Naruto, Without You, What's the Point of Being Hokage!

"If one becomes too obsessed and unable to extricate themselves, it will make them extreme, paranoid, and even cause them to fall completely into darkness..."

Naruto slurped his ramen, looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a half-understanding gaze.

"Does the Third Hokage know someone like that?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and nodded.

"I do, and not just one. For example..."

"The disciple I once valued the most..."

"Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?"

Naruto swallowed a large mouthful of ramen and asked vaguely.

He seemed to have heard this name mentioned faintly before.

He was once a very powerful ninja, but now he had defected from Konoha.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded with a sigh.

"Orochimaru was once my most outstanding disciple. He had exceptional aptitude and talent, and was originally the one most capable of inheriting my mantle. However..."

"Because of the passing of his parents, he began to indulge in the research of various dark forbidden techniques. He even went so far as to use living people for human experimentation, causing heaven's wrath and people's resentment. I should have purged the sect and killed him with my own hands, but at the final moment, due to years of master-disciple affection, I was soft-hearted and couldn't bring myself to do it, allowing him to defect from the village..."

"If not for that, perhaps he might have become the Hokage..."

Naruto had already finished a bowl of ramen and let out a long, satisfied breath.

"He gave up becoming Hokage for that kind of forbidden technique experiment?"

"How could there be such a guy..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and said, "You think being Hokage is your dream, but not everyone thinks that way..."

"For example, Orochimaru, or Sasuke..."

Naruto couldn't help but ask curiously, "Sasuke... what exactly happened to him?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, however, did not answer him.

"Naruto, you are still too young. It is better for you not to know about some things for now."

"In short, it is fine that you and Sasuke are both rivals and friends, but you cannot continue to fight each other to the death like this in the future."

"...Oh, I understand."

"Mm."

The two finished their dinner, and Sarutobi Hiruzen looked around Naruto's room, feeling that there had indeed been a great change.

"Naruto, I heard you want to become one of the top ten in your class?"

"Yeah, that's my small goal!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled, "Having a goal is a good thing..."

"No wonder you've been training so desperately..."

[Detected that the host is full. Please begin your evening training immediately. Tonight's special training is multitasking: simultaneously practicing the Chakra Refinement Technique and the Transformation Technique!]

Naruto also wanted to chat with Sarutobi Hiruzen for a while longer.

But it didn't seem possible.

However...

"Third Hokage, I am going to start my training. Do you want to watch from the side?"

He really wanted someone to guide him.

Even if it was just watching him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled, "What are you going to practice?"

Naruto shouted, "Continuing the multitasking training!"

"I am going to practice the Chakra Refinement Technique while practicing the Transformation Technique!"

"Oh, right, my Transformation Technique is very impressive!"

"This is a super-strong ninjutsu I invented myself. Would the Third Hokage like to see it?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression changed drastically!

He almost choked to death on his pipe!

He naturally understood what Naruto's super-strong Transformation Technique was...

The Sexy Technique!

He certainly didn't want to spray nosebleeds in front of Naruto and those Anbu, making a fool of himself!

He still needed to save face...

"Cough, cough. Naruto, although I would love to stay and train with you, as the Hokage, I have my own work to attend to..."

"Thank you for the dinner."

"Oh, alright then..."

Though Naruto felt a bit disappointed, he did not try to make him stay.

After all, that was the Hokage of Konoha.

Sarutobi Hiruzen went downstairs and soon heard the continuous sounds of transformation jutsu coming from above...

He let out a long sigh, stepped outside, and gazed at the crescent moon that was gradually waxing, his expression deeply complex.

"Sigh..."

Under the veil of night, a long sigh echoed.

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

At this moment, images of what had just transpired kept flashing through Sasuke's mind.

If Third Hokage hadn't arrived in time, he didn't know what the final outcome would have been...

"Damn it..."

Sasuke slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. With a loud bang, dirt crumbled and dust flew into the air.

"What on earth am I doing..."

His abdomen was still throbbing with pain.

That was the spot where Naruto's Leaf Whirlwind had landed.

"Naruto..."

"Just how strong are you now?"

While Sasuke felt lingering fear over the outcome of that battle, he was simultaneously filled with anxiety and resentment toward Naruto's strength.

To be precise...

It was his own weakness.

If things continued like this, let alone killing Itachi Uchiha, he would even be left in the dust by Naruto...

Sasuke clenched his fists and returned to the training room.

Bang—

Bang, bang, bang!

Ignoring the pain and exhaustion in his body, he gritted his teeth and began to train with desperate intensity once again!

Meanwhile.

At the Hyuga Clan compound, in the residence of the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi.

Hinata had not gone to sleep either.

Her younger sister, Hanabi Hyuga, snuck up to the door, pushed it open a crack, and peered inside to see her sister still training with all her might...

Her young heart was deeply moved.

"Sister..."

During their previous sparring session, the strength Hanabi Hyuga displayed had actually surpassed her sister's.

This had led their father, the clan head Hyuga Hiashi, to choose to focus on cultivating Hanabi, even abandoning the idea of Hinata, his eldest daughter, serving as the heir to the main branch.

But in reality, Hanabi understood her sister's gentleness and strength better than anyone.

During that spar, it wasn't strength that caused her sister to lose to her...

It was kindness.

Her sister had already spotted her opening, but hesitated at the final moment, unable to bring herself to strike, which was why she had ended up losing to her instead.

But whether such an outcome was good or bad...

Hanabi herself wasn't sure.

She knew that although her sister worked hard, her kind and gentle nature meant she didn't enjoy fighting, nor did she want to become the heir to the main branch. She viewed the system of the main and branch families as a shackle, a cage...

Especially after witnessing how their father treated Neji Hyuga.

So...

Perhaps losing to her was also a choice her sister made to escape her own fate.

However, now...

She was working even harder than before.

Why on earth is this happening?

"Is that you, Hanabi?"

Hinata sensed someone peeking and paused her training, asking with a slight pant.

Hanabi stopped hiding, pushed open the Space Gate, and walked inside.

"Big sister, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Hinata offered a gentle smile.

"I wanted to train a little longer."

"What about you, Hanabi? Why aren't you asleep?"

Hanabi shook her head. "I couldn't sleep."

"What's wrong?"

"Because, I just can't figure it out..."

"Is there something you can't figure out? Can you tell me?"

Hanabi looked at Hinata's training gear, soaked through with sweat, and asked with a mix of heartache and confusion.

"Big sister, back when Father forced you so strictly, you were never happy training."

"Now, even though Father has practically given up on you, you've become so much more diligent instead..."

"Why on earth is this happening?"

Hinata froze. Looking into Hanabi's puzzled eyes, she didn't know how to explain it to her for a moment.

She pulled out a towel to wipe the sweat from her face.

Then, she patted the floor, inviting Hanabi to sit down with her.