On a street in a town somewhere in the Land of Fire...
A tall, imposing man with long white hair tied back in a simple ponytail walked along. Perhaps it was his long hair that suited his image as a writer or an artist? On his feet were wooden sandals, and on his forehead, he wore a headband. However, instead of bearing the symbol of any ninja village, it simply had the large character for "oil" written on it.
Two red lines extended from the corners of his eyes, resembling streaks of tears painted on his face. Anyone from Konoha who saw this figure would immediately recognize him—Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.
Heh heh heh, Jiraiya chuckled to himself. "That hot spring I just visited... wow, they even have that kind of design!"
"This material will be perfect for my next book!" he added, though he shook his head. "But it's not enough. I need to gather more material!"
His eyes glinted with a mischievous, almost lecherous, gleam as he waved his hands in the air, seemingly reliving some delightful memory, with drool nearly dripping from his mouth.
"Hey, did you hear? There was a huge upheaval in Konoha!" someone nearby said, catching Jiraiya's attention.
"An upheaval? What happened? A natural disaster?" the other person replied.
"Not a natural disaster, you fool. The Uchiha clan staged a coup! The Third Hokage is dead! I heard the Uchiha took over and installed the Fifth Hokage just a few days ago!"
Jiraiya's face shifted slightly upon hearing this. He moved closer to the two people talking and asked them for more details.
From their conversation, Jiraiya confirmed the rumors: the Third Hokage was dead, and the Uchiha clan had seized power.
"So, the Uchiha staged a coup? Or... was the old man pushing them to the point where they had no choice?" Jiraiya's expression grew darker.
As a student of the Third Hokage, one of the Legendary Sannin, and the mentor of the Fourth Hokage, why had Jiraiya left Konoha to wander the world?
The truth was, Jiraiya knew the Third Hokage's true nature, which had left him deeply disappointed. In the end, he chose to distance himself from the village rather than face the harsh reality.
Therefore, upon hearing about the Uchiha coup, Jiraiya didn't immediately blame the Uchiha. After all, he knew how things had turned out for the Senju clan.
He also remembered how Tsunade's younger brother, a Senju heir and one of Orochimaru's disciples, had mysteriously died on a mission with Orochimaru. Even back then, Jiraiya had sensed something was off, not to mention the complete decline of the Senju clan afterward.
"It seems that the Uchiha clan is truly a force to be reckoned with. Without the Senju to keep them in check, it's not surprising that the Hokage position would eventually fall into the Uchiha's hands," one of the men continued as Jiraiya listened.
"You're wrong about that. The Uchiha didn't stage the coup just to seize the Hokage title. It's because the Third Hokage was unfit for the role!" the other man argued.
"What? Unfit? Isn't the Third Hokage known as the strongest Hokage, a professor of ninja arts, and a very compassionate leader?" the first man replied, shocked.
"You've been deceived, just like the rest of Konoha!" the other man exclaimed. "At the Hokage inauguration ceremony, the Uchiha listed the Third Hokage's seven deadly sins!"
"One of the most shocking revelations was about the Fourth Hokage's son, Naruto Uzumaki."
"Despite being a hero who served as the vessel for sealing the Nine-Tails, the Third Hokage treated him as an orphan and spread the rumor that he was the Nine-Tails incarnate. Because of this, Naruto was shunned and mistreated by the entire village for years!"
"What? The Fourth Hokage's son, Naruto Uzumaki, ended up like that? That's unforgivable!" Jiraiya's brow furrowed even more upon hearing this.
Naruto? Of course, Jiraiya knew that name well. The protagonist of his book, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, was named Naruto.
Minato had even named his son after that character! But instead of being named Naruto Namikaze, the boy was known as Naruto Uzumaki? And to be called the Nine-Tails? To have suffered so much in Konoha?
Even Jiraiya found it hard to accept this news.
The old man... he went too far this time, Jiraiya thought grimly.
"It seems after all these years of wandering, it's time for me to return to the village," Jiraiya muttered to himself.
Despite everything, he felt a duty to pay his respects to his deceased teacher. Moreover, knowing that the Fourth Hokage's son, Naruto, had suffered so much, Jiraiya realized that it was time to return to Konoha.
As a lone wanderer, Jiraiya didn't have much to pack. However, he did regret that he wouldn't be able to gather more material for his books tonight. Sigh, he thought with a hint of disappointment before setting off for Konoha.
