Naruto: As a genin, I just want to live a normal life.

Page 179

"But this is still not good." Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was full of worry, concerned about the consequences from Loulan.

You see, even though Kushina was a legitimate member of the Anbu, he wouldn't dare offend Loulan easily after she was captured... unless the village produced a ninja whose strength was no less than the top three White Cross codenames.

"Don't worry," Danzo said confidently. "Do you know why I suggested the team couldn't have any other Uchiha members?"

"Didn't you say it was for Keishin to gain experience? After all, to become Hokage, how can he rely on his clansmen for everything... Wait! You didn't mean to?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Danzo's upturned lips and belatedly realized, "You, you deliberately included members of the Shimura clan in the team..."

After seeing through the plan, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo with apprehension, thinking to himself, "Danzo's actions have greatly violated the village's Will of Fire!"

"I cannot know about this matter, and I absolutely cannot interfere!!"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi deep in thought, Danzo nodded, completely unaware that his old friend was planning to shift the blame. "That's right, that's the core of this plan."

"A small action can cause conflict between the two parties, and if they accidentally start fighting... the conflict will escalate again."

In the end, the situation was beyond saving.

"Danzo, I haven't seen this document. Take it back." Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that this was a huge mistake. What if people found out that he had schemed against the village's ninjas like this?

Forget about continuing as Hokage; even if he were to retire immediately and admit his mistakes, he would still be pointed at and gossiped about in the street.

"Hmph. Are you going to show off your hypocritical benevolence again? It's fine. I myself have taken over the darkness of Konoha."

Before leaving, Danzo put the scroll in his pocket and left a message for Hiruzen Sarutobi:

"Hiruzen, you are the Hokage, like a leaf bathed in sunlight..."

"And I am the root in the darkness."

"If anything goes wrong this time, just pin the blame on me!"

The gate closed, Danzo left, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was unable to let go of the matter for a long time.

"Darkness, huh."

"Is doing this right or wrong?"

The Hokage cannot be selected from within a clan, to prevent the village from becoming a place where the clan holds absolute power.

Of course, his situation is rather special, as it was bestowed by the second generation.

That's why he knew that he couldn't appoint a clan leader or clan member as Hokage.

Unless the family is almost extinct and there are hardly any members left, it's still acceptable.

When family members encounter problems, his position as both Hokage and clan head puts him in a difficult position.

Therefore, even when he is not busy, he does not go home often. He stays in the office when there is business to be done, and patrols the streets when there is no business to do, so that he can better handle official business.

but now...

"The next Hokage?"

"Kishin was unaware of the members' malicious actions, but he was willing to abandon the mission to save his ninja comrade from another clan, who was filled with malice..."

"To some extent."

"He's already Hokage."

"But unfortunately... the Uchiha clan cannot have a Hokage. I can only apologize."

The next morning, Keishin returned to the village and took the injured Shimura Chunin to Konoha Hospital. The Chunin next to him, Utatane, had a glint in his eye.

Afterwards, news of Qizhen's mission failure spread within the Uchiha clan. Uchiha Setsuna had planned everything, but he never expected Konoha to be so ruthless, allowing Qizhen's team to commit such a conspiracy. Moreover, Qizhen did not discover this and only thought that the Loulan soldiers were causing trouble for no reason. In the end, the conflict broke out, and he accidentally killed someone.

"I'm sorry, Elder Setsuna. I've let you down." Qi Zhen knelt on the ground, not raising his head for a long time.

She stood inside the room for a moment, looking at the calligraphy and paintings.

After a long silence, the white-haired man turned around and said, "You've been tricked, Qizhen."

"This is the Hokage's conspiracy."

"What?!" Keishin was slightly taken aback, then explained to Shimura Chunin, "No, the situation at the time was..."

"In any situation, you only have two choices."

"First, take action to protect your companions."

Second, abandon your companions.

"But whichever you choose, you will lose your qualification for the position of Hokage."

"Truly worthy of being the heir to the perennial runner-up position, so cunning!"

Keishin was puzzled, but soon rumors began to circulate in the village that the Uchiha Jonin mission to save the village had failed and caused great losses to the village...

Sai and Yamato: "..." This scene seems familiar, like we've seen it somewhere before.

