Chapter 207: Pregnant!

When it comes to who has the best talent in the ninja world… let's narrow it down to ninjutsu talent specifically!

Shūichi believes it has to be the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Just look at the number of jutsus he developed: Shadow Clone Technique, Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, The Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, Water Severing Wave, Edo Tensei, Flying Thunder God Technique…

Even among his contemporaries, the mightiest Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju couldn't match his skill in this area.

In his own generation, without relying on any "cheat" powers, Shūichi believes there's no doubt that Kakashi Hatake stands in a league of his own in terms of talent.

Even someone as accomplished as Asuma Sarutobi falls quite short in comparison.

Asuma is second to Kakashi.

Others like Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and Shizune all possess specialized talents, but none are as well-rounded as Kakashi.

Even Uchiha Obito ranks relatively high purely in terms of raw talent among his peers.

For older shinobi like Genma Shiranui and his two comrades, who are two or three years older than him and Kakashi, Shūichi would rate them as upper-middle-tier talent-wise.

After all, in the original series, Genma Shiranui and Raidō Namiashi become Special Jonin, while Iwashi Tatami remains a Chunin.

Of course, Special Jonin and Chunin aren't to be underestimated.

Even in the great Hidden Villages, Chunin are the backbone of the forces, while Jonin and Special Jonin are leaders capable of taking on critical missions. They're fewer in number, while Genin are the majority.

Returning to wind release…

The first two people that come to Shūichi Hoshita's mind are Danzo and Naruto.

Danzo's wind release mastery is undoubtedly at the elite Jonin level, if not master-level.

As for Naruto…

Frankly, Shūichi finds him hard to evaluate.

If Naruto were exceptionally talented, he would be able to handle the Clone Technique effortlessly.

Yet he learns the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique in a very short time and even develops the incomplete S-rank Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

Looking at his Clone Technique and Multi-Shadow Clone Technique use, Naruto's chakra control is actually quite poor, with rather weak fundamentals in every area.

It's truly puzzling!

Of course, this isn't due to the influence of the Nine-Tails.

Shūichi knows very well that the Eight Trigrams Seal fully contains the half of the Nine-Tails within Naruto, with no interference to Naruto himself.

Otherwise, Naruto would have dark circles like Gaara.

In fact, the Eight Trigrams Seal benefits Naruto immensely, converting the Nine-Tails' chakra into his own. Even at twelve years old, he has an astonishing amount of chakra.

Naruto's own chakra alone is about four times that of Kakashi, but with the Nine-Tails' chakra included, it's over a hundred times Kakashi's.

Returning to Genma Shiranui…

Shūichi believes that anyone who can learn part of the Flying Thunder God Technique in just two years is undoubtedly smart.

With Genma already having a foundation in wind release, he's decided to give him a bit of a boost. While Genma might not reach Naruto's level with the Rasenshuriken, he should be able to split a waterfall with wind release within a short period.

If not, it would mean Minato-sensei's judgment of people was… lacking.

Shūichi is already prepared to shift the blame.

If Genma can't learn, it's not because of his teaching but because Minato-sensei didn't pick the right student.

---

Inside the genjutsu, time passed slowly.

With five shadow clones plus his original self, making six Genmas in total, he managed to cut a leaf in half with wind chakra only by sunset.

Once the clones dispersed, Genma collapsed to the ground, utterly drained and ready to pass out.

"Not bad."

Shūichi appeared, dispelling the genjutsu.

Upon returning to reality, Genma's exhaustion hit him even harder, his brain foggy, eyelids heavy.

"Get some sleep."

With that, Genma promptly fell into a deep slumber.

Shūichi then left the Root base, heading to the training ground where Raidō Namiashi was.

At that moment, Raidō was still sparring with Akimichi Rui, struggling as he swung an unfamiliar broadsword, looking rather clumsy under Rui's loud commands.

Inside the illusion, it had seemed as though Genma had trained for an entire day, but in reality, only about ten minutes had passed.

After Raidō had worn himself out, Shūichi finally appeared, placing a hand on his shoulder and infusing him with chakra.

The exhaustion vanished as his chakra reserves replenished.

"Continue!"

Shūichi took a step back.

"Yes, sir!"

Raidō picked up the sword once again and resumed the sparring.

Shūichi observed, offering pointers as he watched, correcting Raidō's technique. Even Rui gained insights from his instructions.

By repeatedly replenishing their stamina and chakra, and after Rui's energy was completely drained, Shūichi sent in a shadow clone to spar with Raidō, pushing him to his mental and physical limits.

This intense training lasted until noon.

By the end, Raidō felt every cell in his body aching, his mind turned to mush.

