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Kakashi, who had just become Hokage, felt like his head was about to explode.

He had been suddenly thrust into this position without any preparation—Jiraiya\'s warning couldn\'t be considered adequate preparation in any sense.

Having no preparation was one thing.

But it was especially difficult at such a challenging time.

Negotiating reparations with Sand Village, dealing with the probing actions of Cloud Village and Rock Village, and handling the pressure from Mist Village, who had sent people to demand the return of Zabuza Momochi and the Ice Release user who had been with him.

All these matters required his attention.

War was on the brink, and even the slightest mistake could lead to disaster.

The only piece of good news was that the internal situation in the village was relatively stable.

Jiraiya, one of the "Legendary Sannin," was giving strong support.

While some of the Jonin were not too fond of Kakashi, Nara Shikaku\'s authority commanded respect, and no one opposed his words.

Although the high-ranking advisors were reluctant, given the current circumstances, they had no choice but to hold their noses and accept the situation.

But of all times, it was now that trouble erupted within the Land of Fire.

Kakashi called Team 8 in hopes of gathering some useful intelligence.

There was indeed good news, but it was, once again, related to Naruto.

"What are you troubled about?" Koharu Utatane approached and looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi showed her the report from Team 8.

Koharu remained unfazed, "What\'s the difficulty here?"

"Report to the Daimyo that Konoha ninja encountered enemy ninja who had entered the Land of Fire without authorization and killed them."

"Also, apply for funding under the pretext of environmental restoration."

Kakashi glanced at her in surprise.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

Kakashi forced a bitter smile.

There were significant problems!

Could Naruto still be considered a Konoha ninja? And they hadn\'t even confirmed the identity of the ninja who was killed, yet they were so quick to label them as an enemy?

And what was this about applying for funding?

"You\'re the Hokage now; correct your way of thinking," Koharu said sternly. "You need to consider things from the village\'s perspective, not as the Jonin leader of Team 7."

Kakashi nodded, agreeing somberly.

So this was what life as a Hokage was like?

The position he had once admired in his youth, the one his close friend had longed to achieve…

So this was what it entailed.

In Konoha, at the Third Training Ground.

Sasuke was training alone, drenched in sweat.

Haruno Sakura approached, "Sasuke, Hinata said they encountered Naruto while on a mission."

Sasuke didn\'t stop his training.

"They said Naruto fought a very powerful ninja," Sakura continued, "and it changed the entire landscape of a forest."

Sasuke paused.

But the next moment, he threw two shuriken with great force.

The shuriken pierced right through the target.

His eyes flashed with crimson, the tomoe spinning; his left eye had three tomoe, while his right eye was still at two, but a third tomoe\'s shadow was faintly visible.

"Is that so?" Sasuke said softly. "Naruto is getting stronger and stronger."

Yet his thoughts weren\'t on that blond boy.

Even though so much time had passed.

The voice of Uchiha Itachi still lingered in his mind, painfully clear.

"Kill your best friend…"

Even if he were to follow Itachi\'s words.

But if he could gain the power to kill Naruto, wouldn\'t it be better to use that power to kill Itachi instead?

"Sasuke, why don\'t you take a break?" Sakura said worriedly, "You\'ve been training all day."

She was very concerned about Sasuke\'s state.

He had just been discharged from the hospital and had immediately thrown himself into training.

From morning until night every day, he barely gave himself any time to rest.

Sasuke wiped the sweat from his brow, shook his head firmly, and said resolutely, "No, it\'s still not enough."

"Whatever it takes to catch up, it\'s still not enough."

He took a drink of water, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and resumed his training.

His resolve grew stronger with each ninjutsu he performed.

He absolutely would not listen to that man!

He would definitely become stronger in his own way.

Naruto and Karin left the Sound Village, crossed the border, and returned to the Land of Fire.

"Where are we going next?" Karin asked.

They had obtained quite a bit of useful information from Orochimaru.

"Let\'s stick to the original plan," Naruto thought for a moment. "Let\'s continue to check out the shrines in the Land of Fire."

"And then head to Mist Village," Karin nodded.

There were more shrines in the Land of Fire than they had expected. Sometimes, a single town could have five or six shrines or temples. Moreover, there were rumors about powerful monsters or gods residing in remote mountains and valleys, which further slowed their progress.

