Chapter 138: The Eve of the Exam, Naruto Uzumaki Hears the News
"Brat, don't even think about me helping you fight in the future!"
Gamabunta didn't dare to look at Naraku Uehara. After angrily yelling at Naruto Uzumaki, it directly dispelled its summoning.
"Eh?"
Naruto Uzumaki scratched his head in confusion, then turned to look at Naraku Uehara, "Boss Toad, what's wrong with it?"
Naraku Uehara frowned, looking somewhat ashamed, "Could it be that it's angry and embarrassed from losing to me? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, how could that be!"
Naruto Uzumaki hurriedly waved his hands and said repeatedly, "No matter what, you were originally trying to help me. Maybe it just thinks its own strength is too poor!"
Although Naruto felt that something wasn't quite right…
But thinking about it carefully, Naraku Uehara hadn't done anything wrong.
It was just that the result was a bit unsatisfactory. What exactly went wrong?
Naraku Uehara, however, reaped his mission reward. Defeating Gamabunta this time allowed Uehara to obtain a summoning contract.
Side Mission: Defeat Gamabunta (1/1). Mission completed. Reward: Summoning Contract - Tahm Kench, the River King.
Summoning Contract: Summons Tahm Kench, the River King. Chakra cost: 1000 points.
This contract was a bit hard to describe.
In any case, it was better than nothing.
The days in Konoha gradually calmed down.
However, within this calm, deeper waves were brewing, especially after the mysterious death of Hayate Gekko, the proctor for the third exam.
To investigate what conspiracies various allied nations and Orochimaru were plotting, Konoha dispatched a large number of Anbu to various countries for investigation.
Amegakure, however, became Konoha's only trustworthy ally.
According to Kakashi's intelligence, Orochimaru had once stolen treasures from Amegakure, leading to a pursuit by Amegakure. Moreover, Naraku Uehara and Orochimaru had always been at odds, repeatedly disrupting Orochimaru's plans.
The night before the Chunin Exam finals.
Inside Naraku Uehara's inn room, he was draped in a replica Hokage robe and a kasa hat. Although he could use Natural Illusion to transform, this was also a precaution against his true identity being discovered if a battle occurred.
This robe and Hokage kasa were obtained by Kabuto Yakushi.
Naraku Uehara stood in front of the mirror, fiddling with the collar of the Hokage robe, "I just love the small collar of the Hokage's robe. It's indeed the attire worn by the leader of Konoha Village. Compared to the ordinary member uniforms of our Akatsuki, it's a bit more freeing and comfortable."
"Yes."
Kabuto Yakushi, dressed in Anbu attire, stood beside Naraku Uehara, holding the fake Hokage kasa for him.
Due to Naraku Uehara's lack of fully trustworthy personnel, Kabuto Yakushi could only temporarily serve as the supporting actor for tonight.
"Have you memorized all the lines?"
Naraku Uehara took the Hokage kasa and casually asked.
Kabuto Yakushi pushed his glasses and chuckled in a low voice, "I've memorized everything. I'm just curious why Lord Naraku is targeting Naruto Uzumaki with such fanfare. Why not just abduct him when Lord Naraku leaves Konoha…"
"No, I need him to willingly come with us."
Naraku Uehara shook his head and chuckled lightly, "Naruto Uzumaki's power far exceeds your imagination. Just wait and see, he will greatly surprise you!"
"Lord Naraku means…"
"It's just a figure of speech."
After putting on the Hokage kasa, Naraku Uehara said softly, "After he leaves Konoha, I will bring him to the Akatsuki base. Teacher Konan will surely like the gift of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, right!"
"Understood."
Kabuto Yakushi nodded and put on a black hood.
He inexplicably felt that his new boss's brain was waterlogged again!
Over the past few days, Naraku Uehara had already scouted the area. There were no Anbu monitoring Naruto Uzumaki's home. Perhaps because he had become a ninja, Konoha had stopped wasting resources protecting him.
Late at night.
When the moonlight was bright.
Naruto Uzumaki was unusually suffering from insomnia, because tomorrow he wanted to defeat his opponent in front of everyone and gain the villagers' recognition.
Just as Naruto Uzumaki was sleepless, a voice suddenly entered his ears, "Lord Third Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki is already asleep. Are you here to check his seal?"
"No, I'm just here to take a look."
