Chapter 205: A Different Hayate, the Dark Guardian!

The newly appointed Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was extremely busy.

Though Konoha might seem like a small village, there was no shortage of work.

Plus, there was no transition period. Previously, Minato had simply followed orders, completing missions as a jōnin. Now, as the Fourth Hokage, he had countless responsibilities to sort through and understand.

Watching Shūichi dart off quickly, Minato sighed in mild frustration, "I actually wanted to talk to him about taking over the Root division."

Kushina chuckled, "You can tell him next time, but my guess is that Shūichi will definitely refuse."

Minato was intrigued. "Why do you think that?"

"He shouldn't refuse," Minato mused.

Kushina smiled. "It's not that he'd reject taking over Root, but he wouldn't want it to operate the same way it did before."

"He doesn't want Konoha to end up like before, with Root holding so much unchecked power, which only created internal conflicts within the village."

Minato nodded in agreement. "I intend to reform Root as well."

"After all, the original purpose of Root was really just an extension of the Anbu, created to train talent for the Anbu."

He didn't elaborate further, as this was partly the Third Hokage's responsibility.

Although the formation of Root had unique historical reasons.

For instance, when the Second Hokage fell in battle, Hiruzen Sarutobi, barely in his thirties, needed powerful allies to support him.

Or, perhaps, because Hiruzen strove too much for the image of light, he needed a "dark glove" to handle the village's covert affairs.

Regardless of the reason, for a Hokage to allow an organization like Root to develop unchecked could be considered a lapse in responsibility.

Kushina understood Minato's implication and asked, "So, do you want Shūichi to help train talent for the Anbu?"

Minato nodded.

Kushina organized her paperwork and smiled, "Shūichi really would be perfect for that."

"He's mastered all five nature releases, as well as medical ninjutsu, genjutsu, and sealing techniques—he'd make an excellent teacher."

"Besides, Shūichi wouldn't need to spend too much time on it; he could use shadow clones."

With that, she volunteered, "Let me handle assigning this task to him!"

Minato chuckled, "Then I'll leave it to you, Kushina."

...

Upon leaving the Hokage's office, Shūichi headed straight back to the lab.

Hayate Gekkō was already waiting there, along with Asuka, Shūichi's assistant.

As soon as Shūichi arrived, Hayate stood up, nervously asking, "Senpai, did the Fourth Hokage approve it?"

"Of course," Shūichi replied with a smile. "It's just a minor surgery with no major risks."

Hayate let out a sigh of relief. His hereditary illness had been tormenting him for a long time.

The Transparent Escape Technique was excellent for gathering intelligence. As a ninja, he couldn't resist using such an ability, especially since it gave him the advantage of gathering intel before a fight.

But this came with consequences—his lung deterioration had accelerated, leading to breathing issues and a host of other problems, including dark circles under his eyes at such a young age.

Desperate for a change, Hayate had agreed to Shūichi's proposal of body modification without hesitation. His clan, the Gekkō family, also hadn't hesitated. As a once-prestigious family, they were determined to seize any opportunity to support a rare bloodline user.

"Let's get started!" Shūichi patted Hayate on the shoulder.

Preparations began. After a busy half hour, Hayate lay on the operating table like a fish on display.

Scrolls engraved with sealing techniques covered his forehead and abdomen, while the entire operating table was lined with additional sealing patterns and connected equipment to sustain Hayate's body functions.

After Asuka administered anesthesia, Shūichi started the surgery.

Adding gills was a relatively simple procedure. But it was more than just a small operation—it involved integrating a secondary respiratory system to alleviate the strain on Hayate's lungs.

The procedure lasted until three in the afternoon.

Once the operation was over, Asuka placed her hands on Hayate's shoulders and activated her Star God Seal. In an instant, the healing marks associated with the Strength of a Hundred Seal spread from her to Hayate. Chakra surged into him, rapidly closing his surgical wounds.

The Strength of a Hundred Technique wasn't typically meant for healing others, but Asuka's unique chakra had natural healing properties, allowing her to heal others through the seal.

After removing the seals, Hayate slowly regained consciousness and immediately noticed something unusual.

He felt extremely dry and slightly short of breath.

