"Kyoichi-sama, what brings you here? What about the ninja academy…"
"Someone's covering classes today. Besides, now that the Chūnin Exams are over, once the Hokage ceremony is done, we'll officially split up work time and training time. We'll try to make sure all Chūnin under fifteen get access to training opportunities."
"Huh?"
The cat-masked ANBU ninja was immediately startled.
Because… Mukai himself was under fifteen.
"ANBU and the Police Force don't count, but your genjutsu resistance training still needs to be reinforced. I let it slide before while you were working on sealing techniques, but you can't slack off now."
"Yes, sir!"
Mukai lowered his head.
It was true—he was pretty weak in terms of genjutsu resistance. Even though he had the Byakugan, it only let him see the flow of others' genjutsu; it couldn't help him break free himself.
"Anything especially urgent happening lately?" Kyoichi asked.
"Captain Shō said he's handled most things, but there's one matter he didn't feel comfortable deciding on. He said you need to review it personally."
Mukai pulled out a scroll.
Kyoichi unrolled it and glanced over it, frowning slightly.
Kakashi…?
He's applying to transfer into the ANBU?
What's he planning?
Gekkō Hayate, knowing that Namikaze Minato and Kyoichi had a good relationship, must've realized that if the genius Kakashi wanted to join the ANBU, it would definitely require the captain's and the Hokage's personal approval.
Sure enough, the scroll bore the Third Hokage's seal.
But…
Knowing the old man Sarutobi as well as he did, Kyoichi was certain the Third would rather Kyoichi go talk Kakashi out of it—otherwise, this wouldn't have come as an "application" but a "notification."
No wonder Hayate hadn't dared approve it himself.
If they signed off on it, Sarutobi Hiruzen would likely get even more anxious.
Kyoichi pondered for a moment, then said, "I'll handle this later. How's the research lab doing? Root hasn't tried to interfere, have they?"
"No, we've kept a watchful eye."
"Well done. If anyone from Root shows up, don't overthink it—just capture them and hold them. I'll deal with Danzō personally afterward."
"Yes, sir!"
Good, the external matters were under control. It was about time to clean up some internal issues to maintain harmony.
Danzō…
That old fox. If he didn't leave any evidence, fine—but if he slipped up and left something behind, well, he couldn't blame Kyoichi for showing no mercy.
Oh right…
Yakushi Nonō!
Kyoichi's eyes lit up.
The matter of Kabuto and Nono—this might be the perfect bait to set a trap.
It's time to make some arrangements.
Right now, Kabuto was still a child, and he hadn't yet shown any particular talent as a ninja. The only jutsu knowledge he had ever been exposed to was probably medical ninjutsu.
But…
Nonō was a former member of Root.
How could he engineer a situation that would force Danzō to target former Root members again…
Restrict the recruitment of new members!
A plan was already forming in Kyoichi's mind.
Root's training was brutal.
It was true death training — merciless, ruthless, stripping away every trace of humanity. Kyoichi found it hard to imagine: how could the Third Hokage be unable to tolerate Orochimaru's actions, yet allow Danzō's methods to continue?
It was nothing short of astonishing.
But…
Once Tsunade rose to power and he took command of the ANBU, everything would proceed according to his rules.
Mukai had caught on to Kyoichi's intentions.
Of course… just as they hadn't reported Kyoichi's Ice Release ability to the Third before, they certainly wouldn't be running to the Third Hokage to tattle about his plans for dealing with Danzō.
The ANBU, by nature, was a shadowy organization.
These ninja handled countless missions that could never see the light of day, but even among them, Root's actions crossed the line. Many ANBU couldn't stomach what Root was doing.
Mukai was one of them.
Whenever he saw Root and the Third Hokage, he had the bitter sense that Konoha was rotten to its very core. It wasn't until Kyoichi appeared that Mukai felt hope for Konoha again.
Although Tsunade was officially the Fourth Hokage, those who knew the truth understood: Tsunade didn't truly care about the title of Hokage. If she had, she wouldn't have left Konoha in the first place.
Both Gekkō Hayate and Mukai believed that Kyoichi could bring Konoha a better future.
And so…
They chose to help Kyoichi.
…
After basically finishing up the business in the ANBU, Kyoichi had a general sense of things.
As he was leaving, a notification sounded from his system.
Konan had sent a feedback update!
[Konan's trust in you has deepened — she now sees you as an educational mentor.]
[Reward: Explosive Tag Crafting — Modified]
Kyoichi had been wondering what kind of reward he might get. When he saw it was explosive tag crafting — and apparently a modified version connected to Konan — his curiosity was piqued.
Interesting.
Quite a few people knew how to make explosive tags, but the process was painstakingly tedious and had a high entry barrier. Yet the demand for them among ninja was enormous — they were constantly in short supply.
This kept the price of explosive tags sky-high.
Kyoichi had long wanted to improve on this.
In fact…
His public welfare plan already included a section on improving explosive tag technology.
If Konan's modification technique was good enough, he could use it as the foundation for further research, or maybe even just implement it directly.
Kyoichi took a look and quickly realized…
This wasn't something Konan had mastered at this stage. In other words, the Konan of now was only in the earliest stages of developing this technique — yet the reward he'd received contained a fully complete, advanced version of the modified explosive tag crafting.
However…
The entry threshold was anything but low — it was, in fact, extremely high, making it inherently unsuitable for mass production.
Because the key to the improved explosive tag crafting was —
Origami Technique!
