Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

It was a Flying Thunder God kunai that Minato Namikaze had specially commissioned at great expense.

This kunai is made entirely of chakra metal and is incredibly sharp.

Minato rescued Hana-ren quickly, but someone was faster than him.

A stream of soft quicksand suddenly rose from the ground. Just as it was about to catch the falling Hua Lian, a figure covered in black lightning suddenly appeared and landed on the quicksand before Hua Lian could reach it.

"Humph!"

Chizuru, acting on behalf of Ryusa, then let out a heavy, cold snort.

Outside the oasis, atop a towering sand tower, Kirito watched through the puppet as Chizuru caught Hana before him, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Then, he casually manipulated the quicksand to slowly descend and eventually dissipate.

"Sorry, I hit you a little too hard just now. You should be able to stand up on your own."

After landing on the ground, Chizuru immediately spoke to Hana, who was on her arms, with a cold expression.

She has sharp eyes; this woman with the white eyes is injured, but not fatally.

As soon as she finished speaking, without waiting for Hua Lian's agreement, she threw Hua Lian out of her hand.

Hua Lian quickly flipped in mid-air and landed on the ground, then clutched her still-bleeding wound, glaring at Qian He through gritted teeth, cursing inwardly, "That damned red-eyed woman..."

Chizuru stared at Hana-ren without backing down.

For a moment, the audience felt a tremendous pressure, which only disappeared when two medical ninjas appeared and came to Hua Lian's side.

After watching Hana leave, Chizuru decided not to linger in the arena any longer and quickly departed.

Today's battle with Hua Lian made her realize where her real weakness lies, and what she needs to do most now is to make up for it.

"How can I fly?"

Chizuru began to ponder deeply.

On the other side, Kirito and Chizuru's good teammate, Nawaki, was lying on a hospital bed, foaming at the mouth, his face turned purplish-red, looking like he was about to die.

Nawaki's strength is already quite good. Once he opens the Five Gates, he can probably take down even elite Jonin. However, he is still just a mortal. As a taijutsu ninja who lacks defensive means, he may not die from a direct attack by the enemy, but he is more likely to die from an ambush.

For example, using poison.

As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark.

In order to improve the survival rate of the stubborn Nawaki, Kirito decided to put him through a rigorous poison resistance training.

The process of poison resistance training is very simple: you test the poison on yourself. As long as you don't die from the poison, your body will naturally develop poison resistance.

As a taijutsu ninja who can open all five gates, and possessing the physique of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans, Nawaki's physical abilities are astonishing. His poison resistance training went very smoothly, and in just a few days, Nawaki's poison resistance was enough to make him immune to most toxins.

The process was rather unseemly, though; the poisoned rope tree was tormented by various toxins to the point of near death.

"Kirito, do you have any good defensive ninjutsu? I promise I'll practice them hard. We can skip this poison resistance training."

After a while, Rope Tree finally regained some feeling in its tongue and said pitifully to the humanoid puppet in front of the bed.

The humanoid puppet immediately spoke in Kirito's voice: "You should be content. After I become the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, it's unlikely that I'll be able to carry out missions with you anymore. Take advantage of the free time you have now to improve your poison resistance so that you won't be killed by someone else's poison."

Upon hearing Kirito's words, Nawaki immediately lowered his head and remained silent, continuing to endure the physical discomfort caused by the poisoning.

He is simple-minded, but not stupid.

Having been away for so long, he had long understood the malice directed at him by the outside world. If it weren't for Kirito, a good partner skilled in medical ninjutsu, he would have been poisoned to death by all sorts of strange toxins long ago.

What Kirito just said will most likely come true.

His grandmother was a Jinchūriki, so he naturally understood the significance of a Jinchūriki to a ninja village.

Now that Kirito has become the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, he will most likely end up like his grandmother, unable to leave Konoha at will.

Naturally, Kirito could no longer carry out missions with him.

He would have to walk the rest of the road by himself.

To be honest, Nawaki is feeling a little uneasy right now, and he feels a bit afraid of having to face this unfriendly outside world alone.

But more than anything, there is anticipation.

He aspires to become Hokage. What kind of skill is it to hide under someone else's protection all the time? If he continues like this, he will never become Hokage in his lifetime.

His good friend Kirito has already taken many steps ahead of him, and he must work harder to catch up, even if he knows he may never catch up in this lifetime, but at least he cannot fall behind.

It's time for him to be independent. He's grown up and received so much help from so many people. If he still can't survive, it only proves that he's not fit to be Hokage.

"Don't worry, I will definitely survive."

After a moment of silence, Nawaki suddenly spoke to Kirito with great conviction.

"I'll wait and see."

The humanoid puppet spoke Kirito's voice.

Then, he picked up a syringe containing a dark purple liquid and, under Rope Tree's terrified gaze, injected the venom into Rope Tree's body.

