Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Ahem, it seems everyone is rather silent."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "No doubt you are all wondering why, with so many people in the Hidden Leaf Village, not a single person ever suspected that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's child?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "That brings us to the formidable operational capabilities of our Root organization in the Hidden Leaf. As I said before, my original intention was simply to protect Uzumaki Naruto."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Minato had far too many enemies back then, and it was a decision forced upon me by circumstance. But as you know, as Hokage, I am burdened with official duties and naturally cannot handle everything personally. So, of course, I entrusted this mission to my most capable assistant—Danzo!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Now, let us invite Danzo to say a few words about why things turned out this way and how he admonished the villagers!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Danzo? Danzo? Why isn't my most trusted right-hand man saying anything? Could it be that he is reflecting on himself out of guilt?"
At this moment, Shimura Danzo was trembling with rage.
Reflect on myself?
Reflect on your sister!
During all this time, Shimura Danzo had been frantically trying to send a message,
but the system indicated that his one-hour mute penalty had not yet expired.
He could not get a single character out!
Driven to absolute fury, Shimura Danzo let out a laugh of pure exasperation.
"Fine, fine, fine! Today I want to see just how many more scapegoats you can pin on me!"
Upon hearing the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's explanation,
especially upon learning that it was once again Danzo's doing,
everyone felt a sense of relief.
Danzo?
Well, that made sense. It had to be him!
That old bastard was full of wicked schemes.
He better only leave the village at noon from now on,
or someone was bound to finish him off sooner or later!
Senju Tobirama: "Everyone, let us quickly return to the main point. What is the answer to this question?"
Hatake Kakashi: "I trust my teacher; he was the inheritor of the Will of Fire, and I believe Naruto is too. I choose A!"
Gaara: "Naruto and I, neither of us had any choice from the moment we were born, inexplicably destined to become the Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast. You will never understand this kind of pain! If it were me, I would choose C!"
Temari: "Gaara..."
Gaara: "Don't worry, that was just how I used to think. But I feel that the Naruto in that world might be very similar to what I once was!"
Sakura: "That's impossible. No matter what, the Fourth Hokage was Naruto's father. How could he possibly think that way?"
Nara Shikamaru: "But Naruto didn't know that at the time."
Akimichi Choji: "Exactly, Shikamaru is right!"
[Ding!]
[Quiz ended. Congratulations to Gaara for the correct answer! Reward: control over gold dust!]
[Hatake Kakashi answered incorrectly. Reward: Chakra reduced by ten percent!]
As the system's voice rang out,
in an instant, Kakashi felt as though he had been completely drained.
His already depleted body
was now in an even worse state,
and his legs nearly gave out,
causing him to collapse to the ground!
A punishment like this
was practically more agonizing than losing a kidney!
The crucial point was that with the depletion of his Chakra,
he might not even be able to use his Sharingan in the future.
The Copy Ninja—
Hatake Kakashi's formidable reputation
might be gone for good!
In stark contrast to the gloom on Kakashi's face,
Gaara gazed at the sand before him.
There wasn't a single pebble in that sand—
it was all pure gold!
Could this be the secret to how his father became Kazekage?
Gaara certainly knew that gold dust was the Fourth Kazekage's signature technique.
Back then, he hadn't quite understood
why a seemingly weak father could become Kazekage,
but now he finally understood
how those high-ranking lords of the otherwise impoverished Sand Village could afford to wear gold and silver—
so that was where it all came from!
...
Might Guy: "Kakashi, how are you holding up?"
As Kakashi's best friend,
Might Guy was naturally deeply concerned about him.
Kakashi: "I'm fine, not dying yet. Though I'm afraid my strength has dropped by fifty percent!"
Might Guy: "I told you long ago to stop messing around with that broken eye of yours. If you had trained in taijutsu with me, your physical conditioning wouldn't be as terrible as it is now!"
Uchiha Fugaku: "???"
Uchiha Obito: "???"
Uchiha Madara: "What? Do you want to dance too?"
Uchiha Madara: "To think a mere jonin of the Leaf dares to disregard the Uchiha. As for that pathetic taijutsu of yours, I could stand right here and let you kick me, and what could you possibly do?"
Senju Hashirama: "Madara, you are not allowed to bully the younger generation of the Leaf! If you've got the guts, come at me!"
Uchiha Madara: "Get lost!"
In the Pure Land, Uchiha Madara wore an expression of intense annoyance.
Did that Hashirama really think he didn't want to beat him up?
If he couldn't beat the guy,
he would have smashed him to pieces ages ago, damn it!
Uchiha Madara crossed his arms over his chest, his expression cold and aloof.
"Still, that brat Obito should be able to revive me soon enough."
"Hmph, even without relying on this damned system, I will return to the Shinobi World!"
"Just you wait. When that time comes, the Five Great Shinobi Nations will cease to exist!"
"..."
[The Uzumaki Naruto in the black-framed world seems somewhat different from the original one.]
[Not only does he listen attentively in class, but his academic performance is also exceptionally stellar!]
[He easily masters the basic Ninja Academy ninjutsu, such as the Clone Technique and the Transformation Technique.]
[As a result, the girls gathering around Uzumaki Naruto are every bit as numerous as those around Sasuke!]
[Moreover, this Naruto is very warm and approachable toward the girls.]
[Whenever they have questions, he patiently answers them.]
[From this perspective, he is much more pleasing to the eye than the constantly posturing and aloof Sasuke!]
[Consequently, even Sakura and Ino in that world have slowly started developing feelings for Naruto!]
Uzumaki Naruto: "Damn it, this is actually making me jealous of myself!"
Nara Shikamaru: "The Naruto of that world is practically a genius!"
Haruno Sakura: "A genius? More than that, he's a wonderful person—he seems so much more dependable than the Naruto of our world!"
Ino: "I think I'm starting to understand why the me in that world would steal glances at Naruto during class!"
Uzumaki Kushina: "I never imagined our Naruto could be so popular!"
Namikaze Minato: "Actually, the Naruto of this world isn't bad either."
Uzumaki Naruto: "Waaah, it's great that Dad understands! It's just that these girls here are blind and haven't discovered my good points yet!"
Namikaze Minato: "Actually, I was just saying that casually. Don't take it too seriously, Naruto."
Uzumaki Naruto: "..."