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After staying at the Manor for a few days, Naruto returned to Konoha and gave Tsunade a general report on his recent mission, though he kept a few important details hidden.
He mentioned finding some ninja scrolls left behind by the Uzumaki Clan.
Naruto handed one of the scrolls to Tsunade, which contained information about the Uzumaki Clan's Four Symbols Seal.
Tsunade quickly unrolled the scroll, and its contents excited her.
While Konoha had some records on the Four Symbols Seal, many critical details had been lost over time.
The remaining version of the seal in Konoha had been significantly weakened, especially after the death of the Fourth Hokage.
Tsunade, after putting the scroll away, said, "Naruto, you did an excellent job on this mission, and there were even some unexpected gains."
"This scroll will be of great help to Konoha." Naruto, after bidding farewell to Tsunade, returned home to continue studying the Uzumaki scrolls.
The sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan were indeed exceptional, and Naruto knew he had to master them as quickly as possible.
Over the next few months, Naruto occasionally took on missions, and during those missions, he adopted a few orphans with potential, sending them to Harukai Manor.
He frequently visited the manor to guide them in their training.
After a while, the older children began helping Naruto teach the younger ones, which saved him quite a bit of effort.
Meanwhile, Naruto's strength continued to grow steadily, and his mastery of various ninja techniques improved.
Within the Anbu, any team Naruto joined had a 100% mission success rate, and casualties among his teammates were extremely low.
As a result, Naruto's status in the Anbu rose sharply. Tsunade also felt more at ease with Naruto in the ranks, but one person wasn't too pleased—Danzo.
Naruto and Danzo didn't get along well due to differing views on many matters.
However, since both of them were ultimately working for Konoha, their disagreements hadn't escalated into open conflict.
Given the high level of secrecy within the Anbu and Naruto's clean execution of his missions, other ninja villages only sensed Konoha's growing strength but had no idea who the genius behind it was.
Occasionally, Naruto would still take on lower-ranked missions as a Genin.
In his free time, he'd meet up with friends like Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sakura, chatting, catching up, or having friendly competitions.
Life continued in this way, and Naruto assumed that the next great conflict in the ninja world wouldn't come until the Akatsuki made their move.
However, a sudden piece of news disrupted this peaceful life.
Although the Hidden Mist had learned that the "Black Flash" was from Konoha, they merely reduced their activities targeting the village.
The information was strictly confidential within the Anbu, but for some unknown reason, the news leaked to the Hidden Stone.
The political situation in the Land of Earth had recently stabilized, with the eldest son of the Daimyo assuming his father's position.
Understanding the delicate balance of power, the Tsuchikage, Onoki, immediately attempted to suppress the information after learning about it.
However, a spy planted by the second son uncovered the secret, causing a major upheaval in the Land of Earth.
The new Daimyo, under pressure, called for an urgent meeting.
All the key members of Iwagakure and influential figures from the Daimyo's side were present.
As soon as Onoki entered the meeting room, the Daimyo accused him, "Onoki, why didn't you tell me about such a crucial matter earlier?"
"My father's death must be avenged. This isn't just my wish—it's the will of the people of the Land of Earth!"
Having served as Tsuchikage for a long time, Onoki understood the political landscape perfectly.
He quickly apologized, "Daimyo, I only hesitated because I wanted to confirm the authenticity of the information before reporting it to you."
From the doorway, a voice interjected, "What we're worried about is that certain people, after becoming Daimyo, have no intention of seeking revenge."
It was the second prince, who entered with the third prince by his side.
The third prince, clearly displeased with not becoming Daimyo himself, sneered, "Brother, you shouldn't say such things."
"After all, it's only natural for the Daimyo to be cautious. Maybe he's known about the news all along but chose not to say anything."
"If it weren't for you finding out, we might never have learned how to handle this!"
Onoki, understanding their motives, immediately stepped forward and said, "This was my fault, and it has nothing to do with the Daimyo."
"If the two princes want to assign blame, they should direct it toward me."
Onoki's reputation in the Land of Earth was considerable, so the two princes had no choice but to back down.
