Trees Chapter 301 A World Where People Understand Each Other Truly Exists

Hashirama held a phone, pointing at that damn ‘NineImmortalEmperor’ profile page, his face filled with seriousness.

To prevent the younger generation from sensing anything amiss, Hashirama didn’t ask directly but instead probed indirectly.

"Naruto, don’t overthink it."

"I just want to befriend this person. I mean no harm."

When Naruto heard his little brother, who also happened to be the Shodaime Hokage, ask for help, he was naturally willing to assist.

But he had seen this anxious look on Hashirama’s face just yesterday.

Clearly, the man had been rage-quitting after losing in a game.

As for Hashirama’s claim about ‘just wanting to be friends’, Naruto didn’t believe a single word of it.

‘Who would’ve thought that even someone as righteous-looking as Hashirama would resort to doxxing and real-life confrontations...’

‘Truly...’

‘Games are a curse upon humanity.’

"Don't worry, Shodaime."

"I’ll definitely track this guy down for you..."

"…Huh?!"

Before Naruto could finish his words, his eyes locked onto the user profile displayed on the phone.

‘NineImmortalEmperor!?’

There is not much description in Kurama’s personal interface. Except for the sentence, ‘At the end of the immortal path, who stands supreme? Behold the Immortal Emperor Kurama, and all shall kneel’.

The rest of the profile was filled with hundreds of posts from last night.

Every single one was a highlight reel of Kurama using Ichigo Kurosaki to utterly destroy Hashirama in the game.

‘Yeah...’

‘Honestly, it was a miracle Hashirama hadn’t lost his temper and unleashed Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees right then and there.

After skimming through the posts, Naruto’s lips twitched, his mood turning complicated.

He’d intended to help his little brother doxx someone, only to nearly doxx himself instead...

Inside the seal space, Kurama had been watching this whole scene unfold, barely able to contain its laughter as it slapped the ground with its paws.

“Hahahahaha!!”

"Hashirama is getting anxious!"

"This Immortal Emperor could beat him with one paw tied behind my back!"

Kurama glared at Hashirama through Naruto’s vision, all its past grievances vanishing in an instant.

It even tilted its head up and barked at Naruto.

"Naruto! Let me out right now!"

"Didn't Hashirama want to find me?"

"Come on! Let’s go!"

"I’ll humiliate him the same way I did last night!"

Kurama was practically oozing arrogance, as if its entire face was screaming: ‘This Immortal Emperor is invincible… come at me!’

Meanwhile, Shukaku, who had been silently observing from the side, rolled its eyes and glanced away, filled with nothing but disdain for Kurama.

‘This damn fox’s gaming skills weren’t even half as good as the blond brat’s.’

‘The only reason it had managed to win against Hashirama all night was because I’m the one who had been secretly playing for it...’

‘Tch. Stupid fox.’

‘Its gaming skills are downright pathetic.’

Hearing Kurama’s taunts, Naruto couldn’t be bothered to respond.

‘Earlier, I asked you to beat up Sasuke, and you made a hundred excuses. Now that Hashirama’s here, you’re suddenly eager to fight?’

"Naruto, can you do it or not?"

Hashirama’s voice pulled Naruto back to reality.

Right now, all he wanted was to find this so-called ‘NineImmortalEmperor’ and prove that his Wood Release was far from the ‘pathetic little saplings’ the guy had mocked.

"Shodaime..."

"Actually, what I meant yesterday was..."

Naruto thought for a moment and decided to politely refuse.

If he let Kurama out today, Konoha Village would probably need another round of reconstruction.

Hashirama stared at Naruto with puppy-dog eyes, as if he were seconds away from shouting ‘Big Bro, please!’, leaving Naruto’s half-formed excuse stuck in his throat.

Fortunately, two Anbu’s members arrived just in time to save the situation.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke!"

"By Nidaime-sama’s orders, you two are to..."

When the Anbu’s members talked about the mission, the expression under the mask twisted in barely concealed agony.

