Konoha: Tsunade, I am the Hokage

In Sunagakure, Rasa glanced back at the village and the children and ninjas following behind him, then shouted, "Let's go!"

Among the children behind him was Maki, a disciple of Yekura.

Throughout the journey, Luo Sha remained vigilant, constantly observing the surroundings.

He figured that now that Yekura had returned to the village, he would definitely take a look at Masaki.

and so.

If you bring a real tree, Leafa might appear.

however.

To his disappointment, he did not see Yekura even on the border of the Land of Wind.

Yekura...

Luo Sha sighed inwardly, filled with regret and remorse.

If he had been able to think of a better option back then, Sunagakure might not be in such a dilapidated state now.

At least, after I leave, someone else can take my place.

Unlike now.

In the vast Sunagakure village, there was not a single elite Jonin who could temporarily assume an important position after he left the village.

As for the elders.

Elder Naito does have some abilities, but they aren't very strong, and his combat power is quite poor...

"Does that mean we have to hire Konoha ninjas?"

An absurd thought flashed through Luo Sha's mind.

Hire Konoha ninjas!

In terms of strength, Konoha is indeed very powerful now, with Jonin and elites emerging one after another, except for Minato Namikaze and Kyohiko Yoshimine...

There was also the powerful ninja who once kicked and killed half of the ninjas in the Grass Village.

but.

The cost of hiring a ninja of this caliber is extremely high.

After finishing his job, even though he went to the Land of Snow to complete the commission, he didn't earn much and ended up working for Konoha.

Luo Sha sighed, speechless and filled with confusion.

I walked back into the woods.

What was once a barren desert has now become much denser, lush and verdant, making it hard to believe that this place was once the edge of a desert.

He stood outside the forest for a long time.

This forest is the final resting place of many of Sunagakure's elites, causing the village to die out and never recover.

The war that took place here forced Rasa to confront the reality that Sunagakure had to bow down and surrender, and also cost him his greatest ally—

Ebizo.

That wise and intelligent old man commanded a large number of intelligence ninjas, but with Ebizo's death, less than half of these intelligence ninjas could be awakened.

Luo Sha paused to reminisce, while also hoping that Ye Cang would come over.

After waiting for several minutes, he whispered, "Let's go, the land of rivers is just ahead."

He didn't tell the story of this place.

Even though they actively invaded Konoha and were ultimately defeated by the village, but—

If Sunagakure were strong enough, Rasa would certainly want the children not to forget Sunagakure's past here, and to remember their crushing defeat.

but.

They are too weak now.

Rasa sighed, then stepped into the land of rivers.

They had already informed the daimyo of the land of rivers, so they were not afraid of causing conflict between the two countries, and headed towards Kikyo Castle along the same road they had taken before.

but.

Just as he emerged from the forest and arrived at the site where the three Kazekage of the past had died, Rasa sensed a fluctuation of chakra.

A thought struck him.

"Rest here for a bit, I'll go contact Konoha to avoid any misunderstandings."

Luo Sha looked at Maki and said, "I'll leave a clone here. You and Yura are in charge of keeping watch around and being careful."

"Lord Kazekage, how can you go yourself? Let me go!"

Machi immediately volunteered.

"No need, this distance is nothing to me, so you don't need to argue."

Luo Sha shook his head.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage!"

Maki's expression turned solemn.

He is now sixteen years old and has been promoted to Jonin.

Although he is not yet proficient in some areas, he is already a rare elite in Sunagakure, and the strongest among them besides Rasa.

Luo Sha created a shadow clone, and then instantly disappeared.

Following the scent, they arrived at a mountain hollow to the north of their location. Just as they jumped into a crater, a sound came from the treetops above.

"What do you want from me now?"

"Yakura!"

Luo Sha's tone was a mix of excitement and relief upon hearing this.

He calmed himself down.

Then, Rasa said, "Yakura, come back. The past was a misunderstanding. Now, Sunagakure needs you!"

"Oh……"

A hint of mockery appeared on Ye Cang's face.

Then, she took out her headband, holding one end in one hand, and let the entire headband hang down from the treetop.

"Look at my headband."

Luo Sha looked up.

There was a conspicuous scratch on the headband.

That's the mark of a rogue ninja.

Yekura drew a line on her headband, signifying that she would never return to Sunagakure.

Luo Sha was stunned for a long time.

Then, somewhat bewildered, he asked, "Then why...?"

"I still care about Sunagakure, but I will not return to the village. Rasa, you will not understand my current situation and feelings."

