No One Could Touch Her

Kakashi picked up the document and glanced at it several times. After putting it down, he wore an incredulous expression. His eyes glazed over for a couple of seconds, then he suddenly smiled.

The Konoha High Command remains the same; it has never changed.

Most of the time, the village is in a state of equilibrium among the various factions, and the relationship between each Hokage.

Compared to previous Hokage, Kakashi seems to be somewhat lacking in both popularity and strength, appearing somewhat insignificant. The higher-ups are more powerful, and more documents are submitted.

That's right, the way these high-level officials fight for power is by submitting documents. Not by banging on the table and shouting in anger, but by submitting documents again and again.

Normally, regardless of whether something is important or not, everything is submitted all at once, a jumbled mess of submissions that completely overwhelms the Hokage's workload.

Those people were opportunistic and only treated people differently based on their status. They wouldn't have dared to do this when the Third Hokage was in power. But when the Fifth Hokage came to power, he completely ignored them.

When the workload piles up, I don't care what's important or unimportant, I'll just put it aside. Just wait, you'll fob me off, and I'll fob you off.

After this happened many times, those higher-ups rarely caused any trouble anymore.

There was no way around it; the Fifth Hokage had impeccable political connections and a powerful background, and could easily gain countless supporters with a wave of her hand. Fighting her would only result in mutual destruction, and as it turned out, that was indeed the case.

Tsunade voluntarily resigned, and casually took the remaining members of Konoha F4 with her. Leaving behind a mess, she left with a flourish.

Kakashi appeared weaker and acted more gently. This gave them a reason to act; they had been testing the waters, and now they finally seized the opportunity.

Just as Naruto predicted, the people of the Land of Fire couldn't stand Kakashi's continued success; they wanted Konohagakure to be used by them.

The nobles had power, money, and status; all they lacked was a sharp sword. They regularly hired ninjas to perform various tasks, both legitimate and illegitimate.

But a few scattered little ones can hardly compare to Konoha Village, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

It's not just the Land of Fire that's trying to take over the ninja villages. The Land of Wind, the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass —which one of them isn't eyeing the ninja villages? Is it so hard to understand why nobles want some protection?

How can expansion be further achieved without controlling the ninja villages? To a certain extent, ninjas both help the nobles maintain their rule and hinder them from further consolidating their dominance.

The Land of Wind.

"Since those nobles have already put their hands on your faces, why aren't you fighting back?" Naruto looked at Temari with some surprise. "How can Gaara be so patient?"

"This." Temari sat sideways on his lap, looking somewhat embarrassed. Watching him play with her gloves, she felt a strange sense of shame.

"Many high-ranking officials in Sand have been bribed by nobles! They've been bought off," she stammered.

"Bribe? By spending money?"

"I suppose so. Ninjas need to make a living too, even though Sand is one of the Five Great Ninja Villages." Temari's voice trembled slightly as her gaze followed his hand.

"But the village's financial situation is not good. Although the ninjas are rich, they can't be said to be extremely wealthy. Ordinary ninjas can be satisfied, but the higher-ups are not so sure. The nobles in the Capital City of the Land of Wind have business dealings with the village's various high-ranking officials."

"Nobody's going to do anything about this? What does Gaara think?" Naruto frowned. He didn't really care about the private affairs between these nobles and high-ranking officials.

There's nothing new under the sun; throughout human history, there's nothing particularly surprising.

Before the emergence of the ninja system, nobles controlled city-states, trained armies to conquer territories, and everyone had two arms and one head. With a flash of a blade and a swift arrow, all were equal before life and death.

But after the emergence of ninjas, people were amazed to discover that ninjas had transcended the standards of ordinary people. They could fly, escape from the earth, and breathe fire; they displayed almost every kind of supernatural power.

Cold weapons could not effectively harm ninjas, and even more incredibly, some ninjas were nearly invincible and could not die at all. Between life and death, there was a huge chasm.

An ordinary person fell in, but a ninja easily jumped over.

Therefore, wars broke out. Large numbers of ninjas participated in the war, frequently engaging in fierce battles for land, population, and resources.

The ninjas exacerbated the involution of power and indirectly became a tool for the nobility to maintain their rule.

