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

Sarutobi Shinnosuke turned around, his back a cold, hard straight line, as if he wanted to cut away all the noise and warmth coming from the agricultural ship behind him with this straight line.

He walked toward the cabin, each step measured with precision, as if it had been precisely measured with a ruler.

The footwork of the Dark Division was already ingrained in their very bones, silent and stealthy, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Just moments before he was about to disappear into the shadows, a louder commotion drifted over from the deck of the neighboring agricultural ship on the sea breeze, clearly reaching his ears.

"Obito, you idiot, don't steal it—those are takoyaki I saved for Dad!"

It was Asuma, the younger brother, shouting with great energy.

"Your dad is so far away on the flagship store, he can't possibly eat it! Leaving it there is a waste! Wasting food is shameful!"

A similarly overly enthusiastic voice retorted confidently.

"Asuma, Obito, that's enough! There's still plenty of food!"

Shinnosuke's footsteps paused for 0.3 seconds on the wooden grain of the deck.

A pause that is almost imperceptible.

He didn't turn around.

But on that face, which was always covered by a mask and now appeared excessively pale in the sea breeze, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, even more delicate than the last ray of sunset fading on the horizon.

It flashed by so fast it seemed like an illusion.

-

An agricultural vessel with a makeshift kitchen at the stern.

This place has been transformed into a small food processing and research center, and right now the air is filled with the fresh aroma of various ingredients.

Ju Xilin was carefully sorting through the precious herb samples she had brought back from Kirigakure.

She used tweezers to pick up a dark green seaweed leaf that was still wet with seawater, and carefully laid it flat between two pieces of specially made absorbent paper, her movements gentle as if she were handling a rare treasure.

Flatten it, attach a label recording the latitude, longitude and collection time, and then write down its preliminary morphological analysis in neat handwriting in an open notebook.

A series of chaotic footsteps came from outside the door, as if people were chasing and playing on the deck.

A moment later, a furry head poked in; it was Shimura Sota.

He wore a hearty smile, and the brass earring in his right ear gleamed in the setting sun.

"Xilin! I found you! Obito said he's having a huge barbecue on the aft deck tonight! Kakashi has agreed to handle all the fish! Are you coming?"

tide Lin continued fishing without looking up, asking, "Who's fishing?"

"Well……"

Sata's tone instantly softened. "Asuma said he can fish."

"oh,"

tide Lin's pen tip traced a smooth line on the paper. "Last time in the Land of Whirlpools, he fished for three hours and caught a slipper that I don't know which era it was from."

Sata awkwardly scratched his short, light brown hair: "Well... what if we get lucky this time? He said he recently learned a new tracking technique from the Inuzuka family, which would definitely be incredibly effective for fishing!"

Xilin finally finished her notes. She smoothed out the labels, tilted her head, and let her orange braid hang down to one side, seemingly seriously considering the possibility.

"All right."

She nodded.

"Yay! That's great!"

Shimura Sota cheered, then muttered, "You're too calm. Shouldn't a normal girl be more excited?" Then he shrank back and disappeared, leaving only a series of distant shouts: "Obito, slow down! Don't tip over the grill!"

tide Lin looked down at the neat handwriting in her notebook. On the last line of today's entry, she added a sentence softly in the same handwriting—

Evening activity: Barbecue on the aft deck. Supplies needed: Burn ointment x3, bandages x2, digestive medicine x5.

She closed her notebook, stuffed the herbal medicine packet embroidered with small flowers that she always carried into the pocket of her white coat, and got up to walk towards the door.

As she reached the door, she seemed to remember something, stopped, stood on tiptoe, and reached down a small glass jar from an inconspicuous corner on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet.

The label on the jar was written in her own handwriting, stroke by stroke: "Special Spicy Compound Seasoning (Xilin Recipe No. 3 Improved Version)".

She gently shook the jar, listening to the faint crackling sound of the dark red powder inside hitting the glass wall, like a miniature sandstorm.

A slight smile curved his lips, revealing a sly smile that only he could understand.

"Protecting everyone from harm in battle is the mission of medical ninjas."

She said to herself in a very serious tone.

Then, after a pause, he added.

"But letting everyone experience the full spectrum of life's emotions at the dinner table should also be considered part of protecting their mental health."

She gently pushed the hatch open.

The salty and warm sea breeze rushed in through the crack in the door, lifting the pale blue ribbon tied to the end of her orange braid.

On the aft deck, a chaotic yet vibrant war has begun.

Obito Uchiha and Asuma Sarutobi were arguing heatedly over the right to light a barbecue.

"Use Fire Release! The soul of barbecue lies in the flames! And for us Uchiha, fire is art!"

Obito put his hands on his hips, pushed his goggles up to his forehead, and announced excitedly.

"Huh? What's the use of your fancy fire! Use mine! This is the true flame that inherits the Will of Fire!"

Asuma, not to be outdone, had already begun preparing to form hand seals.

Not far from them, Kakashi Hatake remained oblivious to this childish argument.

He squatted on the deck, with a freshly caught, still lively sea fish in front of him.

Kakashi was using a whetstone, with an almost obsessive focus, to sharpen his short sword.

The blade rubbed against the whetstone, producing a hissing, rhythmic sound that was far more pleasant than the two men's argument.

"Well..."

Kakashi, without even looking up, blurted out, "If either of you dares to use ninjutsu to turn the charcoal here into ashes, you'll be eating those ashes tonight."

One sentence made the two hot-blooded teenagers, who were about to fight, freeze in place.

Nohara Rin smiled helplessly, holding a plate of freshly washed vegetables in her hands: "Stop fooling around, come and help skewer the meat."

Just then, a tall, black figure appeared silently at the entrance to the deck.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

His appearance was like a drop of ice water falling into boiling oil; the entire deck fell silent for a second, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Shinnosuke was dressed in a dark, practical outfit. Although it wasn't the standard uniform of the Anbu, the coldness and aloofness that emanated from his very bones spoke volumes about his identity more than any uniform.

He just stood there, as if he were in a different world from the deck filled with laughter and joy.

"……elder brother!"

Asma was the first to react. His expression was a little awkward as he scratched his head and shouted, "W-what are you doing here? Come quick, the scenery here is amazing!"

Kakashi merely glanced at him, letting out an ambiguous "hmm" from his nose as a greeting, before continuing to deal with the fish that had stopped struggling.

Shinnosuke's body was somewhat stiff.

On the flagship, the father said in an unquestionable tone, "Go with them, that's an order."

So he came.

But what should we do after we arrive?

He looked around. Asuma and Obito had genuine enthusiasm on their faces, Rin's smile was warm and friendly, the boy from the Shimura family and his distant nephew were busy setting up the grill, and even the usually lazy white-haired boy was now seriously preparing the ingredients.

Everyone seems to be doing the right thing.

He was the only one standing there, like a superfluous cog in the machine.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a fair hand handed him a plate.

It's Nohara Rin.

She walked up to him, looked up at him, and her brown eyes were filled with pure kindness.

"Um... please have this. This is a freshly cut melon, the latest variety that Kakashi brought from his farm. It's very sweet."

On the plate, several neatly cut pieces of orange-yellow melon gleamed with a moist sheen in the setting sun.

Shinnosuke's gaze shifted from the girl's face to the plate of melons. He remained silent for a few seconds, then, under everyone's watchful eyes, reached out and took the plate.

"……Thanks."

He squeezed out two words through clenched teeth, his voice dry as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

Lin seemed greatly encouraged, and her smile became even sweeter: "You're welcome!"