Time to Kill

Training project—chopping trees!

It could train physical strength and coordination, collect materials for carving, and provide firewood for outdoor cooking.

It could be described as killing three birds with one stone.

Spending the morning in the forest training his body and the afternoon sitting guard at the shop entrance to earn money, Naruto Uzumaki lived a very fulfilling life.

Just like that, two years passed in the blink of an eye.

--Two Years Later--

The forest in the early morning was quiet and serene; the mist had not yet dispersed, and sunlight scattered onto the ground through the gaps in the leaves.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

On the edge of the forest, in an area filled with quite a few tree stumps, Naruto Uzumaki swung an axe to fell a large tree, moving at a steady, rhythmic pace.

An hour later, a large tree crashed down.

Seeing this, Naruto Uzumaki switched to another tree and continued chopping.

Two hours later, another tree collapsed.

After sitting down to rest for a moment, Naruto Uzumaki stood up, took a kunai from the ninja tool pouch at his waist, and ran into the forest.

An hour later, Naruto Uzumaki walked out of the forest, panting, carrying a rabbit.

He looked up at the sky; the sun was shining brightly, hanging high in the air—it was noon.

"Hmm, time for lunch..."

He arrived at a nearby wooden cabin. It was small and very crude, containing pots, bowls, ladles, basins, firewood, rice, oil, salt, and other items related to cooking.

A quarter of an hour later, by the river, Naruto Uzumaki set up a rack to roast the rabbit.

He added seasoning while roasting, and once the aroma became mouth-watering, he began to eat.

"Hm? Did a fish take the bait?"

Just as he was eating with relish, Naruto Uzumaki noticed his fishing rod nearby suddenly twitch.

He had set the rod that morning without any real expectation of catching a fish; after all, his fishing skills had always been mediocre.

So he was just playing around, not even using any bait.

Who would have thought...

"In the past, there was Jiang Ziya; today, there is me, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto Uzumaki felt a little excited. With a rabbit leg in his mouth, he wiped his oily hands on the grass, gripped the fishing rod with both hands, focused his energy, and gave it a hard pull...

It didn't budge!

"So heavy, it must be a big fish."

Naruto Uzumaki became even more excited and pulled with all his might.

However, the more he pulled, the more he felt something was wrong!

"The situation seems a bit off..."

Looking at the dark shadow gradually emerging from the water, it didn't look like a fish, but rather...

A corpse!

Seeing this, Naruto Uzumaki stopped pulling.

"I didn't see anything; that's right, I didn't see anything at all."

He still wanted to eat his lunch, and having a corpse here was far too appetite-ruining.

He threw the fishing rod aside, turned around as if nothing had happened, and picked up the roasted meat on the rack, intending to leave.

"Wait!"

Two Anbu hidden nearby jumped out. Naruto Uzumaki could pretend he didn't see them, but they, as Anbu, could not.

One Anbu ran into the river to retrieve the corpse, while the other blocked Naruto Uzumaki.

What a drag, Naruto Uzumaki sighed inwardly. Looking at the Anbu in front of him, he said with dissatisfaction, "This has nothing to do with me, why are you stopping me?"

The Anbu said, "I know it has nothing to do with you, but you were the first to s—"

Naruto Uzumaki interrupted, "No, I didn't see anything. You guys were the first to see it."

The Anbu was speechless and said, "I saw it."

Naruto Uzumaki nodded, "Exactly, you were the one who saw it."

"..."

Baka? That's not what I meant!

"This, this is Body Flicker Water?!"

A startled cry rang out from the riverbank.

Having received the report from the Anbu, the Third Hokage hurried over, looking down at the corpse on the grass.

Pale, wrinkled skin, a bloated physique, empty eye sockets...

"Shisui..."

The Third Hokage couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Another excellent successor to the Will of Fire was gone.

"So he really is dead, but into whose hands did his other Mangekyo fall?"

Danzo, who had also received the news, arrived shortly after. His gaze immediately locked onto Shisui's empty eye sockets, his expression tightening.

Danzo said in a deep voice, "Who found him first?"

The Anbu ninjas all turned their gazes toward Naruto Uzumaki.

And Naruto, who was just about to sneak away: "..."

Damn it! Why is everyone looking at me!

Danzo frowned and said, "It was you!"

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!

Naruto glanced at the Third Hokage, feeling safe and secure, then held his head high and said, "That's right, it was me. What do you want to do about it?"

Did I offend him? Why is his tone so aggressive?

Danzo was stunned, then his face filled with displeasure as he said, "Is that the attitude you take when speaking to me?"

Naruto retorted, "Then what kind of attitude should I have?"

Should I kneel down and call you grandpa? You grandson!

"Arrogant!"

Danzo's face turned gloomy, his eyes flashing with cold light, but Naruto didn't panic, staring right back at him.

A mere Danzo, and you dare to act arrogant with me...

Wait!

This dog of a man has Kotoamatsukami right now!

Thinking of this, Naruto shuddered all over, quickly hiding behind the Third Hokage while praying incessantly in his heart.

Don't look at me, don't look at me. If you want to look at someone, look at the Third Hokage! If you control the Third Hokage, what couldn't you get?

The Third Hokage didn't know what Naruto was thinking; he assumed the boy was frightened by Danzo, so he patted his little head kindly and offered a few words of comfort.

Afterward, the Third Hokage said, "Danzo, why are you bickering with a child? You're making a spectacle of yourself."

A spectacle? Who dares to laugh? Let's see who dares to laugh!?

Danzo scanned his surroundings, and wherever his gaze fell, the ninjas lowered their heads, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

The ruthlessness of the Darkness of the Shinobi World was not just directed outward, but inward as well; they dared not offend him.

Finally, Danzo's gaze landed on Naruto, and he said coldly, "To be so disrespectful to an elder of the village at such a young age—I shudder to imagine what you'll be like when you grow up. Are you planning to betray the village?"

That's quite a heavy accusation to pin on me; he truly lives up to his reputation as the King of Scapegoats.

The Third Hokage said, "You're exaggerating, Danzo."

Danzo said, "Exaggerating? This is not an exaggeration at all. Hiruzen, think about Orochimaru..."

The Third Hokage's face darkened. Orochimaru was an eternal pain in his heart, and Danzo bringing up the past was stabbing at his sore spot.

Seeing this, Danzo thought he had swayed the Third Hokage, and said with a hint of excitement, "Hiruzen, hand the Jinchuriki over to me to train..."

The Third Hokage sternly interrupted, "Danzo, that is impossible. Do not bring this up again!"

Hand the Jinchuriki over to Danzo... Is he tired of sitting so securely in the Hokage's seat?

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

He had lost count of how many times this conversation had taken place; the Third Hokage was so familiar with it that he didn't take it to heart at all.

He ordered the Anbu to take Naruto away from there.

Danzo snorted coldly, not continuing to pester him, and instead turned to look at Shisui's corpse. "Hand the body over to me. Root will help find the culprit."

He wanted to destroy the evidence so that the Third Hokage wouldn't be able to guess that he had obtained Kotoamatsukami from the wounds on the body.

Whoosh!

Itachi appeared instantly in front of the corpse, suppressing the raging fire in his heart as he said, "We do not need the help of Elder Danzo!"

This is the man who caused Shisui's death, and now he even wants to desecrate his corpse.

He deserves to die!