Chapter 365 Return and the Eve of the Chunin Exam

After digesting this shocking news, Kakashi looked at Byakuya, filled with doubts.

He didn't understand why Kushina, who had been missing for many years, stayed with Byakuya and why she didn't return to the village. Was it because she was afraid of the masked man who launched the Night of the Nine Tails, or because she was afraid of the people in the village.

Byakuya saw Kakashi's doubts and immediately gave the answer: "Kakashi, Kushina only contacted me recently. She seems to have suffered some serious injury and only recovered recently."

"And the reason why I keep returning to Konoha is probably to deal with the masked man."

After hearing this, Kakashi nodded slightly, and then asked: "I know, but where is Kushina's wife now? Can you let me see her?"

Bai Ye looked embarrassed, and then said: "I want to ask her opinion on this. Her identity is too sensitive. Once exposed, she will easily be attacked again by the masked man."

"It's the masked man again..."

Kakashi gritted his teeth, then seemed to remember something, and asked: "By the way, how does Mrs. Kushina plan to treat Naruto? Is she going to let him stay in the village, or go with her?"

Sensing Kakashi's strangeness, Byakuya said in a playful tone: "Let Kushina take Naruto away. Kakashi Jonin is not that loyal to Konoha and the Third Hokage..."

Kakashi said disapprovingly: "Konoha is Konoha, and the Sandaime is the Sandaime. What's more, the current Sandaime is not the real Hokage, and Master Kushina is the Hokage's widow. My loyalty will always be to Konoha."

For Kakashi, loyalty to Konoha and loyalty to Hokage are not the same concept.

Although there is not much difference between the two in many cases, what the Third Hokage has done in recent years has somewhat disappointed him.

Not only him, there are also quite a few Jonin in the village who are dissatisfied with the Third Hokage.

This has nothing to do with whether the Third Hokage is a good old man or not. It is simply that the Third Hokage's current ability is not worthy of being the Hokage.

Bai Ye was not surprised by Kakashi's ambiguous attitude.

In the original time and space, the third generation of Hokage had already lost the trust of the ninja clan and jounin. However, in view of the past achievements of the third generation of Hokage, the third generation of Hokage was given an ending that belonged to Hokage.

At this time, Kakashi seemed to remember something and asked hesitantly: "Byakuya, since Mrs. Kushina is still alive, where is Teacher Minato..."

Bai Ye shook his head, and then said: "The Fourth Hokage used the technique of sealing away ghosts. You know the consequences of using this technique."

After hearing this, Kakashi was silent for a few seconds, because he took it too much for granted.

But in his heart, he hoped that Minato Namikaze was still alive. If Minato still served as Hokage, all problems would be solved.

After sighing softly, Kakashi said: "Thank you for telling me this. If I have the chance, I will definitely come to thank you."

"No need to thank you."

Byakuya paused for a moment, then said: "However, regarding Kushina's existence, I hope you will hide it from the Third Hokage... I am worried that Kushina's identity will be leaked."

Kakashi thought for a moment and then agreed to Bai Ye's request.

In his opinion, the Third Hokage should not leak the secret, but the masked man has mastered the time and space ninjutsu. If too many people know about it, it will definitely be leaked.

Before Kakashi turned around and left, Byakuya's voice sounded again: "By the way, one more thing, use your Sharingan well, he will be a weapon against the masked man."

"My Sharingan is a powerful weapon against the masked man..."

Kakashi was doubtful and wanted to ask something more, but Byakuya's figure had disappeared.

After returning to Tazuna's house, Kakashi saw several ninjas wearing Amegakure forehead protectors, and beside them were Naruto, Tazuna and others.

After seeing Kakashi coming, Naruto and others breathed a sigh of relief and talked about their experiences within half an hour.

It turned out that when he and Byakuya were out, the Akatsuki organization ninja came to the civilian area of ​​​​the Country of Waves and announced that the wealthy Cardo had fallen, and the Akatsuki organization took over the place instead.

This time I came here to find Dazna and discuss the construction of the bridge and industrial zone.

But Naruto and Sasuke didn't believe in the Akatsuki organization ninjas at all, thinking that the other party was a ninja sent by Cardo, so the two sides were in a stalemate here.

After hearing what happened, Kakashi smiled and then revealed the relationship between Akatsuki members and Byakuya.