The second prince snorted coldly, "Onoki, out of respect for you, I'll let it go this time."
"But now that everyone knows the situation, we're just interested in hearing how my brother plans to handle it."
The eldest son, who had become a Daimyo, knew the intricacies of the situation in the Land of Earth.
Even if the rumours about Konoha were true, he couldn't act recklessly without evidence.
He said, "Although we've learned from the Hidden Mist that the Black Flash is a Konoha shinobi, we don't have any concrete proof."
"I suggest we investigate Konoha first and gather evidence before taking action."
Onoki agreed, "The Daimyo is right. The Land of Earth has just stabilized, and we have many pressing matters to address—"
The third prince interrupted, "If I remember correctly, Tsuchikage-sama, you were there when our father was killed. It's not that I don't trust you, but..."
The second prince immediately shouted, "Third brother, Tsuchikage-sama has been our leader for so long and is well aware of the consequences of his actions."
"Who are we to doubt him?" He then gave Onoki a meaningful glance.
Onoki, knowing that he bore some responsibility in this matter, was rendered speechless.
Others close to the two princes began to speak up. One man stood and said, "The old Daimyo was incredibly kind to me. This debt must be repaid."
"Just give the order, and I'll march into battle without hesitation." Another added, "The people of the Land of Earth demand vengeance.
Even if the Land of Fire is strong, we should not be afraid. I hope the Daimyo will agree."
Yet another person stood and voiced similar sentiments, one after another.
The Daimyo frowned. He understood their motivations, but if he didn't take decisive action, his position as Daimyo could be threatened.
Reluctantly, he turned to Onoki and said, "Immediately contact Konoha's Hokage and demand that they hand over the culprit responsible for my father's death."
"If the Hokage refuses, we will declare war and attack the Land of Fire."
Onoki, hearing this, closed his eyes in resignation, indicating his agreement.
The Daimyo turned to his brothers and said, "Now, are you satisfied with my decision, second brother, third brother?"
The second prince replied coldly, "I trust in your devotion to our father's memory, brother. I hope you won't disappoint me!"
With that, the second and third princes left the room, followed by the others, leaving only Onoki and the Daimyo to brood silently over the looming conflict.
In the Hokage's office, Tsunade was praising Naruto's ability to handle tasks when an urgent message was delivered.
Tsunade opened the message and quickly scanned its contents, her expression turning serious.
She told Shizune, "Call an emergency meeting immediately."
"We have something crucial to discuss that could determine the fate of the Land of Fire."
Make sure everyone gets to the conference room as quickly as possible." Knowing Tsunade's temperament, Shizune hurried off.
Tsunade turned to Naruto and said, "Let's go to the conference room."
As they made their way there, Tsunade maintained a grim expression, which was rare. Naruto, sensing the urgency, followed closely behind.
Given the gravity of the situation, Konoha's key figures, as well as the daimyo of the Land of Fire, quickly gathered in the conference room.
Holding the urgent letter, Tsunade stood up and said, "The Land of Earth has somehow received information that Konoha is responsible for the assassination of their daimyo by the 'Black Flash.'"
"They're demanding that we hand him over, or they will declare war on the Land of Fire."
The daimyo looked surprised. "Assassinate the daimyo of the Land of Earth? Our Black Flash? Why haven't I heard about this?"
Tsunade glanced at Danzo, who remained calm as usual and replied, "Yes, the assassination of the daimyo was connected to me."
"At that time, the Land of Earth had already planned to attack Konoha. If we hadn't acted first, they would have struck us."
"The Hokage's actions have been far too naive. Besides, Black Flash isn't one of my people; he operates directly under the Hokage's ANBU."
The daimyo said, "So, this was indeed our doing. To prevent a war between the two nations, we should consider surrendering this Black Flash."
"The safety of the Land of Fire is paramount."
Naruto wasn't surprised by the daimyo's reaction, but what did catch him off guard was Danzo standing up and saying,
"Daimyo, such a decision would be far too weak. The Land of Earth has no concrete evidence that we were responsible."
"If we hand over Black Flash, it would be an admission of guilt, making war even more likely. Even if war were to break out, Konoha has the strength to handle it."
