Forced to sell misery

"Sa, Sasuke," Naruto's chest rose and fell sharply, his clothes hanging randomly on his body. He ran barefoot, dragging an IV tube that was torn off by brute force, dripping with blood all the way.

"What on earth happened...why are your, your eyes..."

Naruto rushed into the ward with red eyes, but when he saw Sasuke blindfolded with gauze on the bed, he froze for a moment, as if he couldn't breathe. He forced himself to hold back his tears and couldn't utter a word.

"Wait--" Yamato, wearing tattered clothes, chased after Naruto, panting and forming hand seals.

The flying branches entangled Ming and lifted him into the air, but he was burned in the surging red chakra.

"Go back - Naruto!" Sasuke pulled back the quilt.

"Wait!" Kakashi stood in front of Sasuke and said sternly, "Calm down, Naruto!"

"I will avenge you!" Naruto's eyes were red with anger, "Even if it was that person who did it, I will...I will never forgive him!"

that person?

after all……

Kakashi was confused.

The tiny wooden spikes with paralyzing effects pierced into the skin and, together with the wooden pillars, trapped Naruto firmly. Yamato took a hard breath and nodded tiredly to Kakashi.

A large number of medical staff arrived at this time, and with mixed emotions they tied up Naruto with restraints, threw him on a cart and took him away.

And in the stairwell in the corner of the corridor, the girl with cherry-red hair leaned against the cold wall, covering her mouth tightly with both hands, trying to restrain herself from crying out loud.

Big tears welled up in my eyes, slowly drowning the world before my eyes.

Why……

how so……

-

-

Hokage's Office

The bright sunlight shines into every corner through the clear glass.

The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sat upright with his hands crossed in front of his eyes, staring at the report submitted by his subordinates for a long time with drooped eyelids.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki went berserk... Fortunately it was stopped in time and did not cause too much damage.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has always been very stable... Unexpectedly...

With deep wrinkles between his brows, Sandai tried to pick up the pipe, paused, and put it down again and again. He couldn't bring it to his lips, so he could only sigh.

But in a sense, the purpose of this Chunin Exam has been achieved, and it may even be a bit too much...

The purpose of the Chunin Exam is to demonstrate strength and intimidate other forces.

Therefore, after the second "baptism" in the Death Forest, those ninjas from other villages who were rescued but still had to stay in Konoha for investigation were really doubting their lives to the point of shutting themselves in. They wanted to poke their eyes out to calm down and prove that it was not their eyes that were wrong but the world...

Some of them even refused to treat their wounds, crying and saying they would crawl out of Konoha...

Listening to the report from the Anbu, the Sandaime could only smile bitterly.

These are easy to deal with. After a routine checkup, we can comfort them and send them back. At most, we can compensate them for their mental damages...

And the Sand Village who inexplicably intervened... The other party silently sent the Jinchuriki to Konoha to participate in the Chunin Exam...

This behavior itself is a provocation to "go to war."

There is also the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from Takigakure who worked with the One-Tails Jinchuriki to stop Naruto from going berserk...

Takigakure is a small ninja village that has always been peaceful. Moreover, the head of Takigakure also sent a message as soon as possible, expressing his concern for his own Jinchuriki...

In fact, he did not doubt that the two villages were cooperating to target Konoha. All this was too much of a coincidence.

But he really couldn't say anything else...

totally unexpected……

Konoha's own Nine-Tails Jinchuriki went berserk, and it took someone else's help to stop it...

It's just confusing.

It can't be a drama directed and performed by Sunagakure, right? !

What are they trying to achieve? To improve Konoha's favorability?!

Are you kidding me? !

Even more bizarrely, something was not right with the Sand Village, and some secret information was revealed about the attitude of the Kazekage...

And there is also his disciple who never makes people feel at ease.

That monster-like white-scaled snake with eight heads must be related to his troublesome disciple!

And the armored giant who split the entire Death Forest in half with one sword...Isn't that the Uchiha clan's Susanoo? !

The Susanoo wrapped in black flames could only belong to that person...

What’s even more difficult is…

Uchiha Sasuke, who was the link between the Uchiha and Konoha in peace and friendship...had his eyes gouged out...

Konoha has not yet found the exact murderer...

