Inside the courtyard.
"Even if you want to become stronger, it's really rare for you to look like this."
Shikamaru, who was practicing his family's secret art of escape in the courtyard, suddenly heard such words in his ears.
He put down his seal palm and turned to look at the person who came, it was his father Shikaku.
"Are you, a veteran of three dynasties, so leisurely?"
Shikamaru pursed his lips, as if he felt it was embarrassing to be seen practicing hard.
After all, his past performance has nothing to do with words like hard work.
"The elders of the three dynasties..."
Shikaku's mouth suddenly twitched violently at his son's comments.
This generalization is actually not wrong. He has been through the Third Hokage, the Fourth Hokage, and the Fifth Hokage, and he has held the important position of Jonin squad leader during their reign. He can indeed be called the "Elder of the Three Dynasties".
In just twelve years, so many things had happened in Konoha, and the Hokage personnel had been changed several times, which really made him, the Jonin squad leader, unhappy.
"How about working with the new Hokage? I heard he is a difficult person to get along with."
Especially when it comes to women, Shikamaru suddenly had a bad association. Because in his mind, women are the same as tigresses.
"This kind of thing has nothing to do with you as a genin. You should consider taking the chuunin exam next year."
Shikaku didn't plan to talk to Shikamaru about this.
The content of his work is extremely confidential. He can still figure out what can be said and what cannot be said.
There are some things that even family members cannot reveal at all.
"Yeah?"
Shikamaru raised his eyebrows but didn't pay too much attention.
"So, regarding Sasuke, and Kakashi Sr.... Hatake Kakashi, have the higher ups started making preparations?"
After a pause, Shikamaru turned to other topics.
Shikaku glanced at Shikamaru and asked, "Are you asking for Naruto?"
"No, after all, they are still friends from the past, so it doesn't matter if I care."
"You're really tough." Shikamaru's little thoughts can be seen at a glance. Shikaku didn't blame him, so he said to Shikamaru: "Forget it, it doesn't hurt to talk to you. Generally speaking, such a dangerous and rebellious ninja, In theory, they must be resolved as soon as possible. Not only are they very powerful, but if left unchecked for a long time, they may lead to a decline in the village's credibility. On the other hand, because they have too much confidential information about the village, in order to prevent these secrets Leakage may endanger the safety of the village, and this part of the risk must also be prevented and controlled.”
"But the key is that the village shouldn't have so much spare energy now."
Shikamaru hit the nail on the head where the village was currently hurting.
Originally, because of the change of Hokage, Konoha is now mentally and physically haggard. The internal factions have not yet stabilized under the coordination of the new Hokage... If you are dealing with ordinary rebellious ninjas, naturally you don't need to do this. , sending a chasing force at will is enough to do the job. But this time the goal is different, and the mission delegation system needs to be restored. In fact, there are very few ninjas who can be freely mobilized.
"That's basically the case. Although the wanted documents for traitorous ninjas have been issued, it is an indisputable fact that the village does not have the power to pursue them now."
In fact, in Shikaku's opinion, there are two more important reasons, that is, the reshuffle of the ANBU and the game between the ANBU and the top management are still going on in secret. After all, with the size of Konoha, a sizable pursuit force can still be assembled by squeezing. However, the changes in the Anbu and high-level officials made it possible to put this matter on hold and temporarily dispatch patrol troops to show Konoha's attitude.
If Konoha wants to completely restore its turnover, it will have to wait until at least February next year. If things go well, maybe it can be done earlier, but in that case, my vacation will be gone.
Thinking of this kind of thing, Shikaku couldn't help but imagine the pain of working overtime.
Even if he is a ninja, he can't help but feel bitter in his heart when he thinks about working overtime.
"Okay, you should practice hard, and by the way, supervise Ino and Chouji. Soon, there may not be much time for you to enjoy this stability."
After saying this, without waiting for Shikamaru to ask, Shikaku left here quickly.
