The next day.
Naruto woke up in his own bed, glanced at the window, and lazily pulled the curtains shut with his foot. Right now, all he wanted was to lie there and wait for the wind to bring change. He didn't want to do anything.
As the saying goes, 'It is better to stay still than move recklessly.'
'The situation in Kumogakure is stable, Black Zetsu was up to who-knows-what. Obito is probably still searching for the Rinnegan, and Konan also left with the Rinnegan.
The Land of Snow was developing steadily, and as for Iwagakure's side, since he had subdued the Leg Kage, Kurotsuchi, it was basically stable.
The only real wild card was Kirigakure, but it could not affect the overall situation.
As for Naruto himself, the number of Jashin's followers has increased to six, and he only needs four more to complete the taskline and get the reward of physical regression to age 18.
But he still had to think about which unlucky people to drag into the four slots. It had only been less than a year since he came of age, and there was still time before the year's end.
His focus is not entirely on the outside world either. In order to prevent the last 'explosive scandal' from happening again, Naruto is also prepared to spend more time balancing his relationships with Ino and Hinata.
Even if it meant sneaking around, he made sure to take Hinata out for walks during his breaks, or eating with Ino or chatting in her office.
Sending flowers, traveling through the Gate of the Underworld, he pulled out all the stops. The only thing he hadn't tried was using a Bijudama as fireworks.
It's just that because the Yamanaka couple and Hyuga Hiashi have complaints about Naruto, Naruto dare not be too blatant and always keeps a low profile.
This also meant that, for the most part, he had a lot of free time in the village. Occasionally, he would go to Sakura's place to eat and watch her handle paperwork.
"So bored!" Choji yawned, sitting at a food stall as he picked up a piece of meat and popped it into his mouth, "Take it away, take it away. I have no appetite."
"Could you at least spit out the meat before saying that?" Shikamaru said speechlessly.
"That's right, Choji, you're such a drama queen." Naruto complained, but his hand speed of eating was no less than Choji's, "Since when did this new place open? I had no idea."
"You guys..." Shikamaru rubbed his temples.
"By the way, Shikamaru." While eating meat like crazy, Choji suddenly spoke up, "Why haven't I seen you around recently? Are you so busy at work?"
"I remember that everyone in the Hokage Tower is relatively free these days, but why is it the opposite for you? In the past, even at your busiest before, we'd still run into you. But now. we can hardly see you."
"Ugh, don't even ask. Kakashi-sensei transferred me to the Hokage's Office." Shikamaru sighed, "I'm so busy all day. I don't know where all these paperworks come from."
"The Hokage's Office? Nice! Shikamaru, you're soaring to the sky!" Naruto said with a grin, with a hint of gloating in his eyes.
The three of them have similar temperaments and shared a certain lack of ambition. Even Choji's past drive to get stronger had mostly been peer pressure, just to keep up with his friends.
But after reaching adulthood, Choji gradually lost the motivation. He went from practicing frequently to practicing occasionally, and finally gave up practicing.
On the other hand, Shikamaru, was cursed with natural talent. No matter how much his soul wanted to slack, his body wouldn't let him. While Shikaku is the village's Chief Strategist, he doesn't participate in the higher-ups' struggle.
The Nara Clan needed someone to lead them to greater influence, and Shikamaru had become the Nara Clan's elders' golden child. They wanted him to go into politics and even become the next Hokage.
Nowadays, Kakashi couldn't stand the pressure of work and took the initiative to seek a secretary to share the burden. After much deliberation, the only relatively normal candidate among his students was Sakura.
One Uchiha had defected, and the other Uzumaki Naruto was practically teetering on the edge of being only half a Konoha's Shinobi. The village could no longer restrain him, let alone expect him to become Hokage.
After hesitating for a long time, Kakashi decided to transfer Shikamaru. He simply copied what Tsunade had done before. First finding a Hokage's secretary, and then dump the workload on them before stepping down.
Once he'd pulled off this 'cicada shedding its shell' maneuver, he'd toss the Hokage's position straight to Shikamaru. As for whether the higher-ups agree or not, that has nothing to do with him. He can only hold out for three years at most.
"Wait… so that means you're the Hokage-in-waiting?" Choji's mouth opened wide and he even forgot that he was holding a piece of meat.
In that split second, Naruto's chopsticks struck like lightning, snatching the meat right out of Choji's grasp. Without even waiting for it to cool, he blew on it twice before stuffing it into his mouth.
"Hokage-in-waiting? Pfft… more like the Nanadaime Hokage!" Naruto said vaguely with a confident look!
"What kind of nonsense are you two spouting?" Shikamaru propped his head on his hand, watching Naruto and Choji's antics with disinterest, "How can someone like me become the Hokage?"
"The position of Hokage must be held by someone with immense strength, prestige, and experience."
He glanced lazily at the two of them and spoke nonchalantly, "No matter how you look at it, I don't fit any of those criteria. Besides, being the Hokage sounds like way too much trouble."
"Let someone more capable take the job. I'll just stay in the background and offer advice when needed."
While Choji and Shikamaru were talking, Naruto buried his face in the meal, devouring everything in sight. He wasn't the least bit surprised that Kakashi had chosen Shikamaru as the Hokage's secretary.
Among their generation, Shikamaru was one of the top Shinobi in both ability and achievements. With Naruto out of the question, Shikamaru was Kakashi's only hope.
Perhaps, Shikamaru could become the youngest Hokage in history.
"Drink up!"
"Cheers!"
…
Nearly half a month had passed, and Naruto and Ino had just parted happily near the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Even though their eyes were almost tearful, they still had to part reluctantly.
Just as Naruto got home, Yugao suddenly delivered earth-shattering news.
The Rinnegan had been stolen, and Konan was severely injured and was on the verge of death.
"On the verge of death?" Naruto was a little surprised, but he had already expected it in his heart. If Obito took action, Konan would be no match for him, so she naturally lost.
"No way… Where is she?" He asked.
"Kumogakure." Yugao replied.
Naruto took a deep breath and said, "I see."
'Just right, another addition for the Jashin's followers.'