Everyone Wants to Be Friends with the Fifth Hokage / There's Always Someone Beyond the Heavens

The boss was an honest man. Although the other party was a Wind Clan member with a bad temper, he was so generous that he used all his strength.

The Sand Ninja, who had been running like refugees all the way, were eating properly for the first time since leaving the village, and their demeanor quickly changed from cool and aloof to starving and reincarnated.

Gaara's eating manners weren't exactly refined, and carrying such a large sand gourd must have taken a lot of effort.

After eating and drinking their fill, the group quickly set off again.

Finally, near the Leaf Forest, they encountered the Leaf Village's ANBU, who had made their own appearance.

Only then did Baki feel half relieved.

The remaining half is that he doesn't know if Uchiha Shingen will greet him with, "Yo ho, I haven't seen the One-Tail Beast yet, bring it out and let me see it."

Given the "generational friendship" between Sand Village and Leaf Village, such a thing might not be impossible.

Offering help in times of need is an insult to the intelligence of both parties in the Ninja World.

Taking advantage of someone's misfortune is what a proper ninja should do.

But clearly, Sand Village had no choice.

Furthermore, if the Fifth Hokage were to actually take the One-Tail, Sand Village would be willing to cooperate in order to gain Leaf Village's support in other areas.

In any case, Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, has largely become a bad asset for Sand Village.

Following the Hidden Leaf Village's ANBU, the group entered the forest and soon reached a Kitsuchi road through the woods. After a rapid journey, they came to see the towering city walls.

However, compared to the Chunin Ninja Exams, the city walls are now much more magnificent, the gates have been replaced with metal ones, and the watchtowers on top are much denser, fully demonstrating the abundance of manpower, financial resources, and material resources of the number one village in the Ninja World.

Baki, the old Sand Ninja, was extremely envious. If he wasn't mistaken, judging from the material of that gate alone, just by its luster, it was probably made of Chakra- conducting metal. Although Sunagakure was a major exporter, they really wouldn't and couldn't do something like that.

But it was just envy; I wouldn't dare harbor any ill intentions.

From afar, he saw the gates of Hidden Leaf Village open, and a group of ninjas waiting there.

Chapter 102 Everyone Wants to Be the Fifth Hokage's Friend

To the Sand Ninja, the Konoha Ninja were still quite fast.

Without a word, after greeting them at the entrance, he escorted them directly to the Hokage Building to pay their respects to the Fifth Hokage, who is widely recognized as the strongest ninja of the time.

Baki and Gaara had met the Fifth Hokage, while Temari and Kankuro, whom they had met during the Chunin Ninja Exams, didn't really have much of an impression of them anymore.

As for the others, they had never even seen them before.

After all, although Uchiha Shingen had gone to Sand Village before, he went in secret, and very few people in Sand Village knew about it. As for his fight with Uchiha Madara at the entrance of Sunagakure... who would have gotten close enough to see it?

Rasa got too close and almost got killed.

Uchiha Shingen met with the Sand Ninja on the rooftop.

The Hokage's room is too small.

When the Sand Ninja reached the rooftop, they immediately saw Uchiha Shingen wearing the Hokage robes.

Nowadays, only the Hokage and Kazekage wear proper kage robes.

The Hokage's situation is naturally due to tradition, while the Sand Village's is purely due to the environment—if they don't wear the Kage robes, they have to wear other robes.

Since everyone else is wearing robes, I might as well just wear a shadow robe.

In the eyes of young people, this Hokage perfectly fits the public's preconceived notion of Hokage.

He appeared refined and had a friendly smile.

If this Hokage hadn't dug a lake in front of their house with Ninjutsu just a few days ago, the young Sand Ninja would have thought he was a gentle person.

In Sunagakure, "gentle" is a derogatory term.

Only men with strong and unyielding character can survive in Sunagakure.

Baki didn't have that idea.

Old Sand Ninja it. Based on his preconceived notions about Hidden Leaf Village, the strong individuals who came from Hidden Leaf Village were all ruthless and vicious.

"Baki, it's been a long time."

No, we just saw each other a few days ago, but since you've said that, I can only pretend it never happened.

"Thank you for your concern." Baki bowed carefully, afraid that his movements might not be standard enough and might give the other person a sudden idea.

The Fifth Hokage was also famous for his unique and imaginative ideas.