He was silently calculating other things in his mind.
That is, the plan, headed by the Daimyo of the Country of Fire, to unite the Daimyos of other countries to punish the Kingdom of Ghosts is moving forward.
Although the plan was temporarily stalled due to the change of Hokage, after Tsunade returned, the plan moved forward again.
As the jounin squad leader, he had the same authority to know the plan as the higher-ups. I was also fortunate enough to follow the Third Hokage to Daming Mansion to participate in this decision-making, and he provided part of the planning.
But now that the Third Hokage has unfortunately died halfway through his duties, then Tsunade, as the successor, must inherit the legacy of the Third Hokage and carry out this plan to the end.
Although Shikaku believes that there are many uncertain risks in promoting this plan, it has the support of several major powers and half of the Five Shadows. Therefore, it is not up to him to consider whether this plan should be implemented, but must be implemented. And implement it as soon as possible.
Shikaku sighed in his heart, and a gloomy look flashed in his eyes.
war……
◎
Opening the door to the Hokage's office, the first thing Shikaku saw was the pile of papers on the table.
In the corner of the office, there are also piles of paper, piled together in bundles. It is obvious that these have not been processed.
Shikaku lamented the hard work of Tsunade as the new Hokage. Thinking of this, he no longer felt the pain of working overtime.
Even the Hokage took the lead and worked so hard. As a subordinate, how could I still stand still?
Thinking this, Shikaku quickly walked to the desk, and then saw Tsunade lying on the desk, drooling at the corner of her mouth, sleeping soundly.
"..."
This could be a dream.
After all, everyone in Konoha is so busy, how could a Hokage be lazy at this time?
This must be an illusion, an illusion.
Just when Shikaku thought so, he seemed to hear movement next to him. Tsunade opened her eyes from her sleep and asked drowsily.
"What, Shizune, have you bought the pork chop rice?"
"No, it's me, Hokage-sama."
Shikaku's mouth twitched.
What is pork chop rice? It shouldn't be lunch time now, it's at least two hours away from lunch.
"Uh, it's Shikaku. Sorry, I made you laugh."
Tsunade noticed that the person coming was Shikaku, and she didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed. She calmly picked up a tissue and wiped the very indecent-looking saliva from the corner of her mouth.
Then, she said seriously:
"First of all, let me explain that I was definitely not lazy and sleeping just now. I was just thinking deeply about some village development planning issues. Don't get me wrong."
Put away the tissue you used to wipe your saliva first, Hokage-sama. Shikaku lamented inwardly.
"Since you are tired, it would be better for you, Hokage-sama, to go home and rest."
Considering that Tsunade has been working intensively since she came back, it is not incomprehensible that she would like to find some time to be lazy for a while. After all, it is also the subordinate's responsibility to care about the health of her superiors.
"Don't worry, I'm full of energy now!"
Tsunade said that she was fine and could continue to work, assuming the attitude of a hard-working boss who took things seriously.
"..."
This kind of words makes people feel even more guilty.
He suspected that as soon as he left here, the other party would lie down on the table and sleep again.
"these are……"
Shikaku noticed the stack of papers on the table in front of Tsunade and his expression changed.
"Ah, these are the personnel information of the medical department."
Although Tsunade can handle government affairs with ease, what she is best at is related to the medical department. After all, this is her old profession, and it is indeed more convenient to manage it than to deal with other things.
"Are you planning to reorganize it like ANBU?"
Shikaku's thoughts changed.
"There's no need for that. Although there are some problems in the medical department, as long as there are no problems with the senior cadres of the department, everything is within control. It's not like the ANBU, which is infiltrated from top to bottom. It’s become a sieve.”
Tsunade said this.
"You can't say that. None of us knew that Kakashi would be Orochimaru's spy. Maybe before Minato, Kakashi was Orochimaru's man. I think the senior management of the medical department also We should investigate and maybe we can catch some big fish from it.”
