Naruto: I didn't say this is the real Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was forced into a dilemma by the patriarchs of Konoha, had to give a lame excuse:

The reason why the Anbu secretly arrested those people was because they suspected that they had contact with the spy who framed Sarutobi Hiruzen in the past few days.

It is obvious that this reason was just made up by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Among those who were captured, some had not set foot out of their tribe for more than a year before today.

How could a person who had not communicated with the outside world for a long time come into contact with a spy from another village?

The clan leaders were relentless and wanted to continue holding Sarutobi Hiruzen accountable, but Nara Shikaku reached out and stopped them.

When Nara Shikaku asked this question, he had not expected Sarutobi Hiruzen to answer truthfully;

He just wanted to use this question to test Sarutobi Hiruzen's reaction.

And now, judging from Sarutobi Hiruzen's constantly evasive gaze and his trembling face as he tried to appear calm, the story behind this incident is not as simple as it seems.

Nara Shikaku, who was extremely intelligent, immediately made his own judgment:

It is true that there are spies infiltrating the village;

It was also true that the spy disguised himself as a Root ninja to instigate a war between the two sides;

But the reason for arresting members of various families was definitely not because they were suspected of having contact with the spy.

But... Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate dissidents.

As for those tribesmen...

They had indeed become victims of the game between Sarutobi Hiruzen and the spy, but this also made him realize that the third-generation Hokage did have other thoughts about their Konoha ninja family.

Nara Shikaku was certain that the purpose of the spy mentioned by Sarutobi Hiruzen was to sow discord between Sarutobi Hiruzen and the major families of Konoha.

Although this is a blatant conspiracy, it has to be said that the effect is indeed very good.

At least after this incident, although the Nara clan will still maintain their respect for the Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen on the surface, they will definitely be wary of him in secret.

Nara Shikaku believed that the patriarchs of other families would eventually have the same thoughts as himself.

In a sense, although they lost several members of the tribe, the tribe leaders should indeed express their gratitude to the so-called "spy".

Thanks to him for reminding the clan leaders that Sarutobi Hiruzen still has plans for the major clans...

"Since the Anbu arrested our people because of the spy, and our people died because of the spy's scheme, we will not pursue this matter any further.

It's just that some of our people did die at the hands of the Anbu and the Root, and the issue of their pension and compensation...

Hokage, do you need to come up with a charter?"

When he heard that the person had not been caught and he still had to take money out of his trouser pocket, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly felt worse than if he had eaten Oligy.

But in order to maintain his good image and also for fear that the major families would turn against him on the spot, Sarutobi Hiruzen had to swallow this huge loss with a pinch of his nose.

"As it should be. After the villagers' meeting, I will call a meeting of the clan leaders involved in this matter to discuss compensation."

……

The whole thing ended so abruptly.

On the surface, Konoha Village has returned to its former peaceful and harmonious state, but undercurrents are surging behind the scenes.

Since the end of the village meeting, the Anbu controlled by Sarutobi Hiruzen has lost nearly 90% of its family ninjas.

Some of these people received information from their families in time and returned to their families safely after voluntarily quitting the Anbu;

Some were sent by Sarutobi Hiruzen to carry out missions outside Konoha Village for various reasons, and no one has ever seen them since then.

Sarutobi Hiruzen used very decisive means to quickly and swiftly purge the entire Anbu, and promoted a large number of his diehard followers from among the civilian ninjas to join the team, quickly filling the vacancies in the Anbu.

Although the overall strength of the cleansed Anbu was much weaker than before, the cohesion within the organization rose to an unprecedented level, and it completely transformed into the sharpest knife in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand.

Let’s talk about Naruto again.

Ever since the villagers' meeting successfully tricked Sarutobi Hiruzen, Naruto has been completely hiding in Konoha Village and has remained silent.

During this period, Naruto wanted to contact Kakashi first, but after being reminded by Kurama, he realized in time that there was an Anbu ninja watching Kakashi from behind.

Naruto, who was unable to find a suitable opportunity, had to give up this idea temporarily and instead concentrated on studying the forbidden techniques recorded in the Book of Seales in the inn.

until...

November 11th is not only the last day of the "Save Uchiha Obito" mission deadline given by the system, but also an extremely special day.

But perhaps this day is special only in the hearts of Kakashi and Tsuchiko.

Early this morning, Kakashi woke up early, which was unusual for him. He put on a black suit that he didn't like, went out to the Yamanaka family's flower shop to buy a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, and then walked towards the Martyrs' Cemetery in Konoha with a solemn face and heavy steps.

In front of the mottled tombstone, Kakashi leaned down and gently put down the white chrysanthemums he had been holding all the way. Then he stood up and was silent for a long time before slowly uttering five words.

"Happy birthday, Lin."

Nohara Rin, the lovely girl who was a member of Minato Namikaze's team along with Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito, was buried under this tombstone after her death.

November 11th is Nohara Lin’s birthday.

Kakashi has always believed that Nohara Rin's parents had died long ago. After Uchiha Obito, Namikaze Minato, and Uzumaki Kushina also passed away one after another, the only one who could remember Nohara Rin's birthday was himself, who killed her with his own hands.

So every year at this time, Kakashi would come to his grave to pay homage.

This is the only remaining bond between Kakashi and his deceased friend, and it is also one of the few ways Kakashi can think of to atone for his sins.

What Kakashi didn't know was that every year another close friend who, as far as he knew, had also died long ago would come here earlier than him, and this close friend had never appeared before.

“I come to see you again, Lynn.

This bouquet of flowers is my birthday gift to you... along with the soil."

As he spoke, Kakashi lifted his mask, revealing the Sharingan that came from Tsuchi-kun.

"Although you should have met Obito a long time ago in that world...

But after all, this eye was entrusted to me by that guy, and I think he would like to celebrate your birthday with me."

"A lot of things happened in Konoha Village this year...

The biggest thing is... Naruto ran away from the village.

To be honest, even though that little guy is Minato's son, their personalities are really different.

Naruto is not as warm as the sun as Minato.

But at such a young age, he could see the darkness hidden in the sun, and see through the surface to the bloody reality behind it...

...I think that people like Naruto are more suitable for living in this cruel ninja world than us."

"Lin, I dreamed about that guy Obito again last night.

I dreamed that the three of us were walking on the streets of Konoha together with Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei...

As expected, that damned Obito is late as usual..."

"I have left the Anbu. Now I just want to stay in the village, to protect you, Obito, Minato and his wife...to protect my father's tombstone, and to protect the last evidence that you ever appeared in this world.

…But I am afraid that one day in the future, I will leave this world, and perhaps no one in this world will remember you anymore…”

"Lin, if possible, I really want to reunite with you as soon as possible..."

Kakashi stood in front of Lin's tombstone with his eyes closed, and kept pouring out his thoughts to the cold tombstone.

Immersed in his own world, he did not notice that a figure was slowly emerging above Lin's tombstone.

This person wore a tiger-patterned mask and a black robe with red clouds. He was none other than Uchiha Obito who had been hiding in the Kamui Dimension.

Tsuchi-kun looked at Kakashi below and spoke coldly.

"Really? Then let me take you to reunite with them~"

"Who?!"

Kakashi opened his eyes alertly and immediately took precautions.

"I am Uchiha Madara!"