Chapter 254. - Naruto: I Don’t Want Recognition

"Take back what belongs to you?"

Many Konoha villagers were stunned. Soon, a ninja beside them reminded everyone:

"Naruto is probably referring to the Uchiha Clan's confiscated land and property, as well as the belongings left behind by the Fourth Hokage."

"But does Naruto really not want to stay in Konoha? Being Hokage is much better than being the leader of Uzushio Village."

"Maybe Hokage disappointed him too much, so he doesn't want to become one. It's all the Third Hokage's fault. If the Third Hokage... well, the Third Hokage really shouldn't have handled things this way."

"It's fine if he takes those things back, but what about Konoha's reputation?"

"At a time like this, who cares about reputation? Without Naruto and Shisui, Orochimaru's plan might have succeeded. Don't you think we should be targeting the Sarutobi Clan instead and trying to get on Naruto-sama's good side?"

The discussions were quiet, but the Konoha ninjas heard every word clearly.

Especially Sarutobi Asuma, whose face had already turned ashen.

Yet he couldn't have his clansmen arrest the villagers, so he could only stand there, unable to vent his anger.

Jiraiya and Tsunade's expressions also became rather ugly, but they noticed the spiraling chakra spheres forming between Naruto's fingers.

Jiraiya knew very well how powerful those Rasengan were.

If they exploded inside Konoha, he and the surrounding jonin might survive, but ordinary ninjas and villagers would likely not even leave behind corpses.

When had he ever been threatened like this?

So he decisively softened his tone and said:

"Minato and Kushina's property, as well as the Uchiha Clan's confiscated assets, are currently stored in the ANBU warehouse. We will return them as soon as possible."

"However, part of the property has already been embezzled by members of the Sarutobi Clan."

"Konoha will provide an explanation as soon as possible. As for other forms of cooperation, we can discuss them later."

"It would be better to allow the funeral to continue. After all, the Third Hokage was my teacher and Minato's master."

After hearing Jiraiya's response, Naruto withdrew his chakra back into his body.

Then he glanced at the distant Sarutobi Clan, stretched out a hand toward Shisui, and the two disappeared from the Hero Cemetery together.

After revealing the miracle before everyone's eyes, the rest would be left for time to ferment.

It was easy to predict that the Sarutobi Clan would not have a good ending.

Although the Third Hokage had exchanged his own life for leniency toward the Sarutobi Clan, once everything had been dragged into the open, it would no longer be so easy to manipulate behind the scenes.

......

The Third Hokage's funeral ended quickly.

Although there had been a few unexpected incidents in the middle, the coffin was eventually buried.

As for whether the coffin actually contained the Third Hokage's body, nobody knew.

However, the Impure World Reincarnation technique would undoubtedly become one of Konoha's future research priorities.

Using DNA and knowledge of the deceased to summon reincarnated bodies certainly desecrated the dead.

But it was undeniably effective.

At critical moments, it could provide the village with several powerful ninjas capable of turning the tide of battle.

At the same time, news that the leader of Uzushio Village was Uzumaki Naruto spread rapidly throughout Konoha.

Although the information was temporarily suppressed, it would eventually reach the rest of the ninja world and become a major topic of discussion.

According to certain rumors, after learning of the incident, Ōnoki of Iwagakure lamented the village's loss of talent and became extremely jealous of both Naruto and Konoha.

The Fourth Raikage smashed his office desk on the spot, adding another repair bill to the Raikage Building.

Both leaders arrived at the same conclusion.

Konoha and Uzushio Village could not be allowed to continue developing unchecked.

Together, the spheres of influence controlled by Konoha and Uzushio Village already covered more than half of the Shinobi World.

Such a situation was extremely dangerous.

Somewhere within the Land of Grass.

Obito had fully recovered from his injuries.

Squatting outside Kusagakure, he watched the Grass ninja and Rain ninja busily conducting foreign trade operations.

A shadow flashed through his eyes.

After Nagato occupied the Land of Grass, not only had the local population not resisted, but the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass had begun complementing one another.

The abundant rainfall of the Land of Rain was being utilized by the Land of Grass, and the living standards of both nations were improving at a rate visible to the naked eye.

And the better life became for the people of the Land of Rain, the less likely Nagato was to implement the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Even some of the more rebellious Akatsuki members were becoming impatient.

After all, many of them had joined Akatsuki for bounties, art, puppet materials, or simply because they enjoyed killing.

Yet faced with Nagato's overwhelming strength, those rogue ninjas could not cause much trouble.

There were many times when Obito considered attacking merchant caravans himself.

But he feared attracting Nagato's attention.

After all, he was already preparing to move against Nagato and seize the Rinnegan.

At that moment, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu emerged from the ground, accompanied by several other White Zetsu clones.

They delivered information from Konoha to Obito.

When Obito learned that Uzushio Village's leader was Uzumaki Naruto, a strange expression appeared on his face.

He remembered Naruto as nothing more than a child.

What exactly had Naruto relied upon to reach this point?

What was even more ridiculous was that he had once feared the leader of Uzushio Village might be the Fourth Hokage himself and had deliberately avoided contact.

Now it seemed completely unnecessary.

Naruto might not be as powerful as he had imagined.

Black Zetsu suspected that Naruto was the reincarnation of either Asura or Indra.

Only the reincarnation of one of those two Ōtsutsuki could explain such explosive growth in strength.

However, Black Zetsu had no intention of sharing those secrets with Obito.

As for the exposure of the Third Hokage's secrets and the Sarutobi Clan's rebellion—

Neither Obito nor Black Zetsu cared very much.

It was merely the downfall of a family that had lost the Hokage position.

It had little to do with them and was nowhere near as important as the Eye of the Moon Plan.

After pondering for a moment, Black Zetsu looked at Obito and said slowly:

"I've already obtained the Impure World Reincarnation technique. How is the body you prepared for Madara progressing?"

Obito replied impatiently:

"It's almost ready."

"But for something like this, wouldn't any living sacrifice work? Why bother preparing a special body for Uchiha Madara?"

"Because Madara-sama must be restored to his peak strength."

"Our opponents are too powerful."

"Nagato's mastery of the Rinnegan is no worse than Madara-sama's."

"And Uzumaki Naruto has already become the perfect Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."

"Even Madara-sama would struggle to deal with them."

"So Uchiha Madara isn't as strong as everyone claims?"

Obito said casually, though he had his own calculations.

Deep down, he had always wanted to free himself from Madara's control.

That was why he had never seriously considered reviving Uchiha Madara.

But at this point, aside from resurrecting Madara, there seemed to be no way to break the current deadlock.

After speaking, Obito led Black Zetsu deeper into the hideout.

There, hidden within a sealed cave inaccessible to ordinary ninjas, was the body prepared for Uchiha Madara's resurrection.