Young Master, Please Become Hokage

Kushina's expression grew even more dejected. Minato Namikaze's lips moved slightly, as if trying to comfort her.

Looking at Kushina, it seemed like she could cry at any moment.

After all, with her homeland in distress and returning to her roots, anyone would feel the same.

"...Therefore, this land absolutely cannot be encroached upon by other countries!"

Akira Sarutobi, who deeply detested acts of invasion, growled.

Unfortunately, during the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha had also invaded other countries, such as... the Land of Rain.

Because of this, Akira Sarutobi refused all missions related to the Land of Rain during the war.

Akira Sarutobi: "Invading other countries will eventually lead to retaliation."

"When will the cycle of revenge ever end..." Minato Namikaze jumped onto the hillside ahead, half-crouched, and shook his head.

Akira Sarutobi also stood on the hillside and began to observe the town ahead.

In the ruined town, countless skeletons could be seen at a glance. Kushina immediately covered her mouth, tears no longer able to be held back.

"The logic is sound, but that's under the premise that we didn't invade others."

Konoha's wanton trampling of other countries would eventually come with a price.

In the original work, Konoha had the most rogue ninja, and Nagato's release of a super-large Almighty Push against Konoha was karmic retribution.

Akira Sarutobi stared at the countless skeletons before him, discovering many child skeletons among them, and even evidence of a mother and child dying together.

Everyone's expression turned even more grim. Fortunately, everyone present was on the verge of becoming a Jonin, so they managed to suppress their grief and indignation.

"Ruri-chan, could you please use your Byakugan to observe the surroundings?"

Minato Namikaze seemed to want to avoid the topic.

He looked at Ruri Hyuga, hoping she could provide assistance.

The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan possessed a far-seeing range of up to 10 kilometers.

However, the further one wanted to see, the more concentration was required, and one could not be disturbed.

"Minato, don't you have sensory abilities?"

Akira Sarutobi intercepted the request on Ruri Hyuga's behalf.

Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.

Ruri Hyuga, from a Branch Family background, had a noticeably decreasing will to live due to various circumstances.

Akira Sarutobi guessed that Ruri Hyuga in the original work likely died of melancholy.

Because it was clear that Neji did not have a mother when he was a child.

In modern medical terms, Ruri Hyuga was a severe depression patient, prone to suicide at any moment.

The root cause of all this was, naturally, the rules of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and Branch Family.

For a severely depressed individual, any stimulation without understanding could push her towards the abyss.

Minato Namikaze chuckled awkwardly and turned his head away, no longer bringing up the matter.

"Young Master, this way."

Although Ruri Hyuga couldn't observe, Ino Yamanaka also possessed extremely strong sensory abilities.

As a ninja from the Yamanaka Clan, a young girl who had cultivated Yin Release since childhood, her sixth sense was exceptionally keen.

She leaped up first, and Akira Sarutobi followed without hesitation.

Shirakumo Hayama blinked and immediately followed suit.

Akira Sarutobi's four-person team thus parted ways with Minato Namikaze.

"Young Master Akira seems to be in a very bad mood today."

Minato Namikaze's teammate, a black-haired girl named Hebi, said.

She was a disciple of Biwako Sarutobi and a future ninja who would join the Anbu and deliver Kushina's baby.

Facing Hebi's remark, Minato Namikaze's smile slowly became a little stiff.

"Kushina..."

He looked at his crying lover and continued to comfort her.

"This way, this way!"

Ino Yamanaka led the way, and the group had already moved from the surface into a secret passage.

The Land of Whirlpools was not large in land area, so it naturally developed a practical style of underground architectural complexes.

Mazes and special secret rooms were everywhere.

"I sense a chakra reaction, although it's extremely faint, but..."

Ino Yamanaka continued to move forward.

Hundreds of meters of passageway were quickly traversed.

After a dizzying series of turns, Ino Yamanaka led the group into a room.

Several talismans were affixed at the end of the passage.

Akira Sarutobi identified it as a modified version of the "Fox Heart Technique."

The Fox Heart Technique was a genjutsu that could obscure vision and create illusory scenes.

The talismans before them, combined, had activated the genjutsu, making the area undetectable.

It was clearly meant to conceal something.

