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HSU: Ch. 194
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 19:36:35 +0000 UTCIt was the Year 60.
This year, the ninja world remained peaceful.
It had been six years since Konoha and Kumo officially ended their state of war in Year 54. Since then, there had been no military conflicts among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Each of the Five Great Nations had been developing their economies in an atmosphere of peace. The wounds left by the Third Shinobi World War had completely healed after years of recovery.
By Year 59, Kumo, which had been struggling under the weight of debt, finally paid off all its obligations after a two-year extension. Though the process had nearly skinned them alive, the village had finally regained its footing. In less than a year, it had already begun to show signs of revitalization.
The smaller nations, often caught in the crossfire of the great powers' struggles, still occasionally witnessed battles between powerful ninjas. However, as long as the countries themselves remained free from war, they could reap the benefits of the Fire Nation-centered three-nation trade network.
From a more optimistic perspective, the world was experiencing prosperity.
And when society prospers, the ninja business thrives.
But none of this had anything to do with the students in the Ninja Academy.
The sun shone brightly on this day, and a group of students in their internship phase had gathered in excitement.
"Yeah! Fight! Fight!"
"I wonder who will win today. This is gonna be great!"
In the center of the crowd, two kids were engaged in a fight.
No, calling it a fight wouldn't be quite right. It was a spar.
One of the children had yellow hair and wore the Uzumaki clan's emblem on his back.
The other had black hair and bore the Sarutobi clan's insignia.
Among the onlookers, a dark-haired boy had a smug expression as he observed the scene.
"Sasuke, who do you think will win?" a classmate asked.
"Is that even a question?" Sasuke flicked his hair arrogantly. "If someone is worthy of being my rival, even if Naruto is an idiot, he wouldn't lose so easily."
"Sasuke…" The classmate looked at him, dumbfounded. "If an idiot is your rival, doesn't that make you an idiot too? Why are you insulting yourself?"
"Don't talk nonsense." Sasuke frowned and raised his tiny fists. "Are you saying I'm not strong?"
"You are strong, sure, but you'd be even better if you acted normal."
"Hmph! You just don't understand. This is a special aura, one that only I have mastered."
"No way. My dad said Masashi-sama was a kind and approachable great ninja. He wouldn't act like you."
"Oh, really? You wanna fight?" Sasuke bristled, unwilling to let anyone question his taste. "Come on! Let's settle this!"
The classmate rolled his eyes, unwilling to continue the conversation. Instead, he turned his attention back to the match, joining the others in cheering for their chosen side.
Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance but decided against starting a fight himself. He turned his gaze back to the match.
At this moment, after an initial exchange of blows, the two contestants were ready to get serious.
Naruto drew a dull-edged kunai.
Opposite him, the spiky-haired black-haired boy pulled out an iron staff from his back.
Their biggest similarity was their boundless energy.
"Naruto, we agreed—whoever wins gets to be the boss."
"Yeah." Naruto nodded, looking unusually serious. "Konohamaru, you better not back out this time."
"I won't! And—no telling Haku-senpai or Karin-senapi, got it?"
"Do you think I would do something like this?" Naruto replied confidently. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the crowd.
Was Konohamaru an idiot? With so many people watching, why would he even need to tattle?
"Alright then! Here I go!" Konohamaru grinned, gripping his iron staff.
He began channeling chakra.
As a privileged student who had received special training, he had been mentored by the Third Hokage since childhood. For an Academy student, his chakra control was far superior to most of his peers.
Except for two people.
Naruto and Sasuke.
Like him, they had already mastered chakra molding and control and could even use ninjutsu.
So, he saw them as his greatest rivals.
Unfortunately, in his four years at the Academy, he had never won a single match.
Mostly because Naruto fought dirty!
Damn it! That hit yesterday really hurt!
But this time, he had learned an earth jutsu from his true rival. He was determined to teach Naruto a lesson.
Feeling confident, he finished molding his chakra and was about to unleash his technique—
When a massive shoe sole appeared in front of his face.
