Konoha Notes

Chapter 431 Each with Their Own Troubles (Part 2)

Naruto Uzumaki sat alone on a bench under a tree, holding a lunchbox in his hands, but didn't touch his chopsticks for a long time.

The golden color of the omelet looked especially tempting in the sunlight, and the fried chicken nuggets were still emitting a slight steam. The dishes were obviously different from those of the previous few days, but he didn't notice at all.

He poked the chicken nugget with his chopsticks and sighed.

After rehearsal yesterday, Yugito and the other two spoke with him, Gaara, and Fu separately. The female ninja from Kumogakure looked at them with an expression he couldn't understand and said something that kept Naruto awake all night.

She refused their involvement.

What upset Naruto the most was Gaara and Fu's reactions.

The red-haired boy listened silently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Fu simply blinked her orange eyes and whispered, "I understand."

Why?

Everyone has been having so much fun rehearsing together these past few days. Uncle Killer Bee designed some super cool entrance moves, Uncle Han's drumming is getting more and more rhythmic, and even Yu Gao's expression softens a bit when he plays the piano.

Naruto sighed again, tilted his head back, and leaned against the back of the bench. Maple leaves rustled overhead, and a few early red leaves drifted down and landed on the lid of his lunchbox.

There's another worrying thing.

His gaze involuntarily drifted to the lunchbox itself; he had been making up excuses for three days now.

From "I was in such a hurry to leave that I forgot to bring my original one", to "I accidentally got it dirty and haven't washed it yet", and then to "I left it at school".

Each time, Shuji would just nod and say, "Yeah, it's nothing," his calm gaze sending chills down Naruto's spine.

Neji's food box was returned a long time ago. That guy with the always stern face said he would find an exact replica to replace it, but several days have passed and there's still no word.

This morning was fine; Shuji wasn't here, so I didn't have to worry about the excuse—I can save it for tomorrow.

Don't worry about that for now.

But rehearsals...

This morning he wanted to ask Gaara about the rehearsal, but he swallowed the words back. What if Gaara gave a very reasonable reason? What if even Gaara thought he shouldn't go on stage?
Should I give up too?

he does not know.

"that……"

A faint sound came from the side and behind.

Naruto turned his head and saw Hinata Hyuga standing a few steps away in the shadow of a tree. Her hands were nervously clasped together. Her white eyes were cautiously watching them, then quickly lowered when their eyes met.

Hinata?

"Um..." Hinata's voice trailed off, "about the food box..."

Naruto didn't hear him clearly and leaned forward: "What did you say?"

Hinata's cheeks flushed instantly. She took a deep breath, as if summoning immense courage, and took a small step forward: "I mean... that food box from the old house in the western suburbs... that style..."

She stopped mid-sentence. She wanted to explain that the lacquered wooden food box was a custom-made piece, and it was very difficult to find an exact replica on the market. Neji had been searching for it for the past few days, which was why it had taken so long. But looking at Naruto's bewildered expression, these explanations swirled in her throat, and she just couldn't bring herself to say them.

"The style... what's wrong?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.

"It's...it's just..." Hinata's face turned even redder, and her ears turned crimson.

Just then, a third figure appeared.

Neji Hyuga walked steadily towards them, carrying a square object wrapped in dark blue cotton cloth. His gaze first fell on Naruto, then shifted to Hinata beside him, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Naruto Uzumaki".

Neji walked to the bench and placed the cloth bag on the empty seat next to Naruto.

"This is the new food box. You can take it back to Lord Shuji."

Shuji saying it's not necessary is one thing.

But Neji will still do what needs to be done.

Naruto paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "Huh? You found it?!"

He hurriedly opened the cloth bag. Inside was indeed a lacquered wooden food box, its dark brown surface smooth as a mirror, the grain of the edges almost identical to the previous one—no, it should be said that it was the exact same style. Even the size, color, and the curvature of the handle were exactly the same.

Neji turned his gaze back to Hinata: "Lady Hinata, what are you doing here?"

Hinata's shoulders hunched slightly. She opened her mouth, "Neji-nii... I just... wanted to tell Naruto-kun... we're trying to find a way to make amends..."

