Konoha Notes.

Chapter 525 Before the Spring Thunder

Chapter 525 Before the Spring Thunder

Shuji had no objection to Tobirama's judgment.

Killing Obito, stabilizing Nagato, and not pursuing Black Zetsu—all these actions were aimed at slowing down the opponent's progress bar.

As long as the true progress of the western suburbs laboratory remains unknown to the outside world, the newly established joint research group of the five great ninja villages will become the only intelligence anchor in Black Zetsu's eyes.

From Black Zetsu's perspective, the struggle for the Three-Tails' chakra was at most a routine tug-of-war over resources.

It may be large in scale and intense in intensity, but ultimately it is just another test in a long confrontation. It should not be regarded as a decisive event.

Shuji wanted exactly this illusion.

Even if the opponent ultimately reveals many unexpected trump cards during that incident, as long as we can take away the Three-Tails' chakra, that is victory.

Once you reach the point of acquiring bloodline limits, Konoha's trump card no longer needs to be Guy.

Whether it's Sage Mode or Cursed Seal Transformation, it doesn't change the nature of the Eight Gates Formation.

If you open the eighth gate and there's no Yang Escape technique at the Six Paths level to back you up, there's only one outcome.

This is not a hurdle that can be overcome by technological iteration.

Now that he was in the laboratory building, Shuji wasn't in a hurry to leave. After completing the routine eye tests with Kabuto, he walked alone to the isolation area deeper underground.

The heavy metal door closed behind us, shutting out all sound.

He closed his eyes and formed hand seals. Chakra concentrated around his eyes, and the meridians bulged slightly under his skin, bringing a feeling of soreness and pressure.

This is the path Tsunade has walked; she has marked all the minefields that can be avoided with her own actions.

Xiu Si followed this path, saving most of the trial-and-error costs. But his progress was still much faster than expected, which was not entirely due to the groundwork laid by predecessors.

But what truly propelled him forward was that thing behind the door.

Even through several layers of barriers, he could still clearly sense its presence.

That mother plant.

Its consciousness was clearer and more agitated than it had been two years ago. It wasn't human emotion; it wasn't anger, nor was it greed.

That was just a pure, plant-based desire.

Countless tiny roots are tentatively stretching out in the void, trying to pierce the barrier that binds it, trying to penetrate deeper into the soil, trying to draw more nutrients, until the roots spread into the very marrow of this planet.

That longing penetrated through layers of seals, through the resonance of blood and chakra between him and the mother plant, directly into the depths of his consciousness.

It felt as if invisible vines were slowly crawling through his veins, tickling him and yet carrying a strange sense of intimacy.

Shuji opened his eyes.

My vision was overwhelmed by another kind of information. In the black and white world, only the flow of chakra presented a vivid and piercing color.

"The barrier has been updated three times already." Tobirama had arrived outside the isolation room sometime earlier, observing the interior through the glass wall. "Its will is expanding."

"When we reach the point of acquiring bloodline limits, we will inevitably need to absorb a large amount of energy to complete a qualitative change."

"This is also the most dangerous stage."

"Once that stage is reached, the appearance of the divine tree can no longer be hidden."

"Keeping this a secret is fine in itself." Shuji removed the eye spell, and the world regained its color. "Just pretend you don't know where it belongs from the beginning. After a couple of rounds of diplomatic condemnation and a few more rounds of investigation, you'll have enough time."

"The problem is the energy source."

Dragon veins — or rather, demons?

That thing is too unpredictable. If it goes too far and drains the earth's veins, our own people will be fighting it to the death before any external enemies even come.

The demon is something we could consider.

This thing seems to be a monster from another world. It was probably taken away by Obito and then disappeared without a trace. It is said to be a monster that can become infinitely powerful by absorbing negative emotions. Using it as nourishment for the Divine Tree to absorb will not have a significant impact on the world.

And there's Shennong's zero-tailed one.

Although it is essentially just a man-made fake, it is better than nothing.

As for the others—

Konoha also has a Box of Bliss readily available.

He mentally prioritized the things that might be useful, most of which were unfounded. Before he could even sort things out, Dou appeared at the doorway.

"Lord Shuji." He stopped at a safe distance, his voice gentle, "Anko is awake."

When Shuji arrived on the third floor, Anko was sitting on the edge of the examination bed, her legs dangling in the air, her purple hair sticking up messily behind her head. She looked unusually energetic, not at all like someone who had just undergone surgery to remove a curse mark.

