The next day.
The high-level meeting proceeded as scheduled, with Naruto barging in uninvited. When someone tried to stop him, he shoved them aside without hesitation.
"Don't touch me, I'm the Clan Head of the Uzumaki Clan, and I have every right to attend this meeting."
"You weren't notified. What are you doing here?" Someone protested angrily.
"Yeah, no one notified me." Naruto turned to glare at the man, and suddenly, a smile appeared on his face, "That's your mistake. What does that have to do with me?"
"Get out!" The man looked unfamiliar.
"Fine, kick me out, and I'll be at your doorstep tonight!" Naruto didn't recognize this guy, so he directly turned up the pressure and continued to talk while staring at him, "If you don't believe it, go ahead and try."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Yeah, so what?" Naruto lowered his gaze and stared at him, blocking the door with his body, preventing anyone from entering or leaving, "What do you want to say? Go file a complaint against me."
"If it weren't for Kakashi-sensei, I'd burn your house down tonight, believe it or not?"
Then, he glanced around with a fierce aura and roared, "What the hell are you looking at?! If it's so difficult to handle, then don't bother! If I'm not allowed to participate, then the high-level meeting can just wait until next time."
Hearing this, the previously arrogant man immediately fell silent. The reckless fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear the desperate.
Naruto had nothing to lose, and everyone knew he'd make good on his threats.
Besides, the man was well aware that Naruto was stacked with layers of buffs. Even if Naruto retaliated against him, even with evidence, there'd be nothing he could do. Naruto's background is too strong, and his power alone could crush the man to death.
Naruto smirked and swaggered in, deliberately bumping into the man's shoulder on his way. The meek get bullied, and without his status, he'd still be a rogue.
These people always seemed to forget who was really in charge. They needed him, not the other way around. Honestly, he didn't even have to stay in Konoha.
The world was vast, and the sky was limitless, and there are beautiful women everywhere. The only things tying him here were the few people he cared about.
The spacious conference room had large backlit windows, with all the higher-ups seated around a long wooden table. They kept some distance between each other. As the windows were fully opened, sunlight flooded in.
Kakashi arrived later. The moment he stepped in, he sensed the tense atmosphere and glanced around suspiciously. Only when he spotted Naruto sitting there did he understand what was going on.
He calmly took his seat at the head of the table, lazily scanning the room before speaking.
"Since everyone's here, let's begin."
The meeting didn't jump straight to the main topic. Instead, it started with trivial matters. Naruto nearly dozed off in his seat, and Kakashi wasn't much better off.
An hour later, just as Naruto was about to excuse himself for a bathroom break to get some air, the people in the conference room suddenly stirred. An eerie silence lasted a few seconds before an unfamiliar higher-up stood up.
"Regarding Nohara Rin, we've received several reports. The first concerns illegal harboring, and the second involves an unidentified identity."
Kakashi's face immediately changed after hearing this, but he still suppressed his emotions and let the man continue. However, Naruto had far less patience and immediately snapped back, "Didn't you write those reports yourselves? Are you trying to frame her?"
The man stopped, his face obscured by the light. He just turned his head and looked at Naruto, speaking mechanically, "We are following the procedures, and the reports are legitimate."
"Whatever." Naruto waved his hand impatiently, signaling for him to continue. There was no need to conflict with a tool who can only read a script.
"According to records, Nohara Rin was part of Team Minato and died on a mission twenty years ago." The man set down the documents and scanned the room.
"In other words, Nohara Rin was confirmed dead two decades ago, and the medical unit still has her autopsy report on file. However, not long ago, Nohara Rin was… resurrected."
"The dead don't return to life, but memories can be transferred. Therefore, we have reason to suspect that Nohara Rin is an imposter."
As soon as the words fell, the conference room fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The man kept glancing nervously between Kakashi and Naruto, his body tense, as if expecting one of them to slam the table and stand up at any moment.
But as seconds ticked by, neither made a move.
Gradually, the higher-up relaxed. He felt that maybe Naruto wasn't as unreasonable as he thought, and maybe even Kakashi was swayed by his argument.
After all, the Hokage had to prioritize the village's interests, and this document was legitimate. He had asked someone to look through the autopsy report after several days of hard work. It hadn't been easy.
But the silence didn't last long. Just as Kakashi was about to speak, Naruto beat him to it, slamming his hand on the table.
Bang!
Almost everyone's eyes turned toward Naruto's seat. Kakashi also turned his head. By now, he probably understood why Naruto had forced his way into this high-level meeting.
"You say she's fake, so she's fake? How can you be so sure the dead can't come back to life?"
"The facts are clear, it's obvious."
"Then I think you died a long time ago, and the one standing here now is an imposter too, huh?" Naruto was not in a hurry, and he kept picking on the loopholes in the other party's words.
"At least there's no death record for me. Don't twist the facts."
"Who's twisting the facts?"
"You are!"
"No, you are. Who told you to dig up that autopsy report in the first place? Who are you trying to disgust?" Naruto was a master of verbal combat, and he effortlessly steered the conversation into a trap.
"I…" The man was about to speak, but his mind suddenly shuddered and he stopped, 'This feels like a setup.'
He glanced at Naruto and saw the guy looking disappointed that he'd stopped himself mid-sentence. The man immediately felt a chill in his heart, thinking to himself, 'This Uzumaki Naruto is seriously twisted.'
'He kept asking questions one after another, and if I had actually said what I was about to, I'd have been doomed.'
How can he explain this kind of thing? Nohara Rin was one of the Yondaime Hokage's top students, and the whole team died for the village, leaving only Kakashi behind.
And Kakashi? The important people in his life, his companions, his family, had all died, leaving him the sole survivor.
Now, to prove that Rin couldn't possibly have been resurrected and must be an imposter, they'd dug up her twenty-year-old autopsy report. That was downright psychotic.
Konoha never stopped preaching about the Will of Fire, of how the predecessors burned themselves to nourish the next generation. But now, twenty years after her death, after Rin died for the village, this man actually went and pulled out her autopsy report?
Naruto's words hit the nail on the head. Who is he trying to disgust?
"'I' what? Got nothing to say now?"
The man fell silent. What else could he say? Finally, another higher-up stood up. He is a bearded guy and stared at Naruto with a righteous look on his face. Naruto glanced at him and didn't recognize him.
"The matter of Nohara Rin is indeed bizarre. We can't just brush it aside so casually. That would be irresponsible to the village. We must handle this carefully."