Escape From Konoha

The capital of the Fire Nation, the daimyo's mansion.

It is said to be a mansion, but it is actually an incomparably magnificent castle.

There are maids and guards serving the daimyo living inside, and many of them are powerful ninjas who hide in secret to protect the daimyo's safety.

In the castle tower at the highest point of the castle, the daimyo of the country of fire, as well as several important ministers in the country, gathered here for a meeting.

In addition, there are the three generations of Hokage, the leader of Konoha Village, who is the strongest military symbol of the Fire Country, and the two village advisers, Zanju Koharu and Mito Menyan, and the root leader Shimura Danzo.

The four of them also came to the keep of the castle to meet with the fire country daimyo.

They discussed only one topic of the meeting, that is, the third generation of Hokage is about to step down, and the position of Hokage will be passed on to the next generation.

Hearing that the third Hokage was about to step down, and the Hokage daimyo who had known the third Hokage Hiruzaru Sarutobi for many years, showed a regretful expression.

"It's a pity. I think you have done a good job since you assumed the position of the third Hokage. I didn't expect you to retire so soon."

"Your Excellency, you are joking. In fact, I am already in my fifties, and my energy and strength are not as good as before. It is better to decide on the next generation of Hokage as soon as possible. Moreover, the reason why Konoha is always in the middle of the war is because It’s also because of my poor command.”

Hiruzen said with a sigh, seeming to have made up his mind.

The fire country daimyo nodded, opened the folding fan in his hand and fanned it gently in front of him, showing a full aftertaste.

"Since that's the case, then the four of you coming here together must have already decided on the candidate for the fourth generation of Hokage."

Although the daimyo is nominally in the country, it has the highest administrative power and the highest military power.

However this is not absolute.

It is very difficult for the daimyo to intervene in the decision-making of the five shadows, including the management of Ninja Village.

Therefore, it is Konoha Village's own choice to decide the candidate for the fourth generation of Hokage. The biggest purpose of coming here is to go through a cutscene and let the daimyo be a witness.

After all, Ninja Village needs the financial assistance of nobles such as daimyo to be able to operate.

This decades-long contract may not change in hundreds of years, and has been maintained forever.

"Yes, that's who we decided on."

Hand over several documents with the same content to the daimyo and the rest of the Fire Nation's important ministers.

These important ministers, including the daimyo, are all celebrities and wealthy families, with financial and human resources that ordinary people can't match.

At the pinnacle of power in the Fire Nation.

This has been true for generations.

The Fire Nation daimyo and the other important ministers nodded slightly after reading the contents of the document.

Although the chosen candidate is a bit unexpected, it is also reasonable.

"Yellow flash? He is indeed an excellent ninja, and we can hear a lot of rumors about him. Even among the nobles, there are many girls who admire a young and promising ninja like him. When you come next time, put Bring him here too, my daughter wants to see him too."

The Fire Country Daimyo smiled and said.

"His Royal Highness, golden branches and jade leaves, are not suitable for etiquette. Besides, Your Excellency Daming really praised that kid Minato too much."

Hirizhan chuckled, and calmly rejected the proposal of the fire country daimyo.

The relatives who are related to the daimyo of the country of fire cannot be simple goods. Especially for the existence of a princess, marriage means political purposes.

No matter what, as Hokage, you can't let the power class outside the village get involved, which will damage Hokage's prestige and power.

"They are all young people. Maybe they have more topics to talk about than us old guys."

Facing the repeated requests from the daimyo of the Fire Nation, Hizhan smiled and said nothing, not seeing anything unusual.

Danzo sneered silently, with resignation in his eyes.

Because a ninja like Namikaze Minato couldn't be on his side no matter what.

But as one of Konoha's decision-makers, he must come here to participate in such an important and not so important meeting.

◎

It didn't take long to decide on the matter of the Fourth Hokage. On the pretext that there were still things to deal with in the village, Hirazan took the three of Danzo and the accompanying Anbe to leave the capital of the Fire Country and return to Konoha Village.

The first thing he did when he returned to the village was to send Anbu to issue announcements throughout the village to let every Konoha ninja and villagers know the news that the yellow flashing Namikaze Minato had succeeded the Fourth Hokage.

Konoha will also usher in a new era guided by the new Hokage.

Regardless of the changes in the village due to the alternation of Hokage, at the top of the Hokage Building, Hirizan summoned Minato alone.

