“Trouble? What kind of trouble could a four-year-old brat possibly cause you?” Samuel Harris was puzzled, but then seemed to think of something and laughed, “If it’s just rumors in the village, you really don’t need to worry. Rumors stop with the wise; not many will take them seriously. Besides, after all this time, things should have quieted down, right?”

Rumors do indeed stop with the wise, but the problem is that all those smart people are just pretending to be clueless. Lord Hokage, you can never wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep! William Baker felt helpless—a bunch of shameless people, it’s been almost a year and they’re still teasing him about this every day, never missing a chance to bring it up. Don’t they ever get tired of it? He really wanted to take a knife and deal with them one by one.

“Lord Hokage, he hasn’t just brought me trouble…” William Baker looked at Samuel Harris with a rather sympathetic gaze. “On the first day of school, the person James confessed to was him!”

“Uh…” Samuel Harris immediately looked like a chicken with its neck grabbed, and said awkwardly, “That must have just been a coincidence. After all, James is still young and it’s easy for kids to do outlandish things.”

“Let’s hope so!” Seeing that Samuel Harris didn’t look pleased, William Baker didn’t press the issue any further.

“How does he feel about Konoha? After all, he’s of Simon blood, and his clan still exists. I don’t want all my efforts to end up benefiting Kirigakure.”

“That’s not a problem. From what I’ve observed, he actually likes Konoha a lot. As for Simon, he has no idea about his own bloodline—he must be from a branch that ended up outside the clan. I’ve never told him about his heritage.”

“You’ve done well, but just liking it isn’t enough. He needs to fall in love with this village… Let him make more friends in daily life. As long as he has bonds, he’ll definitely become an outstanding Konoha ninja.” Samuel Harris was very satisfied. He stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the prosperous Konoha Village. After a moment of silence, he said, “The Will of Fire should grow strong under the sunlight. That’s also why I didn’t hand that child over to Edward. Edward’s thinking is too extreme. The Root’s ninjas live and die for their missions. They have only code names, no real names, no past, no future. Konoha’s ninjas shouldn’t be like that. It’s a pity about Robert… He was an excellent Konoha ninja and should have died with a ninja’s honor.”

William Baker remained silent. As a friend of Robert Scott, the Hokage’s words brought him some comfort, but the dead are gone and nothing said now can change that. Konoha needed someone to take the blame for the loss, and Robert Scott was the most suitable. His fame and influence were enough to bear that burden. Because of this, even though many respected him as a hero, very few actually stood up to speak for him—especially since the Third Hokage never made a statement.

“I’ll clear Robert’s name in the future, but now isn’t the time. His son David Smith has already become a genin—truly a tiger father begets no dog son. When he’s old enough, let him join the ANBU! If possible, look after him a bit more!”

“Thank you, Lord Hokage!” William Baker expressed his gratitude on behalf of his friend.

“All right, no more talk of sad things.” After comforting his subordinate, Samuel Harris dropped the heavy topic and continued, “Has that child not awakened any abilities? Not even after learning about his parents’ deaths?”

“Not the slightest sign of awakening… unless he’s hiding it.”

William Baker spoke with some uncertainty, but Samuel Harris wasn’t displeased. Since William Baker said there was nothing, then there was nothing. Hiding it was impossible—not even an Oscar-winning actor could fool an intelligence expert, let alone a five-year-old brat. And this ninja was the head of the ANBU.

“There are countless ways to awaken a bloodline limit, and it doesn’t always depend on pain. It doesn’t matter if he hasn’t awakened—Konoha isn’t lacking for bloodline ninjas.” Samuel Harris nodded in agreement. Unless the awakened bloodline could produce a Kage-level powerhouse, the mighty Konoha wouldn’t care about one or two more bloodline ninjas. Clearly, Simon wasn’t that kind of bloodline—one more or less made no difference.

A single bloodline ninja or a whole clan of bloodline ninjas—which is more important? Any reasonable person would make the right choice. Samuel Harris was no exception. He cared more about this bloodline taking root and spreading in Konoha as a clan. As for whether there would be copyright disputes with Kirigakure in the future, Samuel Harris would just say, “Oh, I’m really sorry, but things are already like this. There’s nothing I can do. If you’re not happy, come fight me!”

“Although he hasn’t awakened his bloodline, the child is still very talented. Calling him a genius wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Maybe because of his personality, he doesn’t stand out much.” Seeing that Samuel Harris wasn’t very interested, William Baker quickly added, “Boss, I’ve always taken the task you gave me seriously and have been diligent in raising this child, but you can’t make bricks without straw. I’ve done my best! If there’s blame in the future, please don’t put it on me!”

“?”

“He has no competitive spirit… Maybe it’s because he’s too mature.”

……

“Henry Baker, 8 bullseyes hit, 80% accuracy, time used: 3 seconds. Assessment result: Good, B-level rating.”

Seeing his results, Henry Carter nodded in satisfaction and quickly fell in line.