Konohagakure.
The Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked a cigarette, his face extremely solemn.
Combined with the layer of red Nine-Tails chakra covering his body, the surrounding atmosphere felt inexplicably oppressive.
"Danzo, are you still unwilling to speak?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Both of these advisors, upon hearing about the Scroll of Seals, had already gone to persuade Danzo.
However, Danzo insisted that this matter had nothing to do with him, that Mizuki was not one of his people, and refused to reveal Mizuki's whereabouts.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had no choice but to return here.
"Hiruzen, let's think of another way!" Mitokado Homura suggested. "You know Danzo's personality. If he doesn't want to talk, no one can force him to talk."
"That's right. Instead of wasting time here with Danzo, we should send someone to retrieve the Scroll of Seals as soon as possible."
Koharu Utatane nodded slightly; clearly, they both believed that Danzo was behind it.
"I've already sent people out, but I have no idea where Mizuki went," Hiruzen Sarutobi said worriedly.
Just as the group was discussing this matter, Naruto Uzumaki suddenly burst in from outside.
"Grandpa Hokage, I know where the Scroll of Seals is."
As soon as Naruto Uzumaki entered, he spoke to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This made Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who were about to reprimand him, swallow back the words they were about to say.
"Naruto, this is a serious matter, not something to joke about," Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded Naruto Uzumaki in surprise.
"Grandpa Hokage, it was because I knew that the Scroll of Seals was of great importance that I left some Nine-Tails chakra on it beforehand."
"I can use the Nine-Tails' chakra to retrieve the Scroll of Seals."
Naruto Uzumaki didn't actually know why he was doing this.
These were all words that Black Zetsu had taught him to say.
In Naruto's view, since the Scroll of Seals had already been leaked, their goal had been achieved.
There's no need to dwell on this matter any longer, but it was clear that Black Zetsu had other plans.
"Naruto, can you really sense the location of the Scroll of Seals?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes lit up, and he immediately ordered someone to call Kakashi: "Quick, tell Kakashi to come over."
If Naruto was to be allowed to go out, Kakashi must accompany him; otherwise, he wouldn't feel at ease.
"Naruto, if you can really help the village retrieve the Scroll of Seals, with this achievement, the position of the Fifth Hokage will surely fall to you."
To get Naruto Uzumaki to give his all, Hiruzen Sarutobi once again extended an olive branch to the Fifth Hokage.
He had lost count of how many people this position had been promised to.
However, it was surprisingly effective every time.
"Grandpa Hokage, you're in your prime, I don't have that kind of interest," Naruto Uzumaki said with a chuckle, scratching his head.
Soon, Kakashi Hatake arrived and learned about the series of events from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Hokage, do you want me to take Naruto and the others to retrieve the Scroll of Seals?" Kakashi Hatake asked after listening.
"That's right. Given the importance of the Scroll of Seals, I will classify this mission as an S-rank mission."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded solemnly.
"But I just accepted a mission to the Land of Waves..."
Kakashi Hatake originally wanted to take Naruto Uzumaki and the others to broaden their horizons, but he never expected to encounter such an unexpected situation.
"Reject it!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said without hesitation, "The Scroll of Seals is the most important thing."
Seeing that even the Hokage said so, Kakashi Hatake had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Afterwards, Hiruzen Sarutobi told Naruto Uzumaki to go and prepare, and he also gave Kakashi some instructions.
"Kakashi, although Naruto has already been able to control the power of the Nine-Tails."
"But it's not always possible to control him. It's still uncertain. If he suddenly loses control or becomes disloyal to the village, you can do something about Sakura Haruno. Naruto values her a lot..."
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi's words were tactful, Kakashi understood their meaning.
The idea was to use Sakura Haruno's life to threaten Naruto Uzumaki and prevent him from doing anything reckless.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
Kakashi outwardly agreed to the matter, but inwardly he had no intention of listening to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Since Sakura Haruno was a member of Class 7, then she was his comrade.
A ninja who fails to complete a mission might be called trash, but a ninja who doesn't cherish his comrades is even worse than trash.
No matter what, he could never do what the Third Hokage said.
...
The Land of Waves.
Mizuki knelt in front of Zabuza Momochi, trembling with fear.
Because of the bridge-building project in the Land of Waves, Tazuna went to Konohagakure in the Land of Fire to seek help.
After leaving Tazuna, Gato sent people to keep a close watch on any outsiders who came to the Land of Waves.
Coincidentally, Mizuki, wearing the Konoha headband, arrived in the Land of Waves at that time.
Furthermore, he was captured and brought here by two chunin under Zabuza Momochi's command.
"Konoha ninja, why are you here?"
Zabuza Momochi's sinister gaze and the murderous aura emanating from him terrified Mizuki, rendering him speechless.
After finally calming down and trying to speak, Mizuki suddenly felt paralyzed all over, unable to open his mouth or move.
This was precisely the activation of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
Because Mizuki wanted to reveal that he had been forced to come here by Black Zetsu, he naturally triggered this cursed seal.
"Hmm?" Seeing Mizuki remain silent, Zabuza Momochi felt a surge of anger: "How dare you ignore me!"
He drew his Decapitation Sword, ready to cleave Mizuki to death with a single blow.
"Wait!" Mizuki exclaimed in alarm, and quickly said, "I brought the Scroll of Seals of Konoha. If you spare me, I will give it to you."
"This contains a large number of forbidden techniques, as well as powerful ninjutsu practiced by the successive Hokage of Konoha."
Upon hearing Mizuki's words, Zabuza's Executioner's Blade paused slightly.
"Is what you say true?" Zabuza Momochi's eyes were filled with doubt.
"If there is even the slightest lie, may I die a horrible death," Mizuki nodded repeatedly. "If you spare me, I will hand over the Scroll of Seals to you."
"Foolish!" Zabuza sneered, "Killing you will still make the Scroll of Seals mine."
The decapitation blade fell again, and the whistling wind made Mizuki close his eyes in despair.
My life is over!
"Wait!" At the critical moment, Black Zetsu finally spoke: "He is a contractor of my Tome Sage Realm, you can't just kill him."
As Black Zetsu spoke, the Scroll of Seals that was on Mizuki's back suddenly flew to the front.
Zabuza's sword stopped just one centimeter from Mizuki's neck, a near miss.
"You can actually talk?" Zabuza Momochi looked at the Scroll of Seals standing upright in front of him with a look of horror in his eyes.
...
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