The same qualities

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Shihōin Naraku and Kakashi Hatake to give their assessments of Naruto Uzumaki.

Kakashi Hatake offered a thoroughly fair assessment based on his own impressions of Naruto Uzumaki, laying out everything he thought.

Just as he had said, Kakashi Hatake really had not thought much of Naruto Uzumaki at first. It was only when Naruto began tree-climbing practice that he changed his mind.

Every ninja would encounter countless dangers and difficulties as they grew. Perseverance was the only beacon that could accompany them along that thorny path.

Before setting foot on the broad road that led to the destination, they had to walk muddy trails, wade through rivers with hidden undercurrents, and brave forests rife with danger.

Naruto Uzumaki's refusal to give up was the only thing he could rely on.

So although the moved Kakashi Hatake still spoke harshly, deep down, he had already acknowledged Naruto Uzumaki.

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to Kakashi Hatake's assessment without missing a word. It matched his understanding of Naruto Uzumaki, as well as his understanding of Kakashi Hatake.

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake both looked at Shihōin Naraku, waiting for him to speak.

"Let me think... How should I put it? Naruto Uzumaki will definitely become the strongest ninja in all of Konoha-no, in the entire shinobi world!"

"Oh, except for me!"

Shihōin Naraku rubbed his chin and gave his answer.

"Naraku..."

Thinking he was joking, Kakashi Hatake called his name, urging him to be serious.

"What's gotten into you lately? Why have you changed so much?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi irritably tapped his pipe against the desk, then coughed a few times and glared sternly at Shihōin Naraku.

"Be serious. Stop joking!"

Shihōin Naraku spread his hands helplessly. Why did nobody believe him when he told the truth?

With all the cheats Naruto Uzumaki had, wasn't it perfectly normal for him to reach the top of the shinobi world?

Now Naraku's own system was even more ridiculously powerful, so crushing the entire shinobi world would not be hard for him either.

He had almost forgotten Sasuke Uchiha.

Never mind. Naraku would take first place himself and let Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha fight over second.

Since nobody believed him now, Shihōin Naraku could only tone down his assessment:

"Let me think, let me think..."

"Everyone in Konoha grew up hearing legends about the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and I was no exception. Our teachers often told us about him at the Ninja Academy, too. When I was little, my friends and I would also play games where we pretended to be the First Hokage bringing peace to the Warring States Period."

"After growing up, I also read quite a few of the village's records of the First Hokage's deeds, so I know a fair amount about him."

Of course, that also includes the anime I watched in my previous life, Shihōin Naraku muttered inwardly.

At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake still had not figured out what Shihōin Naraku was trying to say.

They had asked him to assess Naruto Uzumaki. Why had he started talking about the First Hokage?

Shihōin Naraku ignored their confusion and continued:

"Although I haven't had much contact with Naruto Uzumaki yet, for some reason, I see the same qualities in him as in the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."

"I don't understand what those qualities are, but they're there in the words describing the First Hokage, and they're there in Naruto Uzumaki, too."

"So if this era is ultimately going to undergo a tremendous change, then in my eyes, Naruto Uzumaki is the true Child of the Prophecy!"

Having finished his assessment of Naruto Uzumaki, Shihōin Naraku muttered inwardly, Nobody will understand what I mean right now, but in the future, you'll understand exactly what I was talking about.

Tsk, giving spoilers feels great!

"Naraku, you..."

Kakashi Hatake shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was equally dissatisfied. He looked at Shihōin Naraku with some exasperation.

"Back when something happened to Tsunade, Jiraiya taught you for a while. He's the one who fed you all this talk about the Child of the Prophecy, isn't he?"

The thought left Hiruzen Sarutobi deeply displeased.

From beginning to end, he had never thought much of Jiraiya's whole Child of the Prophecy business.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, it was an excuse Jiraiya had invented to evade responsibility and wander around the world as a loafer.

Back when the war with the Land of Rain ended, Tsunade and Orochimaru returned to the village, but Jiraiya actually stayed there to help train another country's ninja.

Later, he even left the village to search the world for some so-called Child of the Prophecy.

Whenever Hiruzen Sarutobi thought about all this, his anger flared. If nothing had gone wrong with Jiraiya, Tsunade, or Orochimaru from the start, and they had all stayed in Konoha, many of the things that happened afterward would never have occurred!

Not one of his three students spared him any worry.

Now things were even better: another senior figure raised by the village had come under Jiraiya's influence. If Shihōin Naraku really started wandering the world like Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi would be angry enough to have a brain hemorrhage.

"All right, all right. I've heard your assessments. Go get on with your work."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, telling Shihōin Naraku and Kakashi Hatake to get lost.

He had already slept poorly the night before, and after all this today, his head was starting to hurt.

Rising to his feet, Hiruzen Sarutobi paced around his office, puffing on his pipe more frequently. Soon, the smoke began to thicken.

Looking at the portraits on the wall of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who had died young, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help sighing.

"In my whole life, Minato was the only one who never made me worry!"

With his outstanding image, powerful abilities, and gentle yet firm personality, Minato Namikaze truly had been the younger ninja who gave him the least cause for concern.

In fact, once Minato Namikaze had begun to mature, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already leaned toward making him Hokage and had barely considered Orochimaru. Shimura Danzō had been the only one to recommend Orochimaru from beginning to end.

After Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage, he really had done well. Who could have known something unexpected would happen?

At the thought of Shihōin Naraku and Kakashi Hatake, Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow remained furrowed.

"Ah, those two each have their own problems."

Shihōin Naraku and Kakashi Hatake walked along Konoha's streets, in no hurry. Naruto Uzumaki would definitely be at the Ninja Academy until classes ended, so there was no need to keep watching him.

Both knew that their mission was not to look after Naruto Uzumaki.

As Kakashi Hatake walked, he did not take out his smutty book to read this time. Instead, he said:

"Naraku, you went a little too far back there, even bringing the First Hokage into it. That won't do Naruto Uzumaki any good!"

It was perfectly normal for Kakashi Hatake to think this way. Who was the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju? The God of Shinobi, who had brought peace to a chaotic age and founded Konohagakure!

Only after Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded Konohagakure had the shinobi world begun to imitate Konoha and establish other hidden villages, and the age of chaos had begun to fade.

Put it this way: if there were a book recording the history of the shinobi world, the space devoted to everyone else in the shinobi world combined might not even equal the space devoted to Hashirama Senju.

Not just Konohagakure-even elsewhere in the shinobi world, forces hostile to Konoha sincerely acknowledged Hashirama Senju's strength!

With that kind of historical standing, Naraku was saying that a dead last who might not even graduate from the Ninja Academy would catch up to him...

Even jokes had to follow some basic rules, didn't they?

"You people really are..."

Shihōin Naraku found it somewhat amusing. He patted Kakashi Hatake's shoulder and said earnestly:

"History was made by predecessors like the First Hokage, but the future is ours to decide. With young people like Naruto Uzumaki, who have limitless potential, who can say they won't catch up to their predecessors?"

"Each will have their decades in the limelight. We'll see who the heroes are."