I am the most popular character in Naruto!

"what……"

Kakashi twitched the corner of his mouth. He noticed that his teacher seemed to have become much more cheerful after leaving Konoha, and even started to resemble Jiraiya in some ways.

"Who's coming again, Kakashi!"

Parker, who was squatting to the side, said to Kakashi, but after sniffing the guy with his nose, his expression suddenly changed. "Damn it! I can't mess with this guy! I'm leaving!"

After saying that, it instantly turned into a wisp of white smoke and disappeared from the spot.

"Parker? Parker!?"

Kakashi paused for a moment, then turned to look at Minato.

Minato smiled gently, "It seems Kushina scared it. Don't tell Kushina about this."

"Watergate—!!!"

Rumble

In the distance, a cloud of dust surged in, and as the dust continued to rise, a bright red color appeared within it.

"hiss……"

Kakashi gasped as he looked at the oppressive aura emanating from that bright red color.

Even after many years, the oppressive aura emanating from Konoha's bright red chili peppers remains unparalleled. Perhaps only a man like Minato in the entire ninja world could truly tame her.

Swoosh

A bright red light crashed into Minato's arms, causing him to spin three times before the impact dissipated.

"Be careful, be careful, don't bump into the child."

Minato wore a warm smile, while Kakashi was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

child?

What child?

He glanced at Kushina's stomach instinctively, then gasped in shock.

Right.

If a lone man and woman wander around outside the village, not doing anything meaningful or enjoyable on their journey, how can the trip possibly continue?

"Hey, isn't that Kakashi?"

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Kushina walked up to Kakashi and gave him a big bear hug.

She slapped Kakashi's back repeatedly, and Kakashi could only smile wryly as he endured the barrage of blows from Chili Pepper.

"I'm sorry, I just broke through to the Elite Jonin level and couldn't control my power for a moment."

Kushina smiled with her eyes narrowed, patting her already slightly protruding belly. Minato, supporting her, said, "It's only been a few months, so you can still do whatever you want. But in a few more months, you won't be able to run around like this anymore."

"I know, I'm perfectly healthy!"

Kushina hugged Minato with a grin, and the two of them fed Kakashi, who was coughing, a huge mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).

"Hey Kakashi, what are you doing here?"

After Kushina was calmed down, Minato and Kakashi began a further conversation.

Now that they had found Minato, Kakashi was no longer in a hurry. He immediately took out a set of tableware from the sealing scroll, set up a pot, and began to prepare food for the two of them.

"Minato-sensei, the main reason I came out here is to find you."

Kakashi explained to Minato what had happened after he left Konoha, and Minato listened and sighed silently.

"It has to be Chiaki. If it weren't for her, Konoha would probably be suffering even greater hardships now."

"Yes, Chiaki-neechan has indeed done a lot for Konoha."

Kakashi nodded and said, "But that's precisely why, if she wants to go out for a walk now, we can't stop her. But as you know, Minato-sensei, Konoha's defenses are weak right now, and the Third Hokage is getting old..."

"The Third Hokage wants me to go back and continue being Hokage, right?"

Minato, dressed in rough clothes, shrugged. With his political acumen, he could guess what Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted just from Kakashi's explanation.

"I think your mission also includes testing my current strength, right?"

Minato turned to look at Kakashi, who gave an awkward smile. "Yes, this is indeed the Third Hokage's intention."

"I knew it."

Minato laughed, "To maintain the prestige of Konoha as the number one ninja nation in the ninja world, Konoha must have a Hokage who can hold his own, or a ninja who can crush the ninja world."

"After Chiaki left, Jiraiya and Orochimaru left one after another, and Konoha was thrown into chaos, Konoha's position in the ninja world became precarious."

“Even in the countryside, I’ve heard about this kind of thing.”

Kakashi's eyes widened. "In that case, Minato-sensei, you'll come back with me to take charge. Konoha desperately needs you!"

Minato glanced at Kushina, who was searching for food in the pot, and smiled slightly. "I know Konoha needs me."

"But, I refuse!"

Chapter 685 The Secret of the Dragon Vein

Minato's intention was firm: since Konoha had developed so well without him all these years, there was no need for him to go back.

Moreover, as the culprit who killed Danzo, it was inevitable that he would leave the Konoha leadership.

If he were to return to the upper echelons, it would likely provoke resentment from the elders and the daimyo.

Most importantly, Minato, who had conceived another child with Kushina, had no intention of taking care of Konoha.

They sacrificed almost their lives for Konoha, and also lost Naruto. The Minato couple had done more than enough for Konoha.

"I understand."

Kakashi was speechless at Minato's attitude.

What else can be done.

We can't expect Minato, who has already died once for Konoha, to die for Konoha again.

"Actually, I think you don't need to worry, Kakashi."

Minato chuckled and patted Kakashi on the shoulder. "Chiaki loves Konoha even more than I do. The fact that she also chose to leave shows that Konoha has reached a point where it needs to grow stronger."

"If the Third Hokage really needs someone to help him take over the position of Hokage, then I suggest you go to Lady Tsunade."

"Tsunade-sama?"

Kakashi paused for a moment, then stroked his chin in thought.

indeed.

In terms of seniority and ability, Tsunade is fully qualified to become Hokage.

Let's take another look at Tsunade's daily routine.

Yeah, it's either gambling or on my way to gambling.

He occasionally takes on casual patients to earn some medical expenses, but spends his days eating, drinking, and having fun.

We really should get her to do something productive.

Look at Jiraiya and Orochimaru, they're already at the Kage level. You're just a ninja who's one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, you have to work harder, right?

"By the way, Minato-sensei, what are you doing here?"

After pondering for a moment the possibility of Tsunade becoming Hokage, Kakashi turned his gaze to Minato.

Minato blinked and said to Kakashi, "You shouldn't be carrying out just a mission to find me, right?"

"No, that's not it. Right now, I'm only on a mission to find you."

Kakashi laughed and said, "But there is indeed another team carrying out this mission nearby. Speaking of which, the person you most want to see is in there."

"Naruto?"

Minato was startled. "Is Naruto carrying out another mission around here?"

"Naruto? What Naruto?!"

Kushina jumped up excitedly, saying, "Is my Naruto nearby? I want to see him!"

"Waaaaah, Mommy missed you so much, Naruto!"

"Kakashi, are they going to Loulan on a mission?"

Minato looked at Kakashi with a serious expression. Kakashi said in surprise, "Yes, they are indeed going to Loulan to carry out a mission. There have been strange energy fluctuations in Loulan recently, and we need to investigate."

"Speaking of which, Minato-sensei, we actually found traces of you in Loulan, but they were always vague and hard to find..."

Kakashi, recalling Pakkun's earlier words, looked at Minato with a puzzled expression and said, "Did you leave a shadow clone in Loulan, Minato-sensei?"

"not like this."

Minato calmed Kushina down, who was about to explode, and said with a pursed mouth, "Kakashi, I don't know if you remember, we carried out a secret mission back then."

"A top-secret mission?"

Kakashi was stunned for a moment, then began to think, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"That mission... the one where none of us remember anything after we came back?"

"Yes."

Minato nodded, his face grim, and said, "When I broke through to the Kage level, a part of my memories suddenly flooded back, and that was..."

"and many more……"

Kakashi interrupted Minato and placed his hand on Minato's shoulder with an inscrutable expression.

"Minato-sensei, what did you just say?"

Minato tilted his head in confusion. "I mean, a portion of my memories suddenly flooded back, probably because my strength surpassed what was sealed back then..."

"Those are not important."

Kakashi interrupted Minato again, his expression solemn, "The sentence before the memories flood back!"