Human talking, "This has gotten out of control."

Human thinking, "It can't be."

Nonhuman talking, "You are dangerous."

Nonhuman thinking, "I was wrong."

Jutsus / unknown names. "Genshi (Atom)."

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters, Masashi Kishimoto does.

Chapter 42

Fire Country outskirts

Kabuto, Orochimaru, and the Sound Four were jumping from branch to branch. They were returning to their base so that the wounded Sannin could rest.

Orochimaru had his left arm around Kabuto's neck, allowing Kabuto to carry him as he pondered about what destroyed Konoha. Although he had not seen it, he was sure Naruto was responsible, but the Sannin did not understand how he had gained so much power and such a disgusting Killing Intent.

Even at this distance, Orochimaru could feel as if he were standing next to him. It was chilling, but for someone as twisted as the snake Sannin, it was also quite exciting.

The same could not be said for his lackeys, since they looked terrified, especially the young ones who bore his Cursed Mark.

The Sound Four could swear that a presence fixed its gaze on them from the moment they fled from Konoha, ready to kill them once it caught up to them. That was why they increased their pace, trying to get away from whatever that wanted to catch them.

Tayuya had an idea of who it might be due to a strange connection she shared with that person.

"Dickhead? No, it can't be you. Why would you want to kill me? What did I do?" She asked herself with tearful eyes, feeling a twinge in her heart as she believed that the only person with whom she could connect now despised her.

"No, it can't be. It must be something else," she told herself as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears that threatened to come out.

The redhead's expression changed to one of seriousness and she continued with her monologue. "He said he wanted me to go with him, and it's something I plan to do. I'm fed up with the pedophile snake. Besides, I..." A soft blush tinted her cheeks, but she quickly shook her head and thought of one last thing. "You must explain everything to me when we meet again, Dickhead."

This time she did her best to ignore the evil presence that was haunting her and thus returned to the place she so despised.

Hidden Cloud Village

Bam!

A loud bang was heard in the Raikage's office, followed by an angry shout. "I want to know what happened immediately! I don't care if you have to ask the very God of Death! Understood?!"

"Hai, Raikage-sama" multiple ANBU inside the room answered.

"Mabui!" the furious voice called.

The person came in and bowed to her leader, seeing that no one else except the big man was there.

"Has my brother return?!" the man shouted when he barely saw her.

The brunette woman answered without flinching, "Not yet, Raikage-sama. I'll let you know when he does."

The Raikage growled in frustration, wondering what was that which radically changed the climate of the planet and sowed fear even in his rock-hard heart.

Hidden Stone Village

"Head to Konoha immediately and investigate what happened there. I also want confirmation of the destruction of Konoha and the state of our troops. If they were identified, eliminate them at all costs," commanded the Tsuchikage while looking at a great number of ANBUs kneeling before him.

They nodded at his words and disappeared in multiple puffs of smoke.

Ōnoki and Kitsuchi remained in the office, and the latter could only observe with clenched fists. "Father, your irrational hatred towards the Yondaime Hokage has corrupted you to the core. I'm sorry, but when the time comes, I'll do something that will put an end to your irrationality," the son thought as he watched his father float to the window and look at his village with a thoughtful expression.

The son didn't know what his father was thinking, but he didn't ask since his father wasn't speaking to him lately.

After a slight bow, his son walked towards the exit, stopping in front of the door to look one last time at his father. "For our village, for our people, and especially, for Kyofu-sama, you must fall, Oto-san. I'm sorry. I wish you had not lost your mind."

He left the office and went to a place where a secret ceremony to integrate more Shinobis from Iwa to the Yakuza would be held.

Iron Country

"Are you sure about this, Mifune-sama?" A man in samurai armor asked another man who had white bandages around his head.

"I am. Send the invitations as soon as possible; we must start the Five Kage Summit before hasty decisions are made," replied Mifune, the leader of the Samurai country.

Even in a country as far away as his, he could feel and see what Nikushimi had caused, and Mifune was worried that another great ninja war would arise because of this.

If any of the Kages knew what happened, then he wanted them to explain it to the leaders of the other nations before they did something to upset another nation.

In these troubled times, avoiding provocations was paramount, and Mifune wanted to hold the Gokage summit to avoid another global conflict.

