Chapter 127: Hiruko's Doubts
"Not bad."
The clan elders present all voiced their agreement with those words.
In their view, with the Hyuga Clan's strength, merely obtaining an Advisor position was nothing remarkable at all.
Within Konoha, even the Uzumaki Clan, who had only just arrived, had been granted an Advisor seat by the Hokage.
Compared to that, the Hyuga Clan was a great clan second only to the Uchiha and Senju. Asking for an Advisor position was already the absolute minimum.
If possible, they wanted even more.
For example, actual authority.
"But how should we build a good relationship with Hokage sama?"
The Hyuga Clan Head raised the key question.
The Hyuga of the past had simply been too arrogant. Clearly, they had been given many opportunities to build a good relationship with Kei, yet they had missed them one after another.
Now, Kei had already become Hokage, and for ordinary people, even getting the chance to see him had become difficult.
That alone meant that the Hyuga Clan's hope of befriending the Hokage had become far more complicated.
"Actually, if we could form a marriage alliance with Hokage sama, that would be a good choice."
Someone present spoke up. "Hokage sama's strength is extraordinary. Even the Third Raikage was no match for him. Marrying a girl from the Hyuga Main House to Hokage sama would hardly be a disgrace to the Hyuga Clan."
"Unfortunately, the Senju Clan has already beaten us to it."
He was naturally referring to Tsunade.
After Kei's return, word of his engagement to Tsunade had gradually spread.
Even with the Hyuga Clan's habit of staying isolated from outside news, they were already aware of it by now.
"The Senju Clan certainly moved quickly. First they produced two generations of Hokage, and now they've married their princess to the Third Hokage."
One of the clan elders spoke mockingly.
From their perspective, they did not believe Kei was marrying for love. In their eyes, it was merely a political marriage.
Of the three Hokage Konoha had produced, the first two had both come from the Senju Clan. Now that a Hokage with a different surname had finally appeared, he had still ended up becoming the Senju Clan's son in law.
That left the others not knowing whether to laugh or sigh.
"Since that's the case, we'll start with Hokage sama's engagement."
After a moment of thought, the Hyuga Clan Head spoke again. "Send people to prepare properly. At Hokage sama's wedding, the Hyuga Clan must present a gift grand enough to catch everyone's attention."
"Only then can we show sufficient sincerity."
"Yes."
The clan elders in front of him nodded respectfully. None of them objected, and they quickly went down to handle the matter.
"Long time no see."
Kei smiled as he greeted Tsunade.
Inside the laboratory, Tsunade, who had been handling experimental equipment, froze instantly.
Then she turned around and looked behind her. The moment she saw Yuu, delight immediately appeared on her face.
"Kei, you're back!"
Right there in front of everyone in the laboratory, she threw herself straight into his arms.
Watching this scene, the people inside the laboratory could only shake their heads.
"Here they go again."
Hiruko looked at the two embracing, his mood difficult to describe. "Couldn't she at least wait until after I finish this experiment before hugging him?"
"Now the experiment's been interrupted, and it's going to cost me a lot more time."
He grumbled inwardly as he turned to glance at Orochimaru beside him.
Orochimaru, however, was not complaining at all. Instead, he was staring at Kei with burning intensity, his eyes full of fervor.
During Kei's absence, all sorts of questions had piled up in his mind, and right now, he urgently wanted to seek him out for answers.
Unfortunately, Kei's time was currently being monopolized by Tsunade, and even Orochimaru did not dare approach.
After all, it wasn't as though this were the first day he had seen Tsunade's iron fist.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Looking at Tsunade, who kept touching him all over to check for injuries, Kei felt somewhat helpless.
"I'm not hurt."
"That's good."
Tsunade let out a long sigh of relief. "I heard you had a huge battle with the Third Raikage, and I was worried something might've happened to you."
"Relax. Nothing happened."
Kei chuckled. "It's already been settled."
He comforted Tsunade for a while before finally walking over to Orochimaru and Hiruko.
"Looks like you've both been doing quite well while I was away."
He glanced at the two of them and spoke with a smile.
"Teacher."
Orochimaru and Hiruko immediately stood and greeted him respectfully.
Facing Kei, they began to report the results of their experiments from this period.
While he had been away, they had not been idle at all. Following his instructions, they had continued improving those forbidden techniques.
There were actually quite a few projects under their supervision.
Not only did the Reincarnation Jutsu and the Chimera Technique still require further refinement, but there was also the Edo Tensei.
The power of Edo Tensei spoke for itself. It could summon the dead back into the living world, and at critical moments, it was enough to exert overwhelming influence.
This technique had originally been created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, but at present, it was still only a preliminary version.
If it were to display the astonishing utility it would one day possess, it still needed continuous refinement.
Kei had simply handed that task over to Orochimaru and Hiruko.
After all, in the original course of history, it was Orochimaru who had truly made that technique infamous.
From the current results, however, the improvement of Edo Tensei had encountered considerable difficulty.
That did not exceed Kei's expectations.
The technique itself was extraordinarily difficult to improve. It involved matters of the soul, so a high level of complexity was only natural.
"Keep working hard on refining it."
He spoke calmly. "It doesn't matter if there are no immediate results. As long as there is progress, that's enough."
"So long as we're moving in the right direction, the day of success will come."
"Yes."
The two of them nodded respectfully.
"Teacher..."
After a moment of hesitation, Hiruko suddenly spoke, his expression uncertain.
"You also obtained Wood Release?"
Clearly, he had already heard the news of Kei using Wood Release from others.
Yuu had never intended to hide that in the first place, so he nodded directly.
"Then why is your Wood Release so much stronger than mine, Teacher?"
A look of confusion appeared on Hiruko's face.
Strictly speaking, he had been the first person to use the Chimera Technique to devour Wood Release.
But after obtaining Wood Release in that way, although his own Wood Release was decent, it was nowhere near as powerful as Kei's.
The simplest proof was that even now, he still could not use the Wood Dragon Jutsu, and almost none of the truly powerful Wood Release techniques could be performed by him.
Yet Kei could use them with ease.
There was clearly a huge gap between them.
Hearing that question, Orochimaru could not help but focus as well. He was obviously just as concerned.
After witnessing Hiruko successfully devour Wood Release, he too had started thinking about Wood Release.
It was just that Hiruko's Wood Release was far weaker than he had imagined it would be, so there had to be a reason behind that discrepancy.
He was extremely curious about what that reason was.
Both of their gazes fell upon Kei, waiting for his answer.
....
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