XX-level Hokage

"Where the leaves dance, the fire will never cease. From the First Hokage onwards, Konoha has always yearned for peace. In the process of pursuing peace, we have encountered many obstacles. The Second and Fourth Hokage died because of this, and the Third Hokage was also injured."

Now, a new storm has arisen: a mysterious organization is plotting to rule the entire ninja world and destroy the long-preserved, fragile peace. I swear in the name of the Sixth Hokage that I will never allow this mysterious organization to destroy the peace of Konoha.

"Upon assuming the presidency, I will make Konoha even more prosperous, achieve deeper development for Konoha, and lead Konoha to prosperity and strength!"

After Mashiro finished speaking, all the people began to shout in unison, "Lord Mashiro! Lord Mashiro! Lord Mashiro!..."

Then Mashiro looked into the distance, where a figure with red hair was watching them.

Mashiro clapped her hands, signaling to stop shouting, then looked away and turned to look behind her.

Kakashi led Naruto over. Kakashi's expression behind his mask was complex, but mostly relieved. Naruto, on the other hand, was quite confused. He had been brought here that morning, but he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

The people below were also confused. Most of the people in Konoha Village recognized Naruto. When they saw Naruto suddenly appear next to Mashiro, most of them looked puzzled, while a small number of them showed disgust.

At this moment, Kushina, who had been observing from a distance, saw this scene. She knew what was about to happen, and tears streamed down her face.

"Everyone should still remember the Nine-Tails' rampage eighteen years ago, right?" Mashiro suddenly asked.

Upon hearing Mashiro's words, the crowd below immediately stopped their commotion and became serious. During the Nine-Tails' rampage, many of their comrades had died, including the Fourth Hokage who had only recently taken office.

Naruto, standing to the side, also looked somewhat pale. He had been mistaken for a fox demon because of the Nine-Tails' attack.

Sensing Naruto's nervousness, Mashiro patted him on the back and whispered to him, "Naruto, no matter what I say next, don't doubt it. Stay true to yourself."

Naruto looked at Mashiro with some confusion, and was about to say something when Mashiro turned to the crowd and said, "One night eighteen years ago, the Nine-Tails suddenly attacked Konoha, causing great panic and casualties."

At the time, the Fourth Hokage's wife, Kushina Uzumaki, was giving birth. However, faced with this unexpected situation, the Fourth Hokage had to leave his wife and go with the Third Hokage to deal with the Nine-Tails' rampage.

Ultimately, the Third Hokage and the Fourth Hokage together moved the Nine-Tails outside the village. The Third Hokage stayed behind to guard the village, while the Fourth Hokage went alone to deal with the situation.

In the end, in order to deal with the Nine-Tails, the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life by activating a forbidden technique, sealing the Nine-Tails into the body of his newborn child. He and his wife died in the Nine-Tails' attack.

When the Third Hokage arrived, the Fourth Hokage and his wife were dead, leaving only their orphaned children behind.

This child is Naruto. He inherited his mother's surname and his father's name. He is the orphan of the Fourth Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto! After Mashiro finished speaking, the crowd below fell silent, looking at each other with puzzled expressions.

Iruka was already in tears.

Sakura and Kiba were incredibly shocked, but also happy for Naruto. Kakashi gently closed his eyes.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a complicated expression, and finally let out a soft breath.

As for Naruto himself, he felt dizzy, his mind went blank, and countless complex emotions filled his thoughts. Seeing this, Mashiro sighed softly; what a pitiful child.

At the time, the higher-ups in Konoha discovered that the Nine-Tails' rampage was influenced by human intervention. Therefore, in order to protect Naruto, the Third Hokage, after discussing with the higher-ups, concealed Naruto's true identity and wanted him to live an ordinary life.

Now that the forces behind him have been revealed, there's no longer any need to hide Naruto's identity. Therefore, the Third Hokage specifically sought me out and told me about this, wanting me to take this opportunity to announce Naruto's identity: he is not the Nine-Tailed Fox, he is the son of a hero, the son of a hero of Konoha. "Mashiro continued.

This is an attempt to defend the Third Hokage. After all, the Third Hokage's handling of the matter was not very fair. However, the Third Hokage is still known as the Third Hokage of Konoha and is still Mashiro's teacher, so Mashiro can only try to make amends for him.

A long silence followed.

A commoner suddenly shouted, "I am the owner of a fruit shop in the South District. I want to apologize for the son of a hero. I had been treating him coldly and refusing to sell him fruit because I heard that he was the incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox. I am deeply sorry for this."

