Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 338 Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara, Banne arrives at Konoha Village.

The Land of Fire, Konoha Village.

Inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi was smoking a pipe, holding a crystal ball in his hand, his expression slightly lewd, and his old face slightly flushed, as if he were a little shy.

The scene inside the crystal ball was quite explosive.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi, that old lecher, was causing trouble, there was a knock on the door of the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly skilled through practice, showing no sign of panic. With a gentle flick of his wrist, the crystal ball returned to its original state. He casually placed it on the table, then opened a file and, adopting an air of working, said, "Come in."

As he finished speaking, the office door opened, and Nara Shikaku walked in.

He glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "Third Hokage, I suggest you refrain from doing things that damage the Hokage's reputation while working."

Hiruzen Sarutobi blushed, but stubbornly retorted, "I don't understand what you're saying!"

"Thirty minutes ago, when I came here to report to you about the Daimyo's allocation of funds for this joint Chunin Exams, this crystal ball was still on the bookshelf, wasn't it?" Nara Shikaku bluntly exposed Hiruzen Sarutobi's pretense.

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi said somewhat helplessly, "You shouldn't be focusing all your observation skills on what changes are happening in this old man's office."

"This is just my thoughtfulness as the leader of the Jonin class," Nara Shikaku replied.

He didn't dwell on the matter much. Having worked with Hiruzen Sarutobi for many years, he was already used to his Hokage's unreliable behavior.

"Ahem," Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed lightly, then asked, "What's the matter this time?"

"The letters of intent from each village for the Joint Chunin Exams have been tallied. Unfortunately, apart from Sunagakure, which is co-hosting the exams with us, the other three major villages have no intention of participating. However, apart from them, many smaller villages with insufficient strength have expressed their willingness to send suitable personnel to participate, including Amegakure, Kusagakure, Takigakure, and Otogakure from the Land of Rice Fields," said Nara Shikaku.

"The Sound Village in the Land of Rice Fields?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze sharpened, and he said in a deep voice, "The Anbu have a secret investigation report that suspects Orochimaru founded the Sound Village. Are you aware of this?"

"I've heard of it," Nara Shikaku nodded.

However, after a pause, he continued, "But regardless of whether Orochimaru actually founded this village, it has now been recognized by the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields and is a legitimate ninja village within the Land of Rice Fields. Furthermore, our Land of Fire has established diplomatic relations with the Land of Rice Fields, so at least procedurally, we have no suitable reason to deny their right to participate in the Chunin Exams."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "I'm not trying to refuse them from participating in the Chunin Exams, I just want to remind you to pay more attention to them and take them more seriously."

"Understood," Nara Shikaku nodded.

After finishing the discussion, Nara Shikaku paused for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it's not appropriate for me to say this, but I still have to remind you that recently, there seems to be some Danzo-sama on the advisor's side that you should be wary of."

"Danzo?" Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly, then said, "Although we have some differences in ideology, I believe he would not do anything to harm the village."

Nara Shikaku felt somewhat helpless upon hearing this, but considering that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo had indeed been friends for decades and had once been comrades who could entrust their lives to each other on the battlefield, there were some things that even Hiruzen Sarutobi's confidant couldn't say.

After considering it for a while, Nara Shikaku said, "In short, you should be careful."

"I understand," Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a smile.

Without dwelling on Danzo's matter, Nara Shikaku quickly adjusted his mindset and asked with a smile, "I heard that Jiraiya-sama has contacted you?"

"Oh!" Hiruzen Sarutobi became happy when this was mentioned. "That brat hasn't been back for a long time. He contacted me recently saying he wanted to come back and rest for a while. I'm really looking forward to it."

"Hehehe, are you looking forward to handing over the heavy responsibility of Hokage to him, so you can spend your days hugging the crystal ball?" Nara Shikaku teased with a chuckle.

"How dare you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?" Hijiri Sarutobi glared at Shikaku Nara with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, but then smiled and said, "But I do indeed have such intentions. Isn't Jiraiya very suitable to be the Hokage?"

"Lord Jiraiya is indeed very suitable. Although he has been away from the village for a long time and has picked up some bad habits from the Third Hokage, everyone respects him very much," Nara Shikaku said without hesitation.

"What do you mean by 'having picked up some bad habits' with me? Why do you keep bringing this up?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's face flushed red again as he slammed his fist on the table in exasperation.

"Hahahaha." Nara Shikaku could tell that he had a very good relationship with this old Hokage, so he laughed twice without caring.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly helpless against him. On one hand, he was close to Shikaku Nara. On the other hand, Shikaku Nara was not only the leader of the Jonin class, holding a high position and great power, but also the head of the prestigious Nara clan.

Even the Hokage has to show him some respect.

"In short, you also need to communicate with the others this time. After that bastard Jiraiya returns, I will declare that I am seriously ill and unable to continue serving as Hokage. At that time, you will take the lead, with the Jonin class and the major clans, to surround Jiraiya and put pressure on him. As for the advisors and higher-ups, I will handle that personally. In short, once Jiraiya returns, don't let him escape again!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said seriously.