Shūichi handed Hayate his shirt and explained, "This is normal. Now, focus and try not to breathe through your gills."

"The gill system extracts oxygen from water, sending it into your bloodstream. Although there's moisture in the air, it's too dry for you to rely on it right now."

"So, you'll still need to use your lungs for breathing."

Nodding, Hayate focused and soon mastered the ability to switch between breathing methods. It felt fascinating.

At that moment, Asuka handed him a black breathing mask designed to cover his mouth, nose, and both sides of his neck.

(T/N: Why I'm getting Viper(Valorant) chills here xd)

"This custom gill breathing mask is designed to work by dissolving air into water so that you can extract oxygen from it seamlessly," she explained, passing the mask to Hayate.

Hayate touched the sides of his neck, wondering if he now looked like a fish.

Amused, Asuka asked, "Want to check a mirror? It actually looks pretty cool."

In fact, Hayate's gills looked like three clean, thin slashes on each side of his face.

Watching him, Shūichi couldn't help but think Hayate now resembled Kisame.

Blushing slightly, Hayate replied hastily, "Appearance doesn't really matter to me; I just need time to adjust." He quickly put on the mask and resumed gill breathing.

His eyes lit up—it felt amazing. This setup wouldn't interfere with combat at all.

Hayate leapt from the table, activating his Transparent Escape Technique, and vanished from Shūichi and Asuka's sight, his body and aura both concealed.

Shūichi sensed the chakra fluctuations, realizing that while Transparent Escape could erase physical presence and aura, it couldn't entirely mask chakra signals, meaning it wouldn't evade chakra-based detection.

This prompted him to wonder, Could this technique hide from the Sharingan or Byakugan?

He recalled that Iwagakure also had a jōnin with a similar stealth technique and that Nagato's chameleon summon could become invisible, though with even greater effectiveness.

"Hayate, can Transparent Escape not erase chakra fluctuations?" Shūichi asked.

Hayate reappeared, somewhat embarrassed. "The strain on my body limits how deeply I can develop it. Currently, it only hides my form and aura."

Shūichi understood and reassured him, "This transformation was successful. When you're ready for the next stage, we'll do further modifications so you won't need the mask and can breathe underwater."

Hayate beamed with joy and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Shūichi and Asuka!"

Shūichi continued, "But keep in mind, this doesn't cure your condition. While it'll prevent your bloodline ability from harming you too severely, your lungs will still deteriorate over time. We can't be sure if it might eventually affect other organs."

"So, your lungs will still need regular treatment."

Hayate nodded solemnly. "Understood."

...

After escorting Hayate out of the lab, Asuka returned and asked, "Shūichi, could Hashirama cells or White Zetsu cells possibly cure Hayate's condition?"

Shūichi shook his head. "There's no way to know right now."

"The exact cause of bloodline illnesses is still unclear. The leading theory is that the bloodline limits trigger genetic abnormalities."

"As for whether Hashirama cells or White Zetsu cells could heal it—we'd need further tests."

Then he chuckled. "Even if they don't cure it, they should be able to counteract the negative effects of Transparent Escape for a long while."

Since Hashirama cells could neutralize the Mangekyō's blinding drawback, Transparent Escape should be no problem—as long as Hayate's body could handle it, even the imperfect White Zetsu cells.

"Let's go home and leave the experiments to my shadow clones," Shūichi said, tidying up and leaving a shadow clone behind before heading home with Asuka.

As for Tsunade, she was at the Konoha Hospital, taking over and planning to expand the medical ninja program.

Her goal was to have some academy graduates split into a medical training program, where they would either join medical teams or become combat medics.

For now, this was only a plan.

Before that could happen, Minato had to sort through all of Konoha's internal matters, as any new project needed funding—especially training shinobi, and even more so for medical ninjas.

Just after taking office, Minato still needed time to fully assume his new responsibilities.

...

The next day, Shūichi was stopped on his way home after morning training by Kushina Uzumaki.

"Shūichi, I have a favor to ask," Kushina said with a bright smile.

Seeing her expression, Shūichi felt a bit nervous. "Uh, this isn't anything difficult, is it?"

