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

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened without changing his expression, his face as calm as a still pond.

When the antlers' roar subsided and only heavy breathing remained, he slowly moved the communicator a little further away.

"Feed? Feed? With antlers?"

He shouted into the communicator, his voice filled with just the right amount of confusion, "Signal... signal is bad, I can't hear you... buzzing... buzzing... what are you saying?"

As he spoke, he tapped rhythmically on the back of the communicator with the fingers of his other hand, producing a noise similar to electrical interference.

On the other end of the communicator, Nara Shika was clearly stunned.

"Hiruzen, what nonsense are you spouting! I'm using the latest chakra wave communicator invented by Tobirama-sama! How could I possibly believe that..."

"Ah, it seems the weather at sea is bad and communications are down. Oh well, we'll just have to wait until we get ashore."

"Snap—"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with a regretful expression, and then abruptly hung up the communication before the next roar from the shikata could erupt.

The entire deck fell into a deathly silence.

A few seconds later, someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Immediately afterwards, suppressed laughter spread like a tide.

Hiruzen Sarutobi returned the communicator to the ANBU member who was laughing so hard he was almost cramping up, and casually straightened his collar as if nothing had happened.

He walked back to the nautical chart, unfolded it, and slowly moved his finger across it.

Finally, he pointed his finger heavily at the northeastern part of the Land of Fire, at the land covered by mountains and thunderclouds.

"So,"

He announced with a laugh, his voice filled with the glee of watching a good show, "Our first stop is the Land of Lightning. Let's see what Danzo has done to Kumogakure."

Kakashi retrieved the deerskin used to wipe the short sword and sheathed it back into its scabbard.

He looked up at the Hokage's back as he leisurely decided on the next tourist destination, and then he recalled Hozuki Kaigetsu's heartfelt awe and submission at the Kirigakure dock.

The Third Hokage almost never displayed his terrifying power, enough to sink a ship with a single blow, in Kirigakure.

He simply presented a revitalization plan, gave them a potent-tasting military ration pill, and then leisurely sipped his tea, which led a once bloodthirsty and warlike village to willingly offer up its future from top to bottom.

A kind of wisdom and spirit that can change people's hearts and reshape the landscape.

Kakashi clenched his fist, and felt a sense of emptiness in his palm.

He suddenly realized that there was still so much for him to learn.

The massive flagship adjusted its course, drawing a graceful arc across the sea, and sped towards the Land of Lightning.

A Hokage's truancy trip, ostensibly for an inspection, has officially begun.

"Beep...beep...beep..."

The deathly silence of the busy signal, like a cold, rusty little hammer, slowly and deliberately struck the eardrums of the Nara deer antlers.

Every monotonous syllable clearly proclaims a cruel truth.

Inside the Hokage's office, the mountain of scrolls and documents, like solidified gray waves, completely submerged the small desk.

Nara Shika's hands were trembling slightly.

His hand, still in the position of answering the call, froze in mid-air, his fingertips turning slightly white from the excessive force.

"Hiruzen... he's dead..."

His lips trembled, squeezing out a few incoherent syllables from his parched throat. The voice was so soft, like a dream, that even he could barely hear it.

"He actually... died..."

This realization was like a pebble thrown into a stagnant pond. At first, it was just a tiny ripple, but then it stirred up a monstrous wave that instantly destroyed the dam he had built with reason and a philosophy of avoiding trouble.

He suddenly raised his head.

On that haggard face, worn down by long-term sleep deprivation and excessive mental exertion, a pair of bloodshot eyes stared intently at the communicator in his hand, as if trying to pierce it through.

next second.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

A piercing, tragic roar, filled with all the grievances and despair of a man, broke free from the confinement of his throat, shattered the tranquility of the office, and echoed throughout the entire Naruto Building.

The noise was so loud that even the windowpanes hummed under the strain.

Deer Antlers plunged his hands deep into his iconic pineapple head, scratching painfully.

Like a cornered beast driven to the brink, he unleashed the most hysterical roar of his life in his own little corner of the world.

"boom--"

As he stepped back, he bumped into a stack of documents taller than himself. Countless scrolls tumbled to the ground like a paper avalanche, burying half of his body in them.

Outside the door, the two ANBU ninjas on guard froze, exchanging bewildered glances, their eyes filled with terror and confusion.

That's... Lord Deer Horn's voice?

Is it an enemy attack? Or... has Lord Deer Antlers finally been driven mad by work?