Naruto: Set a goal, conquer the universe.

Page 72

"As for how Itachi will handle things, Sasuke, that's up to you to decide. Whatever you choose, I will support you," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke took a few deep breaths. Although Itachi claimed that he went to extremes to protect him, Konoha, and the reputation of the Uchiha clan, he had still personally killed his clansmen and his parents.

How could he easily forgive Itachi's behavior?

Who can he turn to for justice, given the Uchiha spirits that are tainted on his hands?

Sasuke really didn't know how to face Itachi.

"Let me think about it." Sasuke didn't have an answer for the moment.

"Sasuke, speaking of the mastermind behind the destruction of the Uchiha clan, I have something to tell you." Naruto's expression turned serious.

"What?" Sasuke looked at Naruto, confused.

"Regarding the Night of the Nine-Tailed Fox, the deaths of my parents!"

Sasuke was taken aback, but he quickly realized: "You mean, the Nine-Tails being controlled by the Sharingan?"

“Yes!” Naruto confirmed with Sasuke, “A Sharingan that can control the Nine-Tails must be at the Mangekyou Sharingan level, right?”

Sasuke nodded in response: "I once tried to use the three-tomoe Sharingan to control Shukaku with genjutsu, but I failed. The three-tomoe Sharingan can't control tailed beasts; their chakra is too vast!"

"The genjutsu released by the three-tomoe Sharingan will be instantly broken by their violent chakra."

"Then the Sharingan that can control the tailed beast must be at least a Mangekyou Sharingan with three tomoe."

"The conditions for awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan are quite demanding, and not many people can awaken it." Naruto's expression darkened as he said this. "And the deaths of my parents were also related to a wild Uchiha!"

This was a rare expression on Naruto's face.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I suspect that the wild Uchiha who assisted Itachi in massacring the Uchiha clan, and who also possessed the Mangekyou Sharingan, was the one who killed my parents and controlled the Nine-Tails to destroy Konoha!"

"For some reason, he harbored a deep hatred for Konoha. After killing my parents, he then turned his attention to the Uchiha clan."

"The Uchiha clan is the most powerful ninja clan in Konoha. The destruction of the Uchiha clan would be a devastating blow to Konoha, significantly weakening its strength. This may be his purpose."

"It was because of him that he infiltrated the secret base where my mother gave birth, killed the wife of my third grandfather and many members of the Dark Guard, and even forced my father to fail to reinforce the seal in time because of his fight with him, which caused the Nine-Tails to escape from my mother's body."

"It can be said that this person is also the mastermind behind the Nine-Tailed Fox's rampage!"

When Naruto mentioned this wild Uchiha, he was filled with intense killing intent.

Sasuke felt that if this wild Uchiha appeared here now, Naruto would tear him to pieces on the spot.

"He is the mastermind behind our tragic fate!" Naruto said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke clenched his teeth. Not to mention that Naruto wanted to tear this wild Uchiha into eight pieces, he also wanted to tear this wild Uchiha apart.

"And we truly deserve to be called 'brothers,' even our enemy is the same person," Naruto joked at this moment.

After hearing this, Sasuke suddenly said, "Wait, didn't you just say 'Big Brother Naruto'?"

Naruto paused for a moment, then nodded.

“I’m older than you, so you should call me brother!” Sasuke raised his head and gestured to Naruto, indicating that he should call him older brother.

Enraged, Naruto pounced on Sasuke, pinned him down, and roughly rubbed his head.

"In the ninja world, strength reigns supreme. I'll call you 'Big Brother' the moment your strength surpasses mine!"

Sasuke protested fiercely: "I don't care, I was born before you, call me 'brother' and let me hear it!"

The two of them were playfully fighting, venting their gloomy feelings.

Both of them thought to themselves, "It's so good to have a brother!"

After they finished their playful fight, the two of them sat down again with their hair all messy.

After taking a sip of fragrant tea, Naruto said, "Although the Third Hokage told us the whole story of the Uchiha clan's annihilation, we can't naively think that's the whole truth. After all, the Third Hokage wasn't omniscient or omnipotent."

"He was telling the story of the Uchiha clan's destruction from his own perspective and based on what he knew."