Several groups of samurai then withdrew from their leader's room to deliver the invitations.

On the outskirts of Konoha

"What the hell happened here?" Hidan asked when seeing that Konoha's forest had been razed. "Hey! Can you see anything?!" the immortal ninja yelled as he looked up.

Flying with one of his works of art, Deidara used his eye scope to observe the horizon. "The whole forest was razed; I can't see the walls of Konoha either."

"Strange," Kisame muttered as he paused to bring his hands to his chin. "Did Orochimaru do this?"

"That guy doesn't have enough power to cause such destruction," Hiruko assured with an annoyed tone in his voice.

Suddenly, Deidara screamed, "Someone is coming!"

Everyone stopped walking, and Hiruko asked, "Who?"

"The Yellow Flash," Deidara replied as he descended, causing them to tense up at the answer. "And another man in a black suit."

Kisame spoke, "He already noticed? As expected of the great Yondaime Hokage."

Deidara commented, "It doesn't seem like they're looking for a fight. Otherwise, the Yondaime would already be in this place."

"What should we do?" asked Kakuzu.

"Get ready," replied Hiruko, revealing his long metal tail.

Some adopted fighting positions, while those with weapons drew them out.

A few hundred meters away, Kyofu and Minato were approaching, the latter looking at the former. "What have you planned?"

"Hmmm, for now, just answer me this: on a scale of one to ten, how tired are you?"

"Seven," the blond man replied.

"I see, we are in the same situation. We'll have to pretend at least a three. If you see me raising my hand at one of them, I will wait for your assistance. By the way, they are five."

Minato asked him what he meant, and Kyofu replied that he would realize when it happened.

A few minutes later, they spotted the group of individuals who were dressed in the same way. They looked calm, but Kyofu and Minato could tell they were ready to fight.

The Yondaime recognized those clothes due to his master's descriptions of the group called Akatsuki, which caused his expression and position to change to one of caution as he watched Kyofu approaching the group. The Yondaime remained behind because the tycoon had asked him to.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Kyofu greeted, stopping in front of them and making a slight bow with a hand to his chest.

The members of Akatsuki didn't greet back; they just stared at the man with the strange smiling mask while Kisame looked at that the Yondaime in case he tried anything.

"As you can see, Hokage-dono and I decided to come and investigate the reason why a group of people with such impressive strength was approaching Konoha. We didn't expect to see so many S-rank missing-nin. So, to relax Hokage-dono, could you tell us your intentions?"

There was only silence; they had not even moved from their places, so Kyofu sighed before changing his tone to a no so friendly one. "I can see that you are not willing to cooperate. In that case, let me tell you one thing. Whatever you are looking for in Konoha, for now, you have no chance of getting it. The village is on full alert. Besides, Jiraiya of the Sannin, the Yondaime Hokage, Itachi Uchiha, the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi, and I will be ready to face you. Your chances of success are zero." Although Itachi was badly hurt, they had no way of knowing it.

"You? And who are you supposed to be?" Hidan asked with a haughty smile.

"At the moment, I'm just a humble mediator, but if you want, your worst nightmare..."

"Huh? What was that, you bastard?!" Hidan shouted as he clenched his scythe with the intention of lunging at the 'impertinent bastard'.

However, there was no need for him to move, since the masked man pointed his right hand at the immortal ninja while uttering a few words that only the Hokage could hear. "Banshō Ten'in."

Minato remembered that technique and Kyōfu's previous words, so he grabbed one of his special Kunais and threw it at the first person he had fixed his gaze on.

Hidan felt an inexplicable pressure around his body that pulled him in the direction of the masked man, and due to the initial surprise, he could do little to prevent Kyofu from throwing him to the ground and immediately placing his hand on his head as he nailed a black bar in his right shoulder.

The rest of Akatsuki tried to move, but a sudden yellow flash behind Kisame caused everyone to stop. There the Yondaime appeared, with a sharp stare and with his Kunai very close to the neck of the blue-skinned man.

The missing-nin stood frozen in their places, surprised because they couldn't see him move, while Kisame couldn't help chuckling. "Wow, what they say about you is correct."

Minato did not answer and kept an eye on Kyofu.

