A week had passed since the Third Hokage's funeral.
But the scene at the funeral still lingered in the minds of many people. They could not forget the truths Kakashi had exposed, nor could they forget the ninjas of Uzushio Village who were still staying in Konoha.
Logically speaking, the actions of the Uzushio Village ninjas at the Third Hokage's funeral were a humiliation to Konoha.
But the people of Konoha did not seem to think so. Although Naruto had left the village and severed his ties with Konoha, the son of the Hokage could only be a Konoha ninja, and would still become Hokage in the future.
Because of the indifferent attitude shown by Naruto and the Uzushio Village ninjas, the villagers began verbally attacking the Sarutobi clan and isolating them.
It seemed that as long as the Sarutobi clan suffered enough, they could win Uzumaki Naruto's favor.
At the Uzumaki Clan residence, Naruto was lying in the courtyard basking in the sun. At the same time, he continued increasing his affinity with natural energy, never giving up on improving himself. That was one of his life creeds.
The reason Naruto was still in Konoha was very simple.
On one hand, he was waiting for Konoha to sort out the property it had embezzled in the past. On the other hand, he planned to merge the Uzumaki compound and the Uchiha compound together, creating a nation within a nation inside Konoha.
Within this area, Konoha residents would not be allowed to enter or leave freely, while Uzushio Village would be permitted to station a guard force of no more than fifty people. Officially, it would symbolize the friendship between the two ninja villages.
Of course, that was the pleasant way of putting it. In practical terms, it was simply allowing Uzushio Village to station troops inside Konoha.
Uzushio Village would use its strength to deter the Fire Daimyō and other ninja villages, while Konoha would pay a substantial protection fee.
After letting out a breath, Naruto suddenly looked toward the distant corridor.
Shisui was hurrying toward him. The moment he saw Naruto, he immediately bowed respectfully and said,
"Lord Mianma, gifts from Konoha villagers and various ninja clans are piling up outside the Uzumaki residence. What should we do with them?"
"Send back all the gifts from the villagers... as for the gifts from the major ninja clans?"
Naruto fell into thought, then chuckled and said,
"Accepting them would definitely make Jiraiya and the Konoha ninjas even more jealous, but I'm a good person. Return all the gifts from the ninja clans as well."
Naruto could roughly guess what the Konoha ninjas were thinking.
The Hyūga Clan went without saying. Hinata had already been confirmed as the next clan head and would undoubtedly support him as the future Hokage.
As for the Ino-Shika-Chō clans, their current leaders had good relationships with Minato Namikaze, so they would naturally waver between supporting him and supporting Jiraiya.
The smaller clans were even simpler. If everyone else was giving gifts, they had to follow suit.
After all, with Naruto's strength and connections, becoming the next Hokage would be incredibly easy.
What those ninjas did not realize was that Naruto had no interest in the position of Hokage at all. Or rather, his ambitions were far greater than that title. What he wanted was far more than the territory of the Land of Fire.
Shisui nodded slightly, then remembered something and added,
"By the way, Konoha villagers and some Konoha ninjas have been targeting the Sarutobi clan. They seem to be trying to win your favor."
"What does that have to do with me? I'm not taking the blame for that."
Naruto shook his head lightly, then looked at Shisui and said,
"Still, the Sarutobi clan seems to have become the Uchiha clan of the past. Everyone is shouting at them and treating them like enemies. I wonder whether the Sarutobi clan can survive this isolation... or whether another figure like 'Itachi' will emerge."
Shisui immediately understood Naruto's meaning. He sighed and said,
"Lord Mianma, the Uchiha are not the Sarutobi clan. We will not discriminate against ninjas born into the Sarutobi clan. In Uzushio Village, you and the law are above all else."
Naruto automatically ignored Shisui's compliment and asked,
"How is Sasuke? Is his mental state stable? Has he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Not yet, but honestly, I hope Sasuke never awakens the Mangekyō... We adults will deal with that traitor Uchiha Itachi. A child shouldn't have to carry that burden."
"That's not necessarily true. Sasuke may grow faster than either you or Itachi. Whether he awakens the Mangekyō is up to him. If you keep suppressing him, something bad might happen instead."
"Yes, Lord Mianma. I'll do my best to minimize any interference with Sasuke."
Shisui felt Naruto's attitude toward Sasuke was somewhat unusual, but it was not appropriate to ask further. After all, Naruto had spent far more time with Sasuke than he had.
After Shisui left, Naruto stretched lazily and looked toward the Hokage Building.
He had once said that he would return to Konoha openly and honestly, and now that goal had been achieved. The next step was spending more time with Hinata. With her Byakugan and bloodline, she would become one of his most important helpers in the future.
...
Inside the Uchiha district.
Sasuke rushed excitedly toward the Uzumaki residence.
He wanted to ask Shisui to teach him the Uchiha clan's secret techniques and learn more about his mother and Uchiha Itachi.
But he was stopped by the guards at the entrance, who informed him that Konoha ninjas were not allowed to enter freely.
The Uzushio residence did not permit Konoha ninjas to enter?
But he was Konoha's only remaining Uchiha. Sooner or later, he would join Uzushio Village and become a member of the Uzushio Uchiha clan.
Naruto, the leader of Uzushio Village, was his former classmate, and Shisui, the commander of the ANBU, was also his clansman.
Why couldn't he enter?
Leaving the Uzumaki residence dejectedly, Sasuke returned to the clan training grounds, intending to vent his frustration through intense training.
After the Chūnin Exams, he realized that his enemies were not only Uchiha Itachi, but also Konoha's Third Hokage and Danzō. Those two were the true root cause behind the Uchiha Massacre.
But neither of them had left him a chance for revenge. Both had already died at someone else's hands.
The feeling of having his revenge stolen from him was like punching a ball of cotton—soft, limp, and utterly unsatisfying.
Brother Shisui and the others also seemed to have plans to deal with Uchiha Itachi themselves, leaving him unable to do anything. They clearly looked down on his strength, still seeing him as the weak and helpless child from the night of the massacre.
Thinking of this, Sasuke gathered chakra into his fist and slammed it into the boulder before him.
The rock shattered instantly.
At that moment, a wormhole suddenly appeared in the sky nearby.
Two figures, one large and one small, fell out of the distortion. After barely stabilizing themselves, they leaped onto a nearby tree.
Were they ninjas from Uzushio Village, or spies from another ninja village?
Sasuke frowned.
Then he quietly concealed his presence and followed after them.
He wanted to investigate these two mysterious individuals by himself, proving that he was already a ninja capable of standing on his own and no longer the Sasuke everyone underestimated.
Soon, Sasuke arrived near the two mysterious figures.
The moment he saw their appearances, so similar to Konoha ninjas, he froze in shock.
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