Tsunade adopted a serious demeanor befitting a former Hokage in front of her, succinctly summarizing the situation: "Orochimaru's chakra has no decisive impact on your Sage Mode."

"Once the curse mark is removed, you can use your powers as usual. You don't need to come to the lab anymore."

"What about the allowance?" Hongdou blinked, her focus unrelated to the medical findings. "It's gone too?"

"That's all," Xiuji replied without the slightest hesitation. "The village is facing a financial crisis."

Red Bean counted on her fingers, puffing out her cheeks: "Isn't this like discarding a donkey after it has served its purpose, Xiu Si?"

"I've done a tremendous job, you know? I'm constantly being pricked with needles, having substances extracted from my body, and having to undergo all sorts of dangerous tests. Don't I even get a one-time bonus?"

The Sixth Hokage replied stingily, "No."

Hongdou stared at him for two seconds, confirming that there was no room for negotiation on this answer.

Then she turned to Tsunade and whispered in her ear. Although it was a whisper, the volume was just loud enough for everyone present to hear.

"See, Lady Tsunade? I was right, wasn't I? The Sixth Hokage has become so stingy since taking office, and he doesn't care about his subordinates at all. He wasn't like this when he was a captain."

Tsunade, who had initially maintained a serious expression, couldn't help but nod as she listened.

Having rarely been seen in person, Shuji confirmed that Anko had indeed not suffered any aftereffects and turned to leave.

He has a pile of documents to process today and doesn't have time to be publicly criticized by his subordinates.

As I walked out of the laboratory building, I heard hurried footsteps behind me.

Hongdou chased after him, still feeling sleepy from getting up from the examination bed, but her eyes had already regained their usual energy. She took a few steps around to Xiu Si's side and spread her arms to block his way.

"Lord Hokage," she demanded matter-of-factly, "if you don't have the bonus, surely you could treat your subordinate, who's just recovered from a serious illness, to a meal, right? Right?"

Xiu Si raised his hand and placed it on her head.

Hongdou instinctively shrank her neck, but quickly realized that the hand was very light, just two light pats. She then laughed.

Shuji said, "Wait until I get off work. I'll treat you to a meal of Hokage caliber."

Red Bean straightened her back with satisfaction, as if she had received some great appointment: "Now I'm at the level of Hokage."

"Want to enjoy a Naruto-level job?" Shuuji suggested. "That's lucrative."

Upon hearing this, Hongdou slipped away even faster than when she arrived.

Shuji withdrew his hand, watched the figure disappear at the end of the tree-lined path, and then walked towards the Hokage Building.

When he returned to the Hokage Building, Minato Namikaze had already taken care of most of the routine affairs, leaving only a few documents on the table that required his personal review.

The Fourth Hokage, wearing a mask, saved him far more than just the weight of a few stacks of paper.

"Thank you for your hard work." Shuuji sat down in the chair and casually flipped through the leftover documents.

One of them is a proposal for the expansion of Konoha Village headquarters.

Over the past two years, the venue area and the integrated area where the Joint Affairs Bureau is located have been expanding further and further outside the village.

Shops, hostels, and event venues spread outwards in concentric circles, making it almost like another town.

In contrast, the Konoha Village headquarters remains a walled military outpost with a compact layout and strict access control.

Now there are more and more voices.

Merchants want to open shops in the village, feeling that the popularity of the main area shouldn't be wasted by that wall; villagers, on the other hand, find the approval process for going out too troublesome and hope to reduce the restrictions.

The two demands may seem different, but they essentially point to the same thing.

After a long period of peace and the absence of powerful enemies, people naturally want to be closer to prosperity.

Xiu Si flipped through the proposal from beginning to end, picked up his pen, and wrote his reply in the margin: Expansion is suspended; the length of stay in the venue area may be extended as appropriate, at the participant's own expense.

The military nature of Konoha Headquarters is of absolute priority. At this juncture, measures such as walls, censorship, and isolation, though seemingly inhumane, are necessary buffers.

He cannot, for the sake of temporary convenience, compress the entire village's defensive depth into a thin sheet of paper.

Minato took the document, glanced at the comments, and put it away, then casually pushed another file in front of him.

"Something happened along the coast."

Upon seeing the new intelligence, Shuji asked, "An attack?"