All these things piled up together almost cost him his life!

Really, after all these years as Hokage, the Sandaime has never had the thought of... not wanting to do it anymore.

But we still have to face what we have to face.

The Sandaime folded his hands, staring at the rows of portraits of the Hokage on the wall, trying to empty his mind.

"In short, the news of Uchiha Sasuke's accident must be suppressed, so as to prevent it from being used by those with ulterior motives to provoke the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha clan..."

Clearing his throat, the Sandaime held his forehead and tiredly ordered, "First, draft the relevant information document and send a message to the Uchiha clan."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" Soon an Anbu took the order and left.

The sun was shining brightly outside the window. Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in a Hokage robe, was leaning against the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the office, hunching his body to block the light, leaving only a small shadow in front of his eyes.

"Wait! Lord Jiraiya..." Suddenly, a deliberately amplified voice of the Anbu came from outside the door.

Then, the door was pushed open, and Jiraiya, dressed in dust, strode in.

"It's rare to see you looking so tired, Sarutobi-sensei."

"I'm back," the Sandaime raised his eyelids and looked at Jiraiya, saying calmly.

Jiraiya stopped and looked at the Third Generation behind the desk. He had never realized so clearly that his teacher was no longer the same as before - he was really old.

"Take up your responsibilities now that you're back, Jiraiya." The third generation looked carefully at the disciple in front of him. Besides fatigue, there was more relief in his eyes.

Jiraiya looked at the Sandaime, and instead of pretending to be relaxed and changing the subject as he did before, he chose to remain silent. Hokage... Before his most proud disciple, the Fourth Hokage Minato, took over, during World War II, the Sandaime had resigned once.

Among the older generation of ninjas, apart from the Sandaime, there were only two advisors who were still supporting him... and the two advisors had also repeatedly proposed the idea of ​​having him succeed the Hokage.

And this time... the Sandaime is really old. Who should take on this responsibility? Who can take it on?

Jiraiya was silent for a moment, "I have a better candidate."

“You mean…?” The third generation was not surprised, he knew his disciple too well.

"There is still one of the three ninjas. If you tie me to this position, who will investigate the other one? The three of us are supposed to restrain each other..." Jiraiya smiled, "Don't worry, I'll go and lobby."

"Jiraiya, actually I hope that person is you." When it comes to Orochimaru, who has always been on his mind, the third generation finally compromised.

"Ah... I'm really not that kind of person." Jiraiya scratched his messy hair, "Also, I want to bring someone with me, the legendary legacy of the Fourth Hokage..."

"no!"

The Sandaime refused flatly with a twitch on his forehead. The Anbu hiding in the room also trembled, almost falling on the beams... Ever since an Uchiha threw a meteorite in the village last time, they subconsciously had a headache when they heard words related to the Fourth Hokage's legacy and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

He is not only Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he is also the son of the respected Fourth Hokage... the treasure of Konoha! Even if you are Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas... Jiraiya... um... the master of the Fourth Hokage... it seems that it is not impossible?

"The current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is very unstable..." Looking at Jiraiya's deliberately suppressed gaze, the Third Hokage sighed, "Tell me what you think."

"The Uchiha that the village has been looking for... belongs to an organization called Akatsuki. Not only is he the legacy of the Yondaime... they seem to be very interested in the tailed beasts." Jiraiya pulled out a scroll from his arms and placed it on the table, pushing it in front of the Sandaime, "This is all I can find out at the moment, but it's enough."

“…Uchiha Kagamiya…” The third generation looked at the scroll that was pushed in front of him and flicked his fingers.

"It's even more dangerous if the Jinchūriki is in the village." After a pause, Jiraiya smiled and said, "Please ask Sarutobi-sensei to have some confidence in me."

"Go do what you want to do," after a long sigh, the Sandai waved his hand at Jiraiya, as if he had no choice but to say, "I can still handle this village... You really haven't changed at all in all these years, brat."

"Well, after all, it's been so many years, it doesn't matter whether it changes or not." Disciples always have privileges in front of their teachers. Jiraiya cunningly avoided the point and said seriously, "But I understand what you mean, don't worry."

"Go ahead." Sandai picked up his pipe. There were still tough battles to fight, and it was time to stretch his old bones.