Chapter 145

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"It's enough, he should now possess the power of Wood Release. Orochimaru-sama, please let him try a Wood Release technique."

Mina checked the physical data of the test subject, then confidently said to Orochimaru.

Just like in her dreams, this person could now use Wood Release techniques.

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru felt a bit surprised but calmly ordered a student to send in a simple Wood Clone Technique.

The test subject sent by Danzo was a ninja cultivated from the Root, only eleven years old, but he had already carried out numerous missions for the Root and was proficient in several ninjutsu.

Orochimaru, through a sound transmitting device, commanded the ninja to learn the Wood Release technique presented before him and release it as quickly as possible.

Since Yōichi did not want to expose Mina's involvement in the experiment, the Root's test subjects were still unaware of her existence, observing only through a one-way glass.

The young Root ninja immediately began studying the scroll.

The principle of the Wood Clone Technique is similar to the Shadow Clone, but it requires the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.

After forming hand seals and controlling the chakra flow, the young Root ninja started forming seals.

The first attempt failed, but sprouts had already appeared on his shoulders.

Just from seeing this, Orochimaru could confirm that the Wood Release experiment was a success.

On the second attempt, a mass of wood emerged from the boy's body, forming a human shape, but it didn't complete.

The third attempt, the young Root ninja successfully used the Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique.

"Impressive, truly successful. After Tsunade, you are the strongest medical ninja, Yōichi-san is lucky to have your help," Orochimaru said without stinginess in his praise, understanding Mina's character over these four days.

As he said, her medical ninjutsu could rival Tsunade's, her personality is open and straightforward, and she is slightly naïve, making it easy to extract information from her.

"Heh, it's alright, Yōichi-sama gave me the opportunity," Mina almost slipped up, but she caught herself and awkwardly changed the topic: "Orochimaru-sama, if there are no issues, then please give me the Hashirama Cells, the experiment is over."

"Mm, let's do one last check."

Orochimaru smiled, thinking to himself; what kind of opportunity? An opportunity for experimentation? And quite a few at that?

But Yōichi-san likely doesn't have Hashirama Cells, and it seems this isn't even the best fusion yet.

Orochimaru could only use this flattering method to let Mina relax her guard, then slowly extract more information.

It was quite fruitful, making Orochimaru even more interested in Yōichi.

After the experiment ended, as scheduled, Orochimaru handed over the Hashirama Cells to Mina, which included the majority obtained from Danzo, enough to cultivate thirty individuals with Wood Release bloodlines.

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama, then I shall take my leave."

After greeting, Mina left the area, near the Forest of Death, surrounded by several dens of venomous snakes. If not for Lord Yōichi's orders, she would never have come here.

However, the mission was finally complete. Holding the Hashirama Cells, Mina prepared to head straight home.

Recently, Yōichi rarely visited the police force, spending most of his time training three students in the forest behind his home, with Yugito often visiting.

Though Yugito thought Yōichi was a bit of a womanizer, he couldn't deny Yōichi's strength.

Especially since she harbored the Two-Tails, she felt threatened during her last encounter with Yōichi's Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Mina?"

While hurrying home, Mina suddenly heard someone calling her and turned to see Kushina.

Mina asked, "Kushina, what are you doing here?"

"I just went to the Konoha Hospital, you said you were a Shadow Clone, so I came back, but I didn't expect to find you here."

Kushina approached and asked, "I wanted to chat with you, but you've been busy lately? Every time I go to the hospital, it's just a Shadow Clone."

The Shadow Clone had to ensure the duties at the Konoha Hospital were maintained, so Mina's Shadow Clone refused all non-essential activities, including going out with Kushina.

"I have indeed been quite busy, assisting Yōichi-sama with missions. Kushina, did you need something?"

"It's nothing much, just had a small argument with Minato a few days ago, but we've made up. Are you still busy now?"

Seeing Mina seemed hurried, Kushina spoke up, "If you're busy, I'll find you another time."

"Okay, I should be free tomorrow. I'll come to see you then."

Mina hadn't seen Kushina in a while and planned to meet up with Kushina the next day to hang out and vent a bit about the former clan leader's wife, unaware that Kushina and Mikoto were also close friends.

After saying goodbye to Mina, Kushina was left wondering what to do; without Yōichi's assistance, her control over the tailed beast's chakra was too slow.

The Seal Division didn't need her help, and her activities were limited to the village. She could only fantasize about the world outside through her friends.

————————————

"Minato, everything regarding Kakashi has been handled. As long as he doesn't mention it himself, the other ninja villages won't know he's already a chūnin."

Hiruzen said to Minato, who had almost let every ninja in the village who knew of Kakashi's chūnin status know to keep it a secret when foreign ninja visited.

Since Kakashi had been promoted to chūnin at the age of six, nearly four years had passed. Under the occasional training from Sakumo, Kakashi now even had the credentials to challenge for a special jōnin rank.

Although young, letting him participate in the chūnin exams would definitely place him at the forefront in terms of strength.

If the other ninja villages knew that Kakashi had been a chūnin for over three years, this chūnin exam would be a joke.

"Thank you very much, Third Hokage, I've been quite troubled about this matter."

Minato smiled and said, "Though the three of them often quarrel, their friendship is strong. If we suddenly changed a teammate, this chūnin exam would definitely fail."

"Mm, it's just a small matter, don't worry about it."

Sarutobi looked at the young Minato before him and suddenly came up with an idea.

He had previously considered the position of the Fourth Hokage, thinking a lot about it, but felt that his three students fell short of the mark for Hokage.

