The Third Hokage said nothing more after Naraku agreed. In truth, asking him to serve as a guard was just for show.
At this point, the Third Hokage was still very confident in his own abilities.
Naraku then left the office, but something seemed strange to him. He remembered the original storyline, and it hadn't gone this way.
In the original, Kakashi had apparently disguised himself as the Third Hokage and gone to the Daimyo Palace, where Root had ambushed him along the way.
"Whatever," Naraku said, shaking his head.
This change in the story didn't matter to him. It didn't even matter whether anyone from Root came to assassinate the Third Hokage tomorrow. After all, the Third Hokage was Kage Level.
Looking at the entire Shinobi World, there were few people who could easily kill the Third Hokage.
Early the next day, Naraku arrived at the Hokage Office in his Anbu uniform and waited.
The Third Hokage arrived shortly afterward with several others, and they set off.
Besides Naraku, two Anbu accompanied the Third Hokage to the Daimyo Palace. Since they wore masks, Naraku couldn't tell who they were.
The Daimyo Palace was quite a distance from Konoha, so the group picked up their pace after leaving the village to save time.
They had soon covered most of the distance, and nothing unusual had happened along the way. Only birdsong drifted through the woods.
"Did Danzo give up on the assassination?" Naraku wondered silently.
But he dismissed the thought the next moment. Three masked people stood in their path ahead.
"Who are you?" The Anbu beside Naraku stepped forward and moved in front of the Third Hokage, speaking loudly.
The three people across from them clearly had no intention of negotiating. They launched an attack at once.
Seeing this, the two Anbu with Naraku said no more. They drew their short blades and engaged the attackers.
The two Anbu were soon drawn away by the three assailants.
Naraku took the opportunity to study the Third Hokage's expression and saw that it had darkened.
"Has he already figured out who they are?" Naraku wondered.
Naraku's guess was right. The Third Hokage hadn't recognized the attackers, but he had worked out some of the truth. They had managed to ambush him so precisely here, which meant they had learned his movements in advance.
But the Third Hokage was, after all, the Hokage. Any information about his whereabouts was a village secret. That meant whoever had precise knowledge of his movements had to be a high-ranking village official.
If he dug any deeper, only Danzo had the power—and the motive—to do something like this.
Still, signing the document to renew his term was more important than pursuing Danzo right now. The Third Hokage was about to tell Naraku to keep moving.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, he snapped his head up and looked ahead.
A masked boy stood in their path, his eyes fixed on the Third Hokage with a faintly hesitant look.
"So the landscaping master finally showed up." Naraku flashed forward and stood in front of the Third Hokage.
That's right. The boy in front of him was Yamato, who could use Wood Release techniques.
"Wood Release: Great Tree Wood Technique!"
Yamato suddenly formed Hand Seals at great speed. Dozens of wooden branches sprang from his arms and swept toward Naraku.
"Wood Release? How is that possible?" The Third Hokage, standing behind Naraku, froze when he saw the technique.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Naraku gave it little thought. He opened his mouth and spat out a massive fireball.
The blazing heat instantly set the wooden branches alight. Wood Release was powerful, but it depended on the user. The Yamato in front of him clearly wasn't very good at it.
His Wood Release was only good for landscaping. It was nothing to Naraku.
As soon as the enormous fireball ignited the wood, Naraku vanished in a Body Flicker Technique. When he reappeared, his silver short blade was already pressed against Yamato's neck.
"Naraku," the Third Hokage suddenly called out.
Naraku understood what he meant: he wanted Yamato kept alive. After all, Wood Release techniques held special significance for Konoha.
But there was no need for him to say so. Naraku hadn't planned to kill Yamato anyway. He was just as curious about Wood Release.
"You..."
Yamato's voice trembled. The cold against his neck kept him from making any rash moves, but deep down, he also felt relieved and freed.
He had already been conflicted about the mission to assassinate the Hokage. He had only obeyed because Danzo had ordered him to.
This outcome was acceptable to him. He was even willing to lose his life. Yamato loved Konoha too, and he didn't want the village to lose the Third Hokage.
Thud!
To keep Yamato from doing anything else, Naraku struck him with a hand chop and knocked him out.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then, the two Anbu who had been drawn away returned.
"Lord Hokage, they got away."
The Third Hokage waved a hand dismissively. Then he glanced at Yamato, whom Naraku had knocked unconscious, and spoke.
"Let's head to the Daimyo Palace first!"
"Yes, sir."
Naraku handed Yamato over to one of the Anbu, and the group continued on their way.
After all, Naraku was only seven. He was still very small compared to an adult, so carrying Yamato would have slowed him down a little.
Before long, the Third Hokage and the two Anbu entered the Daimyo Palace.
Naraku found a secluded spot and stayed behind to keep watch over Yamato.
"Ugh!"
Yamato slowly opened his eyes. The discomfort in his neck made him groan.
"Where am I?"
As his mind cleared, Yamato immediately grew alert and warily looked around.
"Stop looking around. I'm behind you."
Naraku was leaning against a large tree when he spoke.
Yamato quickly turned and assumed a fighting stance. "It's you."
He remembered that Naraku had knocked him out.
"What, do you want to fight again?" Naraku asked, looking at him with an amused smile.
Yamato thought it over, then finally gave up. He had already realized the gap between them.
"Why didn't you kill me just now?" Yamato asked after a moment's hesitation.
He had grown up in Root, where the world of shinobi was filled with killing. Most of their missions involved killing people.
"Kill you?" Naraku shook his head slightly.
"The village will need you in the future."
Naraku thought of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto. If the whole reincarnation of Asura business turned out to be unreliable, Naruto might still need Yamato's Wood Release someday.
Maybe the odds weren't high, but even so, having a future landscaping master around was pretty good.