Trees Chapter 222 Hiruzen: He's Just a Child Who Doesn’t Know Better. Why Are You Picking on a Child?

Jiraiya and the other two, who were beaten by Hiruzen, was left running around with their heads covered, their noses bruised and their faces

Jiraiya and the other two, who were beaten by Hiruzen, was left running around with their heads covered, their noses bruised and their faces swollen.

Of course, due to his constitution, the bruises on Jiraiya's face were more serious.

If Tsunade hadn’t been skilled in Medical Ninjutsu and secretly taken the chance to heal her teammates, the injury on Jiraiya's face might not have healed for several days.

At this moment, even the usually majestic Hokage-sama was trembling under the beating of Hiruzen’s stick.

Jiraiya and Kakashi stood frozen in place, their heads lowered, their expressions unreadable. Who knew what they were thinking?

However, Naruto was certain that these two white-haired troublemakers were just putting on an act, and if given another chance, they’d definitely do it again.

Hiruzen paced back and forth in front of them, his black staff swaying in his hand as he shook his head and sighed in disappointment.

He was extremely disappointed with what his disciples had done.

"Ridiculous!!"

"Didn't the Daimyo allocate funds to Konoha?"

"Has it really come to the Godaime Hokage disguising herself to scam villagers for money?"

"Hmph!"

‘The position of Hokage also comes with a salary. While it is not much, it was certainly enough for daily life.’

‘But Tsunade...’

Without even thinking, Hiruzen knew Tsunade must have gambled away all her money and then strong-armed Jiraiya and Kakashi into this absurd scheme.

‘Isn't it too shameful for a Hokage to take the lead in doing such a thing?!’

‘What a pure nonsense!!’

Naruto put away the camera, jumped down from the tree, and strode over to the three with an indignant expression.

When he looked at Jiraiya, he really wanted to hit him.

‘If this white-haired old man comes to me and asks for money, I will definitely give it to him.’

‘Why resort to something like this?!’

Hearing the scolding, Tsunade felt deeply wronged.

She worked tirelessly day and night, constantly guarding against Team 7 causing chaos while also worrying whether some idiot might pop up and try to destroy the world.

On top of that, she had to find ways to fill the financial holes Konoha had accumulated over the years.

And now that she’d finally come up with a way to earn some extra funds to supplement the village’s budget, what was the problem?!

‘I hadn’t done anything to harm the village, nor had she shamelessly begged others for money...’

‘What's wrong with it!?’

‘And as for the Daimyo’s funding?’

‘That thing has long been squandered by Team 7!!’

"Old man, you have no idea what’s happened in the Shinobi World since you died!"

"Just look at him!"

Tsunade scowled and pointed at Naruto, causing Hiruzen to turn his head, looking at Naruto with doubts in his eyes.

However, he was displeased with Tsunade’s attempt to shift blame.

"Hmph!"

"I'm talking about your actions right now!"

"What does this have to do with Naruto?"

Tsunade sneered, and then began to list the yellow-haired delinquent's crimes one by one.

"Can you imagine the Kyubi’s Jinchuuriki from Konoha Village running to Sunagakure to become the Godaime Kazekage??"

"Oh, right. Sunagakure doesn’t even exist anymore."

"Now it’s called the City of Sand."

"And that’s because this brat started some cult there that destroyed the entire Sunagakure!"

Hiruzen didn't react at first when she heard Tsunade's words.

‘Oh… so he became the Fifth Hokage… wait, what?!’

‘The Godaime Kazekage!?’

After replaying the words in his head several times, he stared at Naruto in shock.

Not only did Naruto not feel any shame when he heard Tsunade's words, but he also puffed out his chest proudly, with his hands on his hips, as if waiting to deliver an acceptance speech.

‘So what if the Kyubi’s Jinchuuriki become the Kazekage?’

‘Isn't that a good thing?’

‘And as for the Cult Mechanicus’s incident...’

Naruto admitted he might have made a small mistake, but he believed some things shouldn’t be judged solely on surface-level appearances.

