Chapter 383 The True and False Fourth Hokage

After feeling that something was off, Obito remembered that Naruto had just said Muzuki was the Fourth Hokage, and Yamato had said they were on a mission by order of the Fifth Hokage.

“So, what happened to the Fourth Hokage when you came?” Obito asked Yamato and Naruto, holding onto a sliver of hope.

Although, up until now, a new Hokage basically only appeared after the previous one died, this wasn’t because all Hokage wanted to stay in their position until death, but because of various accidents: the First Hokage died young, and the Second Hokage died in a coup by Cloud Ninja.

Therefore, the appearance of a successor Hokage does not necessarily mean the previous Hokage has fallen.

Obito thought that perhaps Muzuki didn’t want to hold onto power indefinitely and left the opportunity to a junior, which was why the Fifth Hokage appeared so quickly.

Kakashi looked at Obito, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

How could he, being so perceptive, not have noticed this information? It was just too much of a shock, and asking would only make his companions sadder.

Kakashi truly wished this was a dream, a bizarre nightmare. How could Muzuki, whose strength was unfathomable, die before him?

Muzuki had mastered multiple Breathing Techniques and Chakra Modes, possessed Armament Haki for both offense and defense, skillfully controlled seven Chakra Nature Transformations, and even developed his own Bloodline Limit, Ice Release. The advanced Ninjutsu and advanced Taijutsu he mastered were countless. How could such a powerful person be killed?

But Kakashi knew very well in his heart that as long as one was human, they would die. The Second Hokage Tobirama Senju was a powerful figure who shook the Ninja World and developed countless forbidden Ninjutsu, yet he still died in the Cloud’s coup.

Uzumaki Naruto scratched his head and looked at Yamato beside him. Even he knew it wasn’t good to talk about someone dying in the future in front of them.

Yamato was also very conflicted. If he spoke, he worried it might change history and lead to unknown changes in the future.

If the change resulted in the Fourth Hokage not dying and Konoha becoming even stronger, that would naturally be good. But Yamato couldn’t ensure whether this unexpected change would be positive or negative. What if his words changed history, and when he returned to the past, Konoha had already been destroyed? Yamato would truly cry himself to death.

But at a time like this, not answering was itself an answer.

“Why aren’t you speaking? Don’t Konoha Ninja know about the Hokage’s affairs?” Obito clenched his fists tightly and asked again, his voice now trembling.

He couldn’t believe Muzuki would die. This was the omnipotent Muzuki-sensei.

A massive surge of negative emotions unconsciously caused Obito’s Sharingan to activate, his eyes rapidly turning blood-red. The two tomoe patterns spun continuously, quickly becoming three tomoe. The three tomoe patterns continued to spin rapidly, but just as they were about to merge, they suddenly scattered weakly, finally reverting to the three-tomoe Sharingan state.

“Obito, don’t ask anymore.” Muzuki placed his hand on Obito’s shoulder, shaking his head slightly with a gentle smile.

“Future Ninja have their own difficulties, and their future is their future. Our future still needs to be created by ourselves.”

Based on the behavior of Uzumaki Naruto and Yamato and the information they revealed, Muzuki guessed that they were not from the future of their own world, but rather seemed to be from the future of the original Hokage world.

Muzuki was no longer an unknown person in Konoha. Even if he still couldn’t defeat Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu, and he himself died, with his disciples either dying or turning dark, Yamato, as a Root Ninja, shouldn’t have no reaction to the name Hayate Mugetsu.

His training results for Anbu and Root were recognized by both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura. If it weren’t for the war causing a shortage of Konoha’s combat strength, the second phase of training would certainly have been planned.

His current strength destined that his death would absolutely not be ordinary. Give him three more years to develop, and he might even have the strength to single-handedly challenge a major Ninja village without injury.

Unless his opponent was Uchiha Madara in his peak Rinnegan state, Muzuki couldn’t imagine why he would lose so badly.

