Conversation in the Hokage's Office

Naruto had initially only wanted to mooch a free bowl of ramen from Uncle Choza, but when he saw the look in Choji's eyes.

He understood. This was no ordinary contest. It was a contest between men—real men!

A man did not necessarily need to boast about having powerful muscles.

If you truly wanted to know whether someone was a boy or a man, do not look at his body. Look at his heart.

Words of wisdom from Gege!

From this moment on, the nature of things had changed.

Because Naruto was still adapting to the Uzumaki Clan constitution, he had an enormous appetite.

And he had gone to sleep after ten last night.

He had not eaten for more than ten hours. He was one second away from starving to death!

As a descendant of the Akimichi Clan, Choji naturally possessed an appetite far beyond that of ordinary people.

At first, the two of them were evenly matched in terms of appetite!

As the number of empty bowls kept rising, in order to avoid wasting food, Uncle Teuchi would ask them whether they could still eat before making another bowl of ramen.

Only after receiving a definite answer would he start cooking the next bowl.

As an adult, Choza Akimichi watched his son compete with Naruto, and his blood began to boil.

Passionate—too passionate! This was what real boys should be like.

At this moment, he had also forgotten the order Hiruzen Sarutobi had privately given him before: approach Naruto and have the younger generation become friends with him.

Now, Choza had completely accepted Naruto from the bottom of his heart. As expected of Minato's child!

In the end, the battle concluded with Naruto eating eight bowls and Choji eating seven!

"Naruto, I can't eat anymore. You won. I surrender!"

Beside him, Choji raised the white flag as well, indicating his surrender.

Naruto had actually reached his limit too. He could still eat, but after eating so much, even delicious Ichiraku Ramen had started to become a little tiresome.

"Choji, you're amazing too. I can barely eat anymore myself. Let's eat together again when we get the chance!"

The moment Choji heard Naruto say that, he instantly recovered at full health and happily threw an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Then it's a promise! We'll eat together again next time!"

Choji had also accepted Naruto from the bottom of his heart. Naruto was a man who could become his lifelong best friend!

"Hahaha! Watching you two today made me happy too. I'll pay the bill!" Choza Akimichi said, rising to pay.

Naruto suddenly remembered something and hurriedly stood up. "It's okay, Uncle. I had a great time today too. Let me treat you!"

"Sure, but Naruto, do you have money?" Choza asked curiously. He had heard that Naruto did not seem to have much money and lived a rather difficult life.

"It's fine, it's fine. An old grandpa will help me pay!" Naruto said with an innocent act.

Seeing Naruto insist, Choza could only give in and leave with Choji.

After waving goodbye to the two of them and asking Uncle Teuchi to put the bill on the old grandpa's tab, Naruto left Ichiraku Ramen and returned home.

On the way home, Choza Akimichi said to the somewhat dejected Choji, "It's okay, Choji. Losing once isn't embarrassing. Once you start at the Ninja Academy, you can learn our Akimichi Clan's secret techniques. We Akimichi have the ability to convert fat into massive amounts of chakra.

"Once you learn the secret techniques, you'll definitely be able to out-eat Naruto!"

"Really? Dad, that's great! Naruto is amazing. His appetite was actually bigger than mine. Next time, I'll definitely win!" Choji immediately brightened up.

"Hehe, of course!" As they walked home, Choza suddenly remembered something and said to Choji, "Choji, you go home first. I have something to do, so I'll be back later!"

Although Choji had some questions, he did not say anything and went home by himself.

Choza headed straight toward the Hokage's office and soon arrived there.

After knocking on the door and hearing a "Come in," Choza Akimichi entered and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi working at his desk.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced up. When he saw that it was Choza, he lowered his head and continued handling the documents. "Choza, how did the task I gave you go? What do you think of Naruto?"

Choza had come to report on his task. "Lord Hokage, I think Naruto is a good child, and Choji likes him very much too. They will definitely become close friends."

"Oh? Is that so? It seems Naruto really is a sensible child. Then I can rest easy in the future. Aside from you, I have also instructed the heads of several clans. You must build a good relationship with Naruto. Talk to him often about the Will of Fire, whether there's anything going on or not. It will be good for Naruto too."

"I understand, Lord Hokage. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

After Choza Akimichi left, Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his work and began thinking about Naruto.

Naturally, he knew how Naruto was treated in the village. Sometimes, even he could not help but feel that Naruto was somewhat pitiful.

On the surface, he had ordered Naruto's background to be concealed for Naruto's own good.

He claimed that Minato and Kushina had made too many enemies in the ninja world, and that exposing Naruto's identity would be extremely detrimental to him.

In reality, he understood, and the other clan heads understood as well, that all of this was to consolidate his own position. Though he was already advanced in age, his desire for power had not diminished in the slightest.

The Uzumaki Clan name, blond hair, and being called a demon fox by the villagers.

Anyone determined to investigate the Nine-Tails could possibly deduce Naruto's identity.

The Third Hokage's explanation was merely a cover-up, nothing more than deceiving himself and others.

Only if Naruto was the demon fox could the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze's death appear even more tragic and heroic. And the achievement of him stepping forward to subdue the Nine-Tails would be firmly remembered by the villagers.