Everyone then looked at the masked man, seeing that he had his left hand on the head of the immortal ninja.

The Akatsuki wondered why Hidan wasn't moving, but they could not find answers since Kyofu spoke the following words. "Now I would like to make an offer that you can't refuse."

"What do you propose?" Hiruko asked, being the voice of reason.

Everyone then saw Kyofu taking his right hand to the right side of his mask, surprising Minato since he revealed the right side of his face slightly.

A mask similar to the one that Kakashi used covered his neck up to his nose. The little that he could see of his face resembled that of a man who was around his teacher's age and bloody-red hair.

The last feature confirmed the worst suspicions of Minato, while the rest of Akatsuki felt a chill when seeing the eyes that only their leader was supposed to have.

"Rinnegan," they thought in unison as they heard Kyofu continue.

"Stand down now, or face the same destiny as your comrade... Ningendō."

The criminals thought he was kidding. But a second later, the masked man began to pull out a spiritual body from Hidan's body, and as he raised his hand, Hidan's eyes began to roll and his body became paler.

No one dared to go to his aid, because not only the Yondaime had another of their comrades as a hostage, but also because they knew that the Rinnegan wasn't something they could take lightly. For that reason, they could only watch, waiting for one of their interceptors to lower their guard to be able to counterattack, although Hiruko knew that it would not be wise and thought that the best decision would be to escape. However, how would he tell them without alerting the Yondaime?

When criminals believed they were about to see the death of an immortal ninja, the masked man stopped and put the spiritual body back inside Hidan's body, who gasped after feeling that his energy had returned.

"Or that's what I'd like to say, but if you don't give me reasons to do it, then Hokage-dono and I will let you go," the masked man continued.

The wood clone didn't kill Hidan because his teammates could retaliate, and neither he nor the Hokage had enough Chakra to confront all of them; his previous action had only been a bluff.

The Yondaime would have preferred if he killed him, but he understood why he didn't. However, would it be enough? None of the criminals seemed happy with his words.

"What's your name?" Kakuzu asked interestedly. His connections had told him about a man with an economic empire like no other. However, this person never came out to the public eye and never operated under a specific name. As stated by his contacts, that person wore clothes similar to those of the man in front of him, and they knew him as:

"Kyofu." The man introduced himself, bringing his free hand to his chest as he leaned slightly.

Kakuzu's eyes widened a bit since that confirmed his identity. He remained silent since he didn't want to say something that might offend someone as influential as him. If he was someone else, Kakuzu would have cared about his actions against Hidan. But since he was the person of his suspicions, he decided to maintain a neutral stance in case an economic opportunity showed up in the future.

The rest of Akatsuki also opened their eyes a little since they remembered that news mentioned a person with the same name who had made a commercial pact with Kusagakure. But they had no idea of how big this man's organization was.

Then, and to the surprise of everyone in this group, Hiruko said, "We still have a pending mission at Konoha, but something more important has come up, so we will accept your offer."

Seeing another person with Rinnegan had been more than enough for Sasori to reach that conclusion; he had to inform his leader as soon as possible.

Kyofu then released Hidan and removed the black rod, returning the mobility of Hidan's body.

The immortal ninja quickly jumped to a safe distance, with a wrathful expression on his face as he grabbed his scythe, ready to attack. However, Kakuzu stopped him with the threads of his body.

"What do you think you're doing, Kakuzu?! I'll kill him; I swear I'll kill him! He'll be an excellent sacrifice for Jashin-sama!" Hidan shouted as he tried to get away from the threads that were beginning to surround him.

Kakuzu sighed and walked away with the screamer around his threads.

Minato moved away from Kisame, who chuckled and said before following his companions, "We'll see each other again, Yondaime Hokage."

As they retreated, Deidara looked at his partner and asked, "What was that, senpai? If we had fought seriously, we would surely end up killing those two."

Sasori replied, "But at least three of us would have died. Besides, everyone in Konoha is already aware of our arrival. Possibly, all of us would have died, and remember that we can't lose any more members after Orochimaru's betrayal. Besides, that man has the same eyes as our leader. Our priority now is to inform him."

Kisame chuckled and added, "And how do you think he'll react? Knowing him, he'll surely say that it is impossible and that there can't be another one with the eyes of a god."