But if Uchiha Madara could return to his peak while alive, he wouldn’t need to go through such a troublesome resurrection plan, nor would he need to find ways to lead Obito into darkness, so that was not plausible.

However, Muzuki also did not rashly conclude that Uzumaki Naruto and Yamato were 100% from the original timeline. The Ninja World was too deep; the leaders of the three Great Sage Lands were all unfathomable old monsters, and although the Six Paths Sage was dead, his Chakra existed eternally.

If he failed, his opponents might not only be Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu.

The warmth transferred from Muzuki’s palm somewhat eased Obito’s emotions, but his expression remained pained and bewildered.

“But… but…” Obito was somewhat incoherent. He had too much to say, and his words were jumbled for a moment.

Muzuki’s words were cool, but he really didn’t want the future that Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto spoke of.

A future without Muzuki-sensei, Obito dared not imagine what kind of future that would be.

Kakashi’s eyes drooped, no longer able to maintain a calm expression.

He was a very sensible person. If a person from the past knew the future, then history would most likely change. For people from the future, this change was unknown and uncontrollable, so the best choice to avoid causing trouble for others was not to ask too much.

But this time, Kakashi couldn’t control himself. Tonight, he would secretly seek out Uzumaki Naruto and Yamato to ask about Muzuki’s situation clearly and strive to change the history of Muzuki’s death.

Kakashi didn’t know what changes such an action would bring to the future, but he knew that if such an opportunity was presented to him and he didn’t act, he would surely live a life of regret if Muzuki truly died in the future.

Not just Muzuki, he had to ask about Obito and Rin Nohara’s situations clearly. If only he survived from Muzuki’s team, then it would be better for them all to die in battle together.

“Just as Muzuki-sensei said, our future can be decided by us.” Rin Nohara said with a gentle smile, comforting them.

Actually, her mood was also very complex at this moment. Given the behavior of Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto, she would probably die on a certain day in the near future.

To say she wasn’t afraid of death at all would certainly be false. Rin Nohara occasionally thought about her thoughts completely disappearing after death and being unable to think anymore, which made death seem very frightening.

But she was still alive now. If she were to be afraid just because she might die, then everyone should be afraid from birth, because death is everyone’s end. So, the living Rin Nohara chose to first comfort her emotionally unstable friends.

“As expected of Minato-sama.” Yamato looked at Muzuki with respectful eyes.

Putting himself in Muzuki’s shoes, if he encountered Ninja who had traveled from the future and were evasive about their own affairs, Yamato certainly wouldn’t feel at ease without answers.

But this Fourth Hokage was different. Not only was he unconcerned about his own life and death, but he could also comfort his disciples and even say things like ‘our future still needs to be created by ourselves’.

This young Fourth Hokage in front of him fulfilled all of Yamato’s fantasies about the Fourth Hokage.

“Minato-sama?” Obito, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara’s expressions all turned to confusion, then they looked at Yamato.

Kakashi frowned slightly. Hadn’t he already introduced Muzuki, even if he included some false information?

“Did I say something wrong?” Seeing Kakashi and the other two staring at him, Yamato was a bit puzzled.

He frantically replayed his recent words and found nothing wrong with what he said; it was perfectly normal.

Although he was older than the current Fourth Hokage, the other party was, after all, the future Fourth Hokage, and his current strength was also much greater than his own, so calling him’sama’ was fine.

“Big brother Idiot, are your eyes bad or your ears bad? You’re calling our Muzuki-sensei by Minato-sensei’s name?” Perhaps the negative emotions from earlier were too overwhelming and he hadn’t recovered yet, so Obito’s words were quite aggressive.

Obito’s ‘Big brother Idiot’ was like a sharp sword piercing Yamato’s body.

Being told by Kakashi and then by Obito, Yamato even began to doubt himself, and couldn’t help but ask Uzumaki Naruto beside him, “Do I really look idiotic?”

