Traveling through Naruto, I am Uchiha Obito?

Besides, this also created an opportunity for you and Lady Tsunade to be alone, right? If you can't even handle this, then I'm out of ideas...

His gaze swept towards the direction of Root's new base in the distance. Momono should be busy there right now, taking over the vast legacy left by Danzo.

The gaze shifts to Konoha Hospital. Karin is frowning at the homework Tsunade left behind, her little face scrunched up. From her expression, it's clear that studying medicine is truly difficult.

Near the Konoha yakiniku restaurant, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio sneakily followed Asuma and Kurenai on their date. The two, already aware of their presence, exchanged a knowing smile, unaware that in another hidden corner, a certain "shameless old man" was watching them with a look of satisfaction.

Kakashi came to Old Deng's empty grave again, muttering something in a low voice, mostly about Sasuke... Unfortunately, Old Deng was quite provoked by him, and probably wouldn't be in the mood to eavesdrop on Kakashi's inner thoughts anytime soon.

Hmm? An unexpected scene caught the Rubik's Cube's attention. A girl with long, cherry-blossom-colored hair slowly walked to Kakashi's side, her expression revealing a resolute determination.

This is really interesting...

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

With the witness of everyone in Konoha, the enthronement ceremony of the Fifth Hokage was successfully completed.

Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, officially took over the Hokage hat to protect Konoha.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the ninja world, even piercing through the endless rain to reach that self-enclosed country.

"The Fifth Hokage..."

The orange-haired man walked through the cold rain on the deserted avenue, like a lion surveying its territory. The blue-haired angel followed silently behind, never leaving his side.

"Jiraiya-sensei... I never thought even a man like you would change himself?"

"Xiao Nan,"

His deep voice rang out amidst the sound of rain.

"Would you like to see the teacher?"

"No,"

The blue-haired angel's voice was calm and firm.

"It's enough that I'm here with you."

"That's it..."

Payne's gaze drifted into the depths of the rain.

"Who's still in the organization?"

"Deidara stayed behind. Sasori went to collect puppet materials, not taking Deidara with him because he thought Deidara's explosions would damage the materials."

Xiao Nan gave a concise report.

"That man is here too. His condition has been somewhat unusual since he returned from Konoha; he seems to have suffered a significant shock."

"Yeah……"

Payne's voice was devoid of emotion.

"Then let's send them to the Land of Water. Something seems to have happened in Kirigakure recently. Let them gather intelligence, and focus on finding out the whereabouts of the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails."

"clear."

Xiao Nan responded.

The rain continued to fall relentlessly, as if silently weeping for this wounded nation.

Chapter 60 Want to go out for a walk with me? Naruto

Chapter 60 Want to go out for a walk with me? Naruto

The Hokage Building is the absolute political core of Konoha Village. The Hokage's office inside this building is definitely a sacred place in the hearts of all Konoha ninjas.

Nara Shikaku, the chief strategist of Konoha Village, the leader of the Jonin class, and an absolute core member of Konoha Village's leadership, was standing awkwardly in front of the Hokage's office.

The loud fighting coming from inside the door put him in a rare dilemma.

"Hey! Tsunade! Put the crystal ball down right now! That's a treasure I begged from that old man after risking my reputation and pleading my way through the house! I'll be relying on it for all my research for the rest of my life!"

The owner of that voice was none other than Jiraiya, the newly appointed Fifth Hokage. His tone was filled with a desperate wail.

"Shut up!"

His response was Tsunade's furious roar.

"I saw you sneaking around and peeking around as soon as I walked in, and I knew it couldn't be anything good! Sure enough, I caught you red-handed! That old geezer actually had something like this hidden away? That old bastard!"

Why wasn't Orochimaru quick to take care of that lecherous old man back then?! I'm not finished with him!

"Tsunade! I... I order you to put it down!"

Seeing Tsunade's furious outburst, and glancing at the precious crystal ball in her hand that was groaning under its strain, Jiraiya steeled himself, his lust surging, and roared out:

"I am the Hokage!"

The entire office fell into a deathly silence.

"Jiraiya..."

Tsunade slowly turned her head, a smile of utter sweetness blooming on her face. If one ignored the bulging veins on her forehead, this scene would have been a breathtaking sight for Jiraiya.

"Do you want to die?"

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly clenched her fingers!

boom!

With a crisp, ear-piercing crack, the precious crystal ball turned into a pile of sparkling fragments in her palm.

"Ugh—!!!"

"Tsunade, what did you do?! My precious crystal ball! This is my first time using it!!!"

Jiraiya collapsed to the ground as if his bones had been removed, desperately digging at the pile of shards, as if what had shattered was not crystal, but the will of fire that had just ignited within him but had been cruelly destroyed.

"Shut up! Jiraiya, you're so noisy!"

Tsunade shook her hand, looked down at him, and declared, word by word:

"Don't forget! I am the Hokage's assistant!"

After saying that, she angrily flung open the office door and stormed off, completely unaware that in the shadows by the door was Nara Shikaku, the Konoha strategist who was trying to minimize his presence and was almost curled up in a ball.

"You'll regret this! Tsunade! You'll regret this!!!"

Jiraiya, clutching the wreckage of the crystal ball, uttered a heart-wrenching accusation.

Looking at the Fifth Hokage groaning in pain while clutching the shards of metal, Nara Shikaku, a ninja strategist known for his wisdom and resourcefulness, felt for the first time in his life that the Hokage's office, which symbolized the pinnacle of power, was so incredibly daunting and exhausting.