"Sorry, Minato, for making you take on such a heavy responsibility so early."

Facing Hirizan's apology, Minato replied: "Please don't say that, Mr. Third Hokage. Since the village has decided that I will become the Fourth Hokage, I will definitely carry forward with a heavy burden."

Minato was ready for this realization.

Compared with the days of fighting on the front line, no matter how busy you are as Hokage, there is no more bumpy road than the front line.

Moreover, this is also the dream I have had since I was a child-to become Hokage.

"It's not my wish to tie you up in the village, but many people in the village are already dissatisfied with my conservative approach. The transition is just right at this time."

Minato listened carefully to Hiruzen's words.

"You don't have to worry about Yun Yin's affairs. Although their movements are weird, there are other ninjas in the village who can stop them from attacking the Land of Fire. Anyway, congratulations."

A heartfelt blessing smile appeared on Hiruzen's face.

Although Minato was not his disciple, he was a Konoha ninja who almost grew up under his eyes, and he knew the ins and outs better than the others.

Minato, who recognizes and implements the meaning of the Will of Fire, will surely guide the village well in the future.

But before that, the rest of the sounds in the village must be eliminated.

Otherwise, he would not be able to truly entrust Minato with the responsibility of guiding the village.

For Minato, the job of balancing the various forces in the village was too difficult.

In short, let Minato slowly accumulate prestige and power through the work of Hokage.

By the time Minato was full-fledged, he would have almost resolved the sharp conflicts in the village and could truly retire, leaving everything to Minato to take care of himself.

So at this time, Hiruzen felt sorry for Minato.

On the one hand, he did not want Minato to be his puppet, but on the other hand, he hoped that Minato could exceed his expectations and let him develop Konoha.

This kind of contradictory and complicated emotions is what Hiruzen is struggling with.

Looking at the sky, Sandai was fascinated.

If Teacher Tobirama hadn't died at that time, the village would look different now. Hiruzen thought to himself, missing the scene at that time.

Uchiha, it's time to really deal with it. If you continue to delay, I'm afraid the situation will be extremely detrimental to the stability of the village. A sharp look flashed in Hiruzen's eyes.

◎

In early August, after the fourth generation Hokage's inauguration ceremony was held, Konoha officially announced to all countries in the ninja world that the yellow flash Minato Namikaze would succeed the fourth generation Hokage.

This matter, in a sense, is completely predictable.

The successor of the fourth generation of Hokage will only appear between Yellow Flash and Sannin.

And Yellow Flash becoming the Fourth Hokage means that Yellow Flash, a ninja with super strength, will not appear on the battlefield without special circumstances.

As for whether the yellow flash that becomes Hokage will make Konoha go further or go downhill, at present, it cannot be intuitively felt.

The yellow flash is only strong in combat power, as for the leadership ability, it depends on his next actions.

No matter how disturbed the outside world is, Minato is caught in distress and happiness.

It's a bit complacent to say so, but becoming Hokage is indeed something to be happy about.

The trouble is that under Minato, there are not many cronies who can be trusted.

Those Jonin who have some experience are in a wait-and-see mode and rarely express their opinions directly. Like the people in the Ninja Village outside, they believe in Yellow Flash's personal strength, but it is worth thinking about what his leadership ability is.

Therefore, based on this embarrassing situation, Minato can only look for available talents from the new generation of ninjas.

For example, the Shadow Guard and its own Anbu are formed by themselves.

Based on this embarrassing situation, the former Hokage Hiruzaru Sarutobi selected four squads from his direct subordinate Anbu, a total of 16 people, to serve as Minato's team, and joined Minato's direct subordinate Anbu to share the Minato pressure.

Unsurprisingly, a week after Minato succeeded the Fourth Hokage, Kakashi joined Minato's Anbu as a ninja to assist Minato in his work. In the future, as time goes by, he will become the sub-captain and deputy director of Minato. , Minister, it will be a matter of time.

Everything is going in the right direction.

What makes Kakashi interesting is that the order given to him by the Third Hokage is to assist Minato and just follow Minato's orders.

Orochimaru asked him to pay more attention to the collection of ninjutsu in the Naruto Building, such as forbidden techniques.

Danzo asked him to monitor Minato's every move to see if he could find some black material and use public opinion to put pressure on Minato.

