Naruto: Saving the Uchiha

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Thus, the likelihood of Jiraiya successfully taking Naruto out of the village was practically zero. Unless he outright ignored the old-timers like the Third Hokage and forcibly took Naruto away. 

Regarding whether Naruto could leave the village, Tsunade didn't hold a particularly firm stance. 

Each time, she shifted the responsibility onto the Third Hokage, while her personal opinion… 

Well, Tsunade's thoughts were actually quite similar to those of the Third Hokage and the others. 

Since Naruto was the village's Jinchūriki, he should stay put in the village instead of running around recklessly. 

However, after discussing it with Kazuki, Tsunade abandoned that line of thinking. 

Kazuki's response to the matter was: 

"Let him go if he wants. After all, Jiraiya can protect Naruto—it's not like just anyone can snatch him away. Besides, the village can't keep Naruto locked up forever. Rather than worrying endlessly, why not let him experience the harsh realities of the shinobi world? Who knows, the village might even gain a perfect Jinchūriki out of it." 

If Naruto were to become a perfect Jinchūriki, Konoha's high-tier combat strength would undoubtedly take a massive leap forward. 

So, when it came to Naruto, Kazuki had always adopted a "let nature take its course" attitude—neither actively hindering nor targeting him, nor offering him excessive help. 

Kazuki believed that as long as no one interfered with Naruto's growth or tried to manipulate him, he would eventually mature just as he had in the original timeline. 

On the other hand, Sasuke—that kid who was either getting beaten up or on his way to get beaten up—needed some serious discipline. 

After going through all the trouble to pull Itachi back from the brink, Kazuki didn't want Sasuke to veer off the right path instead. 

As for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Kazuki didn't dwell on it too much. If the shinobi world's trajectory remained the same as in the original story, leading straight into the Fourth Great Shinobi War, then he was confident that with the Sage of Six Paths around, it wouldn't matter whether Sasuke even awakened the Mangekyō—the Sage could just power him up in one go. 

Just look at Indra—he went straight from three tomoe to the Eternal Mangekyō. 

This proved that as long as the Sage of Six Paths was willing to spare a bit more chakra, the level of the Sharingan wasn't an issue at all. 

Hell, he might even shove a pair of Rinnegan straight into Sasuke's eye sockets. 

So why worry? 

Just focus on yourself! 

Otherwise, if these kids ended up surpassing him and riding roughshod over him, that would be a real problem. 

Naruto was fine, but Sasuke—that blockhead—would absolutely start causing trouble the moment his strength surpassed Kazuki's. 

So, if you're going to discipline a kid, do it early. 

Otherwise, you might reach a point where you can't beat them anymore. 

Of course, that was just a possibility. Kazuki didn't actually believe Sasuke could ever get strong enough to trample over him. As the amount of Indra and Asura's chakra he replicated continued to grow, Kazuki felt that the progression to the Eternal Mangekyō and Rinnegan wouldn't be a bottleneck for him. 

The recovery speed of his Mangekyō's visual prowess was proof enough. 

Despite having only the Mangekyō, his eyes' recovery rate matched that of the Eternal Mangekyō. 

"Shizune, summon Kakashi." 

"Yes, Hokage-sama." 

Shizune hurried out of the office and instructed an ANBU operative stationed outside to fetch Kakashi. 

The Third Hokage had preferred having ANBU members enter the office directly, but Tsunade disliked that practice. 

They could wait outside the door or elsewhere, but the Hokage's office was off-limits. 

Kakashi, who was currently on leave and free of missions, was lazing around at home—more accurately, hiding from someone. 

He had noticed that lately, Gai had been acting strangely, doggedly pursuing him at all hours. 

To avoid being chased down by Gai, Kakashi had opted to hole up at home like a salted fish. 

His vacation was only two days long anyway. Once it was over and he returned to ANBU, he doubted Guy would dare chase him there. 

"Captain Kakashi, the Hokage summons you." 

"Understood." 

Upon receiving the order, Kakashi's lethargy vanished instantly. He sprang up from his bed, dressed at lightning speed, and headed straight for the Hokage's office building. 

Knock, knock, knock! 

"Enter." 

"Hokage-sama, ANBU Squad Captain Kakashi reporting for duty." 

Setting down the documents in her hands, Tsunade motioned for Shizune to bring over a scroll: 

"Kakashi, the village has a critical classified mission requiring your assistance. Take this scroll and proceed immediately to the border camp in the Land of Rain. Report to Uchiha Kazuki and deliver this scroll to him. Remember, this mission is of utmost importance—not just to the village, but to the entire shinobi world. It may even involve personal matters of yours. I expect you to prioritize your duties and cooperate fully." 

Personal matters? 

Kakashi didn't quite understand what she meant, but his professionalism as a shinobi kept him from questioning it. 

He accepted the scroll obediently and left the Hokage's office building. 

Baffled, Kakashi exited the building and then slipped out of the village via ANBU's covert routes, making his way straight to the Land of Rain's border camp. 

Two days had passed since the Allied Forces' assault on Amegakure. Due to the heavy losses suffered by each village, the camp's atmosphere remained tense. 

After announcing his identity and receiving permission, Kakashi headed straight for the command center to report to Kazuki. 

Inside the command center, the Five Kage had gathered, with Kazuki also seated in the meeting room. 

"Kazuki-sama, Third Hokage-sama." 

After greeting Kazuki and the Third Hokage, Kakashi ignored the others and handed the scroll Tsunade had given him to Kazuki who stepped forward to receive it. 

Kazuki paid no attention to the Third Hokage. He opened the scroll, skimmed through it, then tossed it to Shikaku, signaling for him to put it away. 

Shikaku hesitated, glancing at the silently seated Third Hokage before sighing internally. 

In the end, he obediently stored the scroll away, making no move to show it to the Third Hokage. 

Since Kazuki had ordered him to keep it, he would comply. If the Third Hokage was displeased, he could take it up with Kazuki—Shikaku was just following orders. 

"Kakashi." 

Kazuki tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention. 

"The Five Great Shinobi Villages' joint assault on Amegakure and the Akatsuki resulted in heavy losses. Shikaku will brief you on the details later. Based on the intelligence I've gathered and my own deductions, I suspect that the so-called 'Uchiha Madara' responsible for the Nine-Tails' attack is actually an impostor. We need your cooperation to lure him out." 

"Kazuki-sama, what do you need me to do?" 

Kakashi was confused—how could he possibly be connected to a fake Uchiha Madara? 

This classified mission had him completely in the dark. 

"It's simple. For now, just remain stationed at the camp's command center. You won't need to do anything else. However, be mentally prepared—because this impostor is someone very significant to you. Of course, this is all just speculation for now. Until we actually expose him, it remains just that—speculation." 

"Understood." 

Kakashi asked no further questions. He had no choice but to comply. 

With Kakashi dealt with, Kazuki turned to the other Kage—Kazekage Rasa, Mizukage Yagura, Raikage A, and Tsuchikage Ōnoki. 

"Gentlemen, the operation is about to commence. How are the preparations in your villages?" 

"We've already dispatched agents to spread the information through the bounty guild. If our target is monitoring their channels, he'll definitely catch wind of it." 

Raikage A still seemed skeptical. 

"Kazuki, are you really this confident?"

*****

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