Who are you calling a stable boy?!

He thought to himself that since Zheng Jing knew of his and the Ape Demon's reputation, he would surely play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses when they were close.

Unexpectedly, the Ruyi Jingu Bang was raised and, without asking anything else, it struck the ape demon in his hand!

Isn't this exactly what he wanted?

Although a sudden unease arose in his heart for a moment, the die was cast and the arrow had to be released. The third generation mustered his strength, twisted his waist, and swung his arms—

"Bang!!"

—The old figure was sent flying backward in an instant.

Trees five or six meters tall were snapped in half by the three generations of the force with a single touch.

After a series of muffled thuds, amidst the dust-shrouded mess, the old man trembled as he raised his head and struggled to sit up.

At this moment, the third generation's entire body was completely out of control.

But he wasn't the one who was hurt the most.

"Ugh—"

Spitting out a mouthful of hot blood, the ape demon's eyes, which seemed about to burst out of their sockets, twitched and then closed abruptly.

"Ape, ape demon..."

Seeing his old friend lying there motionless like a puddle of mud, the third generation was both anxious and puzzled.

At the same time, four ANBU members emerged from the shadows. Two of them exclaimed that the Third Hokage was being examined for his injuries, while the other two stood in front of him, wielding ninja swords and kunai.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

As if seeing Tom suffer the consequences of his own actions again, Jerry, who had already come over, shook his head, looked at the third generation lying on the ground, and clicked his tongue.

"To be honest, you guys are the first to dare to rush up and take a blow from me head-on. You may not be very capable, but you've got a lot of guts."

"What...what is this...?"

Upon hearing this, the third generation couldn't help but ask Zheng Jing a question.

"I told you so."

Zheng Jing raised the Ruyi Jingu Bang (a magical staff) he was carrying on his shoulder.

“Mine is real, yours is fake. When a fake meets a real one, it naturally won’t work.”

The third generation closed his eyes, looking as if he was about to pass out.

"Hey? Old man, don't try to scam me, I only used 30% of my strength with that stick just now."

"..."

"hiss."

Seeing that the three generations did not react, Zheng Jing gasped.

"Make way! Make way! I need to give him first aid!"

As he spoke, Zheng Jing picked up the stick and walked forward.

That kind of behavior makes one wonder if speeding up one's reincarnation could be considered a kind of emergency measure.

Without hesitation, the two secret agents at the front shouted "Hurry up!" and rushed towards Zheng Jing together.

"Certainly."

A spell to freeze the four troublesome secret agents in place.

Zheng Jing ignored them and walked straight past them.

It was fine for these secret agents to just stand by and watch him beat up three generations of old men before, but now they can't stand in his way while he's saving people.

-

"..."

The sounds of battle in the distance had ceased.

Minato knew that the battle must have ended.

He wanted to go and take a look, but there was still a threat that the village could not ignore.

Kakuzu of the Akatsuki organization is a dangerous bounty hunter who, according to intelligence, has a record of successfully killing S-rank rogue ninjas multiple times.

But he wasn't enough to make Minato hesitate.

What truly put pressure on Minato was Aizen, who always had a gentle smile on his face.

Unlike the domineering fighting spirit that could be felt from Zheng Jing when his fighting spirit was ignited, Minato did not feel any aura from Aizen.

No, that's not right...

Rather than saying he lacked any imposing presence, it was as if even the aura he exuded had been unknowingly devoured by Aizen!

If we were to say that Shuimen would be amazed by Zheng Jing.

Regarding Aizen, Minato discovered that he was acting involuntarily...

Fear arose.

Before he could figure out who Zheng Jing was, Shuimen already realized that neither of these partners was easy to deal with.

Aizen, the Grim Reaper with Glasses.

But who exactly is this person?

Minato, puzzled, was unable to obtain an answer to this question.

But the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose safety he was concerned about, finally came into his view.

"Oi!"

The elongated golden cudgel had three generations of monks and four members of the Dark Guard hanging neatly on it, like sausages.

With the baton and the man on his shoulder, Zheng Jing shouted at the stunned Minato.

"Master Door, please help unload the goods!"

Chapter 185: I am the Hokage, remember that!

The outcome of the bet was obvious.

When Minato took over from the Third Hokage and several Anbu members, he was somewhat disheveled.

However, he was glad that he had made preparations in advance and sent away the ninjas who were originally surrounding the village entrance, allowing them to return to the village and evacuate the ordinary villagers who were closer to the village entrance.

