Four days after the party, the Hidden Cloud delegation arrived in Konoha.
To demonstrate Konoha's desire for peace, Hiruzen Sarutobi specially organized a welcoming ceremony to encourage villagers to greet the delegation on the streets.
The villagers despised Hidden Cloud, but they hated war even more.
Most households didn't have ninja members, so they couldn't truly empathize with the sacrifices of ninja.
To them, war meant higher taxes and rising prices, making life harder.
So, when Hidden Cloud arrived, many villagers voluntarily took to the streets to welcome the delegation warmly.
Meanwhile, under the Hokage's control, the ninja hid their discontent.
On the wide Konoha Main Street, amidst enthusiastic cheers from villagers, the Hidden Cloud delegation slowly approached.
Aozora and Shisui leaned against the balcony on the second floor of a roadside teahouse, closely observing the members of the delegation.
Shisui had a big smile on his face. "Looks like peace is finally coming!"
Hearing this, Aozora merely responded with an absentminded "Hmm."
Eyeing the Hidden Cloud delegation, Aozora asked Shisui, "You've dealt with Hidden Cloud before. Do you recognize anyone among them?"
Shisui scanned the delegation briefly before replying, "I know the leader, Heidao Xingping. He's a competent Jonin. As for the others, I don't really recognize them."
This confirmed Aozora's suspicions. Hidden Cloud didn't truly want to sign a peace agreement with Konoha—at least some within Hidden Cloud opposed it.
Such an important negotiation required significant representation. Even if Raikage himself couldn't come, at minimum they should have sent someone highly respected or exceptionally powerful.
Considering Shisui's modesty, when he called the leader "competent," Aozora guessed he was probably just an ordinary Jonin.
Jonin are highly regarded in any ninja village, but this rank was clearly inadequate for representing one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Shisui wasn't dumb. He quickly understood the implication and whispered, "Looks like Hidden Cloud doesn't trust us much."
While Shisui assumed it was Hidden Cloud's distrust toward Konoha, Aozora suspected there might be other motives involved.
If he remembered correctly, Hidden Cloud and Konoha hadn't negotiated smoothly.
After signing the peace treaty, a Hidden Cloud ninja secretly infiltrated the Hyuga Compound, abducted Hinata Hyuga,
then failed while fleeing and was killed with a single palm strike from Hiashi Hyuga, causing Konoha a diplomatic crisis.
Eventually, to prevent another war, Konoha chose to compromise by sacrificing Hizashi Hyuga instead of Hiashi, essentially offering a scapegoat to appease Hidden Cloud.
Obviously, Hidden Cloud's actions contradicted themselves.
From Aozora's perspective, this incident reflected a struggle between two factions within Hidden Cloud.
The doves, now dominant, pushed forward the peace negotiations.
However, the leading ninja belonged to the hawk faction that opposed peace. Hence, he deliberately provoked conflict.
Perhaps abducting Hinata was their attempt to maximize benefits.
They hadn't expected Konoha to offer Hizashi's death as a gesture to Hidden Cloud's dove faction, giving them an easy way out while preserving their dignity.
Of course, this was just Aozora's guess. After all, people in the Ninja World had strange ways of thinking, and Hidden Cloud ninjas were especially eccentric.
Just like years ago when a few individuals who weren't even jonin managed to kidnap the Nine-Tails jinchuriki—an event that shocked Konoha.
Still, judging from today's delegation structure, his guess might actually be correct. Events from the original timeline could indeed be repeating themselves.
"Aozora, what are you thinking about? The delegation has already left."
Hearing Shisui's voice snapped Aozora back to reality. "Ah—nothing much. Just thinking about dinner!"
Shisui thought for a moment—the food Aozora cooked smelled great, but since he usually ended up washing dishes afterward, he decided, "Let's eat out tonight!"
Aozora gave a lazy shrug. "Sure."
They headed downstairs and wandered through the streets. Smiling, Shisui teased, "You haven't been out in forever, Aozora! You're practically growing moss!"
Aozora rolled his eyes dramatically. "Can you blame me? I was afraid of distracting drivers and causing a pile-up."
As he spoke, Aozora casually pointed somewhere. Following his finger, Shisui saw several young women who had turned around to look at Aozora and accidentally collided with railings and stalls.
Shisui chuckled while smacking his head, his eyes nearly squinting shut with laughter. "Haha! My guy Aozora's really something, huh? Don't worry—we won't have any trouble finding you a bride someday."
Aozora simply shook his head without elaborating further on that topic.
Right now, he was completely immersed in cultivation and had no time to consider matters of love or relationships.
Continuing forward, they made small talk here and there while searching for somewhere to eat.
While walking, they passed by Ichiraku Ramen.
Seeing the long line, Shisui asked, "How about we get ramen here?"
"Sounds good to me!" Aozora replied without objection.
Just as they approached the queue to wait in line, suddenly a small figure ran from the side and slipped ahead, standing in front before them.
Smiling gently, Shisui voluntarily stepped back one pace, making space for the child.
When Aozora caught sight of the boy's yellow hair, his pupils slightly constricted. Without revealing anything, he quietly started observing the surroundings.
Sure enough, he noticed at least three or four ordinary-looking people continuously watching Naruto closely.
Observing the small figure standing directly in front of him, Aozora no longer doubted the child's identity.
"Is it really Naruto Uzumaki? He should barely be two years old—did Hiruzen Sarutobi really allow such a young child to live on his own already? Is staff really that limited?"
"That being said, growth patterns in the Ninja World truly defy common sense!"
Judging from the height of the little figure before him, around eighty or ninety centimeters tall, although appearing somewhat thin, Naruto certainly didn't seem like an average two-year-old child.
Looking at how well Naruto developed currently, Aozora speculated that his future stunted growth would likely result from poor nutrition due to lack of proper care.
Having figured out Naruto's identity, Aozora chose not to act further. Instead, he continued chatting lazily with Shisui as if nothing happened, never once directing his gaze intentionally toward the child in front of him.
Far away, the Anbu ninja disguised among civilians guarding Naruto instantly felt relieved—it seemed neither Shisui nor his younger brother had recognized Naruto.
Besides, with the Uchiha temperament, why would they pay attention to just some brat toddling around?
What they didn't know was that Aozora had long since channeled chakra into his right eye, secretly activating the [Tongyou (Communion with the Shadows)].
A faint glimpse of Yū-blue light flickered across Aozora's pale eyes, and from that moment on, the world before him was completely different. From behind Naruto's once-small figure, countless shadowy forms suddenly surged forth.
The first thing Aozora saw was a massive red fox—its huge head resting on its front paws, nine tails swinging wildly behind it.
Then he saw the figures standing at Naruto's left and right. To his left stood a golden-haired man flashing a dazzling smile; to his right, a crimson-haired woman wearing a wild, unrestrained grin.
Finally, he caught sight of a nearly blurred figure constantly circling around Naruto, vaguely maintaining a human-like shape.
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