Naruto: From Novice to Grave

Chapter 104 - Art is just eight ducks

When Minato Namikaze returned to the village, he also took with him a group of people who worked closely with him.

This included the young clan leaders of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the Aburame clan, who had served under Jiraiya from the early stages of the war.

Jiraiya had no intention of succeeding as Hokage, so he naturally passed on this responsibility to his disciple.

It's clear that, from a very early stage, the Third Hokage had already chosen his successor in his mind.

The most satisfied one was naturally his disciple Orochimaru, but as that guy grew older, his thinking became more and more unbalanced, which Hiruzen Sarutobi had always noticed.

Jiraiya's personality was too eccentric, and Tsunade locked up her heart and love, wanting only to get drunk in izakayas and casinos. Naturally, Minato Namikaze, with his sunny image and powerful strength, became the best choice.

Currently, besides the supreme commander Jiraiya, the people in charge on the northern front are Fugaku Uchiha and Suzaku Nara.

The two cooperated very well on the Eastern Front, and now this place has become a replica of the Eastern Front, except that the person above them has changed from Orochimaru to Jiraiya.

That's how the Nara family is. They don't care who the village chief is, because they always have the position of the village chief's wife—oh, no, I mean the advisory and think tank.

Inside the Uchiha barracks, the clan leader personally brewed tea for Higashino Makoto, and it was clear that he was in a good mood.

It now appears that, apart from Kirigakure, the northern front will also end under his command.

He wanted to ask loudly, "Who else deserves credit for this?"

The young Daxiaozi looked at Higashino Makoto with curiosity. So this is the person who defeated the clan's genius, Shisui? As expected—his appearance is no less handsome than that of Uchiha Itachi.

Higashino was also looking him over. The little boy was very cute, with a clear innocence in his eyes, unlike the bitter and resentful boy he would become later. That was good.

Fugaku laughed, "Itachi, this is Higashino-kun, the current number one genius of Konoha, a hero of the Hidden Mist battlefield, the 'Shield of Konoha' who could fight the Raikage without defeat. He is your role model for the future."

Itachi gave a standard greeting: "Shin-senpai, I am Uchiha Itachi. Please take care of me from now on."

"I'm Higashino Makoto!" After returning the greeting, he asked with concern, "Why didn't I see Shisui come over?"

"Shisui, ever since the Chunin Exams, he has been focusing on training. It seems that he was inspired by you, and he wants to develop a fighting style that suits his own characteristics."

"Really? Uncle Fugaku, is there something important you want to tell me today?"

Upon hearing that Higashino Makoto was still willing to call him uncle, Uchiha Fugaku smiled slightly.

"I know your abilities well. You performed brilliantly on the Eastern Front. I hope everyone will continue to work hard and end this war as soon as possible."

"As a Konoha ninja, I will naturally do my best, but then what?"

Looking at Higashino Makoto's expression, Fugaku realized he couldn't treat him like an ordinary child, so he bluntly asked, "Makoto, what are your thoughts on the Hokage candidates?"

"There are no other candidates. The fourth generation will be Minato-senpai."

Both father and son were stunned for a moment. Goodness, so direct?

Fugaku asked疑惑地问道, "Why are you so certain?"

"Everyone knows that the Third Hokage will retire after the war ends. At this crucial moment, Minato-senpai went back, while you, Uncle Fugaku, were sent out."

The outcome of the war is already decided. There's no reward to be gained by coming here now; you'll only be responsible for cleaning up the mess. The credit you think you've earned was never there to begin with. Don't forget, whether on the eastern or northern front, you have a Hokage disciple above you.

Fugaku Uchiha got stuck; his brain stopped thinking.

After a long pause, Rangrang smiled and said, "Really? Minato Jonin is not bad either. To be honest, our two families have a pretty good relationship in private."

"Oh, is that so?" Higashino pretended not to know, then affirmed, "Isn't this a good thing for the Uchiha clan?"

"Oh? It seems you also know something about the relationship between our clan and the village. So, what is your view on the Uchiha clan?"

"Excellent ninjas and reliable comrades are an indispensable part of Konoha."

"But as a large clan like ours, we always have various conflicts with the village."

"Uncle Fugaku, isn't it normal for the world to have conflicts?" After thinking for a moment, Higashino looked at Uchiha Yuu and said, "Conflicts are not scary. What's scary is that some people don't want to resolve conflicts, but only want to get rid of the people who raised them."

