Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

The morning sea fog carries a familiar salty smell, seeping into your bones.

Hozuki Kaigetsu stood on the temporarily repaired pier, his hands in his pockets, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the sea met the sky.

The new Mizukage's straw hat swayed slightly in the wind behind him, but he had no confidence at all.

Beside him, Yagura Karatachi crossed his arms, his youthful face filled with a seriousness beyond his years.

He was also watching, or rather, waiting.

Mei Terumi stood a little behind, her slightly wavy long hair covering her right eye, leaving only her emerald green eye with a complex mix of emotions.

The image of Yagura kneeling on one knee to Hozuki Kaigetsu in that palace a few days ago, pledging his allegiance, remains an unforgettable shock in the hearts of the entire Kirigakure leadership.

The transfer of power was completed in an almost brutal manner, but everyone knew that this was only the beginning.

"Who will they send?"

Yagura's voice was low, as if he were talking to himself, "The second Uchiha Shisui? Or one of the legendary Sannin?"

His words contained a suppressed expectation and an even deeper sense of apprehension.

The fear of being dominated by the divine power known as Susanoo has been imprinted on the soul of every Hidden Mist Ninja.

They need aid, but they are also afraid of aid itself.

Hozuki Kaigetsu did not answer.

What flashed through his mind was Hiruzen Sarutobi's gentle face and the order to quiet the village before breakfast.

The monsters of Konoha never appear in just one form.

Just then, several black dots appeared on the sea surface.

coming!

Everyone's heart was in their throat.

Yagura instinctively gripped the coral staff on his back, while Mei Terumi quietly took a half-step back.

However, as the black dot drew closer, everyone's expressions gradually shifted from wariness to confusion, and finally to utter blankness.

It wasn't the dark, menacing steel warship they had imagined.

The lead ship was a giant, box-shaped vessel with various oddly shaped cranes and huge drill bits standing on its deck. The words "Konoha Construction Department" were painted in bold characters on the hull, and next to it was a family crest they had never seen before.

The other ship was even more outrageous. It had almost no towering superstructure, and its wide deck was covered with a thick layer of soil, planted with lush green plants, and even a few trees.

A scent, a blend of earthy fragrance and fresh plant aroma, wafted over from afar. The boat bore the logo of Muye Ecological Farm, next to a flag-shaped family crest resembling fangs.

"Establish...Ministry of Construction?"

An elder from the Hidden Mist Village stammered, rubbing his eyes, "They've moved the construction site to the sea?"

"What's that? A farm at sea?"

Another ninja pointed to the lush green ship, his worldview severely shaken.

The people from Kirigakure were completely dumbfounded.

They anticipated overwhelming military aid.

Instead, what arrived was a construction team that looked like they were going to do some development work, and a group of farmers.

This stark contrast completely overturned their perception of Konoha once again.

The ship slowly approached the shore, and the heavy gangplank slammed onto the dock with a dull thud.

The first one to rush down was a boy with wild, short brown hair. He was wearing a T-shirt with the word "fire" printed on it, and a green open-front vest over it. His face was full of barely suppressed excitement.

He completely ignored the heavy and eerie atmosphere, running very fast on the springboard, waving vigorously at Hiruzen Sarutobi who was standing behind Hozuki Kaigetsu.

"Oh, Tosang! We're here!"

The boy's voice was loud and clear, full of youthful vigor. "Elder Danzo's engineering ship is so cool! It's much faster than the one I rode last time!"

"Oh, Tosang...?"

Yagura and Mei Terumi's eyes twitched simultaneously.

This title struck a chord with all the Hidden Mist ninja.

The Third Hokage, who was as unfathomable as a god and single-handedly overturned the political situation in Kirigakure, actually... had such a seemingly unreliable son.

Following closely behind the boy, a figure appeared silently on the diving board.

He was also young, dressed in a well-tailored black combat uniform, with neat black hair. His facial features were somewhat similar to Hiruzen Sarutobi, but his lines were more hard and angular.

His eyes were sharp as a falcon's, and he only bowed slightly when he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi before his gaze swept across the entire area, as if assessing every potential threat.

It was a gaze honed through mountains of corpses and seas of blood—cold, pure, and devoid of any emotion.

Upon being swept by that gaze, the hairs on the back of Yagura's back instantly stood on end.

He sensed a suffocating sense of oppression emanating from this young man, a feeling shared with Uchiha Shisui.

Two completely different brothers, one like fire, the other like ice.

