Kakashi: Hozuki Castle Is Safer for Naruto

In the Kumogakure, dark clouds gathered, and bolts of lightning as thick as buckets exploded between the clouds. A fierce wind howled, and the fish-scale-like black clouds were instantly dispersed and then coalesced again.

The village dimmed, severely impacting visibility. White Zetsu moved through the village, reaping the lives of countless ninjas.

"Isn't it clean yet?" The Fourth Raikage angrily slammed his fist on the table, which shattered into dust with a loud crash.

The secretary Mabui holding the files.

"More than 400 people have been injured or killed, and the village's ninjas have lost nearly one-seventh of their numbers. The captains of each squad have led their men to quell the unrest, and the situation is now under control."

After she finished speaking, she had a vague feeling that a change was about to happen.

The Yugito Nii had just killed a White Zetsu and were sheathing their swords when they turned around and saw a familiar figure leaping from the Raikage Tower. Was that Naruto Uzumaki?

She frowned instinctively, dismissing the absurd idea in a flash. Naruto Uzumaki was simply evil, not stupid; why would he openly attack Kumogakure?

Moreover, based on her brief understanding of that guy, it's not hard to see that Naruto Uzumaki is someone who likes to play it safe. Therefore, it's even less likely to be him.

With a bang, the glass on the exterior of the Raikage Tower shattered.

In that instant, the two Yuki below the building instantly Tailed Beast Transformation, blue flames burst forth, Two-Tails Matatabi cat Matatabi appeared.

With a thud, the Two-Tails, engulfed in raging flames, stomped through the ground and launched itself towards the fifth Raikage Tower. The moment the "fake Naruto" landed, Yugito Nii followed closely behind.

On the fifth floor of the Raikage Tower, the Raikage was talking to Darui, Mabui stood to the side. Outside the door, Samui, accompanied by two disciples, knocked and then pushed open the door.

They planned to confirm the authenticity of the Box of Paradise with the Raikage to avoid wasting time.

The Box of Paradise is a legendary treasure of the Sage of Six Paths. Legend says that whoever obtains and opens the Box of Six Paths can have one wish granted. This object is said to have fallen into the Kusagakure, and it is rumored that Kusagakure almost used it to rule the Shinobi World in the past.

It's possible this was orchestrated by the Kusagakure, since it's very much Kusagakure. They're a habitual thief with no independent Ninjutsu culture, yet they like to call themselves the cultural center of the Shinobi World.

The nobility within the country are extravagant and control the vast majority of the Land of Grass's economic lifeline. Internally, the country is in utter chaos; it considers itself a great power but is unable to manage the rebellious ninja within.

It is worth mentioning that this intelligence was shared between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, Yamato's mission was to investigate the Box of Paradise that appeared in Kusagakure.

The team dispatched by Kumogakure was a small group led by Samui. They went to Kusagakure, only to find that the Kusagakure was gone. Under pressure from both inside and outside, it existed in name only.

The two groups arrived one after the other. Yamato had just been knocked unconscious by Black Zetsu and taken away when Samui appeared in Kusagakure with two unreliable disciples.

After glancing at the dilapidated village and making some inquiries, I learned about the existence of the Hozuki Castle Prison and promptly left. What a joke, I refused to work overtime.

Samui had just returned, his face cold, followed by two disciples bickering and arguing. Scattered footsteps echoed in the dimly lit corridor.

The knocking and pushing of the door were swift and decisive. Before Samui could even speak, he suddenly saw that someone had smashed his boss's window. The figure looked somewhat familiar. Holy crap, wasn't that that Naruto Uzumaki?

Raikage, even more perceptive, roared the instant he turned his head and charged straight at the dark figure without even looking. With a thunderous boom, lightning flashed, and Raikage saw the person's face clearly.

The blond-haired man, with an arrogant expression, was dodging to the right. A long sword flashed out with lightning speed, striking again in the instant he dodged. Raikage's figure flashed, unable to change his forward trajectory due to inertia.

The fake Naruto bent his knee and attacked directly at the Raikage's exposed abdomen. In the instant the two crossed paths, the Raikage, struck, turned into white smoke with a bang.

It was clearly not the original body, but Lightning Clone.

"Who goes there!" The Raikage descended from the sky, his golden wristbands slamming heavily onto the fake Naruto, who could only draw his sword to take the hit. With a bang, the office floor was left in a mess.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" The Fourth Raikage stopped and recognized the blond-haired man in front of him. It had only been a few years since the Five Kage Summit.

He wasn't so old as to be forgetful; after all, back in the day, every Kage was accompanied by at least two henchmen. Only Tsunade brought one person with her to the meeting, which left a particularly deep impression on him.

