Naruto: Starting as Tsunade's Desk Mate

Our Third Raikage was peacefully hunting down the Tsuchikage, Onoki, without provoking Konoha at all. What does it mean that Konoha sent someone to kill the Third Raikage? Are you trying to reignite the war?

The Root ninjas were all wiped out, and Danzo was always elusive, often disappearing for ten days or half a month without a trace. It wasn't until the Konoha leadership received a protest from the Cloud Ninja that they learned that Shimura Danzo had died in the Land of Rain, taking the Third Raikage with him before his death.

The deaths of his beloved family and friends caused Hiruzen Sarutobi to feel as if he had lost his own parents.

After the initial grief, the Third Hokage immediately convened a high-level meeting, summoning all members of the Jonin team to discuss the matter.

An Yan was genuinely surprised to learn of Danzo's death. How could Danzo, such a weakling, have managed to trade one life for one with a powerful figure like the Third Raikage? Could it really be due to his Wood Release?

But this is for the best. With Danzo dead, An'yan is spared the trouble of personally seeing him off one day.

The Jonin present had different expressions upon hearing the news of Danzo's death.

Danzo, who led the Root organization, worked in the shadows doing dirty work for Konoha. He had dealings with various ninja clans to some extent. Although Danzo did not yet have the power he would later have, he did ask for outstanding disciples from various ninja clans, but they all refused. At this time, the ninja clans were still very strong and were not afraid of Danzo.

Most people didn't have a good impression of Danzo, so when they heard that Danzo had died together with the Third Raikage, their first reaction was, "Danzo had this ability?"

However, since it was something the Third Hokage specifically discussed in a meeting, it must be true.

Danzo had no relatives or friends. The people who were most saddened by Danzo's death were undoubtedly his former teammates, followed by Hiruko. He had finally managed to set up a laboratory in Root, but now all of Root's elite troops were dead. How could he possibly get funding now?

Especially since the laboratory's latest project is to study the blood of demons, it requires a huge amount of funds for experimentation. Now that Danzo is dead, where will the money come from? Will they really have to rely on their own wood release to grow herbs and be self-sufficient?

While worrying, Hiruko was also glad that she had the foresight to develop the relevant ninjutsu in advance. She realized that she couldn't rely on others and that she had to rely on herself no matter what she did.

An Yan sat in the conference room, listening idly to the Third Hokage's incessant chatter. Tsunade sat next to him, letting him play with her slender fingers.

The Third Hokage mainly discussed two things at this meeting. One was the aftermath of Danzo and the Third Raikage's mutual destruction, which could lead to a war between Kumogakure and Konoha, urging everyone to be prepared for war at any time. The second was Danzo's legacy, specifically who would take over Root.

The Cloud Ninja had already had some friction with Konoha because of the Wood Release incident, but they hadn't completely broken ties at the time. Now that the death of the Third Raikage is related to Konoha, they wouldn't be too much trouble for doing anything.

However, An Yan believes that the Cloud Ninja are unlikely to dare to fight Konoha. After all, they lost the Third Hokage and the Eight-Tails, and their high-level combat power has been greatly reduced, so they may have some reservations.

After briefly mentioning the Cloud Ninja, the meeting quickly shifted its focus to the Root organization.

Although the Root organization has only seventeen officially authorized personnel, it has a considerable number of logistics staff, trainees, intelligence agents, and foreign informants, all of whom need to be handled by someone.

There are three candidates: Hatake Sakumo, Yasuie, and Hiruko. All three are Danzo's disciples, so it is perfectly normal for them to take over his legacy.

However, the Third Hokage still had some other ulterior motives. He hoped that everyone would elect An'yan to take charge of Root. In this way, An'yan's path to becoming Hokage might be longer, and he could serve as Hokage for a few more years.

An Yan was indifferent to this. He was not actually interested in the position of village chief. He only shouted it out back then because of political correctness. What he really wanted was power. When he had enough power, he could do whatever he wanted, and it had nothing to do with whether it was related to the village chief or not.

However, An Yan still has a group of supporters. His students are all over the world. Although most of them are clan ninjas, they are still quite protective of An Yan, especially when there is no conflict of interest.

An Yan's wife, Tsunade, is both the eldest princess of the Senju clan and a renowned healer. She has saved countless lives on the battlefield, which has given her an extremely large network of connections, and these people also support An Yan.

In their view, An'an could not be tainted by darkness if he wanted to become Hokage, and among Danzo's three disciples, Hatake Sakumo was already the captain of the Anbu, so it was not appropriate for him to take charge of Root. Therefore, they elected Hiruko to take charge of Root.

Hiruko won without even realizing it. Root is such a large organization, and the village allocates a lot of money to it every year. In previous years, most of this money was used to train ninjas and develop enemy territories. Now that this money is in Hiruko's hands, it will most likely be redistributed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was naturally not satisfied with the result he wanted, but he did not have the idea of ​​forcibly assigning An Yan to Root. Since the die was cast, he could only try to prevent An Yan from going to the battlefield to accumulate more merits, otherwise he would really have to abdicate early.