It wasn't until that man appeared that the Shinobi World enjoyed a temporary period of peace. It could be said that without Hashirama Senju, the Shinobi World would never have known darkness.

If Hashirama Senju had only demonstrated terrifying strength that overwhelmed a generation of geniuses, he could only be considered a powerful ninja. However, Hashirama Senju established the ninja village system.

They directly gathered together the ninja clans that had been serving the nobility, completely abandoning the nobility and no longer fighting for anyone's benefit.

By placing the interests of ninjas in the hands of the ninja village, nobles can only hire ninjas on commission and must follow the rules of the ninja village.

The village protected all the rights of ninjas, including mission details, commissions, and dignity, thus creating an organization similar to a ninja guild.

After that, all the powerful ninjas in the Shinobi World followed suit and established ninja villages.

In this way, nobles could neither possess powerful ninja armies nor wage wars at will. After all, powerful ninjas were now housed in ninja villages, no longer serving as lackeys of the nobles.

For ninjas, the advantage of this system is that the village serves as a community of shared interests, protecting their interests, dignity, and social status.

The emergence of the Ninja Village also led to a decline in the power of the nobles, making it impossible for them to maintain feudal rule. They could only move behind the scenes by acquiring assets.

They can bribe powerful ninjas and entice high-ranking officials, but they can never return to the life of past rule. Because history cannot be reversed, and the ninjas are not fools.

As for the methods of threats and inducements, they are naturally quite simple; aside from wealth and luxury, it's nothing more than a few tricks. Very well, you've been obedient; your reward is showing up at the Silver Party!

You are not allowed to attend the party!

"That's really troublesome." Naruto tossed Temari's gloves aside. "If you ask me, we should just wipe them all out. Those nobles are so arrogant anyway."

"Find an excuse to make some money, take over the nobles' money, or maybe find some leverage to let them go a little further before closing the net."

"Gaara seems to have a plan, but he doesn't want to tell us, haha." Temari's whole body tensed up, her eyes shifted slightly, and her expression was somewhat unnatural.

"In that case, Gaara." Naruto pushed Temari aside, picked up her gloves, wiped his hands, and left without looking back.

Temari: "??????"

A gust of wind blew, and she froze on the spot, her thoughts a jumbled mess. It was as if a taut string in her mind snapped without warning, leaving her thoughts adrift in the wind.

He just left like that? Gone?

That's a bit too abstract, isn't it? Right now, it's... Ah! Temari suddenly broke down, her lips trembling as she didn't know what to say.

Naruto did indeed go to find Gaara, completely disregarding Temari's feelings, but he knew there was nothing Temari could do about it. What you can't have is always the best; he'd just give her a sweet treat later.

Konohagakure.

After Kakashi came to his senses, he turned to look at Shikamaru beside him and asked directly where the document came from.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it was a joint proposal from several high-ranking officials." Shikamaru glanced at the document and immediately understood. "Although the submission was anonymous, we can now narrow down the target group."

"No need." Kakashi wasn't that impulsive. Even if he found those people, it wouldn't make a difference. Submitting the documents was perfectly in accordance with the regulations.

The document has already been submitted, and regardless of Kakashi's attitude, it will eventually reach the High-level Meeting. Those guys will find a neutral person to bring it up, and then it will be discussed.

Kakashi was well aware that the whole "dealing with Rin Nohara" was clearly aimed at him. His actions as Hokage had already sparked discontent among some people.

His backers have all passed away, and he doesn't have much popularity. They might be afraid of the Third Hokage and Fifth Hokage, but they are definitely not afraid of him, the Sixth Hokage.

Kakashi temporarily suppressed the document, but the truth will eventually come out, and the routine High-level Meeting will begin in three days.

Night falls.

Shikamaru lay alone in bed, wide awake, while his wife slept in the next room. The couple had been sleeping in separate rooms ever since Shikamaru was transferred to the Hokage's Office.

The pressure of office work is too great, Shikamaru has very little time to rest. Sometimes, he even works from home to save time. To ensure that Shikamaru gets enough sleep, the two have been sleeping in separate rooms for some time now.

Tossing and turning until midnight, Shikamaru finally got up and knocked on his wife's door. After a while, the two lay in bed and talked for a bit.

"You look like you have something on your mind?"

