Even though Sunagakure would soon become Konoha's enemy, Tsunade still could not say anything cruel.
It was just that this was the second time she had watched the Akatsuki Organization capture someone, and anxiety stirred in her heart. This Akatsuki Organization was truly impossible to guard against.
Aside from Nagato, they actually had someone this troublesome too.
To be honest, even if Uchiha Itachi went all out and unleashed Susanoo, in her eyes, it was not completely impossible to deal with.
Even with Susanoo active, the overall destruction it could cause to Konoha would only be average.
But Deidara's C3 Explosive Doll was different. One strike from that thing could probably flatten Konoha's core district.
Its effect could not compare with Massive Shinra Tensei, but the problem was that using Massive Shinra Tensei required Nagato to spend his life. That C3 bomb was different. Although its materials should be extremely precious and the time needed to make it should be very long, as long as Deidara had enough time to drop eight or ten of them on Konoha, the result would not be much worse.
And she had no way to deal with it.
If he had not run into a Sand Jutsu ninja like Gaara, there was no way the village would have come away completely unharmed.
She even felt a little relieved. It was truly fortunate they had not encountered Deidara.
If she had faced that situation, she probably would not have done much better than when Nagato used Massive Shinra Tensei.
"Looks like it's time to develop equipment specifically for airborne enemies. Only then can we deal with enemies in the sky."
Tsunade murmured to herself.
Deidara was a much greater threat than Sasori. It was not because his strength was far above Sasori's, but because his fighting style was unique, and because he could fly. That made him extremely difficult to handle.
"Right, doesn't that ninja from Root fly too?"
Tsunade suddenly remembered that in Root, there was a boy named Sai. He was the one who would replace Sasuke on Team 7 in the future, and he seemed to possess a similar ability.
It seemed he could also gain flight through birds he drew.
Her head started hurting at once. The ability to fly was far too difficult for Konoha to deal with.
"This Akatsuki Organization really is too much trouble. Who knows where Nagato found someone like this."
Namikaze Minato frowned. The information in the video gave him a great deal to imagine.
He suddenly thought of something. Could he snatch Kimimaro away in advance? The other party had been imprisoned since childhood and used as a human weapon, with no proper space to grow. Rather than letting Orochimaru use him as a vessel later, Minato might as well intercept him first.
The boy was only in his teens, yet he already possessed strength at least comparable to an adult Kakashi. Although that was partly because Kakashi had given up on himself back then, Kimimaro's talent was still beyond doubt.
However, his Kekkei Genkai Disease was indeed a very troublesome problem. But they had Tsunade on their side. Minato could find a way to cure Tsunade's Hemophobia, then have Tsunade find a way to cure Kimimaro.
Orochimaru's medical skill was also very high, but compared with Tsunade, it was like comparing a firefly to the moon. In the field of Medical Ninjutsu, she was the undisputed number one of the current world.
Orochimaru being unable to cure him did not mean Tsunade could not.
As long as Kimimaro was properly trained, it was almost certain he could reach Kage Level in the future. Of course, the prerequisite was that he did not die prematurely from Kekkei Genkai Disease along the way.
Konoha was far too short on talent. Or rather, there were far too few talented people Minato could trust and rely on.
That was also the thing that gave him, the future Fourth Hokage, the biggest headache. Currently, Konoha could still be called full of talent. It had not yet fallen to the most miserable point in the future, where only the Third Hokage, Old Man, was openly holding everything together.
But there were not many people he could actually use. Shimura Danzo was a villain. Orochimaru was a villain too, and would even stand on the opposite side. Minato had no way to influence the Third Hokage himself. His teacher, Jiraiya, loved wandering around and had no desire to stay in the village.
As for Tsunade, she had Hemophobia, so she could not be used either.
Among the Kage Level experts he could rely on, aside from himself, only his future wife Uzumaki Kushina remained.
It was not that he did not want to train more people. It was just that people capable of breaking through to Kage Level were already rare to begin with. It was not something that could be done just because he wanted to train them.
Among those of his generation, aside from himself and his wife, there was only Uchiha Fugaku of the Uchiha Clan.
The rest had to be cultivated and promoted from the younger generation. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were still too far away to count on for now. The next group consisted of Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi.
Those three were all geniuses from Konoha itself. But what if he dug up some talent from other villages? For example, Kimimaro, the orphan of the Kaguya Clan, and Yuki Haku, the genius from the Yuki Clan of Kirigakure who had also appeared in Kaede Kitahara's diary last time.
Haku was another young talent who already possessed combat power comparable to a Jonin at a young age. In terms of talent, he was no inferior to Hatake Kakashi back then.
In the original course of things, Kaede Kitahara had casually killed Yuki Haku. But now, Minato still had time to intercept Zabuza first.
Mine. Mine. They're all mine!
Although from Kaede Kitahara's perspective, Kage Level seemed like nothing impressive, to the point where there was almost a feeling that Kage Level fighters were as common as dogs and Super Kage Level fighters were everywhere.