Therefore, he was the only one who witnessed the scene of at least three generations being hung up like roast ducks.

With things having progressed to this point, the Fourth Hokage naturally no longer stopped Zheng Jing and the others from following Itachi into Konoha.

However, he made two requests to Zheng Jing at the end.

First, Kakuzu changed out of his striking black outfit with red clouds.

Although this is somewhat like burying one's head in the sand, and the average villager wouldn't know what the Akatsuki was, if Kakuzu really swaggered in wearing that outfit, Konoha would lose face.

Secondly, Minato specifically assigned an ANBU member, hoping that this ANBU member would accompany Zheng Jing and his group until they arrived at the Uchiha clan's territory.

Zheng Jing agreed to both requests.

After all, in his view, they were all trivial matters.

He didn't care about Konoha's reputation, but he was happy to give face to Master Men.

Watching Zheng Jing and his group of four sway as they entered the village, Minato sighed, then whispered to the Third Hokage, whose eyes were closed, "Third Hokage, they've gone into the village."

"...I'm sorry, Minato, I guess I'm getting old after all."

A moment later, the Third Generation opened his eyes and spoke.

Minato helped him up.

"Please don't say that. You stood up for the village, and it should have been my responsibility... That Mr. Zheng Jing is exceptionally strong, and I am not confident that I can defeat him."

"Extraordinary strength, yes."

Recalling the scenes from their recent battle, the Third Generation's expression turned solemn.

Their strength is extraordinary, that's all.

But what about that Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff)?

What do you mean by saying that mine is fake and his is real?

The third generation wanted to discuss this issue with the Ape Demon, but the Ape Demon, whose injuries had just been healed by Zheng Jing, had been sent back by him and was probably asking around the clan about it.

On their side, they also need to intensify their efforts to gather intelligence on Zheng Jing and his group.

A two-pronged approach is unlikely to yield results in the short term.

We'll just have to wait a bit longer.

In comparison, another problem seems more pressing.

"Minato, this matter cannot be kept from Danzo. He will definitely take this opportunity to cause trouble. You must be careful."

"I see......"

When this was mentioned, Minato's expression turned somewhat grim.

He wasn't worried about whether he could control Danzo openly; at most, he would need to put more effort into dealing with the pressure from Danzo and his two advisors.

What Minato was truly afraid of at this moment was that Danzo might do something inexplicable behind the scenes. If he offended Zheng Jing or suddenly escalated the conflict between the Uchiha and the village, the situation would definitely worsen in the direction he least wanted to see.

If that happens, it will be too late to regret it!

"Minato, Danzo deserves much credit for the village's current stability, but he can certainly be a headache. I hope you will always keep one sentence in mind; it will be helpful to you."

The Third Hokage patted Minato on the back and said firmly.

"You are the Hokage."

-

Thank you all for your cooperation.

Outside the Uchiha clan's territory, the ANBU who appeared respectfully said, "I'll see you off here."

"Won't you come in and sit for a while?"

Zheng Jing looked at him with a grin: "Since you're already here..."

"No, that won't be necessary..."

"Hehe, don't make that face, I'm just teasing you, go on, go on."

Hearing Zheng Jing say this, the secret service was clearly relieved. They bowed to Zheng Jing and his men again and then left.

"Kid, stop standing there and keep going."

Zheng Jing raised his hand and patted Itachi on the shoulder.

Itachi hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

He glanced in the direction of the clan's territory, seemingly lost in thought, and after a few seconds, continued walking ahead.

After walking along a forest path, even though we were already in Konoha Village, it felt as if the hustle and bustle of Konoha's streets had been left far behind. After walking a few dozen steps, facing the sunlight, we could see the gate of the Uchiha clan's territory.

The four of them were completely exposed, so they were naturally spotted by the Uchiha clan members guarding the gate as soon as they approached.

"Isn't that Itachi? He's back from his mission?"

The older guard spoke first.

After being grabbed by Zheng Jing, Itachi hadn't changed his clothes, so he was still dressed in full armor as when the Anbu were on a mission, except that he wasn't wearing a mask.

Therefore, the older guards knew at a glance that this young hero, who was well-known in the clan, had probably just finished his work outside.

Itachi nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Chengyi."

A ninja's mission sometimes needs to be kept secret even from their closest family members, and the experienced Uchiha Seiichi certainly wouldn't pry into it.

However, he could not choose to ignore the three unfamiliar faces behind Itachi.

Who are these three?

“...My guest.”

"guest?"