A few seconds later, Rope Tree foamed at the mouth again and began to convulse.

……

As time passed, the protest letter finally erupted on the fifth day after the third generation received it.

The news has been leaked.

Overnight, people in Konoha were talking about the Third Hokage receiving protest letters from various ninja villages.

Meanwhile, rumors began to circulate about Konoha being attacked by a coalition of major ninja villages and Kirito handing over the Tailed Beasts for the sake of the village.

In the study of the Nawaki family in Konoha, the territory of the Senju clan.

"boom!"

Momoka slammed her fist on the table, her face full of anger, and said to the five Jonin of the Senju clan in front of her, "Investigate! Mobilize all the resources of the Senju clan in Konoha to investigate. We must find out all those guys who are spreading rumors behind this."

"Ha~"

The five Senjutsu ninjas answered in unison, and then all used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from the room.

“I already issued a warning in advance, yet someone still dares to blatantly spread rumors. Very well, don’t let me find out who is spreading rumors behind the scenes. The Thousand Hands Clan will never tolerate this.”

Tao Hua rolled up a piece of intelligence in her hand and said with a murderous aura.

Overnight, rumors about Kirito appeared and spread throughout Konoha. This shows that it was a well-planned rumor-mongering operation, and there must have been people inside Konoha involved. Otherwise, how could spies planted in Konoha by other ninja villages have created such a large-scale propaganda campaign?

"Third generation, you'd better not have been involved in this."

After much deliberation, Momoka finally set her sights on the Third Generation.

In Konoha, only the Third Hokage has the ability to organize such a large-scale rumor-mongering operation overnight, and he is also the most suspected of spreading rumors.

If the rumors spread widely in Konoha, Kirito's personal reputation will suffer a huge blow.

As a result, Kirito will face numerous difficulties in running for Hokage in the future.

In the Hokage Building, in the Hokage's office.

The third generation was pacing back and forth in the office with a gloomy expression.

The rumors eventually surfaced, but he didn't expect them to come so quickly. In just one night, the rumors spread throughout Konoha, which was far beyond his expectations.

He had anticipated the rumors, since they were just an open scheme by other ninja villages, and he couldn't stop them.

He thought the rumors would fester for a while, giving him enough time to nip them in the bud.

Yes, he personally takes a firm stance against rumors. To this end, he even went back to his family to warn his family members to control their subordinates, resolutely prevent them from creating or spreading rumors, and, ideally, catch the rumor-mongers.

Unexpectedly, the rumors spread so quickly and so discreetly.

He, the Hokage, only learned about the rumors the next morning.

As the rumors spread rapidly through Konoha, the members of the Anbu remained completely oblivious, not a single one noticing.

This is truly unbelievable.

The thought of it now sends chills down my spine.

When did he begin to lose control of the Dark Division?

A short while later, an ANBU ninja wearing a monkey mask appeared in front of the Third Hokage.

"Why do this?"

Upon seeing the ANBU ninja, the Third Hokage immediately raised his voice with a cold expression.

This ninja was none other than the head of the entire Anbu (Anbu headquarters), who was also his son, Sarutobi Takashi.

If anyone could make the people in the Dark Guard turn a blind eye to the spread of rumors and prevent him from getting information from them, it would definitely be his good son right in front of him.

I don't know what you're talking about?

"Sarutobi Takashi said coldly."

"Snapped!"

When the Third Hokage saw that Sarutobi Takashi dared to do something but not admit it, he was furious and slapped Gojo Takashi hard across the face, shattering his mask and knocking out two of his molars.

Despite being slapped hard by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Takashi showed no anger whatsoever. He simply stared at the Third Hokage with a cold expression, even revealing a look of disdain in his eyes.

"Are you trying to drive me crazy? Do you know what you've done? Do you know what the consequences will be?"

Seeing that Sarutobi Takashi still showed no remorse, the Third Hokage felt a sense of powerlessness and cried out in grief and indignation, his eyes revealing deep disappointment.

He is now utterly disappointed in his son.

He never expected that Sarutobi Takashi would do something so irrational.

He messed everything up.

“Father, it seems you really are getting old. I’m ashamed for you to be a Hokage like this. You’re always afraid of this and that, and in the end you can’t do anything. You can’t even get revenge for the humiliation your own son suffered. Do you really think you’re still fit to be Hokage?”

When Sarutobi Takashi saw the Third Hokage's expression, he was deeply hurt. He couldn't help but recall the experience of being humiliated like an insect by a mysterious Kage-level powerhouse, and he said with hatred in his heart.

He, Sarutobi Takashi, the son of the Hokage, was humiliated by his enemies and could only swallow his anger in the end, while the Senju clan, who were behind it all, got away scot-free.

From that day on, he knew that his father had grown old.

Chapter 203: Filial Piety and the Mangekyou Sharingan

"So you're admitting it?"