"Rui, take him back to the base. Let him eat and sleep; wake him at 3 p.m. for more training."

Shūichi instructed.

"Yes, sir!"

Rui nodded, hefting Raidō back to the Root base, silently pitying the man on his shoulder.

Such a brutal regimen—it was insane.

Unlike the old Root training under Danzo, which emphasized emotional numbness, Shūichi Hoshita's methods targeted the body and mind in equal measure.

From that day on, Genma and his comrades began to feel the true weight of the word "devil" that Shūichi had casually thrown around.

Training, eating, eating, training, sleeping, and then more training and eating.

Their days became a relentless cycle of pushing their mental and physical limits, leaving no time for thoughts outside of survival.

...

For Shūichi, matters at the Root base weren't particularly busy.

After all, he was just supervising others' training, not doing it himself.

In fact, aside from the first day, he sent his shadow clones to oversee things on the other days.

Shūichi continued his own training instead. After all, shadow clones can't solve everything in training—when it comes to taijutsu, for instance, real experience is essential.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had been recruited by Minato Namikaze into his personal Anbu unit.

Even though Konoha and Iwagakure had already reached a peace agreement to end the war, Konoha hadn't reached any such truce with Kumogakure or Kirigakure.

Though there were no large-scale battles, skirmishes continued between the villages.

With the support of tailed-beast chakra and an improved physical constitution, Kakashi made rapid progress in lightning-release techniques. His sharp Raikiri and exceptional speed helped him quickly establish his reputation in the Anbu and gain renown even among other villages.

Just like that, three months passed.

At the entrance of the Root base, Tenka saw off Genma Shiranui and his two companions with a smile, saying, "This is where we part! Do come again sometime!"

She said this out of sheer habit.

Even walking them out was a habit Tenka had picked up from managing shops.

After all, Genma and his comrades knew their way out of Root.

But faced with Tenka's polite farewell, the three could only thank her awkwardly and hurriedly take their leave.

Watching them leave, Tenka couldn't help but admire, "No wonder the Fourth Hokage has high expectations of these three—they're truly capable."

Once out of Root's territory, Genma and the others slowed down, letting out a collective sigh of relief.

"It's finally over!"

"Yes!"

"Wait—was it really only three months? Why does it feel like three years?"

Reflecting on their experiences, Iwashi felt like he was emerging from a dream, half-expecting it might all still be some kind of genjutsu.

"It was definitely three months, but in the genjutsu training, it felt like we spent three years in there," Genma remarked, still in a bit of a daze, shaken by Shūichi's methods.

Training within a genjutsu… it was simply… unimaginable. "He's definitely on another level," he thought to himself in awe.

Raidō spoke up, "So, let's start training with the Flying Thunder God Technique next!"

Genma and Iwashi immediately nodded. "Yes, it's something the Fourth Hokage entrusted to us. We have to master it quickly."

Besides, after training so intensively with wind release and genjutsu, they were starting to feel sick of it.

Their progress had been tremendous, but if they had to go through it all again... could they even survive it?

---

The three made their way from the Root base to the Hokage Tower, where they happened to meet some familiar faces in the lobby—Aoba Yamashiro, Might Guy, and Ebisu.

"Genma! Long time no see!" Aoba, wearing his signature sunglasses, greeted them with a smile. "So, you're finally out of Root. How was it?"

"Um…"

The three glanced at each other before Raidō replied, "It was… interesting. Shūichi's special training at Root is completely different from before. If you get the chance, you should definitely try it."

Raidō's tone was so serious that it caught Guy's interest. His eyes sparkled as he eagerly said, "Did Shūichi come up with another unique training method?"

"Next time, I'm definitely going to ask the Fourth Hokage to let me join the Anbu!"

Aoba and Ebisu exchanged resigned looks. Ebisu then turned to Genma and the others, saying, "It seems like you three have made significant progress. We should spar together sometime."

The three exchanged glances, looking rather excited.

"Hey, you three are back!"

A voice called out, and they all turned to see Kushina Uzumaki carrying a stack of documents.

"Lady Kushina!"

All six of them greeted her respectfully, and Genma quickly stepped forward to take the documents from her. "Yes, our three-month special training has finished, so we're here to report back."

Kushina looked them over, nodding approvingly with a smile. "You all look much sharper than before. Looks like Shūichi's special training is paying off!"

"Alright, you came back at the perfect time. With you here, my workload just got a lot lighter."

After all, a Hokage guard was often just another word for "secretary."

---

After a wave and a few words of farewell, Genma, Raidō, and Iwashi left the Hokage Tower. Aoba Yamashiro remarked, "Did you notice anything different about those three?"

"Different?"

Guy scratched his head in confusion. "They got a bit taller?"

