Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 411 Sarutobi Asuma

The Land of Fire, Daimyo Prefecture.

That night, the crescent moon was in full bloom.

On the rooftop, a young man with black hair, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was idly puffing away.

Under the eaves, soldiers clad in armor and wielding spears patrolled in an orderly fashion.

The former was one of the twelve warriors who protected the daimyo, and was highly skilled in martial arts. The latter was a soldier of the daimyo's mansion. Together, they formed the defense of the daimyo's mansion, which was so tight that even a fly could hardly get in.

"Buzzing..."

The young man, who was smoking a cigarette, slapped himself in the face, then released his grip, revealing a dead mosquito in his palm.

"Asuma, looks like you're quite popular..."

A mocking voice came from behind. The young man called Asma turned around and saw a man walking towards him. His shiny bald head was particularly conspicuous in the darkness.

His name is Jiraiya, a rare ninja monk, and arguably Asuma's best friend.

"Come on, I don't want to attract mosquitoes." Asma retorted, "I think mosquitoes should like you more, since you don't have any hair."

Di Lu smiled upon hearing this, then his face darkened: "Recently, things have been going on with Ma..."

Asuma's smile faded slightly upon hearing this: "I know..."

Kazuma, like him, belonged to one of the Twelve Guardians of the Ninja Guardians. Recently, they had a falling out over the question of the meaning of the Hokage's existence.

"Sigh, how did things have to come to this..."

"Who knows? Let me go back to the village first, and then we can discuss this again."

The old man in the village wrote a letter, urging him to return to the village at all costs.

"Then you should rest well today. I'll take over the shift here."

The Twelve Guardians operate on a rotating system, protecting the daimyo 24 hours a day.

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

Asuma did not refuse. He trusted Jiru's strength, and besides, he lived nearby so he could arrive immediately if anything happened.

Asma rolled over a few times, went straight back into the house, washed up briefly, and then lay down.

He dozed off for a while, and somehow the window opened, the curtains fluttered, and the night wind slipped in, along with a faint sound—not the wind, but something else.

Asuma's eyes widened suddenly, and he threw the blanket out the window, using it as cover to assume a confrontational stance.

"Relax a little."

A man's voice rang out leisurely, but hearing this only made Asma more nervous: "Who are you?"

Asma stared intently at the speaker. Under the moonlight, his white hair shone faintly, and his handsome face was the kind that was hard to forget at first glance.

Besides him, there was a young man standing beside him, with black hair and a handsome face. He looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, quite young.

This strange combination piqued Esma's curiosity.

The white-haired youth's eyes revealed the Sharingan with three tomoe: "My name is Uchiha Aokiji, you should have heard of me."

After saying that, he introduced another black-haired boy, "His name is Uchiha Itachi."

Asuma remembered the name "Aokiji" from a letter the old man sent him. Aokiji was supposed to be dead, but he had recently been resurrected for some unknown reason.

"You're here in the middle of the night, you can't just be wandering around aimlessly after having nothing better to do."

Asuma eased the tense atmosphere with a joke: "Besides, this is the Daimyo Prefecture, not a place where just anyone can come in."

Although they are from the same village, it doesn't seem normal for the other person to appear here in this way.

Aokiji laughed and said, "Of course, I'm not that bored. It's just that I need your help with something."

Asuma's expression turned strange, a vague sense of foreboding rising within him: "What kind of busywork?"

"As someone who grew up in Konoha, you should know about the Uchiha's current predicament."

Asma nodded, not denying it.

Aokiji said meaningfully, "And my busy work is so that you can help the Uchiha clan change this predicament."

Hearing this, Asuma breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat relieved. He had thought Asuma wanted him to help with something: "I sympathize with your situation, but even I am powerless to help in this matter."

Although he is the Hokage's son, he has little say in village internal affairs.

"No, it's possible. You just need to become Hokage."

Asuma paused for a moment, then realized what was going on, and gave a bitter smile: "If that's the case, then forget it. I not only have no interest in being Hokage, but my personality is also not suitable for the position."

Aokiji couldn't help but laugh when he saw that the other party had misunderstood something.

"whee……"

Asuma frowned, a sinister glint in his voice: "What are you laughing at...?"

"I think you've misunderstood me."

Asma asked in a deep voice, "What do you mean?"

"When I say I'm becoming Hokage, I'm referring to myself, not someone else."

"What!" Asuma exclaimed in surprise.

"For this, I need your help." Aokiji squinted, maintaining a smile. "With your strong support, as the son of the Hokage, I think I should have a very good chance of becoming Hokage."

Asuma recalled the old man's letter mentioning the new Hokage, and combined with Aokiji's current statement, everything became clear.

Aokiji hoped that his son, the Hokage, would say a few words to his father and influence the Hokage's decisions.

Asma didn't get involved in politics much and didn't know how many intricacies it involved, but one thing was certain: her father wouldn't let a few words from her influence the resolution of the matter.

"Putting aside other reasons, even if I support you, the effect would be minimal, perhaps even negligible. I don't understand where your confidence comes from?"

"Don't underestimate yourself; your energy is greater than you think."

Asma asked, puzzled, "What's the reason?"

"That's a good question," Aokiji said, "but before answering that, I have something else to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Itachi," Aokiji gestured.

Itachi nodded, raised his sword finger, and his Sharingan eyes spun rapidly.

Asma was startled, realizing that his surroundings had unknowingly changed.

Aokiji reminded him, "Don't worry, this isn't some kind of genjutsu. It's one of the abilities of the Sharingan, which allows you to project what your eyes see like a movie."

As soon as he finished speaking, Asuma found himself in a room where four people were sitting together, and in front of them was a black-haired boy kneeling on one knee.

These four old men were none other than high-ranking officials of Konoha: Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and the Third Hokage, who was also his father, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

And that black-haired boy was Uchiha Itachi.

At this moment, what Konoha's top brass told Itachi was simply horrifying.

The Uchiha clan was planning a coup, and the higher-ups intended to exterminate the entire clan.

Immediately afterwards, the scene changed, and Danzo was secretly giving Itachi the order to kill all his clansmen.

Then, the screen went blank.

Aokiji said, "Now you know why I want to become Hokage. For the sake of my clan, I must become Hokage."

"There must be some misunderstanding."

Asma couldn't believe that such a thing had happened in the village while he was away.

"This is not something that can be easily dismissed as a misunderstanding."

"...What do you want me to do?"

"I didn't do anything, I just wanted you to do the same thing as Itachi."

(End of this chapter)