In the Hokage's office.
"Hokage-sama. Uchiha Kohaku requests your presence. Should I let them in or not?"
Here comes trouble...
Once the ANBU agent spoke up, Hiruzen took a moment to enjoy his pipe, letting out a gentle stream of smoke that slowly filled the room. It drifted away, almost as if he were trying to escape his problems along with it.
"Let him in."
For a couple of moments, the room fell silent until Hiruzen's voice was heard outside. Therefore, the door gradually opened and slowly showed Kohaku's figure going inside with a solemn expression on his profile.
"Greetings, Hokage-sama." Kohaku slightly bowed before standing upright, glancing at Hiruzen's face.
"Kohaku... Has something happened?" Although he definitely knew the purpose, Hiruzen still kept his facade and perfectly behaved like nothing unusual occurred.
"Why did you not tell us? This incident might cause us to lose our talented child! Considering the situation, does Hokage really know something else that we are not aware of?"
Kohaku's direct words pierced through Hiruzen's deception, slowly peeling away any sense of secrets behind the scenes. At this point, Kohaku was truly exasperated by the Hokage's schemes. No one should tolerate this kind of treacherous act in his opinion.
Yet again, Hiruzen took his pipe and puffed as the smoke came out of his mouth until he spoke, "Initially, Yoichi agreed to be the bait in this operation without a shred of hesitation."
"I know it was mostly my fault for letting this happen but the purpose of those 'rogue shinobi' was to eliminate him."
Hearing this, Kohaku's somber face was filled with anger until it had changed into perplexity as he responded, "Assassinate him? For what reason? Wait, don't tell me..."
"Yes, you guessed that right. Yoichi was a part of the Amegakure trainees in the past. And that's why that kid could remain cautious and clever unlike his peers."
Hiruzen glanced at Kohaku with a pang of guilt in his heart yet being Hokage sometimes meant being as ruthless as a beast in the wilds.
Meanwhile, Kohaku understood the complexities of the situation. As a clan leader, he has been very shrewd enough to comprehend this news.
That was why he was completely dumbfounded earlier by the speculations in his mind that turned out to be the truth itself.
"Then why didn't you help him out of that wretched shit hole?! If you just tell me that sooner, we could easily take him away from those bastards!" Incensed by Hiruzen's negligence, Kohaku felt his anger rising.
From that point, his outrage was maddening as Hiruzen's incapability was now revealed right before his very eyes.
"Fool! Do you think we could do anything else?! We're just recovering from the aftermath of the war! Also, he has a curse seal on his mind! Did you assume that I was not helpless at that point?!" Hiruzen slammed his desk as he declared another piece of fact in front of Kohaku.
In those situations, Hiruzen actually considered many things that could help Yoichi escape. However, what he did not take into account was that Yoichi survived and revealed himself to the public. Now, Kohaku's rendition of circumstances became a huge concern.
"I'm heading out. Thanks for sharing this information..." In such a cold tone, Kohaku slowly turned around and gnashed his teeth in bitterness.
"Suit yourself. Ask the child if you want answers." Hiruzen spoke in a casual tone, standing strong.
With outrage and stubbornness emerging from the two parties, logic and rational thinking were thrown out of the window. Hiruzen deflected his responsibility in a deliberate move while Kohaku was easily angered and could not be able to contain his negative outbursts of indignation.
That Tobirama truly chose something useless! If that bastard really fulfilled their promise, we can completely manage Konoha with our strength! Not by these lousy and pathetic students of Tobirama!
Kohaku thought as he walked away from the Hokage's office with animosity.
Now, the neutral standings between the two parties began to burn once more as the spark of the matter had been currently training in his home.
...
...
...
"GHHHHKKKKHHKK!!!"
Meanwhile, Yoichi screamed while his voice reverberated over the house. At this moment, his Qi Blood along with the help of the ointment helped him refine the last piece for his Jade Skin advancement.
For 2 hours, Yoichi dealt with the circulation of Qi Blood. At this time, the excruciating pain was strongly diminishing his mental and physical energy due to the scalding sensation all over his entire face.
He successfully refined the neck area but Yoichi pushed through with all his might, recklessly trying to break through the Jade Skin Stage.
While his face was in a deep shade of red, Yoichi's face was strangely squirming as if worms were in his face. Soon, the thick veins behind the skin unhurriedly popped out while the searing sensation had intensified.
I'll make it through!!!
Gnashing his teeth, Yoichi couldn't forget to eat 2 Qi Blood Pills and replenish his burnt Qi Blood. Then, with a loud crunch, the nutrients in those pills turned into Qi Blood once more for another round of refinement.
For a while, the situation has been in a state of stagnation and constant refining. Eyes bulged out, facial skin oddly wiggled, and sounds of grating teeth were the current situation.
"Fuck... Yeah! I... Did it!"
In a loud remark, the steam vapors came out of his skin while Yoichi's chest violently heaved up and down, breathing air in a form of relief.
When the hazy vapors slowly spread through the room and the reddening of his face began to cool down, Yoichi assessed the outcome with thrill in his eyes. Therefore, as Yoichi pinched his cheeks, the springy yet durable transparent film was detected by his eyes in the mirror.
It did not stop there as the whole skin suddenly shone radiantly. Afterward, Yoichi felt his skin tighten and slowly interweave itself independently. Due to this, his entire body experienced a mystical sensation.
Once the magical effect began to fade, Yoichi noticed that the three layers of his skin converged with the protective layer.
His arms felt taut yet powerful while he was throwing punches in the air.
His lower body was much more agile and reflexive at each stride.
Lastly, his Qi Blood became faster to be activated and utilized while the density felt like an explosive magma.
"Hooohh... This is great!"
After Yoichi went through such an exciting sensation, his mind gauged his current capabilities with a simple measurement. As a result of his successful advancement, his punch force was greatly increased by 80 jins to a total of 260 jins or 156 Kilograms.
Furthermore, the air resistance was marginally decreased since his skin received a vitality multiplication.
Do not underestimate this little upgrade. Due to the tiny drag in the air, a human's punch force nearly delivers full momentum. However, thanks to the buff, his fluidity in combat could be slightly increased.
"I'm going to take a break. Then I'll have to practice Lightning Spear Thrust since it is lagging behind the other two techniques."
With the successful ascension to the Jade Skin Stage, Yoichi took a break and cooked his bought-out meat in his pouch. Henceforth, he ate all the way until his nutrients were refilled in his body, patting his stomach in satisfaction.
"Let's begin!"
Without wasting any time, Yoichi equipped his 4 weighted bangles and practiced his finger technique with the help of the sand, harshly stabbing the granular silts.
「Lightning Spear Thrust EXP +1」
「Lightning Spear Thrust EXP +1」
「Lightning Spear Thrust EXP +1」
________________
(Current Progress)
[Realm: Skin Refining Stage] (Jade Skin)
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Perfection) 11/1000]
[Mountain Crushing Fist: (Small Success) 150/300]
[Lightning Spear Thrust: (Small Success) 67/300]
[Phantom Steps: (Small Success) 210/300]
[Tickets: 1 Prismatic, 0 Gold, 1 Silver.]
____________
4/4
Last one, I'll be releasing the other two later on so please bear with me!
Also, I have a serious question.
Should I add the attributes system? I have some Prismatics in my mind that revolve around stacking the attributes... Please, I need your comment on this one!
Shoutout to TwinLoongs and doomslayer24 for the Power Stones! Thank you man, I'll make sure I'm going to improve more in my Writing Dao, benefactor!
Thanks for reading the chapters and bookmarking the novel! See ya! XDD!