In the bustling Konoha Ninja Village under the cover of night, it stands to reason that the Hokage office building, which had long been turned off and closed because it was past working hours, was brightly lit at the moment. In particular, in the exclusive office of the three generations of Hokage, a thin black shadow reflected on the glass through the light was even more as if he was nervous about something, stopping in front of the floor-to-ceiling window for a while, and pacing back and forth anxiously and impatiently for a while, looking extremely restless.

Someone who can keep the lights on in the Hokage's office building and who is qualified to stay in the Hokage's exclusive office...... The two obvious conditions add up, and the identity of the thin black shadow is naturally about to come out - that is, the current ruler of the Konoha Ninja Village, the third generation of the Hokage Ape Flying Sun.

It's just that the three generations of Hokage at this moment obviously have lost the calm appearance of strategizing in the past. So much so that not to mention sitting down and resting for a while, even the night view of Konoha Village, which used to make him feel comforting and satisfied, could not make the three generations of Hokage stop and watch for a moment. On the contrary, while pacing back and forth anxiously, his eyes wandered, as if he was waiting for something, and he looked in the direction of the main entrance of the Hokage Office Building and the main entrance of the Konoha Ninja Village, intentionally or unintentionally.

"Weird...... Haven't come over yet? ”

I don't know how many times I looked up, but I still couldn't see the figure I had been waiting for for a long time, the three generations of Hokage couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and whisper in confusion, while raising his hand to hammer his old waist, he pulled over the chair, and slowly sat down facing the floor-to-ceiling window.

"They set off from Shayin Village in the morning, it stands to reason that they should have already returned to the village at this time, right......

Just as Naruto thought, the reason why the third Hokage readily agreed to Naruto's request to go out, and arranged for Itachi and Shisui to go out with Naruto. In addition to wanting Itachi and Shisui to serve as Naruto's bodyguards, the more important reason is because these two people were recommended to him by Naruto. In other words, Naruto was obviously much more trusting of the two of them than he was when he had someone else acting as a guard.

Because of this, through the use of the shadow clone of the "humanoid self-propelled phone" discovered by Naruto, when Naruto applied to leave the village, the three generations of Hokage summoned Itachi and Shisui in advance. And before letting the two of them go to walk with Naruto, let the two of them keep a few shadow clones in the village in advance. In case of an unexpected situation, such as Naruto, who really has a grudge against him because of the injustice he was a child and plans to flee the village, he can contact the three generations of Hokage anytime and anywhere.

And this is also the reason why during the journey, Naruto vaguely felt that the chakra reserves of Itachi and Shisui were much less than he imagined - the two of them, not because of the blood of their own Uchiha clan, caused the amount of chakra to be much worse than that of normal people. It's just that in order to maintain the existence of the shadow clone, the chakra of himself is evenly distributed to the body of each shadow clone, and such a weak side is revealed. So much so that by accident, with Naruto's help, his physical functions have been further significantly enhanced during the journey, which can be regarded as an unexpected joy.

Of course, it's not that after knowing Naruto's intention to defect, the three generations of Hokage will take coercive measures such as an armed pursuit, leaving Naruto in the village and not going out...... Or rather, it's not that the three generations of Hokage don't plan to do it. It's that I can't bear it, and there's no reason to do it.

After all, for more than a year, Naruto had completely killed Danzou and suppressed the spirit of the Elders. Threading the needle through the needle to lobby for guarantees, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village was resolved. On the first day of returning from the special training year, he stopped the infiltration of Orochimaru [although it was only an elephant turned clone]. In addition to designing this year's ninja school freshman entrance exam, so much so that in the first time, Hinata who was accidentally kidnapped was rescued by himself [although this is someone's simple wife instinct] back. Not to mention the possibility of the white eye falling into the hands of the enemy was avoided in time, and the relationship between the Hyuga clan and the village did not have to reappear as the confrontation worsened because the heir of the clan was kidnapped again......

In terms of the injustice suffered by Naruto in his childhood, it is undoubtedly a stark contrast to the fact that the village already owes Naruto a lot of kindness to the Naruto family, and Naruto has contributed so much to the village...... So much so that not to mention that Naruto wanted to leave the village, even if Naruto did something that was not good for the village, and then embarked on the old path of Orochimaru's defection. Emotionally, the three generations of Hokage, who has always been soft-hearted and difficult to harden his heart to kill him, will definitely find it difficult to have the idea of completely obliterating Naruto or forcibly controlling him. At most, it was forbidden for Naruto to set foot in the village again, so that in name, Naruto would be banished outside the village, but in fact Naruto would be free.

