The more Minato Namikaze listened, the more alarmed he became. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Naruto had already left the Sealed Space and headed downstairs.
The clone that had taken Gekko Hayate home had already entered the house.
Once the clone shut the door, Naruto removed all of his original body's disguises. The moment the clone closed the door, he dispelled the Shadow Clone.
However, the memories returned by the clone made his brow twitch.
Shikamaru had actually taken the initiative to hint that the Third Hokage would return to Konoha that evening.
What did that mean?
Having known Shikamaru for so long, Naruto had always found him strange. He was clearly sent by the Third Hokage to approach him, and he had also mentioned the task the Third Hokage had assigned him.
But now, it seemed that he was genuinely trying to be Naruto's friend.
"Father, you were once Hokage. What do you think of the Nara Clan?"
Naruto's consciousness descended into the Sealed Space once more. He looked calmly at his father as he asked.
Seeing Naruto's serious expression, Minato Namikaze began carefully recalling the time he had spent dealing with the Nara Clan after becoming Hokage.
"The Nara Clan has always been the family most trusted by the Hokage in the village. There is no second. They are loyal only to the Hokage and willingly serve as the Hokage's shadow."
As Minato Namikaze spoke, his expression suddenly turned peculiar. He, too, realized that there was something off about Shikamaru, whom the Third Hokage had arranged to approach Naruto.
"Most trusted by the Hokage. Loyal only to the Hokage."
After turning those two key points over in his mind countless times, Naruto's eyes flashed.
The Third Hokage was already very old.
After his father, the Fourth Hokage, had sacrificed himself, the Fifth Hokage should have been chosen immediately. Yet the Third Hokage had managed to forcefully retake the position in such a short time and seize control of power once again.
Not only had no one in Konoha expected it, but the other ninja villages in the Shinobi World had likely found it unbelievable as well.
Even the anime had depicted many people discussing the election of the Fifth Hokage at the time.
More importantly, the Third Hokage had previously stepped down in disgrace because of his unfavorable handling of the war.
They claimed that the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice had come too suddenly, that Konoha was in dire straits, and that the village could not find a suitable newcomer to take over as Hokage in time?
That was simply not believable.
By then, the Third Hokage, Danzo, and the other two advisors had long controlled Konoha's political power. His father, the Fourth Hokage, had essentially been nothing more than a puppet.
Leaving Orochimaru aside, could they not have sent people to find Jiraiya and Tsunade?
Jiraiya might have been difficult to locate, but was Tsunade, a gambler addicted to gambling, really that hard to find?
And when Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush Plan during the Chunin Exams, the Third Hokage, hailed as the strongest Hokage of all time, had also died suddenly. How different had the situation then been from the night of the Nine-Tails' Rampage?
Yet no one had said they could not find someone to become the Fifth Hokage then, and the village had continued operating as usual.
The Third Hokage had barely been buried when the two advisors impatiently urged Jiraiya to take office at once. Jiraiya refused, yet he still easily found Tsunade and brought her back to succeed the position of Hokage.
In outsiders' eyes, his father, Shikaku Nara, was undoubtedly a trusted confidant of the Third Hokage. But Shikamaru had not yet entered the ninja academy, nor was it the time from the anime when the Third Hokage had arranged for his own son, Asuma Sarutobi, to lead the Ino-Shika-Cho team.
Shikamaru knew his own position. Although he was the clan head's son, he was not yet an official ninja with a formal post. He could still make choices.
He had already begun considering the many uncertainties surrounding his future.
The Nara Clan was loyal to the Hokage, but the Third Hokage had served two terms. It had been too long, and he was too old.
Whether the next Hokage would still bear the Sarutobi name was something Shikamaru had considered. Smart people would not tie themselves to a single tree forever.
He was carrying out the Third Hokage's orders, but he had already chosen how to carry them out.
The night was like water, and all of Konoha was silent. The Third Hokage was already standing by the office window. Without alerting anyone, he had returned to Konoha and gone straight to the Hokage's Office, where he briefly reviewed the village's administrative documents from the past few months.
After two months of travel, it was already early spring, but this trip to the Land of Fire's capital had not gone smoothly.
"Lord Hokage!"
A figure suddenly appeared on the ledge outside the window.
