The Wind That Shouldn't Appear

Minato Namikaze grew increasingly alarmed as he listened. By the time he opened his mouth to speak, Naruto had already left the Sealed Space and descended the stairs.

The clone that had accompanied Hayate Gekko home had entered the house.

After the clone closed the door, Naruto had removed all disguises from his main body. As soon as the clone closed the door, he had dispelled the Shadow Clones.

However, the memories transmitted back by the clone caused his brow to twitch.

Shikamaru had actually taken the initiative to hint to him today that the Third Hokage would be returning to Konoha that evening.

What did that mean?

Having known Shikamaru for so long, Naruto had always found him strange. He was clearly arranged by the Third Hokage to make contact with him, and he had also mentioned the mission the Third Hokage had assigned him.

But now, it seemed like he was genuinely trying to be friends with him.

"Father, you were once the Hokage. What are your thoughts on the Nara Clan?"

Naruto's consciousness returned to the Sealed Space, and he gazed at his father with a calm expression as he asked.

Seeing Naruto's somewhat serious expression, Minato Namikaze began to carefully recall his time as Hokage and his interactions with the Nara Clan.

"The Nara Clan has always been the most trusted clan by the Hokage in the village, bar none. They are loyal only to the Hokage and are content to be the Hokage's shadow."

As Minato Namikaze said this, his expression suddenly became a little unusual. He also suddenly realized that Shikamaru, whom the Third Hokage had arranged to contact Naruto, seemed a bit off.

"Most trusted by the Hokage, loyal only to the Hokage."

After repeating these two key points in his mind many times, Naruto's eyes flashed.

The Third Hokage was very old.

After his father, the Fourth Hokage, sacrificed himself, it should have been natural to directly select the Fifth Hokage. But the Third Hokage had managed to forcefully reclaim the position of Hokage and regain power in such a short time.

This was not only unexpected by everyone in Konoha, but it was likely unbelievable to other ninja villages in the Ninja World as well.

The anime plot also depicted many people discussing the election of the Fifth Hokage at that time.

Furthermore, the crucial point was that the Third Hokage had previously resigned due to the stain of unfavorable war outcomes.

Claiming that the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice was too sudden, Konoha was in a precarious situation, and the village couldn't find a suitable successor for Hokage at that moment?

Such an excuse was simply not credible.

At that time, the Third Hokage, along with Danzō and two other advisors, had already controlled the political power of Konoha. His father, the Fourth Hokage, was nothing more than a puppet.

Orochimaru aside, couldn't they have sent people to find Jiraiya and Tsunade?

Jiraiya might have been difficult to find, but Tsunade, that gambling-addicted gambler, couldn't have been hard to find, could she?

Moreover, Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush plan during the Chunin Exams. Even the Third Hokage, hailed as the strongest Hokage of all time, died rather suddenly. How different was that situation from the night of the Nine-Tails' attack?

At that time, no one mentioned being unable to find someone to serve as the Fifth Hokage, and the village continued to operate as usual.

As soon as the Third Hokage was buried, the two advisors impatiently urged Jiraiya to take the position immediately. But Jiraiya refused, and then he easily found Tsunade to return and succeed him as Hokage.

In the eyes of outsiders, his father, Shikaku Nara, was definitely a confidant of the Third Hokage. But the current Shikamaru hadn't even entered the Ninja Academy yet, nor was it the time depicted in the anime when the Third Hokage arranged for his own son, Asuma Sarutobi, to mentor the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

Shikamaru knew his position. Although he was the clan head's son, he wasn't an officially registered ninja yet. He could make choices.

He was already contemplating the many uncertainties of his future.

Their Nara Clan was loyal to the Hokage, but the Third Hokage had served two terms, which was too long, and he was too old.

Shikamaru also had his own calculations about whether the next Hokage would still have the surname Sarutobi. Smart people wouldn't tie themselves to a single tree indefinitely.

He was carrying out the tasks assigned by the Third Hokage, but he had already decided how to do them.

The night was like water, and the entire Konoha appeared silent. The Third Hokage was already standing by the window of his office. Without alerting anyone, he had returned to Konoha. Upon arriving at the Hokage's office, he had simply flipped through the village's administrative documents from the past period.

