Orochimaru moved all his experimental equipment and research projects out of Konoha. Now he has three subordinates; two are survivors of the hashirama cells fusion experiment. After surviving the hashirama cells fusion experiment, their Chakra volume and cell activity values increased significantly, so Orochimaru taught them some Ninjutsu and took them in as errand runners.
There was also a person named Shin, who voluntarily came to Orochimaru to learn techniques and was willing to be a test subject. Shin's body was also somewhat unique, so Orochimaru took him on as an assistant. However, Orochimaru hadn't had time to use Shin as a test subject before his research on hashirama cells made a significant breakthrough.
Now, Shin temporarily had no need to be a test subject, so he temporarily served as Orochimaru's experimental assistant, helping with miscellaneous tasks and experimental data.
"Mirai-kun, Danzo wants more Wood Release subordinates, and he is no longer satisfied with controlling the power of Wood Release through his subordinates; instead, he wants to control this power himself."
Orochimaru said with a smile to Hyuga Mirai. Besides experimental research, Orochimaru would often tell Hyuga Mirai about other village matters. Now both of them knew many of each other's secrets, and their relationship was much better than when they first met. Therefore, Orochimaru would not hide some secret intelligence about the village from Hyuga Mirai.
"That's great. Sometimes I also want a foolish employer. The research cost for one Wood Release subordinate is over 200 million; then, for the Hokage's assistant's safety, it would require at least 400 million in research funds to have absolute assurance, right?"
Hyuga Mirai shook his head and said, "Besides Root's funds, Danzo must have his own channels for accumulating wealth; otherwise, it would be impossible for him to develop Root to such a large scale without Hiruzen Sarutobi's knowledge. It's very strange that after dozens of Rain Ninja Village were killed by Nagato, he returned as if nothing happened."
One must know that the Anbu only had seventy members, and Root's losses in the Land of Rain reached over thirty percent of the Anbu's numbers.
"Hehe, Mirai-kun makes a lot of sense. After all, safety is the most important thing."
When Orochimaru heard Hyuga Mirai's words, his heart skipped a beat. He originally only wanted to take the opportunity to ask Danzo for 100 million in funds, but he didn't expect Hyuga Mirai to mention 600 million and also give Danzo an unbargainable reason.
Safety!
It could be cheaper, but safety issues would also decrease. After all, Orochimaru could show Danzo the risks of fusing hashirama cells. At worst, he could send over a few test subjects who turned into wood. If he kept using experimental failure as a reason, even if Danzo had Root personnel continuously collecting test subjects, too many people would make it unbearable for Danzo.
Hyuga Mirai chuckled, "This is called paying for knowledge. If the Hokage's assistant was willing to put effort into learning a bit about biological cell research, there would be no need to spend so much money."
Orochimaru also agreed, saying, "Indeed, Mirai-kun, you are very right." 600 million, with Root's capabilities, they should be able to afford it. Instead of letting Danzo keep it to expand some useless personnel, it's better to give it to him, so Danzo can still obtain and control the power of Wood Release.
Unconsciously, Orochimaru had been influenced quite a bit by Hyuga Mirai. At this moment, he suddenly felt that he should have met Hyuga Mirai earlier. In the past, during the time Orochimaru helped Danzo research Wood Release, besides seeing a few forbidden Ninjutsu, he was essentially working for free.
"Lord Orochimaru, let's stop here for today. I'll come find you next time." After Hyuga Mirai finished speaking, he stood up, dusted himself off, and prepared to leave.
Orochimaru's expression paused when he heard this, then he thought of a forbidden Ninjutsu he had seen some time ago and said to Hyuga Mirai, "Mirai-kun, next time I can find you a few suitable opponents, but you will need to wait a bit longer."
Hyuga Mirai happened to be the type he was not good at dealing with. Whether it was the Gentle Fist that could strike inside the body or the Byakugan with its extremely strong perception, both had a strong counter effect on Orochimaru's stealth and his unique Corpse Body Technique. Coupled with his high-speed Body Flicker Technique, Orochimaru needed to maintain full vigilance to avoid being approached by Hyuga Mirai.
Sparring with Hyuga Mirai for half an hour was even more exhausting than a full day of experiments. Orochimaru decided to research the 'Reanimation Jutsu' and have the dead serve as Hyuga Mirai's sparring partners.
However, Orochimaru had not yet gotten his hands on this Ninjutsu, and to what extent it could be achieved still required some time for research.
At the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at a promotion application report on his desk, hesitating to make a decision.
This promotion document was submitted by Vice Director Kimura, an application report for Hyuga Mirai's promotion to Medical Jonin.
All other returning ninjas, whether it was compensation or commendation approvals, had been processed, with only this one remaining.
Logically speaking, Hyuga Mirai's promotion to Medical Jonin, apart from his young age, was impeccable in all other aspects; his Medical Ninjutsu level and battlefield merits were sufficient for him to be promoted to Medical Jonin.
However, the message Minato Namikaze sent back made Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitate.
'Lord Hokage, please pay attention to Hyuga Mirai.'
It was just this one sentence, with unclear meaning, but Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that Minato Namikaze always valued his comrades. If there was no necessary reason, he would not specifically have the Anbu send back such a sentence that implied stirring up discord among comrades.
But now Minato Namikaze was the general commander at the front line, and he couldn't be called back just to ask about the meaning of this sentence.
For this reason, Hiruzen Sarutobi even specifically retrieved all of Hyuga Mirai's data. From his enrollment at five years old, Ishii Ichiro would give comments to his classmates every year, and his comments for Hyuga Mirai were full of praise.
Dr. Nakano and Kimura from Konoha Hospital, the Jonin leader Kaminari Kaede, and some other impressions and rumors about Hyuga Mirai in the village were all perfectly flawless.
If he wasn't from the Hyuga Branch Family, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have wanted to cultivate Hyuga Mirai as a Fifth Hokage candidate.
His talent in Medical Ninjutsu was comparable to Tsunade's, but he didn't have Tsunade's bad temper of heavy drinking and gambling. Even as a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, he would, as Kimura and Dr. Nakano and others said, grow into a towering tree, sheltering Konoha from wind and rain.
"Minato must have discovered something, but what exactly it is, can only be clear by asking him personally."
Hiruzen Sarutobi guessed one possibility, which was that Hyuga Mirai had hidden something that Minato Namikaze discovered, but that matter should not harm Konoha, otherwise Minato Namikaze could have directly stopped Hyuga Mirai, instead of asking him to pay attention to Hyuga Mirai.
It's just that the matter of promoting him to Medical Jonin cannot be delayed any longer. Kimura came to ask once. Hyuga Mirai made many contributions on the Land of Rivers battlefield. If he blocked it and didn't allow it, not only would Kimura need an explanation, but even the Hyuga Clan would come to inquire.
"I can only approve it for now. Oh, by the way, I can let Jiraiya investigate Hyuga Mirai's matters."
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly thought that Jiraiya was currently in the village, and his disciple was good at intelligence gathering. It would be a good idea to assign him some tasks to prevent him from peeping into women's baths all day. He had already received several complaints about this disciple.