At the same time, Akashō, who had been idly spacing out atop the Hokage Rock, suddenly changed expression. His relaxed, cheerful look instantly turned into faint sorrow.
Observation Haki hadn't sensed anyone nearby—so if it was only visual, then it must be Hiruzen Sarutobi's Telescope Technique.
Without changing his expression, Akashō squeezed out two tears and quietly wiped them away.
"Minato… you died such a tragic death…"
"Hm…"
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the figure secretly crying within the crystal ball and picked his nose.
"Am I being overly suspicious…"
...
One morning, while Akashō was training Flying Thunder God in a forest somewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village, a figure suddenly appeared.
"Akashō."
Akashō turned around and looked at the white-haired middle-aged man with a heavy expression.
"Jiraiya…"
Jiraiya quickly walked over and pulled Akashō into a tight embrace.
"Sorry… at a time when you're all alone like this, I still showed up late."
Akashō froze for a moment. Oh right, at a time like this, he should act a bit off.
He reached out and hugged Jiraiya back, forcing a faint smile.
"It's fine. I'm okay."
Because of Jiraiya's arrival, Akashō's training was cut short, and the two returned to the village together.
They each bought a bouquet of flowers and went to the memorial monument of the Hidden Leaf Village, placing the flowers before the graves of Minato and Kushina.
"Sigh… Minato, Akashō and I came to see you."
Jiraiya sat down in front of the grave and wiped the headstone. Akashō silently sat beside him, his gaze dim as he stared at it.
"Don't be too sad."
Jiraiya patted Akashō's head.
"You should be the one hearing that."
Akashō forced an ugly smile, making Jiraiya's eyes grow even dimmer.
"By the way, how is Minato and Kushina's child doing now?"
"Naruto…"
Akashō sighed. "He's… living pretty badly."
"What do you mean? As the Fourth Hokage's child, the new Nine-Tails Jinchūriki—how could he be living badly?"
Looking at the confused Jiraiya, Akashō's eyes grew strange.
"Precisely because he's the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
Jiraiya froze, his pupils shrinking slightly.
"You mean… Naruto's identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki has been leaked!?"
"Yeah. But unfortunately, the civilians of the Hidden Leaf Village don't seem to understand what a Jinchūriki actually is. They all think Naruto is the Nine-Tails itself, making everyone extremely wary of him—no, even hateful toward him."
"I wanted to take Naruto in and take good care of him, but unfortunately the Third—Third-sama wouldn't allow it, saying it wasn't safe. Oh, and Naruto's name isn't Namikaze Naruto, but Uzumaki Naruto. Third-sama won't allow his identity to be revealed, saying it's to prevent Minato's enemies from seeking revenge."
Originally, he had planned to bring Naruto over, slowly shape him as he grew, and then destroy him in one move—but now that's clearly impossible.
"Th-That's impossible! How could the Third allow something like this to happen!?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened, unable to believe what Akashō was saying.
"Yeah… how could he allow it?"
Akashō let out a faint breath. Ever since Minato Namikaze's funeral, he had deliberately kept an eye on information related to Hiruzen Sarutobi, just to see whether that old man was truly a schemer.
After piecing together countless bits of information, his conclusion was: yes.
The most typical example was the death of Sakumo Hatake, Kakashi's father, before the Third Shinobi War began.
That incident was far too similar to Naruto's current situation.
Killing with a borrowed knife. Rumors and slander. The fear of public opinion.
Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi's original intention had only been to strike as a warning, suppress him slightly, then extend a helping hand to win him over—nothing more than the classic stick-and-carrot tactic.
Unfortunately, the famed "White Fang" of the Second Shinobi War, former Anbu commander who had once worn the Hokage's half-cloak—Sakumo Hatake—had shockingly poor mental fortitude. Just because of the villagers' insults, he abandoned Kakashi and chose suicide.
Compared to that, he was even more laughable than Minato Namikaze.
The one thing that left Akashō somewhat speechless was that while Hiruzen deliberately concealed Naruto's Namikaze surname to give him a miserable upbringing, he changed it to Uzumaki instead.
Was there really that much difference?
If anything, it couldn't have been more obvious. Yet the villagers of the Hidden Leaf Village couldn't even see that—just how foolish were they?
Or… had they actually noticed, and simply pretended not to, so they could have a target to vent their hatred on?
"No. I need to go ask that old man what the hell he means!"
Jiraiya suddenly stood up and strode out of the memorial grounds, heading straight for the Hokage building.
In truth, everything Akashō had just said was merely surface-level fact—but between the lines, he had been subtly guiding Jiraiya to believe that Hiruzen Sarutobi had ulterior motives.
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