Upon hearing that these people were Byakuya's subordinates, Naruto and others lowered their guard and said to Tazuna:

"Uncle Dazuna, since these people are under Byakuya-sama, we don't need to continue to protect you. Byakuya-sama is a good person, and the country of Wave will definitely be very prosperous in the future."

Tatsuna was doubtful about what Naruto and others said. He didn't trust Cardo, nor did he trust these ninjas.

However, after seeing the ninjas organized by Akatsuki using ninjutsu to speed up the construction of the bridge, and the civil engineering ninjas who were renovating the port, Dazuna put down his guard.

This group of ninjas wearing fire cloud uniforms may be different from ninjas in other places.

…

It took three days for Team 7 to return to Konoha Ninja Village from the Country of Waves.

After three days of running at full speed, Kakashi was slightly tired, while Naruto and the others were as listless as dead dogs.

There was no time to rest, so they had to go to the Hokage Building to report immediately.

After knocking on the door of the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage had been waiting here for a long time. He put down the health magazine in his hand, glanced over several people, and landed on Kakashi.

Although Team 7 has only arrived now, he has already known about the situation in the Country of Waves from Yamato.

Before the Third Hokage could ask, Naruto and Sasuke took the initiative to talk about their trip. When they talked about the battle, they even danced excitedly.

The Third Hokage comforted the members of Team 7 and then asked Kakashi to stay.

In front of Naruto and Sasuke, he naturally established the image of a good grandfather, but in front of jonins like Kakashi, he only had one identity, and that was the third generation Hokage in the village.

Picking up the mission report prepared by Kakashi, the Third Hokage glanced at it casually and asked casually: "Kakashi, you met Byakuya during the mission, and Byakuya helped you defeat Itachi and Kisame?"

Kakashi nodded, and then said: "That's right. The news of Naruto's outing was passed on to Itachi and the masked man. If it weren't for Byakuya, we would be in danger this time."

The Third Hokage knocked on the table and said: "I know that the masked man has spies in the village, but why can Byakuya also know your whereabouts?"

Kakashi was stunned, and then said: "Sandaime-sama, I don't know this either."

Staring into Kakashi's eyes, the Third Hokage sighed softly: "It's normal if you don't know. Byakuya and Amegakure Village must also have spies in the village, but they are on our side."

After a pause, the Third Hokage continued: "From the report, you and Yamato should have seen Byakuya's Wood Release Ninjutsu this time. How do you evaluate Byakuya's strength?"

Kakashi was hesitant, not sure whether he should say it or not.

The Third Hokage noticed Kakashi's confusion, waved his hand and said, "Just tell me your true thoughts. I just want to know your evaluation of him."

Kakashi recalled the scene at that time, took a deep breath and said:

"Beyond the power of a demigod, Byakuya's strength has surpassed Hanzo's, and he is only one step away from becoming the god of ninja."

After a pause, Kakashi continued: "And I suspect that Byakuya is related to the first and second generations. He may be the bloodline of the Senju clan left in the Uzumaki clan."

"Otherwise, Byakuya's Wood Release would never be so terrifying. It's simply not the same dimension as Yamato..."

After hearing Kakashi's comments about Byakuya, the Third Hokage was silent for a long time. He silently took out the cigarette rod from the drawer and took a few puffs without lighting it.

A ninja that surpasses demigods...

The Third Hokage had mixed feelings in his heart, and he regretted not sending people to support Uzushio Village back then. If he had supported Uzushio Village back then, all the remaining Uzumaki ninjas would have joined Konoha.

Byakuya may be Konoha's ninja now.

With Byakuya here, Namikaze Minato would not have died in the Night of the Kyuubi, and what happened next would not have happened.

Of course, the greater possibility is that Danzo and Orochimaru were used as experimental subjects. Those two bold guys did nothing without considering the consequences.

After talking about Byakuya's strength, the Third Hokage then asked: "By the way, during the more than ten days when Naruto and Sasuke disappeared, were they taken away by Byakuya, or did they go somewhere?"

Kakashi was shocked, and then said: "I don't know where they went? I also asked them, but they refused to tell."

"Forget it if you don't want to tell me. Everyone has their own secrets."

The Third Hokage rarely asked further questions, but waved his hand to ask Kakashi to step back.