"Hayate." The Third Hokage's gaze sharpened. "Did anything happen with Naruto during the two months I was away from the village?"
Gekko Hayate skillfully pulled out a small notebook and handed it over. "This is a detailed report on the target over the past two months!"
"Hm? Naruto actually took the initiative to save someone on the day I left?" The Third Hokage's gaze stopped on the first page, but then his brows furrowed. "But in the end, the villagers misunderstood him and surrounded him?"
"Then Naruto told the villagers to move aside and went home."
"Was Naruto not angry?"
Gekko Hayate shook his head. "There were many villagers surrounding him at the time, so I could not see his expression. But afterward, the target returned home without showing any anger or dissatisfaction."
"Very good!" The Third Hokage's expression eased slightly upon hearing that.
Naruto had taken the initiative to save someone, and what was even more commendable was that he had not gotten angry after being misunderstood.
It seemed his guidance had been very successful. Naruto was still following the correct path of growth, so his later arrangements would proceed very smoothly.
He continued reading the rest of Gekko Hayate's report. Other than still not having learned the Shadow Clone, there was not much difference from before he had left the village.
"Is Naruto resting now?" Thinking that Naruto had yet to learn the Shadow Clone, the Third Hokage smiled faintly.
"When you just had someone summon me, the target was about to—"
Whoosh!
Before Gekko Hayate could finish, a masked Anbu appeared at his side and dropped to one knee.
"Lord Hokage! The Barrier Team has just detected another abnormal Chakra fluctuation in the Forest of Death!"
The Third Hokage's expression turned grave. "Hm? You said there was another abnormal Chakra fluctuation in the Forest of Death? Has it happened many times before?"
"Yes!" The Anbu reporting the situation rose to his feet and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Please look. This is the detailed record of the frequent Chakra activity in the Forest of Death since you left the village."
The Third Hokage took it and glanced over it. His eyes immediately turned sharp. "Move out at once!"
Naruto was also puzzled at that moment.
He had stayed home ever since lunch. With his current sensory range, he knew perfectly well when the Third Hokage had returned to the village.
While Naruto had been keeping his senses locked on the Third Hokage's position in the office, he suddenly detected an unfamiliar Chakra in the Forest of Death.
This Chakra felt extremely strange, and it was rapidly moving along the route Naruto had taken while training in the Forest of Death.
"Who is this? The Third Hokage is rushing there at high speed with so many people. Could it be someone from outside Konoha?"
Minato Namikaze had told him about the barrier surrounding Konoha.
To prevent enemy invasions, Konoha had erected a massive barrier around the village. The Barrier Team monitored everyone entering and leaving the village at all times. Once suspicious Chakra entered, the Barrier Team would detect it. Only ninja who knew the Jutsu Seal for entering the barrier could infiltrate silently.
However, at some point, the Barrier Team, which had previously monitored only the village, had included the Forest of Death within the barrier as well.
Moreover, the Jutsu Seal for entering that barrier differed from what Minato Namikaze had known before, forcing Naruto to frequently change locations while training there to avoid Anbu surveillance.
"If he isn't from Konoha, shouldn't the Barrier Team immediately issue an intrusion warning?"
"Oh, this is interesting. This person seems to know he has been exposed, yet he is just standing there and waiting."
Within the Forest of Death, the Third Hokage and more than a dozen Anbu surrounded a figure standing in the shadows.
"It has been a long time, Teacher Hiruzen."
Accompanied by a hoarse voice, the figure in the shadows stepped forward. Beneath long black hair was a face pale to the point of sickness. A pair of golden vertical pupils slowly shifted as he brazenly swept his gaze across the surroundings, his expression faintly mocking.
"Yes, Orochimaru. You should not have returned! Since you have come back this time, then stay here!"
The Third Hokage stared with incomparably sharp eyes at the disciple in whom he had once placed such high hopes.
"Hehehe! Teacher Hiruzen, are you going to make a move?" Orochimaru smiled softly. "As it happens, I have recently gained some insights into the Second Hokage's forbidden techniques."
The Third Hokage's pupils contracted. What forbidden technique left behind by the Second Hokage had Orochimaru mastered now?
"Let me become the wind and personally set Konoha's rotten windmill turning, to see whether it can still move!"
Before you continue