Fortunately, what can make the three generations of Hokage feel a little relaxed and relieved is that Itachi and Shisui have just been sent out, and it has not been long since they went to meet Naruto. Under the report of the shadow clone, he got the answer given by Naruto himself that he did not plan to defect...... It's just that, according to Naruto's usual style of showing a set on the surface, a set in secret, and often not playing cards according to the routine, it still hasn't made the three generations of Hokage completely reassured. So much so that the shadow clones of Itachi and Shisui were not completely lifted, but in the case of a limited number, they reported the progress of their group's journey and the gains on the way to the three generations of Hokage in real time in a regular and quantitative state once a day.

In addition, because Naruto never stopped helping Itachi and Shisui strengthen their physical functions during the journey. After Itachi and Shisui lifted the shadow clone, the amount of chakra that naturally returned to the main body was rightfully recognized by Naruto as the credit for his significant strengthening effect. As a result, not only did the three generations of Hokage be able to understand the movements of Naruto and his party in a timely manner, but also made Naruto, who was a master of shadow clones, never noticed the small movements of the two from beginning to end.

Because of this, after learning that Naruto and his party set off from Sand Hidden Village today, and did not deflect any detours on the way, they began to return to the village at full speed. In the hearts of the three generations of Hokage, the worries and worries that had been hanging for more than a week were completely dissipated. In order to prevent Naruto from deliberately adding to himself the "Wave Wind and Ma" character from leaking out, the three generations of Hokage immediately issued an order to replace the ordinary guards who were supposed to be guarding the gate with elite members of the dark department under his command. So much so that the members of the dark department who received the order, but were confused about their intentions, thought that the three generations of Hokage had arranged such a grand treatment today was that the Daimyo of the Fire Country was going to come to Weifu for a private visit. And then with a twelve-point spirit, without being sloppy for a moment, not only as soon as Naruto and his party arrived outside the village, he opened the door and let people go back to the village. Because Naruto also didn't know anything about it, the misunderstanding hadn't been resolved. So that this group of dark elites who have been holding on for a day are still messily waiting in the night wind for the Daimyo of the Fire Country who "may come at any time". And in order not to lose the image and face of the village in front of the daimyo, even if he was a little sleepy instinctively, he had to force himself to cheer up.

Well, if you let them know, in fact, your group put down a lot of accumulated tasks and didn't do them, like wooden people, spending a whole day guarding in secret. In fact, it was just such a trivial reason that the three generations of Hokage simply wanted Naruto and his party to be able to enter the village as soon as possible when they returned to the vicinity of the village...... Most of them, this group of elite ninjas from the shadows will cry and doubt their lives.

After all, on weekdays, it is when you are hired by people from other villages. Although performing this kind of easy work of waiting for someone to open the door is estimated to be a light little task that is not even considered a D-level task, it is equivalent to reaching out for nothing. But because it is so self-defeating to execute it, even just one of the elite people needs to pay a lot of commissions. And it depends on personal mood preferences to decide whether or not to accept such a small task...... Not to mention that like today, they replaced all the gate guards and specially welcomed Naruto and his party back to the village.

However, even with the assurances of Itachi and Shisui, it was confirmed that Naruto and the others would indeed arrive in the village today. He deliberately arranged for his henchmen to greet him, so as not to miss the time for everyone to return to the village, so that Naruto and the others were forced to camp outside the village for a night, which can be said to have arranged everything in all aspects...... But due to Naruto's own undeniably immature age, and the fact that Naruto had lived in the village for so long, it was the first time he had left the village. And from beginning to end, there was no reason why there was no shinobi as a guardian to accompany Naruto out together. So that the three generations of Hokage, who had long regarded Naruto as his own grandson, even if he knew the secret of Naruto's own Flying Thunder God technique, so that regardless of his true strength, judging from his self-preservation ability alone, it was definitely not inferior to the level of ordinary Shinobi. Before seeing Naruto and their return with his own eyes, he was still like a parent who was worried about his children who had left home, thinking about everything in the worst-case scenario. And then the hearts of the three generations of Hokage have always been shrouded in a lingering inexplicable sense of anxiety and impatience.

