Chapter 102: Chakra’s Transformation

Once again, Jiraiya was struck speechless by Aoba's words. Despite normally being eloquent, he found himself with no rebuttal.

The other man was disparaging his deceased teacher, but Jiraiya had no means to counter him.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Nothing special. I just want to make it clear that Orochimaru killing the Third Hokage may not necessarily impact his relationship with Tsunade."

Aoba didn't mention Orochimaru's trump card, the Reanimation Jutsu. He viewed it as a double-edged sword: while it could appear powerful, it might backfire terribly. After all, Tsunade, although she mourned them, had probably come to terms with the deaths of Nawaki and Dan over the years.

If Orochimaru tried to use that as leverage, it could very well enrage Tsunade instead.

"So, the mission is to bring Tsunade back and possibly capture Orochimaru?"

"No. Your task is to protect Tsunade and bring her back. I'll make other arrangements to deal with Orochimaru."

"I may not be able to convince her."

"I've given you more than enough reason to persuade her. After all, if she doesn't come back, then I'll step up to become Hokage. You wouldn't want that, would you, Jiraiya?"

"…"

Jiraiya left in silence. He hadn't felt this powerless since his rise to fame. But regardless, he remained loyal to Konoha.

Back in the Hokage's office, Kakashi and Shikaku continued with the next phase of their plans.

"Hayate Gekkō, Anko Mitarashi, Genma Shiranui, Aoba Yamashiro, Raido Namiashi, Ibiki Morino, Tsume Inuzuka, Kurenai Yuhi, Sōgen Shirakumo.

"The above Special Jōnin are promoted to full Jōnin as of today. Starting immediately, each of you will lead a squad to patrol the periphery of Konoha.

"Remember, although Suna and Sound have retreated, Konoha remains in a state of war. Our outer defenses, including walls and barriers, sustained heavy damage. To other villages, Konoha is now like a tempting prize. Everyone wants a piece.

"Thus, these patrol assignments are of the highest alert level. Any non-Konoha ninja approaching without authorization is to be killed without hesitation. Asuma Sarutobi and Guy, your squads will join as well."

"Yes."

"Everyone step forward to collect your mission scrolls. And Maruboshi Kosuke—Konoha is in crisis. We need you to stand with us once more and lead these young ninja."

"Serving Konoha is my duty."

"Excellent. Form a team at your discretion, then join the above assignments."

Once all squads received their missions, Kakashi and Shikaku returned to the office, where more work awaited them.

"Konoha can hold out for now. But we recalled too many border-ninjas from the Fire Nation. We still need to reinforce the nation's borders.

"Otherwise, if the citizens of the Land of Fire suffer excessive raids, it could harm the Daimyo's view of us. We urgently need funding from the Daimyo."

This was an idea Kakashi had previously discussed with Shikaku. With a shortage of personnel, they would need help from the private forces of the major clans.

"I've managed to convince most of the families. In a situation like this, the clans of Konoha won't drag their feet. But traditionally, we still need to offer… compensation."

Kakashi sighed. Involving the clans always complicated matters.

"We'll delay it until the next Hokage takes office and let him resolve it. For now, we need to address another matter: the Hokage's funeral."

Aoba had ultimately decided not to release the compromising documents, meaning Hiruzen would be recognized as a fallen Hokage, and a proper funeral was now unavoidable.

"The sooner, the better. We'll need a couple of days to prepare."

"So be it. And perhaps we should initiate diplomatic discussions with Suna?"

"There's no need. We won't make any moves," Kakashi said, rejecting Shikaku's suggestion. With Konoha now holding all the cards over Suna—morally, militarily, and politically—there was no need for them to act.

Both sides had lost their Kage, but Konoha still had many powerful figures. Suna had only a few aging veterans to rely on.

Additionally, Konoha held several valuable Suna captives, including Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara, along with a large number of other Suna ninja.

Holding these bargaining chips, Konoha could afford to wait, while Suna couldn't. They couldn't even wait a day for their jinchūriki, Gaara, to return, as he was Suna's primary strategic weapon.

Meanwhile, in Konoha's makeshift hospital, Sakura and Yūmi resumed treating the wounded after a half-day's rest.

Aoba, however, returned to his underground laboratory alone.

With multiple defensive barriers, his lab had suffered almost no damage during the attack.

Once inside, Aoba took out a scroll containing the chakra he'd extracted from Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast. Technically, this was a fragment of the Ten-Tails' chakra.

The Sage of Six Paths seemed to have placed restrictions when dividing the Ten-Tails' chakra, so that only when all nine tailed beasts' chakra was combined would it fully revert to the Ten-Tails' original form.

Prepared for this, Aoba wasn't disappointed. He unsealed a portion of the chakra and began absorbing it into his own body.

The chakra of a tailed beast was far more violent and dangerous than human chakra; it was, in essence, more primal.

Aoba noticed a distinct difference: human chakra appeared to be a refined form of energy, likely the work of the Sage of Six Paths. When he introduced chakra to humanity, he must have adjusted it to suit the human body.

Tailed beast chakra, on the other hand, was closer to a raw, unprocessed state. It even bore similarities to natural energy.

Chakra, as a force, didn't originally exist in this world. It was first acquired by Kaguya after consuming the fruit of the Divine Tree.

The Divine Tree had absorbed the world's original life energy and converted it into chakra.

In this sense, chakra and natural energy were fundamentally one and the same, only chakra had been processed by the Divine Tree and transformed into the tailed beast chakra we see today.

Later, the Sage of Six Paths refined it further, creating the form of chakra used by modern ninja.

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