"Who? Kakashi? Join Root?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were full of confusion, his small eyes showing great bewilderment.
Naruto explained, "Root was formerly established to be a training department for Anbu. Now, I want to restart and strengthen Root's training responsibilities to cultivate more talent for Anbu and the Hidden Leaf."
"So..." Naruto drew out the word, his meaning self-evident.
Kakashi, a famous teacher known in the Hidden Leaf, no, in the entire shinobi world, would naturally be the best person to transfer to Root.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment.
Naruto stared at the old man, watching him smoke silently. The old man was surrounded by smoke, and Naruto couldn't tell what he was thinking. For some reason, the old man seemed reluctant to let Kakashi join Root. Naruto thought for a moment and took a step back. "If not, he should at least be an advisor, right?"
"That can be arranged!" Hiruzen Sarutobi took down his pipe and affirmed.
Excellent!
Naruto nodded slightly. Although he didn't know why the old man wouldn't let him go, at least he had secured Kakashi's name. Leaving all else aside, Kakashi's name was quite impressive! After all, he was the teacher who trained the God of Shinobi!
"Alright, Hokage old man, I'm leaving if there's nothing else!" With most of his goals for the day accomplished, Naruto was ready to retreat.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up and watched him leave. After Naruto and Karin had completely disappeared, he closed his eyes.
Naruto's 'suspicion' was ruled out. Since last night, when the Anbu from the prison reported Orochimaru's death, Hiruzen Sarutobi was in disbelief. After seeing it for himself, he came to a possible conclusion: Orochimaru might really be dead? Fortunately, he didn't jump to conclusions and had Anbu check the seals on the First and Second Hokage. Sure enough, the two sealed lords had disappeared. Now, he was certain that Orochimaru was not dead but had been rescued by someone else.
Who was the culprit? There were too many possibilities. Although the probability was small, even Naruto was not entirely out of the question in Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind. But after seeing him today, the possibility of Naruto being the culprit could be ruled out. So, the only person who could have rescued Orochimaru under heavy guard without being discovered was Obito Uchiha!
Just now, when Naruto asked if Kakashi could join Root, Hiruzen Sarutobi was already thinking about Kakashi's placement. The incident yesterday, the Hidden Leaf Crush plan, the Uchiha Clan Massacre, the Nine-Tails Attack... In short, the animosity between the Hidden Leaf and Obito Uchiha was growing. They couldn't let this person roam free anymore; they had to apprehend Obito Uchiha!
As for the candidate... Hiruzen Sarutobi had considered Naruto's Root. After all, Root already had an intelligence department. However, Naruto, as a jinchuriki, was not a suitable candidate for tracking. As anyone who has played shogi knows, an elephant can defeat a tiger and a lion, but it is countered by a mouse. The Mangekyo Sharingan that Obito Uchiha possessed was a weapon that countered tailed beasts. It was better to be safe than sorry! After all, Obito Uchiha's reputation was far too great! The former Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Two-Tails, and Eight-Tails!
Hiruzen Sarutobi would definitely not arrange for Naruto to be the one to track him. Since Naruto couldn't go, the only candidate, in terms of both strength and other factors, seemed to be Kakashi alone! That's why Hiruzen Sarutobi had been so noncommittal in his answer just now.
"Obito Uchiha!" he muttered. In the swirling smoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes grew more and more hazy. The Nine-Tails' rampage, the Uchiha Clan Massacre, controlling the Fourth Mizukage, his recent actions in the Land of Lightning, and participating in the Hidden Leaf Crush plan... Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't understand or figure it out. Why did this person have such a deep-seated hatred for the Hidden Leaf and the world? And why did he want the tailed beasts?
"What is his purpose? The Hidden Leaf... the Hidden Mist Village... the Hidden Cloud Village... and the tailed beasts!"
While Hiruzen Sarutobi was deep in thought, Naruto returned to his loyal Root base!
The sky was gloomy, and it was still drizzling. Karin stood beside him, holding an umbrella for him and using the opportunity to cling to him. He turned his head to glance at her.
"Hehe~" Karin smiled happily, her cheeks flushing.
Naruto looked away, no longer minding. He looked at the base, which was pierced by a giant hourglass, and his heart bled. This is all my property!
He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then opened them, suddenly bringing his hands together. "Earth Style: Root Restoration Jutsu!"
Rumble, rumble—
It was as if an earth dragon was rolling, countless soil and stones tumbled, leaped, and gathered here. Everything was under Naruto's powerful chakra control, restoring the Root base to its original appearance.
In the distance, the four-person team, who had been granted the fastest possible completion of their assessment by Hiruzen Sarutobi and had quickly rushed over, were dumbfounded by this scene. They had thought Naruto's deadly destructive white light was already invincible, but they hadn't expected him to have such powerful Earth Style and an unparalleled chakra control ability. And this chakra level was akin to a tailed beast's.
"This is the invincible Lord Naruto!" Shigaraki Tanuki exclaimed with infinite reverence, and the others agreed.
After the ground returned to a state of calm, the four of them jumped in front of Naruto, their eyes even more loyal.
"Lord Naruto!"
Naruto glanced at them and nodded lightly. "The four of you have a mission to go out with me and recruit some people. Oh, right." Naruto took out the custom masks from his backpack and threw them to the four. They were four deformed panda heads, each with its own unique characteristics!
"This is..." Ryoma Aburame looked at the item in his hand, a question mark on his face. What kind of expression is this? It looks so strange?
"These are the masks Root will use from now on. Put them on; we'll depart soon." After saying that, Naruto put on a comical-looking mask. Seeing this mask, the four of them felt a strange urge to laugh.
"Pfft~--" Karin, for her part, couldn't hold it in and laughed. "Lord... Naruto, what is this?"
Naruto slanted a look at her. "Is it that funny?"
"Hahaha, it's not funny."
It's not funny, and yet you're still laughing?
He turned to look at the four of them. Sure enough, all four of them seemed to be in a great deal of pain trying to hold back their laughter. This is what it means to be a ninja? They can't even hold back a laugh. How funny.
"You! Karin Uzumaki, you have failed the test! Your punishment is to stay home and guard the place!" Naruto found an excuse and casually placed a confinement spell on Karin.
"Huh?" Karin looked baffled.
Naruto ignored her. "Now, let's go!" With that, he was off!
Whoosh~!
He was the first to depart!
Then, the four of them followed closely behind!
Flying Thunder God? He wasn't planning on using that! The so-called pursuit of Danzo and the recruitment of Root members were all just excuses! Naruto's real purpose was, first, to go on vacation! After his two-day vacation trip before, Naruto had a profound realization: vacationing was awesome! And staying on vacation was even more awesome! What was this about fighting Danzo for people? Danzo was already gone! It was all an excuse! He just wanted a few more days, no, a few more months of vacation!
His second purpose was to lay his own chess pieces in advance before the Great Shinobi War and the struggle for the new era came! In this war, he, Naruto Uzumaki, would be the biggest winner!
Almost at the same time, in a cave in the distant Land of Fire, while it was drizzling in the Hidden Leaf, it was pouring rain here. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, who had just finished an Akatsuki meeting using the Body Flicker Jutsu, opened their eyes. Itachi got up and walked to the entrance of the cave, wanting to leave but was stopped by the torrential rain.
Kisame looked at him, a hint of a complicated smile in his eyes. "Itachi-san, are you going now? To the Hidden Leaf?"