After bowing, Baki immediately took out Rasa's handwritten letter from his pocket and handed it to the Kage Guard who was watching him intently.

Hokage's surname is Uchiha Clan, all the Kage Guard are also ninjas from the Uchiha Clan.

Baki had also seen the Fourth Hokage 'Fourth Hokage Kage Guard Kage Guard, but they didn't have that kind of aggressiveness written all over their faces.

If the entire Ninja World fears the Fifth Hokage for causing trouble, the Uchiha Clan surname deserves at least half the credit.

The Uchiha Clan has been in the Ninja World for so many years. Although not every Uchiha Clan is very strong, the label of being belligerent has never been removed.

Nobody's willing to bet that a Hokage with the surname Uchiha Clan isn't a fighter.

Cloud Lightning Gorge is gone.

Uchiha Shingen took the letter from Uchiha Inabi Kazekage, and without even looking at it, stuffed it into his pocket.

"Alright, we're all so familiar with each other, let's skip the formalities." Uchiha Shingen glanced at the young people behind Baki. "There are more people here than I arranged with the Lord Kazekage. Did you encounter anything on your way?"

"To be honest, the journey has been rather uneventful," Baki said. "That one didn't pursue us."

"Oh?" Uchiha Shingen curiously.

He made a promise with Uchiha Madara that he would not take the One-Tail with him.

Although none of these people were wearing Sand Ninja uniforms, it was of no use to Uchiha Madara.

Putting aside the fact that Uchiha Madara possessed Chakra sensing abilities, from a purely technical standpoint, it's absolutely impossible for these Sand Ninja to evade Uchiha Madara's search.

In that fiercely competitive Warring States period, although Uchiha Madara was always second best, he had mastered all kinds of skills. Senju Hashirama could not surpass Uchiha Madara from a technical point of view.

For Uchiha Madara, these people were no different from capturing a newly graduated Genin.

In reality, the One-Tail Beast did arrive in Leaf Village safely.

"That's strange." Uchiha Shingen stroked his chin. "It's not that I want anything to happen to you, but this really doesn't make sense."

Baki quickly said, "Lord Hokage, we absolutely did not do anything wrong."

"Yes, I know." Uchiha Shingen nodded. "Don't worry, I didn't suspect you. By the way, could you introduce me? I do know the Lord Kazekage's child, but I'm not familiar with the others."

"Yes, these people are children from other Jonin families in the village, as well as children from the elders' families."

Uchiha Shingen understood.

They're just tagging along to get security.

The love of parents for their children is universal. Although Sunagakure presents itself as cold and ruthless, who among decent people would believe that?

For example, Rasa is actually a widower who is obsessed with his wife.

And the emergence of Ai Ying goes without saying.

This is Temari. If Uchiha Shingen remembers correctly, she's an incredibly kind and protective older sister to her younger brother.

However, they are first and foremost ninjas. The will of the ninja village follows the collective's demands, but the individual is also a tool of the village.

The "tool" mentality of Leaf Village has been given a humanistic veneer, Sunagakure lacks.

Therefore, in the original timeline's Konoha Crush, when Orochimaru revealed his identity and Rasa was almost certainly dead, Temari and Kankuro's first reaction was not to worry about whether their father was dead or not, but to immediately decide to protect Gaara.

They may seem ruthless, but they're actually not much different from Hidden Leaf Village.

Rasa is a father, but first and foremost, he is the Kazekage. Protecting the Kazekage is not Temari's or Kankuro's responsibility.

Gaara is first and foremost Jinchūriki of Sand Village, but he is also the younger brother, and protecting the Jinchūriki is a task shared by the siblings.

This is how ninjas choose between missions and personal feelings. If they can only choose one, they choose missions. There are times when they can have both, and the village will try its best to accommodate that.

Therefore Uchiha Shingen still admired Temari.

Talent, temperament, and intelligence are all top choices.

She's the only one who can persuade Ai Ying, who isn't in her manic or dark phase, with just words.

"Alright, I understand the situation." Uchiha Shingen patted Baki on the shoulder. "Take these children and go rest. Oh, and don't rush to eat dinner."

Baki looked up, puzzled.

