In the woods at the edge of Konoha, thunder roared tinuously.

  A rge se of the forest was devastated—trees y toppled, and fmes ed the remnants.

  Sora, having pleted the final sword form of the Breath of Thunder, stood motionless.

  After enduring proloorment, Sora finally heard the system's soothing words.

  [The Breath of Thunder has been simuted successfully. The rewards have been distributed, and the system will release the takeover state.]

  When Sained trol of his body, he colpsed to the ground, curled up, and trembled violently.

  Pain...

  It was everywhere.

  The pain was so excruciating that Sora couldn't even muster the strength to cry out.

  Now, Sora deeply regretted choosing the woods as the location for the system's takeover.

  Uo move even a finger, he was surrounded by fmes, and without immediate a, he would be ed by the fire.

  After lying there for what felt like ay, Sora's body grew hotter as the fmes edged closer.

  The instinct to survive spurred him into a.

  Fortunately, the area he had chosen was near a small river—if he could crawl into it, he might survive.

  Sora's progress was agonizingly slow, and the heat from the fmes began to scorch his body. he could even feel his clothes burning.

  Just as he finally approached the river, several figures nded in front of him.

  Gathering what little strength he had left, Sora raised his head and immediately froze.

  His pupils tracted when he saw the man leading the group.

  It was her thahird Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

  While Sora had anticipated that the otion might draw Konoha's attention, he hadn't expected Sarutobi Hiruzen himself to e.

  At least he might be saved now. The rest could be dealt with ter.

  With that thought, Sora's tension evaporated, and he lost sciousness.

  Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned as he looked at Sora, his gaze filled with fusion.

  The destru surrounding the area was clearly caused by a Lightning Style teique.

  Yet, Sora was the only one present, and his hands bore evident burns from Lightning Style ninjutsu.

  However, the scale of the destru was beyond what a mere student at the Ninja Academy could aplish. Not even a in could cause such devastation.

  How had Sora, a mere academy student, dohis?

  Sarutobi Hiruzen found it incredible.

  As for Sora herself, Sarutobi Hiruzen had a retively favourable opinion of him.

  Although Sora's parents had defected from Konoha in the past, their departure wasn't truly an act of betrayal. It was an elopement.

  The flict had beeween Sora's parents and the Uchiha ot Konoha itself.

  However, the Uchiha refused to aowledge Sora, and the vilgers of Konoha redirected their reseoward the Uchiha onto him.

  The vilgers of Konoha were growing increasingly resentful towards the Uchiha , with signs of irrecible flict beginning to emerge.

  However, the current state of the ninja world was far from peaceful; a war could erupt at any moment, and Konoha still required the strength of the Uchiha .

  Because of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not take any a against the Uchiha for the time being.

  Caught between the vilgers on one side and the Uchiha the other, Sarutobi Hiruzen chose to ignore Sora's existence.

  At the moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasirely sure whether Sora had caused the destru in the woods. If it were, he would o reassess Sora's value.

  As he looked at the unscious Sora, Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze sharpened.

  Lightning-style ninjas in Konoha were extremely rare. If the destru was indeed caused by Sora, it indicated that he had mastered a formidable Lightning Style teique.

  Since Sora had not left the vilge since his mother brought him back to Konoha, the Lightning Style ninjutsu he used must have been acquired outside the vilge.

  If this teique were taught to Konoha's ninjas, who were capable of using Lightning Style, it would signifitly bolster the vilge's power.

  Sarutobi Hiruzen gave a decisive order to the Anbu beside him:

  "Extinguish the fmes in the area and take him to the ninja hospital for treatment."

  The Anbu quickly obeyed, using Water Style ninjutsu to quench the surrounding fmes.

  One of the Anbu carried Sora and took him to the ninja hospital.

  At Uzumaki Mito's mansion, Uzumaki Kushiurned with a dejected expression.

  The young kunoichi, rejected by Sora, trudged into the mansion he shared with Uzumaki Mito, her spirits crushed.

  Notig her arrival, Uzumaki Mito greeted her warmly.

  "Kushina, how was your first day at the Ninja Academy? Did everything go well?" he asked with a smile.

  Uzumaki Kushina pursed her lips and cried out in frustration, "Grandma Mito!"

  Seeing Kushina's upset demeanour, Uzumaki Mito walked over, embraced her, and guided her to the couch.

  "What happened?" Uzumaki Mito asked gently.

  Kushina reted her day—how she was teased and called "Tomato" by her cssmates, how she retaliated against her tormentors, and how Sora had rejected her offer of friendship.

  "Sora?" Uzumaki Mito murmured softly.

  Hearing this, Kushina asked curiously, "Grandma Mito, do you know Sora?"

  "Hmm, yes. I've heard of her," Uzumaki Mito replied, her voice tinged with mencholy.

  How could she not?

  Sora's father was from the Senju , the same as Uzumaki Mito's te husband, Senju Hashirama.

  Since Konoha's founding, however, the Senju had been dissolved, its members intermarrying with vilgers and blending into the popution.

  When Sora's parents defected, Uzumaki Mito had pleaded with Sarutobi Hiruzen for leniency, but her request was denied.

  Sora's mother was from the Uchiha , and Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Hokage, had to maintain peace with the iial Uchiha by respeg their wishes.

  Later, when Sora returo Konoha, Uzumaki Mito even offered to adopt her, but Sarutobi Hiruzeed the idea.

  He cited the plications of Uzumaki Mito's status as the wife of the First Hokage and Sora's identity as the child of defectors, further rejected by the Uchiha .

  At the time, Uzumaki Mito had mented how distant Sarutobi Hiruzen had bee.

  Stroking Kushina's hair, Mito asked gently, "Do you know why Sora refused to be friends with you?"

  "She said, 'I'm isoted by the whole vilge. If you bee friends with me, you might be isoted too.' Theold me to ge seats when I go back to school," Kushina replied, her voice tinged with hurt.

  Uzumaki Mito's eyes glimmered with sorrow.

  "Isoted by the whole vilge… Oh, monkey," she murmured. "Sora didn't do anything wrong."

  Uzumaki Mito sighed deeply, her heart ag for Sora's plight.

  But at the moment, there was little she could do to improve Sora's circumstances.

  As she gazed at the unhappy Kushina, Uzumaki Mito's mind began to turn, pting the situation.