After the meeting, everyone dispersed, and An Yan, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiruko naturally walked together.

"Congratulations, Lord Liu Hu."

An Yan bowed to Bei Liu Hu with a grin, his pretentious manner making the three of them chuckle.

Chapter 99: War Begins Again

Hiruko is now the leader of the Root tribe, and his status is indeed higher than everyone else's. Logically speaking, it's perfectly acceptable for him to be addressed as "Master".

"Ahem, not bad, not bad, young man, you have potential, I have high hopes for you."

Hiruko coughed twice, secretly pleased with himself, and helped An Yan up. He had known An Yan for so long, and what he liked most about An Yan was this kind of face-saving behavior. Putting everything else aside, the emotional value was simply off the charts.

"It's all thanks to our classmate An Yan. I'll vote for you if you become Hokage in the future."

Hiruko grinned and turned to look at Tsunade and Orochimaru.

"You should learn from An Yan. Look at how well he speaks."

Tsunade had already started clenching her fists, but Orochimaru didn't react much, treating it as if he were just ignoring her.

"You also want us to call you 'Sir'? Beiruk?"

Tsunade swung her fist and charged toward Hiruko, but An Yan grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her into his arms.

"Tsunade, be good, don't fight in the village."

An Yan stroked Tsunade's golden fur, and Tsunade immediately transformed into a gentle kitten, looking like a little bird nestled against its mother.

Hiruko suddenly felt that his position as the leader of Root was no longer appealing, and his initial enthusiasm turned into a complete change.

The four of them went out for barbecue together, had a typical team-building activity, maintained their friendship, and then went home separately.

Leaving aside An Yan and Tsunade's normal married life, Orochimaru went back to continue his research on artificial demon technology, while Hiruko naturally went back to deal with some matters within Root.

To An Yan and the others' surprise, the Cloud Ninja actually declared war on Konoha.

The reason is simple: the Iwa ninja and the Kumo ninja have formed an alliance. Onoki, being cunning and shrewd, was afraid that the Konoha and Kumo ninja would attack the Iwa ninja first. Therefore, in order to protect himself, he decided to strike first and formed an alliance with the Kumo ninja.

An Yan was in a bind after hearing this news. He had just released the Third Tsuchikage, and this guy had already caused him such a big problem. If this wasn't handled properly, the relatives and friends of those who died in Konoha in this war might resent An Yan for releasing Onoki.

So An Yan went into the Hokage's office, wanting to personally take action and end the war.

However, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, clearly had a different opinion.

“An Yan, your strength is currently the strongest in Konoha. With Uchiha Madara still alive, we need you to stay in Konoha and guard against Uchiha Madara.”

An Yan frowned slightly upon hearing this. Uchiha Madara was indeed a big problem and needed to be highly vigilant. However, there was still Senju Tobirama in the village, who could at least hold off the old Madara. Why did they have to use him to restrain Uchiha Madara?

An Yan's eyes darted around, and he roughly understood what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking. He probably wanted to be the village chief for a few more years and was afraid that An Yan would make too many contributions, causing him to step down early.

His achievements have overshadowed his master. Although Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't exactly a master, the meaning was still the same.

After receiving a clear rejection from higher-ups, An Yan did not cause any further trouble. Instead, he turned around and began a shameless and sweet life with Tsunade.

He occasionally sends out a wooden clone to guide his disciples in their cultivation, and he lives a very happy life.

However, An'yan soon had something to do. After taking over Root, Hiruko quickly discovered that the training method for Root ninjas was too abnormal, so he asked An'yan to go and correct it.

There are nearly a hundred children here, of varying ages. Specifically, they are in groups of three or four, seven or eight, and eleven or twelve.

Each batch consisted of about thirty people, all of whom were children with ninja potential collected by Danzo from all over the world. They were mostly orphans caused by war.

These people were specially trained and were basically paired up. Danzo used some tricks to create bonds between them. Then, when they grew to a certain level, he made them kill each other. The one who survived became a Root ninja.

Because they killed their best friend at a young age, most of the Root ninjas were autistic. Each of them was a useful tool, cold and ruthless but very effective.

However, now that the Root has fallen into Hiruko's hands, he naturally doesn't intend to act recklessly like Danzo. What he needs are normal ninja subordinates, not those who are so perverted.

So Hiru invited An Yan to be their instructor, in order to retrain these little guys.

An Yan was still quite troubled about how to discipline these kids, but after careful consideration, he decided to implement semi-military management.

During the day, they engage in various training exercises, including physical and ninjutsu training. At night, they hold meetings to complain and criticize the current state of the ninja world, while also envisioning a bright future.

After a month, the children's eyes lit up with a longing for a better future. So An Yan gradually let go, no longer using his main body, and instead chose to use his wooden clones.

As a physical clone, the Wood Clone can handle all of An Yan's daily affairs. From teaching ninjutsu to researching forbidden techniques, An Yan has created many clones. As for his main body, of course, he is always close to Tsunade.