"I'm treating you to dinner. The children of the Fourth Kazekage and the Fourth Hokage are kind of like friends who became acquainted through a fight. Since you're here, for the future of our two villages, we should build a good relationship. Oh, by the way, my clan has a mischievous kid. I'll have him come along. I hope you don't mind."

Uchiha Shingen remembered that Temari seemed to have been attracted to Uchiha Sasuke's looks in the original timeline, but that version of Uchiha Sasuke didn't have any room for girls in his heart, so he didn't give her a good look.

Meanwhile, it took Baki a long time to process what he had just said.

It's not that he dislikes it; in fact, he loves it to death. The problem is...

Baki couldn't help but turn around and look at Gaara.

Gaara didn't react.

Well, with the Fifth Hokage around, he probably won't go crazy.

After all, Uchiha Shingen could bind Tailed Beasts like it was nothing at the gates of Sunagakure.

Baki might not trust Gaara's brain, but he couldn't distrust Uchiha Shingen's fists.

"Yes, Lord Hokage, it's our honor." Baki readily complied.

Regardless, the Fifth Hokage didn't show any intention of bringing out the One-Tail- Tailed Beast for a public display, which is a good start.

Everyone knows how awesome it is to be the Fifth Hokage's friend.

Chapter 103 There's Someone from Outer Heavens

Uchiha Shingen kept his word; as soon as it got dark, he sent someone to inform Baki and the others to come out for dinner and drinks.

Otherwise, all that tea he drank in the office would have been for nothing.

However, although it was supposed to be a gathering to strengthen relationships, Uchiha Shingen didn't invite many people.

They're all from the Uchiha Clan.

Besides Uchiha Inabi and Uchiha Tekka, he brought along two other characters from the original timeline who were considered "powerful" characters. For this reason, he also had an additional external accessory— Uchiha Itachi.

And that was it. Not even Uchiha Fugaku came, nor did Uchiha Shingen invite him.

Baki's identity speaks for itself.

Konoha Ninja are very proud and have always believed that they are invincible among their Konoha Ninja, including Jinchūriki.

Incidentally, Leaf Village's orthodox ideology also led to their simplistic understanding of the world outside of Leaf Village.

They were all savages, natives from a barren wasteland of civilization. Although they could be very polite, they looked down on each other deep down.

The ninjas of Leaf Village are better off because once they reach the Chunin level, they generally don't show their true emotions so easily.

Baki was just a Jonin Sand Village. No matter what his status was in Sunagakure, in the eyes of Leaf Village, he was only a junior. When Sand Village came to Leaf Village, unless the Kazekage himself came, it was difficult for Leaf Village to give him a second glance.

If Uchiha Shingen were to invite Uchiha Fugaku and Namikaze Minato, it would be disrespectful to them.

By normal standards, Baki wouldn't deserve to be invited to dinner by Uchiha Shingen, but Uchiha Shingen himself didn't care.

Baki was very aware of this; he didn't treat himself as a guest, but only as a younger brother.

The other Sand Ninja are the same; none of them come from ordinary families, and they all know their place.

Upon arriving at the hotel arranged by Leaf Village, the first thing they did was take a shower, change into new clothes, and clean themselves up. As soon as the Uchiha Shingen group arrived, they immediately headed to their destination.

The restaurant was the same one that Uchiha Shingen frequented regularly.

The boss started out in the shopping district selling sex toys. He was the only businessman in the shopping district who could gain the approval of Uchiha Three Colors.

As Uchiha Shingen's status in Leaf Village rose, he frequented the Hokage Building and eventually became the Fifth Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village, the number one Ninja World. His "old friend," who was relatively disciplined in business and didn't mess around, was taken care of. Now, this person has long since switched to the business world and stopped running entertainment venues.

On the commercial street, Uchiha Shingen changed into casual clothes. Uchiha Inabi and Uchiha Tekka walked behind him. Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke bickered and joked as usual, while Uchiha Itachi followed the two like a shadow, afraid that they might accidentally trip.

This is a common sight for people on the commercial street, and it's nothing unusual.

The memories of the Uchiha Three Colors are intertwined with the memories of the people of Leaf Village, making many elderly people sigh that the past is like the wind.

As everyone knows, both children are disciples of the Fifth Hokage, and the blond-haired boy is the son of the Fourth Hokage. As for Uchiha Itachi, who follows his younger brother around like a nanny, he was the Fifth Hokage's first disciple.