Not everyone knew that Minato had used his own life to perform the Reaper Death Seal, sealing half of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto and the other half inside himself.

Most of these Konoha Village residents were ignorant. As long as he provided them with a reasonable explanation, they would surely believe it and would not harbor much suspicion.

Even so, Naruto had somehow remained so optimistic and did not resent the villagers. Minato, was your child born to become Hokage?

Without realizing it, Hiruzen Sarutobi's identity had quietly shifted from that of an ambitious politician toward that of a true grandfather.

Even so, nothing he had done in the past could be changed. People constantly changed and moved forward amid such contradictions.

With a sweep of his hands, an ANBU instantly appeared.

"Lord Hokage!" The ANBU gave a slight bow and spoke to Hiruzen Sarutobi with great respect.

"Notify Kakashi and have him come to the office." Hiruzen Sarutobi resumed handling official business as he spoke to the ANBU beside him.

"Yes!" The ANBU moved quickly.

Before long, Kakashi arrived at the Hokage's office.

Kakashi had a head of silver-white hair, often described as "just-woke-up hair" because he frequently looked as though he had just risen from sleep.

His hair had slanted bangs over his forehead, while the hair at both sides was slightly longer and could cover part of his ears.

Kakashi's left eye was covered by his forehead protector. That left eye was the Sharingan his best friend Obito had left him.

Kakashi's facial features were rather gentle, with a high nose bridge and thin lips.

His jawline was well-defined, giving him an air of calmness and determination.

However, most of his face was concealed by his mask and forehead protector.

As a ninja of Konoha Village, Kakashi wore the standard ninja outfit, including a green vest bearing Konoha Village's emblem, along with a black bodysuit and pants.

He had a large pouch on his thigh for carrying ninja tools.

"Lord Hokage, you summoned me." Kakashi spoke respectfully to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Kakashi, you have been in ANBU long enough and have completed many missions. But your methods have become increasingly ruthless lately. If this continues, I will have to question whether you can become a ninja with excellent judgment."

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke slowly.

"Lord Hokage, I believe my methods are reasonable and necessary. My opponents are enemies from the various ninja villages. Showing them mercy would be cruelty toward ourselves!"

Kakashi did not believe he had done anything wrong.

"It's fine, Kakashi. I do not mean to blame you. Rest for a while in the coming days. I have another task for you."

"Lord Hokage, what task is it? I will definitely complete it properly!" Kakashi had gone through many upheavals by then and could only numb his senses by immersing himself in missions.

Otherwise, the loss of his best friend, personally killing Rin Nohara from his own team!

His father committing suicide at home!

The deaths of his teacher and teacher's wife!

After such a series of experiences, an ordinary person would have long since suffered a mental breakdown!

"A very important task. Protect Naruto Uzumaki. Until he successfully graduates from the Ninja Academy, you will be primarily responsible for his protection. Can you accomplish it, Kakashi?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked solemnly.

"Naruto Uzumaki? My teacher's child? I will definitely complete this task properly!" Kakashi accepted the mission.

"Very good. I can rest easy leaving Naruto's safety to you. Go, Kakashi. I hope that through this long-term mission, you can emerge from the shadows."

Hiruzen Sarutobi also felt somewhat guilty toward Kakashi.

Back then, Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, had been a pillar of Konoha Village. A powerful genius ninja who wielded a chakra short sword radiating white light, he had been known as the "White Fang of Konoha." His name resounded throughout every nation.

However, because he had earned the Daimyo's favor, he had been granted a Hokage haori.

This had made Danzo, who had coveted the Hokage position for a long time, intensely jealous.

That was why he had meticulously planned the incident that later shocked Konoha.

During a secret mission, Sakumo Hatake had chosen the lives of his comrades over completing the mission.

As a result, the mission had failed.

Originally, this was a normal matter. Any ninja could fail any mission.

But this failure had been exploited by Danzo.

Not only did he spread rumors throughout the village that Sakumo Hatake had caused the mission to fail due to personal desires.

He also brainwashed the companion who had been rescued during the mission, making him say to Sakumo Hatake.

"I never asked you to save me. Why didn't you complete the mission? Now the villagers are pointing fingers at me. I might as well have died back then."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, knew all of this. But at the time, Sakumo Hatake's prestige had been far too high, even surpassing that of the Three Sannin, whom he had originally intended to succeed him as Hokage.

So he had tacitly approved of this method of suppression, hoping to reduce Sakumo Hatake's reputation and pave the way for the Three Sannin of Konoha to inherit the Hokage position.

He had not expected things to go too far. Amid enormous controversy, denunciation from the villagers, and accusations from his comrades.

Sakumo Hatake suffered a mental breakdown and chose suicide.

Konoha had directly lost such a high-level combat force, which also left Hiruzen Sarutobi filled with regret.

From then on, Hiruzen Sarutobi transferred the guilt he felt toward Sakumo Hatake onto Kakashi.

Kakashi was also an extremely talented member of Konoha's younger generation, but he had suffered too many blows.

As a result, he now lived by killing every day and was on the verge of losing himself.

That was why Hiruzen Sarutobi had him protect Naruto, hoping Naruto's optimistic attitude could slowly pull him back onto the right path.

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