By the time Naruto walked out of the Hokage Office Building, the sun was already high in the sky, and noon was not far off.
After confirming that Naruto had truly failed to master even the Shadow Clone over two months, the Third Hokage was greatly relieved. Still, he found an excuse to carefully inspect the Five Elements Seal on Naruto's body. After repeatedly praising Naruto's studious and diligent attitude upstairs, he cheerfully saw him out through the first-floor entrance himself.
"Naruto, when that old man praised you in the office just now, he had the exact same expression he wore when he fooled those idiots from the Senju Clan into becoming test subjects."
"He's truly impressive. He's clearly extremely wary of you, yet he can still act as though he cares for you deeply."
After they had walked some distance away from the Hokage Office Building, Kurama had barely finished gathering his Chakra again before he could not resist mocking him.
"Isn't that normal? He is the Hokage."
"As a ruler, he understood perfectly well that if he wanted the people of the village to be loyal, love was more reliable than fear."
There were gradually more people on the streets. After Naruto hurried through several alleyways, he arrived at a quiet stone pavilion.
Sitting on a bench inside the pavilion, he considered two matters.
First, he did not know what else the Third Hokage had taken into consideration, but he was certain that Gekko Hayate was no longer following him.
Second, he was searching through the plot details he knew, trying to figure out how to obtain Shisui Uchiha's corpse or Personal Information Substance in the near future.
Shisui Uchiha was seriously sick in the head as well. A few words from the Third Hokage had fooled him into revealing the secret of the strongest brainwashing Genjutsu he possessed.
What ruler would not fear an ability like that? Who knew whether one day he might use Kotoamatsukami to control Konoha's higher-ups?
Someone like Shisui Uchiha, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, actually possessed a saintly heart. That was truly terrifying. Even more fatal was that he had believed the Third Hokage's nonsense about the Will of Fire.
It seemed he needed to find time to scout out the Naka River in advance, otherwise—
"Naruto, are you still thinking about the Sharingan?"
Minato Namikaze's voice suddenly came from the Sealed Space.
"Oh? Why would Father ask that?"
Naruto's gaze sharpened, and his consciousness directly descended into the Sealed Space.
Minato Namikaze answered with a serious expression, "I can still tell that much. Besides, after being with you for so long, I've noticed that many of the questions you usually ask have strong purposes behind them."
A glint flashed through Naruto's eyes. "Father, I showed you Itachi Uchiha's memories before. What do you think will become of the Uchiha Clan in the future?"
"Hm?"
Minato Namikaze looked somewhat surprised upon hearing that.
What did he mean?
Naruto had specifically shown him Itachi Uchiha's memory scenes before. From those scenes, he had learned that the conflict between the village and the Uchiha was steadily deepening.
But Naruto's tone just now made it sound as though the Uchiha Clan's future ending would not be a good one.
"Father, the Senju and the Uchiha founded Konoha together. You already know how the Senju disappeared. Next, it should be the Uchiha Clan's turn."
"Naruto, have you discovered something?"
"There is no need to discover anything. Think carefully. First, starting with the Second Hokage, he exploited the Uchiha Clan's desire for power and made them willingly take over the most hated Police Department, ensuring that everyone in the village could never feel favorably toward the entire Uchiha Clan."
"Though sinister, that move was truly brilliant."
"Furthermore, when that mysterious person controlled Kurama several years ago, quite a few people saw that its eyes were under the control of the Sharingan."
"That immediately made all of Konoha suspicious of the Uchiha. Under that suspicion, Konoha's higher-ups forced them to relocate to a remote area far from the village center. The Uchiha Clan was especially dissatisfied with this, which further intensified the conflict between the Uchiha and the village."
"You were once Hokage. With the current conflict growing ever more intense, what do you think will happen?"
Minato Namikaze was horrified when he heard this. "Could it be that the Uchiha Clan will—"
"Why has this scourge come here!"
"What happened in the village last night might have had something to do with him."
"Yeah! That filthy brat is so disgusting."
A group of villagers suddenly arrived near the stone pavilion. Upon seeing Naruto sitting inside, they immediately began discussing and shouting curses at him, interrupting Minato Namikaze before he could finish speaking.
"Sigh, Naruto, let's go back."
"Why are you sighing, Father? I do not believe people when they praise me, but I must listen when they curse me. Besides, they are not wrong. I really did meddle in what happened last night."
Naruto calmly swept his gaze around. Every sound outside the stone pavilion instantly fell silent. Only then did he rise from the bench, take a step forward, and walk out of the pavilion.
A little girl suddenly approached from outside the crowd. Her eyes lit up when she saw Naruto's figure.
Tilting her head, she asked the adult beside her, "That child is?"
"Lady Hinata, please do not get involved with that child."
"Why?"
The adult shook his head slightly without answering. He cast a solemn glance at Kage Rock standing atop the distant cliff, then said, "It is time to train. Let's go back."
Time passed, and when night fell, Naruto appeared by the Naka River dressed in a black robe.
Before leaving, he had discovered that the Third Hokage had led a group of people in secret to an office building protected by a barrier. He had then used a Shadow Clone as cover to come here and begin making preparations.
There were seven waterfalls in total, so he could only leave Flying Thunder God marks on the rocks beneath every one of them.
He could not rashly approach Shisui Uchiha, so Naruto could only use this method. It was somewhat troublesome, but there was no other choice.
"Naruto, why are you placing marks within this Uchiha Clan territory?"
Naruto had placed marks in the Hokage's Office during the day, then come here at night to place more. Minato Namikaze always felt as though Naruto was preparing for something.
"Father, we just passed several cliffs. If it were you, where would you choose to jump off a cliff and kill yourself?"
"Suicide? Could it be that you know someone will jump off a cliff here, so you're leaving marks in preparation to save them when the time comes?"
"Father, can you not be so humorous?"
"Uh..."
Naruto's indifferent reply made Minato Namikaze in the Sealed Space extremely awkward.
"Then why are you leaving so many Flying Thunder God marks?"
After standing at the cliff's edge and sensing the locations of all the marks, Naruto stared impassively at a nearby waterfall. "Of course, it is to collect a corpse."
"What! Collect a corpse?" Minato Namikaze's mind went blank. Then he asked solemnly, "Whose corpse? What use do you have for a corpse?"
"Father will find out in the near future."
Minato Namikaze looked alarmed and suspicious. "This is the Naka River, the Uchiha Clan Compound. Could it be that some Uchiha will...?"
"Father, I cannot answer your question. And even if you knew, it would be of no use."
After replying calmly, Naruto raised his head. The star-filled night sky seemed exceptionally quiet, yet the gears of fate had already begun to turn.
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