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JST Chapter 371: Monkey See, Monkey Kneel
🕑 Added 2025-07-06 22:01:30 +0000 UTC"He's not Naruto…" Those four words carried too many implications. As the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, if Naruto wasn’t Naruto, then the on
"He's not Naruto…"
Those four words carried too many implications.
As the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, if Naruto wasn’t Naruto, then the only explanation… was that the Nine-Tails had taken control.
In other words—he was about to go berserk.
In such an emergency, recalling Hiruzen’s standing order—“The Night of the Nine-Tails must never happen again”—the ANBU responded instantly. They stormed in from all directions: through the front door, the windows, from underground using Earth Release, and even down through the ceiling.
In an instant—
Elite ANBU forces had filled Naruto’s small room in formation.
Some were already forming hand seals. Others held thick sealing scrolls, ready for immediate deployment.
And in that moment—
Even though Naruto’s demeanor appeared calm, showing none of the usual signs of a bijū rampage…
One glance at the visibly shaken Sarutobi Hiruzen was all the ANBU needed. His expression alone was the clearest possible order.
If this weren’t a serious threat, would the Third Hokage look like that?
This could only be the Nine-Tails acting up!
Naruto’s expression sharpened in an instant, turning razor-sharp. His ocean-blue eyes, usually filled with warmth, now reflected a chilling glint—one that cut even deeper than the blood-red glow of the Sharingan.
Hiruzen locked eyes with Naruto and grew even more convinced.
Yes…
There was no doubt about it now!
Meanwhile, both Naruto and the Nine-Tails—under Kazuki’s control—glanced awkwardly at one another and lowered their heads.
Neither of them was actually worried. With Kazuki’s strength on full display, their safety was more than assured.
It was just… the plan had backfired a little. Neither wanted to embarrass Kazuki, so both fell into a thoughtful silence, earnestly wondering: Once Kazuki blows through the ambush with raw force… how should we praise him to cheer him up a little?
What would make 'Kazuki-nii' or 'Kazuki-sama' feel better?
Kazuki had originally intended to win them over without lifting a finger—to teach them a textbook lesson in psychological warfare.
But things clearly hadn’t gone as planned. He’d actually forced Sarutobi Hiruzen into launching a full-scale assault!
Both the Nine-Tails and Naruto muttered silently in their hearts.
Even though Kazuki had technically failed this time, it didn’t diminish the respect either of them held for him. Because honestly, given Naruto’s situation, this really was a dead end. Without brute force to break through, there was simply no viable alternative.
After all—he was up against a veteran Hokage who had ruled over Konoha for 40 years.
There was no way that just a few words, a few subtle expressions, or some cryptic remarks would make Hiruzen suddenly change his mind and distance himself from Naruto.
After all, Naruto was the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails… There wasn’t a single village that wouldn’t keep him under strict surveillance. It was simply unavoidable.
In fact—
The very fact that Sarutobi Hiruzen had been so alarmed—despite Naruto not using a single drop of Nine-Tails chakra—and that his reaction alone had triggered a full ANBU deployment… made both Naruto and the Nine-Tails feel that Kazuki’s lesson hadn’t failed at all.
It was just… slightly off-course.
And at that moment—
Naruto stood with his arms crossed, one hand resting on his bicep, index finger lifting ever so slightly.
A flicker of cold, abyssal killing intent flashed through his eyes!
It was like being doused in a bucket of freezing water—Hiruzen’s entire body jolted. He had seen that look far too many times before. He suddenly shouted: “Everyone—stop!”
The ANBU halted immediately, perfectly trained to obey.
But due to the urgency of the situation, one ANBU carrying a sealing scroll had already lunged forward. Though he tried to stop, inertia carried him forward with a loud thud, thud, drawing him closer to Naruto.
Naruto tilted his head slightly and glanced at him with detached indifference. Then let out a cold, mocking chuckle.
That laugh—so familiar—it sent a shiver down Hiruzen’s spine. For a moment, it was as if he’d been pulled back to that summer when he was 18, being punished and drilled by Senju Tobirama. His body moved before his mind could catch up.
In a flash, the wiry figure of Hiruzen was in front of the advancing ANBU, intercepting him with the agility of a monkey, pulling him back to prevent him from colliding with Naruto—
Or rather, from colliding with his sensei, Senju Tobirama.
“Out. All of you, out! No one is to approach this room without my explicit command. Initiate Special-Level Lockdown. Evacuate all personnel in the vicinity—immediately!”
Still facing away from Naruto, Hiruzen barked his orders with deadly seriousness to the stunned ANBU.
“Remember—under no circumstances is anyone to enter this room unless I give direct authorization!”
The ANBU were baffled.
What was going on? Was the Hokage seriously planning to take on the Nine-Tails alone?
Surely… he doesn’t have that kind of power anymore, does he?
Did he already forget what happened on the night of the Nine-Tails attack all those years ago?