However, the world seen through the eyes of ordinary people and that seen through the eyes of "ninja" were vastly different.

The so-called "monsters" or "gods" were mostly just beasts that had mastered chakra. With great power or developed intelligence, they exhibited extraordinary behaviors, and humans labeled them as "gods." But they were far from the kind of true gods that Naruto was hoping to find.

Nonetheless, they did find traces that suggested gods might have existed at one time.

But over the years, almost all evidence had been worn away, leaving only stories passed down orally.

The temple in the capital of the Land of Fire was the most interesting place they had visited.

This temple was built on a different scale from other shrines—majestic, tall, and solemn.

Bronze doors stood nearly three meters high, flanked by statues of fierce guardian kings that towered over even the doors.

But despite the fact that even roadside statues of Jizo were worshipped, this place was deserted. When Naruto wanted to visit, he was stopped by the monks, who would only allow visitors with the Daimyo\'s permission.

That night, Naruto and Karin snuck in.

But there was nothing interesting inside.

If there were no gods in the well-maintained shrines, there would certainly be none in such an abandoned temple.

At a seaside town on the border of the Land of Fire, Naruto and Karin reached the end of their current journey and the beginning of their next one.

At the dock.

The two of them sat on a bench waiting for the ferry.

Karin was reading an inscription she had just copied from the shrine in the town. "There isn\'t any reliable information here either."

More than half a year had passed.

All they had gathered was a pile of ambiguous intelligence.

"How many types of so-called gods have we encountered so far?" She put away the scroll and counted on her fingers, "Not counting those we\'ve already disproved, about thirty-seven or thirty-eight?"

"Thirty-seven," Naruto confirmed the number.

Ordinary people loved to worship "gods."

Leaving aside the beasts with chakra, which indeed had something special about them, even a perfectly ordinary upright stone, an ancient tree, or a deformed mutant livestock could be worshipped as a "God."

"Even if most of them are fake, we should have encountered one or two real ones by now," Karin muttered. "But we haven\'t. Where have all the gods gone?"

Naruto shook his head without speaking and began to read a letter from Jiraiya.

For the past six months, they had mostly relied on letters to communicate.

After learning about the "Akatsuki" from Orochimaru, Naruto had immediately passed the information on to Jiraiya. Naturally, he hadn\'t mentioned his cooperation with Orochimaru.

Jiraiya was surprised by Naruto\'s intelligence-gathering abilities but didn\'t ask too many questions.

He just kept a close eye on the "Akatsuki," and any new information was promptly sent to Naruto.

However, that organization has been unusually quiet lately.

After finishing the letter, Naruto and Karin sat for a while longer.

The whistle sounded, and the ferry docked.

They boarded the ship, heading toward the Land of Water.

The once isolated Mist Village had now reversed its reputation, becoming a warmly "open village."

Whether they were ninjas or tourists, all were warmly welcomed.

But despite this "openness," ninjas landing on the shore were still secretly subjected to strict scrutiny, especially those who were already well-known and powerful.

In Mist Village\'s Anbu headquarters, the current head, Ao, was handling affairs.

Someone appeared before his desk in a flash. "Ao-sama!"

"In the latest batch of visitors to Mist Village, we found Uzumaki Naruto."

Ao looked up sharply. "The Uzumaki Naruto from the Land of Fire?"

The Anbu member responded affirmatively.

Ao\'s expression immediately darkened.

Over the past six months, they had learned that Naruto\'s relationship with Konoha was not as close as that of Jiraiya and Konoha. It was more like Tsunade\'s relationship with Konoha—distant, or rather, Konoha was clinging to them.

Therefore, within their ranks, they never referred to him as "Konoha\'s Uzumaki Naruto," but rather as "the Land of Fire\'s Uzumaki Naruto."

What was someone who had been active in the Land of Fire for so long suddenly doing in Mist Village?

"You saw him on the visitor list?" Ao asked.

The Anbu member confirmed, "Yes."

"Then treat them as ordinary visitors for now." Ao thought for a moment and then gave the order, "Notify Terumi Mei-sama and have her approach Uzumaki Naruto."