Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane immediately voiced their agreement.
Everyone present wore grim expressions.
The Third Hokage had called for a secret meeting.
In response, the major clans of Konoha—the Hyuga, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Aburame—gathered under the Hyuga Clan's lead and held a private council of their own.
Naturally, the Hyuga, as conveners, had informed the Hokage's office in advance.
At the same time, the Third Hokage dispatched his personal ANBU operatives to covertly monitor the gathering.
After all—
So many clans uniting for a secret meeting might easily be mistaken for brewing rebellion…
But that wasn't their intention.
Rather, the clans wanted to share and compile intelligence.
Each clan had reported a strange phenomenon:
A sudden surge of power among many of their jonin-ranked members.
Ninjas who, until recently, had been stuck in mediocrity—unremarkable in both skill and status—were now breaking through.
One after another, these previously unnoticed shinobi submitted applications for official promotion to jonin.
Although this uptick in strength technically benefited their clans, the speed and scale of the rise were unnatural.
More importantly, it was outside the control of their respective clan heads.
That made them uneasy.
During the meeting, the Hyuga, Nara, and the other clans shared information freely.
They uncovered one truth after another about each other's internal affairs.
And yet—
Even the sharp-minded Nara Clan couldn't deduce anything useful from the data.
The conclusions matched what both the Third Hokage and Danzo had already known:
A mysterious figure was selling chakra-enhancing techniques.
And that was all.
Nothing on the seller's identity, goals, or affiliations.
This unknown individual…
Was what unsettled them the most.
Unseen threats are the most terrifying.
While these hidden tensions stirred beneath Konoha's surface…
Team 7 had just completed their mission in the Land of Waves.
Leaving behind the newly completed Great Naruto Bridge,
They returned to the Land of Fire,
Drawing ever closer to Konoha.
Within a day at most, Naruto and Team 7 would see the grand gates of the Hidden Leaf Village once more.
And right at that moment—
The voice of the Nine-Tails rang out in Naruto's mind.
"Naruto."
"Phase Two is complete."
Kurama's voice practically oozed with excitement.
Naruto paused, the corners of his mouth curling into a small, satisfied smile. He was in a good mood.
"Go on," he thought.
Kurama continued his report:
"Phase Two is complete. Currently, there are over 500 chunin and more than 700 jonin in Konoha. But only half of them have submitted jonin applications."
"Among those, only half are truly qualified to be jonin by Konoha's standards."
Naruto didn't seem particularly concerned.
With so many jonin candidates, it would be unrealistic for them all to apply at once.
Staggered applications were necessary.
That way, the system wouldn't collapse under the weight.
"What about the merchants?" Naruto asked mentally.
Kurama answered immediately:
"On the business side, 80% of Konoha's merchants, landlords, and influential figures are aligned with us. The remaining 20% either don't need chakra or prefer to keep their distance."
Naruto wasn't surprised.
After all, not everyone craved chakra. Some simply weren't interested.
Or—
They didn't want to associate with someone whose identity remained unknown.
That didn't matter.
Eighty percent was more than enough.
In other words—
He now controlled 80% of Konoha's economy from the shadows.
For every hundred ryo circulating through the village, eighty flowed under his influence.
But in the ninja world—
Economy was only part of the equation.
True power still came from strength.
And to defeat the Third Hokage—fair and square, on the battlefield he prided himself in—Naruto needed time.
His entire strategy was broken into three phases.
Phase One: Initiate the operation.
Phase Two: Expand his numbers.
Phase Three: Rapidly grow the ranks, prepare his trump cards, and finalize all preparations.
Once Phase Three concluded—
The move to overthrow the Third Hokage would begin.
They were already on the cusp of that final phase.
Unlike the earlier stages, this one wouldn't take long.
From now on, it was just a matter of process:
Promote every capable chunin to jonin.
Continue nurturing new jonin from among chunin—and even genin.
This would expand their influence until it naturally became unstoppable.
The final preparations were almost complete.
Konoha was nearly his.
Naruto then turned his thoughts outward.
What about the other Great Ninja Villages?
He asked Kurama.
Kurama responded quickly:
"I'm still working with only half my chakra, so I can't spread many clones to other villages."
"However—"
"Mist has over 70 chunin, 30+ jonin, and more than half of its merchants under our control."
"Cloud has more than 50 chunin, over 20 jonin, and about 30% of its merchants."
"Sand has more than 100 chunin, 40+ jonin, and 70% merchant infiltration."
"Stone has over 80 chunin, more than 50 jonin, and more than half of its merchants."
Naruto processed the report, nodding silently.
Though the infiltration wasn't yet complete in the other villages—
The current results were quite promising.
Especially among the merchant class.
