Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 344 Aokiji Returns to Konoha

Outside Konoha Village in the Land of Fire.

From this vantage point atop a high mountain, one can glimpse the entirety of Konoha Village; the buildings, standing side by side, appear as tiny as ants from afar.

Aokiji looked down from a height of several thousand meters above the ground, his gaze slowly moving from the center of the village to the outskirts far from the village center. Unlike the brightly lit center, there were only scattered lights here.

"Hmph, even after so many years, Konoha hasn't changed much. It's still as rotten and decaying as ever."

As if he wanted to destroy it with his own hands, Qing Zhi stretched out his hand and shook it hard.

"Is this the village where Lord Aokiji once lived?"

Judging from the disdainful tone of the voice, Crane Wing Snow could tell that the person in front of her seemed to have many grudges against Konoha.

"I'm going back to the village to see my old friends. I'm sure they'll have a very interesting look on their faces when they see me."

Tsurugi Fubuki looked at Aokiji with an innocent smile on his face. If one didn't know him, one would surely naively think that the person in front of him was a sunny and cheerful young man...

"And what about me?"

Crane Wing Snowflakes pointed to his own nose, awaiting his mission.

Aokiji covered his head, looking as if he had forgotten about it: "Oh dear, I was so excited about going back to the village that I forgot."

Crane Wing Snow, who had been fawning over him all the way, pouted and looked sullen: "Am I really that invisible?"

"Sorry, sorry..." Aokiji laughed heartily, "You can help me gather information."

Crane Wing Snowflakes was startled: "What intelligence?"

Aokiji said calmly, "A powerful individual, but not a ninja belonging to a specific faction."

Crane Wing Snow speculated, "Lord Aokiji, what's going on...?"

With a smile, Aokiji patiently explained, "Well, I plan to create an organization, an organization dedicated to peace..."

Unlike his past creation of the Phantom Troupe, which was more of a hobby, this time he intends to seriously cultivate a force of his own.

"ha?"

Crane Wing Snowflakes was a little confused.

Aokiji looked at him with a strange expression. This man, who could so easily and casually slaughter Fuuka and Natashiro, didn't seem like a peace-loving person at all...

Tsurugi Fubuki voiced her concern: "People like this are often very difficult to tame..."

"It doesn't matter, I'll take action."

Aokiji's calm voice, brimming with absolute confidence, said, "You just need to report the information to me..."

"Yes……"

"Then it's up to you..."

As Aokiji spoke leisurely, he walked to the edge of the cliff, below which lay a bottomless abyss. If he were to fall, he would be smashed to pieces.

However, such a simple truth seemed to be ignored by Aokiji, who jumped down without even blinking.

His actions startled Tsurugi Fubuki, who immediately ran to the vicinity of the cliff, lowered her head, and hurriedly called out in a worried voice, "Lord Aokiji—!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a huge, dark blue figure suddenly appeared from below. It was over ten meters tall, with its arms outstretched horizontally, as if it were a bird spreading its wings and taking flight.

Supported by a massive amount of chakra, the Soul Flame even possesses the ability to fly.

"This is..."

The crane-winged snowflakes trembled in the pupils. A young man stood leisurely on the shoulder of the deep blue giant, his expression calm. His brown cloak fluttered in the wind, making a rustling sound.

Probably feeling the concern of his subordinates just now, Qingzhi turned his face and smiled at Heyi Chuixue.

Tsurugi Fubuki's face flushed, and she covered her shoulders with her hands, muttering to herself like a lovesick fool: "What a charming man! I must work hard to win Aokiji-sama's favor."

……

……

Above the clouds, the soul flame, with outstretched arms, flew towards Konoha. Soon it entered Konoha's airspace.

The Aokiji atop the Soul Flame had its scarlet, snowflake-shaped eyes wide open.

Under the gaze of those eyes, a transparent barrier unfolded around Konoha, revealing itself clearly.

"A barrier, is it...?"

With his chin resting on the back of his hand, Aokiji could easily be detected by the village's barrier if he approached directly.

"Hmph, just what I wanted..."

Aokiji's lips curled up; he had no intention of hiding anything anyway.

Since we're going to make a scene, the bigger the better.

He wanted to see how the Konoha leadership would deal with him now.

He'll see it all through to the end.

Aokiji wanted to make the Konoha leadership realize that in the face of absolute power, all schemes and tricks are utterly useless.

Snowflake-shaped pupils, flashing red light, exude an eerie and ominous aura against the backdrop of darkness.

"Spiriti fire, say hello to everyone."

As the sound dispelled the darkness, the Soul Flame ceased its flight and plummeted downwards, breaking through the semi-circular transparent barrier like a falling meteorite, and hurtling straight in.

Inside the barrier chamber, the ninja in white robes sensed an extremely powerful surge of chakra breaking through the barrier. He abruptly raised his head, his eyes snapping open, and shouted:

"not good--!"

Upon hearing this, the ninja who was idly playing cards immediately stopped and asked urgently, "What happened?"

"Enemy attack—!"

"What?!"

"Something extremely large fell from the sky, broke through the barrier, and is falling towards the outskirts of the village."

"Could it be a tailed beast—!"

This type of attack was something Konoha had only experienced once before, during the Five-Tails attack. Once bitten, twice shy, they naturally thought in that direction.

"I don't know. All I know is that judging from the chakra it reflects, it seems to possess chakra comparable to that of a tailed beast, but..."

"Just what!?"

"But it's somewhat different from the Tailed Beasts..."

"Damn it, are we going to see the tragedy of the past repeat itself?!"

"Don't panic, you all hurry and inform the Hokage, and at the same time head over there."

"What is the exact location?"

"Uh...it seems to be near the Uchiha clan's territory."

"what?"

Everyone was taken aback. Even if it was an enemy attack, shouldn't they be heading towards the center of the village?

Why did they choose that location? Not only is it remote, but the Uchiha clan lives there.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go!"

The barrier ninja urged.

"Yes."

After everyone left, only a few barrier ninjas remained in the room. They closed their eyes and prayed that the tragic scene of the past would not repeat itself.

……

……

Uchiha clan.

To avoid arousing the vigilance of Konoha's higher-ups, the Uchiha clan maintained their usual habits, continuing their activities within the clan as usual. Occasionally, a few clan members would walk on the road, chatting and laughing.

"boom."

A deafening roar shook the heavens, and the nearest Uchiha clansmen rushed over. They saw a huge, humanoid shadow outlined in the thick fog, kneeling on one knee.

Immediately afterwards, as if sensing something approaching, the humanoid monster turned its face, and a cross-shaped emerald light spread from its eyes, exuding an ominous aura.

Under that gaze, the first Uchiha clan members to arrive were all terrified, their faces extremely solemn as they exclaimed, "What kind of monster is this?!"

A Uchiha member with a buzz cut added, "No matter how you look at it, he's not a good guy."

Another Uchiha member with bangs nodded slightly: "We need to find a way to stall this guy and make sure he doesn't get near the clan's territory, where there are women, children, and elderly people."

As they were talking, perhaps because the enormous monster in front of them was too obvious, they suddenly realized that there was a white-haired boy on the monster's back.

He sat on the monster's shoulder with one foot raised and the other dangling in the air, looking completely relaxed.

One of the Uchiha members, who was looking up at the crowd, immediately demanded in a sharp voice, "Who are you?!"

Aokiji lowered his gaze and squinted. Judging from the three-comma patterns on the eyes of these people, they were clearly his clansmen.

"snort……"

Aokiji smiled and, without responding, unleashed his soul fire to attack them, deciding to play along.

(End of this chapter)