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In the days that followed, Yahiko and the others, who wanted to become stronger, proposed training together with Kenshi and Yezi.
A twist of fate, Kenshi hadn't expected such a good thing to happen and immediately agreed.
Training together meant sparring frequently.
This inevitably involved frequent physical contact.
So, Kenshi transformed into a master of taijutsu, attacking without using jutsu but only taijutsu. He claimed it was to train Yahiko and the others' reaction speed in close combat, life or death situations.
In reality, it was to have frequent contact with Nagato's body and sense the nature changes of the Rinnegan eye power chakra in his eyes more quickly.
In the blink of an eye.
Two years passed.
Konoha.
Evening.
Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo, was walking home. The sunset's rays shone on his neatly combed white hair, gleaming brightly. (PS: Kakashi's father is named Hatake Sakumo here.)
"Sakumo-sama, long time no see."
"Didn't we see each other the day before yesterday, Izumi-san?"
"Really... haha, I forgot."
"Sakumo-sama, would you like to have a drink?"
"Next time, Kumo-san."
On his way home, the people he met greeted Hatake Sakumo enthusiastically, and Hatake Sakumo responded one by one, always with a faint smile on his face. He seemed cold but actually gave people the feeling that he was easy to get along with.
Plus, Hatake Sakumo remembered the names of everyone who greeted him, when he last saw them, and what they were doing at the time. He knew it all.
This made people feel valued.
After all, you only remember clearly the people or things you care about.
These small details in life are easy to win people's favor.
Although the reason why Hatake Sakumo could remember the names of everyone he knew in the village and some of the small details that happened during their last meeting was due to his personal ninja talent of having a strong memory and keen observation, it actually had nothing to do with whether he valued people or not.
But he still gained the favor of most people in Konoha with this talent, especially the ordinary villagers. They almost all liked Hatake Sakumo.
This liking turned into a wave after Hatake Sakumo gained the great reputation of "White Fang of Konoha" in the Second Shinobi World War.
"The next Hokage will definitely be Sakumo-sama."
"I support Sakumo-sama to become the next Hokage."
"If Sakumo-sama becomes Hokage, he will definitely be the most approachable Hokage."
Previously, although Hatake Sakumo was also a genius comparable to the Sannin, even surpassing them, he wasn't well-known.
In the later stages of the last Shinobi World War, he single-handedly held up a front line, defeating the Hidden Sand Village repeatedly. He earned the title of "White Fang of Konoha" and his reputation surpassed the Sannin.
Now, Hatake Sakumo finally turned the favor he had accumulated in Konoha over the years into tangible benefits.
While the Third Hokage was still in his prime, the villagers were already discussing who would be the next Hokage.
What do you mean?
I'm not dead yet?
Sarutobi Hiruzen was furious when he heard about this.
He originally thought that only the Uchiha clan would threaten his position as Hokage. He didn't expect Hatake Sakumo to suddenly emerge, which caught him off guard.
So, he quickly promoted Hatake Sakumo. Since his son couldn't be the Anbu captain anymore, he promoted Hatake Sakumo to the position of Anbu captain.
He thought that by transferring him to the Anbu, where he would be surrounded by darkness all day, Hatake Sakumo's favorability among the Konoha villagers would decrease, and the discussion about the next Hokage would completely die down.
As a result, the villagers misunderstood.
They thought that the Third Hokage promoted Hatake Sakumo to Anbu captain as a way of training him to be the next Hokage, which was equivalent to promoting Hatake Sakumo.
After all, everyone knew that the Anbu was a ninja force directly under the Hokage, the one that the Hokage trusted the most, and the one responsible for protecting the Hokage's safety.
Giving this trusted force to Hatake Sakumo, wasn't this the Third Hokage handing over the power of the Anbu, preparing for a smooth transition to the next Hokage?