‘Although the Cult Mechanicus kept shouting about ‘Mechanical Ascension’ or whatever, they have made a huge contribution to the technological development of the Shinobi World, right?’

‘It’s not a problem for them to be a little wrong in the head.’

At this moment, Hiruzen was dumbfounded.

He was used to Naruto doing very outrageous things since he was a child.

But he never expected that Naruto would become the Kazekage after going to Sunagakure...

After a long silence, Hiruzen’s expression became a little helpless, and he stammered weakly at Tsunade, "Tsunade… you know how this kid is…"

"Naruto is still young… it’s normal for him to not know better..."

"Why do you keep picking on a child when you are already so old?"

Tsunade’s eyebrows nearly twisted into knots.

"Old man, do you want to listen to what you are saying?"

"He’s sixteen this year!!"

"Still a child??"

"Then you might as well say I’m a child too!"

Hiruzen smiled bitterly and suddenly became a little awkward.

Tsunade glanced at the proud yellow-haired brat, and become so angry that she raised her foot and gave Jiraiya, next to him, a kick.

Then, she continued, "And that's not even the worst of it!"

"A few days ago! This brat created a monster in Amegakure!"

"Then he and that Uchiha Sasuke directly destroyed the entire village!"

...

Tsunade listed off all the things Naruto had done over the years, along with the exploits of Team 7.

At first, Hiruzen didn’t see much of a problem it.

Sunagakure is gone, Amegakure is gone...

Isn’t that all good things?

With two fewer Shinobi Villages, when the Fourth Shinobi World War breaks out, the scale will be smaller and their chances of winning would be higher.

But the more he listened...

The darker Hiruzen’s expression grew, especially when he heard about the ‘Graveside Dance Party and Hotpot Feast’ held by the Konoha’s old, middle-aged, young, and small quartet on his own grave. He clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground.

"Outrageous!!"

"You... how could you do such a thing!?"

"Jiraiya! Is this how you taught Naruto!?"

Instead of scolding Naruto, Hiruzen immediately turned his wrath on Jiraiya.

Jiraiya opened his mouth, then closed it, hesitating.

He wanted to say something, but he was afraid anything he said would just make things worse...

‘Damn it!’

‘As if I could’ve controlled Naruto in the first place!!’

‘It was obviously you, old bastard, who brought this trouble to me in the first place. Why are you acting like it wasn’t your fault?!’

After all these years, Jiraiya had finally figured it out...

The only person in the world who could keep Naruto in line was Kushina.

When Naruto saw that the situation at the scene had become a little delicate, he immediately stepped in and spoke, "White-haired old man, are you really that short of money?"

"If you're really short of money, you could’ve just asked me!"

"Why resort to selling these clothes?!"

"Are you even giving up your dignity for money?"

Naruto’s lecturing tone carried the same energy as Jiraiya’s usual scoldings, and his disappointment with the white-haired old man was revealed both in and out of his words.

"How is it possible..."

Jiraiya scratched his chin and chuckled awkwardly.

"Didn't I just help all the people in the world who have unrequited love succeed in confessing their love?"

"How could these clothes possib..."

Naruto opened his mouth to complain, but suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

After all, it was him who first deceived Jiraiya...

After stewing in silence for a while, Naruto finally punched a nearby tree in frustration, splitting it clean in half, making everyone present twitch.

"Tch!"

“Just stop selling those clothes!”

"I'll take care of the money issue!"

Tsunade’s eyes lit up when she heard this, and she immediately smacked Jiraiya aside before rushing up to Naruto. She then glanced back at Hiruzen, who was still gasping for breath on the ground, and sighed, "Alas… it's all Jiraiya and Kakashi’s fault!"

"I was forced into this."

Kakashi showed his usual deadpan expression and looked helplessly at the sky.

‘Whatever...’

‘As long as you guys are happy.’

‘I'm used to taking the blame...’

Ignoring these embarrassing fools, Naruto pulled out his phone and messaged Uzumaki Stark to start printing flyers.

‘Now...’

‘I must suppress the momentum of Konoha's Spiritual Youths once and for all!’