On instinct, he raised his iron staff horizontally, just in time to block the kick.
With a heavy thud, a powerful force crashed into the staff.
The staff itself was sturdy, but the attack came so suddenly that Konohamaru hadn't had time to reinforce his grip with chakra.
As expected, the force sent the staff flying.
And he landed flat on his backside.
The students surrounding them were stunned—except for Sasuke, who had predicted this outcome from the start.
"You lost!" Naruto grinned, holding his kunai near Konohamaru's neck. "Come on, say it. Admit defeat. No backing out."
Several students from notable ninja clans widened their eyes.
"Sasuke, was that the Body Flicker Technique?"
Shikamaru asked Sasuke, despite his usual lack of enthusiasm.
"More or less."
"You learned it too?"
"A little. My brother taught me yesterday."
"Hm... you two are still the strongest in our class." Shikamaru sighed and turned his gaze toward Konohamaru, who was still sitting on the ground in a daze.
To be fair, Konohamaru was already very strong.
Unfortunately, every time he challenged Naruto and Sasuke, they had already learned a new technique.
So he kept losing. Fast.
"Hey, Konohamaru, just give up already. Admit defeat." Shikamaru yawned. "Watching you lose every three to five days is getting old."
After a moment's thought, he added, "If you keep this up, Karin-senpai will hate you even more, don't you like her?"
Konohamaru's face instantly turned red.
"You… You're lying!" He protested hurriedly. "And I don't like Karin-senpai!"
"…"
"???"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, then wordlessly pulled out a small paper ball and stuffed it into his ears.
"Konohamaru!" Naruto was furious, his voice loud enough to shake the sky. "Are you after Karin-neesan?!"
"I—I'm not—"
"Enough talk! I'm gonna beat you up!"
"Huh!? You think a sneak attack means you won? Bring it on!"
The Ninja Academy was as lively as ever that day.
---
In the Sarutobi clan's estate, Hiruzen was enjoying the simple pleasure of writing in his study.
He had three great loves in life: Teaching his grandson, calligraphy, and smoking.
And also, his crystal ball.
That wasn't exactly a hobby, but as a former Hokage, he had deep feelings for the village and couldn't help but appreciate its prosperity from time to time—especially when he observed the happy lives of every villager.
Seeing everyone's blissful expressions at the bathhouse always brought him satisfaction.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar sound of running footsteps outside.
Hiruzen smiled warmly.
Oh, that grandson of his!
Yesterday, he had begged and pleaded to learn ninjutsu, so Hiruzen had reluctantly taught him an earth jutsu.
His grandson must have shown off to his classmates and was now coming back, brimming with pride, to share his success.
He really couldn't say no to such an adorable grandson.
With a loud "whoosh," the door was flung open, and Konohamaru burst in.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
But instead of the smug satisfaction Hiruzen expected, he saw something quite the opposite.
"Konohamaru, what's wrong? Hey, you—" Hiruzen instinctively tried to shield his calligraphy.
But it was too late.
"Grandpa!" Konohamaru leaped over the desk and clung tightly to Hiruzen's old waist. "Naruto is such a cheater!"
"Oof! Easy, Konohamaru!" Hiruzen winced, looking in despair at the now-ruined calligraphy paper beneath his grandson's feet.
His perfectly written character was now completely unrecognizable.
Torn to shreds!
This was calligraphy paper, not steel!
"You fought with Naruto again, huh..." Hiruzen sighed.
He wasn't sure whether he was lamenting his ruined calligraphy or the fact that his grandson had once again quarreled with Naruto.
Hiruzen was quite fond of Naruto—an energetic, mischievous boy, but one who always showed great respect toward him.
What he liked most was Naruto's catchphrase, "I'm going to be a Hokage as great as Hokage-ojisan!"
That was the spirit every child of Konoha should have.
Years had passed, and Hiruzen was now over sixty, approaching seventy.
His aging was undeniable. His strength had declined significantly, but he remained the most respected elder of Konoha.
The same went for his old comrades.