Although it had been a long time since we last saw Naruto Uzumaki, his appearance seemed to have changed somewhat, but not to the point of being unrecognizable.

The "fake Naruto" didn't answer the Raikage's question. Instead, he smiled at the group and slowly backed away to the window. With a backward leap, he disappeared into the night.

With a deafening roar and a flash of lightning, the Raikage's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. The situation within Amegakure was still unstable, and no one pursued the "fake Naruto."

Yugito Nii's expression was somewhat complicated; she was certain that the person who had just appeared was not Naruto Uzumaki. No one in Kumogakure knew Naruto Uzumaki better than her, after all, she had already pledged her allegiance.

They're all our own people, we know each other's strengths and weaknesses, we can tell if someone is telling the truth or not with just a glance.

Not only the Yugito Nii, but Samui and Mabui also had strange expressions. Although they didn't know much about Naruto Uzumaki, they had both signed the Evil God Contract.

The moment the "fake Naruto" appeared, the two of them had a thought pop into their minds: Who is this guy?

"The people of Konohagakure!" The Fourth Raikage roared in fury, his gruff voice booming, "How hateful! Naruto Uzumaki brazenly barged into the village, completely disregarding us!"

What happened today was so sudden. The Kumogakure lost hundreds of ninjas in an instant. What does that even mean? The fact that the Raikage can still sit in his office is a testament to his great composure.

He wanted nothing more than to drag the person behind him out and slam them to the ground, rubbing them against the ground repeatedly. In this rage, the Fourth Raikage, who was known for his straightforward temper, couldn't possibly remain calm.

"Beast! Konohagakure is a beast!" the Raikage roared, turning around and smashing a wall to pieces with a bang.

Konohagakure and Kumogakure have actually been trying to make contact for almost a year now, and their friction has almost reached the point of sparks. They've even been able to share intelligence on certain incidents.

The Box of Paradise in Kusagakure is the best example. Although both sides sent their own people to investigate, it was still a Great Breakthrough. If their relationship deepened further, they could have started cooperating.

Konohagakure coveted Kumogakure's energy resources, Kumogakure coveted Konohagakure's. In short, they were like two peas in a pod, each eyeing the other's potential and preparing to join forces.

The three women, Yugito Nii, witnessed everything from their office. They wanted to say something, but couldn't. "How can I say that I'm acquainted with Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure?"

Isn't this just idiotic talk? It's clearly revealing that he's a traitor. The Kumogakure Village can't tolerate traitors the most; if they're discovered, they'll suffer the consequences.

I can't say, I can't say.

The three women remained eerily silent, simply watching the Raikage's frenzy. Finally, Mabui spoke first, but instead of mentioning any suspicious points, she asked if they should send a letter to Konohagakure to question him.

Questioning and inquiring—a difference of just one word, yet the relationship is worlds apart.

The strongly worded letter of inquiry was finally delivered to the Hokage's desk by express courier. Kakashi glanced at it and then looked up at the ceiling.

He rubbed his eyes and looked down again.

How strange!

Konohagakure attacked Kumogakure? Naruto assassinated the Raikage? The evidence was irrefutable? Kakashi looked at it several times, making sure his eyes weren't broken, and couldn't help but gasp.

"Shikamaru."

"Yes!" Shikamaru looked up from the pile of documents and looked at Kakashi with a puzzled expression.

"Where are Naruto and the others? Has Shino sent any news back?" Kakashi asked, looking at an urgent document in one hand and rubbing his temple with the other.

"We're on our way to the Land of Grass. Judging by Shino's team's pace, they should have arrived by now," Shikamaru said after a moment's thought.

"They've arrived? That doesn't make sense." Kakashi stroked his chin, glancing at Shikamaru. "This is an urgent document from Kumogakure. Take a look."

With that, Kakashi handed the document to Shikamaru.

"Kumogakure?" Shikamaru asked in confusion, taking the document and glancing down at it. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Naruto are still in the Land of Grass, how could they possibly be in Kumogakure?"

"Is this a deliberate frame-up?"

"They have evidence, so they rushed to send it back." Kakashi said calmly as he paced around his office. "Probably... someone is impersonating Naruto and causing trouble in Kumogakure."

"That's possible, but what is their purpose?" Shikamaru frowned. "Facts speak louder than words. If it wasn't Naruto, we should clarify things on our end."

"Let's try sending a message back first, and see what the Kumogakure Village thinks." Kakashi didn't answer directly, his words suggesting there was more to the story.

Shikamaru couldn't possibly question his superior's decision, so he simply agreed and left with the documents. As the Hokage's assistant, drafting documents was his job.

