Chapter 160:
"Don't worry—we from Konoha promise to ensure her safety as much as possible. At most it'll just delay things a bit."
"I'm sure the daimyō's mansion wouldn't go so far as to ruin relations between Konoha and Sunagakure over this."
That's right—no matter which country, while the daimyō's mansion outwardly held higher status than the ninja village, anyone with eyes could see that the ninja village was the true core of the nation.
After all… a country with a daimyō's mansion didn't necessarily have a ninja village, but a country with a ninja village definitely had a daimyō's mansion.
In some cases, to maintain peace between their own ninja village and others, the daimyō's mansion even had to swallow some humiliation—it wasn't rare at all.
Naruto frowned: "You still have to answer to the daimyō's mansion?"
"Uh…" Ransai Maru looked a bit awkward and explained: "It's just for appearances… we still need to maintain the daimyō's mansion's dignity. You should understand."
Indeed—when a ninja village changed Kage, they only sent someone to notify the daimyō, who would say "I approve" and that was it—just going through the motions.
Even in matters like this, they had to preserve the daimyō's mansion's face.
That way, the ninja village could request more funding from the daimyō's mansion and develop better…
Naruto frowned deeper: "I refuse. That kind of person is dead and that's it—no need to feel sorry. Just notify the daimyō's mansion. Do we really have to go along too?"
Even though Little Black was wrong, just from Mizunaka's behavior, anyone could see what kind of person he was.
Using status to pick up girls was one thing—but targeting a child like Little Black, and even threatening her with his position? What the hell was that if not an animal?
Even Naruto—who sometimes called himself an animal—had never forced Sakyo, despite them basically being together already. He also had no intention of harming Sakyo at this age.
Ransai Maru sighed, his gaze suddenly sharpening. His tone turned firm: "No matter what, she has to come with us. For the sake of peace between our two villages, let's each take a step back, how about it?"
"I've already said everything nicely. I represent Konoha—Konoha's patience has limits!"
"You're still young and don't understand some things, so don't act on a momentary temper and become the cause of war."
Little Black looked at Naruto very worriedly. She was the cause of the incident—if this ended up dragging Naruto into trouble, she would feel extremely guilty.
So Little Black tugged at Naruto's sleeve and whispered: "Um… Naruto… how about I just go with them?"
"Naruto-kun… and main body don't need to worry about me. As soon as I can come back, I'll return immediately."
Since her birth, Little Black had always been controlled by Sakyo, or interacting with Naruto.
Her sense of self had gradually separated from Sakyo's memories, forming her own independent personality and character.
Little Black positioned herself as the little kid in Sakyo and Naruto's home—listening to everything they said, not having to worry about anything, just eating, drinking, and playing every day.
Right now, Little Black was like a child who had made a mistake. To avoid causing trouble for Naruto and Sakyo, she proactively offered to take responsibility.
However, Naruto stopped Little Black and said seriously: "We'll talk about your issue later."
Little Black's heart panicked. Naruto's serious expression left her at a loss—she became even more worried.
Not because of punishment, but… a feeling… a feeling Little Black couldn't describe.
It seemed… like she was afraid Naruto would hate her?
Mm… that description was pretty close.
Naruto took a deep breath, his tone also becoming unhappy: "I only wasted so many words on you because you're from Konoha."
"My temper isn't great either. If there's anything you're unhappy about, then for the sake of your lives, just endure it."
"Since you seem somewhat reasonable, I'll give you one chance to live. If you chase after us—bear the consequences yourself."
When Naruto turned cold, he was very intimidating. Combined with the strength he had shown earlier, Ransai Maru was momentarily stunned speechless.
"Let's go."
Naruto grabbed Sakyo and Little Black and headed straight toward the movie theater.
The movie wasn't finished yet—the later plot even made Naruto very curious. How could they just leave town so easily?
It wasn't until Naruto and the other two completely disappeared around the corner at the movie theater entrance that Ransai Maru finally exhaled a turbid breath.
"Phew~ When did Sunagakure produce such a genius?"
"Could it be that I've been away from Konoha too long and my information is outdated—Sunagakure has already replaced Konoha as the number one ninja village?"
"Uzumaki Narumon?"
"Too terrifying…"
Ransai Maru muttered this, and none of his subordinates objected.
They were all seasoned veterans—they could naturally see how extraordinary Naruto was.
But this guy called Uzumaki Narumon, looking at his clothing…
He didn't really look like someone from Sunagakure.
Suddenly, Ransai Maru's eyes widened: "Uzumaki?? Isn't that a clan only found in Konoha?"
"And looking at his appearance… he looks very much like the Fourth Hokage-sama…"
As soon as he said this, the group immediately started discussing.
"Right, right—I thought the same the first time I saw him."
"Except for the weird whiskers, everything else is almost identical."
"Face shape, hair color, pupils…"
"And that invisible pressure that comes from a super genius…"
Ransai Maru also felt something was off. He said: "Then… should we go ask?"
"…"
"…"
But no one answered him.
Naruto's words had been very clear.
Going after him meant death. At a time like this, who would stick their neck out?
Ransai Maru gave a helpless smile: "I knew it would be like this—a bunch of cowards afraid of dying."
Indeed—if they weren't so afraid of death, leading to excessive caution and desperate training, they wouldn't have survived the war and lived to this day.
But being afraid of death wasn't shameful—only dying unjustly was.
"First report the situation to Konoha and wait for the Hokage's decision."
Between the daimyō and the Hokage, Ransai Maru unhesitatingly chose the Hokage.
This matter could be big or small—it all depended on how it was handled.
…
"What part were we just at?"
Naruto looked speechlessly at the screen—scenes completely unrelated to what they had watched before—and immediately felt annoyed.
Little Black cautiously followed behind Naruto, not daring to say a word.
Honestly, Naruto's act of protecting her just now almost made Little Black tear up with gratitude.
From Little Black's perspective, she didn't even know what she had done wrong.
After all—if someone wanted to harm her, they were the enemy. Enemies should be killed. Very simple logic~
Though she was extremely moved, with the main body right beside her, Little Black didn't dare show too much emotion.
Otherwise…
Given the main body's personality, she would definitely get jealous.
And Little Black knew—if she really made Sakyo jealous of her, her good days would be over.
So all Little Black could do was silently watch Naruto's back.
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