Confrontation at the Hokage Building, the Third's Hypocritical Manipulation

When the door to the Hokage Office was pushed open, Hiruzen Sarutobi was standing by the window.

He turned around and saw Nawaki, along with the red-haired girl half-hidden behind him.

The old man's expression shifted flawlessly. The solemn furrow in his brow relaxed from a second ago, concern welled up in his clouded eyes, and he hurried forward.

"Nawaki! My child!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi reached out and gripped Nawaki's shoulders, looking him over from head to toe. His voice trembled. "Word came from the front that you were attacked. I didn't sleep a wink all night... Let me see. Where are you hurt?"

Nawaki rolled his eyes inwardly.

Didn't sleep a wink? Then why didn't you shut that mad dog Danzō's mouth?

But a look of relief at having survived immediately appeared on his face. His eyes reddened slightly, and his voice carried a young man's particular sense of grievance. "Lord Hokage, I almost didn't make it back. The Sand ninja buried their explosive tags too deeply. I didn't notice them at all... If I hadn't been lucky, you would never have seen me again."

He made it sound both pitiful and sincere.

Hiruzen Sarutobi patted his shoulder and sighed. "It's good that you came back alive. Your grandfather's spirit in heaven must have been watching over you."

Nawaki lowered his head and gave a soft acknowledgment, obedient beyond reproach.

The Third nodded in satisfaction, his gaze naturally falling on the red head behind Nawaki.

"This must be the child from the Uzumaki Clan, yes?" the Third asked gently. "Kushina, come here and let Grandpa have a look at you."

Kushina did not move.

She stood behind Nawaki, both hands clutching the clothes at his lower back, her head slightly lowered. From being kidnapped until now, she had gone through too much. Hidden Cloud Village's ropes, the Anbu calling her a "strategic resource," the masked man nailed to the wall at the village gate—within this village, only the boy before her made her feel safe.

The Third smiled without forcing her, then turned his gaze back to Nawaki.

"Nawaki, sit." The Third returned behind his desk and sat down, picking up his pipe and lighting it. "I have a general understanding of what happened at the front. Orochimaru's report mentioned something—"

He took a puff, and the smoke obscured half his face.

"You awakened Wood Release?"

Here it came.

Nawaki applauded the old monkey inwardly. After all that buildup, he had finally gotten to the point.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." Nawaki sat in the chair with both hands properly resting on his knees. "When the explosion happened, I thought I was going to die. Then a force suddenly surged out of my body, and wooden walls grew out to block the blast. I was shocked too."

"Wood Release..." The Third set down his pipe and spoke earnestly. "That was your grandfather, the First Hokage's bloodline limit. A power lost to the entire ninja world for decades has revived within you."

Nawaki nodded with a serious expression.

The Third leaned back in his chair. "But you must understand that Wood Release is not an ordinary ninjutsu. It was once the foundation upon which Konoha was built, the key to the balance of power in the entire ninja world. Such power should not be kept hidden away."

"What do you mean, Lord Hokage?"

"The village has specialized research facilities that can help analyze the principles behind your awakening of Wood Release." The Third's tone was patient and persuasive. "If you can record your cultivation insights, perhaps more people will be able to master this power in the future. That would benefit all of Konoha."

Nawaki nearly laughed aloud.

What a nice way to put it. What research facility? You just want to lock me in an Anbu laboratory, draw my blood, slice me up, and extract the First Hokage's cells, don't you? So Danzō's human experimentation methods really were approved by you.

"Lord Hokage is right." Nawaki nodded firmly. "Once I've figured it out myself, I'll report to the village immediately."

The statement was watertight. He had agreed, but had not said when.

The Third's eyelid twitched. He lifted his teacup and took a sip without pressing the matter.

He changed direction.

"Speaking of the journey back to the village..." The Third looked at Kushina. "I heard you rescued this child outside the village?"

"Yes. Hidden Cloud Village spies were trying to kidnap her."

"You did very well." The Third praised him, then shifted his tone. "However, Kushina's circumstances are rather special. Her constitution... concerns the village's core secrets. For her safety, I intend to arrange round-the-clock Anbu protection for her."