Naruto understood one thing clearly:
Compared to the shinobi, merchants weren't bothered by Kurama's identity.
They didn't care who or what the Nine-Tails was.
They only cared about what he could offer.
If there were profits to be made, they'd trade.
Which is why merchant infiltration always outpaced that of ninjas.
And if things continued like this…
Once he took full control of Konoha and claimed the Hokage title,
He could ride that momentum,
One step at a time,
To subdue the other four Great Villages—
And take control of the entire shinobi world.
At the same time, Naruto was tightening his grip on all major power structures in the shinobi world.
Using the strength his network had accumulated, they would gradually begin infiltrating and absorbing the smaller Hidden Villages that operated in the shadows of the Five Great Nations.
Step by step, a true unification would take shape—
And so would the path to real, lasting peace.
By then…
Even if Akatsuki, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara, or even Black Zetsu tried to stir up chaos behind the scenes—
Naruto would be able to crush them effortlessly.
The journey that day passed without any unexpected incidents.
Team 7 successfully returned to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Upon their arrival, the very first order of business was to report their mission status to the Third Hokage.
Naturally,
As the team's jonin instructor, Hatake Kakashi handled the debriefing.
He deliberately left out the more critical details of the mission.
All he reported was Tazuna's situation—
That a supposed C-rank escort mission had escalated into a B-rank mission involving enemy ninja.
The Third Hokage was caught off guard at first—
But he was still pleased with how well Naruto and the others performed.
In fact, learning about Naruto's standout efforts on the mission was the only good news the Hokage had heard in a long while.
Recently, the Third Hokage had been under constant strain due to the flood of jonin applicants suddenly pouring in.
Although he knew something suspicious was happening behind the scenes…
On the surface, there was nothing he could do.
He still had to process every application.
Still had to approve promotion requests.
Because in the end—
You couldn't deny someone the right to advance.
The ninja ranking system was the backbone of Konoha's shinobi structure—
Just like in the other great villages.
If lower-ranked shinobi were barred from rising through the ranks—
Who knew what kind of internal chaos that would trigger?
But…
One had to wonder—
When the day came that the Third Hokage finally realized all those newly promoted jonin were loyal to Naruto—
What kind of expression would appear on that old man's face?
After Kakashi concluded his mission report,
He stood before the Hokage Tower and officially announced that Team 7 was temporarily disbanded.
Having completed a B-rank mission, the team would be granted a five-day vacation to rest and recover.
As they went their separate ways for now,
Naruto understood.
Kakashi, Sasuke, even Sakura—
They needed time to breathe.
When they left the village, none of them expected that this would be anything more than a routine escort mission.
But now, with the mission complete—
Their lives had changed.
Their entire futures had changed.
Naruto quietly watched Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and the others as they walked away.
He was ready to head home too.
Leaving the Hokage Building, Naruto made his way through the heart of Konoha.
It was late afternoon—the busiest time of day. Students had just been released from the Academy, and working adults were finishing their shifts. The streets bustled with life, filled with laughter and noise, painting a picture of prosperity and peace.
But—
The moment Naruto stepped into that scene,
Everything changed.
The warmth in the air seemed to vanish, replaced by a chilling silence that only he could feel.
The cheerful expressions of the villagers stiffened the instant they laid eyes on him—on the boy they still saw not as Naruto Uzumaki, but as the "Nine-Tailed Fox."
Though they didn't dare shout slurs at him anymore, not like when he was a child—Naruto had grown too strong for that—they still clustered in small groups, whispering and pointing behind his back.
Their voices, though hushed, carried the same venom as ever.
In their eyes,
He was still the demon fox.
Still undeserving of a happy life.
Still not worthy of peace.
Naruto, of course, had long since given up on changing their minds.
He never tried to convince them otherwise.
If this was how they wanted to see him—
Then so be it.
At least now, when the time came, he wouldn't have to hesitate in dealing with them.
And so, Naruto walked on in silence, ignoring the judgmental stares around him.
But even though Naruto had chosen not to react—
Others hadn't.
From the shadows, Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze had silently followed him back into the village.
And when they saw how the villagers treated their son—
Their hearts boiled with fury.
Naruto had done nothing to deserve such malice.
And yet the people of Konoha—the very people Minato and Kushina had died to protect—still looked at him with hate in their eyes.
If, back then,
They had known that this was how their son would be treated—
There was no doubt.
Neither Minato nor Kushina would have given their lives for this village.
They would never have allowed Naruto to suffer this fate.
What stung even more was one simple, undeniable fact—
They had entrusted Naruto to the Third Hokage.
He was supposed to protect their child.
Yet what had he done?
Absolutely nothing.
As the leader of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to know how Naruto was being treated.
