Should Naruto exist?
This question has been plaguing Asma's heart since very early on.
It is true that as the second son of the third Hokage of Konoha, questioning the correctness of Hokage is not only seen by outsiders, but also by his own people. His ideas may also be full of deviance.
As time went by, this idea did not disappear in Asma's heart, but grew stronger and stronger.
So much so that a few years ago, he and his father, the Third Hokage, had a tit-for-tat confrontation and gave up their destined future of prosperity and wealth in Konoha, devoting themselves to the Daimyo Prefecture and becoming one of the twelve guardian ninjas of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire at that time, just to practice their own destiny. The legitimacy of the road.
But later like-minded companions began to kill each other because of different ideas.
Now only he and one other person are left among the twelve guardian ninjas.
The glory was gone, and Asuma's enthusiasm for protecting the Twelve Ninjas gradually cooled down. Frustrated, he returned to Konoha to live a miserable life.
However, after returning to Konoha, what I saw was an old father. The father who had a very tall back in my impression was now just a dying old man.
Asuma, who now feels lifeless in everything he does, has begun to slack off in both his training and his duties as a ninja.
After completing the C-level escort mission, Asuma simply came over to report to his father, the Third Hokage, and explain how the mission was completed.
His nonchalant attitude worried Hiruzen as a father.
Although he had the intention to enlighten Asuma, what Asuma was thinking was, to a certain extent, contrary to Konoha's will, and he could be considered a traitor to the Will of Fire.
If the other party hadn't been his son, he would have been living under close surveillance by the ANBU.
Not only were the village's major events now, but the private matters at home were also what Hiruzen was worried about.
His wife Sarutobi Biwako died in the Nine-Tails Rebellion, and his eldest son Sarutobi Takashi and his eldest daughter-in-law Sarutobi Uruko also died heroically in the recent war in the Land of Wind.
The second son Asuma, who hoped to revive the reputation of the Sarutobi clan, turned out to be a traitor and betrayed the will of fire. He turned around and joined the daimyo's army and became the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Although the Twelve Guardian Ninja came back disheartened because of their internal differences in philosophy, the relationship between father and son has not eased.
Silent silence is the best resistance.
Hiruzen couldn't understand why Asuma, the second son who grew up in Konoha, had trouble with the Will of Fire, and why he doubted the validity of Naruto's existence so much.
As a ninja of Konoha, you should protect the 'jade' of Konoha, not the 'jade' of the Land of Fire.
Although Konoha and the Land of Fire are one, in many cases, the 'jades' of the two cannot be confused.
From Hiruzen's point of view, Asuma's path was the greatest rebellion against Konoha.
It is also the bitter fruit of his failed education.
This reminded him of Chiba Shiraishi who defected to Konoha.
The other party was also a ninja who grew up under the Will of Fire. He did not hesitate to abandon Konoha at the critical moment, deviated from the path of the Will of Fire, and instead took away some members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans. In the Kingdom of Ghosts, Hidden, start anew.
Hiruzen was worried that the same thing would happen to Asuma.
Sooner or later, one day, because of this incorrect thought, he will become a rebellious ninja of Konoha.
His disciple Orochimaru has betrayed Konoha. If his own son also became a traitor to Konoha... Just thinking about it made Hiruzen feel extremely sad.
It feels like breathing has become difficult.
"Is there anything noteworthy about the mission?"
After receiving the report submitted by Asuma, Hiruzen casually expressed concern.
"No, everything is normal."
Asuma put his hands in his trouser pockets, looking indifferent.
"..."
Looking at Asuma's free-spirited delinquent posture, if he hadn't known that this was his son, he would have thought he was a little gangster who appeared out of nowhere.
"Don't you have anything to tell me?"
Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"The report has been completed. Can I go back, Hokage-sama?"
Asuma said without raising his eyelids.
"Although I don't know what you are thinking about recently, but if you continue like this, the situation will become very dangerous."
Hiruzen didn't want Asuma to become decadent, nor did he want to see his son deviate from Konoha where he was.
"Does Hokage-sama even have to take care of this? If there is nothing else, I will leave first."
Asuma frowned, obviously growing impatient with Hiruzen's meddling.
"I don't want to pressure you as Hokage, Asuma. Can you go home for dinner tonight? I ask in the name of my father."
Hiruzen stared at Asuma's back, who had put his hand on the door handle and turned it.
Asma paused and said without looking back: "There's nothing wrong with me, I'm just a little upset lately. You have a lot to do, so don't waste your time on a pawn like me."
After saying that, without waiting for Hiruzen to speak, Asuma left the office and disappeared from Hiruzen's eyes.
"Ahem."
After Asuma left, Hiruzen immediately coughed angrily, but there was no obvious anger on his face, showing in his heart.