If Tsunade didn't have hemophobia, Orochimaru thought a bit more about the village instead of his own ambitions, and Jiraiya was a bit more serious, any of them would be suitable for Hokage.

But each was lacking in some way, leading Sarutobi to feel none were fit for Hokage.

As for Sakumo, he was a person who fully embodied the Will of Fire, making it difficult for Sarutobi to point out two flaws in him even if given a day.

But he was too close to the Uchiha clan!

And he had his own strong opinions; if Sakumo became the Fourth Hokage, then he, the Third Hokage, would truly retire.

"Minato, do you want to be Hokage?"

Sarutobi suddenly asked, catching Minato off guard. After a few seconds, Minato scratched his head, somewhat embarrassedly saying, "Of course, it's been my goal since my Genin days, and I'm still working towards it."

"I want to protect everyone in the village and gain everyone's recognition!" The last part, about protecting Kushina and letting her freely roam the ninja world, was something Minato thought but did not say aloud.

"Then do your best, if you need anything, you can come to me, Minato, I have high hopes for you."

Sarutobi lit his pipe, then kindly smiled at Minato, "Jiraiya once said you were suited for the Flying Thunder God Technique, that was the second time I noticed you, and I felt then that you would definitely become Hokage."

"Third Hokage."

Minato was moved, if not for the Third Hokage's approval back then, how could a mere chūnin have accessed the Scroll of Seals and obtained the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Work hard, Minato, in a couple of years, I might also step down, and by then I hope you can be recognized by the whole village."

"Yes, I understand, Third Hokage."

Minato was a bit excited after hearing this, almost confirming to him that the Third Hokage would support him to become the Fourth Hokage.

Being Hokage was his dream, and also a condition for freeing Kushina from surveillance, so Minato was particularly excited after receiving Sarutobi's recognition and support.

After leaving the Hokage Building, Minato was still a bit exhilarated, but after a few steps, his nature made him calm down.

At that moment, Minato remembered that becoming Hokage, despite the support, would not be without resistance.

Among his peers was Yōichi, the Uchiha Clan Leader.

And then there were the Sannin—his teacher Jiraiya and Orochimaru—with more extensive records of military exploits and missions.

What troubled Minato the most was Sakumo; he suddenly felt that Sakumo was the most suitable to be Hokage, and even though his dream supported him, in front of Sakumo, he always felt lacking.

"I'll go and discuss this with Jiraiya-sensei."

Minato originally decided to meet Kushina, but now the matter of becoming Hokage weighed on his mind, wanting to analyze it with Jiraiya.

————————————————

As the chūnin exam approached, the patrol duties of the police force became stricter.

The war had just ended, and a chūnin exam involving several countries and their ninja villages was a challenging task for the police force.

Thus, Yōichi had also asked clan ninjas to help share the load, allowing those not in the police force to patrol with them.

This would give the police force more time to rest.

The genin participating in the chūnin exams were also training fervently; this chūnin exam was particularly grand.

Six ninja villages jointly held the chūnin exam, with four daimyō attending to watch. Once the news spread, no genin wanted to embarrass themselves in this exam.

Kakashi had been practicing team cooperation with Obito and Rin until the last few days when he started training at home. He had asked his father, Sakumo, to specifically train him in the White Fang sword technique.

Asuma was being taught the Sarutobi clan's Fire Release techniques by other clan ninjas.

Rumi was practicing Gentle Fist; she didn't return home and, with Yōichi's permission, trained in the forest behind his house every day.

Yōichi guessed a bit about the Hyūga clan's situation but didn't say it outright.

As for Yōichi, he was still relatively relaxed, wandering around several places. After absorbing enough starstone chakra, he stopped training.

His home's basement had also been outfitted with many experimental devices, where Mina was currently conducting cell fusion.

Once the cell fusion was complete, Mina could integrate Hashirama Cells into Yōichi, a method not only capable of perfectly unleashing the power of Hashirama Cells but also devoid of side effects.

Such as pale skin or faces growing on the body.

After fusing with Hashirama Cells, Yōichi would be the strongest ninja in Konoha, and he hadn't even learned Sage Mode yet.

Ninjas from other villages gradually arrived in Konoha, and the Cloud ninja team was also here.

A total of thirty people, besides the three jōnin, Cloud Village had brought nine genin teams to participate in Konoha's chūnin exam.

Although not as many as the fifteen teams from Rock Village, they were still the third most populous village.

After arriving in Konoha, Dodai called Samui into the house, his expression serious as he spoke, "Samui, if you see Yugito, convey the Raikage's words to her, tell her not to overthink it."

"I understand, Dodai-sama, once I see Yugito, I'll persuade her well."

Samui's expression was emotionless, not because she didn't take the task seriously, but because she rarely showed emotions.

"But Dodai-sama, will Konoha let us take Yugito?"

"They should, considering the sincerity we've shown this time. If Konoha still refuses, then we can only..."

Dodai rubbed his temples, saying they had even brought out the other Six Paths ninja tools, along with the war indemnity documents, and mission commissions from the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Rice Fields.

If Konoha still refused to return Yugito to them, then the Third Raikage would really have to swallow his pride and seek an alliance with Ōnoki.

The Two-Tails was too important to them; compared to that, pride was negligible.

This trip to the chūnin exams for the Cloud ninja was not only to negotiate with Konoha but also to exchange ideas with the Rock ninja.

Samui rubbed her shoulders, suddenly asking, "If Yugito doesn't come out of the Uchiha clan territory, can I go in?"

Dodai frowned slightly, then said, "Try it. If you can't get in, we'll think of another way."

(End of Chapter)