Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 152: Lockfront Village Exposed, Naruto Arrives

Lockfront Village.

Compared to Hagoromo Gengetsu's first arrival, over the course of more than two years, the village had not flourished but had instead become more desolate.

This, of course, was not due to Hagoromo Gengetsu's poor governance.

In fact, the majority of the true Lockfront Villagers had already moved to the fortress in the sky.

After receiving information from Samui, under Hagoromo Gengetsu's instructions, the remaining villagers also set out and moved to the sky.

"Chief, the relocation of the experimental base has been successfully completed, and all traces have been thoroughly cleaned up."

In the new Lockfront Village, looking no different from the past, the still youthful and charming Hanare, dressed in ninja attire, approached Hagoromo Gengetsu and softly reported.

Hagoromo Gengetsu nodded and looked down, asking, "Are there any of our people left on the ground?"

Hanare replied, "A security squad from the village is doing the final wrap-up. By the way, Sasuke is also in the squad."

Hagoromo Gengetsu understood.

The so-called security squad was a defensive force of Lockfront Village, similar to Konoha's security forces.

Most of the Uchiha clan in Lockfront Village had joined the security squad, resuming their old roles.

Although primarily focused on training, Sasuke, knowing he couldn't just rely on others, had also joined the security squad. Over the past year, he had taken on several missions and made his own contributions.

"Notify those on the ground to proceed to the designated meeting point after completing the wrap-up. The airborne fortress will depart now; it's time to move to our new home," ordered Hagoromo Gengetsu.

The newly received information indicated that a joint squad of Konoha and Iwagakure ninjas was swiftly approaching Lockfront Village with a clear purpose, and they would arrive soon.

Although the airborne fortress had a cloaking effect, it couldn't underestimate the various bizarre methods in the ninja world.

To avoid exposure, Hagoromo Gengetsu decided to take the airborne fortress away first and, incidentally, complete the main mission that had been on standby for a long time.

As for Sasuke, given his current strength, few in the ninja world could stop him, so there was nothing to worry about.

"Chief, there are other Uchiha members in the ground security squad," Hanare reminded at this moment.

Hagoromo Gengetsu listened and waved dismissively, saying, "The Uchiha clan will eventually return to the ninja world, whether sooner or later doesn't matter."

The journey to the Land of Fire over a year ago had already made the ninja world speculate that there were still other Uchiha members alive.

Now it would only confirm that speculation.

Anyway, soon, the Uchiha's revenge battle would begin.

At that time, the main players would be the brothers Sasuke and Itachi, but other Uchiha members bearing pain and hatred would also join in.

Thus, there was no longer a need to hide.

It would merely make Konoha feel even more bitter.

Soon, under Hagoromo Gengetsu's orders, the power source of the airborne fortress activated, speeding towards the predetermined direction.

Only Sasuke's squad remained to finish the wrap-up.

At the same time, eight black figures leapt through the forest, drawing closer to Lockfront Village.

At a certain moment, one of them suddenly looked up, puzzled, at the clear sky.

Beside him, a short-haired pink-haired girl asked in confusion:

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

"Nothing, I just felt like there's something up there. Maybe it's just my imagination, haha," Naruto, who had grown taller and stronger, scratched his head and grinned.

Sakura looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, then back at Naruto.

She had thought that after a long time apart, the greatly changed Naruto would be much more reliable.

But now, memories of the past were wrapping around her again.

Crack!

Sakura clenched her fist and seriously warned, "Naruto, don't mess up again. It's hard to get news about Sasuke; we can't miss this chance!"

Hearing Sakura mention Sasuke, Naruto's face immediately turned serious, and he nodded firmly, saying, "I swear, I will bring Sasuke back!"

The last time they heard news about Sasuke was over a year ago when he caused a commotion at the Fire Temple, involving the Tsuchigumo clan.

At that time, Naruto, who was training with Jiraiya, found out a week after the event and it was too late to pursue.

Naruto could only train harder, striving to gain Jiraiya's approval as soon as possible to continue searching for Sasuke.

This was also why he returned to the village several months earlier than in the original story.

Fortunately, not long after Naruto's return to the village, he received a mission about Sasuke.

This time, the mission was to go to the Land of Keys to secretly investigate Lockfront Village, where Sasuke was hiding, carried out by the seventh squad of Konoha and a squad from Iwagakure.

Naruto knew the captain of the Iwagakure squad; it was Kurotsuchi, whom he had met at the Five Kage Summit, now a Jonin despite being around his age.

As for the other three members, they were Jonin Akatsuchi, Jonin Bunpuku, and Chunin Kurobane.

Due to the recent disappearance of an Iwagakure Jonin in the Land of Keys, Iwagakure specially dispatched this highly configured squad.

On his side, it wasn't bad either.

Temporarily leading the seventh squad was Captain Yamato, who was good at Wood Release, with Chunin Sakura, Tsunade's disciple, Chunin Sai, who always had a fake smile, and himself...

Uh, why am I the only Genin?

Naruto scratched his head, feeling anxious.

At this moment, Sai, who had always wanted to smile genuinely but didn't know how, reminded with a fake smile, "You two might have forgotten, but Uchiha Sasuke is now an S-rank missing-nin of Konoha. Once discovered, the primary directive for Konoha ninjas is to kill him completely. As for bringing him back to the village, the result won't be much different."

Sakura: "..."

Naruto: "..."

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Noticing Naruto and Sakura staring at him, Sai, remembering the Konoha missing-nin handling manual, was puzzled.

As one of the few surviving Root members who was out on a mission when Root and Danzo were annihilated, Sai had been idle for a while and was absorbed into the Anbu after it was decided that Root wouldn't be rebuilt, continuing to serve Konoha.

Now, due to the seventh squad's shortage of members, he was specially transferred from the Anbu by Tsunade to join the squad.

Although still lacking in social skills, Sai swore he was sincerely learning and had no ill intentions.

But he had just spoken the truth.

Why did Naruto and Sakura suddenly look so unhappy?

Sai was quite puzzled by this.

At the forefront of the team.

Since Kakashi was on another mission, Yamato, who had also left the Anbu and was temporarily leading the seventh squad, turned to look at the three members behind him with an odd atmosphere, and sighed.

He had a feeling.

His future days as a squad leader would be very challenging.