Chapter 34: 8 of the Last Paragraph is the Title

"Two bowls of ramen."

"The Third Hokage is treating."

Akihara Kagura pointed to the old man behind him, appearing somewhat impolite.

"I want two bowls of ramen too!"

"It's Grandpa Hokage's treat!"

Uzumaki Naruto, pretending to be cool, mimicked Akihara Kagura's actions, pointing at Sarutobi Hiruzen following them, even more rudely than Akihara Kagura.

Uzumaki Naruto, this little guy, didn't understand what it meant to be polite. A six-year-old child at this age likes to imitate people they meet.

Even...

Uzumaki Naruto could even surpass his models.

"Uncle Teuchi, Sister Ayame!"

Uzumaki Naruto's face was filled with a happy smile as he joked, "If you have any wishes, you can ask Grandpa Hokage! Just say your wish, and he will make it come true!"

"Ah?"

Teuchi, the owner, tried to open his eyes, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Really?"

Ayame looked at the old man with some surprise.

"Cough cough..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly coughed a few times, speaking somewhat helplessly, "Naruto, the existence of the Hokage is not for everyone to casually make wishes!"

"Oh."

Uzumaki Naruto's face immediately fell.

However, Uzumaki Naruto's mood quickly brightened again: "Well, I'm happy to eat ramen tonight!"

"Forget it."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed deeply and sat down beside them: "Teuchi, make me a bowl of ramen too, I might have to put it on tab tonight."

"Oh, okay."

Teuchi, the owner, nodded obediently, not minding the Third Hokage's tab.

During this period, the credibility of the Hokage of Konoha was actually quite good; no one would think that the Hokage of the strongest ninja village would default on a debt.

"Hey, I just remembered something."

While waiting for the noodles to cook, Uzumaki Naruto curiously turned his head to Akihara Kagura: "I don't think I've asked your name yet?"

"Code A."

Akihara Kagura revealed his code name from the Root division and added: "But this name can only be used by Lord Danzo. You can call me Kagura, Akihara Kagura."

"Why?"

Uzumaki Naruto asked directly.

"Because Lord Danzo gave me a new life."

Akihara Kagura spoke calmly, as if stating a fact: "I used to be an orphan in the village. Someone sent me to a dark place where a long-haired man would cut my body with a knife every day. I couldn't even die. It was Lord Danzo who rescued me."

"Oh? Danzo saved you?"

The frown on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face relaxed.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was pondering the relationship between Akihara Kagura and Shimura Danzo and suddenly understood a bit more upon hearing Kagura's words.

"Yes, Lord Danzo saved me."

Akihara Kagura took a pair of chopsticks, calmly adjusting his emotions: "When I thought everyone had abandoned me, when I was in despair, Lord Danzo saved me. He made me a ninja and taught me ninjutsu…"

"Sounds like a good person…"

Uzumaki Naruto's impression of Shimura Danzo improved significantly.

"Cough cough…"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt choked by the smoke.

Shimura Danzo, a good person?

That seemed a bit insulting to his ears.

"The Third Hokage thinks so too, right?"

A smile appeared on Akihara Kagura's face, seemingly pleased by Naruto's praise. He stroked the little guy blond hair: "When you become a ninja, I'll have Lord Danzo assign you to the Root division. Together, we can eliminate the others in Root."

"Huh?"

Naruto's smile stiffened.

"Cough cough cough…"

Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed violently.

The Hokage suddenly felt that moving Akihara Kagura from Root to the Anbu was actually saving his old friend Danzo, preventing Root from becoming an empty shell.

This division was somewhat of a failure, but there were also great gains. Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that he was gradually understanding the real reason why Akihara Kagura was so loyal to Shimura Danzo.

If he wasn't mistaken, the long-haired man who conducted human experiments on Akihara Kagura was probably Orochimaru, his own defected disciple… As for the idea that Danzo rescued people, only naive children would believe such a thing. It's possible that the person who threw Kagura into the laboratory was Danzo himself.

Actually, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew a bit of the truth in his heart. Shimura Danzo had always supported Orochimaru's unauthorized human experiments.

He planned to find the right opportunity to let this child know the truth...

At that time...

Would this child still be so loyal to Shimura Danzo?

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly picked up his smoking pipe again, his only trouble was to make sure that after this child knew the truth, he wouldn't hate the mistakes of Konoha.

This matter...

Wasn't a problem for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

As long as he lets Akihara Kagura build bonds with others, teaching him to slowly learn to protect the friends that are tied to his bonds...

"Kagura."

"Don't always think about hurting others."

"The purpose of a ninja's existence is not to harm others."

Holding his smoking pipe, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked seriously at Akihara Kagura, planning to restart his lesson: "Kagura, the purpose of a ninja's existence is to protect, to protect those you want to. Have you ever wanted to protect someone?"

"I have."

Akihara Kagura nodded indifferently, continuing, "I wanted to protect the Dean, Yakushi Nono, but she abandoned me, so now I want to kill her…"

"..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression changed slightly.

He had heard of Yakushi Nono, a member of the village's intelligence department, always providing valuable information to the village...

But...

Wasn't this child a bit extreme!

"Now, I only want to protect Lord Danzo."

Akihara Kagura rested his elbow on his chin, pondering his next words: "But what Lord Danzo asks me to do is probably just to help him kill his enemies."

"This Danzo guy..."

Uzumaki Naruto sat on the table shivering.

"Don't speak lightly of killing."

Sarutobi Hiruzen tapped his pipe, his expression becoming extremely serious: "It takes over sixty years for a life to reach my age; however, a life can often be extinguished in just a few seconds..."

"So, you see..."

Akihara Kagura, almost self-taught, lit up with realization: "To protect someone, you need to diligently guard them for decades; but to help them kill an enemy, it only takes a few seconds, which seems simpler..."

"..."

Uzumaki Naruto felt something was not quite right.

"Cough cough cough cough..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Although that's true, an excellent ninja often has to do things that ordinary people cannot..."

"..."

Akihara Kagura fell silent.

But after a moment, Akihara Kagura suddenly spoke: "Lord Danzo said that I can use Wood Release jutsu, something others can't do, and that I'm already doing excellently."

"That's not what I mean..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Shimura Danzo, that bastard, clearly led this child astray!

"Hey, what about you?"

Akihara Kagura looked at Uzumaki Naruto: "Are you an excellent ninja? Can you do something that others cannot?"

"Yes!"

Uzumaki Naruto, with his face turned up, sniffled and proudly replied with a flushed face: "Other kids can cry in their parents' arms, but I don't have parents, nobody around me, and I won't cry alone!"

"You are also an excellent ninja."

Akihara Kagura sincerely praised.

"..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face slowly became more solemn.

The old man forcefully tapped out the tobacco from his pipe, put away his pipe, and looking at the ramen served by the owner Teuchi and Ayame, he finally decided to give up on this lesson.

"Let's eat..."

"After eating, go back to rest."

"Children must go to bed early, and not stay up late."

~~~

Btw, I need favor from you guys! If you see Akihara Kagura's gender changing, can you guys please call it out!

Some people are easily tick off whenever that happens and I try my best to re read it, it's crazy that still happened.