An aged voice entered Naruto's ears. This voice was very familiar; it was the voice of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
However, the next words Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke made Naruto Uzumaki feel quite uncomfortable, "How is Naruto Uzumaki's condition? Tomorrow is the Chunin Exams that many daimyos and dignitaries will come to watch. There must absolutely be no mistakes because of him."
Naruto Uzumaki bit down hard on the corner of his blanket. Could it be that in Hiruzen Sarutobi's impression, he had always been a troublemaking child?
He had clearly already started learning to be a true ninja.
The next second, the unfamiliar Anbu voice continued to reach Naruto's ears, "Lord Hokage, please rest assured. If his chakra leaks, I will report it immediately. However, if his chakra becomes abnormal to the point where I believe I cannot handle it…"
"You have the authority to kill him on the spot."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged voice sounded somewhat cold. "Many years ago, when I ordered Obito Uchiha to deal with Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, Obito Uchiha made a mistake and unsealed the Nine-Tails within Kushina Uzumaki's body, causing heavy losses to the village."
The Anbu couldn't help but say with relief, "Fortunately, Lord Fourth Hokage didn't notice at that time and sealed the Nine-Tails into his own son's body, allowing Konoha to escape disaster…"
"That's why I sent you to monitor Naruto."
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly lamented, "Twelve years have passed, and this brat Naruto Uzumaki still can't use the Nine-Tails' power. He's even worse than his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. What an utter little waste…"
"..."
The Anbu ninja was silent for a moment before replying, "But Naruto Uzumaki will be loyal to Lord Hokage. His mother was only loyal to her husband, Minato Namikaze."
The two people outside the door fell silent for a moment.
Inside the room, the eavesdropping Naruto Uzumaki tightly covered his nose, not daring to make a sound. His tears fell drop by drop, wetting the bedding.
Naruto Uzumaki had never imagined that the first time he would hear news about his father and mother would be like this, from the mouth of someone he had always respected!
Kushina Uzumaki, that was his mother's name.
Minato Namikaze, that was his father's name.
But both of them were killed by Hiruzen Sarutobi!
Naruto Uzumaki's throat was constricted, not daring to make any sound, fearing he would be detected by the people outside. However, his emotions were gradually turning into anger!
Yet, Naruto Uzumaki was very clear right now. He forcibly endured his grief, because if he made any movement, or even if his chakra fluctuated, Hiruzen Sarutobi and that stranger outside would immediately appear and kill him.
After a moment of silence outside, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice sounded again, "You're persuading me to spare Naruto Uzumaki's life like this. Have you gone soft after monitoring him for so many years?"
"No."
The Anbu ninja said in a low voice, "I just feel that Naruto Uzumaki is the most suitable vessel for the Nine-Tails. It would be difficult to find a new vessel if he were rashly killed…"
"Indeed, descendants of the Uzumaki clan are not easy to find."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a low voice, then sighed softly, "Previously, there was a little Uzumaki descendant girl in the Kusagakure team participating in the Chunin Exams. Unfortunately, I heard that girl defected from Kusagakure and went to Amegakure."
After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi lamented again, "If I had known this earlier, when Kushina Uzumaki pleaded with us to save her homeland back then, I should have sent people over to abduct a few Uzumaki clan brats as backup Nine-Tails vessels."
"..."
The Anbu outside the door was silent for a moment, seemingly unsure what to say.
After a while, he finally spoke, "Recently, it seems some people in the village have started to acknowledge Naruto Uzumaki. Your plan might face obstacles. Do we need to eliminate them?"
"There's no need for that."
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Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, his voice carrying an indescribable gloominess, "Back then, I forbade others from contacting Naruto Uzumaki precisely to make him wholeheartedly loyal to me. Now, he is very dependent on me. This order no longer matters."
"What about Kakashi?"
The Anbu continued to ask, "Previously, Lord Hokage had Kakashi leave the Anbu to monitor Naruto Uzumaki's every move. Now, he seems very concerned about Naruto."
"Don't worry."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged voice was full of confidence, "Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha were teammates. He's just feeling guilty towards Naruto Uzumaki."
A hint of a smile appeared in the Anbu ninja's voice, "Lord Hokage is right. After all, Kakashi knew about Obito killing Naruto's parents but has been secretly hiding it…"
"Mmph…"
Just as the Anbu finished speaking, Naruto Uzumaki in the room could no longer suppress it. Tears flowed uncontrollably down his face, and a sound involuntarily escaped his throat.