Shikaku thought for a while and suggested to Tsunade.
When Tsunade heard these words, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes and began to think seriously.
Although she took over the Hokage's affairs and used her strong style to temporarily intimidate the two advisors from the beginning, in the final analysis this was just to make it easier for herself. But she still didn't take good care of the details of the village.
And Shikaku can make up for these shortcomings of hers. As the Jonin squad leader, he understands all aspects of Konoha better than he does.
"Yes, but it needs to be done secretly. But since we want to investigate to the end, we will secretly dispatch manpower from the Hyuga clan and the Yamanaka clan to cooperate with the ANBU operations."
Tsunade didn't hesitate and quickly finalized the matter.
"Okay, I will go to Hinata and Yamanaka later."
Shikaku nodded, taking the matter into his own hands.
"Also, about this little girl..."
Tsunade pulled out a piece of paper from the file in front of her.
"Haruno Sakura?"
Shikaku saw the photo on the paper, it was Haruno Sakura, the medical ninja of Team 7.
As a new generation of medical ninja, Haruno Sakura has a great reputation in the medical department. Coupled with the medical charm incident, Shikaku also became obsessed with this twelve-year-old girl.
"Yes."
Tsunade glanced at it, and she could see the other party's identity information, ability information, and ninja resume.
"What Hokage-sama means is..."
"Check to see if she has been interfered by Kakashi. In addition, her research on medical talismans is very interesting. Remember to get some experiments later."
"yes."
Although he didn't know why Tsunade made such a decision, Shikaku nodded seriously and agreed.
◎
"You're not doing this right, try again!"
Somewhere on the backside of Mt. Miaomu, there is a pool formed by a waterfall. There are various stone toads of different sizes next to it.
Fukasaku Sage was sitting on the head of a stone toad, holding a black stick in his hand. He didn't know how many times he had corrected Naruto's mistakes in cultivating natural energy. However, after seeing that Naruto still couldn't get started after so long, it couldn't help but frown.
"But, I can't feel the 'natural energy' you mentioned, Grandpa Immortal, at all. Having said that, is there really any so-called natural energy?"
Naruto began to doubt the authenticity of the existence of natural energy in this world.
Although he would encounter various problems when practicing ninjutsu in the past, he still had no gains at all after several days in a row. This was the first time he encountered this situation.
"Yes, but the natural energy hidden in the earth and air is more difficult for us to discover and utilize. Even the little Jiraiya took several years to get started."
"How many years!? Getting started!?"
When Naruto heard this, he immediately opened his mouth, looking extremely surprised.
"Well, although there are also reasons why he is lazy, lacks perseverance, and gives up halfway, natural energy is indeed not a power that is easy to master. Even in Miaomu Mountain, which has accumulated rich natural energy, a considerable part of the toads in it cannot sense it. Natural energy, not to mention the more difficult magic that follows."
Fukasaku Sage jumped down from the stone toad and said to Naruto.
"What about me? Grandpa Immortal, how long do you think it will take me to get started?"
Naruto asked, pointing at himself.
"Hmm... This is a bit hard to say. In terms of chakra volume, you have indeed met the basic conditions for practicing senjutsu, but your basic ability seems to be a bit weak, even worse than the original little Jiraiya..."
Fukasaku Sage looked at Naruto carefully and said.
"Isn't it? Am I worse than a lustful immortal?"
"It's hard to say. When little Jiraiya started practicing senjutsu, unlike you, his chakra control was already very good. With his excellent chakra, he sensed natural energy very early, but he couldn't control it freely. That’s all. So his later immortal skills were only half-baked and needed to be maintained by me and the child’s mother before he could enter the perfect immortal mode.”
"It turns out that the Lustful Immortal didn't master it completely. If I mastered this, would I be better than the Lustful Immortal?"
Naruto began to have thoughts.
He knew how powerful Jiraiya was. If he surpassed him, it might be his turn to become the next generation Hokage.
