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

Village entrance.

Uchiha Mine sat on the bench, his gaze wandering.

He was looking at the oden cart, the aunties pushing bicycles past, and the crisscrossing power lines in the sky.

Whenever he saw something new, his lips would slightly part and his eyes would widen, making him look like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

Steady footsteps came from inside the gate.

Uchiha Mine tilted his head.

A man with a serious face and deep nasolabial folds walked over. He was wearing the highest-ranking uniform of the Konoha Police Force, and the fan emblem on his back was dazzlingly red in the sunlight.

Uchiha Fugaku.

The gatekeeper ninja immediately stood at attention and saluted.

Fugaku nodded, his gaze falling on the boy on the bench.

Feng sprang up as if pricked by a needle, not even bothering to pick up his backpack which had fallen to the ground. He pressed his hands tightly against his thighs and stared anxiously at the newcomer.

Is this the orphan?

Fugaku Uchiha's gaze swept over Mine like a scalpel.

The rough knuckles were the marks of sandpaper; the standing posture, with a slight limp on the left leg and the center of gravity shifted to the right, was consistent with muscle strain from a long journey; the breathing was rapid and the eyes were darting around.

There was no trace of chakra flow; he looked like an ordinary person who didn't even know how to refine chakra.

But Fugaku's intuition told him that his appearance at this critical juncture was anything but simple.

The Uchiha bloodline has always been an unstable factor, and it's hard to tell if it's real or fake. This kid's appearance is like throwing a pebble into a calm lake.

No matter what, once they enter the Uchiha clan's territory, they're right under my nose.

Fugaku Uchiha walked up to Mine and looked down at him.

"Your name is Feng?"

His voice was steady, revealing no emotion.

"Yes, yes, sir."

Uchiha Mine stammered in response, his head almost touching his chest, his eyes fixed on the black ninja shoes on Fugaku's feet.

"Raise your head and answer. Uchiha people are not allowed to always keep their heads down."

Fugaku Uchiha's voice was calm and steady, carrying the authority of someone who had long held a high position.

Uchiha Mine was startled and quickly looked up. The veins on his neck bulged from the exertion.

"What's your mother's name? What does your father look like? Tell me everything you know about your background."

The boy took a deep breath.

"My mother's name is Aya, and she is a weaver. She lives in the town of Shaluo on the border of the Land of Wind."

Feng's throat bobbed, and the sound of swallowing could be clearly heard. "Father... I've never seen my father."

He curled his fingers and clenched his palms tightly, gripping the hem of his clothes so hard that the rough fabric made an unpleasant rubbing sound.

"My mother said that my father was a very gentle person with black eyes. He taught my mother to recognize the symbol of Konoha, which is a red fan."

"After that, he continued doing his duties in the village and never came back."

He bent down and picked up the rusty iron pendant. His movements were clumsy; he almost tripped over a bench leg.

"When my mother was sick, she had a high fever. Her whole body was burning up."

Feng held up the pendant, his hands trembling slightly. "She held onto this and kept telling me that Konoha was a big place with lots of delicious food, that the people there wouldn't hit people randomly, and that I had relatives there..."

A tear fell onto the pendant with a soft thud, splashing into a small spray.

Feng sniffed hard and wiped his face haphazardly with the back of his hand. A dirty mark remained on his cheek.

"My mother said I had to go home. I wanted to die at home. She sold her loom to pay for the journey. On the day she died, she held my hand and told me I had to find the place with the fan pattern."

He held the pendant in both hands and handed it to Fugaku.

The fingers were rough, and the nail crevices were filled with black dirt.

A pure longing, an unreserved plea.

Fugaku Uchiha did not reach out to take the pendant.

He simply watched Feng quietly, his gaze sweeping over the smudges on Feng's face and over those bloodshot black eyes that reflected his own image.

He flexed and extended his fingers at his side, and the voice of Deer Antlers came through the communicator.

"Take him back to the tribe for temporary observation, and have a few people keep an eye on him."

Fugaku did not reply to the communicator, and looked at the peak.

"Come with me."

Fugaku Uchiha turned around and walked into the gate.