Tsunade added, "Furthermore, this Black Flash is a genius ninja of Konoha, one of the brightest among the new generation."
"Most importantly, he holds a very special position within Konoha—he's the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails and currently the commander of the ANBU under the Hokage's direct control."
"There's no way Konoha will hand him over." Hearing that the commander of the ANBU was involved, the daimyo suddenly took notice of Naruto.
Naruto's sharp gaze caught the daimyo off guard, and he leaned back into his chair, saying, "In that case, surrendering Black Flash would indeed be unwise. Let's discuss how we should handle this."
Tsunade said, "I believe we should first negotiate with the Land of Earth and try to resolve this peacefully."
"Surely they know that a war would not benefit either side."
Danzo countered, "Hokage, such an approach could place Konoha in jeopardy."
"If the negotiations fail and they attack, we can't be caught unprepared."
"We should immediately mobilize Konoha's forces and place the entire Land of Fire on high alert."
Tsunade replied, "For negotiations to have any chance of success, there has to be some degree of trust. Mobilizing our forces could undermine that trust."
The daimyo watched the two argue, unsure of what decision to make.
Naruto stood up and said, "Granny Tsunade, I don't think simple negotiations will solve this."
"Assassinating the daimyo is not something that the Tsuchikage alone can decide."
"Even if the Tsuchikage doesn't want to attack Konoha, he may have no choice." Tsunade, usually strong-willed, had to take Naruto's words seriously.
Shikaku, who was known as one of the smartest people in Konoha, also nodded.
"Naruto may be right. The fact that they demanded someone from us without any evidence isn't typical of the Tsuchikage."
"Negotiations may not go well, but we can't abandon them altogether."
Acknowledging the insight of both Naruto and Shikaku, Tsunade closed her eyes in thought for a moment before saying,
"In that case, Konoha will enter a state of alert while we simultaneously try to open negotiations with the Tsuchikage."
The daimyo agreed, "That seems to be the only viable option right now."
Danzo and the others had no objections, so Tsunade concluded the meeting: "With that, today's meeting is adjourned."
As Naruto and Tsunade left the conference room and headed back to the Hokage's office, Tsunade was already issuing orders on the way.
Konoha was quickly mobilized. Whether it was the ANBU, the jonin, the chunin, even the genin, or civilians, everyone was suddenly busy.
Danzo's forces were also not idle. Konoha, which hadn't experienced a large-scale war in a long time, found itself gripped by unprecedented tension.
After organizing the ANBU, Naruto went to the Hokage's office to report to Tsunade.
She asked him, "Naruto, with you helping manage the ANBU, I feel reassured. But I want to know, what are your plans regarding this situation?"
Naruto replied, "I've arranged everything for the ANBU, but for the next period, I'm afraid I'll have to leave those duties to you again."
Tsunade was startled and said, "Don't tell me you're thinking of running away at a time like this?"
Naruto quickly waved his hands and said, "I'm not running away! I want to train and develop a new Jutsu so that I can have enough strength to face this crisis."
Tsunade responded, "Your strength is already formidable. Even I might not be able to beat you."
"If you're not around, the ANBU might be at a disadvantage."
Naruto explained, "During the assassination of the daimyo in the Land of Earth, I almost got killed myself."
"The Tsuchikage, Onoki, has a terrifying jutsu that surpasses the limits of bloodline abilities—his Dust Release."
"It ignores all defences, and right now, I have no way to counter it. That's why I need to develop a new technique."
"As for my absence, you can summon Jiraiya-sensei back. With him around, nothing major should go wrong for a while."
Tsunade nodded in agreement. She had already been considering summoning Jiraiya back.
Onoki's jutsu was indeed difficult to handle, and she knew that even if a war broke out with Iwagakure, Onoki wouldn't step in immediately, so there should be enough time.
With Tsunade's approval, Naruto prepared food and got ready to head to Mount Myoboku.
He had no desire to endure another bug feast prepared by Fukasaku.
This time, he was determined to master Sage Mode and return with a significant leap in power.
He would make sure that Onoki saw him in a whole new light.
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