Kakashi, are you obsessed with watching the Imperial Uncle?

"Tell the Leader not to worry. The Tsuchikage treats Deidara like his own grandson; it wouldn't matter even if he were captured. Just have the Leader remind Deidara not to lose his cool and blow himself up."

After having Kisame pass on the message, Shirozumi prepared to take action and leave the Land of Waves immediately.

As for Kisame and Itachi, they currently had no other missions.

The Land of Waves was sandwiched between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire. It was the perfect place for the two of them to stay temporarily; they could gather intelligence while providing security for the development of the Land of Waves.

Kisame wanted to go to the Land of Water to check on the progress of development, while Itachi wanted to visit Konoha again to see Sasuke. Both were nearby.

Shirozumi set off on his own once again.

I need to find an opportunity to get my hands on the Flying Thunder God Technique. Even if no one can learn that, the Flying Thunder Array would work too.

Exasperated by the grueling long-distance travel, Shirozumi pondered to himself.

Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the ones easiest to reach cooperation agreements with were Kirigakure and, very soon, Sunagakure.

This was because both villages were about to undergo a transition where the old Kage would pass away and a new one would succeed, with the new Kage's personality being diametrically opposed to the old one's.

At the same time, these two villages were not like Konohagakure in the Land of Fire, where internal power structures were redundant and intricately complex.

Whenever Shirozumi thought about how Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu could watch the First Hokage build Konoha and still be around when the village was destroyed in the Boruto era, he couldn't help but chuckle.

What was that saying about the wicked living for a thousand years?

In short.

The Land of Wind was very close to Amegakure; after all, Amegakure was a battlefield in the Fourth Shinobi World War, wedged right in the middle.

There were no geographical issues if they were to cooperate with Sunagakure.

But the Land of Water was different.

Even going from the Land of Fire to the Land of Water required taking a boat out to sea.

Not to mention that the Land of Rain and the Land of Water were separated by the entire Land of Fire.

Very few people could learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, but the Flying Thunder Array was a different story.

Since three background characters from Konoha could learn it, the difficulty surely couldn't be that high.

Konoha.

Having returned to Konoha, Kakashi turned in the mission from the Land of Waves and received his payment.

Watching Naruto dance around, talking about going to the supermarket to buy limited-edition instant noodles, Kakashi sighed.

"Forget about buying Instant Noodles; I'm treating you all to barbecue tonight."

Kakashi shook the payment he had just received in his hand.

"Really? Long live Kakashi-sensei!"

After a period of commotion, the three Genin left the Hokage office.

Kakashi proceeded to inform the Third Hokage about the unexpected escalation of this C-rank mission.

It started with encountering ninjas, upgrading it to a B-rank, and then they ran into the rogue ninja from Kirigakure, Momochi Zabuza, which pushed it up to an A-rank.

The Third Hokage listened to Kakashi's account without showing any signs of worry or lingering fear. After taking a puff from his pipe, he revealed a smile: "Kakashi, it seems that entrusting Naruto and Sasuke to you was the right choice."

"Lord Third, I have one more thing to report."

Kakashi had been considering this for a long time along the way. He felt that the matter regarding Shirozumi and his group, as well as the words he had spoken to Sasuke, also needed to be reported to the Third Hokage.

After all, this wasn't something that could be kept hidden for long.

"We also encountered Uchiha Itachi. He has joined an organization."

"Oh? Tell me the details."

The Third Hokage tilted his head slightly, remaining calm as ever.

He was one of the few people who knew about Itachi.

It was he who had sent Itachi to infiltrate the Akatsuki Organization as a spy.

"Itachi used Genjutsu to immobilize me, and his companion said some things to Sasuke..."

Kakashi relayed the content that Sasuke had told him to the Third Hokage.

Kakashi didn't know if Sasuke had hidden anything from him, so he simply reported exactly what he had been told.

"Asura, Indra?"

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the Professor of the Shinobi World, had never heard of these two names.

However, the mention of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha afterward was familiar to him.

"When did Madara merge with the power of the Senju? Where did they get this information?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took another heavy drag from his pipe, his brows furrowed tightly.

He wasn't sure if this person Kakashi mentioned was actually a source of intelligence that Itachi was feeding to Konoha through him.

It was hard to tell if it was credible.

After hearing Kakashi talk about Naruto and Sasuke, the tightly furrowed brows of Hiruzen Sarutobi gradually relaxed.

"Lord Third, do you think what that person said is true or false?"

Before Kakashi could mention the final method, he suddenly paused.

"Kakashi, the content of what they said isn't important; the motive is.

The stories that sounded like fairy tales beforehand had one core purpose: to let Sasuke obtain Naruto's 'power'."

"Kakashi, Jiraiya once told me that the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku gave him a prophecy, saying that one of his students would become the Child of Prophecy who would change the ninja world.

Jiraiya and I both thought it was Minato at the time, but later...

In any case, if Naruto becomes Jiraiya's student in the future, then he is highly likely to be the Child of Prophecy who will change the ninja world.

Add to that the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan and the power of the Nine-Tails.

Setting aside the talk of Asura Chakra, these things are enough to grant someone a terrifying boost."

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe and began to analyze.

As for the matter of Naruto becoming Jiraiya's student, Hiruzen Sarutobi was able to say this not because he had seen a script of the future, but because it was a normal, logical deduction.

Speaking to the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of a name.

"Orochimaru."

"Lord Third, what did you say?"

Kakashi was taken aback.

"This matter might be a conspiracy by Orochimaru."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked grave. "Orochimaru defected because I discovered he was researching First Hokage Cells and conducting illegal human experiments. This kind of rhetoric sounds too much like Orochimaru; his so-called goodwill is nothing but his deception."

"Moreover, there has been no news of Orochimaru since he defected. It is highly likely that he has also joined that organization!"

"Then Orochimaru's goal is..."

"Sasuke, or perhaps both Sasuke and Naruto at the same time."

"..."

Kakashi's expression also turned solemn.

At the same time, his admiration for the Third Hokage grew even deeper.

He hadn't expected that something he had spent so long pondering would be analyzed so easily by the Third Hokage.

Actually, if Shirozumi knew, he would have to admire Hiruzen Sarutobi as well.

How the hell did he manage to get the entire process wrong, get the entire result wrong, and yet somehow arrive at the correct answer to a completely different question?

"Uh, wait a moment, Third Hokage."

Kakashi suddenly remembered there was one last part he hadn't finished. "That person gave Sasuke two choices in the end. One was to harm Naruto, which should be the cell transplantation, and the other..."

"Huh?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked bewildered. "What was that? Kakashi, say that again?"

"Hah..."

"..."

After confirming he hadn't misheard, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into a long, heavy silence.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh. "Kakashi, have you been reading Jiraiya's adult novels so much that you've lost your mind and can no longer distinguish reality from fiction?"

Thinking about Kakashi's situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that he should also cut back on his own reading. From now on, he would stick to peeping at the Women's Bathhouse with his Crystal Ball; it was better to look at something real.