Naruto: Starting from Eating the Gold Fruit

Chapter 444 Observations in the Square

When Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju stepped out of the subway station, their eyes widened as they looked at the towering buildings in front of them. Their first reaction upon seeing them was simply, "Big!"

A huge square.

The subway entrance faces a huge plaza. After going down ten steps, the ground is a smooth, flat surface paved with square tiles.

Several children were playing a shooting game with water guns in the square, while a few men sitting on the stairs nearby were playing on their phones. They were clearly the children's caregivers. The water from the water guns sprayed onto the floor, and the smooth floor even reflected the images of the tall buildings.

Further ahead, a circular fountain was constantly spouting water, and in the center was a stone tablet. At the top of the tablet was written the words "Konoha Inner City South Subway Station," and below the tablet were engraved names in small characters. However, with the abilities of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, they could see that the small characters on the tablet were personal names.

The top rows are:

The words "[Konoha Engineering Department 1]", "[Konoha Engineering Department 2]", "[Konoha Construction Team 1]", and "[Konoha General Engineering Team]" appear in small print, resembling group names, while below them are individual names.

Further ahead, there's an arc-shaped plaza with roadside shops selling all sorts of snacks, drinks, and even phone screen protectors and repair services.

Looking further ahead, one can see a series of arched passages leading to various points, with archways made of steel. Passersby are passing through these archways to enter and exit the inner city of Konoha.

The population of Konoha's inner city is approaching ten million. Of course, not all of these ten million people have inner city residency; many live in the outer city but work in the inner city.

After exiting the archway, there were rows of huge trees, which seemed to have been man-made. Each of these giant trees looked to be at least ten meters tall, but they were nothing compared to the towering skyscrapers in the distance.

Those tall buildings have a very strong visual impact.

"This...this is Konoha?"

They were speechless after just one quick glance from the subway station entrance.

Orochimaru smiled smugly. Although this city was built under Yua's command, tell me whether this city has anything to do with him or not.

After all, Orochimaru had served as the head of the research department for many years. In the first ten years of the village's development, many things were developed thanks to his research.

And putting everything else aside, the 4G technology that Konoha is currently using... well, even though it was created by another version of myself from another world who was captured by Yua and forced to work illegally here, you tell me, isn't that Orochimaru?

In short, Orochimaru also contributed to this city.

Therefore, Orochimaru's pride was not without reason.

"Let's go inside and take a look. The outside is quite impressive, but the inside is even more amazing..."

Just as Orochimaru was about to lead the two big shots inside, one of them called out to a passerby who was playing on his phone.

"Hello, may I ask about that stone tablet?"

"Hey! Didn't you agree to stay by my side?!" Orochimaru couldn't sit still any longer when he saw Hashirama Senju directly asking a passerby.

He and Tobirama Senju quickly went over.

The person playing on their phone waved impatiently, "It's just a broken stone tablet, what's there to know? It's all written on it, it's what was built when... wait, you're not from Konoha?"

The man, who was playing on his phone, belatedly realized what was happening.

Hashirama Senju was taken aback, then thought for a moment and said, "My family left Konoha Village more than forty years ago, and I'm only just returning now."

Upon hearing this, the man looked at Hashirama Senju with pity: "So that's how it is. More than forty years ago, hmm, it couldn't have been during the reign of that unfortunate Second Hokage, could it?"

Hashirama Senju paused, scratched his cheek, and said, "Hmm, maybe even earlier."

Tobirama Senju was getting angry. He walked over and shouted, "What did you say? What did you call the Second Hokage?!"

The man looked at Hashirama and then at Tobirama, shook his head with a smile, then stood up, cleared his throat and coughed, then patted the shoulder of the middle-aged strong man that Hashirama had transformed into: "I understand, I understand. When the village was first established, the entire ninja world was not peaceful. Later, the Second Hokage took office, and Inui was not very good, and a war broke out. At that time, there were indeed many people who left Konoha to live in other places."

These people have been causing quite a stir in recent years. When the Third Hokage asked them to return and give them Konoha's inner city residency, they refused. Later, in the 30th year of Konoha, the Hokage said that anyone who returned would be allocated housing and given money, but not many people came back. Now they want to return, but they no longer have residency and won't receive any money. You're probably in the same situation, right?

Hashirama Senju fell into thought, thinking about his little courtyard...

It should still be considered his, right...?

Hmm, but he's already dead, so does that count or not?

Tobirama Senju didn't care about any of that; he only had one focus:

"Putting all that aside, what did you just say about the Second Hokage's performance being lackluster?!" Tobirama Senju's face was filled with murderous intent. "Was it because the Third Hokage said something inappropriate?!"

The man looked Tobirama Senju up and down, transforming into a burly man using the Transformation Technique, and then laughed: "Could it be that you're actually related to the Second Hokage? I think so too. After all, the Second Hokage was a Hokage. There's no reason why his only relative would be Shizune, who was learning medicine from Lady Tsunade."

At this point, the man muttered a complaint under his breath: "Speaking of which, Miss Shizune's talent for medicine isn't that great. I heard she gave the wrong needle to a patient a few years ago."

Hashirama and Tobirama's expressions immediately turned strange.

The man coughed, glanced at his son who was having a water fight with his friends with a water gun, and then pulled the two men to sit down under a small awning in front of a fruit tea shop.

"Hey, don't be angry. The Third Hokage has never said a bad word about the Second Hokage. But our villagers have sharp eyes. Look, the Third Hokage has developed Konoha into what it is today in just forty years. If the Second Hokage had succeeded the Third Hokage, I don't even want to think about what Konoha would have become!"

The man pointed to the fountain monument in the middle of the square: "Tell me about that monument. In the 33rd year of Konoha, the subway reached here. The Hokage felt sorry for every craftsman who worked day and night and decided to give them a chance to make a name for themselves. He wrote the names of every craftsman who participated in the construction on it. Oh, by the way, my grandfather and my father's names are on it. Every time we drink, my grandfather tells me about what happened back then."

"Tsk tsk, it's a shame there aren't any good deals like that anymore, otherwise I'd pay to get involved!"

The man slapped his thigh, looking regretful, wishing he had been born thirty years earlier.

(End of this chapter)