Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Shen Er stared blankly at the scene before him, took a deep breath, and regained his composure.

Failure is the mother of success; as long as you can find the problem, it is valuable.

"Subject number one lasted for 30 seconds."

"What went wrong?"

Shen Er fell into deep thought.

The development of Di Yuan Yu was an unknown path, with no references or models to follow. He could only accumulate experience and learn from mistakes through experimentation.

I can't think of a solution right now.

She then turned to look at another test subject, a one-eyed man.

The other person had woken up at some point and was staring at him with a mixture of shock and anger.

He completely ignored the hostile gaze and continued speaking:

"Too many test subjects can easily lead to accidents, so we only arrange for two to be sent each month."

"Your life is still precious until the next batch arrives. I will use medical ninjutsu to save your life as much as possible and will not let you die easily."

"If you don't want to die, you'd better rouse your will to survive and live through my experiment."

It must be said that Uchiha Yan's "selection" was quite conscientious. He picked out bandits with blood on their hands, so he wouldn't feel guilty at all if he used them as consumables.

Once upon a time, I even wanted to be a good person.

Having survived in a hellish place like Takigakure until now, he has long since become accustomed to life and death and has cast morality aside. That is a luxury that only those in peacetime deserve.

As long as he has no morals, he will never be held hostage by guilt.

His final act of kindness was to refrain from indiscriminate killing and to make the best use of resources.

Shen Er released the Earthly Grudge again, planting a curse mark on the one-eyed man's heart and sealing it with the Five Elements Seal, before turning and leaving the underground laboratory.

He wouldn't easily start a second experiment until he figured out the problem.

...

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Gospel Hospital.

Matsumoto Kaori went to the dean's office to hand in her assignment. While Shinji was grading it, she flipped through the notes on the cursed seal he had given her.

When I got tired of looking, I would quietly look up and steal a glance at Shen'er's profile, my heart filled with longing.

'I really want to be as gentle as Ms. Jin'er.'

'Teacher Shen is so gentle, she probably has never even yelled at anyone...'

"Harmony."

Shen'er's voice startled her: "Here!"

"Focus on the Cursed Seal Notes, don't get distracted. Ask if you don't understand anything, don't be shy." Shen said expressionlessly, keeping his head down and not looking at Matsumoto Kazuka as he spoke.

"Yes! I understand!"

They got caught peeping...

He Xiang calmed his mind.

She did not disappoint Shen'er's expectations; she made rapid progress in learning the cursed seal. She thoroughly studied the research notes Shen'er gave her at an unexpected pace.

Simply put, she is a genius of curse seals.

The lack of combat skills in ninjas was entirely made up for by their talent for cursed seals.

But in front of Shinji, Matsumoto Kaori deliberately hid her talent, planning to give her teacher a big surprise when the time was right.

Therefore, she forced herself to actively make friends at school.

Matsumoto Waka possessed a cold and aloof demeanor, and was always accompanied by the White Snake. Despite wearing the glasses given to her by Jin, she remained unpopular at the ninja academy. It was a long time before she made two friends from the Yamanaka and Hyuga clans.

Making friends is irrelevant to Matsumoto Waka. Having been lonely since childhood, she doesn't need friendship to fill her heart.

All she needed was recognition and a little tenderness. And Shen'er was the first person to give her both.

Therefore, Shen'er's goal is her goal!

That's also her purpose in making friends.

These two friends happen to embody what Matsumoto Kazuka needs.

The Caged Bird Mantra Seal, the Body and Mind Transformation Mantra Seal.

Cursed seals are the foundation of all major ninja clans.

Even though he was, after all, a "ninja" and an "adult," any attempt to get close to the secrets of the cursed seal, for whatever reason, would arouse suspicion.

But Matsumoto Kazuka felt that she might be able to.

She was a "ninja trainee," a "young girl," and therefore the least likely to arouse suspicion.

It's impossible to master these two seals; even the closest companions wouldn't hand them over. However, it's not entirely impossible to observe their workings up close and hear their insights.

There is only one premise

Their "friendship" was strong enough that the two friends were willing to break the clan rules and secretly show her the curse mark.

Knowing full well that toying with friendships and approaching others with ulterior motives is despicable, Matsumoto Kaori's deep longing for Shinji makes her reckless.

Matsumoto Waka's eyes were firm:

"This is my way of the ninja."

...

Does Matsumoto Waka really lack talent in curse seals?

After the tests this week, Shen Er couldn't help but have this question in his mind. Matsumoto Kaori's performance in learning the curse seal was only average, and it didn't bring him any surprises.

His expectations were dashed.

'It seems the effort invested in her will only be recouped slowly over ten years.'

Shen Er regained his composure and spoke:

"Let's go, Kaori, it's time to go to the ninja academy."

"Yes, teacher!"

...

Ninja Academy.

Senju Takayuki spoke up, "Lord Senju has arrived."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura followed behind him.

Upon hearing this, Danzo looked up.

He and Hiruzen had never actually had any formal contact with Shinji; they had only seen each other from afar on the day of the entrance physical examination.

Everyone says that he is a very important figure in the village.

Danzo, however, was not convinced: he was just an outsider.

He felt from the bottom of his heart that he didn't deserve such respect. After all, the other person was a doctor who had only arrived five years after Konoha was founded, and was ultimately an outsider.

Only those like the Shimura and Sarutobi clans, who have been rooted in the village since its founding, deserve to be called true Konoha people.

Those who are not outsiders in our village deserve to be monitored.

However, Danzo kept all these dark thoughts to himself and never revealed them to anyone.

At this moment, he was far too insignificant in front of Shen Er.

He's not even a proper ninja yet, so how could he possibly criticize the important figures in the village?

'If I could stand in the teacher's position, I could express my own opinions...' Danzo thought to himself.

"Hiruzen, Danzo, I'm going to class."

Senju Takayuki bid farewell to the two.

"Alright," the young Hiruzen replied, turning to look at Danzo. "Danzo, aren't you going home?"

"I have something to do, you can go first."

Danzo waited at the school gate, carrying a secret mission given to him by Tobirama Senju.

Several hours passed, and finally Shen Er was seen leaving the school after class.

He stepped forward and said in a deep voice:

"Lord Shinji, Lord Tobirama requests your presence at the tea room."

Chapter 27 Don't Let Your Darkness Defile Me

Yo.

The Fifth Hokage has arrived.

He even sized up the boy Danzo in front of him.

With his black, spiky hair, gloomy and arrogant eyes, and a signature X-shaped scar on his chin, he exuded a fierce aura.

You could say Danzo was bad, but you can't say he was mediocre; he was indeed one of the best among the youths of this era.

Shen Er nodded slightly: "I recognize you, Tobirama's second disciple."

Danzo was immediately annoyed. He should have addressed Tobirama as "Lord Tobirama"! But he dared not reveal his true feelings in front of Jin, and could only reply in a deep voice, "Yes, I am Lord Tobirama's disciple."

"You... are not bad. Take me to see Tobirama."

Shen Er did not refuse and gladly went along.

More than a month has passed since Tobirama was confined to his quarters.

I can hardly remember the last time I chatted with him.

Just then, the Impure World Reincarnation technique was banned. He also wanted to take this opportunity to sound out Tobirama's thoughts, to see if the great inventor had completely given up hope, or if he still had ideas.