Naruto's Changes

Hokage Building.

Thud!

The Third Hokage slammed a stack of documents onto the desk.

"Danzo, what are you trying to do? You actually opened the dungeon without authorization? How would you take responsibility if other prisoners escaped?"

Danzo replied coldly, "Sarutobi, what are you talking about? I know nothing about the dungeon."

The Third Hokage shouted angrily, "You're still trying to deny it? Jito's corpse from your Root was found in the dungeon, and you still claim you knew nothing?"

Danzo planted his cane on the floor. "Jito acted on his own. It has nothing to do with me."

"Danzo! Stop putting on an act in front of me! Did you think no one knew you ordered Ryoma to seize the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan?"

"The Secret Jutsu Division found evidence inside Ryoma's corpse!"

"Hmph!" Danzo stopped pretending and glared furiously at the Third Hokage.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi! I told you long ago that the Uchiha Clan needed to be eliminated early, but you kept hesitating!"

"Now the Uchiha Clan has grown powerful. There are two Mangekyō Sharingan users within the clan, and Itachi and Shisui outside it."

"If you hadn't stopped me, I would have wiped out the Uchiha Clan long ago!"

The Third Hokage slapped the desk as well.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! All you know is killing! Uchiha Fugaku has long been a Mangekyō Sharingan user! He simply never made it public."

"Can you defeat Susanoo!? How many lives would you have to sacrifice to destroy the Uchiha Clan?"

"Can you guarantee Cloud Village won't take advantage of the chaos!? Can you guarantee Mist Village won't come? Or do you think Stone Village is easy to deal with?"

Danzo retorted,

"If you had weakened the Uchiha Clan earlier, would a powerhouse like Natsuki have emerged? Without the Uchiha Clan holding us back, which ninja village could stand against us?"

Thinking of Uchiha Natsuki's Susanoo, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a wave of irritation.

He picked up his pipe and took a hard puff.

"What's the point of saying that now? You are not allowed to provoke the Uchiha Clan anymore. As for Ryoma, step down from your position as Advisor Elder for some time."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi!" Danzo glared viciously at the Third Hokage.

But the Third Hokage merely kept a stern face, showing no other expression.

"Hmph!" After glaring at each other for several seconds, Danzo snorted heavily and stormed off with a flick of his sleeve.

Watching Danzo's retreating back, the Third Hokage picked up his pipe and took a deep drag.

"Lord Natsuki, word has come from the Third Hokage. Danzo has been stripped of his position as Advisor Elder."

Natsuki raised his brows at the report. This Third Hokage really was playing the same old game again.

Though Danzo had been removed from his post as Advisor Elder, making him a commoner on the surface,

as long as Root remained in Danzo's hands, he would never truly fall.

Losing the title of Advisor Elder merely cost him some money.

After everything that had happened before, Danzo had little reputation left to begin with.

Danzo was being clever now. He was doing everything he could to reduce his presence.

People were forgetful. Once enough things happened and some time passed, they would no longer remember what Danzo had done.

Still, at least he would settle down for a while.

Natsuki still had little interest in managing the clan's affairs, and he had spoken frankly with Fugaku twice.

He made it clear that he truly had no interest in such matters, and Fugaku could only let him be.

After all, Natsuki was still young. There was plenty of time.

What worried Fugaku was that after the policy encouraging childbirth was introduced, many clan members had responded enthusiastically.

Some had lost family members after the Third Shinobi World War ended.

Others had already intended to have more children during this time of peace.

In just two months, quite a few Uchiha women had been confirmed pregnant.

Once those babies were born a year later, the clan would have to spend a huge sum of money.

The Uchiha treasury was in dire straits.

Natsuki simply told Fugaku not to worry. If things truly came to that, they could capture a few rogue ninja.

Some bounty money would be enough to get them through, and there was still plenty of time.

Fugaku could only temporarily put his worries aside and discuss with Natsuki the various Sealing Jutsu Natsuki had recently learned.

It had to be said that although the Uchiha Clan had its own collection, Sealing Jutsu had always been one of its weaknesses.

To be precise, no nation was particularly strong in Sealing Jutsu.

Konoha's Sealing Jutsu was strong because when the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, Konoha had received some of its assets.

However, Fugaku had no talent for Sealing Jutsu. He was even worse than the younger clan members Natsuki had found.

After a week of teaching him without success, Natsuki could only write it down and have Fugaku practice on his own.

He then went to the Ninja Academy to visit Naruto and Sasuke.

Because he had suddenly thought of something that concerned him greatly.

Naruto absolutely could not! Invent that vulgar Sexy Jutsu.

In the original world, Naruto had invented that technique to draw attention to himself.

But he no longer needed to do that now, which meant Naruto would not have to sneak into the women's bathhouse every day.

Thinking of the hero's son doing such filthy things every day before his values had even formed, Natsuki felt sorry for Minato.

And that old fool Jiraiya—there was nothing to criticize about him in other respects, but his personal tastes and morals were truly hard to praise.

Konoha Academy.

Naruto, who had always run wild everywhere as a child, found it somewhat difficult to sit still at his desk.

Listening to all that written knowledge made him drowsy.

But when he saw Sasuke and Hinata listening attentively, he could only settle down and listen to the teacher as well.

Naruto now always had friends around him when he went out. Sasuke, Hinata, Shikamaru, and the others often spent time with him.

In the end-of-month exams, Sasuke had already defeated everyone and taken first place.

Once, Hinata had been bullied by some ignorant civilian children.

Their parents were warned afterward, and the child was beaten as soon as they got home. The crying could be heard across two streets.

Later, the civilian children learned about the main families of the Great Ninja Clans, so they no longer dared provoke them.

They also no longer dared openly bully Naruto, whom they had once pelted with stones and isolated.

Ever since Natsuki began looking after him, Naruto often wore new clothes and ate well.

Aside from Ichiraku Ramen, Sasuke also dragged him around to try all kinds of delicious food.

Although Sasuke had been reluctant on the surface when he received Natsuki's order, the two children still had a great time together.

Sometimes Hinata would join them, or Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji.

Although Neji was a year ahead of them, he would sometimes come along with Hinata as well.

Under such circumstances, Naruto's spirits improved tremendously.

He no longer dressed in ragged clothes, no longer caused trouble all day, and the baseless hatred toward him had become much less frequent.

Moreover, under orders from the Third Hokage, Kakashi had approached Naruto.

After they happened to meet several times at Ichiraku Ramen, Kakashi began getting to know Naruto.

He would also arrange chance encounters and chat with Naruto for a while.

Naruto was a child who was easily satisfied. He felt that every day now was especially happy.

And that happiness had begun with Lord Natsuki.

So if Lord Natsuki told him not to be naughty, he had to behave.

Though class was a little boring, Naruto still listened patiently.