Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 64 You'll Regret It

Perhaps feeling intimidated by an old man, Lan Ren felt it was beneath the dignity of the royal family. He mustered his courage, walked around to Elder Itachi's front, pointed at his nose, and said, "Hey, old man, don't you know you just bumped into me?"

Elder Itachi shook his head. What an arrogant brat!

In my memory, most nobles seem to have this kind of personality. Even though their strength is not even comparable to that of a low-ranking ninja, they are more arrogant than anyone else. I don't know where they get their courage.

"Damn it, they all look down on me!" Lan Ren stomped his feet in anger, filled with impotent rage.

The girls here look down on him, the boys despise him, and now even an old man dares to disregard him.

This was something he, who had been pampered since childhood, simply could not accept.

Just then, the servant he had sent away, perhaps because he was worried, came running over. Lanren was overjoyed to see this and ordered the servant to teach this old geezer a lesson, to let him taste the consequences of ignoring him.

This wasn't the first time he'd done something like this in his territory. If he didn't like someone, he'd have his men teach them a lesson, or even beat them to death. He didn't feel any psychological pressure about it.

Before coming, Huang Ren had warned Lan Ren more than once about the power of ninjas and that he should not treat them like normal people. However, because he had grown up in that kind of environment, his contempt for ninjas was not something that could be easily changed overnight.

Sometimes, simply reasoning with people isn't enough.

That's why Huang Ren sent his son not only to gain the power of the Senju clan, but also to teach his son a lesson and make him truly value ninjas.

Being a nobleman comes with a lot of room for trial and error, but he may not know that in the world of ninjas, a single mistake can be fatal.

Elder Itachi had no interest in continuing to waste time talking nonsense with such an arrogant brat, so he simply disappeared, leaving Lanren staring blankly. Perhaps finding this more amusing, he even changed his mind at the last minute.

…………

…………

The next day, early in the morning.

Hiruzen Sarutobi woke up in bed, ate a simple breakfast, and dressed in his Hokage outfit.

As he walked along the road, everyone in the village recognized him and bowed to show their respect.

Hiruzen Sarutobi enjoyed the feeling, showing a friendly and kind smile to solidify his persona, and then, as usual, went to the Hokage's office with ease.

Having been Hokage for some time now, he's become increasingly adept at handling all the big and small matters in the village. He even manages to squeeze out a little time to steal a moment of leisure, slowly sipping green tea, watching the crystal ball, and peeking at a young and beautiful girl. His life couldn't be more comfortable.

"What a leisurely day..."

With no one around, Hiruzen Sarutobi stretched and silently smirked, "I really want to find something to do."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the office door was suddenly flung open with a bang, followed by an urgent voice: "It's terrible, Third Hokage! Something horrible has happened!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi choked on his tea and coughed several times before recovering: "What happened?"

The ninja standing at the door hesitated for a moment before saying, "That Prince Ren's son, Prince Lanren, has become an idiot."

"What? It turned white... Wait, what did you say?"

The news struck like a bolt from the blue. Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened in disbelief: "What happened?"

"I just received the news. According to the servants who brought Prince Lanren with him, he was fine yesterday, but when he woke up, his eyes were glazed over, he was drooling, and he was occasionally babbling incoherently. Sometimes he would even..."

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed.

"Uh...eating feces, it tastes really good."

Hearing this so early in the morning made Hiru Sarutobi feel a little nauseous after finishing breakfast. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then came to his senses and composed himself, saying, "I understand. I'll head over right now."

He had barely stepped out the door when someone ran up to him, pointed at his nose, and demanded sharply, "Lord Hokage, you owe us an explanation."

The newcomer had an unusual hairstyle, resembling a bald man, but he was different from a typical bald man. After all, most bald men have a receding hairline or a bald patch on the sides of their forehead. His baldness was distinctive, starting from the sides of his forehead and extending to the top of his head, leaving his scalp exposed in a crescent shape.

Although it looks bizarre, this hairstyle has a beautiful name: chonmage (or chonmage).

He was a retainer of Lanren and accompanied him to Konoha.

The fact that a person in Konoha Village suddenly turned into an idiot is something that Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Hokage, undeniably bears responsibility for.

"I know, please believe me, I will do everything in my power to save Prince Lanren."

Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the hospital as quickly as possible, and as soon as he saw Lan Ren, he couldn't help but cover his nose.

A foul, fecal odor wafted from Lanren's mouth, indicating that he had eaten quite a bit before being discovered to have become an idiot.

Several retainers of the Choshinaga immediately stepped forward upon seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi, their brows furrowed and eyes blazing, questioning him sharply with intense words.

They did this not only to blame Hiruzen Sarutobi for failing to protect Ranren, but also to shirk responsibility and pin the blame on Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was the host.

To some extent, these retainers also bear some responsibility for failing to protect their master, which warrants seppuku.

Since becoming Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had never suffered such humiliation. However, since people were treated like idiots in his place, he had an inescapable responsibility and could only humbly accept the endless nagging and criticism from a group of people of lower status than himself.

Fortunately, Danzo, a close friend, couldn't stand it any longer. He stood up and shouted, "Enough! This isn't the time for blame. Nobody wanted this situation. The most important thing is to find the culprit and get timely treatment. If this delays things, can you people take responsibility?"

"What do you mean by delaying? It's as if we're responsible too." The retainer in charge retorted, "Let me tell you, this matter is not over. If your village cannot cure Prince Lanren, we will definitely appeal to Prince Huangren. If he knew that his precious son had become like this, he would definitely not trust you anymore. We can't guarantee how much budget he will allocate then."

"Don't try to threaten Konoha with this. No one can escape responsibility for what happened."

The group of retainers of the Choshiro-no-kami clan wanted to offer another explanation.

Danzo unleashed a murderous aura that seemed to have been emanating from a pile of corpses. Wherever his one eye swept, the retainers of the Choshinaga family who met his gaze had never seen such a sight before. They were as if they had been struck by a sword and immediately fell silent.

Soon, the voices of criticism gradually faded away.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, having gotten a brief respite, cast a grateful glance at his old buddy.

Danzo was unmoved and snorted coldly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's appeasement attitude was quite displeasing to him. How could the Hokage of Konoha be reprimanded by a few retainers whose status was far lower than his own?

It doesn't matter if Hiruzaru Sarutobi loses this face, but Konoha can't afford to lose this face.

Now that Tobirama-sensei is gone, there is no one to shelter them, his disciples. As disciples, they must become independent and shoulder the burden of the village.

And even if Konoha is at fault in this regard, are the retainers who protected Lanren also at fault?

Therefore, Danzo was very confident and did not believe that Konoha had done anything wrong.

In a hospital room, Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Danzo, "Thank you for earlier."

Danzo, unimpressed, said, "Don't flatter yourself. I'm doing this all for Konoha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply. He really wanted to slap himself. What was he pretending for? Now that something big had happened, he got straight to the point: "What exactly is the situation with Prince Lanren?"

Danzo's expression was solemn: "The examination results show that I've been under a genjutsu."

"Illusion?"

"Yes, it's an extremely powerful mental illusion. Under the immense mental impact, Lan Ren, an ordinary person, couldn't handle the strain and was turned into an idiot."

Is there any hope?

"There is no cure."

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Do you know who did it?"

Danzo shook his head, his expression grave: "The killer is extremely skilled; even after peering into Ranmaru's memories, we couldn't find the slightest clue."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked worried: "I didn't expect Konoha to have such a powerful spy. What is his purpose?"

Danzo snorted: "Isn't it obvious? Instigating conflict between Konoha and the Daimyo."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed even more deeply: "What should we do?"

"Put the matter of spies aside for now, Hiruzen. I'm asking you, what are you going to do with these retainers?"

"What else can we do? Of course, we should appease him first, and then think of a way to treat Lanren's brain."

"Foolish, this idiot is beyond saving, what's the point of trying to appease him? I think we should just..."

Danzo had a deathly expression on his face, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted, "Stop! Don't escalate this!"

Danzo coldly replied, "Wrong. What I'm doing now is minimizing the escalation of the situation. If Lanren's mind remains unresolved for a long time, what do you think they'll say when Prince Huangren asks about it?"

"Do not kill innocent people indiscriminately."

"This is for the village."

"That won't work either."

"Hiruzen, you'll regret this."

"I am now the Hokage."

(End of this chapter)