Seven days was far too short — every moment counted!
After swallowing a soldier pill, Hajime began planning how to best utilize this seven-day period with his unique status.
"First off, my main body doesn't need to stay up day and night. It needs time to recover energy so it can generate more clones for training."
"Since clones can inherit the same status, and the next phases of training all allow for experience accumulation through clones…"
Hajime quickly grasped the key point:
"The most important thing is that I have dual soul consciousness now — one part can be used to receive feedback from the clones, so it won't overload the main body."
At that thought, Hajime paused.
"If that's the case… maybe I really can make this status permanent…"
The Shadow Clones could focus on training, while the main body could go off and play.
Put in the effort, and even if it failed, at least it wouldn't feel like a waste of time.
Of course—
The odds of success were still slim. But at least there was some hope.
So, while resting to recover his stamina, Hajime reevaluated the feasibility of his plan.
A while later, when he was mostly recovered, he made his decision.
Let's give it a shot!
He split off six Wood Style clones to continue training, while the main body crafted a wooden cabin nearby and rested.
Thanks to the dual soul consciousness, even if the clones vanished from chakra depletion, it wouldn't affect his rest.
In the blink of an eye, night passed.
At six in the morning, Hajime woke up and once again split off six clones for training. His main body, as usual, spent an hour on physical conditioning before returning to the Root base for a hearty meal.
After filling his stomach, Hajime went to meet Danzo and made his request.
"Kakuzu?"
Danzo furrowed his brow slightly.
Of course he knew that name.
A former elite shinobi of Takigakure, currently a notorious bounty hunter.
This man had even once attempted to assassinate the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
To this day, Kakuzu was still on Konoha's wanted list with a hefty bounty!
Naturally—
Hashirama himself had never taken Kakuzu seriously. It was the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who insisted on placing Kakuzu on the wanted list.
Still, the fact that Kakuzu had managed to survive an assassination attempt on Hashirama spoke volumes about his power.
In the early days, Konoha had lost many shinobi in attempts to hunt him down, and eventually gave up.
They couldn't exactly send the Hokage to do it personally, could they?
Not to mention, after Hashirama's death, Konoha had been plagued by constant upheaval.
"You're confident you can handle this man?"
Danzo asked.
After all, Kakuzu was now an S-rank fugitive.
According to intelligence, this guy's strength was formidable — not someone an ordinary jōnin could take down.
Facing Danzo's question, Hajime responded,
"Kakuzu escaped from the First Hokage — his strength is clearly extraordinary. I don't currently have the confidence to defeat him."
"But I do need a powerful enemy to hone my Wood Style."
"If I'm to become Root's sharp blade against the darkness, then I must be tempered with blood."
Danzo nodded.
What he admired most about Hajime, aside from his Wood Style talent, was this very sense of resolve.
However, even when forging a blade, you couldn't just smash it against a boulder like Kakuzu. Otherwise, the sword might break before it was ever sharp.
At that moment, Hajime continued,
"I won't be reckless. I'll start by targeting some of the village's enemies to sharpen my edge."
"For example, the Sky Ninja."
"Or other suitable targets."
"I'll operate temporarily as a bounty hunter."
Danzo fell into thought.
The reasons he had granted Hajime extended leave were twofold: one, to allow him time to master more Wood Style techniques; and two, Root was currently in rapid expansion and needed manpower to train new recruits. That meant they didn't have the resources to send many agents out on missions right now.
But due to Hajime's unique status, he hadn't been assigned any tasks involving training new recruits — so sending him out wasn't a bad idea.
Tempering a blade with blood? That was exactly Danzo's style.
A win on three fronts!
So after only a moment of thought, Danzo made his decision.
"All right."
"I'll have 'Ten' compile a list of targets, along with the latest intelligence on Kakuzu, but…"
Danzo fixed his gaze on Hajime.
"Remember, you are a vital asset to Root. There's no need to risk yourself for a target like Kakuzu."
Hajime raised his head, his eyes sincere and burning with fervor as he looked at Danzo.
"Rest assured, Lord Danzo. Until the day you become Hokage, I will never allow myself to fall."
"Seeing you become Hokage — that is my life's greatest goal!"
Danzo felt deeply gratified.
Truly, this was a shinobi raised by his own hand.
Faced with this version of Hajime, even Danzo almost felt moved… No, not emotionally — no! He simply felt appreciation for such talent.
Still, he steeled his heart.
A tool.
They were all emotionless tools.
Even one with Wood Release was still a tool — one that could be sacrificed at any moment.
Since that was the case, there was no need for sentiment.
So Danzo coldly nodded.
"Go. I await the day you are fully forged."
Hajime nodded and disappeared from the spot.
Back at his quarters, Hajime removed his mask and let out a long sigh.
After spewing so much disgusting flattery, he felt like his mouth probably stank.
But as expected of Danzo…
Utterly heartless!
He really had found himself a road to death!
Kekeke... (sinister laugh)
A cold grin spread across Hajime's face as he put his mask back on and resumed training.
By lunchtime, "Ten" — real name Shimura Daichi, Danzo's close aide — delivered a small booklet to Hajime.
Inside were numerous targets, along with their relevant intel.
Including information on Kakuzu.
However, after a glance, Hajime realized the Kakuzu intel was already a month old.
He had last been sighted near a bounty exchange station in the Land of Rivers.
Hajime frowned slightly, then shook his head.
Trying to hunt him down like this — seven days just wasn't enough.
"Looks like I'll have to try my luck with Takigakure…"
He thought to himself.
He wasn't confident he could take down Kakuzu anyway.
And besides, Takigakure might actually be easier to deal with.
2 PM.
Hajime left six clones behind in Konoha to continue training, while his main body departed the village, heading north toward Takigakure in the Land of Waterfalls.
Conveniently, one of the targets Danzo had listed was from the Land of Waterfalls.
This man was a minister of the country, and just a month ago had proposed shifting more national missions to Takigakure's ninja.
That meant fewer missions for Konoha.
So Danzo decided he had to go.
And honestly—
From the standpoint of Konoha and Danzo, Hajime had to agree — this guy had definitely found himself a path to death.
Although what the minister said wouldn't change much in the grand scheme of things…
After all, Konoha was strong enough, and Takigakure wasn't strong enough to actually handle a large mission load.
Still, Danzo gave a different reason: this minister had ties to Iwagakure.
In other words, it was likely this reduction of missions to Konoha was to benefit the Hidden Stone.
As for whether this guy really had connections with Iwagakure?
That didn't matter.
What mattered was — he said the wrong thing.
(End of Chapter)