The Third Naruto Personally Stepped In to Mediate, Showing Him Full Respect

Bang!

The heavy solid-wood doors of the Naruto's office were shoved open.

Danzo stormed in like an old wolf whose tail had been stepped on, beside himself with rage.

"Hiruzen! Look at the mess you've made!"

He did not even bother with the superficial courtesy of knocking. He simply slammed the wooden kunai and the crumpled note down onto the desk.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been reviewing documents, frowned slightly.

He unhurriedly set down his pen, picked up the pipe on the desk, and put it between his lips.

"Danzo, that hotheaded temper of yours hasn't changed one bit in all these decades."

The old Third Naruto took a puff, his gaze casually sweeping over the items on the desk.

Just one glance.

The fingers holding his pipe trembled almost imperceptibly.

The seemingly crude wooden kunai still carried an exceptionally pure, incredibly restrained aura of Wood Release chakra.

That level of control...

Could never be explained away as some "uncontrollable accidental awakening"!

The old Third Naruto appeared as steady as ever, but a raging storm had already erupted in his heart.

That kid had not only fooled him, but could even come and go freely within Danzo's airtight Root base?!

This was an enormous surprise!

"Look! Take a good look!"

Danzo pointed at the note, shaking all over with anger, nearly spraying spit into the Third Naruto's face.

"'Uproot Root'! Is that something a six-year-old brat should be saying?!"

"No respect for his elders! Threatening the higher-ups! This is outright rebellion!"

"Hiruzen, I demand that a wanted order be issued immediately! Capture that little bastard Sen Senju and interrogate him severely!"

Listening to Danzo's hysterical roaring, the old Third Naruto was not angry at all. If anything, he nearly laughed out loud.

He knew Danzo far too well.

For this sinister, vicious old man to be furious to this extent, the people he had sent to assassinate Sen must have been wiped out, and he must have been outplayed in return—with that kunai planted by his bedside.

Seeing him suffer like this was truly satisfying.

"Capture him?"

The old Third Naruto set down his pipe, his eyes gradually sharpening.

A long-forgotten pressure belonging to the Third Naruto instantly enveloped the entire office.

"Danzo, do you take me for a fool?"

The old Third Naruto slammed his palm against the desk, his voice booming through the room like a great bell.

"How many people did you send behind my back to test that child?"

"Did you think I didn't know what you were planning with the First Naruto's cells and Wood Release?!"

Danzo staggered back a step under that pressure, panic flashing through his single eye.

"Hiruzen, what... what do you mean? I did this for Konoha!"

"Stop using Konoha as your shield!"

The old Third Naruto cut him off without mercy.

"Sen is the last bloodline of the Senju clan and Konoha's most precious asset!"

"Don't think your underhanded methods can be kept hidden forever."

He pointed at the wooden kunai on the desk, his tone exceedingly stern and beyond dispute.

"This is his warning to you, and my final ultimatum to you."

"From today onward, without my permission, neither you nor your Root may come within a single step of him!"

"If even one hair on his head is harmed, Danzo..."

The old Third Naruto's gaze was ice-cold.

"I'll expose every last bit of your dirty business!"

Danzo's face instantly turned ugly, alternating between green and white.

He glared at the Third Naruto, his chest heaving violently.

"You'll regret this, Hiruzen! You're raising a tiger that will bring disaster upon you!"

Danzo gritted his teeth as he threw out those words, then turned and stormed away with a sweep of his sleeve.

Only after watching Danzo's furious figure vanish through the doorway did the old Third Naruto finally relax.

He picked up the wooden kunai and turned it over in his hand, a gratified smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"That brat really is a thorny one."

"But that's good. Only someone with thorns can survive in this brutal ninja world."

After thinking for a moment, the old Third Naruto rose to his feet.

"Looks like I need to go soothe this little tiger."

At dusk, in the orphanage.

Sen was lying on a battered recliner in the courtyard, staring boredly at the clouds overhead.

His clone had taken a trip to Root last night and vented his anger thoroughly, so he had slept especially well today.