"Don't think about all these good things. Even little Jiraiya can't enter the perfect sage mode on his own, but as far as humans are concerned, he is still a very amazing ninja. Ninety-nine percent of the humans who come to Miaomu Mountain to seek celestial magic are stuck in Below the entry level. There are only a handful of humans who can enter the immortal mode on their own in these thousands of years. And the fate of the losers has become these stone toads."
Fukasaku Sage pointed to the large and small stones and toads around him and warned Naruto not to be careless in this regard, otherwise the end would be miserable.
Sure enough, after hearing Fukasaku Sennin's words, Naruto swallowed in fear.
At this moment, the two heard footsteps approaching, turned their heads and saw Jiraiya walking over.
"How's it going, Boss Fukasaku, how is Naruto's natural energy training going?"
Jiraiya asked as soon as he came over.
Fukasaku Sennin glanced at the unwilling Naruto and said without any concealment: "It's not possible at all. Little Naruto can't sense the existence of natural energy. I'm still unable to do anything after so many days. According to my opinion, I should wait for a while, maybe it can be done. .”
"Does it need to be so troublesome? Can't you use toad oil to help you practice?"
Jiraiya asked, frowning.
Fukasaku Sennin hesitated for a moment.
"Toad oil can indeed play an auxiliary role, but the degree to which that thing senses and absorbs natural energy is judged based on the basic ability of the person involved... If the control ability is too poor, it may immediately turn into a stone toad. "
In other words, in the opinion of Fukasaku Sage, it is too dangerous for Naruto to use toad oil to assist his training.
"You have to give it a try to find out. And aren't you the boss Fukasaku? Naruto is the son of the prophecy predicted by the Great Toad Sage, so he can definitely overcome this level."
Jiraiya has full confidence in Naruto.
"...Okay. But let me make a promise first. If it fails, I will temporarily give up the practice of senjutsu and start from the basics of chakra control."
Fukasaku Sage also felt that since Naruto was the prophesied son of the Great Toad Sage, he might actually be able to cause miracles.
So, it jumped to the side of the pool, reached into the pool, and covered its palms with the toad oil in the pool.
"Naruto, take off your shirt."
Jiraiya ordered.
Although Naruto was puzzled, he did as he was told and took off his shirt, revealing a strong figure.
Then, Fukasaku Sage, who had his hands covered with toad oil, jumped behind Naruto and smeared the toad oil on his back.
For a moment, Naruto felt a slight coldness, and something was uncontrollably burrowing into his body from the outside world.
"Well……"
Naruto found that his body had become extremely stiff, as if he had lost control, and he looked surprised.
"not good!"
Seeing that Naruto's head began to swell and his body began to show signs of petrification, Fukasaku Sage immediately took out the black stick in his hand, aimed it at Naruto's back, and struck him quickly.
"ah!"
Naruto screamed in pain, feeling as if his back had been severed by Fukasaku Sennin with a black rod. He puffed air in his mouth to reduce the pain.
With this blow, the uncontrolled natural energy in his body was also driven out of the body by the black rod, allowing Naruto to return to his original state.
"Can't you?"
Looking at Naruto who was gasping for air, Jiraiya sighed.
Fukasaku Sage said helplessly: "You have also seen the situation. Toad oil has its pros and cons, but it is definitely not suitable for Naruto at this stage. Little Jiraiya, you'd better get his basics right first. If he can't even If you can't control chakra well, then it's impossible to control natural energy and fuse celestial chakra."
Immortal magic is not that simple. Even in Miaomu Mountain, there are only a handful of elites who can master the magic of immortality.
Sensing natural energy, controlling natural energy, and then manipulating and merging it with chakra. Although the steps are simple, most people can skillfully control natural energy, which is a great existence.
If you want to reach the third stage and fuse your own magical chakra, it is not a power that can be easily popularized.