Fortunately, there was no order from Shiraishi, and Kakashi was allowed to play freely, otherwise the burden on him would be really heavy enough.

The third Hokage, the fourth Hokage, the root leader, one of the Sannin... are not good friends, each one is stronger than him.

However, Kakashi is not without benefits for becoming Anbu, that is, Minato, with the power of Hokage, opened up some important ninjutsu materials to him, allowing him to read, so that his strength can quickly become stronger.

The ninjutsu information that Konoha has gathered over the years has been of great help to Kakashi.

Although it is not a more mysterious fairy art system, the use of pure chakra is not easy to use.

After completing Anbu's mission, Kakashi, the captain of the four-member Anbu team, will come to the Hokage Building for a mission report.

The task this time is very simple, you need to solve the spy who sneaked into Konoha from Ninja Village of the enemy country. After Konoha stole the secret, the spy of the enemy country fled to the border of Fire Nation, was chased and wiped out by the Anbu team led by Kakashi, and successfully retrieved the stolen secret scroll. The body of the spy ninja was also recovered and handed over to the interrogation department to identify the ninja power of which country it was.

Putting the stolen confidential scroll in the ninja bag, Kakashi, who had changed into an Anbu costume and an animal mask, walked towards Hokage's office, preparing to hand the scroll over to Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato to confirm its authenticity.

Before arriving at the office, a ninja came out from the front room. This ninja hugged a large box full of documents and carried them to the corridor, holding a toothpick-like toothpick in his mouth.

Seeing Kakashi in Anbu's costume, he smiled and said, "Kakashi, are you here to find Hokage-sama?"

"Hey, Genma, don't call Anbe ninja by name casually."

It should be common sense among ninjas that the identities of ANBU ninjas need to be kept secret.

Kakashi looked helplessly at the Konoha ninja in front of him.

Wearing the uniform of Konoha Chuunin, he is about the same age as himself, about thirteen or fourteen years old, and his name is Shiranui Genma.

He is one of the three former subordinates of the defected ninja Uchiha Ruri. Now he is transferred to work here in the Hokage Building. He is also a member of the Shadow Guard of Hokage Minato.

"Haha." The man laughed and said helplessly, "I can't help it. Your silver hair and the short sword behind you are so iconic that everyone can recognize you."

"What are these documents?"

Kakashi looked at the contents of the box.

"It's a discarded file. I'll go take care of it. Sorry, I have to go first."

"It's okay, just go about your business."

Kakashi watched the other party leave with the box in his arms, sighing that there really was no one under Minato's command.

It's not that he looked down on Genma who became a chuunin, but that the members of the Hokage's Shadow Guard were actually served by ninjas who had just become a chuunin. The other party looked more like he was here to do chores than the guard work of the Shadow Guard.

As for the other two ninjas who were members of the Minato Shadow Guards like Genma, they were also the new generation who had just become chunin.

Can you only choose your cronies from the new generation of ninjas? Kakashi felt a little pity for Minato's experience.

I came to Minato's office, knocked on the door and got permission to enter, and found that there were three other people there.

Nara Shikaku, Haiyi in the mountains, Ding Zuo on the autumn road.

Three Konoha Jonin who went on a mission together two years ago.

Although they are jounin, the importance the three of them hold in the village cannot be underestimated.

They were born from the Nara clan, the Yamanaka clan and the Akimichi clan.

The three families formed an indestructible alliance during the Warring States Period, advancing and retreating together, inheriting secret techniques with special abilities, and occupying a pivotal position in Konoha.

The most important thing is that these three families have been friends with the Sarutobi clan of the third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen for generations.

The three of them came here, what did the Third Hokage mean? Kakashi became confused.

The internal disputes in Konoha are far more intense than outsiders imagine.

And Kakashi felt that he was at the center of such a fierce storm.

After Kakashi arrived, Shikaku and the other three also glanced at him. Even if Kakashi wore a mask, others could identify him at first glance.

With silver hair, a short sword with white teeth, and a small body exuding an unparalleled sharp aura, in this office, only Minato could treat him calmly.

"Then, I'll trouble you about the things I just mentioned."

Sitting on the seat that not long ago belonged to the Third Hokage, Minato smiled and said to Shikaku and the others.

"Don't worry, leave this matter to us, Hokage-sama, and we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."

Shikaku responded with a smile, took Haiichi and Dingza away, and closed the door.