However, due to the passage of time, the chakra energy of the combined talismans had begun to wane, eventually losing its effect and revealing the talismans themselves.

The talismans were casually torn down, and the last trace of the genjutsu's residual energy vanished with them.

The scene shifted, the walls warped, and a stone door appeared before them.

"What do we do?"

Shirakumo Hayama looked at Akira Sarutobi, who unconsciously tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

"Should we cut it open with Futon?"

Akira Sarutobi, however, examined the stone door from top to bottom before fumbling for a mechanism.

Rumble!

The mechanism activated, and the door opened.

Surprise flickered in Shirakumo Hayama's eyes.

"Young Master is so knowledgeable; he must know about the Land of Whirlpools too..."

Ino Yamanaka explained to him, and Shirakumo Hayama finally understood.

He truly is the Hokage-sama's son, he thought.

"Let's go."

Akira Sarutobi entered first, discovering it was a series of interconnected secret rooms.

Multiple rooms were combined together.

In the innermost room, a stone coffin stood out conspicuously.

"Tomb of Dan Katō... my love."

As Ino Yamanaka read the inscription on the stone coffin, the identity of the deceased was revealed.

"It's... Tsunade-hime's lover..."

Chapter Ten. Enemy from Kirigakure

Dan Katō, born a commoner, possessed a forbidden jutsu called the S-Rank Spiritualization Technique.

During the Second Shinobi World War, after his sister's death, he grew closer to Tsunade, whose brother had also recently passed away.

They admired each other and began their journey as lovers.

Later, Konoha received a plea for help from the Land of Whirlpools and dispatched a support team.

Tsunade, Dan Katō, Kukui Mokume, and others were sent together.

However, due to Konoha's higher-ups misjudging the enemy's numbers, when Tsunade and the others arrived, they were met with an overwhelming siege of ninjas.

Even though they managed to break through the encirclement with great difficulty, Dan Katō tragically perished.

"At the time, facing the surrounding army, Tsunade-hime, unable to take his body with her, buried her lover here..."

Akira Sarutobi recounted Dan Katō's life story.

There were conspiracy theories: Dan Katō's dream was to become Hokage, and his close relationship with Tsunade, the rightful heir to the Will of Fire, displeased the higher-ups, leading them to orchestrate his death.

But regardless of the truth of the conspiracy theories, Dan Katō was a Konoha ninja who served Konoha with all his heart and died in battle; that fact remained unchanged.

"Young Master..." Ino Yamanaka glanced at Akira Sarutobi.

"Collect the remains and take them back."

Akira Sarutobi immediately made his decision.

Returning to one's roots.

It was time to bring him home...

Swish!

Swish!

Just as Akira Sarutobi was collecting Dan Katō's remains.

On the surface at the entrance of the secret passage, a group of people arrived.

They wore blue attire, and almost every one of them possessed sharp teeth like a shark.

The female ninja leading the group wasn't tall and carried two fang-like long swords on her back.

Her reddish-brown hair was styled into eye-catching, rabbit-ear-like pigtails that stood straight up.

"Finally, someone's here. I thought Konoha would never send anyone."

She placed her hands on her hips, grinning and showing off her good teeth.

"Lady Ameyuri, what do we do next?"

Like bloodthirsty sharks, the subordinates surrounding her were all enveloped in a thick aura of bloodlust. Just by looking at their eyes and their presence, one could tell they weren't ordinary ninja.

This group before them was none other than ninja from "Kirigakure," one of the five great ninja villages.

Kirigakure was also one of the main culprits responsible for the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools.

"Of course, we go in and block them off."

Known as the "Kirigakure Genius Girl," Ringo Ameyuri, despite her young age, had inherited the title of one of the "Seven Ninja Swordsmen" and possessed extraordinary strength.

"This secret passage has been scouted multiple times. When this passage was built, it had several exits, ventilation shafts, and drainage systems, so ordinary strategies like burying them with earth or drowning them are ineffective..."

The best plan, naturally, was to go down directly, guard the several important junctions of the passage, and block them off at the source!

"Move out!"

With her command, her subordinates entered the tunnel one after another.

Unlike Konoha's tradition of prioritizing the strong.

Kirigakure and other ninja villages sent the grunts first, with the strong following behind.