Two months had passed, and it was already early spring. However, this trip to the capital of the Land of Fire had not gone smoothly.

"Hokage-sama!"

A figure suddenly appeared on the steps outside the window.

"It's Hayate!" The Third Hokage's gaze sharpened. "What has happened with Naruto during the two months I was away from the village?"

Hayate Gekko skillfully took out his small notebook and handed it over. "This is a detailed report on the target's activities over the past two months!"

"Hmm? The day I left, Naruto actually took the initiative to save someone?" The Third Hokage's gaze stopped at the first page, but then he frowned. "But in the end, he was misunderstood by the villagers and surrounded."

"Then Naruto told the villagers to clear the way and went home."

"Wasn't Naruto angry?"

Hayate Gekko shook his head. "There were many villagers surrounding him at the time, so I couldn't see his expression. However, the target showed no signs of anger or dissatisfaction all the way home."

"Very good!" The Third Hokage's expression softened upon hearing this.

Naruto took the initiative to save someone, and most importantly, he wasn't angry when misunderstood.

It seemed his guidance had been very successful, and Naruto was still on the right path of growth. This meant his future plans would proceed very smoothly.

He continued to flip through the subsequent reports in Hayate Gekko's notebook. Apart from not yet learning Shadow Clone Jutsu, the other situations were not much different from before his return to the village.

"Is Naruto resting now?" The Third Hokage smiled slightly as he thought about Naruto not yet having learned Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"When you sent someone to notify me just now, the target was about to—"

Whoosh!

Before Hayate Gekko could finish speaking, an Anbu member wearing a mask knelt beside him on one knee.

"Lord Hokage! The Barrier Team just detected abnormal Chakra fluctuations in the Forest of Death again!"

The Third Hokage's expression turned serious. "Hmm? You said abnormal Chakra fluctuations appeared in the Forest of Death again? Has this happened many times before?"

"Yes!" The Anbu reporting stood up and took out a piece of paper. "Here, this is a detailed record of the frequent Chakra activity in the Forest of Death since you left the village."

The Third Hokage took it and glanced at it, his eyes sharpening. "Depart immediately!"

Naruto was also feeling strange at this moment.

He had been at home since lunch. With his current range of perception, he knew exactly when the Third Hokage had returned to the village.

Just now, while Naruto was focusing on the Third Hokage's office, he suddenly sensed an unfamiliar Chakra appearing in the Forest of Death.

This Chakra felt extremely bizarre to him, and it was rapidly moving its position along the path he had taken while training in the Forest of Death before.

"Who is this? The Third Hokage is rushing over there with so many people. Are they not from Konoha?"

Minato Namikaze had told him about the barrier Konoha had set up.

To prevent enemy incursions, Konoha had erected a large barrier around the village. The Barrier Team constantly monitored everyone entering and leaving the village. Any suspicious Chakra entering would be detected. Only ninjas who knew the entry formula could infiltrate silently.

However, at some point, the Barrier Team, which used to only monitor the village, had included the Forest of Death within the barrier.

Furthermore, the seal used to enter that barrier was different from what Minato Namikaze had known before, forcing him to constantly change locations to avoid Anbu detection while training there.

"If they're not from Konoha, shouldn't the Barrier Team have issued an invasion warning immediately?"

"Huh, this is interesting. This person seems to know they've been exposed, yet they're just standing there waiting."

In the Forest of Death, the Third Hokage, along with about a dozen Anbu members, surrounded a figure lurking in the shadows.

"It's been a long time, Teacher Hiruzen."

With a hoarse voice, the figure in the shadows stepped out. Beneath his black, long hair was a pale, sickly face. His golden, vertical pupils slowly rotated as he scanned his surroundings with undisguised boldness, a hint of mockery on his expression.

"Yes, Orochimaru, you shouldn't have returned! Since you're back this time, you'll stay!"

The Third Hokage stared intently at the disciple he had once held great hope for.

"Heh! Teacher Hiruzen, are you going to make a move?" Orochimaru chuckled. "Coincidentally, I've recently made some progress in researching the Forbidden Jutsu of the Second Hokage."

The Third Hokage's pupils constricted. What Forbidden Jutsu left by the Second had Orochimaru mastered now?

"Allow me to become the wind, and personally blow this rotten windmill of Konoha to see if it can still turn!"