Tsunade stared dumbfoundedly at the proud-looking Aoki Yoru. Just how thick-skinned did one have to be to say something so shameless?
"Heh!"
She then gave a cold laugh. Who was he trying to fool?
She didn't care about his nonsense; he clearly just wanted a reason to leave the Village. As long as he didn't pull a Jiraiya and never come back, it was fine.
She pulled out a stack of mission slips and tossed them to him. "If you want to leave the Village, fine. Do these missions along the way. They were originally for Kakashi and Might Guy, but since your Yatagarasu is fast, you can do them all!"
Aoki Yoru looked at the pile of mission slips with lines of frustration on his forehead. "This is way too many. I won't even finish them in a month. Wouldn't it be better to let Kakashi-sensei and the others continue?"
"Hmph! You think he's like you? He hasn't stopped doing missions lately. Over seventy percent of the S-rank missions were completed by him. Didn't you see how thin he's become?"
"Most people in the Village are out on missions right now. Even Naruto and Sakura have gone to a small border country with Shikamaru to catch a ferret."
Hearing this, Aoki Yoru's pupils constricted slightly, and his heart raced with excitement.
If he remembered correctly, the movie 'Legend of the Stone of Gelel' took place during their search for the ferret.
He didn't know if the plot had reached that point yet, but he couldn't delay; he had to rush there immediately.
Tsunade didn't notice the change in Aoki Yoru and continued, "I plan to let Kakashi rest for a while, otherwise I'm afraid he'll drop dead from exhaustion. Since you're going out for a few months, finish these first."
'No, Kakashi-sensei's weight loss probably has nothing to do with missions and everything to do with Jiraiya's new book in his hands,' Aoki Yoru couldn't help but complain inwardly.
"Alright then!"
Aoki Yoru sighed helplessly, picked up the stack of mission slips, and walked toward the door.
"Kid, I don't know what you're up to, but come back alive," Tsunade's voice suddenly drifted from behind him.
Aoki Yoru waved the mission slips in his hand and said confidently, "Don't worry, Lady Tsunade. I won't let myself fall into danger again."
After leaving the building, Aoki Yoru headed straight for the outskirts of Konoha Village.
At the Konoha main gate, he exchanged a few pleasantries with the two gatekeepers and walked out.
In an open area, he directly summoned Yatagarasu. Under the dumbfounded gazes of the two gatekeepers, it flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
After receiving the report, Tsunade stood by the window, staring straight at the sky, and muttered to herself, "He's so impatient; this kid definitely has something going on. But still, you must come back alive."
By now, the line of succession in Konoha was very clear and tacitly accepted by everyone.
The next Hokage after her would be Kakashi; almost no one in his age group could compete with him.
Might Guy had the strength, but his personality was completely unsuitable for being Hokage. As for Asuma and the others, their strength was insufficient; one could see their limits at a glance.
As for the generation after that, it would be Aoki Yoru and his peers. In this generation, he, Shimizu Yui, and Tanaka Kenta stood head and shoulders above the rest, giving people infinite expectations.
Among them, she favored Aoki Yoru the most. Whether it was strength or cunning tactics, he was top-tier. Not to mention anything else, just the fact that he could fool the old man showed his scheming was not simple.
Next was Shimizu Yui; this young girl's talent was not inferior to Sakura's and might even surpass it.
It was a pity she didn't have time to teach a second disciple, and Yui had already found her own path, so taking her as a disciple wouldn't mean much. It was better to focus on training one Kage-level ninja, which would also add to Konoha's foundation.
As for others like Uzumaki Naruto, it was hard to say for now. No one knew what his future strength would be or if he would have the qualifications to compete for Hokage.
However, the emergence of just Aoki Yoru and his two teammates already made Tsunade and the other elders feel relieved; after all, they didn't have to worry about the future.
Furthermore, the three of them were part of the established Hokage lineage.
Although she didn't have feudal ideas—believing anyone with enough ability could be Hokage—
both the two Advisors and the clan heads like the Ino–Shika–Chō trio tacitly agreed that the position of Hokage should be passed down within this lineage.
Just like why feudal dynasties in the past insisted on appointing a Crown Prince—it was to stabilize the court and avoid being forced to pick sides. The consequence of picking the wrong side was heading to the execution ground.
For these ninja clans, what they wanted was Konoha's stability. Picking sides was useless to them; ninja clans had their own rules for survival.
Dynasties may change, but great families remain.
The position of Hokage was not worth mentioning compared to the survival of the clan.
In the sky, Yatagarasu was speeding toward the Land of Waterfall.
He didn't know exactly where the events of the movie 'Legend of the Stone of Gelel' took place, only that it was at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, and by the sea.
Then it was simple. The only part of the Land of Wind that was by the sea and bordered the Land of Fire was the area near the Land of Waterfall. He just needed to search there.
The simplest way would have been to ask Tsunade where Naruto and the others were performing their mission.
But what he wanted to do was take the grell stone to charge his clone. If the clone was exposed, Konoha could definitely follow the clues and suspect him. One must not underestimate the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the Ninja World; they definitely surpassed his previous world.
Before long, Aoki Yoru arrived at the Land of Waterfall. He immediately spread out his spiritual energy to its full extent, searching for Naruto's traces area by area.
Soon after, Yatagarasu flew to the border of the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Wind. Aoki Yoru, who was constantly scanning, curled his lips into a smile.
"Found them. It's this point in time; luckily I arrived just in time."
Under his perception, he saw Naruto in the middle of a caravan, sitting by a campfire and chatting with a blonde young man.
"This person must be Timusi, the descendant of the last king of the ancient super-civilization, the Kingdom of Gil."
Aoki Yoru stared at him thoughtfully, his eyes flickering as he pondered with a grim expression.
According to the movie, the mechanism sealing the grell stone vein was left by Timusi's ancestors, and only those with royal blood could activate the seal.
To be honest, Aoki Yoru wasn't entirely sure how to take away the grell stone vein, as he hadn't seen it with his own eyes yet.
His original plan was to seal it into his body like a Tailed Beast.
But seeing Timusi changed his mind; there was a better option now.
The success rate would be much higher than sealing it in his own body.
In the sky, Aoki Yoru kept staring at Timusi, who was talking about peace theories with Naruto. His face was full of hesitation, but finally, he seemed to make up his mind.
He whispered, "Sorry, but I must obtain the grell stone vein."
Afterward, Aoki Yoru lay down on Yatagarasu to rest. Anyway, it would be another day before they entered the vein; he would wait until they were asleep.
First, he had to imagine various emergencies to respond in time, and he also had to think about what Sealing Technique to use.
The night was deep, well into the small hours, and all was silent.
In the entire camp, only one campfire was burning, making a sizzling sound. Even the guards on duty were nodding off.
Aoki Yoru appeared silently in the tent. Looking at the two sleeping figures, he wrapped his spiritual energy with Natural Energy and knocked them both unconscious.