"See you tomorrow."
"Mmm."
"There's a celebration tomorrow, we'll come find you!"
After saying goodbye to Ino, young Naruto didn't return the way he came.
Instead, he took a detour.
There was no helping it; to be honest, young Naruto was a little scared by what had just happened.
Ino's dad's gaze seemed to hold some resentment.
"Hahaha~"
Akimichi Choza had no intention of holding back.
Senju Hashirama: This child is calm in the face of adversity.
Uzumaki Mito: He's nothing like Kushina.
Uzumaki Mito: But that's what makes Black-Framed Naruto so terrifying.
Nara Shikaku sighed, "Black-Framed Naruto is too much like Minato in his youth."
"What Inoichi fears most is definitely going to happen."
"Although there were many factors at play back then... the fact is, in just one night, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's only candidate was 'taken' by Minato."
Akimichi Choza patted Nara Shikaku's shoulder, "It's alright, their children will still be 'pigs' in the future, right?"
"Look, Ino's hair color is also very similar to Naruto's, isn't it?"
"That's not what I'm worried about." Nara Shikaku waved his hand.
"The Third Hokage in the black frame world couldn't possibly not know about this."
"But he didn't step in to stop us."
"Plus, the Third Hokage's... to Naruto..."
"I'm worried that in the black frame world, besides the Hyuga, our three families will also be included."
"What?" Akimichi Choza blinked.
"It's nothing." Seeing his friend like this, Nara Shikaku could only shake his head and give a wry smile.
"Hmm, I'll just listen to you then." Akimichi Choza laughed carelessly again.
Of course, Akimichi Choza wasn't completely oblivious.
With Shikaku there, if he himself could figure it out, how could his friend not?
On the way back.
Young Naruto noticed that all the Ninja monitoring him seemed to have disappeared.
He frowned slightly; his intuition told him something big was about to happen.
"There's a celebration tomorrow... this shouldn't be the situation."
"Fox demon, I want to go take a look. If my life is in danger, you absolutely must not abandon me."
He murmured.
Whoosh—
The next instant, young Naruto leaped high.
Standing on the rooftop, the cold wind grew even fiercer.
He didn't know when, but it seemed he had become as light as a swallow.
Although he couldn't use this skill for long, for the current situation, it was enough.
He had also asked Shikamaru.
Shikamaru was very surprised at the time.
This was a power one could only possess after refining Chakra.
Ninja were so powerful precisely because they could refine and use Chakra.
Young Naruto was silent for a long time then.
'It seems I am indeed very special.'
'But ever since the day I first moved out, that comfortable power has never appeared again.'
'However, I'm certain that it must be the fox demon's power.'
Night.
Young Naruto, like a ghost, constantly darted across the rooftops.
His small body was hidden by the night.
The people below didn't notice young Naruto at all.
Not even the Ninja.
At the same time.
In the Hokage Office, Hokage Tower.
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe.
Looking at the Anbu Ninja in front of him, he said calmly, "How is it?"
"Hokage-sama, Uzumaki Naruto is still the same as usual."
"Then it's fine. You don't need to watch Naruto for now; that child has deeply understood the importance of the Will of Fire."
"Manpower is short recently, so you go with them to guard the edge of the barrier."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" The Anbu Ninja responded, then used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked out the window.
Two days ago, the Hidden Cloud Village sent people over.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had to treat it with caution, otherwise, a single oversight could very likely lead to war between the two villages.
Konoha had not yet recovered from the Nine-Tails Rampage and was not suitable for war.
Otherwise, the other three great Ninja villages would be like cats smelling fish, all running over to join the fun.
"Strange, logically speaking, the Hidden Cloud Village and Iwagakure should also be severely weakened."
"Shouldn't they be pretending nothing happened, with their national strength still intact?"
"Yet now they're actively sending people to sign an alliance agreement?"
"Let's first see what their objective is."
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe, then suddenly thought of something and chuckled softly.
"The Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village is still too young, hehe, if this trick worked, your father wouldn't have had to swallow his pride back then."
A moment later, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke to the shadow in the corner:
"Don't stop that Kumogakure Ninja leader; see what he wants to do."
"However, I don't want any accidents at tomorrow's celebration."
"Yes."
Whoosh—
Ino Yamanaka: "I knew it, as soon as that Old Thing appears, nothing good ever happens!"
Mei Terumī: "Little sister Ino, you're right, as soon as the Konoha Third Hokage appears, bad things immediately happen."
Hyuga Neji: "Damn you, Third Hokage!"
Orochimaru: "Hiruzen-sensei, come out and say something, everyone's waiting for you."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eye twitched.
At the time, he had merely thought that the Fourth Raikage, having just taken office, was young and impetuous, acting somewhat rashly.
He even wanted to take this opportunity to teach him a lesson.
He never expected that the envoy sent by the other party would be so incompetent.
He was killed by Hyuga Hiashi in less than one exchange.
Moreover, Kumogakure still dared to send people to negotiate based on this, with a very strong attitude.
An envoy from the Hidden Cloud Village had been used before.
At that time, the Third Raikage could only swallow his pride.
Ultimately, it was because Konoha had too few high-level combatants at the time.
Whoosh—
Young Naruto jumped down from the rooftop.
He landed at his doorstep.
He had gone a long way around and found no abnormalities.
However, when passing through the territories of the great Ninja clans, young Naruto sensed Ninja guarding them from afar.
"This situation is very wrong."
"However, it's not something I can get involved in right now."
"Otherwise, I would have to lead those people to that old bastard's family!"
Young Naruto untied his scarf and looked at the sky.
"Time to sleep, I just need to be more careful tomorrow."
Early to bed and early to rise was already a good habit.
Danzo Shimura: "Hiruzen! Look! I told you, you should have given the Jinchuriki to me!"
Neji closed his eyes in pain.
"What's wrong, Neji?" Naruto noticed Neji's emotional change and asked subconsciously.
Neji took a deep breath, calming his inner emotions.
"It's tomorrow."
"That taboo mark will be placed on my forehead."
"Tomorrow, on the day Konoha holds its celebration ceremony."
The then-innocent Neji still didn't know the cruel reality.
After finishing his training, he saw the lively scene outside and planned to go out and play.
But he was taken to the dojo by his father, and then the main family members, his paternal uncle and grandfather, applied the Caged Bird Seal to him.
On the other side, inside the Hidden Cloud Village, the Fourth Raikage was silent for a moment.
Fourth Raikage: "Because of my father, the Hidden Cloud Village was able to preserve its fighting strength. In those years, we constantly sent people out to harass other countries."
Fourth Raikage: "We fought many skirmishes with Konoha for many years, and we were actually reaching our limit."
The Fourth Raikage suddenly laughed.
Fourth Raikage: "That's right, I said it, none of the Five Great Ninja Villages should criticize each other, but our Hidden Cloud Village is different."
Fourth Raikage: "When it comes to schemes, we are always open and above board. That Ninja leader sent to Konoha was our overt scheme!"
Fourth Raikage: "It was to take advantage of your weakness, find an excuse, and openly extort you, and incidentally see what kind of attitude the so-called Number One Ninja Village would display."
"Even if that Ninja leader sent hadn't died."
"But you Konoha people dared to lay hands on an envoy from our Hidden Cloud Village?"
"What does that mean? I came to sign a peace treaty, and you actually attacked an envoy?"
"In short, whether he died or not, this matter cannot be settled like this."
"Hand over the perpetrator! Otherwise, a small-scale war will turn into a large-scale war!"