I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

Since he couldn't skip class and stay up all night to practice, he simply slept soundly in class, figuring Iruka couldn't beat him anyway.

Other absent-minded people include Shikamaru and Choji. The former is a frequent visitor to sleep in class, while the latter is always stuffing potato chips into his mouth, as if he would starve to death soon if he didn't spend time eating.

Iruka was already used to these problem children from the ninja clan.

In addition to the knowledge taught at the Ninja Academy, the children of these large families also receive family training. If it weren't for the Third Hokage's mandatory requirements, they would have become true ninjas long ago.

But what made Iruka frown was that Hinata, who usually listened attentively in class, was also a little distracted today.

Unbeknownst to Iruka, Hinata's small hand was clutching a fox-shaped wallet in the guest seat. She had found the wallet in the park, which contained her name, a gold pendant, and a secret technique of the Kaguya clan.

Although she didn't know why the fox wallet had her name on it, her intuition told her that it was a gift from Naruto.

So, even after three years, Naruto still remembered him. Was it because he was too weak and the outside world was too dangerous that he didn't take him with him back then?

Thinking of this, Hinata's face turned red, and her body became weak, slumping into her seat.

Just then, the golden pendant Hinata wore around her neck seemed to melt from her body heat, turning into a mark on Hinata's body and silently altering it.

……

Kakashi's actions, such as visiting Sasuke and secretly giving Hinata gifts, attracted the attention of Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Given the relationship between Kakashi and Obito, it's understandable that Kakashi would take care of Sasuke, who had a similar experience. But why would Kakashi approach the eldest daughter of the Hyuga main family when he has no connection whatsoever with the Hyuga clan?

Could it be that Kakashi has secretly reached an agreement with the Hyuga clan in order to gain greater influence?

This conjecture was immediately rejected by Jiraiya. Kakashi was not a power-hungry ninja; otherwise, he wouldn't have refused the appointment as head of the Anbu and would have frequently gone to the Hokage Building to urge him to update his work.

A ninja who has lost his sense of sophistication would not fight against the village unless absolutely necessary.

After hearing Jiraiya's explanation, Tsunade distanced herself from him, her eyes showing a hint of disdain. In terms of being single at an older age, Kakashi and Jiraiya could indeed understand each other.

After overturning the first guess, Jiraiya put his hands on his chest and said confidently, "If I'm not mistaken, the one who really wants to get close to Sasuke and Hinata is actually Naruto. Naruto has even learned the Flying Thunder God Technique."

Jiraiya wasn't just guessing. Kakashi had recently learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, and the Scroll of Seals that Naruto took also contained the training method for the Flying Thunder God Technique. It's possible that his two grand-disciples had both learned the Flying Thunder God Technique and were secretly establishing contact.

Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya and couldn't help but remind him, "Don't forget, Naruto is the leader of Uzushio Village. Kakashi's current actions are tantamount to betraying the village. As the Hokage, you absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of espionage."

Jiraiya stopped smiling and nodded: "I will warn Kakashi. However, it would be good if we could take this opportunity to establish contact with Uzushiogakure. Uzushiogakure won't be able to threaten Konoha in the short term. In comparison, I'm actually more worried about Kusagakure."

"According to the report from the Anbu, the Akatsuki organization has secretly occupied Kusagakure and started cooperating with Amegakure."

Tsunade analyzed the situation and then said, "The Akatsuki? The organization that the masked man and Itachi Uchiha belong to is indeed not good news. However, their control over Kusagakure has completely isolated us from Iwagakure, which is a good thing in the short term."

Jiraiya shook his head slightly; he had actually received even more explosive news.

The founders of the Akatsuki organization were Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, and the leader of the Akatsuki also happened to possess the Rinnegan.

If his three apprentices were all dead, that would be fine, but if they were still alive, he, as their teacher, would inevitably have to face them on the battlefield sooner or later, which was definitely not good news.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Jiraiya asked Tsunade, "Tsunade, how's the reconstruction of the security force going? The village urgently needs a security force to maintain order, and the duties of the Anbu and the security force must be separated."

"Don't worry, I've already made arrangements. The security force will recruit from all ninjas. It will never become a department controlled by any particular clan, and we will not allow the Uchiha incident to happen again."

Chapter 196 Corpse Bone Bloodline

After gaining control of the upper echelons of Kusagakure, Amegakure opened its border with Kusagakure to a limited extent and set up shops along the border to facilitate trade between its own residents and the residents of the Land of Grass.

But new problems soon arose: the impoverished people of the Rain Kingdom simply did not have enough money to buy goods and could only exchange food and cloth for high-value industrial products.

