Chapitre 20: Chapter 20
Inside the Hokage Office of the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Hahaha, these lively little ones! Ah—what a taste of youth, hehe."
After watching the entire process through the crystal ball, Sarutobi Hiruzen pulled out his treasured pipe and began to puff away, smiling contentedly.
As he stood and walked to the window, gazing at the Hokage Rock bearing the likeness of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he felt a twinge of nostalgia.
"Lord Hashirama, the world you envisioned seems to be slowly coming to pass. The future of Konoha now rests in the hands of these children."
Knock, knock, knock—
Before Sarutobi could finish his musings, a series of knocks interrupted his thoughts.
"Ahem, come in."
He had no choice but to sit back down in his office chair, tucking away his pipe.
As he spoke, the door slowly creaked open.
Hyuuga Hizashi, wrapped up like a mummy from ancient Egypt, hobbled in, leaning heavily on his cane.
"It's Hizashi! What's wrong? Is there something you need?"
Seeing the left side of Hizashi's face and his entire left arm tightly bandaged, Sarutobi quickly signaled for a member of the ANBU to bring over a chair for his friend.
The state Hizashi was in was largely thanks to Hanzo of the Salamander.
The poison he released didn't cause much trouble; Tsunade handled that easily. The real issue was that Hizashi had taken a blast from an exploding tag, leaving him in a half-disabled state.
Ah, what a coincidence; it's hard to tell if it was intentional or just bad luck, but now it seemed they could be paired with Danzo.
Danzo was wrapped in bandages on the right side of his body, while Hizashi was wrapped on the left— the only difference being that one was pretending, and the other was genuine.
"Hiruzen, Lord Hizashi is getting on in years."
As soon as Hizashi opened his mouth, Sarutobi's gaze sharpened.
He quickly ordered all hidden ANBU around them to stand down. Once he confirmed there was no one else nearby to overhear their conversation, they began to speak seriously.
"Jinchuriki like Kushina are still too young; she needs a few more years to be able to bear it."
Upon hearing Sarutobi's response, Hizashi shook his head.
"I know, but simply relying on the Uzumaki clan bloodline she possesses is clearly not enough, Hiruzen."
Looking at his right arm, Hizashi tightened his grip on the cane in his left hand.
"We still need Wood Release; only Wood Release can truly suppress the tailed beasts."
"Kushina is far from as strong as Lord Hizashi, so it would be best to have a Wood Release user assisting with the suppression."
Sarutobi understood this as well, but the Senju clan had dwindled since the days of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and no Wood Release users had appeared since then.
Seeing Sarutobi's silence, Hizashi decided to get straight to the point of his visit.
"Hiruzen, I propose we immediately commence research on Lord Hashirama's cells."
"Ah? What?! That's not possible!"
Sarutobi instinctively objected.
Researching Hashirama's cells would mean that his descendants would be desecrating their ancestor's remains—such an act was tantamount to treason.
"Hiruzen, I know what you're worried about, but you can see that this isn't about any one of us having personal desires. It's a necessity brought on by the circumstances."
"If Lord Hashirama were to learn of this in the Pure Land, he would surely approve of our actions today."
"All of this is for the sake of Konoha."
If Danzo were to find out, he would definitely scold them: "What the hell is this? You dirty rat, stealing my lines???"
Squinting, Sarutobi assessed Hizashi before him.
Hiss… Huh? What's going on? This doesn't feel right—ever since he got injured, Hizashi's personality seems to be heading towards Danzo's direction???
Speaking of which, what about Danzo...
After contemplating for a moment, Sarutobi knew how to handle the situation.
"Ahem, the complexities of this matter are too great; let's wait until Danzo returns to discuss it."
Upon hearing Sarutobi's answer, Hizashi frowned and rose with an annoyed expression, striking the ground hard with his cane.
"Hiruzen, you're too weak!"
Hearing Hizashi's words, Sarutobi instinctively retorted, "Dan… No, Hizashi, I am the Hokage!"
"Hmph, you'll regret this!"
Fuming, Hizashi limped out, slamming the door behind him.
The door: "Bang—!"
While Sarutobi and Hizashi were caught up in their familiar yet strange exchange, Minato and the other children had completely cast aside their reservations and successfully bonded.
As peers, they quickly became familiar with each other and began to play together. As evening approached, Akimichi Choza invited everyone to his family's barbecue restaurant for dinner.
"Wow, yay!"
Yahiko was the first to leap up, expressing his full agreement. Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi naturally didn't want to reject Choza's kind invitation.
Uchiha Fugaku didn't care much one way or the other, while Nara Shikamaru kept a close eye on his brother, Nara Shikamaru, and when he saw him agree, he quickly followed suit, saying he wanted to go too.
Soon, a group of children marched proudly towards the Akimichi family's barbecue restaurant.
"Hey, hey, hey, Yahiko, what do you think our relationship is now?"
As they noticed passersby curiously looking their way, Hyuga Hinata leaned closer to Yahiko, poking him to ask.
"Hmm, let me think."
Hearing the two's conversation, the rest of the children perked up their ears to eavesdrop, curious about how Yahiko would respond.
Yahiko closed his eyes to ponder carefully, his face breaking into a smile.
"What else could it be? We're definitely friends!"
"Hahaha, that's right! From now on, we're all friends."
Minato scratched his head, joining in with a cheerful grin.
The remaining children laughed and echoed, "Yay! We're all friends now."
"Wuhu, friends are the best! I love making friends with everyone, hahaha!"
Once the group had wandered off, Kushina, who had been hiding in a corner, peeked out. Gripping the strap of her backpack tightly behind her, she watched their retreating figures with longing in her eyes, softly repeating their words.
"Friends…"
— Un nouveau chapitre arrive bientôt — Écrire un avis
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone