Chapter 223

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"Kirigakure ninja, the enemy is here!"

Upon spotting the enemy's trail, a Konoha ninja launched a signal flare into the sky. He quickly followed up by throwing shuriken and explosive-tagged kunai, attempting to stall the enemy until reinforcements arrived.

"We've been spotted! Quickly, kill him!"

Realizing their infiltration had failed, the Kirigakure ninjas immediately attempted to eliminate the Konoha ninja before retreating to report the mission's failure or attempting to infiltrate the Land of Fire from another direction.

"Water Release: Water Whip!"

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

The Kirigakure ninjas utilized Water Release techniques—one to defend against the incoming shuriken and explosive tags, and the other to launch a water whip toward the Konoha ninja who had sent the signal.

The Konoha ninja swiftly dodged, but the Kirigakure ninja wielding the water whip pursued him, forcing him to counter with his own jutsu.

"Lightning Release: Thunder Arrow!"

Momentarily repelling the two Kirigakure ninjas before him with his Lightning Release technique, the Konoha ninja began to feel uneasy. He had likely strayed too far from his comrades, and even if they saw the signal flare, it would take some time for them to reach him.

But he was only a chunin, and he couldn't afford to expend too much chakra on such techniques.

"Water Release: Water Collision Wave!"

Shuriken and senbon rained down, and the Konoha ninja utilized the Substitution Jutsu to evade. However, with three Kirigakure ninjas attacking, even if he dodged one's strike, the other two's attacks nearly inflicted a fatal wound.

"Die! Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

In the nick of time, a figure appeared in front of the Konoha ninja, rapidly forming hand seals and unleashing a scorching Fire Release technique that canceled out the enemy's water dragon.

"Shisui, thank goodness you arrived," the rescued Konoha ninja sighed in relief upon seeing the Uchiha fan symbol, knowing he was safe with Shisui around.

The Kirigakure team leader recognized Shisui and grew tense. Although the young Konoha ninja before him was young, he was already well-known in Kirigakure.

"Shisui of the Body Flicker, huh? Although the infiltration mission failed, if we kill you, it'll still be worth something. Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique!"

After activating the Hiding in Mist technique, the Kirigakure jonin was determined to kill Shisui. If this were the old days, failing the mission would simply mean reporting back and facing reprimand.

But recently, failure had become unacceptable for Kirigakure ninjas. Under the even harsher Bloody Mist policies, failing a mission was worse than dying in battle.

As the thick mist enveloped the area, Shisui's eyes immediately displayed the three tomoe Sharingan. After scanning the surroundings, he frowned slightly and said, "This could be tricky. This Kirigakure ninja must be a specialist in Silent Killing. Sanosuke, stay alert behind me; I'll handle the rest. Don't worry; his Silent Killing won't succeed."

Just as Shisui finished speaking, a laugh echoed through the mist.

"Hahaha! My Silent Killing won't succeed? Shisui of the Body Flicker, you're not the first confident ninja to say that."

As the voice faded, the forest shrouded in mist grew eerily silent. All sounds vanished in an instant, and Tanaka Sanosuke could even hear his own breathing. The deathly silence dragged on, second by second. While Shisui remained composed, Sanosuke's psychological pressure increased, cold sweat beginning to bead on his face.

Swish!

A faint sound reached Shisui's ears, prompting him to turn and dash toward the Kirigakure ninja who had suddenly appeared behind him. He swiftly reversed his kunai and stabbed toward the ninja's heart.

Thud.

Warm blood splattered onto Shisui's hand.

A real person!

As this thought flashed through Shisui's mind, he suddenly noticed Sanosuke's body shift beside him, followed by a loud shout: "Shisui, watch out!"

In the next moment, Shisui felt a push and turned to see Sanosuke's throat being slit by the Kirigakure jonin's short sword. The ninja Shisui had just killed dissolved, revealing that it had been a transformed Kirigakure genin, who had sacrificed himself to deceive Shisui and lower his guard.

"Damn it..."

Furious, Shisui rolled across the ground and threw ten shuriken, but the Kirigakure jonin deflected them with his short sword and leaped back into the thick mist.

"Heh, you got lucky this time. Next time, you won't have a scapegoat," the Kirigakure jonin's voice echoed from the mist. However, Shisui simply knelt beside Sanosuke, who had already passed away. Shisui had only taught him one C-rank jutsu, but from that moment on, Sanosuke had always treated him as a close friend.

