Chapter 281: Brainwashing

It took a long time for Masahiko to recover from this.

"There is still this kind of operation in the Shinobi World. That's right, Orochimaru's name isn't Orochi, though it would have been cool… But why did the orphanage's director give him two names but no last name? What is he? Arabian…?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, well, this sounds better…"

"Go on, what happened after that? Did Danzo do anything?" Masahiko frowned.

Hiruzen smiled bitterly, "Danzo sent someone secretly, contacted Naruto, and tried to keep him in Konoha."

"Is it because of the Kyuubi? But Naruto was a three-year-old kid at that time. Can he decide whether to stay in Konoha?"

"At that time, Minato and Kushina were hesitating on whether they should entrust him to the Uzumaki's Daimyo or to Uchiha Mikoto because they couldn't take care of Naruto personally. After all, Konoha was an environment that Naruto is familiar with, and Mikoto also is the mother of his childhood friend, Senju… Masahiko."

Masahiko nodded and fell in silence for a moment.

Masahiko had already guessed this. It is estimated that Danzo has sent people to contact Naruto, and they were discovered by Kushina, and then a series of incidents occurred.

"After that, Uzumaki Naruto stayed in Konoha."

"Well, that's… huh?"

Masahiko raised his head in embarrassment as he looked at Hiruzen's bored expression; he always felt like he enjoys doing this…

"Naruto stayed in Konoha?"

Hiruzen nodded, "The spy that was sent by Danzo was also a child, so he just played with Naruto normally and didn't do anything else. I also acquiesced to this. Because I felt that having Naruto here will mean that we're still allies with the Uzumaki. It would be better if it's maintained, and when the war is over, Minato will be able to return to the village and continue to serve as the Hokage."

Masahiko glanced at Hiruzen, "Go on."

He didn't try to guess this time.

"Naruto stayed in Konoha, while Minato and Kushina went to the Land of Whirlpools, but Danzo made a new move."

"The child that Danzo sent kept talking about Konoha to Naruto and explaining how being a Hokage is a great thing that only a hero can achieve, but I didn't take it seriously at the time…"

Masahiko frowned, "Talking about Konoha? Is he trying to get Konoha in Naruto's mind, psychologically?"

Hiruzen was surprised, "How did you know? I didn't know that something like that could be done before, so I didn't think of anything. Since he didn't use Genjutsu, and he was saying good things about Konoha, I ignored it."

Masahiko's mouth twitched. Danzo is a really tricky guy. Knowing that things like Genjutsu will definitely be discovered, he used words to brainwash the kid.

"Then what happened?"

Hiruzen sighed, "Later, Danzo's actions were discovered by the Senju's great genius."

"Itachi? But he's…"

"Ten years old."

Masahiko nodded, that's right.

"At the time, Itachi came to me and said that Naruto was psychologically repressed. I still didn't believe it at the time. Then he told me that it was experienced when a child has been in contact with someone too much from a young age will slightly deviate from that person in body and mind. Not to mention the wonderful message of Konoha that has been instilled in him since childhood…"

"Puff! Cough Cough…" Masahiko kept coughing in embarrassment.

"It's over. This old man's methods were discovered by a child. What a shame!"

Hiruzen smiled bitterly, "I was dubious at the time. However, I still came to Nawaki and asked him to lead some of his clansmen to protect Naruto to the Land of Whirlpools."

"This action was blocked by Danzo, and then I was sure that something was wrong."

"That's it." Masahiko heaved a sigh of relief. Most of Hiruzen's story should be true, and he can confirm it when he sees Nawaki.

"Things didn't escalate and cannot progress to the worse. If the entire Konoha village didn't agree to assist the Uzumaki, then my life has been nothing but failure… Fortunately, there are people like Kagami and Hiashi, who are not like that." Masahiko thought secretly.

But…

"Jiraiya, is Hiruzen telling the truth?" Masahiko didn't shy away and asked directly.

Jiraiya scratched his head, "At that time, I really wanted to go to the Uzumaki and help Minato, but he stopped me. I don't know about other things since I went to the battlefield earlier."

Sakumo's figure suddenly appeared in the room, "Elder Masahiko, the Third Hokage-Sama didn't lie to you."

Masahiko's heart was slightly settled since he believed more in Jiraiya and Sakumo.

"No wonder Naruto wants to come to Konoha so much. Maybe there was a reason for this. I really didn't see it before…"

Masahiko shook his head; maybe what Danzo has done was for the better.

However, his methods were much softer than what he thought, probably because the Uzumaki are much stronger now, and provoking them, might turn against him and bring more damage to Konoha.

Hiruzen hesitated, "Elder Masahiko, can you help me persuade Kushina? Because of this, she's very dissatisfied with me."

Masahiko paused, "Can you blame her? You thought you could really fool me around too. Isn't your Will of Fire monologue is already psychological repression? How could you not tell?"

"It's estimated that you were happy to see the results at the time. But later on, when you were discovered, you had to make an emergency remedy and send the Senju to support. Did you think you could really hide that from me?"

Jiraiya was taken aback, "No way, old man!"

Hiruzen smiled bitterly and sighed, "You're right."

Masahiko shook his head, "At least you're not stubborn enough to deny, but you also know how to redeem yourself. You have to find a way to ask Kushina for forgiveness. I'll deal with you later, but I'll beat Danzo first!"

Just when he was about to act, he suddenly paused and scratched his head, "By the way, have you find a particularly fat white cat?"

The three of them glanced at each other, and Sakumo said, "How fat?"

Masahiko nodded, "Nearly about 30 kilograms."

Sakumo's face darkened. What kind of a cat can grow like this? Elder Masahiko's pets are bizarre.

As he was about to talk, an Anbu flashed in.

"Hokage-Sama, there was turmoil in the Ninja Academy. The lunch of the first-year students disappeared strangely."

"Lunch?" Hiruzen was stunned for a moment, "I see. You go first and investigate the situation. I'll be there later!"

"Yes!"

Masahiko had an ominous premonition, "Forget about what I have just said. How can such a cat exist?"

"Danzo is in Kumogakure, right? I'll go clean him up first!"

Upon saying that, Masahiko's figure disappeared in place, leaving the three with big and small eyes…