Yekura stood up and looked down at Rasa.

"Pakura, the Scorching Release user of Sunagakure, is dead. Now I am just a wandering ghost in the ninja world..."

She finished speaking and chuckled softly.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now, Kazekage of Sunagakure."

"etc!"

Luo Sha hurriedly called out.

However, Yekura has vanished without a trace.

……

Konoha, within the Dark Strategies.

Kakashi held the bark in his hand and fell into deep thought for a long time.

At least before, it was paper and bamboo tubes.

This time it turned into tree bark.

What kind of outside intelligence agent did Jingyan find? Has his life as an undercover agent become so difficult?

"Come to think of it, Kyohiko doesn't seem to have mentioned this person before..."

Genma Shiranui couldn't help but say.

Kakashi looked up: "Special intelligence agents should be kept as secret as possible. The more people know about them, the worse it is. You should know the rules, right?"

"clear."

Genma Shiranui's expression turned serious.

He knew about this person because Kikyo Castle often used his channels to send intelligence to Konoha via the Flying Thunder Formation.

Otherwise, the intelligence group would be separate from them, and they wouldn't have direct contact with each other.

"That guy, Kyohiko... well, he might still be at Mount Myōboku. I'll go look for him. Could you take care of the documents on my desk? I need to go to Mount Myōboku to inform him; it might be urgent!"

"what?"

Genma Shiranui was stunned for a moment.

As Kakashi spoke, he suddenly vanished in a flash, his speed incredibly fast. Genji Shiranui seemed to faintly hear the sounds of wind and thunder.

"I finally understand what 'lightning speed and thunder' means, but..."

Genma Shiranui stared at the table, lost in deep thought.

He always felt—

I think I've been tricked!

but.

This is the position of the Dark Guard Captain!

Genma Shiranui hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and picked up a notebook.

Information from the Land of Earth.

"Onoki has mobilized ninjas, which is suspected to be an increase in surveillance along the border with the Land of Rain."

Pick up another one.

"There has been a significant increase in the number of people traveling from the Land of Earth to the Land of Rain, suggesting that ninjas may have infiltrated."

Iwagakure has intensified its surveillance of Amegakure...

Is Amegakure going to visit Konoha?

"It seems Onoki hasn't given up on his evil intentions after all!"

Genma Shiranui stacked the two pieces of information together, then quickly looked through the documents, searching for various pieces of information.

He seemed to adapt to the job very quickly.

……

After leaving the Anbu, Kakashi summoned a toad.

Is Kyohiko still on Mount Myōboku?

"Croak, he's already back in the village."

The toad answered.

Kakashi was stunned for a moment, then said, "When did he get back? Why didn't I know?"

"Morning?"

"Damn it! It's already afternoon!"

Kakashi roared.

Then, he took a deep breath.

There's a toad in front of me; it's innocent, and you shouldn't be angry at a toad...

He made a great effort to maintain his composure.

"Thank you, I understand."

Kakashi saw the toad off and then quickly headed towards Orochimaru's research base.

After Jingyan came back, he didn't go anywhere else, so he must have stayed there!

……

Inside the forest, Kyohiko and Orochimaru gathered, with Yamato standing before them.

"Try again."

"Will this be dangerous?"

"If you obey our orders, you will be safe. In fact, I have already minimized its danger, and there will be a clear warning when it reaches its limit."

Orochimaru's voice was hoarser than usual.

He's really exhausted these past few days.

Orochimaru has barely rested in his research on this thing, and has now achieved some results.

but.

Whether it will work or not remains to be seen in this experiment.

Orochimaru licked his dry lips.

Let's begin!

"yes!"

Yamato reached out and put on the special arm that was only slightly larger than his own.

This arm is different from the previous one.

Its interior is constructed of steel and features unique patterns, making it quite different from its predecessors in terms of armor and feel.

For a moment, Yamato didn't know how to control it.

He frowned.

"Just use it the same way as last time."

Jingyan reminded him.

Yamato nodded, then formed a hand seal with one hand to mobilize chakra and used a relatively simple ninjutsu.

Wood Release: Silent Binding Technique!

The next second, a branch quickly grew from the special mechanical arm he was wearing, and then wrapped around the tree in front of him.

In the blink of an eye.

Gala!

The trees were snapped in two and collapsed.

Yamato was stunned for a long time, an expression of disbelief on his face.

This……

What a powerful ninjutsu effect!

