In the highest conference room of Hokage Building, Hokage of all ages took the sealed scroll containing Dragon Vein Core and went straight to with great interest. Arsenal Core Laboratory. Hashirama Senju's enthusiasm for mechanical gears and Tobirama Senju's deduction of Chakra Railgun allowed them to completely leave the administrative mess behind.
Shikamaru Nara's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Naruto as he signed the last emergency order regarding the allocation of frontline supplies. Seeing the ink drying, Konoha's nerves, which had been tense for three days, finally broke. He rolled his eyes and fell backwards, hitting the leather sofa in the conference room. A loud snoring sound followed.
Naruto dropped the signature pen and rubbed his sore wrist. He dragged his almost broken body and walked out of the conference room with Sasuke, who was also covered in gunpowder smoke. The two avoided ANBU's patrol sight, skillfully followed the secret passage inside the building, and returned to the Root leader's exclusive office on the ground floor, preparing for a short rest.
The furnishings of the office were extremely simple, with no extra decoration except for a large solid wood desk and several sets of iron filing cabinets. Naruto had just slumped down on the leather office chair when he suddenly frowned. He suddenly covered his chest and let out a suppressed cough.
A faint smell of blood arose deep in his throat. An extremely weak stagnation and tingling sensation came from the depths of his chakra meridians. It was because after forcibly traveling through the purple-gold Space-Time Rift, some aura that did not belong to the current dimension still remained in the body, and was repelling his own chakra.
Just when he was about to close his eyes and use Nine-Tails Chakra to check the damage to his meridians, the heavy wooden door of the office was gently pushed open.
Hinata Hyuga carried an exquisite multi-layered insulated lunch box, and gentle Earth Flow came in.
Seeing Naruto covered in blood, Hokage Robe in tatters but with sound limbs, the worry in Hinata's eyes turned to joy. She quickly walked to the desk and gently put down the lunch box.
She took out a clean cotton handkerchief from her cuff. Hinata said nothing, but gently wiped the machine oil and pungent metal dust on Naruto's cheeks. After wiping, she leaned down and gently hugged the man who was working hard for Konoha.
Naruto's nerves that had been tense for several days were completely relaxed at this moment. He buried his head on Hinata's shoulder and let out a sigh of satisfaction.
Sasuke on the side was leaning against the blinds of the office. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes to meditate. Regarding this sour family atmosphere, the descendant of Uchiha expressed extreme disdain. He didn't even bother to look at it, and just quietly adjusted the chakra that had just recovered in his body.
However, just when Naruto was about to enjoy this rare warm moment, Hinata, who was buried in the crook of his neck, suddenly stopped.
Her delicate nose twitched slightly, and her originally gentle expression suddenly froze.
Under the cover of the strong smell of engine oil, gunpowder smoke and metal dust, Hinata keenly captured an extremely abrupt smell. It was the top-grade silk incense only used by the royal family of the Western Regions. Not only that, it was also mixed with a salty smell of tears with obvious feminine characteristics.
This unusual smell was firmly imprinted on the clothing fibers of Naruto's chest and left arm.
Hinata slowly let go of his arm and took half a step back.
The smile on her face was still flawless. But the temperature in the office suddenly dropped to freezing point. Even Sasuke, who was leaning against the window with his eyes closed to relax, noticed something was wrong and opened his eyes.
Hinata folded his hands in front of him and spoke so softly that it made people's scalp numb.
"Naruto-kun, you seem to have a strong smell of a strange woman."
The contented smirk on Naruto's face froze. A thin line of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His Adam's apple rolled with difficulty, and the speed of his brain even exceeded Rōran's calculations when dealing with Anrokuzan's main gun.
Naruto jumped up from the chair. He waved his hands wildly in front of his chest, trying to get through with poor excuses.
"What is Hinata, please listen to my explanation! This is definitely the smell of chemical gas produced when the iron nugget Anrokuzan exploded! Yes, it is the smell of inferior lubricating oil! The environment of the underground factory is too bad, there are all kinds of strange smells!"
Facing this feeble explanation, the veins around Hinata's eye sockets suddenly popped out.
Byakugan, on.
With absolute visual insight, Hinata's sight directly penetrated physical obstacles. Not only did she see the abnormal space-time chakra fluctuations remaining in Naruto's body, she also accurately targeted the location with the strongest smell.
It was the place where Queen of Roran Sara hugged her tightly and cried at the bottom of the cooling pool. The traces of tears on the fibers of the clothes were invisible to Byakugan's field of vision.
Staring hard at those pure Byakugan eyes without any emotion, the supreme commander Konoha who had fought monsters with his flesh and blood on the battlefield was so frightened that he backed away.
Naruto's lower back hit the edge of the desk, making a dull thud. The pen holder on the desk was shaken to the ground, and the signature pens inside were scattered all over the floor.
His speech was incoherent, and his voice even cracked due to extreme nervousness. He began to pour out information frantically, not even daring to hide the smallest details of the plot.
"It's true! The queen named Sara was just an accident! We were fighting monsters underground at Rōran, and she insisted on using her skirt to bandage my wounds, but I didn't let her go! I just pushed her away!"
