Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 103 Calm Down

A meeting to hold Naruto accountable was abruptly steered into a blame-shifting session.

Initially, the opposing side questioned Naruto's abilities, but Naruto rattled off a map of Konoha's defenses, even pinpointing the number of personnel and the current locations of patrols. As fate would have it, a ninja at the clifftop outpost—a place no one had attempted to breach since Konoha's founding—had arranged to temporarily leave his post and return to the village, only to be caught red-handed by Naruto. Thus, the higher-ups truly realized just how terrifying Naruto's abilities were.

He not only knew the number and location of the guards, but could also match each person to their chakra. This was no longer traditional perception; it was even stronger than the unique ability of the Uzumaki clan, the effect of "Kagura's Mind's Eye."

"Given my rank, I shouldn't know these things, right?"

Naruto's radiant smile was terrifying in Danzo's eyes. He had no idea that Naruto's sensory range was so vast, that he could accurately remember everyone's chakra. Did Naruto also know about Root's recent underhanded actions? How much of their previous surveillance had Naruto discovered and actively evaded? How much of the intelligence they had gathered so far was accurate?

Danzo pondered many things, yet not a single one of them reflected on whether his decision to remain passive was right or wrong. In his view, Orochimaru was a pawn he could control at any time. By simply paying for a troublesome Uchiha descendant, he could effortlessly eliminate the Third Hokage, who stood in his way of becoming Hokage, and conveniently pass the hot potato to someone else. Shifting the blame and letting rogue ninja fight each other was his specialty.

But couldn't the other two see through his intentions? It was precisely because Hiruzen, who had worked with them for most of their lives, was sacrificed that Koharu and En were so opposed to Danzo taking the Hokage position.

Who knows what this guy who rose to power by stepping on the corpses of his old friends might do? At least, Princess Tsunade wouldn't resort to assassination on a whim. They're not that eager for the Hokage position; isn't manipulating the situation from behind the scenes better than taking the blame in the open?

Previously, at least they hadn't brought the matter out into the open, and both sides had compromised to maintain a semblance of decorum. Now, Naruto had directly torn off the veil of pretense, and after hearing those words, Mitokado Homura spoke even less, adopting a completely hands-off stance. From this day forward, even if Danzo couldn't be convicted due to a lack of concrete evidence, the centrifugal force within the advisory group would be unstoppable.

Losing this round isn't really shameful; this was a tip from your dear teacher!

So Naruto walked out of the Root headquarters unharmed, and thoughtfully closed the door behind him for Danzo.

"Naruto, you absolutely cannot say those things again! That's the Hokage's order." Tsunade pressed down on Naruto's shoulder with unusual seriousness, the pressure making Naruto grimace.

Naruto said, "Of course I know, Granny Tsunade. I would say it's because everyone here is a pillar of Konoha, right? You should all know about this, shouldn't you?"

Jiraiya, standing to the side, silently turned his head and began humming a little tune, looking extremely guilty.

“You should answer, ‘Yes, Hokage!’ You’re already a Chunin, and you’ll be leading missions soon. Why are you still so immature!” Tsunade finally let go of Naruto’s shoulder, stroking her chin and muttering, “Think about it, your strength is probably enough to be a Jonin. Right now, the village is short of people…”

Jiraiya immediately stopped humming, turned around and pulled the child towards him, saying, "There's a one-year probationary period for becoming a Jonin during wartime! Naruto is only thirteen years old; it's impossible for him to command respect!"

"I was just saying, I'm not that outrageous." Tsunade glared at Jiraiya, then turned to Naruto and said, "I'm giving you two weeks off, but before that... Naruto, you need to explain to me what exactly happened with Sasuke."

After considering for only about three seconds, Naruto laid out the whole situation, of course, only concerning Sasuke and him; Hikaru's covert actions could not be exposed. He wasn't afraid that Tsunade and Jiraiya would be disappointed by Sasuke's choice, because in his previous life, that guy had severely injured him, yet he hadn't been added to the list of rogue ninjas during Tsunade's reign.

"This is too reckless! What if Orochimaru doesn't reincarnate and insists on waiting for Sasuke to arrive?" Tsunade punched Naruto on the head, but the force was only enough to create a bump that could stay on a Jinchuriki for an hour.

"Ouch!" Naruto pretended to be in a lot of pain, explaining, "Well, I noticed Kabuto Yakushi came too, didn't I? If Orochimaru's condition wasn't stable, his good doctor certainly wouldn't have left the base!"

"Heh, you're quite clever, kid. That makes sense." Jiraiya acted as a peacemaker, offering a way out. "Anyway, it's a stroke of luck that they're both safe and sound, and they even knew to leave an official reason so they wouldn't be labeled as traitors. You should be able to handle the rest easily, Fifth Hokage!"

Tsunade feigned anger, but wasn't actually that upset. The children had all made arrangements for their future, and as their senior, she couldn't let them down. But seeing the identical smug expressions on the faces of the master and apprentice made her itch to punish them.

"Get lost!"

"Yes, sir!" "Yes, sir!"

The secondary injury didn't have much of an impact. Naruto went straight home and lay there like a corpse for a whole day. It was only when his friends called him from downstairs that he reluctantly climbed onto the windowsill.

Don't ask, the answer is Sasuke is outside the normal range of perception; he always feels something's missing, nothing feels right. And following the Akatsuki's surprise attack on the Land of Owls, their headquarters in the Land of Rivers is also in trouble. As the children at headquarters grow up, their natural love of new things leads them to occasionally venture into the deep mountains for adventure. Coincidentally, one child's parent is in the barrier class and leaked the access code at home. So this young boy and his friends sneaked out of the barrier, attempting to explore a world that only exists in textbooks.

Despite the base's large size, it actually houses more dead than living people, whose physiological needs are relatively low. A significant portion of the area also serves as experimental grounds for the construction and research departments. The ninjas are incredibly agile, and the border defenses of the Land of Rivers are sparsely maintained. The garrison is practically nonexistent compared to the ninjas. So, when traveling on business, those who aren't in a hurry can sneak out quietly, while those who are in a rush can directly use telepathy to find Lord Tobirama. Even now, the surrounding small villages and medium-sized town are completely unaware that they have a new neighbor.

The children hadn't fully mastered the ninja's concealment techniques, and they were inadvertently spotted by the native villagers of the Land of Rivers. Although the two sides got along well and the children returned in time, the Uchiha, who were fiercely protective of their own, were terrified and immediately convened an emergency meeting.

Naruto was forced to act as a mascot for a whole night, and his mind was filled with the parents' heated arguments. Some of the parents who went out also kept talking about it after hearing about it. His head was still buzzing...

Sigh, are all parents this hardworking?