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"What kind of contract?"
"I can observe your son, Uzumaki Naruto's growth from the shadows. Of course, I'll only protect him from life-threatening danger." Shinji said calmly.
"Then… thank you, I accept this contract…" Minato used his last ounce of strength to extend his bloodstained hand and gently pressed it against the star rock.
As a series of lights flashed, the star rock transformed into a golden shadow and entered Zhongli's body.
"We are bound by a 'contract' – so I shall abide by its terms."
Shinji watched Minato's hand fall to the ground. His wife, Kushina, had already passed away before him.
If it weren't for signing this contract with Shinji, perhaps… Minato's soul would have been taken by the Shinigami long ago.
The Shinigami?
Shinji's golden pupils reflected the fading Shiki Fujin, a flicker of interest crossing his eyes.
Is this the god of this world?
With Minato and Kushina's deaths, the golden chains surrounding them disappeared, leaving only their bodies and Uzumaki Naruto, who was still in the center of the sealing formation.
Walking over to Naruto, he had just woken up. His blue eyes were fixed on Shinji, seemingly unfazed by the presence of a stranger.
"Who are you? I don't remember anyone like you in our Leaf Village." Sarutobi Hiruzen walked over, puffing on his pipe.
Shinji's Tengai Shinsei had truly scared Sarutobi Hiruzen. Defeating the Nine-Tailed Fox in one move.
This was feat was comparable to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!
The First Hokage had sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox and distributed other tailed beasts.
"I'm not necessarily… from your Leaf village" Shinji smiled, turning to face Sarutobi Hiruzen.
His time playing as Zhongli was down to just ten minutes. Shinji planned to create an image for himself and distance himself from his future self.
After all, this role-playing system could only play for 30 minutes at a time. It seemed he needed to develop more characters in the future.
Emm.
Let's start with this Zhongli.
Fortunately, Shinji's personality was somewhat similar to Zhongli's.
"How about joining our Root?" Sarutobi Hiruzen was reserved, but Shimura Danzo wasn't.
He not only approached Shinji, but several Root ninjas also surrounded him.
Seeing the Root ninjas surrounding him, Shinji frowned. A powerful rock attribute instantly enveloped the few people in front of him.
"Danzo! Retreat!" Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at Danzo and shouted loudly. Didn't you see this person's strength?
Are you… being a bit too stupid to provoke him at this time?
"[Earth Shattering Impact]!" With a thought, Shinji created two rock ridges on either side of everyone.
Each rock ridge had circles of patterns at its base. As a being of the first layer of the "Rock, Six Directions Take It As Bone and Life Seat", Shinji could directly create two rock ridges.
While the rock ridges existed, they would intermittently resonate with other rock element creations in the surroundings, causing rock element damage to surrounding enemies.
Shinji was only targeting the Root ninjas and Danzo, so the rock ridges created by the earth's core would only harm them.
For a moment, Shimura Danzo and the few Root ninjas couldn't help but groan, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"You!" Danzo looked at the two rock ridges, naturally knowing that this was a warning from Shinji.
"This is the first time." Shinji just looked at Danzo, his indifferent expression revealing no emotion.
"Danzo, retreat! Excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, the former Third Hokage of the Leaf. This is Shimura Danzo, the Hokage's assistant. Who are you?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen saw clearly that this person had definitely held back, otherwise, not to mention Danzo, even the entire Root combined wouldn't be enough.
"Zhongli, you can also call me Rex Lapis."
"Mr. Zhongli, our Leaf Village has no intention of becoming enemies with you, but we hope to forge a good relationship with you." Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, a hint of respect in his eyes.
He was no longer the spirited master of ninjutsu he used to be, but a Sarutobi Hiruzen who had just retired a year ago.
Compared to before, he now prioritized stability, especially…
Looking at the bodies of Minato and Kushina in the distance, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"I have no intention of becoming enemies with the Leaf either, but… there's something I need to make clear to you." Shinji thought for a moment, turning to face Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo.
"What is it?"
"I just made a new contract with your Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze…" Zhongli looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo with amusement.
Why was Naruto's life so miserable in the original story?
It was inseparable from the relationship with these two.
Although the contract he made with Minato didn't include anything about this, it was only to protect him from life-threatening danger.
"What kind of contract?" Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned. A deathbed contract… wasn't a good thing.
"His life is my contract." Shinji pointed to Naruto's location.
"What else?" Shimura Danzo said, acting like he was asking for trouble.
"What else?" Shinji raised his hand, the Vortex Vanquisher appeared in his hand.
"We won't make things difficult for you." Sarutobi Hiruzen glared fiercely at Shimura Danzo. He was now questioning his old friend's intelligence.
"That's good. But since you asked, I'll answer your question. Otherwise, this will be the outcome… "
" [Planet Befall]"
In front of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo, Shinji once again demonstrated his terrifying abilities.