"It seems like this is all, but don't worry, Boss Fukasaku, I will let him control his balance as soon as possible."
Jiraiya also felt that he had acted too hastily.
If he wanted to become fat in one bite, he would definitely tire Naruto to death.
The road to becoming stronger still needs to be done step by step.
"Well, I'll trouble you. In addition, go to the workshop and get some immortal charms for little Naruto to use. This will help him grow faster and even help him use immortal magic in the future."
Fukasaku Sennin thought of something.
"Has that thing been made?"
Jiraiya became excited.
"Almost. Although it can't be mass-produced on a large scale, it can still be done to produce a hundred and eighty copies."
"Great, this is equivalent to destroying one of the enemy's generals! Then I won't stay here any longer. Naruto, pack up and bow, and let's return to Konoha as soon as possible!"
Jiraiya was so excited that he urged Naruto to act quickly.
After saying that, without waiting for Naruto to respond, he hurried towards Miaomushan's workshop.
◎
Kirigakure Village.
Mizukage's office.
"This is a letter from the Kingdom of Ghosts."
Terumi Mei came to Yagura with a letter and said to him.
Yagura put down what he was doing, quickly took the letter, opened it and scanned it, the look on his face softened slightly.
"How is the situation, Mizukage-sama?"
Terumi Mei didn't know what was written on it, but judging from Yagura's expression, something good must have happened.
"The Kingdom of Ghosts has successfully contacted Ryūchi Cave."
"So, is the threat from Mount Miaomu finally eliminated?"
Terumi Mei asked.
"That's true for the time being, but we still need to fight to know the specifics. However, Ryūchi Cave and Miaomu Mountain are both holy places, and the difference in strength between the two will not be too big. Coupled with the assistance of the Kingdom of Ghosts, the joint It shouldn’t be a problem to capture Miaomu Mountain in Ryūchi Cave.”
Yagura tapped his fingers on the table and expressed his opinion.
Even without the assistance of Ryuji Cave, he felt that with the military power of the Kingdom of Demons, it would not be a problem to capture Miaomu Mountain. However, it would be very difficult to operate in this way, and it would also be interfered with by various unexpected factors. This leads to a certain deviation in the results.
"Next, you follow me to the Daiming Mansion and meet with the Daiming. Regarding going to the Fire Nation Parliament after the year, we need to make some preparations as soon as possible."
Soon, Yagura also made this decision.
"So fast?"
Terumi Mei was surprised.
"Well, maybe the war will come faster than we imagined. The original plan was for Akatsuki and the other big countries to use the tailed beasts as a breaking point to weaken the strength of both sides, and then annex them... But now, the Fire Country, The two great names in the Kingdom of Wind, including our great one, seem to have other thoughts."
Although Yagura knew that the actions of the Demon Country would attract the attention of these daimyo sooner or later, he did not expect that these daimyo would unite so quickly. The ability to perceive crises is sharper than imagined.
And according to the information revealed by the daimyo of the Kingdom of Water, it seems that the Kingdom of Earth also intends to join the alliance and jointly sanction the Kingdom of Ghosts. Of the first five major countries, only the Country of Thunder is left. Its position has not yet been completely firmed up and it has other plans.
"If that's the case, then you need to be careful with your next steps."
Mei Terumi thought for a moment and answered.
"Actually, there is no need to worry too much. This kind of alliance only looks very gimmicky, but in actual operation, it is not so easy to get along just because of internal trust issues. Each country has its own interests and demands, and then it will really The only ones who contribute on the battlefield are Konoha and Sunagakure."
Compared to Terumi Mei's caution, Yagura's attitude seems more optimistic.
Sunagakure, who is still in the recovery period, ignores it for now, but Konoha...maybe those high-level officials will make some big revelations that will shock everyone.
Konoha's most powerful enemy is not outside, but within. If this problem is not solved for a day, there will always be huge hidden dangers. This is true for both ourselves and the Allies.
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