Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 68 Two Years Later

Two years later.

Konoha 25th year.

June, the sweltering summer.

A small caravan on its way to another country was suddenly attacked by a group of masked thugs. The bodyguards guarding the caravan fought back, including four ninjas hired at high prices from Konoha.

After a fierce battle, they worked together to successfully repel the enemy. Everyone was exhausted and needed to recover their strength.

During the rest period, a Konoha ninja wearing a Chunin uniform walked under a big tree and saw a boy sleeping soundly. He had his legs crossed and a pillow behind his head. He was living a very comfortable life.

However, the more this was the case, the more dissatisfied he became. This guy had been completely indifferent since the start of the battle. While they were fighting tooth and nail, this bastard had simply lay flat on his back. This wasn't some strange descriptive phrase, but a physical act of lying flat:

"Aokiji, why were you just watching during the fight?"

Aokiji raised his eyelids, giving him a look of utter disbelief: "Ha, what are you talking about? I'm a medical ninja who can't even kill a chicken. You want me to fight? Are you out of your mind? Have you ever seen a medical ninja who can fight? My job is simply to treat you when you're seriously injured, nothing more."

"At best, you only know a single palm technique; what kind of medical ninja are you?"

This Chunin's dissatisfaction with Aokiji wasn't just due to his behavior just now, but also stemmed from his accumulated resentment towards Aokiji's lax attitude.

Aokiji ignored him, saying dismissively, "Can you stop your incessant lecturing? It's hurting my eyes. If you have nothing to do, get lost, I want to sleep."

The ninja's resentment towards Aokiji had reached its peak, and he decided to teach him a lesson instead of wasting words.

"Stop! Now is not the time for infighting."

The Jonin leading the mission reprimanded them.

"Captain, please allow me to be willful this once. I'm going to teach him a lesson this time no matter what. As a comrade, I can't allow someone like him to be in the team. What does he think he is as a ninja?"

Ignoring the advice, the chunin raised his leg and slashed downwards in one fluid motion.

At such close range, he was confident that he could catch Aokiji off guard and make him suffer.

Before his leg was about to hit Aokiji's face, he was already impatient to see the other's embarrassed expression.

But things didn't go as he expected. As the white smoke dissipated, only a pillow was left on the ground, and Aokiji himself was already behind him.

Aokiji pointed his sword finger, which he had made into a gun gesture, at the other person's forehead and said jokingly, "You're wrong about two things. First, I never considered you guys as partners. Second, I never wanted to be a ninja."

"So fast."

The Jonin leading the team was astonished by Aokiji's incredible speed.

"hateful."

The Chunin angrily turned around and threw a whip punch.

Aokiji slammed his leg down, creating distance and causing his opponent's attack to miss.

During their standoff, Aokiji grinned and said, "Let me give you some advice. With your strength, I suggest you quit being a ninja and go back to raising pigs. Otherwise, you might die as cannon fodder without even knowing it."

While not highly harmful, the insult was extremely offensive. This Chunin was furious and wanted to fight Aokiji to the death: "Aokiji, don't think you're so great just because you have some ninja skills. You can do whatever you want. Others may indulge you, but I won't."

"Sorry, having talent is amazing..." Aokiji said with a crooked mouth, "I don't think you would understand this feeling."

Aokiji's face was so infuriating that the Chunin was furious. He roared "Yaaaa!" and charged forward to fight Aokiji again.

At that moment, a stern voice rang out in the air: "Stop! Stop fighting!"

The Chunin reluctantly withdrew his attack.

Aokiji shrugged, giving him face, went to get the pillow back, and then found a quiet place to lie down.

"Captain, look at this guy, he's so arrogant! He actually told me to go raise pigs, who does he think he is?"

Watching Aokiji leave, the Chunin were very dissatisfied and tattled on him.

He finally became a ninja with the hopes of his whole family, and now he's going to raise pigs? What a joke!