But Hiruzen’s authority still held strong. And with Naruto showing no clear signs of rampaging, the ANBU obeyed without question. In perfect coordination, they evacuated the building—and even used Earth Release on their way out to repair the structural damage.
The Nine-Tails and Naruto stared blankly at the scene, then looked at each other.
What… just happened?
Just a few changes in tone, some eye movements, and subtle gestures—yet it had caused Sarutobi Hiruzen to both expose his ANBU and then send them away?
Kazuki… how the hell did you pull that off?
Even deep within Kazuki’s body, Kaguya herself couldn’t make sense of it.
If he had used genjutsu, or maybe mimicked Senju Tobirama’s chakra, that would’ve made sense to her.
But this…?
For Kazuki, this was effortless.
The issue was that he hadn’t used even a sliver of chakra from start to finish—just expressions, intonations, and gestures that, in theory, both the Nine-Tails, Naruto, and even Kaguya could imitate.
It was pure technique—not a difference in strength, but in intellect.
What none of them knew, however, was this:
As someone who had once been Tobirama’s jinchūriki—and especially after forging a final bond with him—Kazuki’s understanding of Senju Tobirama could only be described as transcendent.
If Kazuki truly wanted to mimic Tobirama—
Forget Sarutobi Hiruzen—even the Tobirama of this timeline himself would freeze up in shock upon seeing it.
This was the unmatched bond that once connected the top-ranked legend and Kazuki.
Once the ANBU withdrew from the room, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly turned around. His gaze was clouded with complex emotions as he stared at Naruto, and he asked, cautiously: “I-Is it… you?”
Naruto curled his lips into a smile—the very smile that only the Second Hokage ever wore—and replied in a quiet voice: “What do you think… Monkey?”
Hiruzen inhaled sharply. Forming hand seals swiftly, he cast a sensory ninjutsu and, after confirming again that no one had gotten too close—thanks to the ANBU lockdown—he finally asked, in disbelief: “How could it be you?! You… how could you possibly be inside Naruto? No—how could you become Naruto? What happened to you?!”
His words were a mess—stammering, tangled.
He simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
How could the names Naruto and Senju Tobirama—separated by four entire generations—suddenly become one and the same?
Whatever secrets lay beneath this had to be terrifying beyond imagination… and surely, surely, it was something antithetical to the Will of Fire!
“I never intended to possess Naruto’s body at first…”
Naruto spoke with a soft chuckle.
“I did it to keep an eye on the Uchiha Clan. You know how it is, Monkey. The Uchiha are a clan that, when they gain love… and then lose it… awaken terrifying power.”
“That pain births the Mangekyō Sharingan—a dōjutsu with all kinds of strange abilities. Some are pathetic, like Uchiha Izuna’s Amaterasu. But others can be extremely troublesome… genjutsu, space-time techniques, and so on.”
“Now imagine an Uchiha like that—gifted enough to evolve into an Eternal Mangekyō and gain the ability to use those dōjutsu without limit. Do you think you and Shimura Danzō and your little Hokage committee could actually handle it?”
Naruto’s eyes sharpened, drilling into Sarutobi Hiruzen.
And in that instant—Hiruzen broke out in a cold sweat.
Forget an Eternal Mangekyō with space-time techniques…
Even Uchiha Shisui, Itachi, and Fugaku—shinobi who weren’t even at the top of the Uchiha clan’s historical ranks—were already enough to place enormous pressure on Sarutobi Hiruzen. He could only rely on the 'Will of Fire' as an off-the-books justification to carry out surgical self-censorship.
He simply couldn’t control the power of that clan.
If Uchiha Itachi and Shisui hadn’t had such confused priorities—if they hadn’t aligned themselves with the Hokage faction—
If they had sided with the hawks and launched a sudden assault, it was genuinely hard to say whether the Uchiha coup would have succeeded or not...
“That’s why I created a forbidden technique,” Naruto said, gently tapping the table and speaking in the posture and tone of the Second Hokage. “I turned myself into a wandering soul that couldn’t be detected, and I’ve been watching over Konoha ever since.”
“Until now, when the Uchiha–village relationship has developed to this point… I decided it was time to appear.”
“As for those Uchiha… none of them were worth possessing, in my opinion. They’re too weak. They couldn’t withstand my power, and so they couldn’t be forged into a proper weapon to protect the village.”
“But this Nine-Tails jinchūriki… he’s perfectly suited.”
“Do you understand now, Monkey?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen listened to Naruto’s explanation, his mouth falling open unconsciously, his mind spiraling into chaos.
Possessing Naruto… as a weapon?
Sensei… I thought I was already being heartless enough with how I treated Naruto…
But to think… you were still one step ahead of me!
Kazuki watched Sarutobi Hiruzen with a smile.
He was confident that this version of Hiruzen—from a parallel timeline—would absolutely believe this entire explanation.
And why?
Because these were the very thoughts that his Hiruzen once had when he misunderstood Senju Tobirama in Kazuki’s own world.
They were both Hiruzen, after all—how different could their minds truly be?
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Zero Speed
Same song different dance
