Konoha Notes.

Chapter 524 Snake Shedding

Chapter 524 Snake Shedding

Orochimaru's departure from Akatsuki and subsequent disappearance were only reported back to Konoha a year after Jiraiya had been overseas.

Nagato didn't make a big announcement, and it's impossible for the Toad Sage to have just gone to the Southern Sea Country while simultaneously keeping an eye on the Northern Snow Country.

That's not his task either.

Jiraiya spent two or three months researching in the Land of the Sea before gradually expanding his area of ​​operations to the entire southern sea archipelago.

This leeway was only possible because he brought a group of capable people to Nagato.

After learning of this situation, Shuji did not send anyone to track Orochimaru's movements.

Once a snake disappears into the grass, it rarely shows itself again. Moreover, the black creature vanished with it. Instead of wasting manpower on the investigation, it's better to focus our energy on more practical matters.

During that year, the prototype of the Chakra Camera had gone through several iterations. The latest sample had just completed its final imaging calibration when Shuji had it sent to the southern sea area.

This is meant to give the Toad Master something presentable in front of the students.

Besides the one for Nagato, he also reserved one for Enichi.

The eldest son of the daimyo is about to return to the Land of Fire, bringing with him a camera that can identify chakra. This speaks volumes about Konoha's attitude more than any statement.

It would be more appropriate for Konoha to conduct research on its own than to let users of the Rinnegan explore the potential of cameras and for the Daimyo to refine the civilian application process.

With external affairs concluded, Shuji turned his attention back to the internal matters.

Tsunade's Byakugan development has achieved some progress. The construction of the Sage Art transformation seal has also entered a crucial stage.

The inertia of generations of abandonment cannot be reversed by technology alone; it cannot be resolved in just a few months.

Tsunade suffered optic nerve damage four times during that year.

Fortunately, she was Tsunade. With the Hundred Healings Technique, the healing power of the Living Slug, and the optimized Hashirama cells as a buffer, that little bit of damage was nothing more than a few more entries to her experimental records.

The results so far haven't been spectacular. She hasn't gained the penetrating, far-reaching vision of the Byakugan, but the precision with which her eyes can discern chakra flow and subtle changes is indeed a level higher than before.

With this foundation, Shuuji was able to begin his own eye technique training.

Ultimately, it may not trigger a pupil technique like the Byakugan. Even if it only affects a more acute observational eye, it's worth a try as long as it works.

Neji wasn't just providing data. Over the course of a year, he completed eight White Zetsu cell fluid implantations, simultaneously accelerating the process of Sage Mode.

From his perspective as an individual, the Cursed Seal Sage Transformation is already a relatively mature combat power enhancement mechanism.

The only limitation is that his body has not fully developed yet.

Once things stabilize for another two or three months, we can try expanding the scope.

The priority targets are Kai and Ding.

We have enough data on Hyuga; it's time to change the sample.

The second year as the Sixth Hokage passed by amidst these major events and various other miscellaneous matters.

Before the early spring of Konoha Year 62 arrived, Shuji was summoned to the laboratory building.

Tsunade, with a black eye patch covering her face, sat alone on a bench outside the laboratory building.

"Did you get hurt again?" Xiu Si stopped in front of her and looked down at her.

Tsunade crossed her arms, raised her chin slightly, and remained silent, pretending to be a master.

So Shuji took out his wallet and waved it in front of her. Tsunade remained unmoved.

This is not surprising, since the wallet was empty.

Shuji pulled out a few bills from his other pocket, preparing to stuff them into his wallet.

Tsunade suddenly reached out to grab her.

Xiu Si flipped his wrist and slapped the back of her hand.

The crisp sound echoed in the morning air.

"He even lies to disabled people. The Sixth Hokage's morality has deteriorated to this extent." Tsunade pulled off her eyepatch, revealing her perfectly good eyes underneath, her expression full of displeasure.

"The Fifth Hokage is the real problem. He's receiving a substantial retirement pension, yet he's pretending to be blind and deceiving people. This is no simple matter," Shuuji said. "We need to strike hard."

Tsunade followed him into the building: "Compared to this, why did I only receive such a small amount of experimental allowance?"

"So you were deliberately seeking revenge, weren't you? All that talk about Lord Shuji's flawless planning, only to have Lady Tsunade still manage to achieve all her goals—is that something you still can't let go of?"

"This is to restructure the assets and liabilities of the bankrupt Hokage." Shuji stepped onto the stairs. "After making a repayment plan for your gambling debts, I can still leave you with so much money every month. You should be grateful that I abused my power."

The two entered the laboratory on the third floor.

Mitarashi Anko lay on the examination bed in the center of the room, with several sensor patches attached to her body. Her breathing was steady, as if she were asleep.

Kabuto stood by the bed adjusting the instrument parameters, while Tobirama Senju stood on the other side with his arms crossed, looking down at a data sheet.

"Sixth Hokage, Tsunade-sama." Kabuto raised his head.

Shuji walked to the bedside and glanced at Anko: "What happened?"

Tobirama put down the data sheet: "After collecting enough materials, I have initiated the treatment plan to remove the curse mark from Anko's body."

"The cursed seal left by Orochimaru contains a portion of his chakra and soul information. This is a means of resurrection that he reserved for himself."

"I originally intended to try to extract the complete information from it and recreate an entity with its consciousness."

The Second Hokage spoke terrifying words as if nothing was wrong.

"No one knows his whereabouts better than himself. A Orochimaru who can be questioned is more useful than any other intelligence."

Shuji didn't dwell on the fact that the former Hokage was casually messing around with the forbidden technique again, and asked, "Is Anko alright?"

Kabuto stopped what he was doing: "She's alright, Lord Shuji."

"The cursed seal has been completely removed, and the soul fragments left behind by Orochimaru have been cleaned up. Now we are just monitoring her physical data to confirm that there are no other remnants."

Tobirama said, "However, the plan to create Orochimaru's consciousness has failed."

"What were the reasons for the failure?"

"My assessment is that Orochimaru has most likely already died once."

"He was resurrected in another body, and the remaining part of the soul information in the cursed seal lost its activity after the main consciousness was re-established."

"Although the legacy data is still there, the content we want to read cannot be retrieved."

Shuji remained silent for a moment.

He recalled another technology that could also leave multiple backups. Once one backup was activated, the others would retain their corresponding power, but their ability to serve as resurrection points would become invalid.

The wedge of the Otsutsuki clan.

It seems that Orochimaru has gained a lot in the past few years, and we can no longer look at him with old eyes.

"He's really getting the hang of things when it comes to pursuing eternity." Shuji pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at Tobirama again. "And, having died once—what did he encounter—"

Tobirama said, "In short, it's a place worth paying attention to."

"If there's no mistake, the Three-Tails' resurrection will happen this year. If they're going to make a move, they'll probably do it around this time."

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