"Ah, it's work-related, I can't talk about it." Shikamaru lay on the bed, his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"If you run into trouble and can't solve it yourself, just find someone else to solve it." Shikamaru's wife smiled lazily, her temperament gentle, the bedside lamp softly illuminating the contours of her face.

"Looking for someone?" Shikamaru turned his head and looked at his wife.

"Yes, no matter how troublesome things are, as long as you find the right person, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort," she said with a smile, trying her best to comfort her husband as a wife.

The next day.

Shikamaru went to Naruto's house early in the morning, only to find that the guy didn't seem to be home. Just as he was about to leave, he was startled by a fiery red rat that darted out into the hallway.

The morning was the same routine as always.

At lunchtime, he invited Choji to eat with him and casually asked about Naruto's whereabouts. Choji was initially confused, then let out a scream.

"Damn Naruto! He tricked me into thinking he was treating me to barbecue tonight, but he's not even in the village!"

That's not the point, okay? Shikamaru was a little embarrassed. Suddenly, he realized that this person's whereabouts seemed a bit mysterious. He even checked the village's travel records, but naturally found nothing.

"By the way, Shikamaru, do you have something urgent to tell Naruto?" Choji suddenly asked.

"Ah, not really." Shikamaru scratched his head, his gaze wandering into the distance. "It's just some work-related stuff. I'm having some trouble and want to ask Naruto for help."

"Oh, then you can go find Ino, maybe she knows." Choji said earnestly, his chubby hands holding chopsticks, his small eyes narrowed.

"Naruto?" Ino stood in the corridor of the Intelligence Department, squinting at the distance. "We were together two days ago, but he seemed to say he had something to do and had to go out."

"When will you be back?" Shikamaru asked.

"Not long, I think it'll be three days, yes, three days!" Ino said confidently, then turned to Shikamaru, "Is there something urgent?"

Shikamaru hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Yes, it's very important. It's related to work, but it's more important than my job."

Are you kidding me? Kakashi's face has been so gloomy these past two days it could drip water. Shikamaru watched with trepidation. How could it not be important? This is an emergency!

He remains as intelligent as ever. Even though Shikamaru is usually quiet and reserved in the Hokage's Office, it doesn't mean he's stopped using his brain.

From the moment Rin Nohara suddenly appeared until now, all the identity files and information have been handled by him. Shikamaru knows all too well what Rin Nohara means to Kakashi, and he had already seen that file long ago.

I didn't say anything at the time and just submitted the document silently, wanting to see Kakashi's reaction first. After all, in the workplace, as a subordinate, I couldn't make decisions on my own.

Now he doesn't even need to guess what Kakashi is planning to do. His face has been gloomy for two days. If he doesn't find someone to persuade him, he'll probably be banging on the table with those adults at tomorrow's High-level Meeting.

Kakashi's gentle nature is one thing, but that doesn't mean he's without a temper. Shikamaru keenly noticed this, and also noticed that Kakashi seemed to have some conflict with Rin Nohara recently.

As a man, he knew all too well what kind of chemical reaction all these troubles would create when piled up. It was very likely that the Hokage would have to be replaced.

Kakashi naturally didn't care about the position of Hokage. He was used by Tsunade the blame and was made the Sixth Hokage willingly.

So far, the task that Shikamaru has taken Kakashi to the most seriously has been taking Rin Nohara through everything from her physical examination to intelligence gathering and finally recording her information on the scroll, and replacing her Konohagakure Forehead Protector.

Now, the higher-ups are suggesting dealing with Rin Nohara, simply because her origins are unclear. Shikamaru is in a real bind; his fate is intertwined with the Sixth Hokage's.

It wasn't that he cared so much about the position of Hokage's Office secretary, but rather it was his sense of responsibility that made him want to do everything related to him well.

"Well, if that's the case, and it really doesn't work, you can ask Hinata again." Ino hesitated for a long time before suddenly blurting out this sentence.

"Hinata?" Shikamaru was stunned, clearly not expecting her to say that.

"Yeah! That guy might not have told me the truth!" Ino raised her little fist and said through gritted teeth, "He might have given Hinata a different story. You should ask him and maybe you can figure it out."

"Ah, this..." Shikamaru was a little flustered and didn't know what to say for a moment. This was really Naruto.