Feng was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He grabbed the package from the ground and limped after Fugaku.

"Sir! Where are we going?"

He asked in a low voice.

"Uchiha Clan Territory"

Without turning his head, Fugaku Uchiha said, "Until your identity is completely verified, you will live and eat there. You are not allowed to go anywhere else."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you!"

Mine bowed deeply to Fugaku's retreating figure, bending at a ninety-degree angle.

Crossing the cordon at the gates of Konoha.

Atop the towering archway, the Konoha emblem gleamed in the sunlight.

Feng straightened his upper body.

He was three steps behind Fugaku, his lowered eyelids obscuring the view.

Deep within the pupil.

A streak of crimson light flashed like lightning, and the three tomoe instantly connected, transforming into a bizarre pattern with a scythe for the left eye and a collapsing spiral for the right eye.

fleeting.

He lifted his foot and stepped onto the smooth asphalt road in Muye.

"I'm back...my home."

He murmured in a low voice.

An apple vendor by the roadside waved enthusiastically at him.

"Oh, Lord Fugaku, patrolling in person? Whose child is this? He's so pretty." The vendor had a loud voice.

Fugaku Uchiha nodded, ignored him, and continued walking forward.

Feng was startled and quickly waved to the vendor, stammering, "Y-hello. My name is Feng."

The vendor was amused by the simple-minded reaction and casually picked up a bright red apple from his stall and tossed it over.

"Take this and eat! It's a new variety from our Konoha Farm, and it's really sweet!"

Feng caught the apple in a flustered manner, almost dropping it on the ground.

He held the apple, looked at the vendor, then at Fugaku's back in front of him, at a loss.

"Take it."

Fugaku said without turning his head.

"Th-thank you!"

Uchiha Mine shouted loudly at the vendor.

He lowered his head, looking at the brightly colored apple in his hand, and gently rubbed his thumb against the smooth peel.

He carefully tucked the apple into his pocket and placed it close to his chest.

Fugaku led the way, his tall figure casting a long shadow on the ground, completely covering the peak in shadow.

A gentle breeze blew by, swirling a fallen leaf from the roadside. The leaf twirled in the air before finally settling onto a stone pillar.

Mine followed Fugaku into a bustling commercial street.

The aroma of barbecue, the roar of passing trains, and the noisy haggling of passersby intertwined, like an impenetrable net descending upon Feng.

On the other side of the street corner, a newly opened electronics store was playing music, with deafening sounds emanating from its loudspeakers.

Uchiha Mine covered his ears and shrank his neck, like a frightened quail.

His performance along the way has been nothing short of perfect.

A homeless child from a remote and impoverished area experiences shock, timidity, and bewilderment at the kindness shown to him upon first entering a bustling city.

Every emotion, every movement, was perfectly controlled.

Black Zetsu's inhuman training had taken root in his muscle memory.

He looked up at the enormous Tower of Babel in the distance.

"That's really high."

The boy said softly.

Fugaku Uchiha didn't stop, but coldly remarked, "There will be plenty of time to see later. Keep up."

Feng quickened his pace.

"sough--"

The straw sandals rubbed against the asphalt road, making a soft, rustling sound.

At the end of the street, a red and white fan-shaped family emblem hangs high above the entrance of the garrison building.

Red like blood, white like bone.

Feng reached out and pressed his hand to his chest.

The heart that originally belonged to Uchiha Ran beat steadily and powerfully within this chest cavity.

"Thump."

"Thump."

again and again.

His hand slid down and grabbed the hem of his clothes, rubbing it vigorously a couple of times, his fingertips getting dusty from the rough fabric.

As I followed Fugaku up the first step of the security building, my shoe crushed a hard candy that someone had dropped.

"Creak—"

A heavy door was opening to this unfamiliar young man.

The door hinges emitted a low, grinding sound.

The boy's worn-out straw sandal hovered above the threshold, half an inch from the oak floor.

The creaking sound of leather shoes on wooden planks came from deep within the corridor.

Dust tumbled inside the beam of light.

Wooden boards were attached to the soles of the shoes.