Looking at Naruto's sincere and radiant smile, as well as the grilled fish he handed over, Sasuke felt a warmth stir in her heart.
She was very familiar with this feeling, as if it were just yesterday.
She used to cling to this feeling. Back then, she felt she would be surrounded by it for the rest of her life-Dad, Mom, and Big Sis...
Yet until that night...
She saw her parents lying in a pool of blood, and her sister's hands stained red with it.
"Thank you."
Watching the shifts in Sasuke's expression, Naruto knew what she was thinking.
"People have to look forward. Don't always live in sorrow and darkness."
Naruto originally thought the relationship between himself and Sasuke had grown closer, yet he didn't know how much hatred Sasuke held toward her sister for annihilating the Uchiha.
"Hmph, don't live in sorrow and darkness... Naruto, do you know what I've been through? Do you know how agonizing it is for a person to guard the massive, lifeless Uchiha Clan Compound?"
Hearing this, Naruto couldn't help recalling what happened yesterday afternoon.
He gave a bitter smile and said, "I don't understand? I understand better than anyone. How long have you been all alone? And do you know what I've been through all these years?"
Seeing Naruto's dim gaze and low tone, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.
Right. What qualification did she have to compare herself to Naruto?
Just a single night of that dead, pitch-black darkness had almost driven her mad. Yet Naruto had been all alone all these years, without any friends or family-how on earth had he endured it?
"I'm sorry... I didn't think it through." Sasuke lowered her head and softly said.
"It's fine. I've gotten used to it after so many years. If I couldn't bear these things... then how could I possibly defeat genius you as a dropout?"
Naruto didn't want to be sentimental; he was simply speaking facts.
Even though the hatred was carved into his bones, it wasn't enough to make a proper person completely plunge into the abyss of darkness.
"Hmph, I only got counter-managed because I was careless. Wait... wait until I get stronger, and I'll definitely beat you." Sasuke unconvincedly said.
Heh... "Alright, that's the spirit."
Yet just as Naruto's voice fell, the system prompt rang in his mind.
[Ding, prompting the host that you are being monitored by the Telescope Technique!]
Since he was being spied on by Hiruzen's Telescope Technique, Naruto didn't even want to say what came next.
However, seeing that Naruto wasn't speaking, Sasuke took the initiative to ask, "Naruto, since you work so hard, do you have some unfinished wish?"
Hearing this, Naruto looked up at Sasuke's delicate cheeks and thought: You really are a treasure of a girl. Your assists are on par with Hinata's.
"Ahem... What's the difference between having no wish and a salted fish?"
"Then what is your wish?"
In the past, Sasuke wouldn't have been interested in caring about a dropout's wish, but through their contact over the past two days, she found that Naruto was not only stronger than her, but also knew many things she had never heard of before.
"My wish is..."
Hearing this, Naruto flashed a radiant smile, widening his eyes and staring unblinkingly at Sasuke, staring right until she felt a chill in her heart.
This scene happened to be witnessed simultaneously by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo inside the Hokage Office.
"My wish is to be recognized by everyone in the village, to become the Hokage, and even surpass the successive Hokage!!!"
Upon hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke was also slightly taken aback.
If not for everything she had experienced these past few days-having already learned to think calmly-she might have actually believed it.
If his ambition was to become Hokage, then why would he tell her about the darkness of Root and the light of the Third?
Sure enough, right after Naruto righteous and solemnly, sworn-to-be-Hokage-in-the-future speech ended, the system prompt immediately arrived.
[Ding, the surveillance from the 'Telescope Technique' has vanished.]
Hearing this, Naruto smiled as he looked at Sasuke. At this moment, he felt Sasuke was truly adorable.
Why?
With these recent system talent prompts coupled with Sasuke's several divine assists, he might be able to gain Hiruzen's trust in advance, thereby bringing the ANBU surveillance to an end ahead of schedule.
"If you want to be Hokage, then be Hokage. Why are you staring at me like that?" Sasuke huffed.
With the ANBU surveillance gone and the Third having once again heard his ambition, he had contentedly canceled the peeping technique, and only then did Naruto dare to speak the truth.
"Don't you understand why I'm staring at you?" Naruto scoffed as he bit into his grilled fish.
