I was too late; Naruto had been led astray by Danzo.
"Hehe, Naruto, what are you guys talking about?"
After calming himself down, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward with a light laugh and said.
"Hiruzen, this time you were too slow to react."
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi arrive late, Danzo Shimura felt quite pleased with himself.
He felt that Naruto Uzumaki had already accepted his Root Will and would never get close to Hiruzen Sarutobi again.
"Grandpa Danzo is teaching me what a true ninja is."
Naruto Uzumaki looked proud, as if he were showing off to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Oh?"
"Then could you tell Grandpa Hokage what a true ninja is?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi maintained his smile on the surface, but his heart sank to the bottom.
Danzo taught him what a ninja was.
If we do as Danzo says, this child will be ruined.
"To lead the village to glory and bring light to the ninja world, that is what a true ninja is."
"This is Naruto Uzumaki's ninja way!"
Encouraged by Danzo's gaze, Naruto Uzumaki spoke loudly.
Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo was pleased and even gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a provocative look.
Look, you're not the only one who can raise the next generation. The descendants I've raised have much greater ambitions than you.
Your Will of Fire confines people's thoughts to a single village, which is far too narrow-minded.
The people taught by the Old Man's Root Will are not limited to one village or one country, but aim to bring light to the entire ninja world.
What is perspective?
That's what vision is all about!
From a strategic perspective alone, I have already won.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
Compared to Shimura Danzo's self-satisfaction, Sarutobi Hiruzen was completely dumbfounded.
It's one thing for Danzo to be overly ambitious and arrogant.
Why are you spreading your ideas everywhere?
Aren't you poisoning the next generation of Konoha?
No, as long as I am alive, I will never allow Danzo to seize the position of Hokage, otherwise, Konoha will be in grave danger!
"At such a young age, to be able to understand his own way of ninja, he is truly a smart child."
"However, Naruto, you have to take things one step at a time, no matter what you do. Don't be too ambitious. You can set a small goal for yourself first, like becoming Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi reached out and patted Naruto Uzumaki's head, saying with a smile.
Now, Danzo Shimura has struck first, leaving a very good impression on Naruto Uzumaki.
If he were to completely deny Danzo at this moment, it would inevitably provoke Naruto's rebellious spirit.
Therefore, he could only affirm Naruto's words first, and then slowly use the Will of Fire to influence him again.
"This old bastard, I, Black Zetsu, even considered saving your life."
"You actually want Naruto Uzumaki to become Hokage again? I, Black Zetsu, will never tolerate this."
Before Naruto could even speak, Black Zetsu was already seething with rage.
Upon realizing this, Black Zetsu saw a part of his body begin to spread toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In the blink of an eye, Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged hand turned pure black.
Fortunately, Danzo Shimura, who had been watching from the sidelines, reacted quickly and pulled Hiruzen Sarutobi backward, saying, "Hiruzen, let go!"
Danzo's sudden action caused Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression to darken: "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this... no, look at your hands."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's words made Danzo instinctively want to reply with "You'll regret this," but halfway through his sentence, he suddenly realized that it wasn't a question of whether he would regret it or not.
Instead, the black substance on Naruto Uzumaki corroded Hiruzen Sarutobi's body.
"Hands? What's wrong with my hands? Are you saying I can't even touch Naruto's head...?"
Unaware of the gravity of the situation, Hiruzen Sarutobi was engrossed in his conversation when he suddenly discovered that one of his hands had turned black.
It's the same black color as Naruto's half of his body.
"What...what's going on?"
"My hand..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was shaken to his core and momentarily lost his composure.
"Grandpa Hokage, are you alright?"
"Did I do something wrong again?"
Seeing the panicked Hiruzen Sarutobi, Naruto Uzumaki also became uneasy.
His intuition told him that he had done something wrong again.
But the truth told him that he hadn't done anything; it was Hiruzen Sarutobi who had come up to him and touched him. He couldn't blame himself for the problem that had arisen from touching him.
If that's the case, then we might as well abandon this village!
Let whoever wants to be Hokage do it!
"Naruto, don't overthink it, it has nothing to do with you."
"Grandpa Hokage has some things to take care of, so I won't go fishing with you for now."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, having served as Hokage for so many years, quickly regained his composure, put one hand behind his back, and smiled at Naruto Uzumaki.
However, he dared not approach Naruto Uzumaki again.
This made the already sensitive Naruto Uzumaki immediately realize that his Hokage grandfather was becoming distant from him.
"Then Grandpa Hokage, go ahead and get busy, don't worry about me."
Hiding his inner loneliness, Naruto Uzumaki said, feigning nonchalance.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not linger any longer. He wanted to find someone to study his blackened hand to find out what was going on and whether it would have any impact on his body.
In fact, Naruto's other half had already been studied.
The research results indicated that this thing was part of Naruto Uzumaki's body and not an external object.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was naturally dissatisfied with the result, but this was the level of the research team in Konoha.
Orochimaru, who was a generation ahead of ninjas and possessed the core technology of the Naruto world, was not trusted by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who dared not entrust Naruto Uzumaki to him for research.
So, it was left unresolved.
Now that the black thing was in his hands, he could no longer treat it lightly.
This time, he must get to the bottom of this.
"Grandpa Danzo, are you leaving too?"
After Hiruzen Sarutobi left, Naruto Uzumaki looked at Danzo Shimura with a complicated expression.
Naruto definitely did not want this person who was truly good to him to leave.
However, with Hiruzen Sarutobi as a "gem" before him, he was afraid that Danzo Shimura would also leave him.
In this way, he would become that lonely version of himself again.
"Naruto, don't think like that. Grandpa Danzo will never leave you."
"No matter what you become, in Grandpa Danzo's heart, you will always be Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure."
"Perhaps I cannot solve your problems, but Grandpa Danzo will never push you away."
Upon hearing Naruto's words, Danzo Shimura stepped forward and hugged Naruto tightly, expressing his "true feelings."
"Grandpa Danzo, I knew you were different from them. Only you are truly good to me."