For a long time, Hiruzen's thousands of words turned into silent sighs.
As the Hokage of the village, I was already somewhat unqualified. I didn't expect that as a father, I would also be so unqualified.
He didn't know what Asuma's judgment was based on, and he had doubts about the Will of Fire and Hokage, but if he continued to let this result continue, Asuma would sooner or later embark on a path of no return, and he and his father would probably end up with a knife. relatively.
This kind of thing must be resolutely prevented.
The best way is to immediately conduct a thorough investigation of everything about Asuma and put all his actions under the eyes of ANBU for surveillance.
But the other person was always his child, and a momentary mistake was not irreversible. He wanted to give Asma a chance to make amends.
If the other party could grasp it, he wouldn't want to do something drastic to his second son and imprison him.
If he couldn't, he would have no choice but to kill his relatives out of justice.
In Konoha, no one will be allowed to deviate from the will of fire.
◎
In a solitary apartment.
This is where Asuma is currently located. Because he had a disagreement with his father, Hiruzen, and to avoid the embarrassment of meeting, he moved out of his original home and rented an apartment outside with the reward he received for completing the mission. Life.
Although the space of the house is smaller, it does not have the depressing atmosphere of the original home, and it is very suitable for one person to relax here.
"I thought I had gone somewhere, but it turned out that I was hiding there alone and drinking."
A familiar voice came from the window next to him. He put down the bottle with only half of the wine left in his hand. Asuma squinted his eyes and saw Kakashi entering the room from the window.
The other party looked over with a smile on his face, as if he had discovered something interesting.
"As the ANBU Minister, you are a busy man. Why do you come to me at this time? Are you here to be Hokage-sama's lobbyist?"
Asuma seemed to have read Kakashi's thoughts and asked calmly.
He knew that as the head of the ANBU, Kakashi had to deal with too many things to count every day. Even gatherings among friends, he rarely attended them because of work.
In the end, I had time to visit this loser. It was the Hokage's order.
"Don't say that, Asuma, isn't it time for old friends to meet up? And since you became the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, the number of times you return to Konoha every year becomes less and less, and sometimes you only come back once every six months. , but also left in a hurry."
Kakashi walked over with a casual attitude.
Asuma clicked his tongue. Just as he thought, Kakashi was indeed the Hokage's lobbyist.
From a father's perspective, I have failed to correct his thinking. Now I am starting to play the emotional card against him from a friend's perspective.
As for the Twelve Guardian Ninja Warriors, it is an organization in name only.
For companions who had different ideals and killed each other, their determination and hostility before their death still remained in Asuma's mind, as if it would remain for a lifetime, becoming a nightmare that would never go away in his heart.
"I've also heard about your efforts to protect the Twelve Ninjas. In the end, you probably broke with your companions just to protect the safety of Hokage-sama."
Kakashi patted Asuma's shoulder and said.
"Ah, yes, in the end, I became a betrayer of the organization in order to protect the old man. Now that I think about it, the things in my mind are really confusing."
Asuma smiled bitterly.
He was supposed to be a radical, but at a critical moment, he suddenly betrayed him, causing the radicals who guarded Shinobi to fail in their plan to assassinate Hokage.
No matter how much he disagrees with his father, he is still his father. Tiger poison does not eat its children, so Hiruzen's indulgence and protection for him will be remembered deep in his heart.
How could I attack such a father? Wouldn't that be worse than a beast?
But not taking action would be a betrayal of his original philosophy.
The 'Jade' of the Fire Country only needs one person.
That is the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
And the 'jade' of Hokage is hypocritical, a stumbling block on the road to national reunification, and must be eliminated.
The conflict between loyalty and filial piety made Asuma extremely painful and suffered in this whirlpool.
He didn't know how he should choose to achieve a perfect ending.
At that time, it was also unreasonable to kill a like-minded companion.
There is no memory of how he finally returned to Konoha.
Reject the memory of that battle.
"This may be the growth that we ninjas must experience. The conflict between will and ideas seems to be disconnected and full of chance, but there is also a certain inevitability in it. In the past, I was as confused as you."
But it was different from Asuma's confused direction.
I don't understand why my father committed suicide.
I also don’t understand why the villagers’ tolerance is so narrow after just a failed mission.
Until now, Kakashi has not investigated what the mission his father was performing at that time and what secrets it contained.
Maybe it has been eliminated, or maybe it is just a task process, and there is no so-called secret at all.
Companions are better than tasks, or tasks are better than companions.
In the past, he was trapped in a hopeless situation. Isn't Asuma the same as before?
Wavering between two wills, not knowing what path to take next, and not knowing how to take it, can it be called the right one... Because of this, I feel boundless pain and annoyance.
Kakashi believes that if Asuma is allowed to continue like this, his existence will be an unstable element to Konoha and he will be ostracized by the Konoha collective.