Only by mastering the secret art of paper manipulation could one rapidly transform pre-treated paper into explosive tags through chakra conversion — a transformation so fast it rivaled the speed of ninjutsu converting chakra.
Of course…
This required that the paper had been pre-treated ahead of time.
If you used ordinary paper, you couldn't achieve that rapid transformation, but adding the extra step of paper modification wasn't such a big deal.
This was probably a technique Konan mastered later on.
Those six billion explosive tags she unleashed? This was likely how they came to be.
Damn!
With skills like that, you could make an absolute fortune just selling them.
No wonder Kakuzu always thought the organization was broke — in reality, the rich lady was just keeping her purse closed to avoid handing money over to the shadowy boss behind the scenes…
Jackpot!
By combining this technique with the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Formula, Kyoichi could carry out pinpoint, continuous detonations more safely.
Thinking of this, Kyoichi let out a small breath of relief.
This had definitely been worth it.
The time and effort he'd spent teaching Konan hadn't gone to waste.
As for the matter with Kakashi, he didn't plan to deal with that immediately. The research institute was far more important right now.
The institute tied into his grand plans, while Kakashi was just stuck in a mental rut — something that could be handled casually or, at worst, just delayed indefinitely by sitting on his application paperwork.
What was Kakashi going to do, force his way into the ANBU?
Using the ANBU's underground tunnels, Kyoichi made his way to the research institute's hidden base.
This was located in the mountains behind Konoha.
The institute itself was housed within the mountain.
Outside the mountain lay a stretch of fields, which had been abandoned for years. Farming on the mountainside was inconvenient, so no one wanted this land. And with the population decline from the war, even fewer people were farming it.
Now, it was perfect for an experimental field.
Kyoichi made a circuit of the area and soon ran into a man with a particularly distinctive hairstyle.
He was the main reason Kyoichi had come here today.
Kazamatsuri Toshiki.
"Kyoichi-sama."
"Just call me Kyoichi. Is it just you tending all this right now?"
Kyoichi gestured to the wide expanse of land around them.
Toshiki gave a helpless nod.
So far, he was the only one at the institute who had mastered Wood Release — and even then…
"My Wood Release can only accelerate growth up to a point. After that, I can't really push it any further. This is what I managed over the past week."
Kyoichi swept his gaze over the fields.
Lush, green rice seedlings stretched out before him — they looked like they were at least a month or two old, but in fact, they had only been planted less than a week ago.
"Don't push it too fast. If you rush the process, you won't get good-quality rice."
"You've tested it?" Toshiki asked.
He knew Kyoichi was the first to master Wood Release entirely through his own abilities, and he'd even heard that Kyoichi's Wood Release was already usable in combat… though whether that was true or not, he didn't know.
"I've tested it. In the end, the rice either ends up as empty husks or very underdeveloped."
More haste, less speed.
"Amazing…" Toshiki said, a hint of envy in his voice.
He had picked up on Kyoichi's underlying meaning — that Kyoichi could push the rice to full maturity in a short time.
But…
Even so, the resulting rice turned out like that…
"Keep at it. Even if this Wood Release can't be used in battle, it has potential beyond just public welfare."
"Kyoichi-sama… ah, please, don't joke like that."
Toshiki's eyes lit up for a moment, only to quickly dim again.
He had been chosen to join the research institute, which was how he'd learned Wood Release — but honestly, this Wood Release was far from what he had imagined.
As a Konoha ninja and a descendant of the Senju…
Who didn't dream of wielding true Wood Release?
Unfortunately, it was incredibly difficult.
Yet from what Kyoichi was suggesting, even this lower-tier "Wood Release" could be used in battle.
How could that be possible?
"A ninja's battles are never limited to direct confrontations. A green seedling can't fight — but at the same time, it's the most inconspicuous thing in the forest or the wild."
As Kyoichi spoke, he lightly brushed his fingers across a seedling.
Toshiki froze for a moment.
He was intimately familiar with this rice sprout — after all, he'd been tending it carefully.
He could be sure: Kyoichi hadn't accelerated its growth.
And yet…
In his perception, something about this little seedling had changed.
"From now on, it will help me sense the surroundings."
"A sensory technique!" Toshiki exclaimed, excitement surging through him as he grasped Kyoichi's meaning.
People might guard against insects or birds — but no one guarded against an inconspicuous little tree or rice sprout. If you could turn them into your eyes…
Then the institute's surroundings would become an impenetrable fortress.
"Don't tell anyone."
Kyoichi handed him a scroll, lowering his voice in warning before turning to head into the institute.
"Yes!"
Toshiki nodded firmly.
This was a second layer of surveillance!
If anyone found out about it, its effectiveness would plummet.
This was a technique Kyoichi had developed by merging Wood Release with the Rain Tiger at Will Technique. It required a continuous expenditure of chakra to maintain, so he had written all the necessary precautions and instructions into the scroll.
For the institute, no amount of careful preparation was too much.
After handling this top-priority matter, Kyoichi finally went looking for Orochimaru.
But…
When he found Orochimaru, the man wasn't busy researching — instead, he was lying on a sunlit rocky balcony at the institute, resting.
"How surprising — you're not working? Was the Chūnin Exam that exhausting?"
"No. The simpler tasks have all been delegated to my clones. I only need to step in at key moments. As long as I plan out the research in my mind, that's enough."
Orochimaru smiled, making a dry little joke. "Thinking is far more important than tedious labor. I thought you would understand that."
"Your shadow clones probably hate you."
"Heh…"
Orochimaru chuckled silently.
This guy…
Truly had no sense of responsibility as a pioneer.
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