The Third Hokage almost vomited blood. He couldn't believe that his strategy, which he thought was like boiling a frog in warm water, had backfired. Not only did it not dispel the villagers' recognition of Hatake Sakumo as the next Hokage, but it actually went a step further, making the villagers misunderstand that he was already preparing to step down.
The key was that not only did Hatake Sakumo himself believe it, he started to act like the next Hokage and make demands.
The major ninja clans in Konoha also believed it. This was the most fatal part.
Ordinary people were easy to deal with. The major ninja clans that made up the Konoha family were the real problem.
Especially the Uchiha clan. Seeing that someone could actually replace Sarutobi Hiruzen as the Third Hokage, they were overjoyed and fully supported Hatake Sakumo.
The Uchiha clan's thinking was simple.
As long as they could remove Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Uchiha clan would no longer be directly targeted by the Hokage. They would definitely be able to return to their former glory and quickly ascend to the position of Hokage.
So, with the Uchiha clan's statement.
The upper echelons of the major families in Konoha all treated Hatake Sakumo as if he were the next Hokage.
The escalating situation left the Third Hokage speechless.
He couldn't say that he didn't want to step down!
And even if he wanted to step down, it wouldn't be Hatake Sakumo's turn.
He should choose one of his three disciples to succeed him as the next Hokage.
The Third Hokage, who had a lot on his mind, eventually walked into Root's base.
He couldn't delay any longer. If he delayed any further, the public opinion in Konoha wouldn't be about discussing Hatake Sakumo as the next Hokage, but about urging him to step down.
In a secret room in Root's base.
The Third Hokage met his good friend, Danzo.
"Why are you here?" Danzo turned around, glanced at the Third Hokage, and asked in confusion.
"Don't you know what's been happening in Konoha lately?" The Third Hokage's face darkened. He was dissatisfied that Danzo had lost his usual political vigilance.
"What happened?" Danzo was a little confused. He had been immersed in the research of Wood Release cells since the end of the war.
The son of Kenshi and Sarutobi Ayase, named Konoha Umushi, had cells that were naturally highly adaptable to Hashirama's cells. In the first experiment, he successfully transplanted Hashirama's cell fluid and gained Wood Release comparable to Kenshi's initial Wood Release.
This made Danzo and the Third Hokage overjoyed. They began to research the factor in Konoha Umushi's cells that adapted to Hashirama's cells.
In their opinion, as long as they found the factor that adapted to Hashirama's cells and injected it into them, they could also transplant Hashirama's cells and gain Wood Release.
But it had been two years, almost three years, since the war ended, and the research hadn't yet reached its final success.
The factor that adapted to Hashirama's cells had been extracted, but it was much weaker. It could only adapt to Hashirama's cells that were weakened many times over.
Transplanting that kind of cell would at most make a person's physique stronger and their chakra amount larger. It couldn't grant them Wood Release.
Currently, Danzo's experiment was still in the stage of purifying and strengthening the Hashirama cell adaptation factor.
At this moment, in the middle of the secret room, in a large glass container, Konoha Umushi, enveloped in blue liquid, curled up like a fetus. Transparent tubes connected to needles inserted into various parts of Konoha Umushi's body were extracting something.
Danzo spent every day in this secret room, using the Hashirama cell adaptation factor extracted from Konoha Umushi's body to conduct various experiments.
Although the ultimate goal hadn't been achieved yet.
But seeing the hope of successfully transplanting Hashirama's cell fluid, Danzo devoted all his energy to the laboratory. He didn't pay much attention to the outside world and didn't know that the situation had become so serious that the Third Hokage might be forced to step down early.
After the Third Hokage told Danzo about the situation, Danzo also realized the seriousness of the situation.
Currently, he was still tied to the Third Hokage.
If the Third Hokage stepped down and a new Hokage took over, they wouldn't let him continue researching Wood Release and using a child as a test subject.
"Tell me, what do you want to do?" Danzo looked at his good friend.
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