Konoha Notes

Chapter 452 New Things
The information conveyed in Shuji's words made Tobirama Senju stop asking questions.

One sentence is enough.

Konoha, or rather the organization called the Joint Affairs Bureau, possessed far more intelligence than he had anticipated.

He caught up with the bureau's group and boarded the returning ship.

The Third Hokage seemed to have something to say, but ultimately remained silent. The other ninjas, including Darui, merely cast restrained glances. Curiosity was there, but no one dared to approach and ask.

The people boarded different ships in batches. The barrier team set up defensive barriers along the edges of the decks, and the sensory ninjas took turns monitoring every direction of the sea and sky.

Tobirama Senju did not comment on the current situation, but instead went directly to the Kirigakure Jonin who was in charge of the defense.

“Given the characteristics of the Dustless Concealment Technique, relying solely on chakra perception is prone to failure.” His voice was calm, without the slightest air of a legendary figure. “I suggest mixing an appropriate amount of pheromones into the Mist Concealment Technique as a physical marker. Even if chakra cannot be sensed, it can still be tracked through other means.”

The Kirigakure Jonin paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "Indeed... in that case, the other party is not non-existent."

The entire defense system was quickly adjusted. The Hidden Mist ninja began preparing an improved version of the Hidden Mist Technique, the Hidden Stone ninja cooperated in reinforcing the key parts of the ship's hull, and the Hidden Sand provided several small puppets carrying talismans.

This well-organized and systematic arrangement, which combined the strengths of each ninja village, made Tobirama feel very comfortable.

He was used to the chaos of starting from scratch, but his professional planning and highly professional colleagues always gave him peace of mind.

After the defenses were set up, he entered an inconspicuous cabin.

There are four people in the room.

Shuji, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shisui, and Darui.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked somewhat tired, and the wrinkles around his eyes appeared even deeper in the dim light of the cabin.

"If I had been able to stop the first battle in time, Jonin Suma Shi would not have died."

Darui said, "In that situation, no one expected the opponent to use Dust Release. This was not just a misjudgment on your part, Third Hokage."

"In addition to instigating war, we will take every opportunity to weaken the enemy's fighting power and create internal conflicts within Akatsuki. This is a strategy jointly formulated by the secret service. All participants were aware of the risks involved before they set off."

Then, he bowed to Tobirama Senju.

"The Second Hokage."

Tobirama Senju's gaze swept over Darui's dark skin, robust physique, the striking thunder tattoo on his arm, and his unique black and white attire, making his origins immediately clear.

In this room where the concentration of Konoha members was clearly too high, he showed a relatively gentle attitude towards the representative of Kumogakure.

“The last person I’ve ever seen with a lightning tattoo was the most outstanding young man in Kumogakure at the time,” Tobirama said. “I suppose you are too.”

“That is the Third Raikage. I am Darui, and I am still far from being the Third Raikage.”

“Strength is certainly important,” Tobirama said pragmatically, “but for a leader, the ability to maintain calm judgment in complex situations is often more valuable than mere force. Your words just now prove that you possess this ability.”

"In this respect, you are very similar to the Second Raikage."

Darui's feelings were somewhat complicated at this moment, after all, the Second Hokage of Konoha and the Second Hokage of Kumogakure were among those who died in the same batch.

Even the cause of death was the same.

He died in the rebellion started by the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers, who were from the Hidden Cloud Village.

Considering that he was the only one in the room whose identity was different, he said, "Mr. Shuji, I'll go and arrange the follow-up matters for my return trip."

"Lord Raikage has already made arrangements for the rescue."

"Furthermore, we need to inform you in advance about the information regarding the reanimated Kage."

After saying that, he left the cabin.

Only the people of Konoha remained in the room, along with a silence that had lasted for decades.

Tobirama did not sit down, but looked at Shisui.

"What is your relationship with Jing?"

He noticed the subtle similarities between the two.

“Uchiha Kagami is my ancestor, the Second Hokage.”

“Ancestor…” Tobirama repeated the word, “He is already dead.”

