"Before that, could you tell us the reason your cn is doing this? The Shinobi World Wars have occurred three times on a massive scale since the First Hokage founded the Leaf Vilge, and you haven't intervened before. Why are you now preparing for the next war in this retively peaceful era?" Minato, while trusting Hazuki, needed to consider the entire vilge as the Hokage. He would definitely control anything that could endanger the lives and livelihoods of the vilgers. And the Otsutsuki, in his view, were still an uncontrolble factor.

  "That's how it is. It's natural that you don't trust us, considering we haven't appeared before. However, the situation this time is serious. Don't you feel that the turmoil and conflict in the entire ninja world have lessened significantly? Even the small countries where minor skirmishes used to be rampant have become much more stable. Although even our Otsutsuki cn cannot clearly know the details about those small countries, our cn's prophets told us some time ago that within twenty years, the upheaval in the ninja world will no longer be something your ninja can withstand. Therefore, the elders decided to use the gentlest method to influence and save this world," Hazuki said without changing his expression. He had long anticipated that these people wouldn't trust him so easily, so he had specifically inquired with the elders about the truth, preparing to use this fact as his trump card. "Indeed, I had to use it after all," Hazuki thought secretly.

  Hearing this, Minato immediately recalled the intelligence from the past few months, which had all indicated a period of calm, and he began to believe the Hazuki before him.

  "Then, according to you, this child is the key to saving this world?" Minato asked somewhat anxiously. If a ninja vilge broke the rules and uniterally overturned the peace agreement, that would be manageable; at most, it would be ninja fighting each other, and there wouldn't be a situation of destruction. But Hazuki said that the ninja couldn't resist, which clearly meant it wasn't just a war between ninja vilges.

  "You could say yes, and you could say no. The focus is on his purpose. Let me say it again, Haru is a seed that the elders have high hopes for. A good seed needs good nutrients to grow. My only responsibility is to bring him here. The rest is up to you. How to save the world is up to you," Hazuki said quickly, realizing that time was really running out, finishing what he considered the key points. Then, he activated Heavenly Hand Power, preparing to leave the Leaf Vilge.

  "Thank you, Ha…"

  "Oh, right, tell this child that he is just an orphan, picked up by your Leaf Vilge during the war. Farewell for now!" Hazuki's voice echoed from the bck hole, once again interrupting Minato's thanks. He certainly seemed like a very impatient person.

  "Hey, so hasty. Won't you even stay for a meal? Not many people appreciate my cooking yet!" Kushina mumbled somewhat dejectedly, her small mouth slightly pouting. Originally, she thought she could catch a guinea pig to try her food. It seemed this pn had fallen through again.

  "I appreciate it, I appreciate it…" Minato said, pulling the slightly disappointed Kushina closer, his face showing helplessness but still a smile as he coaxed her.

  "Hmph." Kushina looked at this ever-so-nice face but couldn't bring herself to be angry, so she could only pretend to be sulking and turned her face away.

  "Minato." The Third Hokage had also woken up. His aged voice seemed to have lost some vitality. After this blow, the Hiruzen Sarutobi of the past would never return. "What do you pn to do with this child?"

  "This child is someone the Otsutsuki cn has high hopes for, so he must have something unique. Besides, the Otsutsuki cn is powerful; I fear the entire Leaf Vilge might not be their match. So, we should follow their request and let this child believe he is an orphan, but we must take good care of him. Third Hokage-sama, would you be willing to look after this child?" Minato had calmed down, organizing the information in his mind while considering how to handle the child named Haru.

  "How about this? Let's treat him with the highest level of care given to war orphans and pce him near my residence. Third Hokage-sama, if you are willing, perhaps this task of looking after him could be entrusted to you," Minato thought for a moment and came up with a pn, then asked the Third Hokage. After all, other vilgers might be wary of someone from outside the vilge, and a former Hokage taking on this potentially thankless task would be most appropriate.

  "Alright, it's good to find something for this old man to do. Fighting is no longer suitable for me," the Third Hokage chuckled self-deprecatingly. Of course, he understood Minato's intentions. But being a Hokage in the past, and now listlessly caring for a child, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel a sense of regret for himself. Not wanting to admit to being old was a mindset, but his body couldn't keep up with that mindset.

  "By the way, this child is called Haru," Minato added warmly, looking at the Third Hokage who was secretly feeling down.

  "Haru… this old man will definitely nurture you into a powerful figure of your generation." After saying this, he secretly shook his head again.

  "Huh? His name is Haru? Nice to meet you! You should become good friends with Naruto from now on!" The oblivious Kushina interjected inappropriately, cheerfully smiling at Haru.

  ...

  In the blink of an eye, three full years had passed since the Nine-Tails incident. The little Naruto, who could only wail back then, had grown into a cute little boy.

  "Haru, let's go py ninja games!"

  "No."

  "Then, Sasuke?"

  "No."

  The three little boys y on the grass by the ke in the Uchiha territory, a vast expanse where only one person's loud shouts could be heard. That's right, it was Naruto.

