Naruto Guilty Crown

The tall building with the red theme, the circular room at the top.

The bright sunlight shines through the window into the room, and there are mountains of documents piled up on the wooden table, placed randomly and a bit messy.

An old man put down the document in his hand, pinched his eyebrows, stood up and pushed the red and white bamboo hat with the word "fire" on it, revealing his old face.

His face was wrinkled, he had a white goatee, and there were several age spots the size of fingernails on his left cheek, giving him an appearance of being eroded by time.

The old man turned to look out the window, took the pipe and put it in his mouth, took a few long puffs, and swallowed out clouds of white mist.

The sun is shining on the earth, white clouds are floating leisurely in the sky, and a new day in Konoha has begun again.

The calm did not last long and was broken by a knock on the door.

"Please come in." The old man's voice was vicissitudes of life, calm and dignified.

"Excuse me." A soft female voice sounded outside the door. The door slowly opened, and a mature woman entered the room with a handsome silver-haired boy.

These two people are Rikka and Sakura Manji.

He originally planned to leave this morning, but when he returned at night, several masked ninjas brought the news that the Hokage was going to meet him the next day.

It just so happened that Sakura Manji also wanted to meet Naruto, and there was something in her heart that needed assurance before she could let it go, so she accepted the invitation without any hesitation.

Sakura Manji looked around, and was disappointed at first sight. She didn't expect that this ordinary house with piles of documents and ordinary furnishings was the center of Konoha's power.

The ordinary-looking old man holding a pipe in front of him should be the Sandaime Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, the captain of the sound ninja team who saved the Princess of Iron Country, Sakura Manji is here to visit." Rikka knelt down on one knee and lowered her head as she entered.

The old man passed Rikka, squinted his eyes and glanced at Ying Manji, and pointed to the green sofa with the end of his pipe: "Don't be restrained, just sit down."

Ying Manji nodded and leaned casually on the soft sofa, while Rikka lowered her head and silently exited the room.

"I was surprised to see you. I didn't expect you to be so young. A hero comes from a boy. I wonder who taught a talent like you?" Sarutobi sat behind his desk with a amiable expression, like an ordinary old man doing his homework. grandfather.

"Student Wumen." Ying Manji said with a smile on her lips, "As you know, I am just an ordinary ninja in a small village."

"Ordinary ninjas cannot save the princess of the Iron Kingdom." Sarutobi's eyes became sharp, his neat white robe moved automatically without any wind, and he said calmly and confidently: "The other Konoha ninjas who performed this mission have lost contact. Yeah, you should know something, right?"

"I feel sorry for this." Sakura Manji closed her eyes and said sadly: "I heard that there are five search and rescue teams... I saw with my own eyes that there were three Konoha troops, and they were all defeated by the two Kakuzu. .”

"The rest can't be contacted now, so the situation shouldn't be optimistic."

"Kakuzu? It's him, no wonder..." Sarutobi seemed to have expected it, but after murmuring softly, he asked again: "Since you saw it with your own eyes, how did you escape? With the speed of the princess, , he shouldn’t be unable to catch up.”

"Who knows? Maybe he was injured, or maybe he gave up because he was too close to Konoha." Sakura Manji spread her hands with an expression that said, "I don't know."

Sarutobi leaned back on the chair, frowned, lifted the cigarette stick, took a long puff, and slowly blew out the smoke ring.

He obviously did not accept this answer, and he still had many questions in his mind. After a pause, Sarutobi opened his mouth to ask questions again.

"Hokage-sama, that's all I know." Ying Manji also knew what he wanted to ask, so she interrupted preemptively.

"Because I have a mission, I am leaving Konoha today."

"qualified

The ninja should try his best to avoid contact with people until the mission is completed. Not only did I change my route and get in touch with the princess, but I finally met you, so please don’t press me any further! "

"..." Sarutobi was silent for a while and said slowly: "You are not a qualified ninja, but you are a bloody man."

"I only have one last question, is your mission related to Konoha?" Sarutobi burst out with an astonishing momentum, pressing down like an unshakable mountain.

The mission mentioned by Sakura Manji is also one of the issues that Sarutobi must understand, even if the target is someone who helped maintain relations with the Iron Kingdom.

This is the responsibility he must bear towards Konoha as Hokage.

Because all this is too strange, just like what happened to allow Sakura Manji to sneak into Konoha naturally.

Regardless of whether the Konoha ninjas were dead, how could they escape from Kakuzu? Why should he save the princess? Just a bunch of kids?

Thinking in the direction of a conspiracy theory, all of this is planned, from the trip of the Princess of the Iron Kingdom, to the pursuit of assassins, to the encounter into Konoha.

All of this could be a conspiracy against Konoha, letting children carry it out just to lower their vigilance.

The Iron Kingdom, which may have always been neutral, is also an indispensable part of it.

If he were just an ordinary child spy, he would not be able to make any waves under the patrol of ANBU. It is precisely because of such a high-profile and endless chance that Sarutobi Hiruzen is so vigilant.

The old man's not-so-tall body suddenly seemed stalwart under the powerful aura. Ying Manji finally knew why he was the Hokage.

He felt like a small boat in the deep sea, with rough waves rolling in front of him. Wave after wave, endless waves, swept towards him.

"It has nothing to do with Konoha." Sakura Manji blurted out unconsciously in a daze.

Upon hearing these words, Sarutobi's aura disappeared and he returned to the appearance of the kind old man: "I respect you and won't ask again."

Ying Manji just came back to her senses, stood up, and took a deep look at the old man: "I came here specifically, just to get an answer."

"But I don't want to ask anymore." Ying Manji turned around slowly and said in a cold voice: "Now that you have shown your strength, I only hope this can ensure the safety of the little princess."

Unknowingly, the original honorific "you" has become "you".

"Don't let so much blood be shed in vain." Step forward, open the door, and leave.

Sarutobi's eyes became complicated and he called out to him: "I will ask someone to take you to receive the reward from the client."

"No need, just take care of the bath flowers." He responded calmly, neither happy nor sad.

Ying Manji's back disappeared around the corner.

Sarutobi held his pipe and looked out the window at Konoha Village again, filled with smoke as he sighed silently.

"A pretty good young man, did I really make a mistake?"

As the "Ninjutsu Professor", the Third Hokage controls all Konoha Ninjutsu except for blood inheritance limits and family secrets. The question just arrived is not simple. It is mixed with torture techniques, illusion techniques, and the breath of fire.

In that case, he believed that the young man was telling the truth. Was he really too tight?

Konoha's heyday was hard-won, and the undercurrent has been surging recently, as if it is a sign that the peace on the surface will soon collapse.

Before the outbreak of all-out war, as Hokage, he could only tighten his spirits and make all-out plans to welcome that day.

Even if he retires from the stage, he must continue his will of fire.

----

"As long as there are leaves flying, the fire will burn."