Chapter 225

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The next day, the Anbu squad leaders, having received their orders, gathered in the office of the Hokage's advisor.

There were five Anbu squad leaders in total, and the entire Anbu force had nearly a hundred members. This was due to absorbing the remnants of the Root faction and replenishing the losses incurred during the mission in Amegakure. Since then, many new members had been added.

Before coming, they had already received the Hokage's order: from now on, Anbu would also follow the commands of the Hokage's advisor, Uchiha Yoichi, in the absence of direct orders from the Hokage himself.

Sakumo planned to step back, and from that day forward, Anbu would no longer receive orders from the Fourth Hokage.

"The Fourth Hokage should have already briefed you. Start by reporting on the tasks each squad is currently handling. Although I've overseen some of your missions before, I now need to be fully informed about all Anbu operations," Yoichi instructed.

"Advisor, I am Ryū, leader of the First Squad. We have five teams in total. Currently, the First and Second Teams are in the Land of Rain," Ryū reported.

"Advisor, I am Kōtora, leader of the Second Squad. We have four teams in total. Only the Fourth Team remains in the village at the moment."

"Advisor..."

"Advisor..."

The five Anbu squad leaders reported the current status of their squads' missions one after another. Only half of the Anbu remained in the village—48 people in total.

Of those on missions, one quarter were in the Land of Wind gathering intelligence, another half were in Amegakure gathering information on the Akatsuki, and the remaining quarter were monitoring Iwa and Kumo's activities.

"With only four teams left in the village, the remaining nine teams should be reassigned to two new tasks. Five teams will infiltrate the Land of Water and gather information on Kirigakure. However, maintain a low profile and regularly report on the situation in Kirigakure. These five teams will be primarily composed of members from the Third Squad."

"The remaining four teams will head to the seas around the Land of Lightning to gather information on a large turtle island. This is likely Kumo's sacred ground, known only to them, so this task will be challenging."

Yoichi paused before continuing, "I will send some Uchiha skilled in genjutsu to assist. Attempt to extract information from Kumo shinobi using genjutsu, but ensure that Kumo does not discover your true objective."

The mission to locate Turtle Island was primarily for Kushina's sake. However, since it was Kumo's sacred ground and protected by a barrier, they could only obtain intelligence from Kumo shinobi.

Searching the vast sea for Turtle Island would not be an easy task.

Yoichi would have preferred to send members of the Yamanaka clan, but Inoichi might not agree, especially with the Sarutobi and Ino-Shika-Cho clans also conducting covert operations. Inoichi might use this as an excuse to drag his feet.

As a compromise, Yoichi would send Uchiha clan members. Fortunately, genjutsu interrogation was also effective, and most people would struggle to resist ocular genjutsu.

"Yes, Advisor."

The Anbu squad leaders responded in unison. However, the First Squad leader hesitated and asked, "Sir, with only four teams left in the village, will we have enough personnel?"

"Don't worry about that. The Police Force is here to handle routine matters."

After issuing these instructions, Yoichi dismissed the Anbu, "Get to it."

"Yes, sir."

Compared to Nagato, Yoichi was more interested in acquiring the Kamui Sharingan.

Nagato was essentially a misguided individual who, at this point, was also physically crippled and unable to fully harness the power of the Rinnegan. He posed no real threat to Yoichi.

Obito, on the other hand, was a criminal who had killed several important Konoha shinobi and manipulated the Akatsuki from behind the scenes. His usefulness had run its course, and his final role would be to enhance Yoichi's reputation.

The news that Sakumo had handed over the Anbu to Yoichi quickly reached the Sarutobi and Ino-Shika-Cho clans. Anbu included members of the Yamanaka clan, and among the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the Yamanaka's secret techniques were perhaps the most indispensable to the Anbu.

Shikaku and the others were taken aback by this development, but there was nothing they could do about it.

They had initially thought that Sakumo agreeing to capture Akatsuki members in exchange for stepping down as Hokage was a sign of fair treatment. But now, it seemed clear that the Fourth Hokage still favored Yoichi.

The Anbu was the village's most elite group of shinobi. Although the minimum rank required to join was chunin, it was rare for an average chunin to make it in; those who did had the potential to become jonin.

Although Hiruzen hadn't fully handed over the Anbu to Sakumo, he had supplemented the force by merging it with the remnants of the Root faction. This made the Anbu an even sharper blade within the village.

The two new Anbu missions were challenging: one was to locate Turtle Island, and the other was to gather intelligence on the Fourth Mizukage in Kirigakure. But Yoichi had given them direction, and with so many elite shinobi involved, success was likely.

If these missions required Yoichi's personal involvement, they would undoubtedly succeed. But he had other priorities: managing village affairs, training, and more.

Now that he was the Hokage's advisor, with Sakumo increasingly shirking his duties, Yoichi was effectively the most powerful person in the village.

With power in hand, there was no need for him to personally undertake missions, especially after contributing so much to the village. He hadn't gone through all this effort to become a saint, burning himself out for the sake of the village.

Every day, Yoichi created dozens of shadow clones—half of them stationed in Roran to absorb the Dragon Vein's energy and train in genetic enhancements, while the other half trained in a new nin-taijutsu technique in a secluded forest outside the village.

Last month, after earning the final three lottery chances and unlocking the "Research Assistant" ability, Yoichi finally completed the most difficult fusion of his nin-taijutsu technique.

Combining Destruction Spear, Superhuman Strength, and Lightning Release Chakra Mode resulted in a new technique that could no longer be classified as simple nin-taijutsu. It was a forbidden jutsu of the highest order: Thunder Flash.

It was the most difficult jutsu because Yoichi himself found it challenging to train in. The principle was simple: simulate the moment of a lightning strike to achieve extreme speed and destructive power.

However, without sufficient physical strength, the user would likely be torn to pieces by the jutsu's immense power. When Yoichi first tried using Thunder Flash, even after deliberately reducing its power, he sustained injuries to his internal organs, meridians, muscles, and bones.

But the power was incredible. In just one second, Yoichi moved like a bolt of lightning, covering a distance of three kilometers at nine times the speed of sound.

This was with Yoichi intentionally lowering the output; otherwise, the speed could have reached over ten times the speed of sound, or even higher. But at such speeds, his body would likely be torn apart, and he would lose control of his movements.

After recovering from his injuries, Yoichi decided to put Thunder Flash on hold. While the technique itself wasn't too difficult, the physical requirements were immense.

He planned to resume training once his body could handle the technique's full power.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Another wood clone in Roran was shattered, sending the accumulated genetic energy and memories back to Yoichi.

As he absorbed this massive influx of genetic energy, Yoichi used it to further strengthen his body.

His muscles, bones, and every part of his body absorbed the energy, steadily improving in every aspect. The greatest benefit of genetic energy was its ability to elevate the user's life form, gradually optimizing their genetic makeup.

Each time Yoichi absorbed genetic energy, he noticed the most significant improvement in his eyes.

The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan required continuous training to reach its peak potential. Even though Yoichi rarely used the Perfect Susanoo, he could still feel his eyes getting stronger with each session of genetic enhancement.

With Hashirama cells, Yoichi theoretically had the potential to evolve his eyes into the Rinnegan. However, the amount of Ashura's chakra left in the cells was minimal. Even with genetic energy, it would take over ten years to achieve the evolution.

It would be much simpler to target the Ashura chakra within Naruto. Once Naruto started training his own chakra around age three or four, Yoichi planned to make his move.

While the Rinnegan would certainly boost Yoichi's power, it wasn't an urgent necessity. He was primarily focused on genetic enhancement and the Thunder Flash technique. However, with the Ashura chakra so close at hand, he didn't see any reason to delay acquiring it.

"Kushina."

Before heading out on a mission, Jiraiya decided to visit Naruto, so he stopped by Kushina's house.

He was already thinking about taking Naruto as his disciple when he grew up.

When Kushina opened the door and saw Jiraiya, she asked, "Oh, Jiraiya-sama, what brings you here?"

Though she greeted him, her furrowed brows didn't relax.

Ever since a few days ago, Kushina had been in a foul mood, frequently snapping for no reason. But with only a one-year-old Naruto in the house, there was no one to vent her frustrations on.

After cooling down, Kushina noticed changes in herself, and she suspected the influence of the Nine-Tails.

She reinforced the seal on the Nine-Tails, ensuring there was no chance of its escape, but her mood didn't improve. Sometimes, dark thoughts would bubble up in her mind, making her feel that everyone around her was unnecessary.

Only when holding Naruto did Kushina feel a sense of fear as she reflected on her darker thoughts, vowing never to let them surface again.

But once she put Naruto down, her mind would start racing, trapping her in a vicious cycle.

"I wanted to see Naruto, if that's alright."

"Naruto just fell asleep. Maybe next time, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya was caught off guard by Kushina's curt response, but he forced a smile, scratching his head, "I see. Well, I'll come back after my mission, then. But Kushina, when Naruto grows up, let me take him as my disciple. I promise to train him to be just like Minato."

"Like Minato... We'll see when the time comes."

Kushina's tone suddenly grew sharper, but she quickly caught herself, cutting off her sentence. She then made an excuse to decline and promptly closed the door.

Jiraiya stood outside the door, stunned. It took him a full ten seconds to snap out of it.

With the door firmly shut, Jiraiya sighed inwardly and left. He could tell that Kushina still harbored a great deal of anger, and it seemed to be growing stronger each time he saw her.

As he walked away, he thought, Once I take down the Akatsuki, I hope Kushina's hatred will finally subside...

Jiraiya was determined. Although the Akatsuki was powerful, it was now at the top of Konoha's hit list.

Hiruzen and Shikaku agreed that Nagato needed to be captured or killed before the Rinnegan could develop any further. That was why Sarutobi had so readily accepted Sakumo's terms and why Sakumo had made the Akatsuki's capture a prerequisite for stepping down as Hokage.

With Suna and Kiri both weakened, the Rinnegan posed a threat to Konoha almost as significant as Iwa and Kumo. It had to be dealt with.

Shortly after Jiraiya left the village, Uchiha Yoichi arrived at Kushina's house.

He knocked on the door, and Kushina's irritated voice called out from inside, "Who is it now?"

When she opened the door and saw Yoichi standing there, her expression turned complex, and she asked warily, "It's you. What do you want?"

"Naruto is inside, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Yoichi pushed past her, entering the house. Kushina cried out in surprise but couldn't stop him.

"What do you want with Naruto?"

Kushina hurried to block Yoichi from approaching where Naruto was sleeping.

"Never mind. Since he's inside, there's no need to take him anywhere. I'll have Mina come to pick him up later. She'll take care of him for a while."

"What? What are you talking about? I don't agree to this—"

"Anbu has found a place that might help you: the Falls of Truth in Kumo. So, you'll be going there to train and deal with the darkness inside you."

"What are you even saying..."

Kushina looked utterly baffled, but before she could finish, Yoichi placed his hand on her shoulder, and the next moment, they both vanished from Konoha.

They reappeared in a forest ten kilometers outside the village, where Yoichi often trained.

Kushina looked around in shock, murmuring to herself, "Flying Thunder God Jutsu... Minato's jutsu?"

"It's Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Jutsu!"

As he spoke, Yoichi's eyes morphed into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. A massive, deep blue chakra erupted from him, quickly forming bones, muscles, and armor, eventually becoming a nearly 100-meter-tall Perfect Susanoo.

This wasn't even Yoichi's limit; he could make the Susanoo twice as large if needed. But for this trip, this size was more than enough—perhaps even a bit too large.

Yoichi then controlled the Susanoo to spread its wings and take flight, carrying both him and Kushina high into the sky.

(End of Chapter)