"I've already taken care of the compensation," Neji interrupted her, his tone calm and even. "Lady Hinata doesn't need to worry about it; it's not your problem."

After he finished speaking, he turned to leave.

Naruto glanced at Hinata's lowered head, then at Neji's retreating figure. For some reason, a sudden surge of irritation welled up inside him—the same kind of irritation he felt yesterday when facing Yugito, a suffocating feeling trapped in his chest with nowhere to vent.

Hinata is talking to you!

Naruto's voice unconsciously rose.

Neji stopped in his tracks.

"You're her brother, right?" Naruto stood up from the bench, chopsticks still clutched in his hand. "Why do you always ignore her? Why don't you listen to what she's saying—"

"How long are you going to keep watching this show?"

Neji suddenly spoke up.

These words seemed to come out of nowhere, and Naruto was puzzled when he heard a rustling sound coming from behind the bushes nearby.

"We've been discovered!"

Ino Yamanaka was the first to emerge from behind the tree, a slightly embarrassed smile on her face after being caught red-handed. Following her, Sakura Haruno, Shion, and Karin also appeared one after another.

Sakura's face turned slightly red, while Shion had a "I told you not to do this" expression on her face. Karin pushed up her glasses, her gaze shifting back and forth between Naruto and Neji.

"W-Why are you all here?!" Naruto's eyes widened, and he almost dropped his chopsticks.

"Well..." Sakura looked away, "I was a little worried when I saw Hinata following you out..."

It was mainly out of curiosity. This was the second time. Last time, they noticed Hinata secretly following Naruto. Seeing the same thing again today, the girls couldn't contain their gossip and followed her.

Shikamaru and Choji slowly emerged from behind a tree on the other side. Shikamaru looked helpless, while Choji, still stuffing potato chips into his mouth, mumbled, "Because Ino and the others are following you, Shikamaru said there might be trouble..."

"I didn't say it was troublesome!" Shikamaru immediately retorted. "I just said there might be unnecessary misunderstandings! And why did I have to come along too..."

The scene became somewhat chaotic for a moment.

Neji seemed to have completely lost interest in staying any longer. He glanced at Hinata one last time before disappearing at the end of the path.

Hinata lowered her head even further.

Seeing this, Ino quickly walked over and took her arm: "Alright, alright! Hinata, let's go have lunch together? Sakura brought some super delicious sandwiches! Shion's plum rice balls are amazing too!"

Several girls half-dragged, half-persuaded Hinata away. In the blink of an eye, only Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji remained under the tree.

Naruto scratched his blond hair, looking confused. "So what's going on?! Everyone's acting so strangely!"

Choji munched on potato chips, mumbling, "I don't know. But Naruto, aren't you going to eat chicken nuggets?"

"Ah! Right!" Naruto suddenly remembered his bento box and quickly sat down to eat a couple of bites of rice.

But the tangled mess in his mind remained unresolved.

Naruto swallowed the food in his mouth and turned to Shikamaru, who was sitting at the other end of the bench.

He felt that Shikamaru seemed to know everything.

"Shikamaru."

"Ok?"

"Neji and Hinata, don't they get along?"

“Last time…” Naruto said softly, “Neji stood in front of Hinata to protect her. I saw him so nervous then… but why…”

Why do you usually seem so cold? Why are you so reluctant to even speak?
Shikamaru was yawning when he heard this and paused for a moment.

“The Hyuga clan is different,” he said slowly, his eyes still half-closed. “Even among all the clans in Konoha, they have the strictest rules.”

"Their relationship is also part of the rules."

"That's probably it."

Naruto seemed to understand, but not quite.

He wanted to ask again, but Shikamaru had already closed his eyes again and leaned back on the bench: "What a nuisance... I should be sleeping properly during lunch break."

Choji nodded in agreement and stuffed another handful of potato chips into his mouth.
-
As the cooperation among the five great ninja villages deepened, Akatsuki abandoned Amegakure, a place situated in a war zone yet capable of rapidly deploying its forces to surrounding areas, and instead chose a location overseas.