Kakashi had some doubts in his heart, but still left the Hokage Building. He felt that the Third Generation should know something, but he didn't know clearly.

After Kakashi left, the Third Hokage's expression turned gloomy and he took out another report from the drawer.

This report was sent by Uchiha Itachi, and it contained only two pieces of news.

The first was to tell him that the masked man had set his sights on Naruto, the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki, but had no intention of taking action yet. The second was to ask him whether the agreement he made back then was still effective and why would a root ninja contact Sasuke.

After seeing the report, the Third Hokage understood where Sasuke and Naruto were going.

There is a high probability that Naruto and Sasuke were taken away by the ninjas at the root, or even Danzo himself. Danzo had always had thoughts about Naruto and Sasuke, and wanted to turn them into killing machines that would only obey orders.

But his idea is different. The rules and curses at the root can only restrict the weak, but cannot restrict the strong.

If Naruto and Sasuke are blindly bound by rules, when they grow up, they will definitely doubt the rules, causing extremely terrifying backlash.

But it's different with the will of fire. Even if they die, Naruto and Sasuke will protect Konoha.

In their hearts, they will always be the perfect Hokage.

And this report also perfectly explained why Byakuya knew that the Jinchuriki had left the village. Danzo most likely released the news, and the two might have colluded secretly.

Danzo's identity is the leader of the Roots, and Byakuya is the leader of the Akatsuki organization in Amegakure Village.

The identities of the two are almost identical. They are only one step away from the leader of their respective ninja villages. In order to take the last step, there is a high probability that some of the interests of the village will be sacrificed.

After sighing, the Third Hokage looked in the direction of Wave Country and sighed.

Byakuya is a very skillful ninja. His original plan was to take advantage of Dazuna being targeted by Cardo, take the opportunity to get rid of Cardo, and use Cardo's property to subsidize the village's deficit.

However, Byakuya got there first and occupied the entire Kingdom of Waves.

This will undoubtedly make Konoha's finances worse.

And because Bai Ye saved Naruto, Konoha Ninja Village also lost the reason to interfere with the Wave Country, otherwise it would be morally untenable and lose the support of public opinion.

Public opinion is useless for two parties with a large difference in strength.

But the strength of Yuyin Village, or more precisely, the Yuyin Village Alliance, is almost the same as that of the five major countries, even surpassing Sand Village and Mist Village, reaching the level of competing with Konoha.

Once Konoha loses its advantage in public opinion, it will definitely not be the opponent of Yuyin Village.

What's more, Konoha needs to be tied to Yuyin Village to avoid a new round of siege. The scene of the Third Ninja World War is still vivid in his mind.

But it is not a solution to continue like this. Konoha Ninja Village will sooner or later collapse because of interests.

Unlike the civilian ninjas trained in the ninja school education system, the ninjas in the village may defect in the end. After leaving Konoha, they may be seriously injured, but they can still maintain a good status.

Retracting his gradually scattered thoughts, the Third Hokage's sight shifted from the window to the room.

After glancing at the portraits of the previous Hokage, the Third Hokage's eyes fell on his own portrait. It is better to rely on oneself than to rely on others, so he should find a way to save Konoha's predicament.

Thinking of this, the Third Hokage took out the long-prepared plan for the Joint Chunin Exam.

The Joint Chunin Exam is a huge exam participated by many ninja villages. In addition to selecting the most elite Chunin, its goal is also a military competition in peacetime.

In front of the dignitaries and ninja village leaders of various countries, the style of the younger generation was shown.

And this time, the Third Hokage is ready to invite all the young talents in the ninja world to participate and hold an unprecedented Chunin Exam Competition.

As long as the Chunin Exam can get a dazzling result.

Konoha can sweep away the haze of many years, regain the support of dignitaries from various countries, restore the number of commissions it once had, and make Konoha great again.

As for whether Konoha can succeed in the Chunin Exam, the Third Hokage does not think he will lose.

In addition to Naruto and Sasuke, two monsters with the strength of a jonin, Konoha also has many young genin with extraordinary strength.

For example, Lee and Neji under Might Guy are close to jonin in strength.

Together with Naruto and Sasuke, they will definitely be able to defeat the young people of other ninja villages.

Thinking of this, the Third Hokage began to smile secretly, and a picture of Konoha thriving under his leadership appeared in his mind.