Naraku's Promotion

Naraku and the other had not been waiting there for long before the Third Hokage arrived with those two Anbu.

"He actually woke up."

Upon seeing that Yamato had indeed regained consciousness, one of the Anbu hurriedly stepped forward, preparing to restrain him.

However, he was stopped by the Third Hokage reaching out a hand.

"Lord Hokage?" the Anbu asked, somewhat confused.

"Let's return to the village first," the Third Hokage said, offering no explanation and simply instructing everyone to head back.

The Anbu did not press the matter; they were absolutely loyal to the Third Hokage in his capacity as Hokage.

The group then began their return to Konoha Village.

The two Anbu walked at the very front, the Third Hokage and Yamato walked side by side, while Naraku brought up the rear.

Because they had been attacked on the way there, the two Anbu were extremely vigilant this time, not daring to let their guard down for a single moment.

To this, Naraku could only say they were overthinking things.

The facts proved him right; the journey back was entirely uneventful, and they encountered no surprises until they stood before the gates of Konoha Village.

After entering the village, Naraku bid the Third Hokage farewell and slipped away. Being around someone like the Third Hokage made him feel uncomfortable every single second.

The Third Hokage said nothing in response, merely nodding to let him go.

Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage looked at Yamato in silence, lost in thought.

Creak!

Just then, the office door opened.

"Hiruzen, what did you want to see me about?" Danzo's voice echoed.

"Lord Danzo," Yamato's body trembled slightly upon hearing that familiar voice.

He was still deeply afraid of Danzo, especially since he was still being controlled by the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

Danzo, having just entered, felt his eyes twitch inadvertently when he saw Yamato, though he was not overly surprised; this scene was, after all, part of his plan.

"Kinoe, get out," Danzo said coldly to Yamato.

Yamato hesitated upon hearing this, but ultimately, he raised his head to look at the Third Hokage.

"Kinoe!" Danzo felt a surge of anger upon seeing that Kinoe dared to defy his orders.

"You may leave first," the Third Hokage said, nodding to signal that Yamato should go.

"Yes."

Yamato bowed to the Third Hokage, then offered a salute to Danzo, and walked out of the room.

Inside the room, the Third Hokage made a gesture toward the empty air, then looked at Danzo with a grim face, waiting for an explanation.

Danzo, as if he had been prepared for this, pulled a scroll from his robes and handed it to him.

After reading the contents of the scroll, the heavy expression on the Third Hokage's face vanished, replaced by a look of disappointment, his eyes dimming slightly.

"Hiruzen, Orochimaru is your student. To think he would do such things within the village—do you, as Hokage, bear no responsibility for this?"

"The current state of Konoha is entirely your fault," Danzo said, reciting his prepared speech.

"Step down, Hiruzen!" Danzo shouted.

Bang!

"Enough!" The Third Hokage slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, the air around them vibrating slightly.

"Release the seal on that boy," the Third Hokage said in an irrefutable tone.

"Hiruzen, you..."

"I said, release the seal on that boy."

Looking at the Third Hokage's slightly aged face, Danzo finally relented.

With a bang, he slammed the door shut behind him as he stormed out.

Outside the door, Yamato hadn't even had time to react before Danzo grabbed him by the throat.

"Cough! Cough!"

Just as Yamato felt he was about to suffocate, Danzo released his grip and left the area.

"Ha... ha..."

Yamato collapsed to the ground, gasping for air; for a moment there, he had truly felt he was going to die.

"The seal..."

Only then did it dawn on him that the seal that had been on him all this time seemed to have been broken.

At this moment, the Third Hokage also stepped out of his office, arrived before Yamato, and spoke to him.

"You shall join the Anbu first."

"The Anbu, is it?" Yamato did not hesitate in the slightest, dropping to one knee directly before the Third Hokage. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

"Heh heh, no need for formalities. The future of the village rests in the hands of you young people!"

"Where the leaves dance, the fire also burns. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to..."

In the end, the Third Hokage assigned Yamato to Naraku's squad, and Naraku was exceptionally promoted to Anbu squad leader, taking Shisui's place, while Shisui was given a new mission.

However, Naraku did not yet know that he had been promoted, and even if he did, he would not care. To him, any position was meaningless; even if he were offered the seat of the Hokage, he might not necessarily take it.

"He's not home?" Naraku frowned slightly as he looked at the tightly shut gate before him.

The words "Hatake Residence" were written in large characters upon the gate.

After parting ways with the Third Hokage and the others, Naraku had come here to find Kakashi. He had a few ninjutsu he wanted to consult with him about, but he had not expected Kakashi to be away.

"Could he be out on a mission again?" Naraku muttered to himself before turning to leave.

Unable to find Kakashi, Naraku returned to the street. He had spent the entire day acting as a bodyguard for the Third Hokage and had barely eaten anything; his stomach was already growling with hunger.

"Boss, give me a few dango," a girl who looked to be about eleven or twelve years old said, standing in front of a dango shop by the roadside.

"Well, if it isn't Anko! It's been a long time since you last visited!"

The shopkeeper was clearly very familiar with her and quickly packed up a few dango for her.

Yeah, it has been a long time, Anko thought to herself.

Having recently become a genin, she spent her days following her teammates on missions like finding lost cats, so she had much less time to visit the dango shop.

Not far away, Naraku also saw Anko buying dango. Seeing her reminded him of her teacher, Orochimaru.

Regarding this true genius of the Hokage's world, Naraku had always wanted to make contact, yet he dared not. He feared that the man might accidentally dissect him if he wasn't careful.

However, Naraku was not in a hurry. He knew that one day he would seek out Orochimaru himself; the man's heaven-defying research capabilities would be a great asset in his future confrontation with the Otsutsuki.

But at this point in time, Orochimaru should be close to defecting, right? Thinking this to himself, Naraku stepped into a barbecue restaurant.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the boundless night soon shrouded the entire world.

There were all sorts of glass bottles filled with liquids of various colors, along with strange-looking tools scattered across the table.

Bang!

But the very next moment, all the items on the table vanished without a trace.

"Heh, these should be just about enough." Dressed in a kimono, his pale golden pupils radiated a cold, sinister aura.