"Last night, Naruto Uzumaki just happened to be passing by where they were playing. He witnessed the incident when it occurred."
"I understand your grief over losing loved ones, but unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. Accidents happen," Danzo Shimura said indifferently.
He didn't directly blame Naruto Uzumaki, but every word subtly pushed others' thoughts toward him.
The two Uchiha clan members remained expressionless, yet inwardly scoffed at this approach.
Poor little Nine-Tails kid—once again being used to shift everyone's hatred onto.
"Hokage-sama, is this related to Naruto Uzumaki?" a villager asked loudly.
"It has nothing to do with him." Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could respond, Danzo Shimura answered first.
"It has nothing to do with him," Hiruzen Sarutobi repeated.
With explanations from the village's top two authorities, the villagers dared not cause further trouble. But in their hearts, they'd already blamed Naruto Uzumaki.
Maybe those children had been scared by that demon fox kid and thus met with misfortune...
If he'd just gotten help in time, those kids wouldn't have died...
To them, Naruto Uzumaki was nothing but a walking disaster.
The rumors circulating in the village must be true—if anything, that kid should be kept away from people at all costs!
Once only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura remained indoors, Hiruzen asked, "Why did you mention Naruto?"
"Isn't that the truth? Why shouldn't they know?" A mocking smile appeared on Danzo Shimura's face.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stayed silent.
"You're far too lenient with Naruto. If you had placed him somewhere unknown, none of this would've happened. Nobody would even know about his existence."
"No one would develop feelings towards a total stranger—not love, certainly not hatred. His life could've been peaceful."
Enough." Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted.
Did he really not understand what Danzo meant? All this talk boiled down to wanting to bring Naruto into Root.
Danzo shrugged and changed the subject. "Hiroomi, how's the matter with Kumogakure going?"
Hiruzen couldn't help but give him a sharp glance.
So, was this guy really that eager for war?
"We've maintained communication with Kumogakure," he replied.
"Peace through talking?" Danzo scoffed. "You're basically inviting every other village to walk all over us."
They had long identified the cause of death for the frontline ninja—it was done by Fifth Raikage Yugito.
The Kumogakure ninja never denied it, nor did they feel any shame; instead, they took pride in it and openly boasted about their actions.
This attitude infuriated many in Konoha.
Unfortunately, since the village hadn't taken an official stance, they could only mutter curses in private.
After Danzo left, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed silently.
Several hours later, Naruto Uzumaki slowly came to. The first thing he saw was Hiruzen Sarutobi staring straight at him.
"Grandpa Third, why am I here?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a slight sigh without answering the question and said, "Naruto, don't run off recklessly like that anymore..."
Naruto didn't understand why, but he nodded in agreement anyway.
On the way back, Naruto noticed that the villagers' gazes had grown sharper, their eyes filled with deeper contempt.
In this village, once something happened, news spread quickly among the people.
Therefore, they already knew about the deaths of those five children and had become even more wary of Naruto, filled with hatred.
Feeling a deep sadness creeping in, Naruto lowered his head, carefully avoiding every pair of eyes that met him as he passed by.
In the days that followed, Naruto remained unaware of what had truly happened, yet his heart ached more and more deeply.
"Why are there more and more people giving me scary looks..." he murmured.
Late at night, Hiroki Hyuga was still flipping through various scrolls.
"Medical Ninjutsu is one type of Yang Release nature transformation—a technique focused on healing and restoration. But most medical techniques seem to rely on stimulating cell regeneration to heal wounds—nothing like I expected..."
"Could it be that the recorded medical techniques are too basic..."
"Somebody is watching," Kaguya suddenly said.
"Watching me? That seems unlikely."
"It should be Hiashi Hyuga. Hmm? The target is Hinata." Kaguya sensed that the sudden line of sight eventually settled on Hinata, who followed closely beside Hiashi Hyuga.
Hiroki understood.
It must be the Third Hokage using his crystal ball again for surveillance.
Although that Telescope Technique was powerful, it required prior knowledge of the target's chakra characteristics.
Since Hinata had never had any direct contact with Hiruzen Sarutobi, if he wanted to spy on her, he first needed to lock onto Hiashi Hyuga before shifting focus to her.
"That old pervert, Third Hokage, has gone too far—spying on a little girl late at night. Hinata, warn Hinata about this, will you?"
"The sensation has already disappeared. Probably fearing discovery, he only took a quick glance before stopping."
Time passed quickly. More than a month went by, and by early February, it was nearly time for Hiroki Hyuga to return to the academy.
Perhaps because he hadn't officially become a ninja yet, or maybe because so many people were already assigned to protect Hinata, although Hiashi Hyuga had designated him as Hinata's personal guard, the expectations weren't strict.
Using this identity, Hiroki gained many advantages.
He could access certain materials directly, and for those he couldn't, he simply asked Hinata to help him "obtain" them instead.
Though he hadn't yet mastered many techniques, he had memorized all of them.
As the heir, Hinata frequently received guidance from jonin instructors, and occasionally, these jonin would offer Hiroki some instruction as well.
Regarding the matter between Konoha and Kumogakure, both sides had lost patience and hoped to reach an agreement soon.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair while Danzo Shimura sat upright on the sofa.
Yugao Uzuki handed the letter from Kumogakure to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen did not reach for it, saying indifferently, "Just tell me directly—what did they say this time."
Glancing quickly at the letter, Yugao Uzuki said, "Hokage-sama, Kumogakure's message says that if you want to talk peace, you have to go there yourself and meet the Fifth Raikage face-to-face."
She had already phrased it quite diplomatically. The original letter used the term "pay respects," which was typically used by a subordinate addressing a superior.
Was Kumogakure really this confident? Yugao couldn't help but feel curious.
Upon hearing this, Danzo Shimura snorted coldly and remarked sarcastically, "The Fifth got a taste of power and now acts like she's untouchable!"
"They Kumogakure ninja are constantly trying to assert their superiority over Konoha."
"Hiruzen, she's trying to ride on your fame to inflate her own."
"Does she even know who she is?"
"I've said it before—being too nice just makes them push harder!"
Danzo grew more agitated as he spoke, as if he were the one being insulted.
Tapping his pipe against the table with a knocking sound, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally spoke calmly after a long pause, "Summon all the Jonin in the village for a vote—whether to fight or not!"
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Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!