Hiruko continued, "Anyway, we must let him know." Having said that, the group continued walking in silence.

Meanwhile, Minato approached Kyofu and said, "Konoha is safe for now. Although I would have liked to finish them off now and not worry about them in the future."

"We would have died most likely. Besides, remember that you still need to convince your child to look for Tsunade-sama, and I need to confirm her current location. As you can see, we couldn't do anything risky."

"You're right," Minato replied as he looked at Kyofu, who was smiling behind his mask as he looked at Hidan in the distance.

Everything indicated that he didn't notice the small parting gift that he had put in him.

The Hokage's voice then caught his attention. "You are an Uzumaki, aren't you?"

Kyofu turned his head towards him and answered, "I think there is no point in hiding it. Yes, I am a descendant of that clan."

The Yondaime already suspected it, but he still panted slightly. He thought about the repercussions, and especially, the secret of the destruction of Uzushiogakure. Was this man aware? He probably was. Therefore, did he have that artifact in his hands? Did he have revenge plans? Was he planning to use it against the nations that destroyed his village?

He didn't have the chance to ask these questions, as Kyofu continued, "Let's go back to the village. I'll answer your questions on another occasion. Now I would like to meet Miss Hanabi and explain everything to her. And you should hurry to talk to your eldest son."

Naruto had an idea of the questions that were hanging around his father's head, but he didn't have enough energy to deal with such an important topic. Besides, he thought it was something that the original should handle and not a simple clone.

Meanwhile, Minato thought he would have to prepare himself in case he tried anything.

"Let's go," Minato said, placing a hand on Kyōfu's shoulder and disappearing in a yellow flash. They appeared behind Jiraiya, who wasn't surprised at the sudden appearance.

"Well?" asked the Sannin, looking at both.

Kyofu and Minato looked around and saw the Shinobi ready for anything, and the whole area was free of civilians.

"We handled the issue," the Hokage replied.

At this, the Sannin made a gesture with his hands, and the Shinobi forces withdrew to continue helping the victims and search for survivors.

Jiraiya then looked at Minato. "You should go and see Itachi. He ended up badly injured and the doctors told me that he suffers from a very heavy mental overload. His brother is already with him, but he seems to be very shocked. You should reassure him when you have some time. Bee-san also said he wanted to talk to you before leaving."

"I understand, sensei. I'll go when I'm done talking to Naruto. You can come with me if you want."

The Sannin nodded, and then both Shinobis of Konoha looked at the masked man, who requested the following, "Do you know where I could find Hiashi-dono?"

Jiraiya nodded and proceeded to tell him where the Hyūga complex once was. Although Kyofu knew it, he pretended not to do so as not to raise suspicion.

The wood clone then departed in that direction, while Jiraiya and Minato went to the prison that Tenzō had built.

The masked man had used Kakashi's appearance again so that the villagers wouldn't recognize him, and once he was close to the now gone Hyūga complex, he undid the Jutsu, returning to his original appearance.

The guards of the branch house recognized him instantly, and one of them ran to the tents of the Hyūga clan to find Hiashi and inform him of Kyōfu's arrival.

The Hyūga leader quickly arrived at that place, seeing that people he considered 'inferior' were talking so reliably with someone of Kyōfu's status.

Hiashi did not activate the seal on their heads just because he didn't want to give a bad impression. Of course, he gave them a severe stare that caused the members of the branch house to step away.

"Kyofu-dono, thanks for coming. Please, follow me. I will introduce you to my daughter. Don't worry; I've already informed her of the situation."

The wood clone once again had the urge of wanting to punch him in the face. Knowing him, he had an idea of how he had told her. However, he restrained himself and followed Hiashi in the temporary settlements of his clan.

A minute later, they arrived at a tent that was as big as a circus one. The Uzumaki wondered where they got it from, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

The inside was already divided into multiple sections, and both went to one that was behind a curtain.

The place was spacious, it had a simple decoration, but enough considering what had happened in Konoha.

Most importantly, Hanabi was inside, sitting on her knees and with her head down.

Naruto looked at her closely, and although he couldn't see her face, he could feel her sadness and fear. That called his attention, but he decided to wait a moment before reaching to a conclusion.

