Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 441 Ming Zhao

This trend, which is not in Konoha's current interests, would be truly foolish to say that no one is behind it.

This heated debate wasn't just filled with malicious speculation; there were also some moderates who understood the priorities, and the "Naruto faction" who believed in Naruto's character and firmly stood by him. The two sides were arguing fiercely, so much so that Tsunade couldn't stop rubbing her temples. When she saw Naruto off, she had already guessed this day would come, and sure enough, they couldn't resist attacking him, especially at such a critical moment.

At this moment, Tsunade truly solidified her resolve to disband the advisory group. They were no longer the group of predecessors who had rushed to the battlefield for Konoha without hesitation, but rather obstacles standing in Konoha's way forward.

"Isn't the most important thing right now how to protect Naruto from Akatsuki? Once we lose our Jinchuriki, the balance of power between the ninja villages will be disrupted." Shikaku managed to stabilize the situation with neutral words, but there were still a few people who refused to give up.

"The Hokage always treats Naruto Uzumaki with such care and gentleness, we are really worried about him."

"What are you worried about?"

"Of course it's the Hokage's favoritism..."

A sharp crack came from the corner of the conference table. Jiraiya, the only one in the room who knew Naruto's current situation, had reached his limit, and the thick porcelain cup in his hand shattered. But a cup wasn't enough to quell the argument; what truly suppressed the debate was the killing intent emanating from one of the Legendary Sannin.

To be honest, Tsunade herself could hardly remember the last time Jiraiya was this angry. They had agreed to go fishing and dig out some deeper-buried chess pieces, so how did things turn into such a heated argument? Sensing something was wrong, she immediately cut off the conversation.

“Naruto Uzumaki was targeted by Akatsuki during the mission, so he avoided the confrontation and retreated in advance. This is a privilege I granted him.”

"This matter ends here and should not be discussed further."

With the Hokage speaking and Jiraiya's sudden outburst, the group was reminded of the Sannin's achievements and power, and finally shut their mouths to discuss serious matters.

In reality, their preparations were very limited. They had guessed that the attack on Konoha was most likely Pain, but they hadn't figured out much about Pain's strange abilities. All they could do was increase the number of outposts and the frequency of patrols, hoping to respond as soon as the enemy showed up.

At the same time, they also had to spare some energy to deal with the guests sent by the Daimyo. The trading company called Dongfeng had risen very rapidly, spreading across the world. However, they mostly operated in the world of ordinary people, so they hadn't attracted Konoha's attention. It wasn't until their delegation entered Konoha for an inspection that Shikamaru, who was accompanying them, noticed from various details that these people... seemed to be ninjas!

This is somewhat...unbelievable.

As everyone knows, Konoha is the only village in the Land of Fire where ninjas gather, and all the traditional ninjas in the country originated there. Yet these people came from outside the village, dispatched by the Daimyo, and they're all ninjas? What does the Daimyo mean by this? Is he implying Konoha's incompetence? Or is he intentionally encouraging Konoha to absorb new ninja clans?

"Jiraiya, you travel around all year round, do you have any impression of this east wind?"

He remembered it so well that he even followed the man around for a long time to investigate. When he turned around, he found out that the actual leader of Dongfeng was his own apprentice!

"Their routes are spread all over the world, and they are not afraid of any difficulties or dangers. As long as there are people, they dare to open routes."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, looking quite interested. "Using special routes to differentiate themselves from other merchants? That's interesting. So, what are their prices?"

"The daily necessities are affordable and accessible, while the high-end products are very special and not available elsewhere, so they are priced very high and are exclusively for nobles and officials."

"Are they sold at affordable prices even in remote mountain villages?"

"Yes."

Tsunade fell silent for a moment. Even someone accustomed to the profit-driven mindset of a businessman couldn't help but fall silent upon hearing this.

"The transportation costs of opening up special routes are definitely higher, why?"

"...I don't know, they've been doing this for many years. Perhaps you could ask the head of this trading company."

"Let's wait and see. We won't be on guard against them for now. I've never seen a merchant firm that would sacrifice profits for the sake of the common people."

The power struggle within Konoha is far from over; it's just temporarily suppressed by a shared goal. Why this group chose this worst possible time to launch a counterattack is indeed a question worth exploring, but none of their actions are as important as Naruto's life.

Let's put them on hold for now and let them enjoy their last moments of leisure. Anyway, we've already memorized the list.

At this moment, Sasuke was completely unaware of the undercurrents in the ninja world. He was pondering his new eyes, and he had to make good use of this power from Naruto so as not to let that "death" go to waste.

Logically, after awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, both eyes should awaken a unique dojutsu. Generally, there's some connection between the two dojutsu, since at the moment the Mangekyou Sharingan is activated, a person usually only has one obsession. Itachi, with one eye possessing the genjutsu Tsukuyomi and the destructive Amaterasu, is truly a rare sight.

However, no matter how hard Sasuke tried, his left eye's eye technique didn't react at all. On the contrary, he was quite skilled at using the techniques in his right eye, although it was a bit tiring for his eyes.

"Is this time reversal?! That's amazing, it can actually affect things outside of oneself." Naruto was genuinely shocked. He thought Sasuke might awaken Amaterasu again, since his family had all mastered this eye technique. But Sasuke did something even more outrageous. Only Naruto, a person from the future, understood just how valuable it was to be able to reverse time in a part of reality.

This is something even those monsters from the Otsutsuki clan couldn't do! Sasuke is truly amazing! By the way, what exactly is the awakening mechanism of the Mangekyou Sharingan? How can they be different?

Naruto couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

"It's possible to use surprise attacks in battle, but it's best to have someone to cooperate with you." Sasuke had already figured out the limits of the technique.

Theoretically, as long as his eye power is sufficient, he can even infinitely expand the range of the technique. As for the time it takes to reverse the flow, that depends on how much chakra he has. This technique consumes a great deal of energy. Before he acquired the Nine-Tails, he could only use it a maximum of three times, and the energy consumption increases exponentially with the range and time.

"Have you named the technique yet?"

"...Um."

"Wow! So fast! I wanted to participate. So what should we call it?"

"Ming Zhao."