The Scroll of Sealing

In the Hokage Building lounge, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Namikaze Minato had already left, leaving only the Fourth Hokage Naraku and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The two men, pipes and smokers dangling from their lips, puffed out clouds of smoke, looking every bit the smoking buddies.

"Four generations, peace is the most precious thing. If possible, I hope we can avoid starting wars lightly."

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the departing group, he puffed on his pipe and offered words of encouragement to Naraku beside him.

"I understand, Third Hokage. It's just that Kumogakure belligerent by nature, stubborn and inflexible, and has repeatedly provoked the border. Moreover, they actually demanded 20 billion to negotiate peace, which is simply absurd."

Naraku shook his head in reply. Unlike Kumogakure Third Hokage and the others, Naraku did not try to reason with Kumogakure about their absurd demands. Instead, Naraku directly rejected them.

The Third Hokage gave Naraku a complicated look, took a puff of his pipe, and didn't reply.

Naraku was quite satisfied with the honesty of the Third Hokage Faction after he took power, and did not criticize them too much.

Danzo, who Danzo the dirty work, remained unknown due to the secrecy and secretive nature of his work. Naraku for his inaction and sent him to live a life of leisure at home.

Let's keep him on for now, and settle old scores after Naraku has been Hokage for a few years and things have stabilized completely.

Otherwise, if an accident happens after serving as Hokage for only a few months, then the Hokage position would be meaningless, everything would revert to the way it was before, or even worse.

Naraku didn't want to end up like Namikaze Minato in the original story, dying young after only a year in office, and then becoming the Third Hokage Acting Hokage, serving as Hokage from Konoha's 51st year to Konoha 60th year, serving as Hokage for over a decade.

Fortunately, Namikaze Minato carved the Hokage Rock during his term in the original story. If he hadn't carved it during his term, it would have been a question whether he would have carved it later.

As for Sarutobi Hiruzen, if he hadn't been eliminated by foreign forces like Orochimaru, he probably would have served as acting Hokage until his death. He was both the previous Hokage and the Acting Hokage. Without a true Hokage, wouldn't he have been the highest leader of Konoha?

Seeing that the Third Hokage remained silent, Naraku had a sudden thought and spoke:

"Third Hokage, the Scroll of Sealing is Scroll of Seals under the Hokage's control. Now that the handover of Konoha's defenses is proceeding smoothly, it's about time that the Scroll of Sealing was handed over to me for safekeeping."

The Third Hokage, puffing on his pipe, seemed lost in thought, his brow furrowing upon hearing Naraku's words. Finally, he sighed, looking somewhat ashamed, and said:

"Ah, Fourth Generation, I am guilty. The Scroll of Sealing was lost while I was keeping it safe."

"I've been searching for months and still haven't found it. It's truly shameful. How could this Scroll of Sealing just disappear like that? I... I have no face to face the villagers of Konoha who trusted me..."

Upon hearing Naraku's previously gentle expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice:

"Third Hokage, the Scroll of Sealing contains many forbidden techniques. If it falls into the wrong hands, it will be extremely dangerous and could cause chaos in the Shinobi World."

Such a thing must never happen, Lord Third Hokage. Think about it: where was the Scroll of Sealing lost, and how long has it been lost?

"After the war with Hidden Sand ended last year and a peace treaty was signed, I suddenly had a whim to look at the Scroll of Sealing, but it had vanished without a trace."

After dispatching the Anbu to search every corner of Konoha, they found no trace of the hidden Scroll of Scroll of Sealing.

This was a grave mistake on my part, which I dared not reveal to the outside world, and thus have kept it a secret until now. I am guilty...

Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to be trying hard to recall something, frowning as he stared at the ceiling.

"So be it. Perhaps Konoha was destined for this calamity. Third Hokage, there's no need to belittle yourself. Since you lost the Scroll of Sealing, then it's up to you to find it."

Naraku sighed upon hearing this, and comforted the Third Hokage without blaming or reprimanding him.

