"It's been a long time no see, Naruto-kun."
What Naruto didn't expect was that before Gaara arrived, Orochimaru arrived first.
What Naruto didn't expect was the two people behind Orochimaru.
The moment he opened the door, the air in the corridor seemed to freeze for a moment.
Orochimaru stood at the front, his pale face glowing like porcelain under the dim corridor light. Golden Snake Eyes squinted slightly, with a meaningful arc hanging at the corner of his mouth.
And behind him...
Naruto's pupils shrank suddenly.
Hashirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Grandpa Sarutobi, and is this...Lord Hashirama?"
Naruto was really surprised.
He stood at the door, still holding his hand on the door frame, and his blue eyes scanned Hashirama back and forth three times.
He has seen the face of Hashirama Senju, on the Hokage Rock of Konoha, on the huge statue of Valley of the End, and in the illustrations of history textbooks.
But those are all stone, fixed, and lifeless.
Standing in front of him at this moment was a living person with black hair like a waterfall, a resolute face, and a broad and strong body under coarse cloth clothes. His whole body exuded a kind of Chakra that made the air feel heavy.
He is completely different under Chakra and Kurama Mode, thicker and purer, as if the earth itself is breathing.
The Hashirama in front of me does not look like the state of Impure World Reincarnation.
People with Impure World Reincarnation will have cracks on their faces or their skin will appear off-white without cracks, and the whites of their eyes will turn black or become darker.
But Hashirama's face is fresh, her skin is a healthy wheat color, and her eyes are shining with dark brown light.
He lives.
Hashirama Senju has lived until now.
This knowledge itself was enough to surprise Naruto. What surprised Naruto even more was that the other party looked so young.
That face looked like he was thirty or forty years old at most, with not even a single deep wrinkle between his eyebrows. It was completely different from the old image of "God of Shinobi" in his memory.
There is a skill in maintaining beauty, Lord Hashirama.
"Although," Naruto retracted his gaze from Hashirama, turned to Orochimaru, and twitched the corner of his mouth, "We obviously separated two days ago. After Gaara Tailed Beast Transformation, you ran away directly."
Orochimaru shrugged, a trace of innocence flashed in Golden Snake Eyes.
"I just feel that that kind of scene is not suitable for me to participate in. After all, my research on Tailed Beast Transformation is not enough to observe it up close.
If it gets affected, it won't be worth it."
Naruto turned over Byakugan.
This reason is in line with Orochimaru's style.
Always be smart and always put yourself in the safest position.
After all, the other party is the one pursuing Immortality, so naturally he doesn't want to be in danger.
"This is indeed Lord Hashirama," Hiruzen Sarutobi walked out from behind Hashirama. The little old man stroked his beard with a smile, his gray eyebrows curved into two crescents, "He is also my teacher."
Naruto looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, then at Hashirama.
An old man in his nineties calls a man who looks to be in his thirties or forties "teacher". This image is somewhat inconsistent.
But Naruto has seen too many violations, so he quickly accepted it.
"You know," Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, with a long and solemn tone unique to telling legendary stories, "he is also a legend on Jianghu. The first Martial Arts Alliance Leader created the Shinobi Village system.
Bringing the families from the past Jianghu into Shinobi Village, and at the same time giving more geniuses from civilian backgrounds more room for development."
Naruto nodded.
Of course he knows.
The Shinobi Village system was jointly founded by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, which concentrated the Ninja families that were originally scattered all over the country into fixed villages, replacing the past family divisions with the form of a village.
The significance of this system goes far beyond military integration; it is a complete transformation of the social structure.
In Warring States Period, Ninja mainly operates as a family unit. The family monopolizes the inheritance of Ninjutsu, the channels for tasks, and the resources for survival.
Ninjas from civilian backgrounds, those with no family background, no blood lineage boundaries, and no ancestral secrets, can only live outside the system and rely on sporadic commissions to survive.
Minato Namikaze is the beneficiary of the Shinobi Village system.
In Warring States Period, compared to Ninja who came from a family, Ninja who came from a family can even be said to be stronger Ronin. They are usually engaged in jobs such as assassination and bodyguarding. A large part of them can't even assassinate and can only fight on the streets to grab territory.
This is not because they lack talent, but because they lack the methods and survival resources to transform talent into strength.
There is no teacher to teach them high-level Ninjutsu, no family to provide them with the secret method of Chakra cultivation, and no companions to learn practical skills with them.
Their talents are trapped in the poor soil, and most of them wither in the budding stage.
The existence of the village solves many problems.
Shinobi Village has centralized teachers, tasks, resources, and promotion channels, allowing Ninja, who was born as a civilian, to have a ladder to climb up.
Minato Namikaze is an example of climbing all the way to the top of this ladder.
Born as a commoner, with no Kekkei Genkai or family Secret Technique, he became the first Fourth Hokage Martial Arts Alliance Leader by relying on talent and hard work.
But the biggest problem is that Shinobi Village does not cover the entire country.
There are Konoha in Land of Fire, but there are still large tracts of land, towns, and villages in Land of Fire. There are no Shinobi Village in those places, and there is no systematic Ninja training system.
There will still be the legacy of geniuses like Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze who came from common people like Ninja.
They may not know that they have Ninja's talent all their lives, and they may spend their whole lives doing jobs that have nothing to do with Ninja in an unknown town.
Their talents were wasted and buried.
But this is not the fault of the Shinobi Village system. Most Ninja are not involved in production, and a country's carrying capacity for Ninja is limited.
Naruto looked at Hashirama and suddenly thought of a question.
Hashirama Senju is still alive, but what about Tobirama Senju and Madara Uchiha?
"Lord Hashirama," Naruto spoke, his blue eyes meeting Hashirama's gaze magnanimously, "Why did you come to me?"
Hashirama did not answer immediately.
He stood in the corridor and looked at Naruto for a long time, from top to bottom, from blond hair to blue eyes, from white robe to Longsword on his waist. Then he spoke, his voice low.
"Let me see what the third person Great Toad Sage said looks like."
And what about Old Toads?