“So, Captain Yamato, you never noticed?” Uzumaki Naruto answered honestly.

Naruto’s remark was a direct stab at Yamato’s heart, severely bruising his self-esteem. He had always thought of himself as someone with great dignity.

“You’ve missed the point, haven’t you? Why are you calling Muzuki-sensei ‘Minato-sama’?” Kakashi asked with a serious expression.

He felt that things might be taking a turn; the future might not be what he imagined.

Obito and Kakashi’s words completely bewildered Yamato. Wasn’t the name Hayate Mugetsu used to deceive him because they considered him an enemy at that time?

“Because isn’t he Minato-sama?” Yamato couldn’t process all the information at once.

“Although Minato-sensei and Muzuki-sensei look very similar, you can’t treat them as the same person, can you?” Obito grumbled. He only considered the two of them like close brothers.

Kakashi’s mind raced. He realized they might have misunderstood something. Muzuki didn’t seem to be the future Fourth Hokage. It was Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto who had mistaken him for Minato Namikaze, who was very similar to Muzuki.

“So the Fourth Hokage’s full name is Minato Namikaze?” Kakashi asked, his eyes flickering.

Yamato subconsciously nodded.

Upon receiving confirmation, Kakashi’s expression turned to shock.

Good news: Muzuki-sensei might not be dead. Bad news: Minato-sensei seems to be dying.

“Huh? The Fourth Hokage is Minato-sensei.” Obito also became flustered for a moment.

He didn’t know what emotions to use to face this matter now. If Minato died, he would also be very sad.

Yamato, being an Anbu captain, immediately realized he might have mistaken the person when he saw Kakashi and Obito’s reactions, but he was still confused and uncertain.

This blond young man in front of him looked similar to the one in the stone carving, was powerful, and could skillfully use Flying Thunder God. He perfectly matched the characteristics of the Fourth Hokage. If this wasn’t the Fourth Hokage, who else could it be?

At this point, Yamato truly didn’t know what was going on.

If even Yamato was so bewildered, let alone Uzumaki Naruto, who could no longer understand their conversation.

“Ha, what do you mean? Isn’t this big brother the Fourth Hokage?” Uzumaki Naruto asked in confusion.

“We don’t have a Fourth Hokage right now, but if your Fourth Hokage is Minato-sensei, then you’ve got the wrong person. The one in front of you is Muzuki-sensei,” Obito replied.

Naruto was very puzzled. In his opinion, Muzuki was the Fourth Hokage in appearance. He looked at Yamato, but Yamato himself hadn’t fully understood yet and couldn’t help Naruto with his confusion.

“You two must have mistaken me for someone else. My full name is Hayate Mugetsu, and Minato is a very good friend of mine,” Muzuki introduced himself.

“Ah, this…” Yamato was dumbfounded. They really did mistake him.

He didn’t understand. This person looked exactly like the Fourth Hokage, and his Flying Thunder God was so strong, yet he wasn’t the Fourth Hokage. How could that be?

Logically, if Konoha had a powerful Ninja who resembled the Fourth Hokage, he should be very famous, but Yamato truly had no impression of the name Hayate Mugetsu.

“In your world, how is Feitian Xinzhi’s Darkness Breathing Technique cultivation coming along?” Muzuki suddenly asked Yamato.

“Senior Xiang? I’m not too sure about that,” Yamato thought for a moment and replied.

Feitian Xinzhi’s codename in Anbu was Xiang. He was a very capable senior Anbu. Yamato knew that Feitian Xinzhi was skilled in Lightning Release Sealing Technique, but he didn’t know about the Darkness Breathing Technique.

Muzuki was basically certain that the Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto in front of him had transmigrated from the original Naruto world.

Even if he failed and died, and the plot returned to the original trajectory, it wouldn’t be possible to erase all traces of his existence. That would be too much work, and it would be meaningless.