"Why?" Sasuke pressed.
"Talking nonsense with your eyes wide open, of course."
Sasuke, who was also eating her grilled fish, nearly choked when she heard Naruto say that. "That's fair."
They were both smart people; some things didn't need to be spelled out-they were each as clear as a mirror to the other.
If Naruto were truly so keen on the Hokage Position, he wouldn't have told Sasuke about Konoha's darkness and light.
Meanwhile, the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his hands, the image on the crystal ball vanished, and he slowly raised his head to look at the gloomy-looking Danzo.
"I actually think it's quite good for the two of them to get close and form a bond. Although the Sharingan can control the Nine-Tails, it can also suppress it."
Hearing this, Danzo let out a cold huff and lowly said, "You were personally present the night of the Nine-Tails' Attack, and instilling the Will of Fire into the Uchiha clansmen is fundamentally an enormous risk. Look at Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi-do you still want to pin your hopes on Sasuke?"
As he spoke, Danzo pulled out a stack of photographs and threw them onto the table.
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up a few photos and looked at them, his brows furrowing slightly as he looked at Danzo and said, "Isn't Sasuke's refusal to accept the village's subsidies entirely due to your incompetence? If Sasuke hadn't seen Root taking over the Uchiha assets last night, would she have become like this?"
"Hmph... everything I do is for Konoha."
As he spoke, Danzo slowly stood up, looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and reminded him, "Didn't you also take over the vast fortune left behind after Minato and Kushina died?"
Having his old secrets exposed, Hiruzen Sarutobi grew somewhat angry. "I was just holding onto it for Naruto! If all of it were given to a child like him, the consequences would be unimaginable!"
"Ridiculous... Hiruzen... you're still as hypocritical as ever." Danzo paced around, turning as he walked with crisp tap-tap steps. "When you and I are talking, you don't need to put on that act you show the public."
"Hmph, regardless, Naruto and Sasuke don't need Root to meddle. Naruto has already inherited the Will of Fire and sworn to become Hokage; in the future, he will definitely be Konoha's weapon to deter other nations. As for Sasuke, as long as she forms a bond with the village, she will also become an asset to the village in the future!"
"As you wish... But Root won't give up so easily. The moment I find out Sasuke harbors any rebellious intent, I will take emergency measures."
After saying this, Danzo left the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a plume of smoke, paced out of the office, and came to the roof of the Hokage Building.
Immediately, an ANBU operative wearing a demon-fox mask appeared.
"Based on your prolonged protection and observation... has Naruto ever shown any phenomenon of hostility toward the villagers?"
"Hump, report to Lord Hokage, our three ANBU squads spent three years and never once found Naruto showing the slightest hint of hostility, and... he constantly has becoming the Hokage on his lips. This subordinate believes Naruto's sense of belonging to Konoha is extremely strong."
Listening to his confidant's objective reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and slowly said, "Immediately cancel the protection detail on Naruto, and at the same time tighten the gag order on the villagers. Severe punishment for violators!"
"Hump!"
Receiving Lord Hokage's order, the ANBU squad leader also acknowledged it and vanished from the Hokage Building.
After the ANBU left, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood alone on the rooftop for a long time, and ultimately made several body-flicker leaps to leave directly, heading straight for Iruka's residence.
"Yes, Lord Hokage. From now on, I will pay special attention to Naruto."
Iruka's parents died in the Nine-Tails' Attack, so ever since she became Naruto's homeroom teacher, she had always been indifferent to him, and even looked at Naruto with the exact same gaze as the villagers.
Yet Lord Hokage's order could not be disobeyed, so she immediately agreed.
"Iruka... Naruto has suffered from a lack of affection since childhood and desperately needs the recognition of others. You can focus on this aspect to break through. Remember, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is Konoha's future stable strategic safeguard. I am entrusting this S-Rank mission to you in secret."
With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi produced another stack of silver taels. "This is for extra expenses during the mission. Naruto has a monotonous life, an empty heart, and loves eating ramen."
"Hump!" Iruka knelt on one knee.
"Mm... Once the mission is brilliantly completed, in the future you will be the principal of the Konoha Ninja Academy."
Having said this, Hiruzen Sarutobi performed the Body Flicker Technique and vanished without a trace.
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