Chapter 324 - 9

Chapter 9: Evening Talk by the RiversideOutside Konoha Village, a figure was moving at a speed invisible to the naked eye, clad in a very loose black outfit that wrapped around his entire body, making it impossible to see his true face; he was Danzo's top subordinate, the Ninja from the Aburame Clan, Torune Aburame.He arrived in a mountain range outside Konoha Village, looked left and right to ensure no one was following, then stepped forward and twisted an inconspicuous stone; a passage appeared in the previously perfectly flat ground, and he leaped down into it.After passing through a dark tunnel, a secret chamber appeared ahead, where candles were lit on both sides of the room, their faint flames flickering unceasingly, seemingly on the verge of going out at any moment.There was only a table and a few stools in the room, and sitting right in the middle was the leader of Root, Danzo Shimura!Upon seeing him, Torune Aburame knelt on one knee and said, "Lord Danzo, that kid called Narutois still training with Might Guy every day; judging by the current situation, he is making great progress, and from time to time, there are fluctuations of Nine-Tailed Chakra within his body."After hearing his subordinate's report, Danzosupported his head with one hand while the middle finger of his other hand tapped rhythmically on the table, saying, "It is truly unbelievable that he remains so optimistic despite facing the Byakuganof so many people.""Continue to monitor him, but remember to be careful; you must not be discovered by others.""Arrange more people to target him, and when he is close to reaching his limit, find an opportunity to tell him that his father was the Fourth Hokage.""If we succeed in making him harbor resentment toward the Village, then take the opportunity to recruit him to our side.""If we have the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki as our trump card, then things will be much easier to handle.""Yes," Torune Aburame replied, then stood up and left.After his figure disappeared, Danzo remained in the same posture, murmuring to himself, "The Uchiha Clan has been becoming increasingly restless lately!""I wonder how far Orochimaru's experiments have progressed; when the time comes for me to implant the Sharingan, that will be the day of the Uchiha Clan's annihilation!"...Over on Naruto's side, with Kurama's help, he was already able to complete the jogging movement, though completing the task of one hundred laps would likely still be very difficult.By the time he finished today's training mission, it was already completely dark, and since Naruto had only drunk a carton of milk in the morning since waking up, he was now hungry and exhausted.However, there were no places left in the Village to eat at this time, so Might Guy decided to take Naruto to the riverbank to catch some fish to roast and eat.With Might Guy's skills, catching a few fish was naturally a trivial matter, but his cooking skills were not very good; he could never control the heat properly, ending up with fish that were either burnt or undercooked, so in the end, Naruto had no choice but to take over himself.Looking at Naruto's youthful face, Might Guyseemed to want to say something, but only opened his mouth without making a sound.Before long, Naruto handed him a roasted fish; seeing the steaming, golden-yellow fish, Might Guy's appetite was instantly whetted, and he grabbed it and began to feast.Although there were no seasonings, it actually highlighted the delicious flavor of the fish meat even more; Might Guy asked curiously while eating, "Naruto, how can your cooking be so good at such a young age? This is simply the best grilled fish I have ever eaten."Naruto smiled after hearing this and said, "It's nothing! It's just that when I was at the orphanage, I could never get enough to eat, so I had to find a way to fill my stomach myself."Upon hearing Naruto's words, Might Guy was instantly stunned, and for the first time, he felt a sense of doubt toward the Village: "Can the nourishment we become after burning ourselves while upholding the Will of Fire truly nurture these new young green leaves?"While Guy was lost in thought, a voice rang out from behind him: "Yo, what smells so delicious!""You master and student aren't sleeping in the middle of the night, but are secretly eating here instead, and you didn't even call me; that's really not cool."The person speaking was none other than Kakashi, who patted Might Guy on the shoulder as he spoke.Guy was startled by the pat, and the grilled fish in his hand almost fell to the ground; after steadying it, he couldn't help but complain, "Kakashi, why aren't you asleep so late at night?""Usually it's me appearing suddenly to find you; how come it's the other way around today?"When Naruto saw Kakashi arrive, he handed over the grilled fish he was holding and said, "Kakashi-sensei, you eat first; this fish will be ready soon too."Kakashi did not stand on ceremony and took the fish, but just as he was about to eat, he noticed that both of them were staring at him blankly, so he put the fish he had brought to his mouth back down.Not being able to see the face under Kakashi's mask made both of them feel a bit disappointed, and they both turned their heads away.Who would have thought that less than five seconds after their gazes left him, Kakashi let out a burp and said, "What a delicious meal! Naruto, your skills are truly impressive!"Looking at the shocked expressions of the two in front of him, Kakashi's eyes crinkled into crescents, and he waved his hand, saying, "Alright, alright, don't make those faces; when the time is right, you will see what I look like."After the three of them were full, they lay side by side on the grass by the riverbank to rest, feeling the cool breeze and watching the bright full moon—it was quite pleasant.At this moment, Kakashi spoke up: "Naruto, I know that for now, the arrangements the Village has made for you are very unfair, and I am also very confused about this.""However, I hope you do not hold a grudge against the Village; although I don't know what led to this current situation, I believe the Third Hokage is a good person.""At the very least, he and I have secretly watched over your life more than once; I assure you that there must be some special reason for things to be this way."Naruto smiled after hearing this and said, "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei, I won't.""Earlier, I didn't understand either; I was just a small child, so why did everyone hate and exclude me so much?""I only wanted to get closer to them, but fortunately, I'm used to it now.""Before, because I was too lonely on my own, I was always thinking about making more friends, but now, with high-intensity training every day, I don't have time to think about these things.""Come to think of it, I also want to thank both of you teachers for being able to stay here with me for so long today; most of the time I come here alone, so I am really very grateful."Looking at Naruto, who was so sensible that it was somewhat heartbreaking, Kakashi didn't know what he should say.