Hokage Tower.
Naruto tilted his head up, squinting against the sunlight as he gazed at the towering structure. After a brief pause, he stepped inside.
"Yo, Kakashi-sensei, are you busy?" He walked into the office, casually pulled out a chair and sat down.
Kakashi was slumped over his desk, looking like he had kidney deficiency, with thick dark circles under his eyes. He was nearly 30 years old, not even married yet, but he was already on the verge of collapsing.
"What brings you here?" Kakashi looked up. Prior to this, in order to make it convenient for Naruto to come and go, he had specifically granted Naruto unrestricted access and he also did not need to report his whereabouts.
In the end, Konoha is a Shinobi Village, and generally speaking, even the Hokage does not have the power to give someone such a precedent. The Hokage can only make suggestions, and then the higher-ups will make a collective decision.
But after some deliberation, the higher-ups figured that it's not like they can stop him anyway, so they greenlit it.
What a joke! The last batch of higher-ups who had opposed Naruto have already had grass three feet high on their graves. Sandaime is dead and Danzo also is dead. One died at the hands of Orochimaru, and the other died at the hands of an Uchiha.
Even though it has nothing to do with Naruto, it still makes people quite wary.
Fortunately, the relationship between this group of Konoha high -ups who came to power and Naruto was quite close. Of course, the relationship has become somewhat stiff due to someone's weird behavior.
It is obvious to the naked eye that in a dozen years, once the higher-ups cycled out again, if Naruto's power waned or the village grew stronger, their attitude toward him wouldn't remain so accommodating.
However, the tension wouldn't last forever. Kakashi believed shifting circumstances would naturally change things. Nothing stayed the same forever, and changes are inevitable.
"I just came over to take a look. I'm too free." Naruto lied smoothly.
Kakashi shot him a sidelong glance, clearly not believing him. He knew this student of his all too well. This guy had a complicated mind but inherently lazy.
If he could sit, he wouldn't stand. If he could lie down, he wouldn't sit.
'This guy never showed up without an agenda. As for coming over to take a look, How could he say that with a straight face? The audacity to lie so shamelessly, how hateful.
"Then look around. Just don't bother me." Kakashi stared at Naruto for a moment with his dead fish eye.
"How does it feel to be the Hokage?" Naruto asked with some gloating.
"Not very good, I'm busy every day." Kakashi glanced at him and said, "If you're that bored, you could always swing by more often and lend a hand."
"Kakashi-sensei… I haven't offended you in any way, have I?" Narutoasked.
"Why do you say that?" Kakashi was surprised, "But now that you mention it, you have offended me in so many ways. If you're really sorry, you might as well think about whether you want to take over the position of the Nanadaime Hokage."
"No thanks!"
The position of Hokage, a position that Danzo had never been able to obtain in his entire life, was now being tossed around between these two like some bargain-bin cabbage.
If Danzo knew about this, he would be so angry that no one would be able to hold down the lid of his coffin!
"Damn it, you don't want it, but I do!"
The position of Hokage, in the eyes of these fake teacher and student, is no different from a hot potato. Kakashi only took it because of his ties to the village.
The Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, had gleefully passed the baton and then ran away happily.
After working for more than half a year in this position, Kakashi wanted to vomit blood all the time. The intensity of this work was ridiculous, and it's just dealing with paperwork all day long. Only an old man like the Sandaime who had no desires and no demands could sit still in this position.
No matter what, Kakashi is just a young man who has just turned thirty. How was he supposed to endure this sedentary torture? If he continues like this, his prostate will explode.
"Forget it. I won't be in this position for long anyway." Kakashi sighed, "In two and a half years at most, I'll probably need to take a break."
"Who's giving you trouble?" Naruto asked.
"The Land of Fire's Daimyo and his noble cronies are making things difficult for me. 'Trouble' might be putting it lightly, as it's more like underhanded schemes." Kakashi exhaled. "Dealing with them is exhausting. Honestly, they're wasting their energy. I never planned to stay long anyway."
"The Daimyo?" Naruto racked his brain, but he could no longer remember the Daimyo's appearance. After all, he rarely interacted with nobles of that caliber.
"Shouldn't those nobles be busy hosting their orgies instead of meddling in Shinobi Village's affairs?"
"Heh." Kakashi gave him a look that seemed to say, 'how ignorant can you be', before smirking, "The relationship between Konoha and the capital of the Land of Fire has always been complicated, and the Daimyo isn't just a representative of the nobility."
"While there are many nobles who are on good terms with Konoha, there are also many who hate Konoha. The reason the current Daimyo is the Daimyo is precisely because he dislikes Konoha."
"Why?" Naruto was slightly taken aback, as this was the first he'd heard of such secrets.
Even when Tsunade was in office, she'd never brought these things up to him. Probably because she didn't care, after all, she was just the Godaime Hokage who stayed in the position to put out fires.
"The nobles are most afraid of the Daimyo and the Hokage being united, so they naturally would never support a Daimyo who favors Konoha." Kakashi coughed lightly.
"But whatever… none of that matters now. Frankly, I can't wait to step down." Kakashi put one hand on the table and laughed self-deprecatingly.
"I'm just worried that these next two years won't be easy. It's so annoying."
Hearing this, Naruto understood and after a moment of silence, he raised his head again. He looked at Kakashi and then spoke carefully, "While that is true, the Hokage's position can be given, and only what is given to them is theirs, but they can't just take it, right?"
"You'll get used to it. Those nobles are used to being so arrogant." Kakashi said, "Just ignore them. It's really not worth it to bother with them."
"Hmm." Naruto nodded thoughtfully.
…
Land of Snow.
A group of uninvited guests, claiming to be envoys Land of Grass, had traveled thousands of miles because they wanted to see the Queen of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Koyuki. (T/N: It seems in this novel, Land of Snow is a Monarchy, with the Queen as the leader instead of Daimyo, so I'll change it to Queen from now on.)
Upon receiving the news, Koyuki was momentarily stunned, but quickly steadied herself.
"Let them in."
Even so, she was still a little nervous. Why would people from so far away even know about the Land of Snow? What could they possibly want after coming all this distance?
"Your Majesty, the Land of Grass is not a trustworthy nation." One of the ministers reminded, "The Land of Grass has always had a bad reputation, and they survive by selling out allies and peddling secrets."
"Besides, what those guys love most is stealing."
"Steal?" Koyuki blinked. She had never been to the Land of Grass. "What do you mean?"
"The Land of Grass is infamous for stealing other nations' Ninjutsu, and even their history and culture. They'll also claim anything they copy as their own." The minister replied.
"This country has no righteousness and no backbone. Your Majesty, please be careful. These people are not here with good intentions."
Koyukiwas a little nervous when she heard that, but then she thought that she could ask that person to help her, she immediately calmed down.