"Hanabi..." Her father called his daughter in an unfriendly tone, waiting for her to greet her fiancé properly.

She stood up and bowed as she spoke in a monotonous tone. "Nice to meet you, Kyofu-sama."

Naruto thought she would look a little bit excited to see him since she knew who he was behind his mask. But no, that tone in her voice had not been a fake one; she really felt sad and miserable for what she was being forced to do.

Curious to know the reason, he put his right hand on her head and activated the Rinnegan to know if it was something that Hiashi said or if there was another reason. He didn't need more than a second to understand it. "So the boss has already activated the seal. That means Anko-chan and the others already forgot who I am. I would have liked to talk to them but now it will be hard. Anyway, I'll let the boss talk to them."

Both Hyūgas made surprised expressions when he touched Hanabi's head, but Kyofu ignored it and requested, "Hiashi-dono, I would like to talk to her in private."

The Hyūga leader nodded quickly. "Excuse me." After a slight bow and a last severe look at Hanabi, he withdrew.

When they were alone, the masked man pulled his hand away and asked the Hyūga to sit down.

Once she did it, he sat in front of her and continued, "Hanabi-san, tell me, are you interested in someone else?"

"No! Why would you think that?" She asked with a nervous smile.

She felt that way because of her father's threats about what he would do to her if she ruined this meeting.

Those facts were present in the Uzumaki's mind, so he couldn't help feeling angry.

"Please, answer the question with honesty. I promise you that I won't get mad and I won't tell your father either," Kyofu spoke in a calm voice, not wanting to make Hanabi think he was upset.

The Hyūga looked doubtful, and above all, nervous. But something in that person made her feel that she could trust him, so she calmed down and answered, "Yes, I-I'm in love with someone else."

Kyofu smiled behind his mask. "Is this person Uzumaki Naruto?"

The Hyūga blushed lightly and looked away, implying that he was right.

Naruto smiled once more before speaking with a somewhat serious voice. "I see. Then I was right. Hanabi-san, to be honest, I'm not interested in this engagement."

At this, Hanabi could not help asking with confusion, "Uh? Then why are you doing this?" She looked at him attentively, watching him stand up while carrying a hand over his mask.

"Because I am..." Upon confirming that nobody was nearby, the Uzumaki slowly removed his mask.

Hanabi couldn't believe what was about to happen. Did this man want to reveal his identity? With what purpose? She felt a little nervous since she didn't know what to expect.

A moment later, Hanabi observed that a puff of smoke surrounded the tycoon, revealing that he had lost some height and a little of his physical complexion.

"Uh? What's going on? "Hanabi wondered aloud, feeling more confused than before.

At first, she couldn't recognize who it was because the person in front of her had a mask that covered half of his face and only left his eyes visible. However, the unusual pigmentation of his orbs caused the eyes of the Hyūga to open in surprise. "Na-Naruto-kun?"

"What's wrong, Hanabi-chan? Can't you remember me because of my mas... "

Before he could finish, the white-eyed girl rushed towards him, giving him a big hug as she buried her head on his chest.

The Uzumaki smiled and began to stroke her hair gently, seeing that she brought her hands to his chest before pressing his clothes hard.

"How are you, Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked, still caressing her.

He heard her muttering something, but he couldn't understand her since her face was still buried on his chest.

"Haha, I can't understand you, Hanabi-chan." Naruto laughed with amusement, but when he felt her trembling, he became serious and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Hanabi-chan?"

He waited a few seconds until he saw her looking up, seeing that her eyes were a little tearful. Now he felt guilty because he thought he had made her cry.

The Uzumaki was about to apologize, but Hanabi spoke before. "P-Please, take me with you, Naruto-kun. I can't stand being in this place anymore. I want to leave this cursed village."

"What happened?" The Jinchūriki asked intrigued. He already knew that she wanted to leave this place, but they had agreed that it would have to wait until the branch house was ready to start the rebellion.

"My father. He..." Hanabi spat the last word with a lot of hatred and dark expression on her face. Then she softened it and almost broke down crying.