He rubbed his throbbing temples, took a deep breath, and let out a weary sigh:

"This is really... troublesome..."

"Lord Hokage, I have something important to report."

Nara Shikaku's voice came from outside the door.

"It's Shikaku! Come in, come in!"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya instantly dropped his sorrowful expression, which had been masking the grief of losing his beloved. He quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, straightened his back ramrod, and adopted the serious expression befitting the Hokage:

"What happened?"

Seeing how quickly Jiraiya got into the zone, Shikaku immediately suppressed his initial amusement and his expression turned serious. He reported to the Fifth Hokage before him:

"Sunagakure rejected our compensation request. They insisted that all the responsibility lay with Orochimaru, trying to absolve themselves of any responsibility."

As Jiraiya listened, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"What does Sunagakure mean by this? They don't want to compensate for the losses, and they want to shirk responsibility and put all the blame on Orochimaru? Are they trying to start another war?"

His voice carried suppressed rage. Although the Konoha Crush plan did not cause serious casualties, the economic losses caused by Orochimaru's summoned beasts were real. Since Orochimaru could not compensate for the losses, the blame should naturally fall on Sunagakure, who had conspired with him.

From a strategic perspective, destroying the Fire-Wind Alliance would only benefit other major powers. Therefore, the Konoha leadership did not take advantage of the situation; they only hoped to settle the matter through reasonable compensation and thereby gain more influence within the alliance. This simple request was perfectly reasonable.

But Sunagakure's resolute refusal was truly perplexing to Jiraiya. Although he disliked political maneuvering, he was by no means a fool to be manipulated.

As a commander who once led a battlefield, he had a clear understanding of the overall situation.

Nara Shikaku seemed to see through Jiraiya's doubts and took the initiative to explain:

"According to the intelligence we have, the Sand Village's alliance with Orochimaru was an unauthorized action, without the authorization of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind."

Due to the death of Kazekage Rasa and the failure of this unauthorized operation, the Land of Wind suffered a complete loss of face in the ninja world. Enraged, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind further reduced the funding for Sunagakure.

He paused, his tone carrying a complex meaning.

"The amount of compensation we are demanding is not large for Konoha, but it is probably an astronomical figure for Sunagakure now. Moreover, the export of gold dust from the Fourth Kazekage, which is an important source of their income, has also been cut off. They really can't afford it now."

"This……"

Jiraiya was speechless for a moment. How could Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, have fallen to such a wretched state? Amidst his anger, a strange sense of sympathy quietly arose within him.

Shikaku continued his report, his voice even lower:

"In addition, our informant in Sunagakure sent back an important message."

"Oh?"

Jiraiya's heart skipped a beat.

According to rumors circulating within Sunagakure Village,

Shikaku looked directly into Jiraiya's eyes and said, word by word,

"Their Jinchūriki, Gaara of the Sand, who participated in the Chunin Exams and the Konoha Crush, went missing during a mission."

……

In a training ground in Konoha Village, Naruto was sweating profusely and grimacing as he practiced the new ninjutsu taught by the Rubik's Cube. His expression showed that he was struggling immensely.

The Rubik's Cube, standing nearby, leisurely took a bite of the peach it had borrowed from Momono that morning. Seeing Naruto struggling, it exclaimed helplessly:

"Hey, Naruto, take a break! I've already told you, you can't master this move yet, your foundation is too weak!"

He counted them on his fingers:

"Chakra control is not precise enough, hand seals are as slow as a snail, and understanding of the principles of ninjutsu is even worse... sigh,"

The Rubik's Cube shook its head and deliberately sighed.

"Honestly, if I keep training like this 'seriously,' I'm afraid I'll be getting crushed by Sasuke in three years."

Naruto, already agitated, instantly exploded upon hearing this:

"Brother Rubik's Cube is malicious! I tried my best! But there are just too many ninjutsu seals, and I don't understand how they work at all!"

He hung his head in frustration, seemingly unable to accept the fact that he was an idiot.

Seeing Naruto's dejected expression, Rubik's Cube smiled helplessly. In a flash, he was beside Naruto, handing him a bottle of water.

Watching Naruto gulp it down, he gently ruffled the dazzling blond hair, his tone softening:

"It seems that following a set path of training is not really suitable for you. Perhaps someone as 'unpredictable' as you can only unleash your potential when faced with real difficulties and challenges."

Naruto's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this! The thoughts of "becoming stronger" and "retrieving Sasuke" ignited within him. He nodded rapidly.

"Yes, yes, yes! Brother Rubik's Cube is right! I'm willing to do anything to become stronger and get Sasuke back!"

The Rubik's Cube was amused by his eager appearance and laughed:

"Would you like to go for a walk with me, Naruto?"

"Huh? Really? To outside the village?"

Naruto jumped up excitedly.

"Yay! That's awesome! Where are we going? Where are we going, Rubik's Cube!"

The Rubik's Cube seemed drawn by this question, drifting towards the distant past. Childhood memories swirled in its mind, finally settling on a dilapidated yet warm little house.

Around a small wooden table, two figures, one tall and one short, nestled together, eating and chatting. Though the room was small, it was filled with the warmth of home, brimming with peace of mind and joy.

Those days when "the house was humble, but the family was content" are the times that Rubik's Cube still cherishes most in his heart.

"The Land of Water".

Rubik's Cube snapped out of its reverie, a warm sense of nostalgia in its eyes.