The Uchiha Clan's Sun

"Don't be picky about food... Eat your fill every day and grow up quickly!"

"Take a shower every day, and don't stay up late..."

"You must make friends...not many, just a few true friends are enough."

"Learning ninjutsu is difficult... but as long as you persevere, you will eventually learn it."

"However, everyone has things they're not good at... so don't worry if you learn slowly."

"You must always respect your teachers and elders..."

"There's one more very important thing..."

Regarding the 'woman' in the 'Three Forbidden Rules' of ninjas...

"But Mom is a woman too, so she doesn't quite understand..."

"In short, you'll have to figure that out for yourself..."

"Ah! But... if you dare to be as slow-witted as your father, I won't let you off the hook!"

"Oh, right! And also..."

"In the future... you may encounter many painful and distressing things..."

"But you must... stick to your own path..."

"No matter what path you choose in the future..."

"I believe you can become an amazing ninja!"

"Naruto... there's more, there's more, there's more..."

"No matter what happens in the future... you must be happy!"

"Being your mother...is really...wonderful..."

I will always love you!

......

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya's eyes reddened upon seeing this scene.

One of them was Kushina Uzumaki's cousin, and the other was Minato Namikaze's teacher, so naturally they couldn't stand to see such a scene!

However, before they could recover from their grief, the scene before them changed again.

A child with short blond hair and bright blue eyes rubbed his rumbling stomach and walked cautiously down the street.

He was wearing a worn-out orange jacket, his trousers were frayed at the hem, and his shoes were coming unglued, making a 'clattering' sound when he walked.

"Tsk, that little fox demon brat is out again..."

"Stay away from him, who knows what he might do."

"It's so annoying, every time I see him, it reminds me of that night..."

"Exactly! I don't know what the Third Hokage was thinking. This fox demon brat should have been killed outright!"

......

The whispers were like sharp blades, mercilessly piercing the blond boy's ears. He lowered his head, quickened his pace, and wanted to escape those piercing gazes as quickly as possible.

An uncle wearing a straw hat was selling grilled fish on the street. The fragrant aroma made the blond boy swallow hard. His stomach growled loudly.

"Hey... sir, how much is the grilled fish?"

The blond boy asked cautiously.

The middle-aged man turned around and saw it was him. His face instantly darkened, and he said, "Get out of my way! I'm not selling to you!"

"But I have money..."

The blond boy pulled a worn-out coin from his pocket; it was the little money he had left for living expenses this month.

Although the blond boy's allowance should normally be enough for him to live on for a month, firstly, children don't really have a concept of spending money, and secondly, the blond boy can't buy anything at normal prices, so his allowance for a month is never enough to last until the end of the month.

"I said I'm not selling, and that means I'm not selling!"

The middle-aged man suddenly waved his fan, and the fumes from grilling the fish rushed straight into the blond boy's face, choking him and causing him to back away.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding villagers all showed expressions of disgust, and some even held their children tightly, as if afraid that they would come into contact with the blond boy.

"I didn't do anything... so why does everyone hate me?"

The blond boy bit his lip, trying hard not to let his tears fall.

But soon, the blond boy could no longer bear the disgusted stares and ran away.

After walking all morning and going to many different places, the blond boy was still hungry. His coins, soaked with sweat, were clutched in his hand, but no one was willing to sell him food.

By evening, the blond boy was so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore and finally came to a secluded little shop on the edge of the village.

Although I also loathe the old man at this little shop, I still sell him some special foods at double or even several times the price—such as half-rotten bread or milk that is about to expire.

As night deepened, the blond boy returned to what he called his 'home'—a small apartment allocated to orphans by Konoha Village. The room was almost bare; the wooden floorboards creaked, the windows let in drafts, and even the bedding was tattered.

He huddled in the corner, wrapping himself in his coat, trying to keep warm.

The blond boy carefully picked up a hardened piece of bread, broke off a small piece, and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, his eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

"It tastes awful... but at least... it fills my stomach..."

Chapter 299 Hiruzen Sarutobi's Methods!

"How can it be repaired?"

"Oh!"

Tsunade's powerful chakra suddenly erupted, shattering the illusion and turning all the images into nothingness!

Tsunade, panting heavily, tried to calm her turbulent emotions and looked at Uchiha Jin, asking, "Is that blond brat Kushina's child?"

Uchiha Jin nodded and said, "That's right, that child is indeed Minato and Kushina's child."

After a pause, Uchiha Jin added, "Minato and Kushina entrusted everything to Hiruzen Sarutobi, hoping that their child, Naruto Uzumaki, could live as the son of a hero and receive the village's care... Unfortunately, reality is completely the opposite of what they imagined!"

"Naruto?!" Jiraiya was taken aback, and said with some surprise, "You mean that child's name is Naruto?"

“That’s right,” Uchiha Jin nodded again and said, “You were the one who came up with this name. Although it was just a name you came up with by chance while eating ramen, you wrote it into your novel. Minato liked it very much, so he used this name!”

"Crack!"

Jiraiya's fist hardened, his knuckles turned white from clenching, and his heart bled!

He now understood why his future self would be so utterly disappointed in Hiruzen Sarutobi!

That's the orphan of his disciple, Minato Namikaze!

Orochimaru's expression suddenly changed, and he said, "It seems that those villagers don't know that Naruto Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage; they only know that he is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

Is there a reason for this?

Uchiha Jin glanced at Jiraiya and explained, "Someone asked Hiruzen Sarutobi this question, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's explanation was that the Fourth Hokage had too many enemies during his lifetime and was afraid of being retaliated against if Naruto's identity was exposed!"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi's words seem to make a lot of sense, the reality is quite different!

