Chapter 65: Tsunade's New Toy, Danzō's Jealous Rant, and Naraku's Growing Escape PlansTsunade clenched her fist. Her knuckles itched even more, but since this was her own home, she simply used her bare body and punched the rock garden beside her. The rock garden instantly shattered into pieces under Tsunade's fist.
Gotta say, the Senju clan really has money!
....
What Naraku didn't know was that while he was enjoying some alone time with Tsunade, that old man Danzō was once again badmouthing him behind his back.
"Hiruzen! Arrest Uchiha Naraku! Look at what he's doing! Harboring someone from the Land of Iron right inside the Uchiha compound—next thing you know, he'll give that person another Teigu! Is he planning to collude with foreign powers? Or is he preparing to set up his own faction and break away from Konoha!" Danzō's mouth opened wide as he sprayed saliva furiously at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Gotta say, Danzō once again acted like a prophet—he accurately guessed Naraku's thoughts.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt some dissatisfaction toward Naraku in his heart too, but he still had to speak diplomatically—otherwise Danzō might take any tiny hint of displeasure as permission to actually arrest Uchiha Naraku.
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his head and said: "Little Naraku is probably just being misled by outsiders. Later, depending on the situation, we can just drive that samurai away!"
Danzō still wouldn't give up and tried again: "Hand Naraku over to me! I'll turn him into Konoha's best forging machine!"
"I won't allow the young people in the village to become like that! Get out—I still have official business to handle!" Sarutobi Hiruzen issued the eviction order.
Danzō watched Sarutobi Hiruzen sitting in the Hokage chair that should have been his, handling the government affairs that should have been his. The jealousy in his heart practically caused his soul to separate from his body!
To Danzō, the Hokage position was like an unparalleled beauty. Watching Sarutobi Hiruzen plow away at it from morning till night every day—even giving off that "my clothes grow looser but I have no regrets" vibe!
Finally, he couldn't hold back and said once more: "Hiruzen! You'll regret this!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen reflexively replied: "Danzō! I am the Hokage! I won't regret it!"
"Bang!" Danzō slammed the door as he left.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the door that was about to break again and thought: maybe from now on, the cost of repairing doors should be deducted from Root's budget!
...
While Naraku was on his way home, an ANBU suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Uchiha Naraku! The Hokage summons you!"
Naraku looked up at the sun in the sky—it was broad daylight! Had Danzō gotten this arrogant? Planning to kidnap someone in the middle of the street in daytime?
Just as Naraku was about to shout loudly, the ANBU disappeared.
Only then did Naraku realize this was probably a real ANBU.
So he went alone to the Hokage Tower.
"Little Naraku, how have you been lately?" Sarutobi Hiruzen forced a kind expression and asked.
Seeing this look that screamed "interrogation prelude," Naraku remembered a legendary figure from his previous life—"Che Guevara"—and struck the classic pose while saying: "Pretty good. The village has friends to play with, girls to play with, I don't have to go to school every day—only thing is forging weapons every day to support myself."
Sarutobi Hiruzen listened to Naraku's weird accent and thought it was just some trendy slang among current elementary school kids, so he didn't pay it much mind.
But he seized the key point in Naraku's wording and smiled again: "Little Naraku, you should still go to ninja academy when you have time! That way you can grow better, and at ninja academy you can make lots of new friends!"
Naraku inwardly rolled his eyes: go to ninja academy to make new friends? Isn't it just to make me accept that crappy "Will of Fire" education you wrote—smells worse than Uchiha Madara's foot odor! Oh God! If I didn't want to flip the table right now, I swear I'd kick your ass hard!
But since Naraku was already a bit tired of bantering with this old guy, he said: "Okay, Lord Hokage! I'll go often!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen saw that Naraku in his eyes still seemed as obedient as usual and felt a bit relieved.
He changed the subject: "Little Naraku, I heard recently you took in a samurai from the Land of Iron?"
"Yes, he's a samurai who wanted me to forge a weapon for him. But I told him I'm from Konoha and can't easily forge weapons for people from other villages. Still, I didn't want to give him zero hope, so I told him: if he can cut through steel with a wooden sword, I'll acknowledge him as a skilled samurai and forge a blade for him for free!" Naraku continued playing the role of an exemplary inheritor of the Will of Fire.
Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen was very satisfied with Naraku's decision—polite yet principled. He felt that while the ninja world might have people who could cut steel with a wooden sword, it absolutely wouldn't be a samurai!
Afterward he encouraged Naraku a few more times, then let him leave.
...
Leaving the Hokage office, Naraku slowly let the fake smile fade from his face. He hadn't expected that just taking in one samurai would make Sarutobi Hiruzen come knock on him.
It seemed his current position in their eyes was just a forging machine with no ability to resist.
And as Naraku's strength grew stronger and stronger, he became more and more unwilling to keep up the superficial politeness with this Konoha duo.
He also didn't feel like staying here to play intellectual games with these narrow-minded people, so he felt he should further prepare an escape route for himself.
As soon as he got home, Naraku saw Mifune cut through steel with one slash. So he said to Mifune: "Mifune, your strength has improved a bit now. Leave Konoha tomorrow! When you return to the Land of Iron, you must continue training Armament Haki and keep trying to awaken Observation Haki. Let me give you a tip: try closing your eyes to sense the existence of this Haki!"
"Yes! My lord! Once I've handled affairs in the Land of Iron, I'll immediately return to Konoha to stay by your side!" Mifune bowed deeply.
Naraku said: "What I need is for you to turn the Land of Iron into an iron barrel—not just come to my side as a simple bodyguard! The Land of Iron might be my real escape route!"
Mifune's eyes instantly flashed with murderous intent: "Could it be that my lord can't even guarantee basic freedom and safety in Konoha? I'm willing to lead my lord to break out of Konoha!"
Naraku looked at Mifune—who had become a bit silly after learning Armament Haki—and felt speechless, but his loyalty was commendable: "A mere Konoha can't hold me back! It's just that there are still quite a few acquaintances here—I don't want to make a move yet! And I still have some unfinished business!"
Afterward, Naraku dropped a bombshell: He would leave Konoha together with Mifune, and handed him a kunai marked with a seal.
...
Later, back in his bedroom, Naraku chose to claim the reward from Tsunade.
Ding...
[Tsunade has reached Beginner utilization of "Hundred Beast King Transformation [Lion King]." Talent Replication activated: Senju Clan Physique – Beginner]
Since Naraku already had Intermediate Senju Clan Physique, the Beginner level gave him some improvement, but the quantitative change wasn't enough to cause a qualitative leap!
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