Chapter 33: The Final Disciple
As for the last remaining disciple slot, Senju Morin planned to select someone from among Konoha's major ninja clans.
If Tsunade represented the "orthodox legacy" of the past, and Orochimaru embodied the rapidly rising force of the civilian-born shinobi, then the third disciple had to come from Konoha's strongest and most deeply rooted power bloc of the present—the ninja clans.
Tsunade was obviously unsuited for that role.
Having long since lost even her surname, she could hardly be said to represent any clan at all. Whether she still represented the Senju was itself debatable; at most, she symbolized her two Hokage grandfathers.
At first glance, the Hyūga clan seemed the most likely candidate.
They had been the earliest to declare their stance and had supported Morin with remarkable commitment, earning Hyūga Sōgo no small measure of favor in the process.
Unfortunately, timing was against them.
Hyūga Sōgo's son was already in his twenties. Though married, the marriage was still recent, and he had yet to produce an heir. Taking in another member of the Hyūga main family as a disciple would risk destabilizing the succession line of Sōgo's branch—an act that would bring no benefit and plenty of harm. It would be foolish in the extreme.
That left the clan ranked just behind the Hyūga: the Nara.
Yet the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans shared a special tradition. Each generation's heirs were trained together from childhood, growing side by side, and upon reaching adulthood, they formed a coordinated three-man team.
Back in the Warring States era, this practice not only reinforced the alliance among the three clans, but also dramatically enhanced their combat efficiency and battlefield coordination.
Given that Nara Shikatsune had already stabbed his two allied clans in the back during the Hokage election, if Morin were now to further dismantle the current generation's "Ino–Shika–Chō" trio himself…
That would amount to blatant provocation.
It would earn him nothing but resentment, suspicion, and hostility from all three clans.
After long contemplation, Morin found himself once again picking up a dossier from his desk—the complete roster of students currently enrolled in the Ninja Academy, along with records of its past graduates.
At a glance, one name immediately caught his attention.
Hatake Sakumo.
Morin didn't know Sakumo's exact birth and death dates, nor had he realized that Sakumo was roughly the same age as Tsunade and her peers.
But thinking it through, it made sense.
Kakashi was born in Konoha Year 37. Sakumo, who had Kakashi in his early twenties, must have been born around Konoha Year 13.
Come to think of it, Might Guy's father—Might Duy—was around the same age as well.
Morin flipped further through the Academy records and soon found the entry he was looking for.
Might Duy
Civilian-born shinobi
Born in Konoha Year 15…
What surprised Morin was that Might Duy was actually two years younger than Tsunade and the others.
After satisfying this brief spark of curiosity, Morin placed Duy's file back where it belonged and turned his full attention to Hatake Sakumo's dossier.
Hatake Sakumo
Son of Jōnin Hatake Shūichi
Born: September 3rd, Konoha Year 13
Ninja Academy evaluation scores: …
Moments later, Morin let out a slow breath. He placed Sakumo's file together with the detailed records he had already prepared for Tsunade and Orochimaru, then rose from his seat and left the Hokage's office.
Time was tight. Once he finished handling the most essential administrative matters, he needed to return to studying ninjutsu.
No matter how much authority one held, overwhelming personal strength was the true foundation upon which all plans rested.
If he had not survived the brutality of the First Shinobi World War…
If he were not currently the strongest shinobi within the Senju clan…
If he had lacked the power to intervene in the battle between the Second Hokage and Kinkaku…
Then no amount of careful plotting or political maneuvering would have mattered. In the end, it would all have amounted to nothing more than a farce.
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Deep within the eastern forests of Konoha lay what was once a place of striking natural beauty.
Towering trees reached skyward, their interwoven branches forming a canopy so dense that sunlight rarely penetrated it. Only a few fortunate beams slipped through, scattering flecks of broken gold across the grass-covered forest floor.
The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. Silence reigned, broken only by the occasional chirp of an insect or the distant call of a bird.
Yet this forest—once serene and untouched—now bore the unmistakable scars of intense training.
Large swathes of trees had been cleaved cleanly in half, leaving behind rows of lonely stumps. Smooth, razor-sharp cuts testified to the passage of high-pressure water blades.
Looking farther out, the devastation grew even more apparent.
Sections of forest floor had been ravaged by raging torrents, forming murky pools where mud, shattered branches, and uprooted debris churned together in chaotic disarray.
Aside from Training Ground Forty-Four—the so-called Forest of Death—most of Konoha's training grounds were either located within the village or far too small to support unrestricted practice of large-scale ninjutsu.
As a result, Morin often used the forests surrounding Konoha as his personal training grounds.
His battle against Kinkaku had made one flaw painfully clear:
His defensive capabilities and survivability were more than adequate—but his offensive power lagged far behind.
In that fight, his primary role had been to distract Kinkaku, restrain his movements using Water and Earth Release, and ultimately create the conditions necessary for Senju Tobirama to deliver the finishing blow.
While Wind Release chakra was theoretically the most destructive in raw cutting power, Morin currently lacked access to high-level Wind Release techniques.
Moreover, in terms of sheer lethality, Tobirama's techniques—such as Water Release: Severing Wave—were already more than sufficient.
As he practiced various jutsu, Morin also devoted significant attention to studying Tobirama's specialized hand seal system.
At its core, the concept was not particularly complex.
All ninjutsu fundamentally revolved around chakra refinement and chakra control.
Hand seals were originally devised as an auxiliary method to assist shinobi in guiding and shaping chakra—a system first created by the Sage of Six Paths' eldest son, Indra.
Alongside countless jutsu, the twelve standard hand seals Indra devised were passed down through the ages.
Tobirama's innovation was not a rejection of this system, but an evolution of it.
By optimizing the structure and function of the seals, his method dramatically increased chakra control efficiency.
Naturally, once a shinobi's chakra control reached a sufficiently high level, hand seals became increasingly unnecessary. The most famous examples of this were Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
But improving chakra control was never easy. It demanded relentless training and the accumulation of real combat experience over time.
For two shinobi with comparable chakra control, however, mastering Tobirama's specialized hand seals offered a shortcut—a way to dramatically enhance control efficiency in a relatively short period.
A direct and practical path to rapid growth.
And Morin intended to walk it to the very end.