They had no idea what Nidaime Hokage was thinking, sending these two, the yellow-haired delinquent and Thin Ice Bro, outside the village.

‘Leaving the village was one thing...’

‘But why did it have to be a C-Rank escort mission?’

Just thinking about the mission details made the Anbu’s members cringe so hard they didn’t even want to say it out loud in public.

"Forget it, see for yourselves."

The Anbu’s members left the scroll and immediately left the scene, fearing that the yellow-haired delinquent would cause trouble for them later.

As the Anbu’s members left, the once-bustling arcade fell into eerie silence.

Just moments ago, people had been lining up to recharge their game credits or buying snacks and e-cigarettes from the shops outside.

But the moment everyone heard that the yellow-haired delinquent and Thin Ice Bro were leaving the village again, all movement froze.

Hundreds of people stood as if time had stopped, locked in their previous poses.

Even Tsunade, who had been freeloading food and drinks at the grand opening, paused mid-sip.

‘What!?’

‘What did I all hear just now?!’

‘Granduncle asked yellow-haired delinquent and Thin Ice Bro to go out of the village to do a mission!?’

“Tobirama is really something.”

"What kind of mission is so important that it has to be them?"

Hashirama muttered under his breath, looking slightly displeased but not outright opposing his brother’s decision.

He had wanted to spend more time with these interesting youngsters.

"Huh?"

"Why is everyone frozen?"

Hashirama turned his head and found that everyone was motionless. He scratched his head in confusion as he glanced at Naruto and Sasuke.

At this time, the two pillars of Konoha and the saviors of the Shinobi World were so excited when they heard that there was a mission.

Even Sasuke, who had never held a high opinion of Tobirama, found himself reevaluating the man.

‘Look at him… he never discriminates against Team 7 and still assigned us missions despite everything.’

Over the past few years, Naruto and Sasuke have also been paying attention to news in the village.

The whole ‘Team 7’s missions always trigger world-ending disasters’ rumor...

They scoffed at it.

‘How rude!’

‘As if we were the ones causing all the chaos in the Shinobi World.’

‘If that were really the case, why would the Sage of Six Paths have chosen us and bestowed upon us his power?’

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance and nodded solemnly.

‘Today was the day we would restore Team 7’s honor!’

Naruto unrolled the mission scroll, skimmed the contents, which is something about escorting an old man to the Land of Sky. Then, he closed it with a confident expression.

He turned to Hashirama.

"Shodaime, I’ve got a mission to handle......"

"We’ll talk about that thing you mentioned later, okay?"

Hashirama’s expression dimmed slightly, frustration flickering in his eyes, as he really wanted to track down that guy.

But...

‘Indeed, the village’s mission is more important.’

"Alright."

"We’ll talk when you get back."

The moment Hashirama finished speaking, the previously tense atmosphere exploded back into life.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Bring out the most expensive stuff you’ve got!!"

"Shit, I left my confession suit at home! No, I have to go get it!"

"Dad… Mom… I love you."

In that moment, it was as if everyone had cast aside their grudges, and words that had been too embarrassing to say before were now pouring out freely.

Most people stopped caring about prices altogether, throwing money around like it was the end of the world.

Some even went as far as reconciling with long-time rivals, apologizing and admitting their past mistakes.

When Hashirama saw this scene, his eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"Everyone…”

"The village..."

"This… this is exactly what Madara and I dreamed of!!"

Hashirama kept staring, tears now freely streaming down his face, and then he shouted excitedly on the spot.

Things like, “Madara, you are wrong!!", "A world where people understand each other does exist "Madara, do you see this?!", and so on.

Tsunade and Shikamaru both stood in place, feeling very uncomfortable when they saw Hashirama’s almost crazy reaction.

After a long silence, Shikamaru let out a deep sigh and turned to Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama......."

"Shouldn’t you stop Naruto and Sasuke?"

Tsunade shrugged, spread her hands, raised her bottle and continued to drink.

After finishing, she said to Shikamaru with an indifferent attitude.

"It doesn't matter."

"Shodaime and Nidaime will handle it."