Chapter 64: Is Konoha's Culture Always This Fierce?
Konoha Hokage Office.
The lamps flickered gently.
Kakashi was reporting the mission itinerary to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Regarding Naruto personally slaying two chūnin, and single-handedly fighting Momochi Zabuza without falling behind in the slightest— Kakashi didn't mention a single word.
Even the fact that Sasuke had awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan Kakashi had no intention of telling Hiruzen.
Until then—he'd keep it hidden for as long as possible.
Hiruzen tapped his pipe, then took a deep drag.
The dry tobacco entered his lungs.
He exhaled a thick smoke ring.
"Kakashi… I'm sure you've heard about little Naruto by now."
"And that boy—Uchiha Itachi's younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. He's the last surviving Uchiha in the village."
"You must take good care of both of them."
Naruto was Minato's son.
Once his identity was exposed, Hiruzen felt he owed the boy some compensation.
In recent days, the other four great nations had caught wind of the Yellow Flash's surviving child. They sent quite a few assassin ninjas.
But without exception, they were all dealt with by Konoha's ANBU.
Naruto was the son of a hero. And the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails!
With all those halos and identities surrounding him, no one in ANBU would sit idly by!
Kakashi nodded noncommittally.
"Yes!"
Even without Hiruzen's special instruction, he would have taken extra care of Naruto anyway.
But… thinking of Naruto's terrifying combat power, Kakashi felt a headache coming on.
It seemed like there was really nothing he could teach the kid.
So damn awkward…
Maybe he should just teach little Naruto his own signature technique—Lightning Release: Chidori?
Naruto had already mastered and was proficiently using Minato-sensei's Rasengan.
Kakashi shook his head and tossed the ridiculous idea out of his mind.
Chidori dealt high damage, sure, but Rasengan wasn't inferior at all!
Hiruzen rubbed his brow as if recalling something, then spoke.
"By the way—the Chūnin Exams are coming up soon."
"This year's exams are bound to be especially lively."
"There will definitely be more ninjas trying to sneak in with ill intentions toward the village."
After a pause, Hiruzen continued.
"I hope you'll be extra cautious and vigilant during that time, Kakashi."
"To prevent anything from happening to Naruto, Sasuke, or the others!"
Afterward, Hiruzen said a few more trivial things to Kakashi.
As for defeating the Demon Zabuza— Hiruzen considered it a trivial matter for Kakashi.
He knew Kakashi's true strength very well.
...
Back to Naruto's side.
Watching the ANBU ninjas who still refused to stand,
Naruto couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Although he didn't consider himself some saintly good guy,
he wasn't the type who committed every evil deed either.
He genuinely wasn't as benevolent and wise as these ANBU were describing.
If you want to praise someone, praise a little.
But don't praise to such an outrageous degree.
Naruto's old face turned red from the flattery.
I'm really not as good as you guys imagine!!!
"Get up, all of you. Stand and talk. I don't like people kneeling to me."
Naruto said.
This was true. His soul was that of a true Kyushu native.
Having people kneel to him at every turn felt weird as hell.
The group exchanged glances.
After hesitating for a moment, they finally dared to stand.
Mainly because they had knelt willingly.
"Then, Young Master, what should we do next…?"
Yamamoto Yukimasa looked at Naruto and asked.
He was one of the people who had received the most favors from the Fourth Hokage.
Toward Naruto, he was absolutely loyal.
Moreover, over the years they had witnessed the behavior of certain high-level figures in the village.
They had actually massacred the entire Uchiha clan— a clan with powerful genjutsu and dōjutsu!
In recent years, some ANBU who were frequently dispatched to monitor the Uchiha clan's movements were not unaware of the conflict between the Uchiha and the village.
The matter had been handled very secretly and perfectly, with all the blame pushed onto Uchiha Itachi.
But those ANBU who had been sent to watch the Uchiha clan only needed to calm down and think carefully
to eventually connect it to the Third Hokage… and Danzō.
Every time Danzō spoke in meetings, he openly expressed dissatisfaction with the Uchiha clan!
This wasn't exactly a secret.
Everyone had seen it with their own eyes.
Besides Yamamoto Yukimasa, the other four looked at Naruto with eager, expectant eyes.
Clearly, this group belonged to the warlike faction.
Being warlike is a good thing.
But sometimes it can cause problems.
Naruto still had many of his own plans in motion.
He didn't want his subordinates to act rashly and ruin everything.
"This matter isn't urgent."
The fanaticism in the five people's eyes dimmed slightly.
Young Master, just give the order and three hundred ANBU will immediately come to help you chop… chop Hiruzen Sarutobi once!
But since their master had already spoken, they naturally didn't dare say more.
After a pause, Naruto said calmly:
"War requires brains. Who goes around thinking only of fighting every day? When your own strength is sufficient and preparations are complete, strike suddenly—at a moment they least expect—and seize power. That's the real way."
The light returned to everyone's eyes.
Young Master is awesome!!
In their worldview, once you had gathered so much intelligence, the rest was just do it.
They had also considered the consequences.
But they hadn't thought as deeply or cautiously as Naruto.
Of course, there were some calmer members too.
But most of them weren't here.
Yamamoto Yukimasa wanted to continue flattering.
Naruto saw this and quickly interrupted him.
"Alright, alright—enough, enough. I know what you want to say."
"Let's end it here for today. I'm really too sleepy."
A flash of disappointment crossed Yamamoto's face.
Damn it—I missed the chance to express my heartfelt words!
"Yes yes! Young Master, we'll take our leave immediately!"
"Young Master… do you need someone to warm your feet…?"
"Insolent! Get out already! Stop chattering!"
The door closed gently.
Naruto showed a wry smile.
Every ninja who could enter ANBU was basically a little genius in their own right!
And they had to excel in every aspect.
Of course,
under such intense training conditions,
they were bound to have slender, toned, zero-fat, fiery figures.
Mm—just like those two female ninjas earlier.
As for that female ninja's earlier thoughts,
Naruto didn't pay much attention to them.
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