Murder in the Hokage's Office

Naruto scared the little brats so badly that they ran home crying.

Once they had fled, Naruto turned to Hinata behind him and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I... I'm Hinata Hyuga."

Hinata reached out her little hand and gently shook Naruto's, then hurriedly pulled it back. Her cheeks flushed again, though whether from the cold or embarrassment was anyone's guess.

Just as Naruto was about to offer to walk Hinata home, a figure hurried toward them.

"Lady Hinata, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Um... Reiko, I just..."

Reiko Hyuga knew the young Hyuga heiress in her care well enough. With Hinata's personality, she knew the girl would struggle to explain herself, so she simply didn't wait for an explanation.

"Lady Hinata, Lord Hiashi is already looking for you. Let's go home!"

Hinata gave a quiet "Mm," then glanced at Naruto and thanked him again before leaving with Reiko Hyuga.

Reiko Hyuga gave Naruto a once-over but said nothing.

Watching Hinata's retreating figure, Naruto burst out laughing.

He laughed because he had remembered a Naruto meme from his previous life.

The savior, Naruto Uzumaki, married into Konoha's wealthy Hyuga Clan, only to suffer disdainful white-eyed looks from the entire family-until he became the Seventh, and Kakashi, the Sixth, draped the Hokage's cloak over his shoulders.

With a crooked smirk, he threw off his apron and led Hinata out of the Hyuga Clan's home, declaring over his shoulder, "I don't need to stay with this Hyuga Clan!"

Of course, it was only a meme, but having the entire Hyuga family look at him with their Byakugan was certainly a real possibility.

The first thing Naruto saw when he returned home was the empty table.

He smiled. "Sure enough, they took the computer."

Naruto didn't care about a single computer. With a hammer and wrench, Wolffy could bang out as many of these computers as he wanted, at a rate that could easily rival an assembly line.

Next, he had to figure out how to pull the wool over the Third Hokage's eyes.

As long as he fooled the Third, he would have an explanation for whatever Wolffy built next.

With that, Naruto turned off the lights, lay down, and went to sleep.

Outside the window, Bluebird was taken aback by Naruto's indifference.

He had been fully prepared for Naruto to summon him for questioning, but instead, Naruto had simply gone to sleep...

Still, this confirmed one thing for Bluebird: that laptop wasn't particularly important to Naruto.

Meanwhile, at the Sarutobi Clan's home.

The Third Hokage was still watching porn for the purpose of critical evaluation.

Just as he had expected, he had now built up some resistance to the explicit scenes. At least his nose was no longer spraying blood everywhere.

Sometimes, however, a rush of blood still made his nose feel warm.

After successfully critiquing one film, the Third checked the time and realized it was getting late.

He had to get up early tomorrow to visit Naruto and ask where such wonderful... ahem, such utterly filthy material had come from.

If Naruto had any more, he would have to confiscate it all. He couldn't allow such things to corrupt a fine young boy who aspired to inherit the Will of Fire.

What the Third Hokage didn't know was that, perhaps because he had lost too much blood, he had forgotten to turn off his office lights when he left work.

His best buddy Danzo was a man who could work day and night for the Hokage position.

Seeing the lights still on in the Hokage's office puzzled Danzo.

He didn't recall Hiruzen Sarutobi being a workaholic like himself.

Without knocking, he pushed open the door and entered.

When he saw the scene inside, his mind reeled.

Blood was splattered all over the office floor.

Danzo's first thought was that the Third had been murdered. His second was... The Hokage position is mine.

His heart pounded wildly.

Becoming Hokage had been his lifelong ambition. Besides, Danzo had always believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi's indecisive nature made him wholly unsuitable for the role. Only he, Shimura Danzō, was the true candidate for Hokage.

Danzo didn't announce that the Hokage might have been murdered. His first move was to have his Root operatives secretly take up positions near Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, the two representatives of Konoha's elders, ready to detain them at any moment.

He did this first because those two would definitely oppose his becoming Hokage.

They knew that if Danzo became Hokage, he would never allow them to retain their power the way Hiruzen Sarutobi did.

In addition, the Konoha Military Police Force and Konoha's outer defensive lines,

as well as Konoha's Barrier Team, were all placed under surveillance by Danzo's men.

Only after making all these arrangements did Danzo head to the Sarutobi Clan Compound to confirm whether Hiruzen Sarutobi was alive or dead.

As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't at the Sarutobi Clan Compound, Danzo would have grounds to make his move.

After all, the Third Hokage was missing, and his office floor was covered in blood. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't dead, it would be too late when he reappeared, because Konoha would already be under Danzo's control.

With several Root operatives in tow, Danzo ignored the Sarutobi clansmen trying to stop him and headed straight for Hiruzen Sarutobi's house.

"Lord Danzo, why have you barged into our Sarutobi Clan Compound in the middle of the night?"

The speaker was a middle-aged man who bore some resemblance to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

His name was Naoto Sarutobi, and he was Hiruzen Sarutobi's younger brother. Since Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Third Hokage, Naoto Sarutobi currently served as head of the Sarutobi Clan.

Seeing Naoto Sarutobi blocking his way, Danzo said expressionlessly, "I'm here to check on Hiruzen."

"Hiruzen? What happened to the Third Hokage?" Naoto Sarutobi asked, puzzled.

"We won't know exactly what happened until I see him!" With that, Danzo stopped wasting words on Naoto Sarutobi and headed deeper into the Sarutobi Clan Compound.

Before he reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's house, however, a pale-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared before him.

"Danzo... what are you trying to do?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice sounded rather weak, but fortunately... this was the Sarutobi Clan Compound. He had little reason to fear Danzo here!

"Hiruzen? You're all right?"

Danzo sounded surprised.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Then why is your office floor covered in blood?"

Danzo's voice was grim.

At that moment, Danzo was deeply displeased. He felt he had been only one step away from becoming Hokage. If only Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't appeared...

At that thought, a flicker of killing intent surfaced in Danzo's eyes.

But he quickly calmed down. If... he really attacked here, even if he successfully killed Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would no longer be able to remain in Konoha.

Besides... although Hiruzen Sarutobi had become indecisive, Danzo still held his strength in high regard!