"That's the Hokage's eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, one of the commanders of the Anbu."

Hozuki Kaigetsu whispered an explanation to Yagura beside him, his tone carrying a hint of awe that even he himself was unaware of.

Before the Hidden Mist members could recover from the shock of these two brothers with such a stark contrast, the third group of people disembarked from the farm ship.

The leader was a young man with silver-white hair, wearing a black mask that revealed only a pair of seemingly lazy eyes.

He was holding a huge scroll of blueprints in his arms, not a ninja sword, and his expression was as serious as if he were deciphering an S-rank mission scroll.

"Hatake...Kakashi?"

Mei Terumi recognized him.

She had seen this boy, known as a genius, on the intelligence map and knew that he was the son of Sakumo Hatake, the god of agriculture.

Following behind Kakashi was a loud, boisterous black-haired boy wearing goggles.

"Oh my! Is this Kirigakure? The air is so humid! But it's alright, let our Uchiha enthusiasm warm you up!"

Obito Uchiha opened his arms, making a gesture as if embracing the sky.

"Obito, keep your voice down."

A gentle female voice came from the side. Nohara Rin, with her short brown hair, smiled helplessly and tugged at her companion's sleeve.

The appearance of these three people was like a refreshing breeze, dispelling the last trace of tension on the dock, leaving only a mess of Misty Ninja.

They couldn't understand it at all.

This isn't a stability maintenance visit; it's clearly a family team-building trip!

Sarutobi Asuma didn't care about any of that. He ran up to Yagura in a few quick steps, looked him up and down curiously, and then reached out and patted Yagura's shoulder familiarly.

"You must be Yagura? My brother mentioned you on the ship."

Asuma grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "You're not very tall, but you seem reliable! Nice to meet you!"

"Click."

That was the sound of veins bulging on Yagura's forehead.

His lips twitched violently, and a surge of anger shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Not tall! Not tall! This was the most hated taboo word he had ever uttered! This brat, in front of so many people...

"Please don't take offense at my younger brother's rudeness."

A flat voice broke in.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke had somehow appeared behind Asuma, bowing slightly to Yagura with impeccable posture.

The anger in Zhengtai's heart was extinguished instantly, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.

Yagura looked at the cold-looking young man in front of him and felt the oppressive aura hidden beneath the calm surface, like an abyss. His heart skipped a beat.

He instantly regained his senses.

This is the Hokage's son, and an envoy of Konoha.

He could only nod stiffly, squeezing out two words through gritted teeth: "It's alright."

I dare not have any objections.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took in the entire scene.

He looked at the group of energetic young men before him, at the eldest son Shinnosuke's calm and aloof demeanor, at the second son Asuma's lively and straightforward manner, at Kakashi and Obito still bickering over "whether to explore the land first or help move things first," and at Rin helplessly trying to mediate between them.

In a daze, he seemed to see himself from decades ago.

Back then, they were just as... dazzling.

Danzo, like Shinnosuke, always held himself to the highest standards; Kagami, always smiling, reconciled everyone's conflicts; and Torifu, always complaining about being hungry...

Time flows by, leaves flutter, and new buds have grown strong.

A hint of tenderness and longing, which he himself was unaware of, flashed in his eyes.

---

The atmosphere in the Mizukage office was so oppressive it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Hozuki Kaigetsu sat in the main seat, but all the Kirigakure elders' gazes seemed to drift towards the group of "reinforcements" from Konoha.

"Lord Hokage, this mudflat..."

An elder from Kirigakure pointed to an area on the map, his face full of bitterness. "This place has been the site of executions of rogue ninja and prisoners of war for hundreds of years. The land is soaked in blood and resentment, and not a blade of grass grows here. Later, we tried to flush it with seawater, but that only made the land salinized and turned it into a cursed land."

As he spoke, all the high-ranking members of the Hidden Mist Village showed expressions of agreement. In their eyes, that piece of land was completely ruined.

Just then, Kakashi Hatake, who had been silent all along, stepped forward.

He ignored the pessimistic descriptions of the elders of the Hidden Mist Village and unfurled the blueprints he had brought onto the table with a whoosh. It was an incredibly detailed farm plan, marked with irrigation channels, soil zones, and even analyses of wind direction and sunlight angles in different colored inks.

Kakashi pointed his finger at the area that had been declared a cursed land.

He raised his head, his eyes, visible beyond his mask, calm and unwavering, and announced to the entire audience in an unquestionable tone:

"In a month, I will have the first rice planted here."