While his own Wood Release ninjutsu could achieve a similar ability, it was definitely not something that the Silent Binding Technique could do, and it would likely consume far more chakra.

Unbelievable!

"How's the effect? ​​Compared to last time, isn't this one better? How much chakra do you feel you've saved?"

Orochimaru quickly took out a pen and notebook and began recording data.

This is important experimental data.

Yamato replied, "The amount of chakra I used didn't change, but the power was stronger than last time, probably... about a third stronger?"

"One-third?"

Orochimaru frowned slightly, not entirely satisfied.

This was not the effect he had hoped for.

but.

That works too!

Orochimaru continued taking notes, asking questions along the way: "Try using other ninjutsu, or directly release Wood Release without hand seals."

"No Imitation?"

Yamato was puzzled.

Jingyan coughed lightly: "When you use chakra, just use a technique similar to Wood Release, and then think about how to make it move."

"Is it that simple?"

Yamato is doubtful.

The next second, he tried to press that hand to the ground.

Wood escape·Wooden spindle wall!

This is a very common defensive ninjutsu in Wood Release, and it has more hand seals than the Silent Binding Technique.

The next second, the instant his palm touched the ground.

Bang!

The ground cracked open, and trees grew out, quickly sheltering him within them.

Incredibly, Yamato can sense the outside world through the trees, as if they were his eyes.

This was a situation he had never encountered before.

Yamato stood up, looked up, and was immediately stunned.

His wooden ingot walls were mostly made of wood and had no vitality, while the wooden ingot walls used now are made of growing trees.

They are living things!

The "feeling" I just experienced must have come from these trees.

"I used the usual amount of chakra, but the effect was clearly stronger, and I could sense the outside world through it..."

Yamato quickly reported back.

Orochimaru's eyes lit up, and he quickly wrote it down.

Perception!

The previous Silent Binding technique was merely an increase in power, a quantitative change, while this Wooden Ingot Wall represents a qualitative leap—

The extra senses allow ninjas within defensive ninjutsu to observe the outside world more easily and safely.

"Kyohiko, can you do it?"

"Of course, my vegetation barrier was extracted using this characteristic."

Jingyan nodded.

Orochimaru licked his lips: "In other words, this puppet arm has given his Wood Release ability a significant boost!"

"It seems so for now, Yamato. Use some ninjutsu to consume as much chakra as possible and see the limits of this puppet arm."

Kyohiko looked at Yamato.

"yes!"

Yamato thought for a moment and then tried forming hand seals.

Although the puppet hand is difficult to use, it is not impossible to use both hands simultaneously by forming hand seals.

A moment later, he placed his hand on the ground.

Immediately—

On this not-so-large open space, trees quickly sprang up and in the blink of an eye formed a wooden tower as tall as a four- or five-story building.

Yamato held his head high, his face filled with shock.

"I just want to build a small log cabin!"

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru quickly recorded the data.

Unstable control!

Yamato raised his head, then instantly moved forward, using a ninjutsu that created trees.

After turning a vacant lot into a tree, he felt his arm burning hot.

"Sir, it's so hot!"

"Take it off, take it off."

Orochimaru said quickly.

Yamato did as instructed and removed his arm armor. Immediately, he saw a strange white fleshy mass twisting and emerging from the gap in his arm, which looked extremely terrifying.

After cutting off the chakra, Orochimaru and Kyohiko walked over.

Will it automatically recover?

"It's not possible for now, but we can make its chakra disappear by absorbing it."

As Orochimaru spoke, he formed hand seals and then placed one hand on the arm.

After a long time, the arm slowly returned to its original position.

Kyohiko glanced at Orochimaru.

That technique just now seemed similar to the chakra absorption technique of the Red Copper Armor, but it was also somewhat different.

After a while, the arm returned to its original state.

Orochimaru looked at Yamato.

"As you unleash your ninjutsu, this arm will reach a charging state. Once the chakra level becomes too high, its internal mechanism will alert you to deactivate the armor. Understand?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru!"

Upon hearing this, Yamato nodded repeatedly, his face filled with barely concealed excitement.

This setting allows him to use the puppet arm more safely, without fearing the side effects of being devoured or assimilated!

"After each use, it is not allowed to be used a second time within a short period of time. It is best to take it back to the village for inspection..."

"Before it is actually used, have your shadow clone test its carrying capacity."

Orochimaru explained the next steps.

If the load-bearing limit can be determined, it can be used with relative confidence within a certain number of uses; otherwise, it's rather useless. (End of Chapter)