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"Even able to find the hidden Anbu?"
"What a terrifying talent!"
Although the Third Hokage had some expectations for Minato's talent, his talent still shocked the Third Hokage. Looking at Minato's young face, the expression in the Third Hokage's eyes became even more satisfied and joyful.
The Anbu hiding and remaining still had already converged their chakra to the limit, and even he could only vaguely sense it at close range.
But the six-year-old Minato could easily sense it.
To possess such sensing ability at such a young age is impressive.
Leaving aside other matters, this sensing ability is definitely not inferior to the Second Hokage.
"Such talent cannot be wasted."
"I need to make Jiraiya and the others pay attention."
In that instant, the Third Hokage had already decided on Minato's future ninja teacher in his heart. Yes, he would choose one from his three disciples.
With such talent, it would be a waste not to become a Hokage.
To become a Hokage, one must join... ahem.
But I digress.
It was just a fleeting thought, but in that moment, Minato could no longer wait.
"Hokage-sama, quickly..." Minato urged anxiously.
"Don't worry." The Third Hokage smiled and said, "I will handle that child's matter. You should go back first."
Minato didn't want to go back. He wanted to ensure his friend's safety as soon as possible and quietly asked, "Hokage-sama, can I wait here?"
The Third Hokage shook his head and said, "Go back. Your grandmother is waiting for you at home. Don't make her worry."
Upon hearing the word "grandmother" and thinking about his grandmother worrying because he hadn't returned yet, Minato stopped insisting on staying. After bidding farewell to the Third Hokage, he immediately ran back home at the fastest speed.
He didn't want his only relative, his grandmother, to worry because of him.
Trust the Third Hokage for Kenshi's safety!
As soon as Minato left, the Third Hokage immediately gave instructions.
"Kari, inform the Anbu to search the village... well, there's no need to inform the Uchiha clan."
The Third Hokage pondered for a moment and then retracted his order.
According to Minato, that child was being controlled remotely by the enemy, which meant there must be a chakra connection for remote control, just like the Sand Village used a special chakra thread to control puppets.
The spy hidden in the shadows must have some kind of chakra link with that child to ensure real-time control.
To find this chakra connection, the Uchiha clan with the Sharingan, capable of seeing chakra, was undoubtedly the most suitable for investigating the spy that had appeared this time.
However... thinking about the Uchiha clan's increasingly strong power and their dissatisfaction with him, the Third Hokage had some cautious thoughts.
The Uchiha clan's police force was originally responsible for monitoring Konoha's spies.
Now that a spy had appeared in the village and the police force had no reaction at all, if he asked the Uchiha clan for help this time, it would only make them make up for their previous negligence.
On the contrary, this was an opportunity.
An opportunity to hold the Uchiha clan accountable, reduce the police force's responsibilities, and suppress the Uchiha clan's power.
The Akemiya couple had recently sacrificed themselves for Konoha.
Their son, Akemiya Kenshi, was now being controlled by a spy and could even be killed.
Yet the Konoha police force had no information at all.
With such a serious dereliction of duty, coupled with public pressure, proposing to have the Anbu inspect Konoha's spies would naturally be unopposed.
As long as the Anbu dealt with this spy, there would be no problem.
Thinking about all this was just a momentary thought.
The Third Hokage continued, "Notify the search team to expand from that child's location to the entire Konoha, and shrink the hidden spies."
"Understood."
Kari responded softly and then used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear.
...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Four figures quietly landed around Kenshi's house, each wearing various white masks on their heads.
They were directly under the Konoha Anbu, the Explosive Division.
The captain's code name was "Blast," hence the Explosive Division.
(ShixT9: IDK if they are all in the anime, but hey they're anbus anyway, theyre not meant to be known.)
The four quickly used the Invisibility Technique to conceal themselves like chameleons.
The Konoha ninja school ended relatively late.
It was dusk now, the sun had just set, and Konoha had already darkened. There were not many pedestrians on the streets, but each of them noticed something unusual around Kenshi.
The four Anbu, with Blast as the captain, were responsible for central command. The other two members were dispersed around three sides of the house to prevent the target from escaping.
Another Anbu ninja was crouching in the kitchen on the roof.
Hiss... Tiny black bugs that were almost invisible to the naked eye, resembling beetles, spread their wings from the sleeves of this Anbu ninja and flew out, spreading around the house.
One of them slipped through a crack under the closed window and flew towards Kenshi, who was blowing on the noodles and eating them while sitting at the table.
Splutter! Splutter!
In the pot on the stove, the noodles continued to surge out with the boiling water, resembling a thin noodle hot spring.
Kenshi held a pair of chopsticks in his hands, standing in front of the boiling pot, flipping the noodles to prevent sticking, lost in thought.
The allowance given by Konoha was not much, barely enough to keep him from starving every day. Eating until full was out of the question, let alone eating well.