Aoba looked over at Ebisu.

Ebisu thought seriously for a moment. "Yes, actually. When they mentioned sparring earlier, I felt a hint of danger."

This was purely Ebisu's well-honed shinobi intuition.

Aoba nodded. "Seems like those three have made considerable improvements. Let's finish our mission, then check in with them when we return."

...

At the Root base, Tenka brought a file into Shūichi's office, saying, "Shūichi, here's the evaluation for Genma Shiranui and his two teammates."

Shūichi, who was studying a new technique, looked up, took the file, and skimmed through it. "They all reached the level of Special Jonin. Seems like it was effective."

Tenka chuckled. "After the torture your shadow clones put them through, if they hadn't reached that level, it'd be a bit disappointing."

"Genma has the highest talent, followed by Raidō, then Iwashi with slightly less potential."

"And of the techniques you taught them, Genma mastered the most; Iwashi still hasn't managed the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique."

Setting down the file, Shūichi smiled. "That's quite impressive already."

"Both techniques are A-rank, but the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique is actually harder to learn than the Temple of Nirvana."

Tenka suddenly grew serious and said, "But not everyone can handle such intense training—two people have already given up."

"The illusion realm was too realistic for them, and they've started to lose the ability to distinguish reality from the illusion."

Shūichi frowned slightly. "Looks like we should lower the training intensity a bit."

"If they want to quit, let them. Have Asuka treat them and send them back to the Hokage Tower."

Genma and his team were only the first batch to enter special training at Root; others had been sent in succession afterward.

Some were Root members undergoing retraining, while others were selected by Minato Namikaze.

Shūichi had anticipated the potential side effects of using the Palace of Memories for training, so he had been gradually adjusting the intensity based on each individual's resilience.

After signing the document, he handed it to Tenka. "Could you take this to the Hokage's office, please?"

"Also, let Minato-sensei know I'll be heading to the Land of Rain."

Tenka's smile faded. "Is it about the Rinnegan?"

Since becoming Shūichi's assistant, she'd become aware of more secrets.

"Yes." Shūichi nodded slightly. "Just gathering intel."

"Don't worry—I won't be in any danger."

He quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper, handing it along with the file to Tenka.

"Well, alright."

"Of course I believe in you, but you know I can't help worrying a little."

She looked at Shūichi with a playful gaze. "After all, I've waited a long time for you, so don't keep me waiting in vain."

Shūichi smirked. Leaning close, he whispered in her ear, "I'll be back soon."

With that, his figure disappeared.

Tenka felt a slight tremble as he left; Shūichi had playfully nipped her earlobe, which just happened to be her weak spot.

Leaning against the desk, she blushed and laughed to herself. "The little guy's all grown up now!"

---

Land of Rain, just outside Amegakure.

Shūichi stood high above the ground, with a crow clone by his side that dispersed with a puff of smoke.

Of course, to any observer, it would look as if he had simply dismissed a summoning.

Since his brief encounter with Nagato, Shūichi had kept his eyes on the Land of Rain.

It was nearly September now, and Uchiha Mikoto was pregnant, which likely meant that Madara had finally cut ties with his survival.

But today's visit wasn't because of Mikoto's pregnancy—there was something else.

Hanzo was dead, and although the outside world was unaware, Amegakure had a new leader.

Clearly, Nagato was progressing faster than in the original storyline.

Without making much noise, he had managed to kill Hanzo and take control of Amegakure.

Shūichi felt it was time to assess the situation.

When a jinchūriki gives birth, their seal weakens, and he was certain that Black Zetsu would not miss such an opportunity.

Thus, Shūichi couldn't ignore the possibility that Nagato might also show up in Konoha to aid in capturing the Nine-Tails.

---

Arriving over Amegakure, Shūichi finally descended, landing atop a tall tower.

Inside a central tower in the village, Nagato looked at the six new puppets he had just created. He turned to Konan and said, "Konan, I'll be leaving Amegakure to you and the Animal Path for now."

"We can't let the outside world find out Hanzo is dead just yet."

The Animal Path puppet was made from Hanzo's corpse.

Konan nodded in understanding. "I'll handle it."

At that moment, White Zetsu's clone, Tobi, appeared. "That guy, Shūichi Hoshita, is here. Looks like he's figured out Hanzo's fate."

Nagato stood up. "Then we'll get rid of him."

White Zetsu Tobi chuckled. "I'd be delighted to help with that."

"But I still think it's safer to wait until the other White Zetsu units arrive; after all, that guy knows the Flying Thunder God technique, which makes capturing him very difficult."

Nagato started toward the door. "Then hurry up."

(End of Chapter)

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