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

It was as if it were the clarion call of a new era.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"Squeak—"

The door was pushed open, and Tsunade came out.

Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her face looked tired, but her eyes sparkled with excitement and joy.

"teacher!"

Upon seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi, her voice rose several decibels, "It's a healthy boy! Minato reinforced the Eight Trigrams Seal with the Four Symbols Seal, so the Nine-Tails seal inside Naruto is now very stable. I've checked, and both mother and child are safe!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Tsunade."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded gently, his gaze passing over her and looking into the room.

Inside the room, Minato Namikaze was carefully wiping the sweat from Kushina's forehead; her golden hair looked exceptionally soft under the light.

Kushina Uzumaki, who had just given birth, had her dazzling red hair scattered on the pillow, her face radiant with maternal glow. She held a tiny baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in her arms, gently touching his wrinkled little face with her fingers.

Hashirama Senju squatted by the bed, his head almost touching the baby's navel, muttering to himself with a serious expression:

"Hey, Kyuu, can you hear me? You better behave from now on and don't bully this kid named Naruto, understand? Otherwise, I'll come and chat with you every day..."

Inside the sealed space, Yang Jiuwei, who had just been split in half and was somewhat weakened, trembled involuntarily upon hearing this devilish voice.

It obediently let out a howl, then rolled on the ground very well to show that it had heard.

This adorable act made Minato, who sensed everything through the seal, twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, shook his head, and walked over.

Looking at that tender little life, feeling the immense chakra within it that belonged to Kushina and Minato, and also bore the Nine-Tails' mark, he felt an unprecedented warmth surge within him.

Political intrigue, war, reform, infrastructure...

Ultimately, everything he did was to protect the ordinary yet precious happiness before him.

Protect these lives that can laugh freely under the peaceful sunshine.

"Welcome to this world, Naruto."

He said softly.

The leaves under the night sky are quiet and peaceful.

The houses in the Uchiha clan's territory were arranged in a neat and orderly fashion. The lights in each house were extinguished one by one, leaving only the newly installed chakra streetlights on the street corners, casting a soft orange light.

The evening breeze carried the last wisp of aroma lingering from the barbecue restaurant after it closed, along with the fragrance of flowers and plants in the courtyard.

In an elegant tea room, the black and white pieces on the chessboard were locked in a stalemate.

Fugaku Uchiha, playing black, pondered for a moment, then picked up a piece between his fingers, about to place it.

Across from him, Uchiha Kagami picked up his teacup, gently blew away the floating leaves, and moved with unhurried ease.

A figure suddenly appeared in the shadows beside the two, kneeling on one knee, the white mask reflecting a cold, hard light under the lamp.

"Lord Kagami, Lord Fugaku."

The voice from the shady operation was low but crystal clear: "The target is acting strangely; they seem to be preparing... to escape."

Fugaku's hand, which was holding the chess piece, stopped in mid-air. He didn't look at the ANBU member; his gaze remained fixed on the chessboard.

He placed the black stone, neither too lightly nor too heavily, on the center point of the chessboard.

"Smack."

The crisp sound of the pieces being placed was the only noise in this tranquility.

"understood."

Uchiha Kagami put down his teacup, his voice gentle, as if he had expected this, "Proceed according to plan."

"Yes." The figure from the Dark Division melted into the shadows and disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed.

Fugaku stood up, straightened his collar, and calmly looked out the window at the quiet neighborhood.

"After acting for so long, it's time for the curtain to fall."

He said calmly, "It's a pity, I just laid new bluestone slabs in that courtyard."

Uchiha Kagami smiled and stood up as well: "It's alright, Danzo can just send a construction team to repair it later. He's been having trouble finding a place to practice his new type of concrete lately."

The two walked out of the teahouse side by side, the night breeze slightly cool.

Dozens of dark figures, like ghosts, silently gathered from every corner of the Uchiha clan's territory, following behind them without making a sound.

……

At the same time, inside that closely monitored, secluded courtyard.

Uchiha Ran, or rather, the man now known as Mine, was sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat, meditating with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, a sudden, inexplicable palpitation gripped him.

It was an indescribable sense of separation, originating from the depths of the soul.

It was as if a thread that had been bound to his soul for a long time had been cleanly and decisively cut off with the sharpest scissors.

That thread connected his entire faith and was the cornerstone of his existence.

It's Lord Black Zetsu.

It was the Master who pulled him back from the brink of death, gave him a new life, taught him strength, and showed him the path to "true peace"!

The contact... has been lost?

Uchiha Ran's body froze, his mind went blank.

How could that be?

Lord Black Zetsu's plan was flawless. He had been lying low for a thousand years, manipulating countless powerful figures. He was the true chess player hiding in the shadows of history.

Tonight's plan, with the combined power of the Evil God Cult and the involvement of a powerful figure like Sasori of the Red Sand, how could it possibly succeed...?

An absurd thought, one he absolutely refused to believe, popped up uncontrollably.

Could it be... that they lost?

The moment this thought appeared, it was like a black lightning bolt that shattered his entire mental world.

Over the past few years, in his disguised life in Konoha, those fragments of memories belonging to Uchiha Ran that he had deliberately suppressed surged forth at this moment.

He remembered the battlefield stained with the blood of his comrades, and the resolute way he faced the enemy's attack to protect Kakashi and Obito.

He also recalled the patient and persuasive words spoken by Black Zetsu when he was awakened from the darkness.

"This world is already corrupt, and the so-called Will of Fire is nothing but a lie woven by the rulers."

"Look at this, the Uchiha bloodline, which should be the noblest, is only able to be controlled by the village."

"Only the Eye of the Moon can bring true peace, without war, without sacrifice..."

He believed it.

He took that distorted teaching as the only truth.

But now, the source of truth has disappeared.

A chilling, bone-deep coldness crept up his spine and swept over his entire body in an instant.

He felt as if he had been forcibly shaken awake from a long dream, only to find himself standing naked on the edge of a cliff, with a bottomless abyss below.

run!

That was the only thought left in his mind.

He didn't even have time to think about Black Zetsu's life or death, nor did he have time to mourn his collapsing faith.

The instinct for survival had completely taken over his body.

The boy suddenly leaped up from the ground, his movements so fast that they left a series of afterimages.

Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed a pre-prepared scroll from beside the bed, smashed the wooden window behind him, and lunged towards the deepest darkness outside the courtyard.

As long as I can escape Konoha... as long as I can...