Just like myself, who initially chose the task over her companions, I was rejected by the ideas of the villagers and companions, and became isolated by them.
Therefore, even if Asuma is the son of Hokage, there is a limit to his tolerance.
When necessary, it is probably the Hokage himself who will personally deal with Asuma, the unstable element.
"You are a little too early to instill in me a belief in life, Kakashi. But one thing you are right about is that we have all experienced some unknown things."
The idea of disagreement and conflict, and then being isolated, the feeling of being the enemy of the whole world, just thinking about it makes me feel heavy and depressed to the point where I can't breathe.
Asuma also knew that Kakashi finally compromised.
Whether it was a spontaneous act or, as rumored, it was changed by the late Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, only Kakashi himself knew these things.
Looking at Kakashi's current appearance, he also knew that the other party had come out of the original shadow, instead of being like himself, still wandering at a confused crossroads, hesitating.
From this point of view, Asuma is very envious of Kakashi.
Kakashi has found his own path, what about himself?
Do we really want to continue to be decadent like this?
But what else can I do now?
It seems simple to establish a new life goal, but can we really let go of the beliefs we have firmly held in the past?
Is it really right to abandon the path that you have been firmly on?
Kakashi's choice is ultimately Kakashi's own, not his.
He wanted to change Konoha, but even the villagers and companions couldn't convince himself, so what qualifications did he have to shake the Hokage's belief.
With a thought that turned into ashes, Asma took another sip of the wine and poured it into his mouth.
"Would you like to go out and relax? Now you urgently need to relieve the depression in your heart and get over your previous experiences."
Seeing Asuma still hesitating, Kakashi breathed out, pressed Asuma's shoulder, and suggested to him.
"Want to relax?"
Asuma lowered his head, seeming to be considering Kakashi's suggestion.
Indeed, the current self is not suitable for staying in Konoha.
And he didn't want to see the Hokage either.
If this continues, it will only further intensify the conflicts and prejudices between himself and Hokage.
If possible, he didn't want to go on the opposite path with his father.
But Naruto... seemed to think of the scene where the guardian ninja's companion died in his own hands. Asuma couldn't help but smile bitterly. In the end, he just drank the wine in a depressed manner and said nothing.
◎
After drinking until she was extremely drunk, Asma slowly woke up at noon the next day.
Kakashi had already left, and Asuma didn't care. He simply tidied up the room, cleaned up the mess in the room, and then went to meet the Hokage. Based on the advice given by Kakashi, Asuma proposed to Hiruzen his plan to go out on a long-term mission.
"Are you out on a long-term mission?"
Hiruzen was still a little happy about Asuma's proposal.
This also proves that Asuma is not hopelessly arrogant.
It seems that yesterday's private request to Kakashi to comfort his second son was quite effective.
At least this way, Asuma is determined to change his past.
Then slowly guide him to believe in Konoha and the will of fire again, and let everything return to the original point.
Asuma still looked nonchalant, as if he wasn't worried that the Hokage would reject his request.
In fact, he may be more anxious than himself.
"Okay, I will approve this. But can you tell me where you plan to go next?"
Although Asuma didn't need to reveal all the details, he needed to know roughly where Asuma was going to relax.
Asuma did not answer, but said something else: "Two days ago, the daimyo sent someone to deliver a letter to me."
Hiruzen nodded, he knew about this, and he could roughly guess what was written in the letter.
"The daimyo hopes to return to the daimyo mansion and reorganize the twelve guardian ninjas."
Asuma said calmly.
"What about your choice?"
"I have not considered going back for the time being. In addition, the Daimyo seems to be preparing to send an envoy to the Kingdom of Ghosts recently for diplomacy."
Asuma got down to business.
"..."
Hiruzen's heart sank, and when he saw the determination in Asuma's eyes, he couldn't help but feel nervous.
The place Asuma wants to go next... is the Kingdom of Demons?
If so, that's a bit of a problem.
Asuma seemed to have read Hiruzen's mind and replied: "Don't worry, I will restrain myself when I get there. My eldest brother and sister-in-law died on the battlefield. Even if I want revenge, I will do it on the battlefield." "
"I'm sorry about Takashi and Uruko. But, Asuma, you'd better not get close to the Ghost Country."
Hiruzen gave Asuma serious advice.
What he is most worried about is that Asuma will not be able to restrain his belief in revenge, which will lead to a lot of troublesome things.
Even though Asuma said that he would restrain his impulses, Asuma's temperament seemed calm, but in fact he was fierce. As a father, Hiruzen knew what his second son's character was.
The Kingdom of Ghosts is too far away from the Kingdom of Fire. Even if a ninja runs at full speed, it will take at least three or four days, or even longer, to reach it.