  To the left was a white-haired boy who looked a bit more mature. Even at such a young age, he wore a white robe and held a real kunai in his hand. It was important to note that this boy was only three years old.

  And to the right was a bck-haired boy from the Uchiha cn. He was juggling real shuriken as if they were toys.

  These two were Haru and Sasuke. Haru and Naruto had grown up together since they were little, and their parents had a very good retionship. Sasuke was different. He was a friend Naruto had "picked up" from a tree.

  ...

  "Hey, you in the tree, what's your name?" Naruto and Haru were walking down the street when Naruto suddenly noticed a child sitting and sleeping in a tree beside them.

  "Uchiha Sasuke," the boy in the tree said, without even opening his eyes.

  "Hey Sasuke, wanna py with us?" Naruto, naturally friendly, immediately wanted to py with the newly met child.

  "Dumbass."

  "You! Sasuke's a dumbass, Sasuke's an idiot!"

  ...

  However, Haru and Sasuke had one very obvious thing in common: they both mostly ignored Naruto.

  "Hey, aren't you guys bored? You've been lying there all day. Py with me!" Seeing this, Naruto started to act up in front of them again.

  "Naruto! Stop it, it's only been 20 minutes," Haru's zy voice drifted over from the left, and Naruto immediately defted. He always seemed to listen to Haru. Perhaps his demeanor really made a big difference.

  "Twenty minutes… but it feels like almost a whole day to me," Naruto said somewhat dejectedly. How could someone as naturally active as him lie still on the grass and rest? Besides, with the Uzumaki cn's physique, plus the Nine-Tails' enhancement, he didn't need so-called rest. Someone was helping him recover his stamina all day long!

  "Dumbass." This time, the ft voice from the right once again stirred Naruto's restless nature. He immediately jumped up and started circling Sasuke! He muttered under his breath:

  "Sasuke's a dumbass, Sasuke's an idiot, Sasuke's a dumbass, Sasuke's an idiot…"

  For some reason, Naruto was naturally inclined to go against Sasuke, but he completely ignored Haru's lectures. So, people would often see Haru walking alone, with two arguing little kids beside him.

  "Sasuke's a dumbass, Sasuke's an idiot…"

  "Naruto, if you like ninjas so much, how about we go secretly train?" At this point, even the good-natured Haru couldn't stand it anymore, so he made this suggestion.

  "Yeah, yeah! But, what's training?" As soon as Naruto heard this, he thought it was something extraordinary, but he couldn't rack his brain to figure out what this "training" actually was. Although Naruto was curious about many things and always asked questions, his forgetfulness made all his efforts futile.

  "Idiot," Sasuke's timely jab made Naruto forget what he was trying to think about, and he carefree started his legendary Talk-no-jutsu mode again.

  "Sasuke's a dumbass, Sasuke's an idiot…"

  "Alright, Naruto. Training is practicing the skills needed to become a ninja, got it? Let's go try it now!" Haru remained the same, calmly teaching Naruto, and also patiently. He had expined this training thing no less than ten times. And while he and Sasuke were already walking side-by-side towards the nearby training grounds, Naruto was still pondering in pce.

  "Hmm, what are skills again? No, no. Hmm… it should be like this." Suddenly, he seemed to understand, raised his head, and chased after the two.

  In just a few minutes, they arrived at Training Ground 31. They saw three thick wooden logs standing in the center of the training ground.

  "There are logs. Let's try some taijutsu today," Haru suggested. Sasuke gnced at him, silently nodded, and started walking towards a log. But he had just taken a step when he had to stop.

  Naruto was already frantically punching the three wooden logs.

  But the next second, a miserable scream followed.

  "Ah, stupid wood, it hurts!" Naruto punched the wooden log with his bare hands. How could his three-year-old body withstand that? A rge bump immediately swelled up on his hand.

  "Naruto, let's practice kicking first. It's less damaging for us," Haru calmly expined.

  "Damage… what does that mean?"

  This time, no one paid him any attention. The other two were afraid that Naruto would suddenly snatch a log again, so they ran off to practice kicking.

  "Hey, wait for me!" Saying this, Naruto stood up and ran towards the logs on the side.

  Sasuke and Naruto imitated Haru, who stood in the middle, and clumsily practiced kicking. Haru, having no family, would often secretly watch the ninja's training, so he had learned a bit of the basics of taijutsu. But even the basics were enough to keep these three-year-old kids busy.

  The three of them kicked the logs one after another, the small thwack sounds echoing.

  "Starting training so young. It seems that if they want to succeed, Naruto's drive will need Haru's wisdom. No, he'll also need the pressure from that Uchiha brat, hahaha," Minato ughed heartily.

  "Indeed, it seems that letting them grow up together is a good decision. Right, Fugaku?" In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage stood beside Minato, watching the three children in the crystal ball, and asked the current head of the Uchiha cn sitting opposite him, finally revealing a kind smile again.