It's clear that he genuinely wants to hand over the Hokage position to Jiraiya, and he's not just saying it.

"I understand," Nara Shikaku replied with a smile.

"Speaking of which, it seems there's some information about Lady Tsunade in the Land of Birds," Nara Shikaku suddenly changed the subject.

Mentioning Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned slightly wistful as he said, "Tsunade? She never contacts me. Unlike Jiraiya, she has given up her identity as a ninja. I can't force her to do anything. Perhaps, the village is also a place of sorrow in her heart."

Nara Shikaku originally wanted to say something more, but seeing the situation, he knew it was inappropriate to say more, so he said, "I still have some things to take care of, so I won't bother the Third Hokage any longer."

"Oh, go ahead and get busy," Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly, waving his hand dismissively.

After Nara Shikaku left, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't play with his crystal ball anymore. Instead, he stood up, walked to the window, looked at the Hokage Rock across the way, and his expression gradually became serious.

"Danzo." After a long while, he murmured softly.

Time flies, and the date for the Chunin Exams in Konoha is drawing ever closer. With the upcoming grand event, the entire village of Konoha is bustling with activity. Because the Chunin Exams are highly entertaining and a testament to strength, they are always open to the public. As a result, tourists from all over the world gather in Konoha during this period.

In Konoha's commercial street, many temporary tables and chairs were set up in front of Ichiraku Ramen's food stall, and as lunchtime approached, they were already mostly occupied by customers.

At a table near the corner, Bane was slurping up the broth from his bowl of noodles.

"Hiss, it tastes really good." After finishing the soup at the bottom of the bowl, Bane gave a satisfied evaluation.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

He wore a dark blue haori and a straw hat with wind chimes hanging from the edges. His hairstyle had also changed slightly during this time.

Previously, Bane's hair was a sharp, short black style, but perhaps because he had lived in Ryuchi Cave for half a year, in order to fit his image as a hermit, Bane has now grown his black hair out, letting it fall down his back and slightly past his shoulders, making him less sharp and more dashing and unrestrained.

He came to Konoha alone, without getting involved with Zoro and the others. According to the plan, Zoro and the others had already entered Konoha ten days ago, but it was clear that they had no intention of meeting up.

Konoha is a village that's neither too big nor too small. To Bane, it felt like Dressrosa, but with a more densely populated area.

Bann was unaware of the relevant information, and Konoha seemed to never disclose the village's population or number of ninjas to the public.

However, considering that the Fourth Shinobi World War involved a combined ninja force of approximately 80,000 from the five great nations, Konoha, as the leading village among the five great ninja villages, would have to deploy at least 15,000 ninjas in this war.

This does not include the forces stationed in the village and protecting the daimyo.

Bane roughly estimated that Konoha must have around 17,000 or 18,000, or even 20,000 ninjas.

Not to mention the number of civilians, there are also the private soldiers kept by various large families. Roughly estimated, the population of Konoha must be at least four or five hundred thousand.

This can't even be called a village!?

However, none of these things mattered. Bane quickly swept these thoughts into the trash can, sipping his cheap, coarse tea while admiring the bustling commercial street scene of Konoha, all the while pondering some things.

He had two personal matters to attend to during his visit to Konoha. First, he wanted to visit the former residence of the Uzumaki clan in Konoha. If Ban was not mistaken, the Uzumaki clan was practically extinct in Konoha now, with only Naruto Uzumaki remaining. Naruto had not yet inherited the family property and was treated like an orphan with no one to care for him. However, considering the friendship between the two sides, Konoha still left the former residence for the Uzumaki clan as a formality.

In the former residence of the Uzumaki clan, there is a Mask Hall, which stores many masks collected by the Uzumaki clan. It is probably related to the clan's sealing techniques. Among them, there is a mask that is the mask of the Grim Reaper.

By simply wearing this mask and concentrating chakra, one can summon the Grim Reaper.

Bane is quite interested in the Grim Reaper, so he came to Konoha with a personal need: to find the Grim Reaper mask.

Aside from the Uzumaki clan's Shinigami mask, he was also very interested in the Kato clan, the ninja family of Tsunade's lover, Kato Dan. This interest stemmed from the Kato clan's secret family technique, Spirit Transformation Technique.

The art of spiritual transformation allows one's soul to separate from the body, and even to cultivate the strength of the soul, enabling one to engage in a battle of souls with enemies.

As a user of the Soul-Soul Fruit, Bane's mastery of souls goes without saying, but his spiritualization technique may also have its merits. It is very necessary to broaden his thinking, and it may even involve the Pure Land, since such secret techniques involving the soul are often inseparable from the Pure Land.

Therefore, he was determined to obtain this spiritual transformation technique.

"This is terrible. Such a big commercial street, such a lively Chunin Exam, so many tourists from out of town, and there's not even a map to buy." Bane couldn't help but complain when he thought about it.

Perhaps it was due to intelligence secrecy, or perhaps it was some oversight, but anyway, it's absurd that this damned Konoha Village doesn't sell maps.

So much so that it was not easy for him to find the former residence of the Uzumaki clan and the residence of the Kato clan.

(End of this chapter)