The Uchiha are in charge now?
I wonder what Konoha will look like under Uchiha rule, Jiraiya mused as he made his way back to the village.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Uchiha Akira was already organizing a team.
The Sand Village, the Cloud Village, and the Stone Village were all making moves, likely planning to attack Konoha. Akira understood their reasoning.
Due to the previous leadership under the Third Hokage, Konoha's talent pool had been severely depleted. Otherwise, the Cloud Village would never have dared to act so brazenly.
Now, after the coup, with both the Third Hokage and Danzo dead, Konoha's situation was even more dire. This was undoubtedly the weakest Konoha had been in terms of high-level combat power since its founding.
From another perspective, Akira could understand why these villages would see Konoha as an easy target.
Currently, Konoha only had two Kage-level fighters: himself and Fugaku.
Thus, the task of deterring the other villages fell to Akira.
After assigning this challenging mission to Akira, Fugaku granted him full authority to mobilize Konoha's forces as he saw fit.
Akira first sought out Kakashi and Might Guy, both of whom were elite Jonin. In particular, Guy could open seven of the Eight Gates, temporarily reaching Kage-level strength, so Akira naturally brought him along.
He then sought a Jonin from the Hyuga clan to accompany them. The Byakugan's abilities would be invaluable, especially in medical ninjutsu, where its x-ray vision could provide immense benefits.
Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga clan, graciously volunteered to join the mission, stating that as the clan leader, it was only right for him to face the potential threat from the Cloud Village.
Next, Akira approached the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. The leaders of these three clans also agreed to join the mission for the sake of Konoha.
With this, Akira assembled Konoha's top six fighters, four of whom were clan leaders. This was as close to an elite team as Konoha could muster at the moment.
Additionally, Akira gathered 2,000 more ninja—Jonin, Chunin, and Genin—from various clans and the general populace, ready to deploy to the battlefield if necessary.
If the elite team could successfully deter the other villages, that would be ideal. But if war broke out, a small group would not be enough.
After meeting with Shikaku Nara and finalizing plans to depart the next morning, Akira left the Nara clan's residence. Seeing that it was already late, he decided to return to the Uchiha district.
However, as he walked down the street, Akira suddenly paused. A familiar figure had caught his eye.
"Naruto, where are you heading so late? Training? You must be working hard to be training this late!"
"Naruto, are you hungry? How about I make you a bowl of ramen?"
"Naruto, your clothes are all dirty! Bring them by tomorrow, and I'll wash them for you!"
As Naruto walked through Konoha, people greeted him warmly, each one offering some gesture of kindness.
Naruto felt both happiness and pain from the attention.
On one hand, he was overjoyed that his lifelong dream of being accepted by the village had finally come true.
But on the other hand, the villagers were so overwhelmingly friendly that it was exhausting!
Naruto smiled and greeted everyone who spoke to him, but he could feel his face starting to cramp from all the smiling.
Ever since Naruto's true identity was revealed, the entire village had learned that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage.
Reflecting on how they had treated Naruto over the years, the villagers felt a deep sense of guilt towards him, while silently cursing the Third Hokage and the other village leaders.
Because of this, the village's attitude toward Naruto had done a complete 180.
Where once they had been cold and distant, now they were warm and welcoming, almost to an overwhelming degree.
Watching Naruto walk through the village, greeted warmly by everyone he passed, Akira couldn't help but smile.
To be honest, Akira had always felt sad about Naruto's tragic childhood in the original story.
Now, knowing that he had changed Naruto's fate, Akira couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.
After watching for a moment, Akira stepped forward to greet Naruto.
"Naruto, what a coincidence!" Akira called out.
"Uchiha Akira, what a coincidence! Thank you for helping me learn who my father is and for making it so that everyone in the village acknowledges me!" Naruto replied with a smile. He was genuinely grateful to Akira.
If it hadn't been for Akira, Naruto would have continued to be deceived by the Third Hokage, believing him to be a good person.
"So, have you had dinner yet? It's late, but I'm sure Ichiraku Ramen is still open. How about I treat you?" Akira offered.
"Sure!" Naruto nodded enthusiastically at Akira's invitation.
And so, the two seven-year-old boys headed off in the direction of Ichiraku Ramen...
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 136 at patreon.com/Emik01.