Watergate stated unequivocally: "Intelligence relayed from the Joint Affairs Bureau indicates that several coastal areas have been subjected to predatory attacks, not ordinary harassment, but rather an organized and targeted amphibious landing operation."

"Several villages have already been destroyed, and the Daimyo Liaison Office has now issued a request for assistance."

Shuji wasn't entirely sure about one thing: "How likely is it that they orchestrated this themselves?"

This is not just speculation. If Akatsuki were to take such action, Jiraiya would certainly be aware of it.

His professional skills as a ninja were actually quite outstanding. As long as he wasn't influenced by fate, and with a year of continuous infiltration, if Nagato's intentions changed, it was impossible for him to be completely unaware of the situation.

He didn't think Nagato would do such a thing.

That man is now stuck in the order he himself created, unable to move. The ninjas of Amegakure, along with those sent by the Joint Affairs Bureau, govern the islands across the entire sea area, and the desperados they recruit constantly oscillate between rules and their own nature.

Maintaining the status quo is enough to give him a headache; he doesn't have the luxury of extending his reach to the mainland coast.

The daimyo's liaison office has been seeking long-term presence more frequently in the past two years. The ninjas of the five great ninja villages have little interest in their attempts to win them over, but the smaller ninja villages are a different story.

The more commissions they could get, the more funds they would have for development. As for whether there were other motives behind those commissions, it wasn't particularly important to those ninjas.

In any case, the investment of resources is real.

If some people can't wait any longer, they might deliberately provoke malicious incidents, create panic, and force the Bureau of Affairs to send ninjas to be stationed there permanently.

Over time, the stationed ninjas became intertwined with local forces, thus opening the way for local nobles to transform into military nobles.

Therefore, Shuji couldn't help but think in the worst possible direction.

If things really come to that point, it means they've crossed the line, and launching one or two purges will have to be put on the agenda.

They needed to inform the Daimyo of the Land of Fire beforehand, requesting assistance from the ruler who had recently shown considerable cooperation. They also needed to reach an agreement with the other four major ninja villages before taking action.

The five great ninja villages must first reach a consensus internally to prevent the purge from becoming another diplomatic disaster.

However, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that Nagato Masashige might indeed be the one to act.

No matter how strict Nagato's management is, there are still many research fanatics among Akatsuki's core members. If any of them have a new plan to experiment with, it is not impossible for them to do these things.

"Send the village's secret police to investigate first."

"At the same time, a letter was sent to Mr. Jiraiya, requesting Nagato's assistance in investigating the maritime attack."

Then comes the third thing.

A notification from the Hyuga family was placed on the table.

Shuji picked it up and looked at it.

"The bamboo-cutting clan will be visiting soon."

Shuji thought for a moment and then asked someone to invite Hyuga Hiashi to come over.

Orochimaru died once.

There aren't many people who can kill him. In the current situation, either he's been captured by Nagato, or someone has somehow obtained intelligence and found a very important target.

The Otsutsuki on the moon are among the few figures in the ninja world that Orochimaru couldn't defeat.

Although only an orphan and his father remain there now, Orochimaru has a high chance of dying suddenly due to his enormous Tenseigan.

It doesn't matter if he loses himself once.

Don't let your subordinates prematurely enter a state of isolation.

If a meteorite falls from the sky before the mess on the ground is even cleaned up, that would be a true double collapse.

Shuji hadn't finished dealing with his business yet, but Minato had already stood up. As a dead man, he had done enough work for the day and it was time to go home.

Shuji asked, "Is Naruto applying to graduate early?"

Minato said, "Sasuke applied too. He's my son, and I don't want him to fall behind."

Amidst a string of bad news, finally came some interesting news.

Sasuke and Naruto have grown a lot in the past two years.

Sasuke's Sharingan has reached the three-tomoe stage, and he began the White Zetsu cell implantation adaptation process half a year ago. Although the formal Sage Art seal has not yet been implanted, the foundation has been laid quite solidly.

Needless to say, Naruto has also shown considerable growth since the Green Aoi incident.

With Minato Namikaze, a near-perfect Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, guiding him, he caught up in every aspect, from mastering ninjutsu to cultivating his mental fortitude.

In other words, he hasn't rushed to show his strength yet; otherwise, it would be really hard to say who is stronger between him and Sasuke.

Under these circumstances, there is no point in forcibly keeping the two of them at the Ninja Academy.

"Then let's graduate early," Shuuji said with a smile.

"That's great. I hope they can both try harder."