“Excuse me!
Could I get a bowl of ramen as well?” Sakura had just finished preparing the last bowls and was bringing them over to the table when an elderly voice suddenly came from outside Ichiraku.
“Lord Third?” Teuchi immediately stood up, surprise evident on his face.
He couldn’t understand why the Third Hokage had suddenly come to his little ramen shop.
“Since I’ve already come all this way, surely you wouldn’t turn me away?” Sakura silently rolled her eyes.
She knew that the old pervert known as the Third Hokage had been watching them through his crystal ball, but she had never imagined that he would actually come over at this exact moment just to have a meal.
“Ahaha…” The Third Hokage laughed awkwardly.
For some reason, he felt that Sakura particularly disliked him.
“Sorry to trouble you…” Behind the Third Hokage, a masked shinobi with striking silver hair casually walked inside and sat down at the table without the slightest trace of politeness.
Kakashi Hatake!
Sakura recognized him the instant she saw him.
Throughout Konoha, there was only one shinobi with silver-white hair, a mask covering the lower half of his face, and a forehead protector covering his left eye.
Kakashi Hatake.
However, the aura emanating from Kakashi at this point made Sakura frown.
It was dead.
Cold.
There was nothing but darkness within his heart He didn’t feel like the Third Hokage’s ANBU at all.
Instead, he reminded Sakura of the members of Root under Danzo.
But after thinking carefully about Kakashi’s past, Sakura understood.
At this point in time, Kakashi was still completely trapped beneath the shadow of losing his comrades and teacher.
Obito had sacrificed himself to save Kakashi.
And then Rin, whom Obito had entrusted Kakashi to protect, had ultimately died at Kakashi’s own hands.
The fact that Kakashi hadn’t suffered a complete mental breakdown was already remarkable.
Seeing Kakashi staring at her with those dead-fish eyes, Sakura could only sigh helplessly.
Accepting her fate, she turned around and began making another batch of ramen.
“Is this a kekkei genkai?!” Watching Sakura floating in midair, the Third Hokage was slightly puzzled.
There were countless strange and unusual kekkei genkai throughout the shinobi world, but activating a kekkei genkai generally required chakra.
Sakura was only four years old and hadn’t even begun properly training in chakra.
So how could she possibly activate a kekkei genkai?
The thought only flashed through his mind for an instant before disappearing.
Sakura’s parents were ordinary residents of Konoha.
There was no reason to suspect that they were spies.
Perhaps this was simply some unusual form of kekkei genkai.
“I’ll eat!” Naruto eagerly began devouring his ramen.
Watching him from beside the table, the Third Hokage suddenly felt a pang in his heart.
His three students had either defected or left Konoha and refused to return.
And the only surviving child of his former student’s family was now living such a miserable life.
As the Third Hokage, he truly had failed them.
“Hey, Naruto.
Do you have any dreams?” The Third Hokage suddenly asked.
“Huh?
A dream?” Naruto widened his eyes.
He looked at the old man who occasionally came to bring him food and his orphan’s allowance.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, “What is a dream?” “It’s something you really, really want to accomplish.” The Third Hokage smiled.
“Something you desperately want to achieve.” “Something I want to accomplish…” Naruto stopped eating.
He tilted his head and thought for a while.
“I want to protect Sakura, Ino, Uncle Teuchi, and Big Sis Ayame.” “I want to be able to eat until I’m full every day.” “And…” “I want everyone to acknowledge me.
I don’t want them to call me the Nine-Tails anymore!” “Protecting his comrades and earning everyone’s acknowledgment…” For a moment, the Third Hokage thought of Minato Namikaze.
The same golden hair.
The same sky-blue eyes.
And the same bright, sunny smile.
But when he heard Naruto’s second wish, his heart ached.
Thinking of Minato’s death at such a young age, the Third Hokage’s emotions became indescribably complicated.
“Then, Naruto…” “Do you want to become Hokage?” “What is a Hokage?” Naruto stared at the Third Hokage in confusion.
He had absolutely no idea what a Hokage was.
“A Hokage is someone who protects Konoha.” The Third Hokage smiled.
“And every Hokage is loved and respected by the villagers!” “If I become Hokage, then everyone will acknowledge me?” Naruto asked expectantly.
“They will.” “Then I’ll definitely become Hokage!” Naruto raised his hand and shouted.
Ever since he was little, everyone around him had hated him.
His deepest desire was simply to be acknowledged by others.
It was the strongest obsession buried deep within his heart.
“It’s not becoming Hokage that makes people acknowledge you.” Sakura turned her head toward Naruto.
“Rather, the people who are acknowledged by everyone are the ones who can become Hokage.” “Eh?” Naruto’s head filled with question marks.
“What’s the difference?” At his age, Naruto still couldn’t possibly understand the meaning behind those words.
But the Third Hokage’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“That’s the Will of Fire…” After finishing their meal, everyone went home.
The Third Hokage had only just returned to the Hokage Tower with Kakashi when a familiar figure approached him.
“Danzo?!” “Hiruzen, I heard that the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki brat has apparently been associating with strangers?” Danzo leaned on his cane, his expression gloomy.
As someone who advocated turning jinchūriki into emotionless weapons, he naturally didn’t want Naruto to make friends.
In fact, part of him almost wished Naruto would lose control and unleash the Nine-Tails within Konoha.
That would give him a perfectly legitimate excuse to implement his own plans.
“I have my own plans for this matter…” The Third Hokage didn’t want to discuss it with Danzo any further.
His old classmate’s way of thinking was simply far too dark.
“Hmph.
Anyone who has contact with the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki should be detained.” Danzo’s visible eye glinted with killing intent.
“To prevent spies from other villages from manipulating the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki!” “Enough, Danzo.” The Third Hokage’s voice hardened.
“I’ll handle this matter myself.
You don’t need to interfere in anything concerning the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki.” Naturally, he couldn’t allow Danzo to act against Naruto according to his own wishes.
Especially after seeing how similar Naruto’s smile was to Minato’s, the Third Hokage became even more determined.
“Hiruzen, you’re simply too indecisive.” Danzo stood in the shadows and continued arguing.
“The Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki is a weapon of war.
He must be controlled—” “I am the Hokage.” The Third Hokage directly cut him off.
“Danzo, take care of your own responsibilities.
Don’t concern yourself with matters outside your authority.” “You…” Danzo let out an angry snort.
In the end, he could only turn around and leave.
But the killing intent in his eye revealed what he was truly thinking.
“Minato.
Kushina.” The Third Hokage stood by the window and looked toward the stone face of Minato Namikaze carved into the Hokage Rock.
“Don’t worry.
I’ll protect Naruto.” At that moment, the Third Hokage’s aura seemed to return to the way it had been in his youth, when he had been known throughout the shinobi world as the God of Shinobi.