"Take it easy, Hanabi-chan. I'm here, I promise you that I won't let your father hurt you," Naruto spoke gently before giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Then," she uttered with a blush on her cheeks. "Take me with you, far away from this place. I can't stand being in this place anymore." Her eyes shone with despair, and Naruto could only look at them as he thought about what he would say next.

The Hyūga didn't mention the marriage because she now knew Naruto had used it as a resource to stop her father from giving her hand to another person.

"What about Neji and the branch house? What do you think will happen to them when your father finds out that you've escaped?" He asked seriously.

Being honest with himself, Naruto would have no problem taking her right now, but he had promised Neji that he would help the Bouke, and Hanabi was essential to it.

At that, Hanabi separated slightly from Naruto to say, "I hadn't thought of that."

The Uzumaki saw her putting on an expression of guilt, but he quickly kissed her forehead to reassure her. "Hey, don't feel guilty. With everything that happened, it's only natural for your emotions to play against you." He placed his hand behind Hanabi's head and pulled her to his chest before stroking her hair gently.

The Hyūga closed her eyes and put her arms around his back to enjoy a little bit of this moment since as she wasn't sure when she would see him again.

A few seconds later, she whispered with her eyes closed. "I would still like to go with you."

Naruto answered without stopping his hands. "I know, but you must be strong and wait a little longer. But I will visit you from time to time as Kyofu to stop your father from trying anything stupid. Does that sound good to you?"

Hanabi separated a little, smiled and nodded her head, but then she looked at him with some sadness. "Will you block my memories again? Even what we just did? "

A moment later after revealing his face, the wood clone had released the seal that blocked her memories to make the conversation more enjoyable.

Naruto looked at her with a sad smile and stroked her cheek before answering, "I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan. But I have to."

The Hyūga sighed disappointedly but also tilted her head towards the Uzumaki's thumb to enjoy his touch. "Why?" she asked with interest as she closed her eyes. "Can't we keep this a secret?"

Naruto shook his head. "I would like to, but the best interrogator in the village got permission from the Hokage to question everyone who came in contact with me. Besides, a Yamanaka will help him accessing their minds. It will be a matter of time before they try to interrogate you, and I doubt your father can stop the investigation."

Upon hearing that, Hanabi placed her head correctly and opened her eyes to look at her boyfriend's orbs. "I see. Then I have no choice but to wait," she spoke with resignation.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized, giving her a soft and short kiss on her lips.

Hanabi returned the kiss, which had been too short for her liking, and she let him know with the expression she put on her face.

The Uzumaki chuckled as he put his mask back on. "Sorry, honey. But we'll have time to catch up later; I don't want to do anything that could get your father's attention..."

Hanabi blushed profusely and looked away since she understood what that meant. "Pervert…"

Naruto smiled and approached her to give her a goodbye hug, and the Hyūga hugged back before closing her eyes and sticking her head on the Jinchūriki's chest.

A few seconds later, both separated and Naruto asked Hanabi to sit down while he stepped back to do the same.

"Well, see you next time, Hanabi-chan," Naruto said one last goodbye.

Hanabi nodded, and the last thing she could see before her memories were blocked was the tiger's hand seal.

As if most of the previous conversation hadn't happened, the masked man asked Hanabi again if there was anyone she liked until the Hyūga questioned him again why he was doing all of this, to which he replied, "The fact of the matter is that something or someone caused young Naruto to lose his mind and that's why your village got destroyed. I don't know the reason, but I accepted this commitment to avoid that. I am young Naruto's acquaintance, and I can explain to him that this commitment is only to stop your father from engaging you with another man who will not be as considerate as I am."

His words made Hanabi's face light up because of the emotion, but it was only a momentary reaction since she remembered something important. "But people won't forgive him," she murmured. She thought that he would be in jail for all his life. There were already rumors of him going there and that there would be a trial.

"I'm very sorry, but I will not be able to help you with that."

Hanabi bowed thankfully. "I understand. What you've done so far has been more than enough."

Kyofu nodded. "I think it's time to call your father. Leave the rest to me."

Hanabi nodded her head, and the masked man stood up and went out to look for her father, who had left the tent as he walked from side to side because of the anxiety.

When the leader of the Hyūga clan heard the Yakuza leader calling him from the entrance of the tent, he stopped and followed him to the previous room.