A few seconds later, the Kirigakure ninja reappeared, raising his short sword to stab Shisui, "Die!"

But his sword hit only air, as the figure before him suddenly turned into an illusion.

"A clone? When did..."

"When I awakened these eyes," Shisui's voice calmly answered, just as the Kirigakure jonin felt a sharp pain in his chest. A kunai had pierced his heart. Summoning his last bit of strength, the Kirigakure jonin turned to see a pair of blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan, and then darkness overtook him.

...

Rin's body shuddered for a moment, and then her face flushed with a rosy hue.

It was only after a while that Rin began to catch her breath.

"Rin, you don't have to do this."

"No, no, Yoichi-sensei, I must. This is my reward for the new pill you developed."

Yoichi had just successfully improved the Beast Strength Pill and had Rin test its effects.

After taking the pill, Rin's strength increased significantly. With just a bit of chakra reinforcing her fists, she shattered the wooden wall that Yoichi had created.

To fully test the pill's effects, Yoichi had created three walls in total—the last being over two meters thick, but Rin smashed through it with one punch.

This was pure physical strength. If paired with Super Strength, it would be terrifying. And even without Super Strength, the enhanced power allowed a ninja to maintain a constant state of great strength. If combined with the Wind Pill, it would grant them the speed and power of a jonin.

The small Healing Pill had also been successfully improved. However, when testing it, Yoichi didn't want Rin to injure herself, so he found a clansman to volunteer.

In the Uchiha clan, Yoichi's commands were treated like divine orders. When asked to test the Healing Pill, the volunteer didn't hesitate to stab himself seven or eight times in non-lethal areas.

Once Yoichi signaled to stop, the volunteer dropped the kunai and took the Healing Pill.

The pill dissolved almost immediately upon entering the mouth, and within seconds, the bleeding stopped, and the wounds began to heal visibly.

This amazed both the volunteer and the onlookers, as eight wounds healed in just twenty seconds, faster than what even a medical jonin could manage.

Satisfied with the results, Yoichi dismissed his clone, relaying the successful outcome back.

The improved effects were extraordinary, leaving both Yoichi and Rin, who had been assisting him, extremely pleased. Rin, blushing, insisted on celebrating with Yoichi, leading to an hour-long "celebration."

"It's a shame that these pills can't be mass-produced using industrial machines. Many of the ingredients are too rare, and each herb's age varies, requiring different extraction times with fire... I'll have to make them by hand slowly."

After cleaning up, Yoichi glanced at the Beast Strength Pill and commented with some regret.

Pills from the first to third ranks were still considered basic, made from herbs that could be cultivated in large quantities with controlled ages, achieving about 98% uniformity.

But fourth-rank pills were different, requiring more rare ingredients that couldn't be mass-cultivated. Even the Natural Energy Stone was difficult to melt, requiring Yoichi's chakra to guide the process.

In short, fourth-rank pills couldn't be produced on an industrial scale. Although third-rank pills had a high failure rate, if the herbs were of the same age, there was still a 40-50% success rate.

"Yoichi-sensei, it's getting late. I should be heading back."

After tidying up, Rin checked the time and informed Yoichi. It was already dark outside, and her legs felt weak.

"Alright, be careful on your way back, Rin."

"Yoichi-sensei, will you be here making pills for the next few days?"

"I will. I plan to finish off the remaining herbs first. After that, we'll have to wait for new supplies."

Yoichi had just inventoried some herbs. If the success rate held, he could make around thirty-four Beast Strength Pills and seventeen small Healing Pills with the current stock.

After that, he would need to gather more herbs, specifically those that had aged sufficiently.

The Beast Strength Pill and the small Healing Pill would become signature medicines of the Uchiha clan, though they wouldn't be extremely rare. At least the herbs needed could be cultivated, but they required a place rich in energy to grow properly.

If a jonin carried several of the Uchiha clan's secret medicines, they might even be able to go toe-to-toe with a Kage-level shinobi.

Enhancing strength, boosting speed, healing injuries, protecting the meridians, and restoring chakra—taking all these pills together would apply five layers of buffs, enabling a jonin to challenge a Kage-level opponent. Even if they couldn't win, they could certainly hold their own until their chakra ran out. However, it was unlikely that they would be outlasted, given the chakra-restoring pill.

That's the power of a clan's secret medicines.

In the past few days, besides spending the mornings at the Hokage building handling village affairs and visiting Tsunade at the hospital, Yoichi had been holed up in the alchemy room, focusing on pill-making.

He also talked to Mikoto about gathering more of these herbs. However, many of the required herbs were hard to find, especially those that had aged properly. The ones he had now were bought at a high price from a medicinal merchant.

...

Meanwhile, at the Sarutobi residence.

Shikaku had finally managed to buy a hind leg of a magical mountain goat, intending to share a meal with his family.

However, he received an invitation from Hiruzen, who also invited Inoichi and Choza.

So, Shikaku left a portion of the goat meat for his wife and brought the rest as a gift to Sarutobi's home.

Upon arriving at the Sarutobi clan's grounds, Shikaku coincidentally met up with Inoichi and Choza, and they proceeded together.

After knocking on the door, Hiruzen opened it and, seeing the goat leg in Shikaku's hands, remarked in surprise, "What a coincidence, Shikaku! I also managed to get some magical mountain goat meat, though not as much as you."

"Well, in that case, Lady Biwako can cook it all together. Otherwise, it wouldn't be enough just for Choza to eat, Lord Third," Shikaku joked as he handed over the meat, and the three were welcomed inside by Hiruzen.

"It's true that Uchiha's magical mountain goat meat is hard to come by. Even if you go early and queue up, it sells out in half an hour. But it's worth it—Choza has been craving this for a while, and now he'll finally get his fill."

Choza chuckled, "The meat's texture is indeed amazing, and it's refreshing too. But it's too bad they sell it in such limited quantities. Shikaku, how did you manage to get so much?"

"I hired three people to queue with me. They paid for theirs, and I got to take the meat. But this method won't work for long; it's bound to annoy people."

Shikaku scratched his head, realizing he should have split the goat leg beforehand to avoid drawing attention.

"Everything's ready, but Jiraiya hasn't arrived yet. We'll wait for him," Hiruzen said, leading them to the main hall. The table was set with individual small grills for each person, along with pre-cut meat, seafood, and other grilled dishes.

Today, Jiraiya was returning from a mission, so Hiruzen had invited Shikaku and the others over.

A little while later, Jiraiya rushed in, having just handed in his mission report. As he entered, he saw the group seated at the table, waiting for him.

"Sorry, sorry! I got delayed handing in the mission. My apologies," Jiraiya said hastily as he took his seat. In truth, after leaving the Hokage building, he had been unable to resist going to Kushina's house.

He saw her training with shadow clones and sensed that she hadn't given up on seeking revenge. After watching her for a while, he finally made his way to the Sarutobi residence.

Once Jiraiya sat down, Biwako Sarutobi began serving the grilled dishes for everyone to enjoy.

After a while, Hiruzen suddenly spoke, "Shikaku, I'm thinking of nominating Jiraiya to be the Fifth Hokage."

The room fell silent, save for the sound of sizzling meat. After a couple of seconds, Shikaku finally responded, "Lord Third, are you confident about this?"

"Jiraiya has been taking on missions continuously. His mission record is now the best in Konoha. If he keeps this up for another year or two, no one in the village will have anything to say."

Shikaku's mouth twitched at this. He couldn't imagine completing high-difficulty missions for one or two years straight, but that's what Jiraiya was apparently planning to do.

Seeing Shikaku's expression, Jiraiya smiled wryly, "Don't worry, Shikaku. No matter how reluctant I am, I won't shy away from the responsibilities I must shoulder."

"If Jiraiya-sama is resolved, that makes things easier," Shikaku said, slipping into his role as strategist. "Minato… The last time you lost to the Fourth Hokage, it wasn't just because he was too strong to find fault with. The other factors were your connections within the village and with the daimyo's office. These are areas we can work on, for instance…"

As Shikaku laid out his plan, both Hiruzen and Jiraiya nodded in agreement. Hiruzen had great faith in Shikaku. The friendship between the four clans went back a long way, all the way to the Warring States Period.

Without the Sarutobi clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio might not have even joined Konoha.

With Shikaku's guidance, Jiraiya felt as if he suddenly had a clear head, knowing exactly who his opponents were and what steps to take next.

After a while, Shikaku thoughtfully rubbed his chin and said, "Lord Third, Jiraiya-sama, if Yoichi is the only opponent, that would be manageable. We do have our advantages. But the most challenging part is… Does the Fourth Hokage intend to step down?"

"Shikaku, I've noticed that Sakumo often leaves the Hokage office early, and many village affairs are handled by Yoichi instead."

Hiruzen couldn't help but feel disappointed in Sakumo. If he found the administrative work burdensome, why hadn't he asked for advice from Hiruzen, who had so much experience in running the village?

Handing over these tasks to a younger person was no solution; from what Hiruzen had heard, both Sakumo and Yoichi often used clones to deal with mundane tasks. How could that be responsible governance?

"It seems his desire to continue as Hokage is waning. In another year or two, he might not be able to keep up and will need to choose a successor."

Shikaku clicked his tongue. Sakumo was the perfect candidate for Hokage, yet he didn't seem to want the position. Why had he even run for the position if he intended to give it up so soon? Shikaku was at a loss for words.

"In that case, there shouldn't be any issues. We just need Lord Third to focus on garnering support from the daimyo's office while the rest of us handle things on our end."

"Agreed. Let's follow your plan, Shikaku," Hiruzen nodded. "No one can come up with a better strategy than you."

...

"Lady Tsunade, please, I beg you, take me as your disciple."

Kushina earnestly pressed her hands together, pleading with Tsunade. After much consideration, she had decided that training under Tsunade was the best and most suitable path for her.

Kushina had been training on her own for a while, but the results were limited. She had also gone through the training notes Minato had left behind and learned the Rasengan, but she hadn't been able to take it further.

Minato hadn't managed to incorporate nature transformation into the Rasengan, and after trying for a while, Kushina hadn't succeeded either.

However, she didn't want to waste the power of the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. After much deliberation, she concluded that ninjutsu training wasn't her forte, and that Tsunade's combat style might be more suitable, especially since Tsunade was back in the village.

But hearing Kushina's request, Tsunade looked a bit troubled.

"Kushina, it's not that I don't want to teach you, but I have a lot of other work on my plate right now. If I were to use a shadow clone to teach you, it would be quite taxing. Can you wait for a while?"

Tsunade sighed. She could guess why Kushina wanted to grow stronger, but that only made it harder for her to refuse. After all, Kushina had lived in her house since childhood.

However, managing two experiments every day was already mentally exhausting for Tsunade. Using a shadow clone didn't drain her chakra, but the memories transferred back from the clone were the real burden.

Orochimaru had once conducted four experiments a day, and after dismissing his shadow clones, he would need an hour or two of quiet time to organize his thoughts. After taking Nawaki as his disciple, he had even temporarily suspended one of his experiments.

Tsunade had similar concerns, so she tried to persuade Kushina to wait. Once she had more time, she would take her as a disciple.

"Kushina, you're also raising Naruto right now. There's no rush to train. Let's wait a few months, and when I'm less busy, I'll teach you ninjutsu and taijutsu."

Just as Tsunade finished speaking, someone knocked on the door and entered.

"Tsunade, there's been a breakthrough in the experiment… Oh, Kushina, you're here too."

It was Yoichi, who had been contacted by Tsunade about a breakthrough in one of their experiments. That's why he had come over.

"Kushina, did you need something from Tsunade?"

"I wanted to ask Tsunade to take me as her disciple, but… I'll wait. I'll be leaving now, Lady Tsunade."

Kushina lowered her head and excused herself before leaving the room.

After she left, Tsunade bit her lip and muttered, "It seems Minato's death has really affected her."

When Kushina left, she didn't even call Tsunade "big sister" anymore. Had she started calling her "Lady Tsunade" just because Tsunade hadn't immediately agreed to take her as a disciple? Such a childish reaction.

But Tsunade wasn't angry. She had been through a similar experience herself, so she could understand Kushina's feelings.

"It's probably not just Minato's death."

Yoichi added, as he activated the Nine-Tails Chakra within him. He still had enough left to enter the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

After entering the mode, Yoichi scanned the area but then deactivated it. "She's too far away now; I can't sense any malice anymore."

"What's going on?" Tsunade asked, curious about Yoichi's concern for Kushina.

"Kushina asked me to help her control the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode recently. At that time, she might have been affected by the negative emotions within the Nine-Tails' chakra, and her inner darkness could have grown."

Yoichi pondered for a moment. This was highly likely, as he had sensed something off in Kushina's gaze earlier.

"I'll have Mina keep an eye on her. If it turns out to be true, we'll need to come up with a plan. But this is something Kushina will have to overcome on her own. Now, Tsunade, which experiment made a breakthrough?"

Tsunade, noticing Yoichi's shift in focus, led him further inside. "The clone body you requested is now developing into an infant. You should use your chakra to take control of the clone's body right away."

(End of Chapter)