Protection.

Again, protection.

Kushina's fingers suddenly tightened, her nails digging into the cloth at Nawaki's lower back. She remembered the cold voice behind the hawk mask—"strategic resource."

So-called protection was nothing more than locking her in a bigger cage.

Nawaki felt the force from behind him.

He did not turn around, but his tone changed.

"Lord Hokage, I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Kushina was kidnapped from the village by Hidden Cloud Village's people. What were the Anbu doing?"

The office fell silent for two seconds.

The Third's smile froze for an instant.

Nawaki continued at an even pace. "The Anbu failed to discover Hidden Cloud Village spies infiltrating the village. They failed to notice the jinchūriki being taken out of the village. If I hadn't happened to pass by, Kushina would already be in the Land of Lightning. Is this the 'round-the-clock protection' you spoke of, Lord Hokage?"

The Third put down his teacup, his face darkening. "The Anbu were indeed negligent, and I will hold them accountable. But that is precisely why—"

"It precisely proves that you can't protect her." Nawaki took over, still smiling, though there was no smile in his eyes. "The Uzumaki Clan and the Senju Clan are blood relatives to begin with. My grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, was from the Uzumaki Clan. It is only proper for Kushina to return with me to the Senju Clan Compound."

"Nawaki, you are still young. Some matters are not as simple as you think—"

"Young?" Nawaki stood up.

The movement was abrupt.

Blocked by him, Kushina could only see his straight back.

"Lord Hokage, the Senju Clan built Konoha. The First and Second Hokage both died on the battlefield. My father and mother died too. My sister was forced to leave the village, and now the entire Senju Clan has only me left."

Nawaki's voice was not loud, but every word struck the Third in the chest.

"Now that I've finally made it back alive, now that I've finally met a girl with Uzumaki blood, you're telling me—you want to take her away too?"

The Third tapped the desktop lightly twice with his fingers.

"Nawaki, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki concerns the village's safety. This is not a private matter."

"How many members of my Senju Clan have died for this village? Is that a private matter?"

Their gazes met, and the air tightened like a drawn bowstring.

Just then, the office door was pushed open from outside.

Two people walked in.

The old woman on the left leaned on a cane, her hair gray-white and her lips tightly pressed together—Homura Mitokado.

The old man on the right wore glasses, his face stern—Koharu Utatane.

Konoha's two great advisors.

The Third's right- and left-hand aides.

The moment Homura Mitokado entered, she fixed her eyes on Nawaki and snapped sharply, "Nawaki Senju, do you know what you did at the village gate? You assaulted Anbu officers carrying out their duties and defied the orders of the higher-ups! Do you have any respect for the rules at all?"

Koharu Utatane followed up. "The placement plan for the Nine-Tails jinchūriki was decided by the higher-ups. It is not something a mere genin like you can interfere with. Hand Kushina Uzumaki over to the Anbu. That is an order."

The two advisors' arrival was no coincidence. Nawaki had made such a scene at the village gate; these two must have been waiting in the Hokage Building beforehand.

Third, you staged this little performance well. First, you played the good cop to coax me. When that failed, you had two old dogs play the bad cops and force me.

Nawaki said nothing.

He slowly turned around and looked at Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.

Then he turned back to face the Third Hokage.

"Lord Hokage, before I came here, I always thought Konoha's higher-ups considered me family."

Nawaki's voice was unnaturally calm.

"Now it seems I was overthinking things."

He slowly raised both hands and brought them together before his chest.

He did not form a hand seal.

Yet at that instant, chakra fluctuations erupted.

With a sharp crack, the floor beneath the desk split apart. Tiny fissures spread from beneath Nawaki's feet, and a tender green shoot pushed silently through one of the cracks, growing.

The Third's pupils suddenly contracted.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane both took a step back.

Nawaki's hands paused before his chest, his fingers interlaced but not fully clasped.

Half a seal.

He tilted his head, looked at Konoha's three highest decision-makers, and smiled.

It was still that innocent, harmless smile.

"My lords, would you like to guess—what will happen if I finish this hand seal?"