about five minutes, Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer maintain his calm demeanor, his eyes widened.
Five minutes ago, he was sure he had no memory of Dak.
But now, he clearly remembered a scene.
That night, the retired Hiruzen received a report from the Anbu that the Nine-Tails was rampaging in the village.
He immediately geared up to head to the scene.
At that moment, a green-haired man appeared on the stairs behind him and greeted him.
'Hello, Sarutobi Hiruzen from eight years ago.'
(End of Chapter)