"Alright, alright, you should say less and not bring your emotions into your work. We can discuss any issues after we finish the mission and get back to the village."

The Jonin leading the team shook his head helplessly.

Although I hate to admit it, having talent really does allow you to do whatever you want.

Aokiji has a terrible reputation in the village, but even so, the Hokage still indulges him and lets him do whatever he wants.

For example, this time, he has lost count of how many times Aokiji has changed teams. No normal person gets this kind of treatment.

"Captain, when we get back, could you please tell the Hokage to replace Aokiji? Someone like him, who has no sense of cooperation and only cares about himself, will only spoil the whole team."

The Chunin's feelings towards Aokiji had reached the point of "it's either him or me, it's either him or me": "He's just someone who has a bloodline limit. What's so great about him? Even if he's stronger than the average person, there are limits. A true ninja should rely on the power of bonds, not on individualism."

"I'll think about it."

The team leader, a Jonin, gave a wry smile. When the Third Hokage entrusted him with this mission, he had confidently assured him that it would be no problem. But how long had it been before he wanted to return it? This was simply unacceptable.

Seeing that he didn't agree, the Chunin continued to react: "Captain, you've said this so many times. To be honest, Aokiji really isn't suitable for us."

"I admit this guy is a genius, but he always shirks his responsibilities. Despite his strong abilities, he always calls himself a medical ninja and hides in the back, unwilling to participate in the battle."

"Rather than having this guy join the team, I'd rather have a mediocre genin. At least with one more person helping out, the target we were escorting would have suffered fewer losses, wouldn't they?"

The team leader remained silent for a long time, then hesitated under the pleading gazes of his team members before finally nodding in agreement: "Sigh, alright, I'll go back and talk to the Third Hokage and have him go to another team."

Chunin breathed a sigh of relief; now he could finally get rid of Aokiji, that scoundrel.

........................

........................

Sitting in his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the application form handed to him by a Jonin and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Aokiji is a child with extraordinary talent. Our small temple cannot contain such a great Buddha. Putting him here would be a waste of his talent. We hope that the Hokage will pay attention to talent cultivation and find someone more capable.

The meaning is euphemistic, but the core message is the same: get rid of Aokiji as soon as possible.

Watching the Jonin leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, opened a drawer, and took out a stack of application forms. These were all application forms left behind by the teams that Aokiji had led, which ultimately ended in unpleasantness.

Hiruzen Sarutobi himself had lost count of how many times this had happened.

When Biwako told him about Aokiji, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately decided to promote Aokiji to the genin rank and sent Tsunade, whom he knew well, to deliver a ninja headband to him.

He originally hoped to gradually influence him through the friendship between his comrades, but Aokiji was much more stubborn than he had imagined and was determined not to become a ninja.

He's either slacking off during a mission or on his way to slacking off, and he often finds various excuses not to participate in missions above level C.

This caused a major headache for all the Jonin who had trained Aokiji, and they all expressed that they did not want to lead a teammate like Aokiji.

But giving up directly is not an option, as Aokiji's talent is too outstanding; he is comparable to Orochimaru, whom he values ​​most.

Moreover, putting that aside, Aokiji's identity is also very suitable for winning him over. He is from the Uchiha clan, but he does not have the Sharingan, and his personality is incompatible with that of ordinary Uchiha.

If we can successfully recruit them, they can definitely serve as an important eye for monitoring the Uchiha clan.

Under the constant admonitions of his mentor Tobirama, and having witnessed firsthand the completely different appearance of his friend Kagami after awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, Hiruzen Sarutobi was extremely wary of the Uchiha clan.

The most effective way to guard against them is to win over members within the Uchiha clan to act as their eyes and ears.

He has successfully won over several Uchiha clan members, including Mizukage, a descendant of Uchiha Kagami. They are all inheritors of the Will of Fire with visions beyond their clan's reach.

But the number is still too small; we need to find a few more eyes to monitor the Uchiha.

(End of this chapter)