Tanzo can't die yet!
This thought suddenly popped into Naruto's mind. There must be other things in the box left by Naruto's parents, and the box is related to the Flying Thunder God Technique and other secrets.
If the Flying Thunder God Technique was the only thing in the box, why would the Third Hokage be reluctant to hand it over?
The Third Hokage was reluctant to hand over the box because he concluded that Naruto didn't have the Will of Fire based on Naruto's reluctance to kill Orochimaru.
Without the Will of Fire, one couldn't inherit the box.
Naruto's eyes widened. He thought to himself, "What else could be in that box? The Third Hokage is dead, but the whereabouts of the box are unknown. Maybe Tanzo knows some information..."
Naruto looked at Tanzo. At this time, Tanzo had rolled out his Byakugan, looking extremely exhausted. It seemed that his meridians were almost severed by the combined efforts of Kabuto and Hinata.
At this moment, Naruto sent a code/cipher to Haku.
"Ice Release! Ice Path!" The temperature suddenly dropped around them, and cold mist fell from the sky. Ice mirrors could be seen condensing from the water vapor in the air.
Haku, holding the Yata no Magatama Sword, flew over at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. One could only faintly see a white shadow shuttling between the ice mirrors.
When the flying afterimage showed Haku's figure, the Yata no Magatama Sword in his hand had already pierced into Tanzo Shimura's chest.
Kabuto was really shocked and quickly jumped away, scolding, "Naruto! You promised to hand Tanzo over to me. Why did you kill him?"
Naruto gave Haku a look, and Haku secretly returned one.
Naruto watched as Tanzo was lying in a pool of blood, his chest pierced by the sword. But since Haku was familiar with the human body's acupuncture points and could avoid the vital parts on the chest, Tanzo was just in a state of false death at this time.
"Kabuto," Naruto said. "You want to get Tanzo just to ask him in person why he murdered Nonou Yakushi."
"Nonou Yakushi is already dead. This question isn't important anymore."
"Really?" Kabuto felt a chill down his back and said, "Naruto, you know quite a lot."
"Kabuto Yakushi, you inherited the surname of Nonou Yakushi, but it was just a fake identity fabricated by Orochimaru for you to infiltrate Konoha." Naruto stepped closer to Kabuto.
"Now you only have a name, which is Kabuto, and actually have no surname."
"Tsk..." Kabuto seemed to be touched on a sore spot and raised his voice, saying, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Naruto showed a bright smile and said, "Help me become the Hokage."
Kabuto was stunned. He looked at this little kid in front of him. This kid was so young, yet he actually wanted to recruit him to help him become the Hokage.
"The difficulty is really not ordinary," Kabuto pushed his glasses and said. "Even Lord Orochimaru missed the chance to be the Hokage back then. The position of Hokage isn't that easy to get."
"Orochimaru definitely can't be the Hokage," Naruto said bluntly. "Although Orochimaru is a genius unparalleled in ninjutsu and technology, he doesn't know that the most important thing to be the Hokage is to be recognized by everyone, which means having no stains."
"If Orochimaru, who has too many stains, becomes the Hokage by force, many people in the village will not accept it."
"Well, you've got a point."
Kabuto glanced at Tanzo lying in a pool of blood and said with a smile, "Does it count as a stain for you to have plotted Tanzo's murder?"
"As long as no one knows, it's not a stain."
"Why should I help you become the Hokage?"
"If I become the Hokage, I'll give you the Yakushi surname." As Naruto said this, Kabuto's pupils suddenly constricted.
"Do you think I'm stupid? That's your condition? How can you even say it."
"Not only will I give you the Yakushi surname, but I'll also let you inherit everything from Nonou Yakushi, including the position of the director of the Konoha Orphanage."
"Hey!" Naruto continued, "All Orochimaru can give you is a fake identity and a fake name, Kabuto Yakushi."
"If I become the Hokage, I can give you the inheritance of Nonou Yakushi's entire estate, a real identity, the meaning of your existence in this world, and a genuine name, Kabuto Yakushi."
"Both are named Kabuto Yakushi, but Orochimaru can only offer you a fake identity, whereas I can give you the real thing."
Naruto's words did manage to touch Kabuto slightly, causing him to freeze and fall into memories.
Once upon a time, Kabuto was a war - orphan who lost his memory during the war. Later, he was taken in by Konoha and fostered in Nonou Yakushi's orphanage.
Nonou Yakushi treated Kabuto extremely well and was deeply loved by Kabuto. Even the name Kabuto was given by Nonou Yakushi.
Later, the war intensified. Tanzo Shimura went to ask Nonou Yakushi to come out of retirement in order to help Konoha win the war.
At that moment, in a small wooden house, Tanzo Shimura directly said, "Nonou Yakushi, Konoha is currently in a tough battle. We really need someone to collect enemy intelligence. You were my most capable subordinate before, so you must step up. Otherwise, it'll be really difficult for Konoha to win the war."
Nonou Yakushi objected, "But I've already left Root and no longer engage in spy work."
"Nonsense!" Tanzo Shimura said righteously, "If you don't agree, Konoha will stop funding the orphanage. We don't have extra money to support useless orphans."
"But if you're willing to contribute and obtain intelligence for Konoha, Konoha will continue to provide funds for the orphanage."
Nonou Yakushi had no choice but to agree, "Fine, I'll agree to you."
At this moment, Tanzo Shimura noticed Kabuto eavesdropping outside the wooden house and went on, "There's a kid eavesdropping outside the house. I'm going to take him away and let him join Root. I'll train him to be a new spy ninja."
"No!" Nonou Yakushi strongly opposed.
"He heard our conversation. Either he joins Root, or..." Tanzo Shimura only said half of the sentence, leaving the last word "die" unspoken.
So Tanzo Shimura took Kabuto away and trained him to be a spy ninja. Kabuto had been engaged in spy intelligence work abroad for a long time, obtaining a large amount of crucial intelligence for Konoha and making great contributions.
However, since Nonou Yakushi and Kabuto knew too many of Tanzo's secrets, when the war was in its later stage, Tanzo planned to get rid of the two of them.
Several years had passed since Tanzo Shimura took Kabuto away. Over these years, Tanzo sent some fake photos to Nonou Yakushi.
As Kabuto grew up, his appearance changed. Tanzo sent fake photos of Kabuto to Nonou Yakushi, causing Nonou to fail to recognize the grown Kabuto.
After that, Tanzo issued an order, sending Nonou Yakushi to assassinate someone. Eventually, she got into a life-or-death fight with Kabuto.
Kabuto had grown up quickly and was stronger. He counterattacked and killed the intruder, only to find that the person was Nonou Yakushi, the one he respected the most.
At that moment, Kabuto's world came crashing down. He cried and said, "Dean, why did it have to be you coming to kill me?"
At that time, the dying Nonou Yakushi was stunned for a moment and retorted, "Who are you?" She looked at the person in front of her, completely at a loss.
Kabuto was completely bewildered and couldn't understand why the dean he loved so much would want to kill him...
Afterwards, Orochimaru explained everything. Kabuto had been working as an outside spy, gathering intelligence for years, and his appearance had changed drastically.
Tanzo had been secretly sending fake photos of Kabuto to Nonou Yakushi, gradually changing Nonou's perception of Kabuto.
Orochimaru said, "This is all Tanzo's scheme. Why don't you work for me and gather intelligence? Maybe one day, when you've gathered all the intelligence in the world, you'll find your true self."
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