"Alright! I was busy with other matters before and had to send my Anbu to search. Now that I've been retired for a while, it's time for me to find the Scroll of Sealing. I'll go back and search it carefully to atone for my sins!"

After the Third Hokage finished speaking, he stood up, put on his shoes, and left in a hurry, seemingly feeling extremely guilty about losing the Scroll of Sealing and wanting to find it immediately.

Naraku, with a pipe dangling from his mouth, watched Sarutobi Hiruzen's somewhat hurried movements, puffing out smoke to obscure his facial expression.

"Third Hokage, you were originally supposed to officiate my and Tsunade's wedding. Such a compassionate act, even as an enemy, I admire you for it."

You dumped the mess of the Department of Defense on me, and now you haven't even handed over the Scroll of Sealing..."

Naraku watched the Third Hokage's departing figure with a displeased expression.

In his first month in charge of Konoha, Naraku faced problems such as inadequate compensation for victims, lack of ninja rehabilitation facilities, and financial deficits.

Let's just leave it at that. It's hard to reverse things in a short time. Naraku in charge of the Uchiha and the Police Department for many years, so he has experience with this kind of situation. It's not that he can't understand it, nor is it that he can't handle it.

The Third Hokage mess the Third Hokage left Naraku with was the Department of Defense, and he had already sent envoys to Kumogakure to negotiate peace.

Unable to handle the Kumogakure's demanding requirements, they passed the matter on to Naraku, hoping Naraku would take on the peace negotiations and bear the stigma of such a humiliating peace deal.

Naraku and Namikaze Minato were rising stars in the Shinobi World, having made a name for themselves in the Third Shinobi World War. They weren't too afraid of Kumogakure, and as for ninja casualties...

Their leaders have ruled Konoha for many years, and there's never a day without ninja casualties. They pretend to love peace in front of Naraku won't fall for that. He supports Namikaze Minato's opinion.

Soon, Namikaze Minato will travel to the Northeast Stronghold, leading the ninja forces from the Eastern Stronghold to attack Kumogakure and let Kumogakure experience the taste of being invaded.

The situation in Konoha was not good, and the situation in Kumogakure was not much better. During the Ninja War, they suffered a defeat against Hidden Sand first, and were ambushed by Iwagakure on their way back. Even the Third Raikage died on the battlefield.

Later, the Fourth Raikage succeeded to the throne and fought a great battle with Iwagakure. In the end, Kumogakure and Iwagakure compromised and successfully negotiated peace by having Iwagakure hand over the body of the Third Raikage.

The fact that these high-ranking officials of such a severely damaged village still chose to negotiate peace as their primary strategy is truly disgusting to Naraku.

However, these issues aside, the more acute conflict now stems from the Third Hokage's refusal to hand over the Scroll of Sealing.

The Scroll of Sealing contains various powerful Ninjutsu that could harm the user, as well as Ninjutsu that violate ethics, which were sealed by the First Hokage and Second Hokage.

The Third Hokage's reputation as the strongest is not unrelated to his mastery of the Scroll of Sealing. Sarutobi Hiruzen, Konoha was proficient in all of Konoha's Ninjutsu, also possessed forbidden techniques from the Scroll of Sealing.

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen may not have succeeded in mastering all of them, and given Naraku's understanding of the Third Hokage, the Third Hokage would not have practiced such a cruel and unethical Ninjutsu as the Impure World Reincarnation.

However, the Hokage is the strongest ninja in Konoha, and all the Hokage throughout history have been the strongest. This strength is inseparable from the Scroll of Sealing.

Without the Scroll of Sealing, how could the Hokage become the strongest ninja in Konoha?

Sarutobi Hiruzen, by finding an excuse to refuse to hand over the Scroll of Sealing, is utterly despicable.

"Third Hokage, since you are so ruthless, don't blame me for being ruthless in return..."

Naraku, holding a pipe, puffed out clouds of smoke, his face obscured by the smoke, only his pair of scarlet eyes visible.