If something unexpected happened to Asuma in the Demon Country, Konoha would be beyond its reach.
Because once Asuma causes trouble in the Demon Country, the people there will not be wary of his identity as the son of the Hokage and show mercy to him.
I have already lost one son, and I don’t want to lose another one.
Asuma didn't speak, just silently and Hiruzen looked at each other, the determination in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
No matter who it is, they will have a strong interest in the ghost country that can rise among the great powers.
People, including ninjas, are accustomed to the five major countries being superior. For hundreds of years, or even going back hundreds of years, this pattern has not changed at all.
Now a ghost country suddenly appeared that threatened the status of a great power, which made many people feel uncomfortable.
But the Kingdom of Ghosts has proven itself with its strength, defeating the Kingdom of Wind head-on, and forcing the Kingdom of Fire and Konoha to compromise at the Five Shadows Conference. This is definitely not something that a small country can do.
At the beginning, the demigod and half-god Amegakure could only resist the ninjas of the three major ninja villages, but in the end they still declared Konoha's victory.
Amegakure is stronger than Hanzo, but also weaker than Hanzo.
Except for Hanzo, there is no powerful ninja who can take it.
The Kingdom of Oni is different. They have advanced combat ninja tools and multiple powerful ninjas. As for the backbone combat power, although it has not been revealed, the Kingdom of Oni, which has been hidden for many years, cannot rashly provoke a big country. Therefore, there is a high probability that the Kingdom of Ghosts will not be short of backbone combat capabilities, but there is no need to reveal them on the battlefield of the Kingdom of Wind.
It seemed that he also noticed the determination in Asuma's eyes, which made Hiruzen's head hurt even more.
The strength to smoke became stronger, and I coughed hard while sitting there.
He really hoped that his eldest son, who had not died on the battlefield, could take his place and enlighten Asuma so that he could fully integrate into the big family of Konoha.
"Although in name, I have canceled Chiba Shiraishi's status as rebel ninjas, their existence is still too dangerous. Moreover, the Kingdom of Ghosts has recently been carrying out secret plans in the Kingdom of Waves near the Kingdom of Fire. It can be seen that With his wolfish ambition, he began to seek to seize the status of a great country. If you go to the country of ghosts now, it is tantamount to throwing yourself into a trap."
"But Uchiha Ruri also went on a mission to Konoha before, didn't he? Although it was a secret visit, it was not made public. Only a few people in the village knew about it."
Asuma said.
Hiruzen felt even more depressed.
That was not only because of the deal between himself and Chiba Shiraishi, but also because Uchiha Ruri was very powerful and it would cost an extremely heavy price to kill the other party.
In contrast, Asuma's strength was one that Hiruzen was not confident about.
I heard Shikaku's report before that in a direct battle with Asuma, Uchiha Ruri's daughter easily suppressed him, and the opponent was only twelve years old. Compared with Uchiha Itachi who joined the mysterious organization and served as a spy, his strength may not be much different.
The military power of the Kingdom of Ghosts is by no means what it appears on the surface.
"If I'm not allowed to go to the Kingdom of Ghosts, then the long-term mission will be cancelled."
Hiruzen's repeated silence also aroused Asuma's inner rebelliousness.
The more he didn't want him to do it, the more he wanted to give it a try and impress everyone.
He didn't want to be a young eagle that would never grow up under the protection of the Hokage.
The son of the Hokage, this identity has brought him countless honors, but it has also given him a lot of pressure.
He wants to transcend the restraint of 'Hokage' on himself. He is Sarutobi Asuma, not simply the son of Hokage.
"Sigh... If Long and Zizi were still here, they wouldn't allow you to act like this."
Hiruzen smiled bitterly, saying this was also a disguised compromise.
"When my eldest brother and sister-in-law know about it, they will only support me, instead of scolding me for my mistakes like you. You are just determined on your own path, and I am determined on my own path. Who is right and who is wrong will not make it to the end. how do you know?"
Asuma said.
Hiruzen knew that he couldn't convince Asuma, and he didn't have time to waste on housework.
Let the other person leave Konoha for a while, and you can also allow yourself to be clean for a while.
"I allow you to follow the Daimyo's envoy to the Kingdom of Ghosts. However, you must promise me not to cause trouble there, and you must change your impulsive temperament. In addition, you must follow the Daimyo's envoy when they leave. Leave, don’t stay too long in the Kingdom of Ghosts.”
"What if I don't agree?"
"Then I will ask the ANBU to accompany me. You don't want to go out to relax and be monitored by the ANBU all the time, right?"
Hiruzen was determined.
"I understand, and I will follow the mission's arrangements."
Obtaining such conditions was already the limit, so Asuma said nothing more and turned to leave the office, leaving Hiruzen with a melancholy and depressed look on his face.