In reality, the lineage of successors in each village is generally public information. The two sons of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Sarutobi Asuma, the granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, Tsunade, the son of the Third Raikage A, and the son of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, are all common knowledge.

The relatives of the village's shadow do indeed bear more risks, but they will also receive more protection and resources in return!

Moreover, to have someone kill the village's leader's son right in the village is undoubtedly the greatest disgrace for the village! The person who did it will definitely face the most ferocious retaliation from the village!

Under these circumstances, the likelihood of them targeting the Shadow Heir of the village is very small!

Besides, even if Naruto's identity was hidden for safety reasons, there was no need to 'hide' his treatment!

There are plenty of high-ranking officials and nobles in the village, so arranging a wealthy identity for Hiruzen Sarutobi is just a piece of cake!

The most ridiculous thing is that the identity of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is far more strategically important than the offspring of the Kage of a village!

The orphan of the village's Kage is more symbolic in terms of identity, while the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is the village's strategic weapon. If given the opportunity, the enemy would not hesitate to attack him to eliminate a potential threat to their village!

He managed to perfectly conceal his identity as the son of the Fourth Hokage, while his identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was made public. What kind of story is this?

Uchiha Jin continued, "However, I personally find this explanation completely unacceptable!"

"The son of the Fourth Hokage is starving and cold, suffering from long-term malnutrition and is much shorter than other children his age. He also has to endure the cold stares and curses of the villagers every day."

"Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third Hokage, was enjoying the love and praise of the villagers as the Hokage's grandson, and was also receiving one-on-one elite ninja training."

"What? Both of them are Hokage, yet Minato Namikaze, who only served as Hokage for a year, has more enemies than Hiruzen Sarutobi, who served as Hokage for decades?"

"After this comparison, it goes without saying what kind of person Hiruzen Sarutobi is!"

Uchiha Jin's words were undisguisedly sarcastic, causing Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were both students of Sarutobi Hiruzen, to blush.

"Wait!" Tsunade suddenly seemed to have thought of something and looked at Uchiha Jin, asking, "Why would the old man do this? He has no grudge against Namikaze Minato, so there's no need for him to target Minato's son, is there?"

"Besides, how much does it cost to raise a child? Even if the old man is greedy, he wouldn't be so stingy as to not spend this little bit of money!"

Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and looked at Uchiha Jin, wanting an answer.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi really had no reason to target Naruto Uzumaki!

Uchiha Jin shook his head upon hearing this and said, "You are all still too young. It all started with Shimura Danzo!"

"Shimura Danzo?!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a glance, their hearts skipping a beat.

Nothing good ever comes from being associated with this name!

Uchiha Jin continued, "In Shimura Danzo's eyes, there was no such thing as status! He didn't care whose orphan Naruto Uzumaki was; in his eyes, Naruto Uzumaki was just a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

"Therefore, after the deaths of Minato and his wife, Danzo Shimura proposed that Naruto Uzumaki be handed over to Root for training, to be developed into the most powerful human weapon!"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya and Tsunade clenched their fists, wishing they could give Shimura Danzo a good beating!

"Damn Shimura Danzo! Nothing good ever comes out of his sight!"

Uchiha Jin ignored the two men gritting their teeth and said, "However, Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected Danzo Shimura's suggestion and found someone to take care of Naruto Uzumaki until he was three years old before letting him live alone."

Jiraiya frowned and said, "The old man isn't completely senile, but isn't it a bit too early to let Naruto live independently at the age of three?"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Jin quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't misunderstand. The reason why Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't agree to Shimura Danzo's proposal is not because he thought Shimura Danzo's actions were wrong!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Uchiha Jin explained, "After Naruto Uzumaki started living independently, rumors about the Nine-Tailed Fox began circulating in the village, and the target was Naruto Uzumaki!"

"And so, Naruto Uzumaki was ostracized by the entire village, living a life of hunger, cold, and being scorned by everyone!"

"And at that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, appeared beside Naruto Uzumaki as a kind old grandfather and extended goodwill to him."

"And so, Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally became Naruto Uzumaki's only support, only friend, only elder, and only family during that period..."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi's methods are far superior to Danzo Shimura's. The reason he didn't agree to Danzo's proposal was simply because he didn't want the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki weapon to be in someone else's hands!"

Chapter 300: Using Izanami to cure diseases!

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other in silence.

They hadn't paid much attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi's methods before, but now, after being reminded by King Uchiha, they realized that their teacher was indeed extremely good at winning people's hearts, and they themselves had been influenced by Hiruzen Sarutobi's various methods without even realizing it!

Take Tsunade for example. When she was full of ambition and passion, she fought for the future of Konoha Village.

Tsunade once proposed reforming Konoha's existing medical ninja system at a Jonin meeting in the village, suggesting that medical ninjas be trained extensively and that each ninja team be equipped with one medical ninja, in order to reduce the ninja casualty rate!

This proposal was undoubtedly correct, but it would be very difficult to implement, requiring a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, which was unrealistic for Konoha, which was in the midst of war at the time.

However, Tsunade was not one to just talk the talk. She knew that reforming the medical ninja system was not something that could be done overnight, and that training medical ninjas would take a lot of time. So she just wanted to put the reform of the medical ninja system on the agenda first, and then achieve this goal little by little.

If Konoha had started this reform back then, it might already be showing initial results!

However, Tsunade's proposal was not passed at the meeting and was rejected by three Konoha elders, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura, in addition to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura rejected the proposal for a simple reason: while reforming the medical ninja system could reduce the casualty rate of ninjas, training medical ninjas was far too resource-intensive!

The resources required to train one medical ninja are more than enough to train ten ordinary ninjas!

Therefore, the slight reduction in casualties that medical ninjas can achieve is really nothing in the eyes of Konoha's F4!