Chapter 196: At Least It's Lively
A few days later, at the home of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Old Man, who had just stepped down from his heavy burden and was physically and mentally exhausted, had his grandson Konohamaru invite Naruto over.
In the study, the light was soft.
The Third Hokage sat behind the desk, watching the young man walk in.
Naruto had already changed into a brand-new Hidden Leaf Village Jonin uniform.
With a blue inner lining and the iconic green Jonin flak jacket worn over it, his forehead protector was tied neatly across his brow.
Wearing this outfit, he looked less like a childish youth and more steady and capable.
The Third Hokage stared blankly, tears faintly appearing in his eyes, his voice filled with emotion.
"I really didn't expect you to become a Jonin so quickly."
Naruto nodded.
"Mm. Lord Third Hokage, did you need something from me?"
The Third Hokage took a scroll out from his sleeve.
"I heard from Jiraiya that you were looking for this."
"This is a scroll passed down from my great-grandfather's generation. Back then, the Senju and Sarutobi clans decided to join forces against the Uchiha because a member of the Uchiha clan had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"This is the record of that battle. However, that Uchiha, known as 'Nanashi', was too powerful. We couldn't kill her, so we could only Seal her away."
Naruto took the scroll and opened it.
Inside was Uchiha Hikari's sealing location and her performance on the battlefield.
"Although I don't know how you found out about her existence, I hope you can look for Tsunade along the way."
Naruto hesitated slightly, then nodded.
"Okay."
Holding the scroll, Naruto turned to leave.
Walking to the study door, Naruto's movement stopped as his hand gripped the doorknob.
He didn't turn around, but merely tilted his face slightly. From the corner of his eye, he took one last look at the Old Man sitting behind the desk, his figure hunched as if all his spirit had been drained away instantly.
The Third Hokage, who was originally only a little over 1.6 meters tall, now appeared even shorter than that due to his hunched posture.
The sunlight shone through the window onto him, casting a long, lonely shadow.
Naruto fell silent for a moment.
Then, as if casually, he spoke and left a sentence behind:
"By the way, the reason Jiraiya knows about this is actually because we ran into each other while he was looking for... the Telescope Technique."
As the words fell, Naruto didn't linger. He pulled open the door and left without looking back.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded, and the study returned to silence.
What was Jiraiya looking for the Telescope Technique for? Wasn't the crystal ball destr— The Third Hokage, who was still feeling secretly sorrowful, suddenly snapped his head up after processing Naruto's words.
"Rebellious Disciple!"
A vigorous roar full of shame and fury suddenly erupted from the study.
The little Old Man, who just moments ago looked like he had one foot in the grave and couldn't even straighten his back, was now like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
His back was no longer hunched, the sorrow and fatigue on his face were swept away, replaced by a face flushed red with anger and eyes that were practically spitting fire.
He suddenly sprang up from his chair with an agility that didn't look like an Old Man nearly seventy years old at all.
The little Old Man lunged out and rushed toward the Hokage Building.
Soon, from within the newly built Hokage Building, came the angry roars of the old Hokage, the sound of things being knocked over, and the exaggerated pleas and excuses of the Acting Hokage, Jiraiya... "Old Man, listen to my explanation! I just wanted to research the principles of the technique!"
"Bullshit! Do you think I don't know you?"
"Ouch! Don't hit the head! I was doing it to collect writing material! Art! It's for art!"
"I'll give you art! I'll give you material! If I don't break your legs today, I'm not the Third Hokage!"
"That's perfect then. You break my legs, you go back to being the Third Hokage, and I'll go out to find Tsunade to fix my legs."
"Then I might as well just beat you to death!"
"Help!"
It was a chaotic mess, but at least it was lively.
——————————
Underground Hidden Leaf Village, Secret Laboratory.
Inside the brightly lit basement.
The air was filled with the faint scent of disinfectant, chemical reagents, and the slight odor of biological tissue.
This was a deeply hidden underground space. The walls and floor were made of solid rock, their surfaces covered with runes for soundproofing and isolating Chakra signatures.
This basement was silently excavated and reinforced by Naruto using his Earth Release and Wood Release abilities.
The various precision instruments, petri dishes, and analytical equipment inside were "packaged" and brought back from various secret research institutes in the Land of Rice Fields by his Shadow Clones using sealing scrolls and the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The efficiency was staggering.
At this moment, in the core area of the laboratory.
Orochimaru, dressed in a white lab coat, was bent over a precision microscope, a near-fanatical light of focus flickering in his golden vertical pupils.
His pale, slender fingers were carefully manipulating the micromanipulator arms.
"Are you about to leave the Village? Naruto-kun."
"Mm. I need my own Sharingan, so I must go out for a while."
Orochimaru nodded, then waved his hand.
"I'll prepare first. When the time comes, I'll set up the petri dishes like Shin's Sea Slugs and try to cultivate a pair of Mangekyo using your cells and the cells of the Uchiha clan members."
Yakushi Kabuto was also standing respectfully to the side.
Their helpers were the Sound Four.
At this time, the Second Hokage was studying Kimimaro, who had been secretly brought in.
Because he wanted to dissect the 'aliens', the Second Hokage had temporarily put Ninjutsu development aside to focus on researching the human body and Bloodline Limits.
Without the constraints of being the Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village, Tobirama was having a blast right now.
Leaving the room where Orochimaru was, Naruto went to the next room.
Tobirama was humming a tune while doing research.
"Recalling the past tears haven't dried in years The embroidered ball from the colorful tower matches a good marriage~"
He would definitely have to make that Naruto kid write out the complete opera later.
Second Hokage: I'm an Old Man, I just love listening to tunes.
"Second Hokage, how is Kimimaro doing now?"
Hearing Naruto's voice, Tobirama stopped humming and turned to look at him.
"There's no hope, at least not with current medical technology. If you ask me, we should clone a few of him for my research as soon as possible. Then Seal this child away and release him when we can treat Bloodline Limit Diseases."
Although it sounded cruel, to the Second Hokage, clones weren't human at all.
Trading things that weren't human for a human life was very much worth it.
"Does the Senju clan have such a sealing technique?"
Tobirama nodded.
"Yes, but it requires a massive amount of Chakra. If I were alive, I could probably do it, but not now."
"The Chakra from the Edo Tensei technique is nearly infinite, but the output rate is limited."
"That's why the Wood Golem my brother uses is so weak, and he can't use the True Several Thousand Hands."
Moreover, the current Edo Tensei was not perfect; the First Hokage and the others didn't even have the kind of cracks seen during the Fourth War.
"Do you need my help?"
"No need. The Sound Four, plus Orochimaru and me, can manage. Go find Tsunade and bring her back. Once she's back, let her take a look at this child."
"Remember to write down that play you told me about before. Now go. You don't understand this anyway, don't disturb us."
After being pushed out by the Second Hokage, Naruto decided to set off.
He left a Wood Clone in the Village and then used the Flying Thunder God to leave.
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