Chapter 16: The root of a problem

"We should return now that this base has its guards back." Oden said to his team.

The trio nodded in response, agreeing with him.

Oden turned towards the white-haired sage that had arrived.

"Will you return to Konoha with us?" Oden asked.

"I was actually on my way back, but I need to make a stop before that so you can leave before me, I'll arrive in a few months at most." Jiraiya said.

No more words were needed as the trio returned to Konoha, but this time they didn't run at full speed so they only arrived a week and a few days later.

"Is this report accurate?" The Hokage asked as he puffed out smoke from his tobacco pipe.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" The Ino-chiko-cho group all confirmed.

"Good, keep his abilities a secret, this is a good thing for Konoha." The Hokage said.

His intentions weren't to hide Oden's strength, simply hide how Oden fought and his different skills.

after the trip left, the Hokage was left alone. He couldn't help but to smile.

"Rasenyari huh? S-rank jutsu...." Hokage whispered with slight pride.

Hiruzen might not have been the most politically inclined, but he did have the will to protect his village, no one could deny that.

And he felt happiness at the fact that someone like Oden had popped up.

He had received 4 of the 5 treasures and knew that Oden had kept one for himself, but Hiruzen didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Oden kept all of them. He simply was happy that Konoha had another pillar.

Although Konoha had the most elite shinobi of all villages, such as Jonins and elite Jonins, right now, they had one of the least kage level shinobi in the village compared to other villages.

The land of lightning, Kumogakure had at least 4 kage level powerhouses in their village, maybe more.

Konoha had two with Oden, that was of course if you didn't count Kakashi.

So for Hiruzen, a big load of stress had been relieved from his shoulders.

In the office room of the Zaraki clan's head mansion, a knock could be heard.

"Come in..." Oden said as he sat on a chair with lots of letters on his desk.

Since he had been back, lots of rumors started circulating about his strength and about how he had defeated the two people who killed the second Hokage.

Every Konoha civilian loved and adored the Hokages, so him fighting the ones that are responsible for the death of the second Hokage had made him a hero in the village, an avenger of sorts.

And the rumors are getting wilder every second.

The truth of the matter was that the Hokage fought the gold and silver brothers and 19 other jonin while not being in the best condition because of war.

But people weren't aware of this fact and believed the brothers to be more than they were.

In the end, he had gotten lots of fan letters sent to him, thanking him for avenging the sorrow of Konoha. There were also other... less child-friendly letters...

"Oden-Sama thank you for avenging our second Hokage, if I had daughters I would have offered them to you as wives, no, even concubines would be fine, Sadly I only have sons... unless you swing that way? Don't worry I won't tell anyone of your secret! In fact, if you want... I can offer myself, even though I'm 67 years old I'm still pretty, my husband doesn't need to know xoxox" Oden read the letter that had been sent to him. At the same time, Migoto had stepped into his office and waited for him.

"Migoto, please read through the letters and only give me the important ones to read from now on, unless it's clan letters." Oden said as he threw the letter he had just read.

"Yes sir, You have two visitors that are waiting for you in the living room." Migoto said politely.

"Didn't I tell you that I don't want visitors today? I came back only a few hours ago and need rest." Oden said.

"Yet you're here working again, you should rest if you want to rest young master. I could deny your visitors since it's your father-in-law and the young mistress." Migoto said with a slightly happy tone.

"Heh? Erm, okay prepare some tea." Oden said as he stood up and went to the living room.

As he arrived, he found the daughter and father pair sitting beside each other, waiting for him.

The walls were open, showing the beautiful view of his garden where he usually trains.

"Welcome to the Zaraki district," Oden said as he sat down In front of his guests.

"Thank you, sorry for intruding without prior notice." Oden's father-in-law said.

"Don't think anything of it, now that we're bonded through... marriage, you're always welcome here." Oden said as he looked towards Hinata that didn't dare to stare directly at his eyes.

"So what brings you here?" Oden finally asked.

"Two reasons." Hiashi said.

Migoto walked in with a tray of snacks and tea for everyone.

Hiashi took a sip as he looked at Migoto with familiarity. He had heard about the Jonin butler of the Zaraki clan, that had accumulated fame during the last wars.

"You can speak, I trust my butler with my life, he probably knows more about me than I do." Oden said with a slight smile that escaped his lips.

He didn't notice it himself, but Hiashi did and realized how close and beloved this butler was to Oden. Which made Hiashi more assured of this marriage.

If Oden cared for and took care of his underlings, then he should do the same and more to his wife.

"A few of my people found... a secret organization trying to undermine your deeds and spread rumors about you." Hiashi said.

Hinata reacted to this and looked at her father and then Oden with worry.

"Mhm, nothing new, it's Root." Oden said nonchalantly.

"Root... So they are still active." Hiashi said in realization. He did have his suspicions, but nothing was ever confirmed.

"It's better that this information doesn't leave this room. Sadly there's nothing much we can do about this since there isn't any evidence at this point. It's better to leave these matters to the Hokage." Oden stated.

"I see... then I'll leave it at that." Hiashi said.

"What's the other matter that you came for?" Oden asked.