But he turned a blind eye.
Letting Naruto suffer alone.
Minato and Kushina could only imagine how lonely and painful Naruto's childhood must have been.
How had he managed to endure it?
How had he come this far?
Eventually, Naruto arrived at his apartment.
It was the same modest place he had lived in since he was a kid—small, simple, but spotless.
Naruto kept it clean and orderly, a quiet reflection of his inner discipline.
Before doing anything else, Naruto closed his eyes and focused.
He scanned the area with his sensory abilities, confirming that there were no ANBU agents watching him.
No eyes from the Third Hokage.
Then, he gave the signal.
And in the next moment,
Two familiar figures silently appeared within his apartment.
Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze—his mother and father—revealed themselves at last.
The two looked around the room slowly.
The size, the layout, the bare furniture—
It was all tidy, but painfully modest.
A clean surface hiding years of solitude.
And as they took it all in, their expressions darkened.
This wasn't a home.
This was a cell of survival.
They couldn't believe it.
Minato had once been the Fourth Hokage.
Kushina had been the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki before Naruto.
Back then, they had lived in a spacious house befitting their status in Konoha.
But now, the child they left behind—the son they died to protect—
Was living like this.
Alone.
After all, Minato Namikaze had once been the Fourth Hokage, the man who once led all of Konoha.
Providing a proper home for his child should never have been a problem.
And yet—
Here they were.
He and Kushina Uzumaki—standing in a cramped, dimly lit apartment.
The place where their son had been left to grow up alone.
"This… this can't be it!" Kushina's voice trembled with fury.
She clenched her fists.
"Minato was the Hokage! I was the previous Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails!"
"And yet—our son was raised here?! In this tiny, run-down place?!"
Her voice rose with every word.
"Did the Third Hokage really let you live like this all these years, Naruto?!"
"Where is our house?! The one we lived in?! The one we prepared for you?!"
"This isn't it! This—this is nothing like the home we had!"
She was shaking now.
It was all gone—the warmth, the space, the safety they had wanted their son to have.
Naruto responded calmly, as if it no longer hurt him:
"Yeah… I've lived here alone ever since I was little."
Kushina's breath caught. Her heart broke even more.
Even Minato, ever the composed and reasonable one, felt his composure falter.
His hands clenched.
The anger in his heart was barely restrained.
Now wasn't the time to erupt—but the fury simmered just beneath the surface.
Kushina turned away, tears in her eyes. Guilt and rage warred within her.
How could this have happened?
Minato looked again around Naruto's small room—so clean, so orderly, yet painfully bare.
He thought of something.
"...Naruto," he asked quietly, "Did the Third Hokage ever give you any ninjutsu scrolls?"
"Any jutsu manuals to study? And… did you have enough to live on? Money, food?"
Naruto answered truthfully.
"The Third gave me a scroll of the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. That's it."
"As for money… when I was still in the Academy, I used to get 1,000 ryō a month from the village."
"But after I graduated and became a genin, that stopped."
Minato and Kushina froze.
Just a single scroll?
Only one jutsu?
Even that—Multi Shadow Clone Technique—was a forbidden jutsu. Yes, powerful, but dangerous. No one in the village could even use it safely except Naruto, due to his massive chakra reserves.
It was almost like handing him something no one else wanted.
Minato clenched his jaw.
It looked like the village had given Naruto something special…
But in reality?
It was the bare minimum.
This jutsu was of no use to most shinobi. It could only be safely wielded by someone like Naruto—because of the Nine-Tails' chakra inside him.
Minato's voice was tight. "That jutsu… it's practically tailor-made for you. No one else could use it without dying of chakra exhaustion."
"And besides that one scroll… nothing else?"
Naruto nodded.
Minato's eyes narrowed. "Back then, Kushina and I left behind dozens of scrolls. Secret techniques. Our legacy."
"I was Hokage. She was the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki. We had enough knowledge to raise a prodigy."
"But all of it… was kept from you."
As for those scrolls...
Naruto never saw a single one.
And then there was the money.
One thousand ryō?
That's all they gave him?
For context—even a simple D-rank mission pays between two to three thousand ryō on average.
Yet Naruto, the son of the Fourth Hokage and the previous Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, was expected to survive on a mere fraction of that?
It was absurd.
Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had once stood at the peak of Konoha's power.
As Hokage and as the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, they had carried out countless high-level missions—A-rank, even S-rank—missions with massive bounties and rewards.
The wealth they'd accumulated during their lifetimes…
It wasn't just impressive—it was unimaginable.
A sum so vast that an average civilian wouldn't be able to spend it all in a hundred lifetimes.
And yet—
Naruto was left with nothing.
...
TN:
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