Hiruzen Sarutobi: Naruto, Do You Want to Make Friends?

"You've been in ANBU for a while now, haven't you? Do you have any thoughts?"

Shisui froze at the words. When he came back to his senses, his expression changed. "Third Hokage..."

Before he could say anything, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted with a genial smile. "Don't overthink it. I'm simply asking what you think."

"I..."

Shisui hesitated for a moment before finally saying haltingly, "I feel that ANBU's current duties overlap somewhat with those of the Military Police Force."

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his clouded eyes slightly, his tone carrying an apology. "Sigh, that is my problem. I'll do my best to fight for you, but..."

He paused, his expression helpless. "The villagers have a lot of complaints about the Military Police Force right now. Their enforcement methods make it difficult to win public approval."

"After all, Konoha is not mine alone to decide."

Seeing him like this, Shisui instead felt somewhat embarrassed.

After all, it was the Uchiha Clan that had resorted to violent enforcement first.

Konoha was not the Third Hokage's personal domain. Naturally, the villagers' feelings had to be prioritized.

Besides, the Third Hokage was already getting on in years. Bearing the responsibilities of the Hokage had to be exhausting, and the pressure on him must have been immense.

Thinking of this, Shisui felt even more guilty and hurriedly said, "It's all right! It's all right! I understand your difficulties. I'll have the clan members pay more attention to their attitudes."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled with some gratification. "Hehe, it seems the good relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha truly needs young people like you to maintain it."

"Then I won't disturb you while you're on duty. I'll say a few words to Little Naruto and then leave."

Shisui shook his head respectfully. "Please, go ahead."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was just about to take a step.

Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he casually asked, "I recently heard that your Uchiha Clan has been quite lively lately. Have you been holding clan meetings often?"

Shisui's pupils abruptly widened, and his gaze flickered. "That..."

"Oh, it's fine if it's inconvenient to say. I was merely asking out of curiosity."

Even as he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi made to leave again.

"Wait!"

Shisui gritted his teeth and finally called out to stop him.

The Uchiha Clan was already boiling with indignation. They were deeply dissatisfied with the actions of the Konoha High-Ranking Officials.

Some members of the Radical Faction had even raised the subject of a coup.

Although the Clan Head had repeatedly stopped discussions of the subject, it had undoubtedly struck a chord with most of the Uchiha clansmen.

They did not want to continue suffering unfair treatment. They did not want to be targeted by outsiders.

They wanted change. They wanted to fight for their own interests.

Yashiro Uchiha, Tekka Uchiha, and Inabi Uchiha of the Military Police Force were all powerful individuals with Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

They had even proposed, "Rather than sit around and wait for death, we should take the initiative."

One had to know that the authority of the Military Police Force had been granted to them by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

But now, barely any of that authority remained.

The only one who could attend Konoha's decision-making meetings was Fugaku Uchiha, the captain of the Military Police Force and Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan.

In the eyes of those three, if they continued to be oppressed by the Konoha High-Ranking Officials, the Uchiha Clan would sooner or later be completely excluded from the center of decision-making.

"As long as we have Shisui control the Konoha High-Ranking Officials, then mobilize the entire clan, we can carry out a coup at the smallest possible cost!"

When Yashiro Uchiha said that, every clansman turned to look at him.

"Shisui, what do you think?"

What did he think?

He did not want to give up either Konoha or the Uchiha.

But in the end, he could not voice what was truly in his heart and merely brushed it off. "I'll do my best to cooperate."

After all, he had joined ANBU bearing the hopes of his clansmen.

Unfortunately, only after entering ANBU did he realize.

The Konoha High-Ranking Officials' wariness toward the Uchiha was simply too severe.

The Third Hokage was somewhat better, but the other three advisers, including Danzō, were all filled with malice toward the Uchiha.

Especially Shimura Danzō, who controlled Root.

He was the sort who would trip and fall on the road, then curse, "Damn Uchiha!"

Therefore, if Shisui wanted to preserve the relationship between his clan and the village, the Third Hokage was his only opening.

"The Third Hokage trusts me so much that he even agreed to let me oversee the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. He should accept my suggestion, right?"

With that thought, Shisui steeled himself, intending to reveal the full effects of his Mangekyo ocular technique, [Kotoamatsukami].

And Hiruzen Sarutobi remained standing in place with his back to Shisui, as though waiting for him to say something.

Just then.

"Third Grandfather!"

Little Naruto happened to glance over in this direction.

The moment he saw the Third Hokage, a delighted smile spread across his face, and he raised his arm from afar in greeting.

"Eh!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a kindly smile as he responded in kind.

"I'll be leaving first, then. We can chat again when there's a chance."

Without looking back, he said this and headed straight toward Naruto in the distance.

Behind him, Shisui hesitated as if he wanted to speak, but could only watch helplessly as he left.

Hiruzen Sarutobi came to Naruto's side, patted his head, and said, "Naruto, I saw you using ninjutsu from afar just now. You learned it so quickly?"

Back when he had given Naruto the C-Rank Ninjutsu Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, it had only been because he could no longer stand Naruto's relentless pestering.

Although Naruto's speed at extracting Chakra from a young age had shown that he possessed great talent, Hiruzen had not initially expected him to truly learn ninjutsu on his own without a teacher.

And yet...

"This child is a genius, just like Minato."

When he had seen Naruto use ninjutsu through the Crystal Ball two days ago, Hiruzen had been stunned for quite a while.

If he had not repeatedly confirmed that no one besides himself could get close to Naruto, he would have suspected someone was secretly teaching him.

"Hehe!"

Little Naruto grinned smugly, then looked at him expectantly. "Then, Third Grandfather, when will you let me learn a new ninjutsu?"

Menma-nii could actually teach him ninjutsu.

But no matter how much he threw tantrums and rolled around on the ground, Menma-nii simply refused to budge.

So he could only get new ninjutsu from Third Grandfather.

"No rush, no rush. It would already be good enough if you mastered your C-Rank Ninjutsu first."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, then smiled. "Naruto, you'll soon be old enough to enroll."

"There, you'll meet many friends and learn lots of knowledge. Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The rules of the Konoha Ninja School stated that any child who had reached the age of six and possessed ninja talent could attend the Ninja School.

Naruto was only four or five this year, yet he had already begun studying the relevant knowledge ahead of time. He could extract Chakra and had even learned a C-Rank Ninjutsu in advance.

"Oh, enrollment..."

Little Naruto hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he showed an innocent smile and looked up at the Third Hokage. "Of course I'm looking forward to it!"

After all, Menma-nii had said it before.

Whether in the wilderness or among crowds, if one wanted to survive, one first had to blend in and understand, before gaining the ability to resist.

When you could not change your environment, you first had to learn to disguise yourself.

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