Chapter 282: Psychological Suggestion
It took a long while for Masahiko to finally come back to his senses from this topic.
"There is actually such a thing. That is true, Killer Bee can't have the surname 'Killer' either... But why does Minato have a four-character name? Did the orphanage director act on a whim and give him an extra character?"
"Uzumaki Naruto... alright, this is better, very comfortable..."
"Keep talking, what happened after that? Did Danzo do something?" Masahiko asked with a frown.
Hiruzen smiled bitterly, "Danzo sent someone to secretly contact Naruto, attempting to make him stay in Konoha."
"For the Nine-Tails? But Naruto was only a three-and-a-half-year-old child at the time. Could he decide for himself whether to stay in Konoha or not?"
"At that time, Minato and Kushina were hesitant about Naruto's stay or departure because the two of them were about to go to the battlefield and couldn't personally look after him. So, they couldn't decide for a while whether to entrust Naruto to the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools or to Mikoto Uchiha. After all, Konoha was an environment Naruto was familiar with, and over at Mikoto's place, there was also Naruto's childhood playmate, Senju... Masahiko."
Masahiko nodded and fell silent for a moment.
Having heard this much, Masahiko already had a guess in his heart. It was probably because Kushina discovered the matter of Danzo sending someone to contact Naruto that the subsequent series of events occurred.
"Afterward, Naruto stayed in Konoha."
"I guessed it... Hmm?"
Masahiko looked up awkwardly. He guessed wrong, and looking at Hiruzen's passive-aggressive face, he felt like he was being teased...
"Naruto stayed in Konoha?"
Hiruzen nodded. "The person Danzo sent was also a child, just playing with Naruto normally without any other petty tricks, which I also tacitly approved. Because I felt that if Naruto stayed in Konoha, the alliance with the Land of Whirlpools could be better maintained, and after the war ended, Minato could return to the village and continue serving as Hokage."
Masahiko glanced at Hiruzen. "Keep talking."
He wasn't going to guess this time.
"Naruto stayed in Konoha, while Minato and Kushina went to the Land of Whirlpools. However, Danzo made a new move."
"The child he sent constantly explained the benefits of Konoha Village to Naruto. I didn't take it seriously at the time..."
Masahiko frowned. "Explaining the benefits of Konoha Village? Was it to make Naruto's heart lean towards Konoha, psychological suggestion?"
Hiruzen was shocked. "How did you know? I really didn't know about psychological suggestion before, so I didn't think much of it. Since he didn't use genjutsu and was just talking about the good aspects of Konoha Village, I ignored it."
Masahiko's mouth twitched. Danzo really had tricks up his sleeve. Knowing that things like genjutsu would definitely be discovered, he used words to "brainwash."
This kind of thing was still rarely seen in the Naruto world. No wonder Danzo had so many die-hard loyalists in the original work. If Danzo were born in modern times, he would definitely be the ringleader of a pyramid scheme...
"Then what happened later?"
Hiruzen sighed. "Later, Danzo's methods were discovered, discovered by that remarkable genius of the Senju family."
"Itachi? He is currently..."
"Already a Jonin, at only ten years old."
Masahiko nodded without surprise.
"At that time, Itachi came to me and said that someone was using psychological suggestion on Naruto. I didn't quite believe it at first. Then he told me that if a child is exposed to someone too much from a young age, their appearance will slightly shift towards that person, let alone being constantly instilled with information about how wonderful Konoha Village is from a young age..."
"Pfft! Cough, cough..." Masahiko coughed continuously, a giant 'AWKWARD' written in his heart.
"Crap, the Old Ancestor's methods were discovered, and by a child no less. How embarrassing."
Hiruzen smiled bitterly. "I was half-believing and half-doubting at the time, but I still found Nawaki and had him lead a portion of the Senju clansmen to protect Naruto and take him to the Land of Whirlpools."
"This action was obstructed by Danzo, which confirmed my suspicions that something was wrong."
"I see." Masahiko breathed a long sigh of relief. Most of what Hiruzen said should be true, and he could verify it when he saw Nawaki.
"Things didn't develop to the worst possible stage after all. If the entire Konoha truly disagreed with aiding the Land of Whirlpools, then my life would be a complete failure... That's right, there are still Kagami and Hiashi; they don't seem like that kind of people." Masahiko muttered inwardly.
However...
"Jiraiya, is what Hiruzen said entirely true?" Masahiko didn't mince words and asked directly.
Jiraiya scratched his head. "I did want to go to the Land of Whirlpools to help Minato at the time, but Minato stopped me. I am not clear about the other matters; I went to the battlefield relatively early."
Sakumo's figure appeared in the room. "Elder Masahiko, Lord Third is not lying."
Masahiko felt slightly settled. He trusted Jiraiya and Sakumo's words more.
"No wonder Naruto wants to come to Konoha so badly. Maybe there is a reason related to this. I really didn't notice it before..."
Masahiko shook his head. It was indeed Danzo's doing.
However, this method was much gentler than he had imagined. It was probably because the Land of Whirlpools had grown strong. If a drastic method were discovered, it would turn them into bitter enemies and bring even greater damage to Konoha.
Hiruzen hesitated for a moment. "Elder Masahiko, could you help me persuade Kushina? Because of this matter, she is very dissatisfied with me."
Masahiko paused. "It is only right that she is dissatisfied with you. Did you really think you could just fool everyone with a few words? Isn't the Will of Fire you used to preach all the time a kind of psychological suggestion? Could you really not see through it?"
"You probably were happy to see it happen at the time. Only after it was discovered did you have to make an emergency remedy, even sending a Senju team as backup. Did you think you could really hide it from me?"
Jiraiya was shocked. "No way, old man."
Hiruzen smiled bitterly and let out a long sigh. "You are right."
Masahiko shook his head. "At least you aren't stubbornly refusing to realize your error, and you knew to remedy it in time. Figure out a way to ask for Kushina's forgiveness yourself. I will deal with you later. I am going to beat up Danzo first!"
Just as he was about to move, he suddenly paused and scratched his head. "By the way, have you guys noticed a particularly fat white cat?"
The three exchanged glances. Sakumo spoke up, "Particularly fat?"
Masahiko nodded. "Yeah, probably weighing around thirty catties."
Sakumo's mouth twitched. What kind of cat could grow like that? Elder Masahiko's pets were truly out of the ordinary.
As they were speaking, an Anbu member flashed into the room from outside.
"Lord Hokage, a disturbance has occurred at the Ninja Academy. The first-year students' lunches have mysteriously disappeared."
"Lunches?" Hiruzen was stunned for a moment. "I understand. Go pacify them first and investigate the cause while you are at it. I will be right there!"
"Yes!"
Masahiko had an ominous premonition in his heart. "What I said about the fat cat just now was just a random comment. How could there be such a fat cat?"
"Danzo is over at the Cloud Village's side, right? I will go deal with him first!"
Saying this, Masahiko's figure vanished from the spot, leaving the three men staring at each other in bewilderment...
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you