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

Meanwhile, in Konoha, in the Hokage's office.

Nara Shikaku held the broken chakra communicator, leaning back in the large, soft Hokage chair, remaining motionless for a long time.

His figure was cut off by the huge floor-to-ceiling window, half bathed in the afternoon sunlight and half hidden in the shadow cast by the desk.

Outside the window lies the miraculous city created by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The towering wooden pagoda, stretching to the sky, shelters the earth like a world tree. On its body, the lights belonging to the research departments never go out, even in the daytime, shining with the light of wisdom.

Below, on the well-connected streets, brand-new trams jingled melodiously as they passed by, carrying villagers filled with laughter and joy.

From the construction site in the distance, a loud voice could be faintly heard, filled with the smells of concrete and sweat.

This was an unprecedented era, a prosperous Konoha that he had only ever seen in his dreams.

And he was sitting in the cockpit of this era, though only as an agent.

In Shikanobu's mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi's last words still echoed—words that carried three parts weariness and seven parts sincerity, words that seemed to penetrate the communicator and warm people's hearts directly.

"If you collapse from exhaustion, I'll truly be all alone."

Alone and lonely...

The antlers, which were always slightly furrowed, completely relaxed at this moment, and even the fine lines at the corners of the eyes seemed to be smoothed out.

He let out a long, long breath.

That damn hands-off boss...

Although he always dumped the most troublesome and demanding official duties on himself as if they were garbage, he was still clear-headed about his hard work.

That's it, that's it.

It's just a mountain of documents, and Orochimaru and the Second Hokage arguing fiercely over a parameter in the energy formula...

For the grand vision he painted, for the myriad lights outside the window, for this unique trust... what does losing a few more hairs matter?

At that moment, Nara Shikazuchi felt healed.

A warm current called "being needed" slowly flowed from the deepest part of his heart, washing away all the fatigue and resentment brought about by days of overtime work.

He even felt full of energy, and he could approve three thousand or even thirty thousand documents in one go, let alone three hundred!

This feeling of being injected with adrenaline lasted for about... three seconds.

Then, the warm current seemed to be frozen by a sudden cold wave, instantly solidifying.

The gentle emotion on Nara Shika's face, comparable to that of a saint, froze on the spot.

His brain, the super processor hailed as Konoha's strongest AI, capable of deducing hundreds of battle scenarios in an instant, finally belatedly sounded the sharpest and most stern red alert in history after completing its routine review of the Hokage's phone call.

wrong!

and many more!

Wait a moment!!

What...what was I planning to do when I picked up this damn communicator?!

I'm here to complain, to vent! I'm here to use the most rigorous logic and the most irrefutable facts to condemn his irresponsible truancy and to demand when he'll actually come back to take over this business!

The results of it?

Instead, he painted a grand picture of a railway network spanning the continent, poured me a bowl of chicken soup for the soul with the idea of ​​a monumental achievement, and finally moved me to tears with a casual remark about being all alone!

From beginning to end, I couldn't utter a single complete, complaining sentence!

I... got caught up in it!

"Bang!!"

With a deafening crash, Nara Shikaku slapped the Hokage's incredibly sturdy desk in his office, leaving a clear, deep palm print that pierced the wood, sending splinters flying everywhere.

His lazy face, which always seemed to say "This is so troublesome," was now bulging with veins, making him look exactly like an angry Vajra in a temple.

"Ah—ah—ah—ah—!!"

A suppressed, distorted roar, as if squeezed from the depths of hell, churned in his throat.

I felt like my lungs, along with my proud, wise heart, were about to explode from this pent-up anger.

Just then, the office door creaked open and was gently pushed open a crack.

His biological son, Nara Shikaku, who also sports the iconic pineapple hairstyle and wears the same ancestral lazy expression, shakily shuffled in carrying a stack of documents taller than himself.

"Father, this is the final report on 'Seventeen Supplementary Opinions on Optimizing the Chakra Energy Network Security Protocol,' jointly submitted by Lord Orochimaru and the Second Hokage, along with information about the mainland railway network..."

Lu Jiu's voice was weak and his eyes were lifeless. He was clearly being tormented by these documents that could drive a normal person crazy and was about to lose his dreams.

On the verge of a nuclear explosion, the Nara deer, with its eyes burning with fierce flames, instantly locked onto the continuation of its bloodline.

He saw Lu Jiu carrying that pile of documents, moving with difficulty like a penguin at the doorway.

Then, he saw Shikaku... to maintain his balance, habitually... step out with his left foot first, crossing the sacred threshold of the Hokage's office.

boom!

Nara - Acting Hokage - Shikanobu felt the last thread of reason in his mind snap completely the instant his son's left foot touched the ground, accompanied by a crisp sound.

An unnamed fire, mixed with the overwhelming rage from being manipulated by the Naruto, found a "perfect," legal, and "absolutely righteous" outlet at this moment.

"Nara Shikaku!"

A thunderous roar, like a bolt from the blue, caused half of the document in Lu Jiu's hand to fall to the ground.

He raised his head blankly, looking at his biological father, who resembled an immovable deity or a wrathful Vajra: "Huh? Father, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong with you?!"

Nara Shikano pointed at his feet, his fingers trembling violently with rage. "Look at yourself! Look at yourself! How did you even walk into this office?!"

"ha?"

Shikaku looked down at his feet, then at the threshold, utterly bewildered. "I...I walked in..."

"oh?!"

Nara Shikanobu trembled with rage as he approached his son step by step, the pressure of his chakra behind him almost solidifying.

"How dare you! How dare you step into the Hokage's office with your left foot first?!"

"What do you take this place for? Your own backyard?! Where do you place the dignity of the Third Hokage?! Where do you place the village's inherited rules?! Where do you place the sanctity of the Will of Fire?!"

"This is utter intellectual laxity! This is complete moral decay! This is a blatant insult and provocation to the wisdom of the Nara clan!!"

A barrage of accusations, enough to crush anyone, rained down on Nara Shikaku, leaving him completely bewildered and disoriented.

Entering the office...which foot to step in with first...is there such a rule?

How come I didn't know?

When was this clause added to the village's code of law? Why haven't I, a candidate for the future Jonin squad leader, received any notification?

He opened his mouth, his equally intelligent mind about to argue, "Father, logically speaking, this is rather far-fetched."

However, all they saw was a dark shadow flash by.

The next second, the acting Hokage, whose father usually found even taking an extra step troublesome, grabbed him by the collar with speed comparable to the Golden Flash and pulled him out of the pile of documents.

"No manners! Today! I'm going to stand up for the Hokage, who's thousands of miles away working for the village, and teach you a good, thorough lesson on what it means to have respect and order!"

"Bang!"

The office door was kicked shut.

Immediately following this, a one-sided family education began.

"As the heir of the Nara clan! The future leader of the Konoha Jonin team! How can you be so careless about details! So undisciplined! What kind of behavior is this?!"

(Smack!)

"Wait! Dad! No! This doesn't make sense! Waaaaah—don't hit my face! I still need my looks to make a living!"

(Slap! Slap!)

"I'm going to punch your sleepy-looking face! To show you what it means to be fully awake!"

"Ouch! My butt! My butt's going to burst!!"

(Slap! Slap! Slap!)

"You can step with your left foot!"

"That's why you don't pay attention to details!"

"You dare disturb me while I'm contemplating the village's future!"

"I was wrong! I was wrong, Father! I'll never do it again! Help—!!"

From the office came Nara Shikaku's agonizing screams, Nara Shikaku's powerful roar, and the crisp, rhythmic thud of something elastic colliding with a palm.