During the days when Naruto and the rest of the first-year students were attending the Ninja Academy as usual—
That evening,
In the Hokage's Office,
Shimura Danzō suddenly appeared once more.
He had come to see the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
According to the large volume of intelligence he had recently gathered through surveillance and investigation of the Uchiha clan—
Ever since Uchiha Shisui's death a year ago,
which had been a heavy blow to the clan—
They had slowly begun to recover.
And now, under the leadership of the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku,
the Uchiha were once again making secret moves behind the scenes—
Plotting a coup d'état against Konoha's ruling elite.
Their goal:
Seize control of the village.
Danzō believed firmly that the Uchiha could not be trusted.
In his mind,
"Only a destroyed Uchiha clan is a safe Uchiha clan."
To that end, he already had a plan in place—
A plan to completely annihilate the Uchiha.
But this plan...
Without Sarutobi Hiruzen's approval—
or at least his tacit consent—
Even as the leader of Root,
Danzō couldn't act easily against the Uchiha.
After all, even with all the manpower under Root,
a frontal conflict with the entire Uchiha clan would not be easy.
"Hiruzen, this is all the evidence Root has gathered. The Uchiha clan… they can't be trusted."
Danzō spoke with a face full of concern for the village.
"They're preparing to launch a coup.
They want to overthrow the current leadership.
Are you truly okay with that outcome?"
"Hiruzen!"
Danzō couldn't accept it.
The idea of an Uchiha leading Konoha was intolerable to him.
"I believe we should strike preemptively—before they make their move," he said.
His eyes gleamed with malice.
There was no compassion in his voice.
No hesitation.
The Uchiha were one of the founding clans of Konoha.
But that history meant little to Danzō.
Hiruzen's expression darkened as he listened.
To be honest, he didn't want to take action against the Uchiha unless absolutely necessary.
But...
If the Uchiha were truly after the Hokage's seat,
then he might have no choice but to respond with force.
Still—
The current intelligence showed the Uchiha were only in the planning phase.
They hadn't yet decided on a date to begin the uprising.
This left Hiruzen conflicted.
More importantly—
Eliminating the Uchiha would instantly reduce Konoha's military strength.
If another village decided to strike during such a moment,
Konoha's situation could spiral out of control.
This decision…
Could not be made lightly.
The Third Hokage looked at Danzō and said seriously:
"Danzō, things haven't reached that point yet."
"If it comes to that,
I believe Itachi will make the right decision for Konoha."
At this point in time, Uchiha Itachi was already a double agent.
On one hand, he had accepted the clan's mission to spy on the village leadership.
On the other hand, he had also accepted Hiruzen's order to monitor his own clan.
In the end, as the original story goes, Itachi chose the village over the clan.
He made his decision—
He would kill his parents.
He would kill his entire clan.
This, from Naruto's perspective, was absolutely unforgivable.
Konoha tricked you… and you still chose to slaughter your family with your own hands?
That's not loyalty.
That's inhuman.
On the surface, Itachi claimed it was all for Konoha.
But Konoha was the very one trying to destroy his clan.
And still, he did it for Konoha?
If that's not foolishness, what is?
Seeing Hiruzen's hesitation, Danzō sighed deeply.
He knew he wouldn't be able to convince the Third Hokage tonight.
So, he let go of the Uchiha topic—for now.
Instead, Danzō brought up another matter:
The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
But the moment he mentioned Naruto—
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression turned cold and resolute.
"Danzō."
"Stay away from Naruto."
"This is a direct order from the Hokage."
"I am the Hokage."
He could see that Danzō was becoming increasingly interested in Naruto—
Especially after witnessing the talent the boy had begun to show.
But no matter what—
Hiruzen would never allow Danzō to get his hands on Naruto.
Because Naruto was the key.
The key to whether Hiruzen's own son could one day become Hokage.
As long as Naruto remained under his control—
His son, Asuma—
Would have a perfect Nine-Tails Jinchūriki at his side.
Danzō looked at Hiruzen's unwavering attitude…
And snorted coldly.
He spat out his usual line:
"Hiruzen, you're going to regret this!"
With that, he turned on his heel and left the Hokage Building.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, remained by the window, silently watching the warm sunset over Konohagakure.
Danzo's words lingered in his mind—especially the mention of Naruto.
It had been a while since he'd last seen the boy, not since he entered the Academy.
Perhaps it was time to check in.
Soon after, the Third Hokage arrived at Naruto's apartment.
He knocked lightly on the door.
Inside, Naruto paused in the middle of preparing a hearty dinner. The knock froze him in place.
He didn't even need to guess.
Who else would show up uninvited at this hour?
It could only be that old man.
Tch.
This geezer sure knows how to pick the worst times.
Naruto sighed, glancing at the delicious spread he'd just laid out on the table.
Still, he had no choice.
Putting on a forced smile, he opened the door and welcomed Hiruzen in with his best "obedient child" act.
The moment he stepped inside, Hiruzen's nose twitched.
The aroma in the room was mouthwatering.
Without a hint of shame, the old man made a decision:
He was staying for dinner.
Naruto didn't know how his cooking had improved so much, but Hiruzen clearly didn't care—he was just happy to benefit from it.
Naruto could only smile stiffly as the Third Hokage plopped himself into a chair like he owned the place.
Throughout the meal, Hiruzen chatted cheerfully, maintaining his "kind old grandfather" act, trying to keep up a relationship with Naruto.
Naruto, meanwhile, had no desire to exchange even a single word with him.
But for now...
He had to play along.
He was still under this roof.
He couldn't risk tipping his hand too early.
Still, this made one thing clear.
It was time to develop some kind of sensory ability.
This old man loved to drop by unannounced, and Naruto was getting tired of being caught off guard.
His chakra control had improved a lot lately.
Maybe it was time to take the next step.
After dinner, the Third Hokage dusted himself off, left a measly thousand ryo for living expenses, and took his leave.
Naruto stared at the thin wad of cash in his hand, watching the old man's retreating back.
Tch.
One thousand ryo? For that meal?
My cooking's worth at least a million.
The sooner he learned sensory jutsu, the better.
After cleaning up, Naruto sat cross-legged on his bed, pretending to practice chakra refinement.
In truth, his thoughts were elsewhere.
He was going over what he knew about sensory techniques.
There were all kinds of sensory abilities in the shinobi world.
Some were tied to kekkei genkai—like the Sharingan, the Byakugan, or Kagura's Mind Eye, which allowed users to sense chakra across vast distances with pinpoint precision.
Then there were more standard sensory ninjutsu, like the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, which allowed users to perceive enemy movements through rainfall.
Naruto pondered all this.
He had the powerful life force and chakra reserves of the Uzumaki clan, after all.
Karin, another Uzumaki, was known to possess Kagura's Mind Eye.
If she could learn it…
Then so could he.
...
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