"Boss Sen! This is bad, this is bad!"

Naruto rushed in from outside like a tiny cannonball, gasping for breath.

"Grandpa Village Chief is here! He's carrying lots of things and heading this way!"

Sen rolled his eyes and lazily sat up.

"So what if he's here? Why are you making such a fuss? Go pour me a glass of water."

Naruto hurried off obediently to fetch water.

Before long.

The old Third Naruto entered the orphanage in casual clothes, carrying several exquisite food boxes and smiling warmly.

"Lord Naruto!"

Aunt Li and several caretakers hastily bowed in greeting.

The old Third Naruto waved his hand and walked straight up to Sen.

"Sen, have you gotten used to living here?"

The old man smiled kindly and set the food boxes on the stone table beside them.

"I heard you like sweets, so Grandpa specially had the owner of the dango shop make these snacks for you."

Sen looked at the delicate pastries and laughed inwardly.

This old fox was paying a New Year's visit to a chicken coop—he definitely had no good intentions.

He had probably seen that wooden kunai and learned that Sen could protect himself, so he had come to show goodwill.

"Wow! Thank you, Grandpa Naruto!"

Sen instantly switched into "innocent child" mode, his eyes lighting up as he pounced on the food boxes.

He grabbed a skewer of three-colored dango and began stuffing it into his mouth, deliberately getting sauce all over his face.

"Eat slowly. No one's going to take it from you."

Seeing Sen act so carefree and thoughtless, the old Third Naruto became even more certain.

Though the child had some cleverness, he was still, at heart, an innocent kid.

"Sen, has anything unpleasant happened at school lately?"

The old Third Naruto probed indirectly.

"Or... have you met anyone strange?"

Sen paused while eating his dango, sneering inwardly.

There it is.

"No, Grandpa Naruto."

Sen blinked his clear, wide eyes, looking utterly bewildered.

"The students at school are all really nice to me, and the teacher even praised me for being strong."

"As for strange people..."

Sen deliberately dragged out the words, pretending to think hard.

"Oh, right! Last night, there were some especially big rats running around outside. They made so much noise that I couldn't sleep properly."

Rats?

The old Third Naruto's eye twitched. Of course he knew whom those "rats" referred to.

This brat could insult someone without using a single curse word.

"Ahem, rats really are quite annoying."

The old Third Naruto coughed twice and went along with him.

"But don't worry. Grandpa has already sent people to catch those rats."

"From now on, I guarantee that none of those annoying things will disturb your sleep again."

He reached out and stroked Sen's head, his tone becoming exceptionally solemn.

"Konoha will always be your home. Grandpa will absolutely guarantee your safety."

It was a promise, as well as a disguised compromise.

As long as Sen stayed obediently in Konoha and did not cause any major trouble, the higher-ups would not make another move against him.

Sen understood perfectly.

This was exactly what he had been waiting to hear.

"Really? That's wonderful!"

Sen put on a flattered expression, so excited that the dango in his hand even fell to the ground.

"Thank you, Grandpa Naruto! From now on, I'll study hard and sleep every day... Ah, no, make progress every day!"

Seeing Sen's deeply grateful appearance, the old Third Naruto nodded in satisfaction, and the weight in his heart finally lifted completely.

The two understood each other without saying it, completing a perfect political transaction.

After seeing the old Third Naruto off.

Sen lay back in his wicker chair, gazing at the stars filling the sky as he let out a long breath.

"Now I can finally have some peace for a while."

The great endeavor of lying low had become secure once more.

With the Third Naruto's personal promise, even if that old dog Danzo harbored ill intent, he would not dare reach out with his thieving hands again anytime soon.

"Big Brother, what did Grandpa Village Chief say to you? He even brought you so much delicious food?"

Naruto came over holding a cup of water, swallowing hard as he stared at the snacks on the table.

Sen casually stuffed all the remaining dango into Naruto's arms.

He patted Naruto on the shoulder, smiling like a fox that had successfully stolen a meal.

"Nothing much."

"Grandpa Village Chief only told me..."

"From now on, I can swagger through school like I own the place."