His gaze immediately fell on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The image of the young disciple in my memory—with his fiery eyes, full of energy, always a little impetuous yet incredibly reliable—overlaps with that of the white-haired old man before me, whose brows are etched with the marks of time and weariness.

"Even you've gotten this old, monkey."

Hiruzen Sarutobi faced his teacher and said, "I am very sorry to have shown you this worthless state, teacher."

"You've said 'sorry' too many times." Tobirama's voice was devoid of emotion. "Have you even lost your confidence, monkey?"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only manage a bitter smile.

Tobirama then turned his full attention to the last person in the room.

If I'm not mistaken, that's a thousand hands.

But he didn't ask that question. Instead, he said, "Based on what I heard bits and pieces from Orochimaru, plus what I just saw."

"The current situation is roughly that most of the ninja villages have united into a certain organization, and their opponent is an organization called Akatsuki, which is based in an overseas country. Is my understanding correct?"

Shuji nodded.

"You have the right basic framework, which makes communication much easier."

"Akatsuki is an organization composed primarily of S-rank rogue ninja from various ninja villages. Its apparent leader is Nagato, who possesses the Rinnegan, while another member who claims to be Uchiha Madara and possesses space-time ninjutsu is another figure that the organization needs to take seriously."

He claims to be...

His assertion was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation: "That's not Ban."

"Back then," Shuji asked without hesitation, "did you still retain a sample of Madara Uchiha's body tissue?"

Faced with this blunt and uncompromising statement, Tobirama Senju's lips twitched very slightly, which could perhaps be considered a smile.

"It seems you never believed that identity either. What, are you planning to use the Impure World Reincarnation to summon Madara first?"

“It’s a pity,” he shook his head, “After my brother’s battle with Madara at the Valley of the End, I did keep Madara’s body. But then came the cleanup of the village, my brother’s harassment… In short, by the time I wanted to handle it more properly, his body had disappeared.”

Shuji felt a little regretful, as Tobirama Senju was probably one of the very few people in the world who might still possess Madara's genetic information. If they could have extracted Madara with minimal precision beforehand and sealed him away, it would have saved them a lot of trouble later.

"What about the first one?"

“Orochimaru is a cautious researcher,” Tobirama added, pouring cold water on the idea once more. “His resurrection of us former Kage was the result of long and repeated testing. He deliberately kept the resurrection precision low until he was certain he could maintain sufficient control.”

"So, just like what you wanted to do, he has already done it."

"As long as the Edo Tensei's accuracy isn't too high, you don't need to worry about my brother. Even if something happens, I can handle it." "But if he really dares to raise the accuracy of reincarnating my brother to a sufficiently high level..."

At this point, Tobirama Senju's tone became unusually calm.

"Then you need to worry even less. That's not a power he can control."

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened in silence, then finally raised his head: "I've implicated you and the previous generation..."

"Monkey." Tobirama Senju showed a stern expression for the first time, looking down at his disciple. "Old man, is this the reason you've become like this?"

"Or is it that, having lived to this age, you want to hide behind these feelings of guilt and start acting spoiled towards your deceased teachers or the younger generation who will shoulder the future?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's bitter expression froze for a moment, then his eyes cleared as if he had been stabbed by something.

Tobirama Senju stopped looking at him and turned to face Shuji.

"As a person who has already died, one should not linger in the world and interfere with the trajectory of the living."

"But since I've been drawn into such a far-reaching war, and the other side has used such methods... it seems that it's not time for me to return to the Pure Land yet."

"I will return to Konoha with you."

Shuuji nodded, then raised a practical question: "Can a body resurrected through Impure World Reincarnation be maintained indefinitely? How is the consumption of energy consumed handled?"

“It’s not infinite.” Tobirama Senju explained clearly, “The actions and spells of the Impure World Body also require energy to support them.”

"In the initial version I developed, the energy source mainly came from the living body used as a sacrifice. When the life force contained in the sacrificed body was completely exhausted, the activity of the impure body would also reach its limit, gradually collapse, and the soul would return to the pure land."