The person who shouted was a middle-aged man, whose face was covered in tears.

Led by the man, the civilians and ninjas who had bullied Naruto began to pay their respects.

"I am..." "Me too..." "I'm sorry..."

Hearing these words, Naruto remained composed, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening.

At this moment, Mashiro looked at Naruto and asked, "Naruto, do you know the meaning of your name?" Naruto looked at Mashiro and gently shook his head.

Both your father and mother love you deeply, because you grew up with the surname given by your mother and the name given by your father. You are unique, Naruto Uzumaki.

After Mashiro finished speaking, tears began to well up in Naruto's eyes and streamed down his face.

From that moment on, he was no longer a demon fox without parents; he was the child of Konoha's heroes, the one and only Naruto Uzumaki.

"Naruto, do you still remember your dream?" Mashiro asked. "Yes."

Naruto wiped away his tears, revealed a bright smile, and said, "Mashiro-nee, I will definitely work hard to become Hokage, and the Seventh Hokage will be mine."

Mashiro didn't speak, but chuckled softly. [Naruto's Affection +10]

[Kushina's favorability +10, reward: Nine-Tails Chakra] Mashiro's smile deepened.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Mashiro's inauguration ceremony came to a successful close. Meanwhile, at the Akatsuki's base...

Obito convened a meeting of the Akatsuki organization and announced that he had officially become its leader. Unfortunately, at this time, the Akatsuki organization had only a handful of members left.

Deidara, Zetsu, Kisame, Kaguya Shinji, and Obito himself were present at the meeting, but Itachi did not attend.

After the meeting, Shinichi asked Obito, "It seems we have no one left to use."

Obito said softly, "Didn't he have a younger brother now? As a member of the Uchiha clan, hatred is the easiest motivation to manifest. If Sasuke knew the real reason for the Uchiha clan's annihilation, do you think he would hate Konoha?"

Chapter 148: Sasuke VS Itachi (Part 1)

Stepping through the gates of Konoha, Samui looked around the village with curiosity. Although he had learned about Konoha from books, this was still...

This is her first time visiting Miyo.

“Please follow me,” an ANBU member appeared and said to Samui.

Samui nodded and followed the appearing Anbu towards the Hokage Building.

In the years following her appointment as Hokage of Konoha, she enacted numerous laws concerning the village's development.

The first step was to separate commercial functions from the finance department and establish a dedicated business and investment department.

In addition, a factory system that had just emerged in the Land of Waves was introduced, and the area of ​​Konoha was expanded, with the establishment of inner and outer villages.

Then, the plan is to attract farmers and small traders from other parts of the Land of Fire with the new job opportunities, and to invest in some small countries in the ninja world.

Originally, Konoha's finances could not support these things, but Gato from the Land of Waves Commerce Association led the entire association to Konoha, bringing a large amount of cash and commodity production technology. As a result, Gato became the Minister of Konoha's Commerce Department.

Although many senior Konoha officials, led by Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, initially opposed allowing an outsider to become a department head in Konoha,

They had lost their voice at this point, and the large amount of revenue brought by Kado had changed the minds of many in their faction.

In addition, Mashiro established a special life committee system, with Hyuga clan ninjas serving as committee members to be responsible for all the daily affairs of Konoha residents. Unlike ninjas, they do not charge fees, but are limited to daily affairs, and things like helping with planting and cutting grass are not within their scope of responsibility.

The "Root" also became an independent organization, just like the Anbu, serving as a special force directly under the Hokage's command. However, unlike the Anbu, which was responsible for areas outside the Land of Fire, the Root was responsible for areas within the Land of Fire.

With Mashiro's laws in place, a new Konoha will surely be born soon.

Meanwhile, Mashiro assigned Haku and Samui to work together, with both of them handling Konoha's basic official duties. As for herself, she went to the Root's underground headquarters.

In the Root leader's office—no, after Mashiro's modifications, it should now be the Hokage's office in Root—Mashiro and Sasuke are currently in the office.

"Lord Hokage, is there something you need?" Sasuke asked calmly. [Name: Uchiha Sasuke]

Gender: Male; Age: 18; Favorability: 50; Relationship: Superior/Subordinate

Affection Reward (50): Fire Release Ninjutsu Mastery, Genjutsu Mastery (Already Obtained) Affection Reward (90): Yin Attribute Chakra

As expected? Having not spent much time with Sasuke in a long time, coupled with the current gap in their levels, Mashiro's affection level has dropped to 50. At this point, Mashiro no longer needs to specifically increase Sasuke's affection level.