Torifu, for instance, had suffered old injuries that now prevented him from serving as a ninja anymore.
Hiruzen's generation of powerful ninjas had completely retired from Konoha's active forces.
Currently, there were four Kage-level ninjas in their prime in Konoha: Minato, Kushina, Masashi, and Shisui.
However, in reality, only Masashi and Shisui were currently available for action.
That wouldn't last forever. Fugaku, now over forty, had made it clear that he intended to retire at fifty. Once he did, Masashi would likely take his place as the Uchiha clan leader, as well as the Advisor position.
At that point, he wouldn't be able to leave the village freely.
That meant they had to rely on the next generation of ninjas to fill in the gaps.
At present, the most promising candidates were: Kakashi, Guy and Itachi.
Hiruzen was quite satisfied with this composition.
Having a monopoly was never a good thing. A balance of power, with different leaders taking turns, was the ideal scenario.
Moreover, three was just the right number.
For a village like Konoha, maintaining at least three Kage-level ninjas capable of mobilization was essential.
Suna before and after the Third Great Ninja War was a prime example of what happened when that number dropped too low.
"Grandpa, Naruto is such a cheater! He learned a jutsu that makes him disappear instantly!" Konohamaru complained, seeking justice from his grandfather. "I want to learn it too!"
But Hiruzen didn't quite understand what Konohamaru meant.
"Disappearing instantly" was hardly a precise description.
"Konohamaru, slow down. Explain properly," Hiruzen said, sighing as he gently pried his grandson off of him and surveyed his ruined desk in resignation.
---
While the Third Hokage was reluctantly entertaining his grandson at home, in the Hokage's office, someone known as "the great and approachable ninja" was examining intelligence reports.
He read them carefully, one by one.
After finishing, he returned the documents to an ANBU member beside him.
"Masashi, what do you think?" Minato asked expectantly. "Should we take action?"
"Hokage-sama, what kind of action are you considering?"
"Well, ANBU drafted a special operations plan. Take a look." Minato handed him another file.
Masashi glanced at it briefly before putting it down.
"I don't recommend this approach."
By now, he was twenty-nine. More than ten years had passed since the end of the Third Ninja War, yet time seemed to have left little mark on him.
"Mm, I don't entirely agree with it either, but I'd like to hear your reasoning."
"The Land of Earth and Water establishing a financial risk control mechanism is inevitable. Interfering at this stage would make it obvious that Land of Fire's previous statements about cooperation were false—it would be too blatant."
"But if the defectors help them establish it, we'll lose our advantage," the ANBU captain argued. "We're simply dealing with traitors—those countries have no reason to object."
"No need to say it—just keep it in mind," Masashi replied, shaking his head. "Those so-called traitors are merely copying our model. It won't benefit them in the long run. Letting them mess around is actually to our greatest advantage."
"How so?" Minato asked, intrigued.
Masashi began explaining.
Minato nodded as he listened. Konoha's mission revenue had indeed surged in recent years, largely due to the growing number of wealthy clients in the Land of Fire.
"The defectors in the Land of Earth and Water are treating our financial system as a pricing anchor, but that only works for small-scale lending to individuals and small organizations. Their countries don't even have enough moneylenders to make it work. If they rely on it, they'll end up manipulating prices, which will only harm their limited financial systems."
That, Minato understood.
In fact, he wanted to take it further.
"Then should we send more defectors their way?"
"Please don't!" Masashi nearly jumped. "Just putting on a show is enough. These defectors entered their countries secretly through Kiri and Iwa. We just need to send a strongly worded diplomatic note, demanding they ensure this doesn't happen again."
"That's it? Just a letter?"
"Yes, just a letter." Masashi nodded. "After condemning them, we have no further involvement. When they run into trouble later, we can step in as 'allies'—that would be in Konoha's best interest."
"Alright, we'll go with your plan," Minato concluded.
With that matter settled, he signaled the ANBU captain to carry out the orders.
Then, he turned to Masashi with a sly smile.
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