Thus, Akatsuki split into two groups. One group went to the northeastern sea of ​​the Land of Lightning to support the Land of Snow, using it as a visible foothold to disrupt the world.

One force traveled south to establish a new power in the wealthy archipelago.

The former was bait, originally intended to lure and eliminate a portion of the main forces of the five great ninja villages, thus creating a real opportunity for Nagato, who was located in the south.

And now, the leader of Akatsuki, Pain Tendo, has set foot on this land that the organization itself has changed for the first time.

This place is no more comfortable than the Moon Kingdom, which he chose as his new base.

It is warmer and more humid there, and more abundant in resources.

The air in the Land of Snow still carries the chill unique to the North, the architecture is rugged, and the streets are sparsely populated.

But some things are different.

Nagato observed for two days through the eyes of the Heavenly Dao.

In this nation, which is now largely supported by ninjas, many things have changed subtly. Horses are no longer needed, nor are lengthy processes.

For a small island nation, most problems can be solved by ninjas running across the island on foot within half a day—as long as ninjutsu can handle it.

From farmland irrigation to house construction, from road paving to emergency disaster response, the efficiency is astonishing.

Then he came to a conclusion: "There's no need for storms and waves here."

Even though he could be considered a man of some achievement, that man's ultimate goal was conquest.

Thus, everything produced in this nation ultimately flowed into military equipment. Food, taxes, manpower, and even the time and energy of the ninjas were all dedicated to that dream of conquest.

When Orochimaru arrived at Pain's side, he happened to hear these words: "Killing him or replacing him is something that can be done at any time."

While Fuuka Nyutō possessed some skill after donning the chakra armor, it was only "some." For the core members of Akatsuki, it was a negligible amount.

"However, this identity as a 'daimyo' still has value for now."

Heaven remained silent, awaiting what would follow.

"For the daimyo of the five great nations, even something like the existence of Fuka and Nata is better to have than not to have."

“When the threat is not personal, they can cooperate with the ninja village’s wishes under various pretexts, declare the Wind Flower Angry Waves illegal, and sever all ties with the Land of Snow. It’s very simple; a single document is all it takes.”

"But the situation is completely different now. The organization's threat is directed directly at them, not the ninja village."

“In this situation, if we can convince them that as long as the Snow Country is reinstated and they contact the organization through the legitimate channel of the Joint Affairs Bureau, they can be removed from the target... then the resistance they exert on this matter will be much less.”

"And even the existence of someone like Feng Hua Nu Tao makes the whole thing a little simpler."

This is also why Orochimaru believed that Shuji could easily resolve the application from the Land of Snow. He didn't even need to personally approach the daimyo; he only needed to mention it, and someone more concerned would naturally push it forward.

The only thing that might hinder the process is actually the people on our own side.

Therefore, Orochimaru explained in great detail and with great patience, since facilitating the lifting of the ban was of great positive relevance to him.

The Way of Heaven advances silently.

Nagato, far atop the ship, closed his eyes.

A subtle flow of chakra emanated from the black rod on his back, but his thoughts had already drifted to a much farther place.

"With just the power of ninjas, a country can function and develop, and its people can live in peace..."

Konan stood quietly beside him, paper flowers blooming and withering silently at her fingertips. She waited a moment, and seeing that Nagato did not continue speaking, she asked softly, "Are you going to respond? To the conditions proposed by Konoha?"

Nagato did not answer immediately.

He saw something further away that he had never noticed before.

Most things can be accomplished by relying on ninjas.

So what's your full name?
What is the significance of those nobles who live high above the world, far removed from battlefields and labor? If ninjas could govern the country on their own...

“There are many things I have overlooked.”

The ultimate goal that Nagato originally wanted to reach directly—the one that forced the world to achieve peace through extreme suffering—was temporarily unattainable, causing a subtle change in Nagato's heart.

When faced with more realistic problems and observed from different perspectives, he found that he couldn't immediately provide that proof.

He needs to think.

He needs to re-examine some things he previously took for granted.

"Let's go back."

He has some things he wants to try in the Moon Kingdom.

“The Land of Snow,” Nagato said, “send a message, just as Orochimaru suggested.”

(End of this chapter)