"Therefore, we need to conduct extensive investigations and comprehensive analysis to fully understand the truth of the matter, rather than being swayed by others. For example, even the Third Hokage didn't know who killed Shisui or who that wild Uchiha was, but Itachi himself might have known these things."

“As expected, we still need to examine Itachi’s memories ourselves!” Sasuke nodded and said.

Itachi probably knew the truth behind it all, but he didn't tell anyone and carried it all on his own.

"The most important thing now is for you to master the immortal techniques as soon as possible. No matter what, your own strength is always the prerequisite for everything."

“If we didn’t have this ability, our third grandfather probably wouldn’t have told us these things at all. Telling us would only make us more troubled, and we would be powerless to do anything about it.”

"I'm going back to Mount Myōboku right now," Sasuke said, standing up after hearing this.

He didn't want to waste another second. After finishing his cultivation of the immortal arts, he would go find Itachi and get to the bottom of things.

At the very least, we need to know who the mastermind behind the annihilation of the Uchiha clan really is!

To protect him, Itachi had to appease those villains, but he was no longer the weak Sasuke he once was!

Now appearing is Sasuke, who has perfected his five elemental attributes, awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, and is now proficient in all aspects of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, and is about to master Sage Mode!

He was confident that he could find and kill all the masterminds behind the scenes.

If he can't do it, then he can do it with Naruto.

He refused to believe that if the two of them joined forces, no one in the ninja world could stop them.

Sasuke quickly returned to Mount Myōboku to continue his Sage Mode training.

Naruto, on the other hand, found Tsunade.

"You want a Wood Release ninjutsu scroll? What do you need it for?" Tsunade asked Naruto, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Of course I’m studying,” Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"Wait, you mean you've developed Wood Release?" Tsunade's beautiful eyes widened as she looked at Naruto in disbelief.

Chapter 115 Decentralization of Power

"Hmm, it's not that difficult. I tried it once and succeeded right away!" Naruto clapped his hands to make sure Tsunade didn't believe him, and several saplings sprouted from the ground.

Tsunade stared blankly at the saplings, then stiffly turned to look at Naruto: "How did you do that??"

"Well, it's just that by following the chakra ratio on the necklace you gave me, Grandma, I can fuse the chakra attributes and master Wood Release." Naruto shrugged, as if it couldn't be simpler.

Tsunade's eye twitched. If it weren't for Naruto's sincere gaze, she would have suspected that he was playing a trick on her.

If Wood Release were so easy to develop, then the village wouldn't have had to turn to studying the grandfather's cells because researching Wood Release was so difficult, resulting in so many deaths!

Because of the excessive number of casualties during the experiments, the Third Hokage halted the project.

Tsunade was speechless. Looking at Naruto, she could only give herself a weak reason: perhaps it was because this child was too talented.

"The Wood Release ninjutsu are all recorded in the Scroll of Seals. I'll go get it for you. You can read it here." Tsunade got up and went out. After a long time, she returned with a scroll that was half the height of Naruto.

"Here, this is the Book of Sealing Techniques. It contains Wood Release ninjutsu. Take a look for yourself." Tsunade tossed the entire Book of Sealing Techniques to Naruto.

"Alright, thank you, Granny Tsunade." Naruto took the Scroll of Seals, happily opened it, and began to examine the Wood Release ninjutsu inside.

This scroll, which records all the dangers and powerful ninjutsu since the founding of Konoha, is truly priceless.

But Tsunade simply handed this priceless treasure to Naruto to look at, which is enough to prove Tsunade's high regard and trust in Naruto.

Time passed by, and Tsunade was handling government affairs, with Shizune assisting her. Naruto sat on the ground next to her, looking at the scroll.

The scene was so beautiful.

"I can not stand it any more!"

A frustrated voice shattered this beautiful scene.

Tsunade threw the documents on the table, let out a long sigh, and slumped into her chair with a pained expression.

Having grown accustomed to freedom in public, it's clearly a bit much to ask Tsunade to stay quietly in the office and handle government affairs.

"Come on, Shizune, let's go to the tavern for a drink!" Tsunade picked up her outer robe and was about to head out.

Shizune quickly hugged Tsunade: "No, Lady Tsunade! There are still so many documents to process. If we don't deal with them in time, it will affect the operation of Konoha!"

Shizune believed Tsunade's words, that the "just a little drink" thing was nonsense, as Lady Tsunade always drank until she was completely drunk.