“Then, Big Brother Muzuki, do you know where Hundred Feet is?” Uzumaki Naruto suddenly remembered that he was here for a mission and quickly asked.

“I don’t know the Ninja you’re talking about,” Muzuki shook his head and said.

The current situation was too different from the original anime plot. Blindly acting rashly would only make things worse, so Muzuki didn’t directly reveal the plot.

Yamato covered his forehead. He realized that Kakashi seemed to have lied about everything except Muzuki’s name.

“Little Kakashi-sensei didn’t say…” Naruto still wanted to say something, but he was directly interrupted by Kakashi.

“I said that at the time to buy time. We came to Loulan because of the Queen’s investigation mission, so of course, we don’t know where the Ninja you mentioned is,” Kakashi explained.

“Captain Yamato, what do we do now? We should find that guy before we can go back,” Uzumaki Naruto said with some distress.

He didn’t quite understand why they had traveled through time, but he knew the saying, ‘He who tied the bell must untie it.’ Finding Hundred Feet, who caused all of this, would give them hope of solving the problem.

“We can only look for him in Loulan first. We all traveled through time in Loulan, so he should be here too,” Yamato thought for a moment and said.

He had no better solution now, as traveling through time was simply too incredible.

“If you don’t mind, our squad can help with the search, as long as it doesn’t affect our mission,” Muzuki said with a gentle smile.

Muzuki, who had read the script, knew that their missions were essentially one mission. The Hundred Feet that Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto needed to eliminate was An Lushan, the current minister of Loulan.

If An Lushan’s ambition and actions were investigated, the Queen of Loulan would definitely ask them to eliminate An Lushan.

The difference between their mission and Uzumaki Naruto’s mission was that they had to conduct an investigation first, which was equivalent to a prerequisite mission.

“That would be great if you could,” Yamato nodded and thanked Muzuki.

Looking at the gentle and helpful Muzuki, Yamato secretly thought it was a pity that such a Ninja might die in the upcoming war.

He had no memory of a Ninja like Muzuki, which could only mean one thing: Muzuki died very early, possibly in the Third Shinobi World War before Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage.

“If I can go back, I’ll ask Kakashi-senpai,” Yamato thought to himself. Since Muzuki was also Kakashi’s sensei, Kakashi should know a lot about Muzuki.

“Thank you so much, Big Brother Muzuki!” Uzumaki Naruto also smiled and thanked Muzuki.

Although Muzuki wasn’t the Fourth Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto still had a good impression of Muzuki and felt that he was very kind.

Then, Muzuki told Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto the location of the hotel where their squad was staying. After that, the two teams went their separate ways. Muzuki’s team went to investigate An Lushan, while Uzumaki Naruto and Yamato searched all over Loulan for Hundred Feet.

In fact, Kakashi and the others still had many doubts. Muzuki and Minato did resemble each other, and with the Flying Thunder God Technique, it was even easier to misunderstand, so it was understandable that Yamato and his team made a mistake.

But there were still too many questions. Why were Yamato and Uzumaki Naruto completely unaware of the name Hayate Mugetsu? What exactly happened to Minato Namikaze? And what about Obito, Rin Nohara, and Asuma?

Obito really wanted to figure all of this out, but Naruto and their situation was indeed very urgent. If they couldn’t go back, that would be a huge problem, so Obito could only suppress the doubts in his heart and planned to talk to Uzumaki Naruto and his team when they returned to the hotel in the evening.

“Sure enough, worthy of being the ‘protagonist’,” Muzuki sighed in his heart after looking at Yamato and Naruto’s panels again.

【”Name: Uzumaki Naruto”】

【”Chakra: 220000 (???)”】

【”Potential: SS+ (Six Paths Bloodline + Nine-Tailed + Basic Talent)”】

【”Skills: Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery), Rasengan, Rasenshuriken…”】

Although his Chakra volume didn’t seem to be more than Nagato’s, who was a bit younger than the current Naruto, the Chakra detected in the current Naruto was just a superficial amount. Once he burst out, the Chakra Naruto could use was much more than what was appraised.