Itachi was completely bewildered. "Shin-senpai, are you looking in the wrong direction?" But he quickly fell into thinking about Higashino Shin's last words, which seemed to be something the other party had intentionally said to him.

But why?

"Are those who only want to eliminate the people who raised the conflict? Wow, your insight is indeed novel. I hope to have more exchanges with Itachi and Shisui in the future."

"No problem, Uncle Fugaku."

Higashino doesn't mind getting to know the filial son.

Is Itachi guilty? Based on the Chinese worldview that Higashino Makoto developed in his previous life, of course he is guilty, but that was the Itachi with the blood of his clansmen on his hands later, not the little kid he is now.

After that, the two stopped talking about that topic and started discussing some aspects of ninja techniques.

Fugaku Uchiha originally wanted to get some information from Makoto Higashino about the newly emerging power in the village, but his hopes were dashed by Higashino's decisive blow.

However, he found that he wasn't too disappointed. Perhaps he knew the outcome from the beginning, but he just didn't want to admit it.

It's good that someone has called out this naiveté to your face.

If it were just an ordinary ten-year-old kid, then Lord Fugaku would show him on the spot what the terror of the Sharingan is.

But Higashino is different. In terms of both ability and thought, he cannot be regarded as a teenager. His concise and precise way of speaking is indeed to his liking.

This is the ninja world. If you have strength, even if you are young, people will seriously consider what you say.

It's like saying only famous quotes are considered famous sayings; when ordinary people say them, they're just nonsense.

In the following days, the situation on the front lines became increasingly tense.

Large-scale battles break out between Iwagakure and Kumogakure almost every day, and what frustrates Konoha is that they often end up getting caught up in the fighting themselves.

This is clearly intentional. We're not stupid. We'd fight to the death, only to let Konoha reap the rewards. There's no such thing as a free lunch. It's only fair if everyone works together.

Can the Konoha ninja hide?

Impossible. The Land of Fire is right behind us. If we retreat, what about the towns and people near the border? Are we just going to let them die?

A combined Earth Release technique from Iwagakure buried a large town and its thousands of ordinary people in the ground.

Ninjas can't harm ordinary people? Everyone's risking their lives, who cares about that?

Finally, the intensity of the battle reached its peak on the 8th. According to the limited intelligence gathered by the command, Kumogakure and Iwagakure almost mobilized their entire forces today.

Everyone has a premonition that a great battle is coming. Perhaps this will be the last battle of this war. Whether we live or die, whether we win or lose, will be revealed today.

The command center responded by concentrating a large number of forces on two key areas within the defensive line. This could potentially draw them into a major battle, but there was no other way.

If we don't do this and instead resort to a passive, piecemeal approach of rescuing wherever there's trouble, we'll only lose faster. Eventually, things will escalate into a joint invasion of Konoha by both sides.

Around 3 p.m., the Moonlight Cloud Team, which was patrolling in front of the defense line and closely monitoring the situation of the war, suddenly felt a flash of light in the distance. Shortly afterward, the ground trembled slightly, and finally a rumble was heard.

Looking up, a plume of smoke and dust rose into the sky from the direction of Yanyin in the distance, as if a giant bomb had been detonated.

Higashino Makoto silently exclaimed to himself, "Art truly is an explosion!"

Looking at the familiar mushroom cloud, Higashino was a little puzzled. At this time, Deidara was just a two or three-year-old kid, so what caused such an explosion? Could it be a tailed beast?

If that's the case, then we're in big trouble.

Suddenly, a large number of figures entered Higashino Makoto's perception range. He immediately reported, "An enemy is approaching us. They are Cloud Village ninjas, about 7 kilometers away. Their numbers are increasing and there are currently about 200 of them."

Seeing this, Moonlight Cloud made a decisive decision: "Let's go back to the defensive line and report."

Jiraiya was in charge of the defense line here. After hearing the news, he glanced at Higashino Makoto in surprise, then arranged for them to stay by his side, and immediately ordered the forces to be gathered and prepared for battle.

Higashino Makoto, maintaining his senses, quickly reported to his guide: "Lord Jiraiya, Kumogakure will arrive in 3 minutes, with 800 men."

More than one person.

The Iwagakure forces fighting behind them number nearly a thousand. So far, we haven't detected anyone with the unusually strong chakra you mentioned. They're probably deliberately drawing the battlefield closer to us.

"Very good, it seems these bastards are determined to drag Konoha down with them. Everyone, get ready to welcome our guests!"

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