Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

"As long as I cry and say that I have woken up and I am ready to change, I can deceive everyone, including myself. Wake up? Change? I can repeat these conclusions over and over again without blushing or skipping a beat, without setting a specific time to show them."

“But crying won’t make people stop for you on the path they’ve chosen because of their pity for you.”

"Once your crying becomes tiresome, you'll realize how pathetic the 'weak' truly are. Indulging in the fantasy of getting everything without giving anything in the end will only lead to you achieving nothing."

"The nature of this world is cruel, and ninjas abide by the rule of the jungle."

"The weak never receive protection; they don't even have the right to cry—the more self-pitying a person is, the less they deserve the pity of others."

“Naruto chose to become strong in an extreme way, and he denied the title of Hokage. I cherish my relationship with Naruto and do not want to break off contact with him.”

“But I can’t follow his path without any consideration. There are still many people I cherish in Konoha. So I thought, if Naruto denies the injustice of the Hokage, then I will become the Hokage and change the Hokage, so that Naruto will affirm the Hokage.”

This was Sakura's thought; she really couldn't let go of the bond between herself and Naruto.

Even if this connection is just a charade for Naruto.

"I didn't know that Jiraiya-sama wanted to persuade you to succeed as the Fifth Hokage through me."

Sakura began to recount her first impression of Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade, you keep pointing out the mistakes of the previous Hokage. You clearly see through these problems, but you have never offered a single suggestion to improve or avoid them. Whether you want to become Hokage or not is the same to me. Your view of the Hokage will only exacerbate Naruto's rejection of the Hokage."

That will only make Naruto more convinced of the "correctness" of the "wrong path" he is currently on.

Therefore, Sakura sincerely pleaded with Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, I don't want you to become the Fifth Hokage."

"..."

Jiraiya did not speak.

And Tsunade...

"Humph."

Tsunade gave a soft snort and suddenly stood up.

In the short time it took to stand up, Tsunade had already activated her chakra to dissipate the alcohol in her body.

His face, which had been flushed from being drunk, became radiant again, and his eyes shone brightly.

She took out her money for the drinks, threw it on the table as payment, and left without saying a word.

"Tsunade-sama... Lady Tsunade, wait for me!"

Shizune quickly picked up Tun Tun and followed.

"Hey, Tsunade! Where are you going?!"

Jiraiya quickly asked.

"Konoha".

Tsunade answered.

As she spoke, her gaze fell on Sakura: "Haruno Sakura, be prepared, my training is very rigorous."

"However... you might make a good disciple."

……

Konoha, a confectionery shop.

Two mysterious diners, wearing straw hats and black cloaks embroidered with red auspicious clouds, sat in an inconspicuous corner.

On the table in front of them were the dessert shop's signature desserts.

One of them was staring at two girls at a table not far away with his red eyes.

"Hmm... So you and Jiraiya left the village during this time to find Tsunade and become the Fifth Hokage, and then you became her disciple."

I was amazed by Sakura's incredible experience of becoming Tsunade's disciple, the Fifth Hokage.

Ino swallowed the glutinous rice ball in front of her.

"Wow! Indulging in sweets once in a while without worrying about my weight always makes me feel so happy."

Ino exclaimed at the wonderful taste of the sweets.

After enjoying her dessert, Ino asked Sakura, "So, you and Sasuke have decided on your attitude towards Naruto, right?"

"Yes, Ino and I share similar thoughts. Sasuke also wants to bring Naruto back."

Sakura nodded.

"I'll help you too, we're good friends."

Ino smiled as she looked at Sakura.

"By the way, has Sasuke been discharged from the hospital yet?"

"No, but the doctor said that I can be discharged by the day after tomorrow at the latest... There are too many patients in Konoha recently. The doctors are considering moving patients with mild symptoms like Sasuke to the observation ward, and freeing up some patients who can recuperate at home to relieve the pressure on the seriously ill patients."

"I haven't had a chance to visit him yet, but I don't have much time today anyway. I'll just invite Choji and Shikamaru to throw a party to celebrate Sasuke's discharge from the hospital."

"Then I'll ask Sasuke for his opinion."