"How could this happen? That amazing old man failed his mission? What kind of mission was it?!" Naruto heard the villagers talking on the street and couldn't help but want to go forward, but Yamato pulled him back.

"Naruto, this is a thing of the past, we shouldn't interfere too much."

"in addition."

"The water in here is very deep."

Yamato's eyes darkened. They had been in the old village for so long, and the village's leaders seemed to be turning it into a prison, trapping the four of them. Moreover, Danzo's people had actually found him and Sai, trying to get them to return together... What a joke! They weren't from this era, how could they stay here forever!

Glancing to the side, Yamato saw the conflicted Sakura Haruno and Sai, and said:

"Sai, Sakura, and Naruto, let's go somewhere quiet and have a short meeting."

"what?"

"Okay! I understand, Captain Yamato."

"Then, disperse!"

call out!call out!call out!

Naruto: "?"

"Eh?!"

But soon, Naruto remembered the words Yamato had secretly drawn on his finger the night before—a meeting point.

Then, Naruto also used Body Flicker to leave.

At this moment, the hidden agents and the root organization responsible for surveillance: "!!!"

Oh no! This squad is trying to escape!!

......

The Dark Division and Root Division hesitated for a moment, but quickly dispersed their members and gave chase, since this was their surveillance target.

Ahead, Sakura Haruno leaped forward, sensing the footsteps chasing behind her, and smiled slightly.

That's about it, the main body should be arriving soon.

With a whoosh, it turned into white smoke, leaving the roots behind completely dumbfounded.

"Damn it! It's a shadow clone!!"

The other four ANBU and Root units lost track of him, and Yamato successfully reached the memorial monument on the back mountain of Konoha first.

"We finally dodged it."

"I thought I would be free once I left Loulan, but I never expected it would be the next 'prison'," Yamato sighed.

Sai, who arrived last, nodded slightly.

"We must find a way to return to the ancient Loulan Kingdom, otherwise we may be trapped in this era forever."

"Captain Yamato, Sai." Sakura Haruno arrived. "Hasn't Naruto arrived yet?"

"There it is." Yamato pointed to Naruto, who was looking at the memorial stone behind them.

"I see." Sakura, seeing Naruto's unusual seriousness, didn't go forward to disturb him. "Captain Yamato, what's our next step?"

"Leave the village and head to Loulan. Our team can't delay any longer." Yamato's face was grave.

Tread.

Footsteps sounded from behind Sakura along the forest path, and the three of them immediately became alert and prepared for battle.

Shirahoshi walked up with a bouquet of flowers in her hand, ignoring the three people's actions, and came to Naruto's side:

"You probably don't have any friends from the past, do you?"

After Bai Xing finished speaking, she put down the bouquet of flowers in her hand and bowed.

"Shirahoshi, a genin." Yamato knew this person was a formidable opponent.

Based on what Naruto and Sai and others have seen, Shirahoshi's strength is probably no less than that of the future Kakashi.

"Hello. It's been a few days since I've seen you. How have you been?" Bai Xing greeted them, then tilted her head, noticing their strange behavior. "What? Are you trying to defect?"

"..."x3

"No, we're planning to go back... back to the future," Naruto said, biting his lip. He didn't actually want to leave because his mother and father were there.

"Then go back."

"Who knows? Maybe they'll be able to come back someday. Why be so sad?" Bai Xing already knew that when people from the future come to the past, the people of the past will definitely try to keep them there.

Even if they squeezed every last drop of life out of the future person, they might not be willing to let them go.

This is why, in the original work, Minato Namikaze voluntarily suggested not revealing anything about the future.

Did he not know? He was afraid that if he knew, evil thoughts would arise in his heart or in the hearts of his companions, making it impossible for these people from the future to return.

"You're right, Shirahoshi."

"Your father and mother say you are a person who appears cold on the surface but is actually very kind-hearted."

At this point, Naruto smiled and gave a thumbs up:

"Now it seems."

"My parents didn't mistake me for someone else."

“Naruto…” Sakura Haruno saw Naruto’s state during the time he returned to the past, and she felt the anxiety of not being able to see her parents during that time. She empathized with Naruto’s previous state.

"Let's go quickly. The village's ANBU are coming soon." Shirahoshi pointed in a direction where there were no Konoha guards: "There won't be any guards if we leave the village that way."

“I’ll stop the men from the Dark Guard for you.”