Once there, the masked man stood next to the white-eyed girl to say. "Your daughter is very polite, courteous, and above all, very charming. That's why I've decided to accept the engagement."

Hiashi's whole body trembled because of the excitement, although his voice kept its always-serious intonation. "Those are great news, Kyofu-dono. I will make sure that the party is at your standards."

The masked man made a gesture of rejection with his hands. "Don't worry about that, Hiashi-dono; it's still too early to think about that."

Somewhat confused, the Hyūga leader inquired, "What do you mean?"

"You see, Hiashi-dono. Even though your daughter has all the qualities to be a good wife, a critical issue makes it impossible for me to marry her so quickly."

This caused Hiashi to glare at his daughter since he thought that she did something to annoy the important businessman. "What would that be?" he calmly asked, though his expression looked like that of a murderer, and his daughter couldn't help hiding her head.

That infuriated the Uzumaki, but his voice had sounded as normal as ever. "It's her age, Hiashi-dono. You must understand that I have a reputation to maintain. If my detractors came to learn that I am engaged to someone so young, that would be my ruin. I would like to wait until she is at least fifteen years old. It would be better if she was sixteen, but I wouldn't be fair to make you wait so much. So let's do it when she turns fifteen."

"I understand it. However, if you want to wait until she's sixteen, then I don't mind. Of course, if you promise to marry my daughter."

It would only be four more years. Hiashi felt that he could wait since he thought of using that time to gain Kyōfu's trust and to get to know him. He even thought they could start a friendship.

Naruto looked at Hiashi with skepticism. He didn't expect him to accept so quickly.

Hanabi was feeling at ease since she wouldn't have to deal with this for several more years.

"Thank you for understanding, Hiashi-dono."

The Hyūga leader had an excited expression on his face, but before he could say anything, Kyofu bowed and said, "I would like to stay longer, but it's time for me to leave. I hope you understand."

"Don't worry, Kyofu-dono. I won't take any more of your time. I hope we meet again."

"I'll try, Hiashi-dono. I hope you understand that I am a very busy man. I'll be in contact with her, but it would be easier if she came with me. But I don't think the Hokage would allow that. If you can convince him, then that would be great."

Hiashi bowed before answering, "It may be difficult, but I'll try."

The truth was that he wanted to convince him. If he could do it, then he would soon see the benefits of this engagement.

Kyofu then looked at Hanabi but didn't say anything else since there was no point in doing so. After all, he had blocked her memories again.

He then left the tent and decided to stay in the village for a few more minutes.


Notes

Well, done

There were two important events in this chapter.

The first one was the meeting with Akatsuki. Maybe some of you were disappointed with the outcome, but neither Kyofu (Naruto's wood clone) nor Minato had enough energy to fight them.

Naruto could have killed Hidan, but I decided it was not the time.

The other one was the engagement between Kyofu and Hanabi. At first, Hanabi did not know who Kyofu was because of the seal that blocked her memories (the original Naruto had activated it when he was inside his cell; Tenzō did not notice it).

I didn't mention some people in this chapter (well, I did, but they didn't appear). One of them was Neji; he is currently helping in the village because Hiashi ordered a large part of the branch house to help (it didn't matter that Neji was somewhat tired due to his fight with Menma).

I also want to say that Hinata will not appear in a while since Hiashi has forbidden her from leaving the temporary settlements until things calm down a bit. There is a lot of death and destruction in the whole village, and his father knows well how his daughter would get when seeing all of that, especially if she sees Menma in the state he is in.

Now, I wrote that Hanabi was important in the plan to free the Bouke because, if she escaped from the village, Hiashi would punish Neji severely (because he's supposed to be watching over her, even if Hiashi assigned him other tasks), and as you know, Neji is the one who is carrying out the proceedings to free his family. What do you think Hiashi would do to Neji if he finds out that Hanabi escaped? That's why it wasn't possible for them to go together.

Oh, I almost forgot something. The future Gokage meeting. I don't know if you consider that important, but it is something necessary due to everything that Nikushimi caused.

By the way, this is a reminder that I'm still writing the crossover with Boku no Hero. I already have several chapters written, but I won't publish them until I get into the fight with Nomu (only for those interested).

Well, that would be all.

Until next time!