But he was currently in a phase of physical growth and development, eating only noodles every day was not enough; he needed to eat meat.
Otherwise, his physical development would be limited, affecting his future potential strength.
After all, chakra is composed of bodily energy. If the body is not in good condition, how much bodily energy can there be, and how much chakra can there be?
So physical development could not be delayed.
But... how could he get money?
Kenshi habitually furrowed his brows slightly, completely unaware that a small black bug had silently landed on his hair at this moment.
"Sigh! I'm only six years old, I have to go to the ninja school for classes, I don't have much time to make money."
Kenshi shook his head and sighed, completely unable to think of where to get money from.
"Forget it, let's not think about it for now, let's eat the noodles first."
Shaking his head, Kenshi turned off the stove, took the noodles, the bowl, added seasoning, and then carried the bowl to the table to sit down.
Blow... Blow...!
Kenshi blew on the noodles and ate them one by one.
The small black bug was crawling on his hair, opening and closing its tiny mouth as if it was also eating something.
However, from the constant grinding movement of the bug's teeth and swaying, it seemed like it hadn't actually eaten anything.
Meanwhile, outside the house, the Anbu ninja crouching on the roof began to look more serious.
"Chong, not ready yet?" The captain quietly approached the Anbu ninja on the roof.
The Anbu ninja, codenamed "Chong," was from the Yamanaka clan, and the black bug he released was his doing. At this moment, he whispered, "Captain, there's a problem with the target. My little black is extremely sensitive to chakra, but it can't sense any chakra emanating from his hair strands."
Blast was taken aback, "Can't sense any at all?"
Chong affirmed, "Not even a trace."
Blast furrowed his brows, "That's impossible."
Chong remained silent, equally puzzled.
Chakra naturally emanates from a person.
Even though they were Anbu, they could only suppress their chakra to reduce the chances of being sensed by a ninja with chakra sensing abilities, not completely eliminate the natural chakra emission.
But the target in the house, somehow, the bug in direct contact couldn't sense any chakra emanating from his hair strands.
This was too abnormal, like this kid was a dead person... Hmm, wait a minute.
A thought flashed in Chong's mind through the feedback from the bug about the target feeling very cold and the absence of natural chakra emission.
"Captain."
Chong looked at Blast, and Blast, looking at Chong, both instantly thought of a possibility.
Only dead people don't naturally emit chakra.
And not just any dead person, but one who has been dead for a long time.
And the secret technique to control the dead is only possessed by the puppeteers of the Sand Village.
But... can human puppets be so lifelike?
Sensing Kenshi in the house, blowing on the noodles and eating them while sitting, his actions and movements showed no signs of being a puppet, behaving just like a living person.
Chong and Blast both felt that something was off, but for the moment, they couldn't figure it out and could only continue to respond based on their recent guess.
With this in mind, Blast lowered his voice and asked, "Have you not found the chakra threads yet?"
Chong replied, "Not yet."
Blast frowned, "That shouldn't be the case, right?"
Chong himself was also puzzled. Although he didn't release too many bugs for fear of alerting the enemy, with Little Black's sensitivity to chakra, theoretically, any chakra threads in the vicinity should have been detected long ago.
However, at present, Chong had not received any feedback from Little Black regarding the presence of any chakra threads.
"Could it not be a puppeteer?" Blast furrowed his brows, "But that doesn't make sense!"
Besides puppeteers being able to control the dead, there are also types of ninjutsu that can override the dead.
Could it be the Second Hokage's forbidden technique, Edo Tensei?
No, that's not right.
Edo Tensei is a forbidden technique, and besides the Second Hokage, no one in Konoha would know it. It couldn't be Edo Tensei.
Moreover, the kid's face didn't have the fissures typical of Edo Tensei, definitely not the resurrected dead summoned by Edo Tensei.
So the question arises.
What is the situation with the target now?
"Captain, let me have Little Black take a bite."
Chong suggested, "If it only bites the hair strands, the enemy is controlling from a distance, they shouldn't sense any changes."
Hair strands, when bitten, wouldn't be sensed by people, just like fingernails. But unlike fingernails, hair strands have cells, and where there are cells, there is chakra.
If no chakra is sensed externally, then there must be chakra contained in the bodily cells.
As long as Little Black could absorb the chakra on the target's body, it could follow this chakra to sense the chakra threads controlling the target remotely and find the spy controlling the target.
"No."
Blast rejected Chong's proposal, saying, "You continue to sense the chakra on the target's body."
After speaking, Blast left and went to another member Yoru, briefly explaining the current situation, then ordered, "Yoru, go report the situation here to Hokage-sama. The target has a problem and may already be dead."
"Yes." Yoru left silently, leaving the three to continue monitoring Kenshi.
---
Hello Shixie here your beautiful shitty translator
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