After the three left, Kakashi took out the stolen secret scroll from his ninja bag and placed it on the table in front of Minato.

"Hokage-sama, the mission has been completed."

This is understandable, as soon as he enters work, the teacher-student relationship between him and Minato will cease to exist. Here there is only the relationship between superior and subordinate, Hokage and ANBU.

Minato picked up the scroll and opened it. After confirming the contents, he rolled it up again and put it away in the drawer.

"Thank you for your hard work. There is no problem with the scroll. Fortunately, it was resolved before it caused any trouble."

Minato breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Kakashi with an appreciative tone.

"Nothing, this is what I should do."

"There is an important task for you next, no problem, Kakashi. After completing this task, I will give you a few days of vacation to rest."

"It's my pleasure, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi replied seriously.

Minato asked him to complete tasks one after another, mainly because there was no one.

Even the members of the Shadow Guard are all chuunin, and there are very few jounin who can be completely trusted.

"This is the content of this mission, take a look."

Minato handed Kakashi the new mission scroll.

Kakashi opened it and confirmed the content of this mission.

"The Land of Rain?"

Kakashi's face beneath the mask raised a brow.

The mission location was in the Land of Rain, which surprised Kakashi.

To be honest, Kakashi feels that there are many extremely dangerous places in the ninja world now.

Apart from the Kingdom of Ghosts, the only one left is the Kingdom of Rain.

This country, which seems to be in ruins and has even lost its sovereignty, is secretly undercurrent.

"Yes, I'm asking you to do this. Be careful, I think things are not simple. If you find something is wrong, there is no problem in giving up the mission."

Minato said to Kakashi with a serious expression.

Kakashi could only nod.

Of course he knew that the Country of Rain was dangerous, and if he encountered the Samsara Eye, he would have no choice but to run away at the risk of his life.

He didn't want to die so young and young.

Therefore, you need to prepare more detonating symbols.

◎

"In the end, is it Yellow Flash who will inherit the position of the Fourth Hokage?"

In a secret room in the cave, Nagato finished his training and was resting in the room when he heard such information from Bai Zetsu.

"Yes, everyone is surprised. That Orochimaru was completely defeated."

Bai Jue chuckled.

"Speaking of which, Nagato-sama is also a sect member of Yellow Flash. They are both disciples of Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas."

Black Jue also said on the side.

"Let's put aside Mr. Jiraiya's matters. We can't take things lightly about Konoha. Of course, the same goes for those three people. Do you have any information about them?"

Nagato looked at Black Zetsu.

Hei Jue knew who the 'three people' in the long doorway were.

"Not yet. It's really strange. We have searched almost every corner of the ninja world and can't find their whereabouts. It's like they have disappeared."

Bai Jue smiled disapprovingly and said: "What's weird about this? When Master Madara was still here, he suffered a lot from them. Their ability to hide themselves is indeed superb. But next, Konoha should be able to free up his hands. Come, deal with those three people."

Black Jue also nodded in agreement.

"No, now is not the time to deal with those three people."

Nagato said a different view, which surprised Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.

Nagato looked at the half-burned candle on the candlestick, stared at the candlelight and said: "Compared to those three people, Konoha is the biggest problem. I need to take back the sovereignty of the Rain Country, and I must first let Konoha Or maybe the Fire Nation will have a chance when it becomes chaotic, and then we can deal with those three people."

"But……"

Nagato stood up from his seat and interrupted Black Zetsu's speech:

"Nothing. Konoha...the power of the Fire Nation is too strong. The more powerful the Fire Nation is, the more we have to rely on it to survive. Konoha and the Fire Nation are our number one enemies. The most important thing is What's more, Konoha is on the bright side, making it easier to target. We don't know how long it will take to find those three people."

Seeing that Nagato had made up his mind, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu could only agree.

What Nagato said is true. The power of the Fire Country and Konoha is too strong.

Especially since the one who holds the position of Hokage now is the famous yellow flash in the ninja world. Konoha will only become stronger and stronger in the future. If we don't target him now, it will be harder to deal with him then.

"By the way, Bai Zetsu at the border of the Land of Rain got some very interesting news."

Bai Jue remembered something.

"what news?"

"Kakashi Hatake, that student with the yellow flash, sneaked into the Kingdom of Rain not long ago, and seems to be planning to investigate the matter of collecting treasures."

"Exploration?"

Nagato frowned.