During the days when Konoha was destroyed, the two little girls experienced a rare moment of carefree joy.

Listening to Ino and Sakura's ordinary yet heartwarming daily conversations.

Itachi Uchiha, the owner of the red eyes who had been watching the two, withdrew his three-tomoe Sharingan gaze.

"Mr. Itachi, it seems you're quite happy to be tasting food from your hometown."

Opposite Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, who looked like a shark and even had a similar skin color, noticed the subtle emotional changes on Itachi's expressionless face.

"Perhaps."

Itachi Uchiha neither denied nor confirmed it.

"I didn't expect that two of the legendary Sannin are currently living in Konoha. Mr. Itachi, you should quickly confirm the power you need before they discover you."

Kisame also noticed Ino and Sakura's conversation and made a suggestion to Itachi.

"Let's go."

Itachi reached out and shook the straw hat on his head.

Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki disappeared from their seats in the confectionery shop.

Chapter 1 Ghost Lantern City

In the ninja world, apart from the ninja prisons guarded and supervised by the ninja villages of each country.

There is also a very special joint prison.

It holds ninja criminals from the Five Great Nations, including but not limited to those from the Five Great Nations.

And the name of this joint prison is—Ghost Lantern Castle.

Built on a secluded island in the middle of the sea, it is a prison with an inescapable natural defense.

Although it sounds scary, the prisoners in Hozuki Castle... are actually just a bunch of low-level ninjas.

This is the ninja world, where ninjas' lives depend on intelligence—intelligence that determines the life and death of individuals, groups, and even nations.

The joint prison, which held a hodgepodge of ninjas from various countries together, violated the logical rules followed by the ninja world from the very beginning.

Therefore, the infamous reputation of Ghost Lantern Castle refers to the prison itself.

Not the ninjas imprisoned in this jail.

Hozuki Castle imprisons ordinary ninjas who have disobeyed the village's orders or whose personal actions have damaged the village's reputation.

In Hozuki Castle, the majority of prisoners are genin, with a small number of chunin... but not a single jonin can be found.

Although Chunin have entered the management level of ninjas, they are still no match for Jonin, who have real access to the village's secrets and participate in village politics.

These truly valuable ninja prisoners were always held in the prisons of their respective countries.

Instead of the combined prison of Ghost Lantern City.

Because the prisoners in Hozuki Castle were too worthless, and also because of the Hozuki Castle Lord's special sealing and escape techniques.

The guards responsible for holding these ninja prisoners were all ordinary people.

In other words, the existence of Hozuki Castle is a fig leaf.

The most replaceable genin and the chunin who have some abilities but are not absolutely needed by the village, these are the ones who committed crimes but were executed directly because it would be too much of a waste.

Therefore, they were "deposited" in Hozuki Castle by various ninja villages.

This approach protects the village's reputation while allowing the village to squeeze the last bit of value out of these low-class ninjas, all while severing ties with them.

That's what all the ninja villages originally thought.

No wonder Kusagakure, which was appointed to manage Hozuki Castle, dared to so brazenly "feed" prisoners to the Box of Elysium.

The setting sun painted the entire sky, and the view was even more spectacular over the boundless sea.

After Naruto understood the reason why Hozuki Castle was built, he pressed the button for the loudspeaker at the designated time.

"Today's exercise time is over. Everyone has ten minutes to return to their cells."

Inside the towering control tower, Naruto spoke into the microphone in a more mature voice.

The prisoners who had been wandering around the square began to leave in twos and threes.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sakakibara. I'll take over the rest of the duty."

The middle-aged guard who was about to relieve Naruto patted Naruto on the shoulder and addressed him by the name "Sakakibara".

Naruto nodded without saying anything more.

He straightened the collar of his guard uniform and left the tower.

Naruto was currently using his transformation technique to disguise himself as a young guard in his early twenties from Hozuki Castle.

As for why Naruto appeared at Hozuki Castle after defecting from Konoha and disguised himself as a guard...

We also need to go back in time.

That was a week after the plan to destroy Konoha.

Although it deviated somewhat from the initial plan, Naruto still managed to escape Konoha.