"Sasuke, I've located Rin's residence," Makoto said softly. Upon hearing Itachi's name, Sasuke's aura instantly turned chilling. "Where is he?" Suppressing his killing intent, Sasuke lowered his head and asked.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you. But like I told you before, you should bring your teammates with you. Going alone is risky. With trustworthy teammates, at least you can create a one-on-one situation between you and Itachi," Mashiro said with a smile.

Sasuke didn't refute, and said softly, "I'll consider it."

"Also, I hope you promise me that no matter what you find out, you won't act impulsively. You have to trust me, I will give you a proper explanation," Mashiro suddenly said.

Although he was somewhat puzzled, Sasuke nodded.

Seeing this, Mashiro stood up, went to Sasuke, and gently patted Sasuke's shoulder. Bewitching God, activate!

Sasuke suddenly felt his mind go blank for a moment, which was a bit strange, but he didn't find anything unusual. "Also, I have a mission for you to carry out," Mashiro said, turning around and returning to her seat.

Sasuke looked at Mashiro, waiting to hear what she would say next. Mashiro looked directly into Sasuke's eyes and said softly, "..."

Leaving the office, Sasuke still looked somewhat strange, but upon seeing the other Root members, he quickly returned to normal. First, Sasuke went to the Root dormitory.

Although there are dormitories in the Root, apart from those who were adopted and raised by the Root from childhood, very few people actually live there. When they do, it's only as a temporary place to stay.

Sasuke pushed open the door to a dormitory room without any hesitation. "Who is it?" came a voice that sounded like someone who hadn't woken up yet.

"Suigetsu, Jugo, would you like to come out with me?" Sasuke asked.

Suigetsu Hozuki and Jugo were discovered by Root members after Orochimaru's death, as they were Orochimaru's experimental subjects. Because they did not participate in the attack on Konoha and possessed considerable fighting strength, they were recruited into Root by Mashiro.

Suigetsu had no objection to this, since he had nowhere else to go anyway. Jugo was initially hesitant, but after hearing from Mashiro that Kimimaro was also in Konoha, he agreed to join.

After joining Root, because the two were outsiders, and because Suigetsu's bloodline limit and Jugo's loss of control were issues, no one was willing to carry out missions with them. It wasn't until Sasuke's arrival that things changed. During a mission, Sasuke saved Suigetsu and Jugo's lives, and the three of them formed a permanent Root team called the Hawk Team.

"Go out? Where to?" Shigeo asked.

After Kabuto's research, Jugo's dual personality problem has been largely contained.

Kabuto developed a reagent; if Jugo drinks one dose, he will be stable for seven days. "It's my private matter," Sasuke said coldly.

Suigetsu and Jugo were already used to Sasuke's attitude. Suigetsu asked, "About Uchiha Itachi?"

He had inquired about Sasuke. Sasuke nodded.

"Of course, it's rare that you need our help. When do we set off?" Shuiyue asked with a smile.

“You’ve helped us before, so of course we’ll help you,” Jugo said. Both of them were happy to help Sasuke.

"We're leaving tomorrow. You two can start preparing." Sasuke said, turning to leave. "Wait a minute."

Just as Sasuke was about to leave the dormitory, Suigetsu suddenly called out to him. Sasuke turned around.

“Since we’re dealing with Itachi Uchiha, I think we need a teammate who can handle both medical and sensory matters,” Suigetsu said. Sasuke pondered for a moment and agreed with Suigetsu’s idea.

He originally wanted to go with Naruto and Sakura, but Sakura went out for special training with Tsunade and Shizune, and Naruto's identity as the Son of a Hero was revealed, so he gave up the idea.

He didn't want Naruto to get involved in his clan's affairs at this time. And besides Sakura, he didn't know any other medical ninjas. So Sasuke shook his head and said, "I can't find any."

Shuiyue laughed and said, "I have a good candidate."

Hayakawa Yukikaze was currently in her dormitory at Root, enjoying her rare vacation.

As Mashiro's assistant at Root, Yukikaze handles most of the work at Root because Mashiro rarely visits, so she basically has no time to rest.

Now that the Root organization has been restructured, Mashiro has given her a rare month-long vacation, which finally allows her to sleep in.

"Lord Yukikaze, someone is looking for you." Just as Yukikaze was about to stay in bed any longer, a Root member informed him. Reluctantly, Yukikaze got up, left his dormitory, and went to Root headquarters.

"Um, is there something you need?" Upon arriving at the designated location, Yukikaze saw Sasuke and asked nervously. She had never been good at communicating with such cold people.

Chapter 149: Sasuke VS Itachi (Part 2)