Chapter 73: Growth

Even though Aoba had a mentor-student relationship with Sasuke, he had never officially taken him as a disciple. The same went for Karin and Naruto.

But Sakura was different. Taking her on wasn't just to compensate for the original female lead of the story. It was more about her civilian background and her academic skills.

Aoba would need an assistant in the future, someone to help with his various in-depth research projects. But looking at the young ninjas around him, aside from the clan members, only Sasuke and Karin were closest to him. However, Sasuke was obsessed with revenge, and Karin was a pure slacker when it came to studies.

Having them involved in research would be a disaster—they wouldn't even understand a basic report.

He could use shadow clones to assist with tasks, but since clones shared his consciousness, they could only provide auxiliary support rather than becoming true helpers.

Yumi, though strong, hadn't received formal education, so he needed to cultivate a qualified assistant from scratch.

Sakura, with her civilian background and strong theoretical foundation, was the perfect candidate.

In the original story, Sakura gradually fell behind. Even when the author tried to give her an important role, she still couldn't match the two protagonists with their incredible abilities.

But just because she couldn't keep up with those two didn't mean she lacked talent as a ninja.

In fact, without any shortcuts, Sakura was the real genius among geniuses.

Consider Naruto's growth path.

From the time he graduated, Konoha's higher-ups prepared the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique specifically for him. Then he received personal training from Jiraiya, had the power of the Nine-Tails, and even his parents' spirits in his subconscious to provide final support.

Later, the Sage of the Six Paths himself stepped in to boost him further. Beyond his unbeatable "Talk-no-Jutsu," Naruto's natural talent as a ninja couldn't hold a candle to Sakura's.

Aoba recognized this girl's unique qualities and planned to set her on a different path in this lifetime.

The role of a team leader was actually quite tedious. With the new graduates being mere genin, they could only take on D-rank missions, like cleaning rivers, picking up trash in the woods, and occasionally helping old ladies with gardening.

Theoretically, he was supposed to join in these tasks as well. That idea was just absurd, so he shamelessly slacked off, sending the kids to work while he went home to continue his experiments.

He practiced the Flying Thunder God Technique daily, making some progress, though not much. While it's possible to train the body to overcome certain negative reactions, it requires a lot of time and countless repetitions.

Currently, he had precise control over the Flying Thunder God Technique, allowing him to perform short-range teleportation with accuracy.

The only problem was that every teleport left him dizzy and nauseous. Using it in actual combat would be a surefire way to fail.

For now, the Flying Thunder God was just for travel or emergency escapes.

Since acquiring the Sharingan, he prioritized its study above all else.

He also noticed a positive development: his Mangekyo Sharingan's ocular power was slowly recovering.

The recovery was slow—not enough to use the Mangekyo like Obito, who could activate it freely. This was likely due to his non-Uchiha lineage.

But the Hashirama cells were working, allowing his Mangekyo's ocular power to recover gradually. At this rate, he estimated that Kotoamatsukami would be usable in about two years.

Two years might seem unbearably long for any other dojutsu, but with a technique as powerful as Kotoamatsukami, he was more than satisfied. It was significantly better than the ten-year cooldown he had initially expected, opening up new options for his plans.

This development also made him realize the Sharingan held far more secrets than he had yet uncovered.

His research into the nature of ocular power took top priority.

Initially, he wanted to give Kakashi a Hashirama cell transplant too, but Kakashi declined. He seemed to have some psychological hesitation and, as an advisor to the Hokage, the surgery would have been a bit too conspicuous.

The fact that the Hashirama cells could slowly restore Sharingan's ocular power also gave Aoba new insight.

Previously, he'd assumed ocular power was the product of Yin Release chakra combined with spiritual energy, but now he realized that theory might be oversimplified.

After all, the Hashirama cells had no direct connection to spiritual energy, meaning the Sharingan's ocular power must involve more complexity.

He wasn't in a rush. This was already progress. His current strength was enough to handle any crisis in this timeframe, and time was on his side—research couldn't be forced.

However, while he wasn't anxious, the three kids under his care were.

In less than a week, they were already on the verge of collapse from the string of D-rank missions.

Their vision of a ninja life had been drastically different. This was especially true for Sasuke, who wanted nothing to do with weeding gardens for elderly ladies; it certainly wouldn't help him defeat and avenge himself against Itachi Uchiha.

He desperately wanted to become stronger—a real kind of strength.

His training style was nothing like Itachi's high-pressure approach. As an Uchiha, Itachi placed all his bets on the Sharingan.

Itachi repeatedly provoked Sasuke to trigger the Sharingan's awakening, but Aoba preferred Sasuke to grow steadily and gradually.

The Sharingan was powerful, but Itachi was plagued by illness. Awakening it too early could have lasting effects on the body. Excessive stimulation could also twist a child's mind.

Itachi himself was aware of this, to the point of planting a suggestion in Shisui's other Mangekyo to protect Konoha.

The plan was to use Kotoamatsukami to compel Sasuke to return and defend the village after his Sharingan awakened.

When he first learned of this approach, he found Itachi's thinking unbelievably convoluted. In fact, it seemed that Itachi was the first person under the influence of Kotoamatsukami.

Because his logic was incomprehensible.

He cooperated with the village, killed his own family, and left Sasuke to bear the pain, constantly provoking his little brother to awaken the Sharingan.

And then, after Sasuke awakened it, he wanted him to come back and protect the village???

Essentially, he wanted Sasuke to protect the very people responsible for his clan's massacre.

There's no way it was just Danzo acting alone with the Third Hokage unaware.

He was the Hokage—there's no way he didn't know when the most prominent clan in the village was eradicated. For a civilian, the fate of the Uchiha might not matter, but for the Hokage, not intervening was tantamount to giving the order himself.

This behavior left him baffled, unable to tell if Itachi loved or resented his brother. He could never come up with such a twisted, torturous approach.

Sasuke's later cold, extreme personality was rooted in this crazy brother's manipulation.

Aoba wasn't an ideal teacher, but he had a basic sense of decency. Under his guidance, he would at least ensure Sasuke wouldn't become the ruthless, volatile person he was in the original storyline.

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Currently on Chapter 114 - Jiraiya's Question