Just when An Yan had a little free time, Orochimaru gave him another task: to select a suitable Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in Konoha.

Orochimaru is going to the battlefield. Previously, the battlefield was dominated by the older generation of strongmen, with Uchiha Kagami and Akimichi Torifu holding the line. However, the Cloud Ninja has never intended to start a large-scale war, and it has only been small skirmishes on the border.

As a result, Uchiha Kagami and Akimichi Torifu were recalled. During this period, the Fourth Raikage did not appear. Otherwise, Uchiha Kagami's Susanoo would probably have taken away another top-tier fighter from the Cloud Ninja.

The battlefield was calm as water, but Orochimaru was arranged by the Third Hokage to take his place, and An Yan naturally understood what this meant.

This is probably to give Orochimaru some military credit. It's highly likely that Hiruzen Sarutobi had the idea of ​​pushing Orochimaru out to challenge Yasuie, and probably wanted to support Orochimaru to become Hokage.

Well, that's the downside of anime characters. Their thoughts are too easy to guess, and their methods are ridiculously simple. An Yan can't even bear to look at them.

However, who would be the best candidate to be the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki? It's best to keep such a powerful creature in the hands of our own people. Currently, there are three people who are close to An Yan and could be the Jinchuriki.

Minato Namikaze is one; he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in the original timeline. Kana Uzumaki is another; she's from the Uzumaki clan, so she's a suitable candidate. Finally, Nawaki is also one; she's of the Senju clan, more than qualified to be a Jinchuriki.

The key is to take Tsunade's opinion into account.

An Yan tentatively spoke with Tsunade, who did not agree to let her beloved younger brother become the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

Chapter 100 The Eight-Tailed Jinchuuriki

The Jinchuriki have to face far too many things; the fear of the villagers and their companions, and the spying of ninjas from major ninja villages outside are minor problems.

The real problems lie in the internal struggle between himself and the Tailed Beasts, and in Madara Uchiha's ongoing Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.

Tsunade certainly didn't know all that, but she couldn't accept the fact that the villagers looked at Nawaki with strange eyes.

She worried that her beloved younger brother would become taciturn or develop a depression like the former Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Brubi.

Tsunade loved her younger brother dearly and naturally didn't want him to suffer any injustice. An Yan could understand this, so he turned his attention to Minato Namikaze and Kana Uzumaki.

So on a sunny day, An Yan brought his two disciples to the domain space and asked for their opinions on the matter.

"Teacher currently has one spot available for the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Which of you two would like to become the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki? Think it over carefully. Becoming a Jinchuriki will grant you immense power, but you might also be ostracized by your companions."

Minato Namikaze and Kana Uzumaki exchanged a glance, and then Minato Namikaze spoke first.

"Teacher An Yan, what is the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki? Could you please explain it properly?"

Minato Namikaze came from a commoner background and was understandably unfamiliar with the existence of Jinchuriki.

An Yan toyed with the thumb-sized jar in his hand, and said in a lazy and casual voice, "The Tailed Beasts are strange creatures formed by the Sage of Six Paths using Yin-Yang Release to divide the power of the Divine Tree a thousand years ago. There are nine of them in total. They are immortal and indestructible. Even if they are occasionally killed by powerful ninjas, they will be resurrected after a period of time. They have almost become the laws of heaven and earth."

Minato was completely bewildered: "Isn't the Sage of Six Paths a legendary being? We can't even confirm his existence yet, so what is the Divine Tree?"

An Yan tapped Minato on the head, unwilling to explain too much: "The Sage of Six Paths certainly exists, but these are things you shouldn't know with your current strength. You only need to know that there are nine tailed beasts in the ninja world, and the Jinchuriki are ninjas who seal the tailed beasts with their bodies."

"Are Jinchuriki ninjas whose bodies contain sealed Tailed Beasts?" Minato Namikaze muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought.

An Yan saw through Minato's thoughts at a glance and said directly, "Yes, for example, your little girlfriend, Uzumaki Kushina, is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha."

"Is Kushina the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?" Minato Namikaze fell silent.

"After the First Hokage pacified the chaotic world, he distributed the nine tailed beasts to various ninja villages to balance military power and maintain peace. At that time, the strongest Nine-Tails was left for Konoha, and the other tailed beasts were also divided according to their tails. The Eight-Tails in my possession can be said to be the strongest tailed beast besides the Nine-Tails. The Jinchuriki of each ninja village has always been a top secret. This time, Orochimaru's theft of the Eight-Tails from the Cloud Village was also a coincidence."

An Yan spoke idly about Konoha's confidential information, his gaze sweeping over the two of them indifferently.

"Have you thought it through? Do you want to become the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki?"

Kana Uzumaki is conflicted. She knows about Jinchuriki. As a member of Kushina Uzumaki's clan, she knows Kushina's daily life in the village very well. Although she is very interested in power, as a girl, she cares a lot about being ostracized and treated coldly. To be realistic, she still wants to get married in the future.