When I woke up, it was already the next day.

Then, more new government documents will be sent over, and how will we be able to handle them all?

"I'll just have a small drink to perk myself up!" Tsunade struggled violently and protested vehemently, dragging Shizune's body toward the door.

Hearing their words, Naruto shook his neck and put away the Book of Seals.

"Is Grandma bored?" Naruto asked curiously.

“Of course, dealing with government affairs is less interesting than drinking.” Tsunade looked at Naruto, “Have you seen the Wood Release ninjutsu?”

"Yes, I've roughly understood the ninjutsu left behind by the First Hokage. I'll try it out when I get back," Naruto nodded and said.

"If Granny Tsunade is bored, how about we have a fight to get our energy moving?" Naruto suggested a good idea.

Tsunade walked up to Naruto and ruffled his hair vigorously: "No way! It's you brat who's itching for a fight, isn't it?"

Naruto chuckled, "Weren't we still fighting before? This time I promise I won't use the Eight Gates, I'll just use my physical strength to fight Granny Tsunade, how about that?"

Tsunade was somewhat tempted; after all, a thoroughly enjoyable battle could be a source of fun.

Shizune quickly said, "Fighting is better than drinking, Lady Tsunade. If you want to get some exercise, why don't you have a fight with Naruto?"

Even if the two of them were fighting, they couldn't possibly fight all day long. After Tsunade finished her activities, she could still come back sober and handle government affairs.

"Okay, let's have a fight then. Shizune, put the Scroll of Seals back. Naruto, let's go." Tsunade nodded and led Naruto to the secluded training ground.

Two hours later.

The terrain of this remote training ground has been completely destroyed.

Naruto and Tsunade, both drenched in sweat, sat together to rest.

After stretching their limbs and working up a sweat, both of them felt refreshed.

"Grandma, I see all those government affairs being sent to your desk. Is there really that much government affairs in Konoha?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Of course. As Hokage, I have to be responsible for everything in the village, whether it's military affairs, people's livelihood, or requests from other departments. It's not a difficult task, but I can't just ignore it," Tsunade explained.

Naruto scratched his head, his little face scrunched up. If he became Hokage, wouldn't he have to sit in an office like Tsunade every day, handling government affairs?

If even someone as experienced as Granny Tsunade has to complain, how could he possibly sit still?

He thought about it seriously and said, "Why can't we delegate the decision-making power for some minor matters to the lower levels? Or we could set up an administrative think tank to help with these matters, with them submitting their opinions and then the mother-in-law making the final decision?"

"There's no need for my mother-in-law to be involved in everything. Even if she's in good health, she'd be exhausted if she did that, wouldn't she?"

Tsunade was taken aback and began to ponder the feasibility of Naruto's idea.

The Hokage has always been in charge of all matters, big and small, in Konoha.

It wasn't until the Third Hokage created the Hokage Support System that he relinquished some things and powers, but in return, he experienced a division of power.

For example, Danzo, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado!

Now that the Third Hokage has personally taken action to remove the position of Hokage Assistant, does that mean she's going to reinstate a new Hokage Assistant?

Tsunade glanced at Naruto, recalling the Third Hokage's words.

We must never treat Naruto and his friends like children again.

Tsunade voiced her concerns.

"It's not a division of power, it's a decentralization of power!" Naruto said immediately after hearing this.

"For example, regarding people's livelihood, I have heard Sister Jingyin's report. Even if the security department arrests a villager who committed a crime, they have to report to you for a decision. That is really too troublesome."

"Such minor matters can be handled by the guard department itself. Just follow the rules and regulations. If there are any concerns about wrongful convictions, the secret service can set a time to review cases from the past period. If they find any problems, they can interrogate the prisoners separately and review the cases again."

"This way, we can keep an eye on the security department."

"Unless it's something as serious as a death sentence, I don't think such trivial matters need to be reported to you."

Chapter 116 Tsunade's Actions, Hinata's New Ninjutsu

"Power has indeed been delegated, but the supervisory power should always remain in the hands of the mother-in-law. If the Anbu finds any problems with a ninja, then they should investigate the responsibility and replace them with a new one."

"As for establishing an administrative think tank, it also has its advantages. They are only given the power to provide advice, without any other administrative power. The decision-making power can always remain in the hands of the mother-in-law."