When Naruto Uzumaki realized his slip, he immediately let out a big yawn, wiped away his tears, and hid under his blanket.
The voices outside immediately fell silent.
After a while, the window in the room was quietly opened and then quietly closed again. Clearly, someone had come to check on him.
A moment later, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice sounded again, "Since there's nothing wrong here, you keep a close watch on him here. Tomorrow is the Chunin Exam finals. All the daimyos and dignitaries will be present. Naruto Uzumaki must not make the slightest mistake."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
The Anbu outside the door replied in a low voice.
Soon, it became quiet outside.
Inside the room, Naruto Uzumaki bit his blanket tightly, tears and snot streaming down his face, yet he didn't dare to make a sound, because he knew there was still a ninja monitoring him outside.
A twelve-year dream.
Tonight, it was utterly destroyed.
Naruto Uzumaki's fingers dug fiercely into his thighs, which were covered in wounds. He had to desperately suppress his emotions to prevent himself from showing any abnormality.
All these years, no wonder his desperate attempts to gain the villagers' recognition were met with alienation. Whenever he was hurt emotionally, Hiruzen Sarutobi would appear before him, teaching him to endure pain.
All the light and darkness in his life.
It turned out to be manipulated by that old man in the Hokage tower.
Naruto Uzumaki's body trembled slightly. Recalling the scene where he summoned Gamabunta, his mind instantly sank into the boundless sealed water prison.
Naruto Uzumaki's vision was completely dark. He slowly walked to the edge of the water prison, raised his head to look at the huge figure within, and said in a gloomy voice, "You damn fox, you're called Nine-Tails, right? You want to come out, right?"
"ROAR!"
The Nine-Tails opened its blood-red maw, looked at the small figure by the water prison, and suddenly laughed loudly, "Hahahahaha… Brat, if you let me out now, I'll help you tear that old bastard and the entire Konoha to shreds!"
Clearly, the Nine-Tails had heard everything Naruto Uzumaki had heard just now.
Some of the secrets within, even the Nine-Tails wasn't particularly clear about.
However, this was a good opportunity for the Nine-Tails. The darker Naruto became, the easier it would be for it to control him!
The Nine-Tails hadn't expected a village like Konoha to be so dark. It was indeed worthy of being the ninja village co-created by those two shady scoundrels, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha!
The people of Konoha were always so good at killing each other!
"No, that's not enough for them to repay."
Naruto Uzumaki looked at the Nine-Tails and slowly shook his head. The dark aura around him grew denser, "Tomorrow is an important day. Join me in causing a huge scene!"
A ferocious smile appeared on the Nine-Tails' face, "Brat, I didn't expect you to wise up by our second meeting! Brat, you're much smarter than that woman Kushina Uzumaki!"
That damn woman, clearly possessing its immense power, not only didn't think about how to use it but only thought about suppressing it.
She even took out her anger on it when she encountered frustrating things outside!
Damn it, karma's a bitch, and retribution is swift!
Now it was her son's turn to suffer. As Kushina Uzumaki's tenant, the Nine-Tails believed it should properly guide this Naruto Uzumaki fellow!
Tomorrow was its time to be unleashed!
"Naruto."
Someone knocked on the room window.
Naruto Uzumaki turned his head and saw Sakura Haruno standing by his window.
The pink-haired girl looked somewhat nervous as she said, "I haven't seen Sasuke-kun these past few days. His exam is tomorrow, but Sasuke-kun's home is still empty. Can you come with me to look for him?"
"Okay."
Hearing Sakura Haruno's request, Naruto Uzumaki immediately put aside his worries and climbed out the window, "Sakura, why are you going to Sasuke's house at night?"
"Because I thought he should be home by this time, no matter what."
Sakura Haruno frowned, her face full of unease, "But he still hasn't shown up… Hmm, Naruto, your face, were you just…"
Naruto Uzumaki quickly covered Sakura Haruno's mouth, nervously raising his finger, afraid that the so-called Anbu who was supposedly always monitoring him would find out the situation.
Naruto Uzumaki grinned, wiped his face, and forced a smile, "Alright, I'll go with you to find Sasuke first! That guy is probably hiding somewhere, training hard in secret!"
Some people, even when their hearts are riddled with a thousand wounds, still hide their injuries in front of the person they like.
(End of Chapter)
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