Moreover, Nagato was not an ordinary Uzumaki Clan member. Being chosen by Uchiha Madara to have the Rinnegan transplanted naturally had his special qualities.

【”Name: Yamato”】

【”Chakra: 110000″】

【”Potential: S (Hashirama cells + Basic Talent)”】

【”Skills: Wood Release (Mastery Level 30/15000), Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level: 800/15000), Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery Level), Wood Release: Four-Pillar House…”】

Seeing Yamato’s panel, Muzuki could only say that Senju Hashirama was ridiculously strong; his cells could actually affect a person’s potential calculation.

Based on Yamato’s performance in the original work, he obviously couldn’t compare to Minato Namikaze or Hiruzen Sarutobi, so Muzuki felt that Yamato’s S potential was entirely boosted by Hashirama cells.

Perhaps due to the influence of Hashirama cells, Yamato’s Chakra was still outstanding, but other aspects were relatively ordinary. Although his Water and Earth Release Nature Transformation and Wood Release had reached the Mastery level, his proficiency was not high, basically making him a Mastery-level gatekeeper.

After reading Naruto’s panel, Muzuki felt that perhaps only someone like the Six Paths Sage, who was born with the Rinnegan, could have 3S potential.

Naruto already had enough buffs: first, he was the reincarnation of Asura Chakra, then he was from the Uzumaki Clan, and finally, he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. With so many bonuses, he still only had SS+, which showed how difficult it was to reach 3S.

However, Muzuki’s requirements were not that high. If the potential reached S-rank, he would be very willing to use the fifth slot. If it was double S, that would be even better.

Muzuki was also willing to teach people with low potential, but the environment he was in did not allow him to use his disciple slots on low-potential students.

After separating from his disciples, Muzuki continued to study the Dragon Vein of Loulan.

His Byakugan could easily see through the ground and observe the huge Chakra hidden underground.

This Chakra gave Muzuki a very special feeling, with a significant difference from the Chakra refined by ordinary Ninja.

However, Muzuki had no way to control this Chakra, so he could only find an abandoned underground base and then get as close as possible to this Chakra and then open the Transparent World to perceive it.

“Later, I can interrogate An Lushan or ask for help from the Queen of Loulan,” Muzuki thought after studying until evening.

An Lushan had a secret method to absorb the power of the Dragon Vein. Although it seemed to turn him into a half-human, half-ghost appearance, it should still have some research value.

And the Queen of Loulan had the power to control the Dragon Vein, which would be of great help to his research work.

After Muzuki returned to the hotel, Kakashi and the others had just finished their investigation.

“Could it be that the Queen was overthinking it? Why does everyone seem to like him so much?” Obito scratched his head and said.

They had investigated all day without any useful findings because they found that An Lushan was indeed very popular in Loulan. The people were all praising how good and wise An Lushan was.

“And he even gives things to the people. He really doesn’t look like a bad guy.”

This situation was completely different from the time in Land of Snow. Even if Fūka Dotō didn’t have the later betrayal, Obito didn’t particularly like him. He always had a stern face and was incredibly arrogant.

But An Lushan was different. He presented himself as dedicating his life to Loulan and was popular among the people.

“Our investigation is still too shallow. Everything is just an appearance,” Kakashi shook his head and said softly.

If he had a disguise mission, he could also pretend to be a minister who served the country and the people, but unless he could pretend for a lifetime, he wouldn’t be one.

At this moment, Obito and the others also saw Muzuki walking in. Muzuki smiled and nodded, walking over to them.

Obito was about to talk to Muzuki about the mission, but then he saw Uzumaki Naruto and Yamato also walk in.

PS: There was a conflict at home today, which distracted me, so the update is a bit less. It’s 6k today. If nothing happens tomorrow, I’ll continue with 8k. If I need to take leave, I’ll post a single chapter in advance.