He moved his fingers slightly, sensing the state of his body.

"However, that Orochimaru... has indeed found some remarkable material."

"The offering that serves as my vessel at this moment has reached an unusually high level of vitality."

"Judging from some indications, this high-quality offering is probably not an isolated case and is somewhat replicable."

"From this perspective, his claim that Akatsuki possesses power sufficient to overturn the world is not entirely a bluff."

After all, the technological barrier often lies in the materials. The world of ninjutsu is no exception.

Shuji listened quietly before speaking.

"Regarding potential samples, Konoha has accumulated relevant materials, and the research process is ongoing. Once you return to the village, you can personally assess its development trend and value."

Tobirama Senju nodded, his gaze returning to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Since similar progress is being made, there is no need to wallow in useless self-blame."

Hiruzen Sarutobi subconsciously wanted to lower his head again, but he held back.

—This can hardly be considered his achievement. If we had to say, would it be the result of his achievements?

Tobirama immediately realized this.

"It seems that there are still many things to see after I return to the village."

The interim meeting has now come to an end.

Everyone dispersed to handle the follow-up matters.

As night fell and the lights in the ship's corridors gradually dimmed, Tobirama Senju finally found Shuji at the end of the deck.

The young man had his back to him, facing the dark sea. The sound of the waves crashing against the hull was exceptionally clear in the silence.

"How is Senju doing?" Tobirama asked.

In some ways, this is a hellish question on par with "What happened to Izuna?"

“To exist well, together with the village,” Shuji said.

"Orochimaru said you're being taken care of by Momoka." Tobirama walked to his side, also looking towards the sea. "Now..."

"Grandma Taohua is doing well. She's still in the old house and has been very energetic lately." Xiu Si's lips curved into a smile. "There are quite a few more children in the family now, and she's busy taking care of them. She's much more energetic than she was a few years ago."

A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered across Tobirama Senju's usually cold and stern face.

"That's good."
-
Under the same night sky, the airship of the Snow Country is passing through the clouds.

The atmosphere inside the cabin was somber. Payne had disappeared shortly after boarding, leaving only the other three.

Sasori sat in the corner: "Orochimaru, your skills are nothing special, being able to let your ninjutsu go out of control."

This is a unique kind of pickiness among researchers of forbidden arts—not out of malice, but purely an instinctive reaction to technical flaws.

Hiruko leaned against the bulkhead and glanced at Orochimaru: "The Second Hokage ran to the other side. You've leaked quite a bit of information."

Orochimaru simply chuckled softly upon hearing this.

"The information on the truly influential ninjas in this world has already been largely collected. The top combat power he can find is nothing more than a few individuals who are closely protected by their respective ninja villages."

If we disregard its posthumous stance, it is indeed an excellent collector of material.

"Even if the second generation can suppress the opposition and use human sacrifices, it is still a question whether those villages will be willing to cooperate and hand over the physical information of the relevant personnel."

"As for this time, although we lost an important piece, we also saw something interesting."

The Sharingan... without Danzo's help, the research has finally reached its limit.

The ordinary Sharingan is ultimately inferior to the one that has evolved to its peak.

The airship slowly landed at the base in the Snow Country.

Orochimaru went straight back to his laboratory.

He walked to the lab bench, but instead of starting work immediately, he stood there, his fingers unconsciously tapping the surface.

Uchiha Shisui... what exactly is that eye technique?
Just then, Jue's figure appeared.

"What a crushing defeat, Orochimaru," Black Zetsu's voice was deep. "You've always valued Tobirama Senju, haven't you?"

"Bloodline limits always bring surprises. It seems there is still more to explore about the Sharingan."

Black Zetsu's half-white body grinned, revealing a strange smile: "I've found something new that might help you advance your research in this area."

Orochimaru became interested: "Oh?"

"I had a very difficult time finding it," White Zetsu said in an exaggerated tone. "I searched through various caves for a long time."

“I will praise you, Zetsu.” Orochimaru interrupted him, his voice hoarse, “If what you found is really that useful.”

(End of this chapter)