Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto could not help but burst out laughing and replied, "Alright then, I'll be waiting to see it!"
His words were filled with trust in Sasuke and anticipation.
Just then, Kurama, who had been inside Naruto all this time, suddenly spoke up, ["Hmph! Aren't you two getting happy a little too early?"]
Naruto's smile instantly froze on his face. With a startled look, he asked, "What's wrong, Kurama? Why would you say that?"
However, Kurama only let out a faint cold laugh and stopped paying any attention to Naruto.
No matter how Naruto pressed him for answers, he remained silent and refused to reveal even a single extra word.
This immediately caused a strong sense of unease to rise in Naruto's heart, an ominous premonition surging up like a tide.
"Sasuke, let's go figure out what's going on first. Maybe this war is already over?"
Naruto turned to look at Sasuke and suggested seriously. Hearing this, Sasuke quickly nodded in agreement.
Just as the two of them were about to move, a figure suddenly appeared behind Naruto like a flash of lightning.
Naruto was startled at first. After seeing clearly who it was, he immediately cried out in surprise and delight:
"Dad! Why are you here?", The person was none other than Namikaze Minato.
Minato smiled, reached out, and gently rubbed Naruto's hair as he replied softly, "Silly kid, of course I came specially to take you home."
As he spoke, his gaze casually swept toward the surveillance camera in the corner of the room.
It turned out that earlier on, the Uchiha clan had already discovered through the surveillance that Naruto and Sasuke had awakened, and they quickly passed this news on to Minato.
That was why Minato had rushed over so quickly.
Hearing Naruto's shout, Sasuke was also taken aback.
He widened his eyes and stared blankly at the man in front of him with blond hair and a gentle smile on his face, his heart filled with shock and disbelief.
After a long while, Sasuke finally snapped out of it as if waking from a dream, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.
'Could it be… this is the legendary Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato?'
'But didn't the Fourth Hokage pass away many years ago? Why would he suddenly appear here?'
A string of questions surged up, leaving Sasuke at a loss.
Still, recalling how Shisui had suddenly appeared earlier, Sasuke felt he should probably be more mentally prepared for things like this.
"Uncle Minato, where is my Shishou right now?", At this time, Sasuke was only eleven years old, still just a child.
Calling Naruto's father "uncle" was not a problem at all. After all, even Naruto called Fugaku "uncle."
Minato frowned slightly, a trace of worry showing on his face:
"Rengoku ran into some trouble."
Before he could finish speaking, Sasuke and Naruto almost simultaneously shouted anxiously, "Shishou (Principal), what happened?"
Clearly, Rengoku held an extremely important place in both of their hearts. Hearing that something had gone wrong, it was only natural for them to panic.
Minato swiftly reached out with both hands and grabbed Sasuke and Naruto by their backs.
In an instant, the three figures vanished into thin air like ghosts.
———
When they reappeared, they were already inside a spacious and brightly lit underground room.
At this moment, Rengoku lay quietly on the bed, completely motionless.
Karin sat silently at the bedside, with a small, delicate table placed next to her.
Even though Rengoku had once told her to leave this place, the stubborn Karin did not listen this time.
She still came to Rengoku's room every day, focusing intently on studying sealing techniques, full of hope that Rengoku would return soon.
Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Sasuke and Naruto walked in together.
Although Karin was in a bad mood, when she saw the two of them, she still forced herself to pull up the corners of her mouth into a faint smile.
She then respectfully bowed to Namikaze Minato and softly said, "Fourth Hokage-sama."
Sasuke and Naruto looked at Rengoku lying on the bed, surprise appearing on their faces at the same time.
Because the Rengoku before them looked abnormal.
Sasuke was even more anxious, having no time to care about the dispute with Karin over senior and junior titles. He asked urgently:
"Senpai, what exactly happened to Master? Why did he end up like this?"
Hearing Sasuke's question, Karin's eyes instantly dimmed. She slowly lowered her head, her voice filled with dejection, "This is just Master's clone… Master himself has already been taken to another space-time by the power of the Dragon Vein."
"What's worse, the space-time we're in right now has been completely sealed off."
"As for when Master will be able to come back, I don't know either."
As she finished speaking, Karin could not help but let out a soft sigh.
She did not mention to Sasuke and Naruto that Rengoku had briefly returned once before.
Perhaps in her view, whether she said it or not made no difference, so it was better left unsaid.
"How could this be?"
Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other in shock, disbelief written all over their faces.
Naruto suddenly turned his head, his gaze urgently landing on Minato as he asked with worry, "Then, Dad, is the ninja world done fighting?"
Minato patted Naruto's head, "For now, it's come to a temporary stop."
———
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and three months had already gone by.
Yet there was still no news of Rengoku at all, as if he had completely vanished from the world.
Gradually, everyone seemed to silently accept the fact that he would not be able to return anytime soon.
At the same time, the information released by Konoha to the outside stated that the Hokage had been seriously injured, and all governmental affairs were temporarily being fully handled by the Hokage's assistant, Nara Shikaku.
However, as the days went by and Rengoku still did not appear, people could not help but feel increasingly confused and worried.
No one had any way of knowing just how serious Rengoku's injuries really were.
On top of that, Konoha showed no intention of selecting a new Hokage.
Coupled with the Sand Village deliberately spreading rumors that Rengoku had already died. For a time, the entire ninja world was thrown into turmoil, the situation becoming ever more confusing and unpredictable.
In this era of upheaval and uncertainty, the various factions were like sharks that had smelled blood, all beginning to stir.
With different goals in mind, they flocked toward Konoha like a tide, trying to probe the truth and uncover its secrets.
However, the current Konoha Village was no longer what it once had been. Its powerful barrier techniques originated from Miroku's shamanic system and were completely different from traditional chakra-based barriers.
This unique and solid line of defense was like an insurmountable chasm.
It was simply impossible to sneak into Konoha without being detected.
All intelligence agents could only sigh in frustration and return empty-handed.
Over time, the true situation inside Konoha gradually became an unsolvable mystery, giving rise to endless speculation outside.
Even though the powerful Uchiha Rengoku had not shown himself for a long time, the might of his Martial God Susanoo still inspired deep fear.
That world-destroying power seemed to be branded into people's hearts, retaining an extremely strong deterrent effect even now.
Moreover, those familiar with Rengoku's style of doing things all knew that pretending weakness to lure the enemy had always been one of his favored strategies.
For this very reason, when facing this seemingly calm yet unfathomably deep Konoha Village, not a single ninja village dared to rashly provoke trouble, lest they bring disaster upon themselves.
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