He hated the new leader who had usurped Hanzo's power and now commanded Yugakure.

What's more, the current Kanzo has long been reduced to an obedient lackey of Konoha, domineering in Amegakure and constantly excluding dissidents.

If he hadn't been afraid of Konoha's power, he would have taken action against it.

Nagato felt more and more that his decision was the right one.

If Konoha is not allowed to become chaotic, the situation in the Land of Rain and Amegakure will only get worse.

"Yes. There seems to be an accident in the human trafficking between Kanzo and Danzo. If that yellow flash gets evidence... Hehe, that will be interesting in Konoha. Let's see how Danzo ends up."

Bai Jue smiled happily.

"Don't be too happy too early. Yellow Flash has just assumed the role of Hokage, so he may not be able to pose a threat to Danzo. However, this is indeed a good opportunity, so let's take advantage of it."

A gleam appeared in Nagato's eyes.

◎

Leading three ANBU subordinates, Kakashi only took one day and one night to rush from Konoha to the border of the Land of Rain. Before officially entering the border of the Land of Rain, Kakashi's ANBU team rested for half a day to recover all their strength. After gaining physical strength and chakra, he began to enter the Kingdom of Rain.

The Kingdom of Rain, which had been away from war for two years, did not find peace immediately. Instead, it became even more chaotic than during the war.

Bandits and wandering ninjas are rampant everywhere, and corpses are exposed in the wilderness every day.

Whenever you enter this country, it is normal to encounter battles.

Even a jounin like Kakashi must be fully prepared.

There are three subordinates in the team, one special jounin and two chuunin. Although they are good in strength, if they encounter a real master, they may not be able to do anything at all.

After all, it was a newly formed ANBU team. There were neither medical ninjas nor sensory ninjas in the team, so the lineup was quite shabby.

Kakashi just had an attitude of trying his best towards this mission.

According to the intelligence provided by Minato, there seemed to be frequent criminal operations of human trafficking at the junction of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.

There are hundreds of people involved.

Kakashi also didn't know what was hidden behind human trafficking.

In short, confirming the truth of the matter as soon as possible is Kakashi's top priority.

When the time comes, it is inevitable that he will have to fight a powerful ninja.

It is impossible to control such a large amount of human trafficking without powerful ninja control behind it.

While rushing in the Land of Rain, Kakashi suddenly noticed something and made a gesture to the three people behind him to stop.

The three of them stopped in accordance with Kakashi's instructions, and looked with Kakashi at the person blocking the way in the rain ahead, showing surprise.

"Jiraiya-sama, why are you here?"

The man caught in the rain on the path ahead was tall, with long white hair reaching his waist. He was none other than Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.

Kakashi and others were surprised by Jiraiya's arrival.

"Don't worry, Kakashi, I was entrusted by Minato to come here to carry out this investigation mission with you."

"Come on a mission with us?"

Kakashi was confused, with a cautious tone in his voice.

"That's right, Minato feels that the mission you are carrying out is a bit dangerous, and accidents may occur if you leave it to you, so please ask me to come over and assist you not long after you set off."

Jiraiya explained.

As he spoke, he gave Kakashi and the others the transfer order written by Minato himself for confirmation.

Only then did Kakashi's team believe that Jiraiya was also a helper entrusted by Minato to assist them in completing the mission together.

"Then I will trouble you, Master Ziraiya. If you were here, this mission would go much smoother."

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, he didn't know who was manipulating this matter behind the scenes, and if someone came over to help, the situation would be much better, at least in terms of safety, it shouldn't be a problem.

That Samsara-eyed guy staring at the Land of Rain from nowhere, just thinking about it makes him feel extremely scary.

"I hope so. I came to the Land of Rain not necessarily because of Minato's request."

Jiraiya replied.

"Master Jiraiya, do you have anything else to do?"

"Well, it's old stuff."

Jiraiya looked at the gray rain scene around him with sad eyes.

Nagato, how are you doing now? Are you still alive and well, or are you already...

Jiraiya thought of this and didn't dare to think about it anymore.

No matter what, he wanted to find the three Nagatos. He wanted to see the people in life and the corpses in death.

Hopefully it won't be the worst.

However, Jiraiya knew that most of the three Nagatos were already in danger and died in the war that took place in the Land of Rain two years ago.

Is the child of prophecy really Minato? Jiraiya murmured in his mind.