Naruto swallowed a mouthful of saliva and continued to defend loudly.
"Later she fell from the sky and hugged me while I cried. There was a big hole in my stomach and I couldn't push it away! I swear there was absolutely no unnecessary physical contact! I didn't even look at her!"
Hinata still maintained that creepy smile. She took a step forward and locked her eyes on the healed position of Naruto's abdomen. A trace of imperceptible distress flashed through her eyes, but the pressure on the surface did not diminish at all.
Naruto was completely panicked. As if grasping the last straw, he suddenly turned his head and pointed at Sasuke, who was leaning against the window watching the show, and shouted for help.
"Sasuke can testify! We have been fighting side by side these past few days, dismantling machines and fighting monsters. There is absolutely nothing strange happening with any queen! Right, Sasuke?!"
Hearing Naruto's cry for help, Sasuke slowly stood up straight.
He glanced coldly at Hinata who was on the verge of going berserk. He didn't want to provoke the oppressive feeling of those Byakugans, even if he owned Eternal Mangekyos.
Then, Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who was sweating profusely and winking at him crazily.
In order to ensure that his body, which had just recovered chakra, would not be involved in this terrifying family Shura field, a trace of determination flashed in Sasuke's eyes.
He decisively Hand Seals with one hand. In an instant, his body turned into an afterimage and appeared on the tree trunk outside the window.
Sasuke stood behind the glass with his arms folded across his chest. In an extremely cold and irrelevant tone, he directly distanced himself from all relationships.
"Don't look at me. I've been moving bricks in the West District of Rōran for the past few days. No. 9527. The daily quota is five thousand yuan. I haven't even seen a female fly. I have no idea what he did."
After saying these words, Sasuke didn't give Naruto any chance to refute. He directly activated Body Flicker Technique, turning into a whirlwind and disappearing without a trace, without leaving any trace.
Naruto, who was brutally stabbed in the back by his good brother, froze in place. His outstretched right hand was still in the air, and his whole body seemed to be petrified.
Uchiha clan's ruthlessness is vividly displayed at this moment.
Facing the pressing pressure of Byakugan from Hinata, Naruto had no choice but to retreat. He could only sit back on the chair without tears.
He quickly opened the insulated lunch box on the table. He grabbed the steaming rice balls inside and crazily stuffed them into his mouth with big mouthfuls to show his loyalty, while he continued to explain every minute detail of the copy of Rōran in a vague and stuttering voice.
"Then I used Explosive Tag to blow up the cooling tower. I really didn't even look at her... That rice ball was so delicious. Dad saw it too, and he can testify. Finally, we used Taiji Rasengan to blow up the monster, and I quickly came back with Dragon Vein Core."
The sunshine outside the window shines warmly into the office.
Accompanied by Naruto's occasional slight cough caused by the residual space-time energy, and his vague explanation, Konoha High Command ushered in the rare post-war Daily Life, full of fresh life.
The veins around Hinata's eyes disappeared quietly. She looked at Naruto devouring the food, and the smile on her face finally returned to true tenderness. She reached out her hand, patted Naruto's back gently, and handed over a glass of warm water.
"Eat slowly, don't choke. Talk slowly after you finish eating."
Naruto, as if he had received an amnesty, quickly took the glass of water and drank it in one gulp. He knew that this fatal crisis had finally been temporarily over.
Outside the door, several ANBU members passed by. Listening to the movement in the office, they speeded up their pace in tacit understanding. In Konoha, some battles are more dangerous than facing Chaos monsters.
The rest time is always short. After the lunch box bottomed out, the panic on Naruto's face gradually subsided. He took the handkerchief Hinata handed him and wiped the rice grains from the corners of his mouth.
He stood up and walked to the window. On the streets of Konoha, civilians were busy repairing damaged buildings. In the direction of Arsenal, thick black smoke was rising from the tall chimneys again, which was a signal that the industrial gears were turning again.
The bringing back of Dragon Vein Core means that the heavy industrialization process of Konoha will completely get rid of the constraints of energy.
Naruto turned around and looked at Hinata. His eyes returned to the calmness and determination that a commander should have.
"Hinata, help me contact Engineering Department. Third Reactor's fuel replacement work must be completed tonight. In addition, notify Intelligence Department and closely monitor Land of Wind The movements at the border. Rōran's movements are too big for Sunagakure to be unaware of it. Although Gaara has signed a memorandum, that madman Colonel Ka must have back-ups."
Hinata nodded slightly and put away the lunch box. She knew that this man's war would never truly end.
"I will arrange it. However, the residual space-time chakra in your body must be checked by Lady Tsunade as soon as possible. Byakugan can see that those fragments are eroding the edges of your meridians."
Naruto waved his hand with a firm tone.
"This small injury is not a problem. Nine-Tails's chakra is already automatically cleaning up those fragments. The most important thing now is to send these newly produced Chakra-Conducting Metal to the Land of Rivers front line as soon as possible. Since Kabuto Yakushi has appeared in Rōran, it means that his White Zetsu Forces will make big moves soon."