Even the gods and angels of Amegakure don't have a good solution to this.

They cannot force merchants to give away their goods to ordinary people for free, as this would lead to a lack of merchants going to the border to do business, and in the long run, the residents of the Rain Country would only become poorer.

The only solution may be to further recruit talent and accelerate the development of manufacturing in Amegakure.

Formulating these policies has left Nagato overwhelmed. He never imagined that governing a country would be so difficult, and he began to miss the days when the Land of Rain was closed off from the world, but that was not what he wanted.

At that moment, sensing the chakra fluctuations behind him, Nagato turned around to look at the blue figure in mid-air, frowned, and said, "Konan, is Iwagakure stirring up trouble on the border again?"

Since Amegakure took control of Kusagakure, Iwagakure has been increasingly active on the border.

If it weren't for his fear of Onoki from Iwagakure and the two Jinchuriki who could use Tailed Beast Balls, he would have sent Akatsuki members to sabotage the Land of Earth long ago.

However, the geographical locations of Amegakure and Kusagakure do indeed limit their development.

Apart from the Land of Stone and the Land of Rivers to the west and south, all the villages bordering Amegakure are major ninja powers. Even though Amegakure controls the upper echelons of the village, Amegakure doesn't dare to openly and directly annex the Land of Grass.

This was also the dilemma that Hanzo the Salamander faced back then.

The difference is that he is stronger than Hanzo of the Salamander, and he also has the small ninja village of Uzushio, which rose to prominence at the same time, to share the pressure and form a new balance.

Konan felt a pang of sympathy looking at Nagato, who was working in a wheelchair, but she was also very happy that Nagato was able to rekindle Yahiko's dream. After all, the plan to collect the tailed beasts was too crazy, and if it failed, the entire Land of Rain would be the price.

"Things have calmed down a bit more in Iwagakure. Apparently, Onoki and the Jinchuriki had a falling out, and the crisis has been temporarily averted."

“That’s good news.” Nagato smiled faintly. “After resolving the crisis from the north, we can use Kusagakure to trade with more countries and enable the villagers to live a better life.”

Konan paused briefly, stared at Nagato for a long time, and finally revealed the most important information: "Nagato, Jiraiya-sensei has become the Fifth Hokage, and we are now enemies with Jiraiya-sensei."

"Jiraiya-sensei became Hokage?"

Nagato froze on the spot, then smiled and said, "Shouldn't we take this opportunity to congratulate our teacher and bring up the cooperation with Konoha Village? The Land of Fire is the wealthiest country..."

Konan said expressionlessly, "Our enemy Danzo has become a rogue ninja."

Upon mentioning Danzo, Nagato's smile froze, and he asked seriously, "When was this news received? Is it possible to find Danzo's whereabouts?"

If Konoha is a potential threat to Amegakure, then Danzo is the trio's mortal enemy.

When the first Akatsuki disbanded, besides the demigod Danzo being the main culprit, Danzo also played a significant role, killing many of his comrades.

"According to the intelligence Zetsu obtained, Danzo is in the Land of Rivers, and it is possible that he has fled to the Land of Wind."

"Zetsu's information..." Nagato fell into deep thought. He didn't quite believe Zetsu. Zetsu had almost always appeared with the masked man and represented the masked man's will.

But having finally gotten a chance to kill Danzo, he didn't want to let it slip away.

After a moment's thought, Nagato looked at Konan and said earnestly, "Send someone immediately... no, I will go personally to deal with Danzo and avenge Yahiko!"

Konan didn't stop Nagato, and said with a firm look in her eyes, "I'll go with you."

Nagato glanced at Konan: "No, you stay in Amegakure. For the sake of Amegakure's future, we cannot act together."

……

Inside Wochao Village.

Naruto received feedback from Kakashi that he had successfully delivered the gifts to Sasuke and Hinata.

The training manual Sasuke received was the work of the Uchiha clan in the village. They told Sasuke to die on his own, but they were very serious about making the training manual and cared a lot about this Uchiha who had been left behind in Konoha.

As for Hinata's gift, part of it came from Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village), and the other part was a gift from the system.

Since he became friends with the Nine-Tails, the system's presence has gradually faded, but that doesn't mean the system has lost its function. His warehouse is piled with system rewards, and he's too lazy to even open them.

The reason is very simple: as the village leader, he was recognized by the villagers of Wochao Village.

The Uchiha clan and the adopted orphans of the ninja world were the most intense, even earning him the reward of the bloodline limit 'Shikotsumyaku'.