"With the Falling Star of the Firmament, I illuminate those who are blinded by fate."
This time, not only did Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo see it clearly, but everyone in the Leaf Village saw it.
A rock even larger than the previous one appeared, and…
The violent rock element in the sky directly carved out Zhongli's image, appearing like a demon god in everyone's pupils.
Boom!!!
Thankfully, this time, Shinji only targeted a nearby mountain.
To everyone's astonishment, the mountain had completely disappeared, leaving only a large crater in the ground…
Seeing this crater, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo couldn't help but swallow.
This power, it was simply…
Even if the two of them combined, they wouldn't be able to create such terrifying destructive power in one blow.
Moreover, this blow.
Was even stronger than the Falling Star that had struck the Nine-Tailed Fox.
In other words, when dealing with the Nine-Tailed Fox, the head of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts, this gentle and refined young man had held back.
"I understand. I, as the Third Hokage, promise you that Naruto's safety will be guaranteed." Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned and directly agreed to this matter.
"Hiruzen!"
"Shut up! Now that the Fourth Hokage is dead, I'm in charge of everything in the Leaf!" Sarutobi Hiruzen knew what his friend was about to say.
But.
This all depends on the situation. If you keep talking like this, maybe the next Falling Star will target the two of you!
At this moment, the pressure of a true shinobi directly forced Shimura Danzo to lower his head.
"Hmph! I don't care about this anymore!" Shimura Danzo still refused to admit defeat, but he simply flicked his sleeve and left.
"Since that's the case, this matter is settled. I'm going to travel this world, the market has closed, and the bustling docks have fallen asleep. Go rest."
Shinji left a meaningful remark and disappeared in a flash.
The autumn wind blew, rustling Sarutobi Hiruzen's battle uniform.
He stood there for a long time, finally sighing.
He went to Naruto, lowered his head, looked at Naruto's face, still stained with Kushina's blood, and extended his hand.
He wanted to touch him, but suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he retracted his hand.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Sounds came from behind, Root members began to appear.
"Third Hokage-sama." A Root squad leader knelt behind Sarutobi Hiruzen, his eyes drifting towards the sky.
Zhongli's image was gradually fading, but the memory of that world-destroying Falling Star still lingered in his mind.
"Order everyone, this matter is not to be discussed, not to be investigated, and… send a message to the Daimyo's mansion, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife, Kushina, are dead. The new Hokage… will be decided later!"
The tobacco in Sarutobi Hiruzen's pipe had burned out, but he seemed unaware, still puffing away.
"Yes!"
"Just his life, huh." Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the fading image of Zhongli in the sky, his mind filled with unknown thoughts.
…
…
Back near the guardhouse, Shinji checked the system prompt.
[Ding, first role-playing has ended]
[Role-playing as Zhongli ends today]
[Tip: Every 10% increase in role-playing progress will randomly grant you a skill from the role-playing character]
[Current role-playing progress: 5% (equivalent to 5% of the role-playing character's strength)]
[Current skills obtained: None]
Looking at the system prompt, Shinji's Zhongli image began to disappear, the Vortex Vanquisher in his hand also vanished, revealing his original appearance.
He was wearing civilian clothes, with black eyes. The only thing similar to Zhongli was his black hair.
But to have the same hairstyle as Zhongli in his memory, Shinji couldn't cut his hair for now. After all, Zhongli's hairstyle required a certain length to support it.
The only thing the same was that Shinji and Zhongli were both 187cm tall.
Walking down the street, Shinji thought for a moment, he should just go back to the guardhouse.
Although the guardhouse had been destroyed by the Nine-Tailed Fox, Shinji knew that after the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox, the Uchiha clan had not participated in the attack on the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Secondly, the Nine-Tailed Fox was still controlled by the Sharingan, which made the Uchiha clan's subsequent actions extremely difficult.
Based on Shinji's judgment, the Uchiha clan would be more restrained than before, and so would he.
He would probably be released tomorrow.
If he didn't go back now, things would be even more difficult.
He set off and arrived at the location of the guardhouse. Although it had been destroyed, Shinji still found a place to sit and wait.
Sure enough, within ten minutes, members of the Uchiha clan and the Anbu arrived.
Upon seeing that the guardhouse had been destroyed and only Shinji was waiting there, not leaving.
After confirming that Shinji was only imprisoned on a trumped-up charge, Uchiha Hanpe, who was in charge of the guardhouse, directly released Shinji.
…
Following the path in his memory, Shinji arrived at his residence.
It was more of a small shop, and the second floor was where Shinji lived.
This shop was the only thing left to him by his deceased parents. Before, Shinji had just treated it as a general store, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.
He took out his key and opened the door to his room.
It was past midnight, it was the early hours of the morning.
"Hopefully today, too, shall be prosperous." Shinji imitated Zhongli's tone.
[Ding!]
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