"Of course not!" Kushina replied cheerfully. "I'd like you to take over the Root Division."

Shūichi looked puzzled. "But hasn't Root already been fully integrated into the Anbu?"

"Root was originally part of the Anbu, meant to train talent for it," Kushina explained. "Only later… well, you know how things changed."

"Anbu needs a steady source of talent, especially since Minato just took over as Hokage. As his student, you should lend him a hand," she added.

Shūichi nodded, understanding now. "So, you want Root to function again as a training ground for Anbu candidates?"

"Exactly. No issues with that, right?"

Shūichi thought for a moment. "That should be fine."

Kushina didn't seem surprised and then asked, "Do you have any ideas for talent training?"

Shūichi considered it. "It really depends on how Minato-sensei wants to position Root as a training base. In the past, Root's training mainly helped standard shinobi adapt to the Anbu's style of operations. While there was some strength development, it was more about conditioning for their tasks in the shadows."

"So, in my view, Root could function almost like a second ninja academy—but a special one meant for those who are already shinobi," he continued. "Training in the Anbu's operating style doesn't require too much time. What matters more is developing strength. We could select potential candidates, train them in Root, then move the best to Anbu. Eventually, some could even rise to become team leaders and the like."

Clap! Clap! Kushina clapped, smiling happily. "I knew you'd be perfect for this!"

Shūichi chuckled. "That was probably the original intention behind Root… So, we don't need a formal leader for Root. We could mimic the current Anbu setup, splitting it into two main sections that report directly to the Hokage."

"One branch would focus on strength development, and the other on tactical field training," he explained. "They could alternate."

Kushina clapped again. "It's settled, then. Later, come by the Hokage's office. I'll prepare a list so you can choose candidates."

She patted Shūichi's shoulder encouragingly. "Don't worry, with shadow clones, teaching will be a breeze."

With that, Kushina waved and left in a flash.

Watching her go, Shūichi sighed. "Looks like my schedule just got a lot busier… Well, that's what happens when you're the Hokage's student."

Wait… what's that?

He noticed something unusual with his mental 'Tag Tree.'

Sure enough, a new tag had appeared.

Tag: Dark Guardian

Condition to Obtain: Reestablish Konoha's Root Division and become a guardian of both Konoha and the Shinobi World.

Effects: +100% Talk-no-Jutsu, +100% Luck, and gain the Shadow Release Kekkei Genkai.

What's going on? Shūichi was perplexed.

"Is this tag system expecting me to take on Danzo's role?"

Restoring Root for Konoha was one thing, but being a "protector in the shadows" for the whole shinobi world? Did that mean he'd have to wait until he defeated Kaguya Otsutsuki before fully unlocking this?

"But this Shadow Release Kekkei Genkai sounds interesting," Shūichi thought, intrigued. Shadow Release seemed like an upgraded version of the Nara clan's shadow techniques.

For now, he'd take things one step at a time. There was no way he was going to become another Danzo.

After returning home, he freshened up and had breakfast with Nono Yakushi and the others before using Body Flicker to go directly to the Hokage building.

Upon knocking and entering the Hokage's office, Shūichi was greeted by the sight of towering piles of paperwork. In addition to Minato's desk, there was now a second one to the left, piled high with documents as well—it seemed Kushina had her hands full too, though she wasn't in the office at the moment.

"For a leader of a military organization, there's sure a lot of office work," Shūichi thought to himself with a smirk.

"Shūichi, Kushina already briefed me. Just follow the plan you discussed. Later, bring a formal proposal if you have time," Minato said, smiling as he handed over a file.

Shūichi took the file and glanced through it. The list was divided into three sections: former Root members, Hokage's personal Anbu members, and a selection of chunin and jonin from outside the Anbu.

Scanning the list, Shūichi quickly noted that this was just a partial roster of the Hokage's Anbu force—only four teams, or sixteen people in total. It seemed most Anbu members were still working under Hiruzen Sarutobi's authority.

That was fine, though. Authority needed time to transition; the village couldn't just pause its operations for a power handover.

For example, he noticed that Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Chihiro were listed among the Anbu members reporting to Hiruzen.

(End of Chapter)

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