Half a day later, Shikamaru returned with a rather unpleasant expression.

"What was the result?" Kakashi asked casually, as if he had expected the outcome.

Shikamaru took a breath, opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound for a moment, and then shook his head with a serious expression and said.

"Kumogakure insists that Konohagakure is responsible, that Naruto was involved in the assassination, and that Naruto must be severely punished. Otherwise, the cooperation between Kumogakure and Konohagakure will be terminated, and the use of war will not be ruled out."

"Hehehe." Kakashi chuckled. "Investigate further, report back, and negotiate with them, showing them that we also have evidence, irrefutable proof."

Shikamaru left again, not holding out much hope. The Kumogakure was always powerful; if there were evidence, Neji's father wouldn't have committed suicide.

Shortly after, Shikamaru returned to his office.

Kakashi was less lazy this time, and roughly knew that this was the final result, so he asked.

What did they say?

"The Kumogakure Village's intention is that both sides can intervene in the investigation. Before the final results are released, in order to prevent Konohagakure from protecting Naruto, Naruto must be placed under supervision and imprisoned in the Land of Grass prison, Hozuki Castle."

"Hozuki Castle." Kakashi looked down and rummaged in the drawer for a while, then found a letter. He opened it and said as he read, "The lord of Hozuki Castle, Mui, has a good relationship with Konohagakure."

"Kusagakure is now history; it seems there has been some unrest there."

"Why does Kumogakure insist on throwing Naruto into a place like that?" Shikamaru asked, puzzled. "Couldn't he just be temporarily imprisoned in Konohagakure's prison?"

"Well, the reasons are a bit complicated." Kakashi scratched his head. "The Kumogakure won't agree to it, so they'll naturally choose a third-party prison to detain Naruto."

"Hozuki Castle is a ninja imprisonment institution entrusted by each village to Hozuki Castle. In order to prevent favoritism, it is specifically used to detain ninjas from each village who have committed joint crimes."

"And we won't agree to that either. Naruto can't be imprisoned in Konohagakure's prison."

"Why?" Shikamaru asked.

"It seems something has happened. If they are being held in Konohagakure Prison, the people in charge are Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka."

Kakashi scratched his head and chuckled dryly.

"Compared to Hozuki Castle, I think Naruto's situation would be even worse if he fell into Inoichi Yamanaka's hands. Lord Yamanaka seems to be in a rather heavy mood lately. Although I can't be sure if it's related to Naruto, it's pretty close to it."

Upon hearing this, Shikamaru was speechless for a moment.

"That's true."

He shook his head, thinking to himself that he had been so busy that he had actually worried about that guy. As far as Naruto was concerned, no matter how terrifying Hozuki Castle was, that guy definitely wouldn't suffer any losses.

If it were in Konohagakure prison, and they got involved with the Intelligence Department, oh dear, that guy would be finished.

Kakashi's idea was to skip the interrogation and send Naruto directly to Hozuki Castle for imprisonment. Naruto would be released once the truth came out.

Once Konohagakure intervenes in the investigation, the first Naruto will want to see is Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Is Hozuki Castle safe?" Shikamaru couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"It's not safe." Kakashi shook his head. "But it should be safe for Naruto, at least safer than Konohagakure. Besides, Kumogakure also has its own selfish motives."

"Self-interest?"

"Yamato's mission before his disappearance was to go to Kusagakure to investigate the Box of Paradise, a very dangerous and mysterious ninja tool. Kumogakure also got involved in the investigation. It was a joint investigation between Konohagakure and Kumogakure, but it's clear that Kumogakure didn't find the Box of Paradise either."

Kakashi leaned back in his chair, one dead fish eye peeking out from under his mask.

"The Box of Paradise is located within the Land of Grass. If it's not in Kusagakure, then it must be in one other place."

Shikamaru looked surprised and asked tentatively.

"Hozuki Castle?"

"Yes." Kakashi nodded.

"If Naruto is innocent, this is a covert mission," Kakashi said. "Kumogakure even more shameless than you think. Let's pass on the mission notifications first."

"Notify Shino's squad that the mission has been changed."

"Yes." Shikamaru nodded and left.

Outside of Kusagakure.

"How did this village become like this?" Tenten looked at the desolate and bleak village in the distance and found it hard to believe that this was the powerful Kusagakure.

"It's all messed up?" Naruto was somewhat gloating, as he was partly responsible for it.

He planted Hydrangea and Yakumo Kurama here, letting them wait for their chance to strike. It seems they were lucky enough to stumble upon some turmoil and took the opportunity to destroy this place.