Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 612 Harbor of Hidden Mist

As the mist rose from the sea, Hozuki Shio's hand stopped on the zipper of her ninja tool bag.

She had originally intended to take out a piece of the Akimichi family's special candied fruit to chew on, a habit she had when she was nervous.

But when her fingers touched the snacks wrapped tightly in oil paper inside the bag, the smell that rushed into her nostrils made her pause.

Salty.

It carried a fishy smell of rotting seaweed and silt, completely different from the dry, warm earthy smell of Konoha.

It smells like Kirigakure.

She lived in that smell for over a decade.

I smell it when I kill someone, I smell it when I sleep, and I smell it when I'm hungry.

Back then, the girl thought all the air in the world smelled like this, until she was escorted to Konoha and smelled the rich pork bone broth wafting from Ichiraku Ramen for the first time—

In that instant, she realized that living is not just about smelling blood.

"You're back."

Hozuki Kaigetsu stood beside her, speaking very softly.

His gaze pierced through the increasingly thinning fog, fixed on the black reefs and the crooked wooden pier gradually appearing ahead.

The wooden planks on those piers were half rotten, revealing the blackened, seawater-soaked stakes underneath, which looked like a row of decaying teeth.

Compared to the steel docks in Konoha Port, which are painted with anti-corrosion paint and welded meticulously, this place is so shabby that it makes you want to cry.

Haiyue's right hand gripped the scroll.

His palms were sweaty. He had been clutching the paper the whole way, and the pages had become soggy from being so tightly pressed together.

He knew those words by heart: the three-year revitalization plan, the tidal power station, the seafood processing line—he could recite them with his eyes closed. But now, seeing his hometown in such a dilapidated state, a strange, indescribable emotion welled up inside him.

It wasn't excitement.

It's fear.

I'm afraid I'm not good enough for that blueprint.

"elder brother."

Hozuki Shio withdrew her hand, not taking out any snacks. She unusually serious asked, "Do you think Honebami will really make a move at the docks?"

"He will."

Haiyue's answer was crisp and clear: "The Kaguya clan's brains are like their bones—hard, but hollow."

Hozuki Shio pouted and zipped up the zipper.

She glanced back at the direction of the cabin.

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned against the railing at the bow of the ship, his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking even more relaxed than an old man sunbathing. The sea breeze made his white scarf flutter in the wind, but he didn't bother to pull it up, letting it billow in the air.

Suddenly, Hozuki Shio was no longer afraid.

For some reason, seeing this person's behavior, the unease she felt was like foam floating in a pot, gently skimmed away by an invisible hand.

—This gentleman can even bake cakes, so what can't he handle?

This logic is absurd, but Hozuki Shio wholeheartedly agrees.

……

The arrival of the giant steel ship made quite a commotion.

When the boat hull touched the wooden piles on the dock, the entire pier trembled, and wood chips fell into the sea.

Several nearly rotten pillars groaned, as if they were about to fall apart at any moment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi squinted at the dilapidated dock beneath his feet, silently adding a line to Chapter Two, "Infrastructure and Industry," of the "Three-Year Revitalization and Development Plan for Kirigakure"—

The priority for dock reconstruction has been moved to number one.

If this thing isn't fixed soon, the next time a slightly larger ship comes, the entire harbor will collapse into the sea.

His gaze passed over the swaying pier and landed on the shore.

At the end of the pier, two groups of people stood clearly separated on the open ground.

The group on the left is small, about thirty or forty people.

The leader was a short boy with short green hair and a hideous stitched scar on his face.

He was wearing a faded gray-green turtleneck shirt, his arms crossed over his chest, his back ramrod straight, as if trying to compensate for his lack of height with this posture.

Yagura, a type of citrus.

Hiruzen Sarutobi mentally made a name for himself.

A girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old stood half a step behind Yagura.

His long brown hair covered half of his face, and the one emerald green eye that was visible was silently scanning the entire room.

She wore a modified blue-green kimono dress, with a slender figure and delicate features.

Terumi Mei.

Now look to the right—

That would be quite a spectacle.

There was a large, dark mass of people, at least three or four hundred.

They were all shirtless, their bodies covered in intricate battle tattoos, their muscles piled up like lumps of stone. Some even had white bony protrusions protruding from their shoulder blades, gleaming with a ghastly cold light in the mist.

The one in the lead is the most conspicuous.

He was over 1.8 meters tall, with gray hair that looked like it had been struck by lightning and sticking out like a hedgehog, and two red marks between his eyebrows were particularly conspicuous. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of linen trousers tied around his waist with a straw rope, and his bare chest was covered with crisscrossing old scars.

Kaguya-sama: Bone-Eater.

At this moment, the patriarch of the Kaguya clan stood at the front with his hands on his hips, his mouth twisted into an exaggerated arc—no, the corners of his mouth were turned up very high, revealing a set of sharp teeth like those of a wild beast. Combined with his pale face without eyebrows, he looked exactly like a demon crawling out of hell.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at it for two seconds.

I mentally defined this scene—

A socialite picked them up at the airport.

They're practically ready to put up a banner that says, "Welcome back and I'll chop you up."

"Is that Honebami... laughing?"

Uchiha Shisui's indifferent voice came from behind.

"Probably."

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't sure either, "It could be a cramp."

Zhi Shui didn't reply.

His dark eyes swept across the crowd opposite him, as if counting—no, he was marking.

In that instant, he categorized and classified everyone who was holding a weapon, everyone whose chakra flow was abnormal, and everyone whose position could potentially form an encirclement.

Twenty members of the secret service silently dispersed, each taking up a commanding position on the ship's sides, masts, and deck edges. No one gave orders, no one exchanged glances; everything was as natural as breathing.

On the dock, Yagura, the first to speak, was Kajiki.

He took a step forward.

Even from this step, you could see his nervousness—his foot landed with a little too much force, and the sole of his shoe scraped against the wet, slippery stone slab with a soft sound.

But he controlled his voice well and announced loudly, "Kigakure welcomes His Excellency the Third Hokage."

As he spoke, the thirty or forty people behind him bowed their heads in unison, performing a standard ninja salute.

There was silence for about two seconds.

"ha--"

A drawn-out laugh, clearly mocking, erupted from the group on the right.

Kaguya Honebami tilted her head, staring at Yagura as if she were looking at something amusing, patting her belly as she strode forward. With each step she took, the stone slab beneath her feet cracked open with a "crack." It wasn't ninjutsu; it was purely due to her weight combined with deliberately applied force.

He stopped less than five steps from Yagura, looking down at him—a very apt description, as he was almost half a head taller than Yagura.

"Welcome?"

Honebami chewed those two words in his mouth, spitting them out with saliva flying, "Yagura, Yagura, when did you change your surname to Konoha?"

Yagura's shoulder tensed.

He didn't turn back, nor did he retreat.