But that level of crisis was still many years away. Even for a long time in the future, Kage Level would remain an extremely scarce top-tier combat force.
"Hokage… Kazekage…"
Uchiha Sasuke stared at the diary video in silence for a long time. He had never imagined that the guy who kept shouting about killing and was covered in killing intent would actually become Kazekage in the future.
And he had done a decent job of it too, even gaining the recognition of the entire village.
This was a huge shock to Sasuke, no less than the shock Gaara felt after seeing Uzumaki Naruto walk down a completely different path.
Now he felt that same enormous impact.
A human weapon hated by others, disliked by his father from the moment he was born, and even targeted for assassination. Sasuke could almost not imagine what kind of situation that had been.
He was miserable too. He had lost his parents and clan when he was young. But what he had felt from his parents and clan had been full of love. Aside from Uchiha Itachi, everyone else had doted on him greatly.
Yet a Gaara like that had relied on himself step by step in the future and walked down a brand-new path, becoming Kazekage.
And thinking that there was another person like him, Uzumaki Naruto, who would become a great hero who saved the village and then become the Seventh Hokage in the future…
That was a dream Sasuke had only dared to have in childhood.
Especially after the entire clan was wiped out, he had never thought about it again. He was not worthy. Before killing Uchiha Itachi, he only deserved to be an avenger.
But now, all of this gave him a completely new line of thought.
Just as Gaara had said, taking that step would certainly be painful. But if he did nothing, it would only become even more painful. Endless pain would swallow him.
So he did not need to change. He needed to take the first step. Even if many villagers misunderstood the Uchiha Clan and did not like them, he still had to gain their recognition.
If they could do it, then could he, Uchiha Sasuke, really not do it?
It was only becoming Hokage. Uzumaki Naruto could do it, so why couldn't Uchiha Sasuke?
He was the child of the Fourth Hokage, but I'm also descended from the famous Uchiha. My ancestors entered the pass… no, that's not it. My ancestors already endured all the suffering needed to help found Konoha. In Kaede Kitahara's words, it should be the Uchiha Clan's turn to become Hokage.
As for the hidden rule of Hokage succession that Kaede Kitahara had hinted at in his diary, that one had to be a member of the Hokage lineage, that was even easier to solve.
Hatake Kakashi himself was a genuine member of the Hokage lineage. His teacher was the Fourth Hokage. His teacher's teacher was also part of the Hokage lineage. Kakashi himself was even the Sixth Hokage.
With an identity like that, Uchiha Sasuke was actually fully qualified to be selected as Hokage. The prerequisite was that he did not defect from the village himself.
"The future Hokage of Konoha will definitely be me, Uchiha Sasuke."
Uchiha Sasuke clenched his fists.
For the first time, he understood what it felt like to keep saying that he would become Hokage in the future.
It actually did not feel bad.
"Man, we really were young back then."
Uzumaki Naruto, now looking like a Middle-aged Guy, thought back to those glorious years. It was truly hard to imagine that so many years had already passed.
As Jinchuriki, the two of them had reached the position of Kage. Even among Jinchuriki, that could be considered unique. Only they themselves knew how much effort they had put in.
Because people feared their power and the Tailed Beasts that could erupt at any time, countless people had kept their distance from them.
To gain recognition from others and become Kage had truly been far too difficult.
"Stop sighing over the past, Naruto. If you don't train properly now, Gaara's experience will happen to you too. When that time comes, I'll be captured and extracted, just like Shukaku was back then."
The Nine-Tails spoke up to remind him.
It cared very much about the existence of the Otsutsuki Clan. Especially that Otsutsuki Momoshiki, who had actually been able to forcibly extract it from Uzumaki Naruto's body without using any special method. That was more than a little ridiculous.
According to what Old Man had said back then, there were still many powerful beings like that in the main family of the Otsutsuki. Otsutsuki Momoshiki was troublesome, but what was even more troublesome was the main family behind him.
"Yeah, don't worry. I won't give them that chance." Uzumaki Naruto clenched his fist and said, "But this Six Paths Yang Power is so hard to train."
At this, Uzumaki Naruto's face turned bitter. The fact that his cultivation had not advanced at all these past few years was directly related to this. To reach Six Paths Level, one either needed the bloodline, or needed to have the bloodline while also being incredibly smart. Clearly, he had neither.
"Ugh. I'll just have to wait until Sasuke comes back and discuss it with him," Uzumaki Naruto thought with a bitter face. Perhaps that was the only way.
"Yeah. Tell him to hurry back. He should stop wandering around outside. What's the point?"
The Nine-Tails spoke with its usual prideful tone.
"Dad."
Just then, Hima's voice came from outside the door.
"Oh, I'm coming out right now. Wait for me a second, Hima."
Uzumaki Naruto closed the diary, carefully sealed it away, and only then went out to see his youngest daughter, Himawari.