Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"Heh-heh… heh-heh-heh… heh-heh-heh-heh-heh."

"Hey, Sasuke-nii."

"Hm?"

"Naruto-nii has been grinning like an idiot all day. Did he hurt his head?"

Konohamaru looked at Naruto, who was hanging upside down from a tree branch while still shaking and letting out strange laughs, and asked Sasuke worriedly.

"His brain was never useful in the first place. He was hopeless from the start. Ignore him."

Sasuke spoke with clear irritation.

After all, that idiot had come to him last night and spent the whole night grinning like a fool. No matter how much Sasuke tried to chase him away, Naruto refused to leave.

In the end, the fool only left because he got too sleepy.

But then, when Sasuke finally went to bed, the moment he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with Naruto's stupid laughter.

He couldn't sleep at all.

"What are you talking about?!"

Naruto flipped down from the branch and landed beautifully. Then he walked over to them, but before he could speak, Sasuke had already walked away with a look of utter disgust.

Clearly, Sasuke had been force-fed too much emotional nonsense yesterday and now felt sick just looking at him.

"I'll settle things with you later. Konohamaru, why didn't you go to school today?"

"I asked for leave!"

Konohamaru looked at Naruto with a serious expression, which made Naruto a little curious.

"What happened?"

"Because I have a match with someone tomorrow!"

"Who? Shikamaru? Kiba? Don't tell me you're challenging Shino. That kid had some skill back then. He almost saw through my shadow clone."

Naruto immediately became interested.

"Hyūga Hanabi!"

"... Tch."

Naruto instantly lost interest and even looked at Konohamaru with disdain.

"Naruto-nii, why are you reacting like that? I'm about to challenge someone! This is serious and important—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But she's a year below you, isn't she? Aren't you embarrassed?"

"And more importantly, she's Hinata's little sister. Compared to you, of course I support her! You need to understand, she's Hinata's little sister. If you round that up, then she's basically…"

Konohamaru watched Naruto go from lecturing him with disappointment to suddenly breaking into another foolish grin.

For a moment, he seriously wondered whether he should find a new teacher.

Naruto-nii was clearly broken.

There was no saving him anymore.

Still, Hyūga Hanabi defeated several older students as soon as she entered the Academy…

If she came to challenge me now, shouldn't I prepare properly?

"Sigh, kids' matters really are boring. Compared to us adults who have already become—"

Just as Naruto finished grinning and was about to properly educate Konohamaru, he suddenly sensed a faint trace of malice.

Whoosh.

Naruto's figure vanished instantly and reappeared on a tree trunk at the edge of the training ground.

His expression was serious as his eyes searched the surroundings.

"What is it?"

Seeing Naruto disappear with Body Flicker, Sasuke immediately moved over as well.

"Someone was here just now. But now…"

Naruto found no trace of surveillance, but he did not doubt what he had sensed.

Ever since awakening this ability to sense malice, he had never misjudged it.

Kurama.

"There was indeed a malicious intent just now, but it wasn't directed at you. It was very faint. I can't feel it anymore. Whoever it was has already gone far away."

Kurama's voice sounded in Naruto's inner world, confirming Naruto's thought.

The next second after hearing Naruto's words, Sasuke activated his Sharingan to investigate.

But he found nothing either.

"If Hinata were here, she might have found something…"

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, then glanced toward Konohamaru, who was still standing in the training ground without understanding what had happened.

"For now, let's leave this place."

"Yeah. Let's go."

Naruto nodded.

But before leaving, he looked back at the tree trunk behind which he had sensed that malice.

"What kind of person was it?"

It hadn't been directed at him.

And the malice had been extremely weak.

That meant the other party had probably only been passing by.

Had they noticed his perception and immediately left?

If so, that person's reaction speed was extremely fast.

And they left no trace behind.

But the most important point was—

If that malice had not been directed at him, then there had only been Sasuke and Konohamaru nearby.

Was it aimed at one of them?

Surely it couldn't have been aimed at the entire village…

Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Danzō, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane—

The four old men… or rather, old men and woman—

had gathered once again.

Because Danzō had brought new information.

"Is this information reliable?"

The Third Hokage looked through the report Danzō had handed him from beginning to end, then narrowed his eyes at him.

"You told me to investigate Orochimaru's traces. And now you don't believe me?"

Danzō snorted coldly and pointed at the document.

"I did not even investigate personally. I only assigned several Root members to search the surrounding area. Unexpectedly, they found one of Orochimaru's secret bases so close to Konoha."

"Konoha's Anbu truly are useless. The enemy was right under their noses."

Seeing Danzō's confident expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent and looked over the report again.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't right under their noses.

But it was indeed not far from Konoha.

At a ninja's travel speed, the round trip would take less than two days, and it had not even left the Land of Fire's borders.

The intelligence was detailed. It had clearly been investigated deeply without alerting the enemy.

As Orochimaru's teacher, the Third could also tell that some of the internal mechanisms and seals described in the report were indeed likely Orochimaru's handiwork.

"Very well. Since we have discovered his location, we should avoid unnecessary delays. I will immediately dispatch an elite unit."

"Hmph. Hiruzen, aren't you underestimating Orochimaru too much? He is one of the so-called Legendary Sannin you personally taught. Ordinary jōnin and Anbu would likely never return."

Danzō deliberately emphasized "you personally taught," making the Third raise an eyebrow.

Homura and Koharu also joined in.

"Indeed. If the target is Orochimaru, there are not many people in the village capable of taking him down smoothly."

"Then… Kakashi's team happens to still be in Konoha…"

"Hiruzen, you are not planning to let the Nine-Tails jinchūriki come into contact with Orochimaru, are you?"

Danzō interrupted almost immediately.

"If Kakashi fails and the Nine-Tails jinchūriki falls into Orochimaru's hands, that would become a major disaster. At that point, another Nine-Tails incident might even occur!"

Danzō's words made Homura and Koharu nod repeatedly.

"... So what you're saying is that I must personally go?"

The Third finally understood what Danzō meant.

"Precisely. Only if you, the strongest Hokage, take action personally and bring enough of the village's elite can we ensure nothing goes wrong. After all, he was your prized student."

This time, it wasn't Danzō who spoke.

It was Homura.

"You could also consider it making up for your soft-heartedness back then, Hiruzen."

Danzō looked at the seemingly contemplative Third Hokage and slowly spoke.

But after hearing those words, the Third suddenly raised his head and stared directly at Danzō.

Danzō was somewhat confused by the look.

He didn't understand what Hiruzen meant.

Had he struck a sore spot?

"... You're right. That is indeed true."

The Third stood up, his gaze carrying a faint, profound meaning as he looked at the three of them.

"Then tomorrow, I will personally lead a team out."

"For the next few days, I will have to trouble you to temporarily handle village affairs in my place."

"As Hokage, I should also clear away some hidden dangers for the village's future."

"And make up for the mistakes I once made."

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