In other words, in a sense, the current three generations of Hokage are just an ordinary old man who is worried about the safety of his grandson, so much so that he reminds him that he can't eat or sleep well all day long.

"Squeak-"

Just as the eyes of the three generations Hokage narrowed slightly, they stared at the window with all their hearts, the only gate leading to the Hokage's office building. There was an obvious untimely sound that broke the heavy silence in the office and opened the door of the office that had been closed for a long time.

"Didn't I tell you a long time ago...... I have something very important today, don't bother me? ”

Mistakenly believing that the intruder was here to hand over some official documents to him. And then he put all his thoughts on waiting for Naruto and his party to return, so that he had no intention of dealing with official business at all. The three generations of Hokage frowned slightly, and without looking back, he spoke out with implicit dissatisfaction, and commanded the uninvited guest behind him.

"Leave official business aside for the time being, and wait for me to deal with it tomorrow...... Now, you can go back and rest. ”

“……”

It's a pity that I don't know if the other party has any urgent and imminent major events, and it requires the three generations of Hokage to make a decision immediately. Or because he didn't hear the slightest hint of dissatisfaction from the response words of the three generations of Hokage. After the visitor opened the office door completely, there was no idea of retreating. On the contrary, he paused for a while, and then with a burst of unhurried footsteps, he gradually approached in the direction of the three generations of Hokage.

"Tsk...... Didn't you understand me? ”

Because he waited for a day so far, he didn't wait for his baby "grandson" to come home, which made the mood of the three generations of Hokage a little restless. And instead of obeying his own orders, the people behind him chose to approach silently without interest. Even though he didn't detect the slightest malice from the person, it still inevitably made the three generations of Hokage's brows furrow more and more. Then he turned around, repeating word by word, and his tone became a little cold and stiff.

"I said, you can now, go back and rest......"

However, before the three generations of Hokage could finish the words that instinctively came to his lips. In front of the identity of the person who had been seen and confirmed by his own eyes under the shift of his gaze. From the initial impatience, it quickly turned into a complex look of astonishment and relief.

There is no other reason, just because, this uninvited guest who doesn't understand the sophistication of human feelings is the one that makes the three generations of Hokage worry so far, for fear that there will be a Naruto who will miss a little!

Although the other party used the transformation disguise, he turned himself into an adult. So much so that at a cursory glance, when there is no toddler at all, the immature and cute appearance that should be. But in those blue eyes that were like jewels, there was a mischievous smile that made the three generations of Hokage feel familiar. But it was for the three generations of Hokage to be recognized at a glance, and for the little ancestor who had been scared for so many days, he was willing to go home.

"It turns out that Grandpa Hizai doesn't want to see me so much......"

I saw that the old man's face was a little haggard, but he was still waiting in the Hokage's office building at such a late hour, silently waiting for the figure of his group to return. Naruto was glad that he had decided to come first to say hello to the three Hokages instead of going home and sleeping. In order to ease the slightly dignified atmosphere at the moment, the old man in front of him can relax a little. Naruto subconsciously raised his hand and bought a full load of souvenirs before leaving the Sand Hidden Village. With a smile in his eyes, he deliberately curled his mouth, making a pitiful appearance of grievances, and whispered teasing and teasing to the people in front of him.

"Well, I originally planned to give these souvenirs to my grandfather to taste as soon as possible...... Since it was the order of the third generation Hokage-sama, then the villain and I naturally had to retire and go home obediently...... Huh? ”

Without waiting for Naruto to pretend to be calm, he finished the teasing words that came to his lips. Suddenly, I felt that I was being hugged by a pair of thin, but strong, warm arms. Immediately, Naruto was slightly stunned, and there was a whisper in his ears that warmed Naruto's heart.

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back...... Quick, let grandpa see, have you been hungry and thin these days? Are you not used to eating outside food? Is there a ......?"

The babbling murmur, and the kind and kind eyes that are still staring at him uncomfortably after looking up and down back and forth. In addition to making Naruto's heart more and more warm, the sense of belonging to Konoha Village, called "home", is also quietly deepening and growing. Then in front of the worried look of the old man in front of him, he bent his eyes and smiled and leaned over a little, instinctively stretched out his arms, and responded with a big hug.

"I'm sorry to have worried you for so long. and ......"

"I'm back...... Grandfather. ”

(End of chapter)