Unfortunately, the Corpse Bone Pulse technique is now dispensable to him, so he simply gave it to Hinata as a gift.

I wonder if Hiashi's expression will become quite interesting when Hinata uses the Shikotsumyaku ability.

As for the aftereffects and bloodline diseases of the Shikotsumyaku, Naruto wasn't too worried. Although Hinata was soft and sweet, the purity of her Byakugan was the highest in the Hyuga clan. In the end, the Shikotsumyaku was just a regression of the Kaguya clan.

At that moment, Naruto received a message about the summoning contract and frowned as he cast the summoning jutsu.

As a cloud of smoke dissipated, a small snake appeared on the ground, spitting out a scroll from its mouth.

Naruto cleaned the scroll with Wind Release and Water Release, opened it, and looked into the distance with a thoughtful expression.

This scroll was sent by Orochimaru. Orochimaru had already learned that he had successfully mastered the Ryuchi Cave Sage Technique and wanted to ask about his experience in mastering it. In exchange, he was willing to provide some information about Konoha.

"We don't have enough information from Konoha to exchange for Sage Mode insights; we need Cursed Seal technology to do so. In addition, it's time to deliver the experimental data from the White Zetsu corpse we provided last time."

Naruto sent the little snake back to deliver the message, and not long after, he received Orochimaru's reply.

This reply did not mention the cursed seal; it only delivered the experimental data of the White Zetsu and the information that Shimura Danzo had arrived in the Land of Wind.

Naruto shook his head and chuckled as he used Wind Release to shred the scroll.

He covered up the cursed seal tightly, as if he was afraid I would find out about Jugo's existence as a natural-born Sage Body. He betrayed Danzo and handed Danzo's actions over to me. Orochimaru, that venomous snake, really knows how to scheme.

However, the Mangekyou Sharingan on Danzo's body was indeed a considerable temptation.

Chapter 197 The Will Inherited from the Roots

A few days later, Naruto and Shisui arrived in the Land of Rivers by ship.

As a buffer zone separating the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, the Land of Rivers is full of mountains and rivers. Although its rainfall is not as abundant as that of the Land of Fire, it can be considered a paradise on earth compared to the Land of Wind.

Therefore, in each of the Shinobi World Wars, Sunagakure always tried to seize the land of the Land of Rivers, but each time it failed.

After all, for Konoha, which possesses the Land of Fire, the Land of Rivers is of little importance. However, it is crucial to prevent Sunagakure from acquiring this strategically important land and to suppress its development.

Because of the buffer zone and the weakness of the small ninja villages within its borders, this place has become a chaotic, lawless area.

Naruto has no immediate interest in the Land of Rivers. Countries where the cost of governance outweighs the gains are a burden on the Land of Whirlpools. Unless he possesses the national strength of the Land of Fire, he will not consider expansion.

They arrived in the Land of Rivers for only one purpose: to obtain Danzo's Mangekyou Sharingan and complete their pair of Mangekyou Sharingan.

He originally planned to have Shisui lead the Uchiha team on the mission, but considering Shisui's past record, who might have provided Danzo with Sharingan material again, he simply took Shisui with him to hunt down Danzo.

As soon as Naruto stepped out of the port, he sensed several malevolent chakras.

He gave Shisui a look, and Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from the spot. He quickly returned with several ninjas dressed as residents of the Land of Rivers.

“Lord Menma, I have already interrogated them. These people are peripheral members of Root, and they have been trained for no more than a month. Their base is not far away, and there are about ten of them.”

Naruto nodded and headed towards the nearest Root organization's stronghold.

Before the ninjas at the stronghold could react, they were subdued by acupressure and bound to the ground with sealing techniques, allowing Shisui to interrogate them.

At that moment, Naruto noticed the roster next to him, and after casually flipping through a few pages, he found that there were dozens of names.

Danzo's Root members are like cockroaches; if you see one in a room, it means there are dozens lurking in the shadows. If Danzo and Root were given more time, they might even be able to establish a ninja village... a pot-shaped ninja village?

The interrogations of the peripheral members of the Root organization went exceptionally smoothly, but the interrogations of the formal members gave Shisui a bit of a headache.

Because of the existence of the Seal of Tongue Severance, even if Root members are controlled by illusions, they cannot reveal information. If they were to forcibly infiltrate, they probably wouldn't gain much.

Naruto put down the roster in his hand, walked to Shisui's side, formed hand seals to break the seal that severed the root of the Root, and obtained information about Danzo's location before the Root members committed suicide. He narrowed his eyes slightly.