After hearing Uchiha Touhuan's question, Orochimaru shook his head before speaking:
"The result isn't very optimistic. I originally thought that Hashirama's cells could react in a special way with Sage Chakra, thus filling the gap between the pure Mangekyō Sharingan power and Sage Chakra. However, the reality is completely the opposite of what I expected."
"Sage Chakra can indeed react with Hashirama's cells, but once the Mangekyou Sharingan power is added, the three will clash violently.
The Hashirama cells, empowered by Sage Chakra, will completely devour the Mangekyō Sharingan power. This process causes a violent upheaval, and all my experimental subjects died in this process." "
Therefore, I suspect that to achieve a perfect fusion of that technique's power and Sage Chakra, what's missing is something else entirely—a power that is opposite to, but at the same level as, the power contained within Hashirama's cells."
"I see, I understand." Uchiha Touhuan nodded. It seemed that what Black Zetsu gave him had some merit, but it wasn't complete. So, the information about the senior who fused Sage Mode and the Mangekyō Sharingan would probably only be truly useful after finding the Slug Sage.
"Then, you'll stay in Ryuchi Cave for now. Once things calm down, I'll find a way to get you a new identity," Uchiha Touhuan instructed Orochimaru. "
Yes," Orochimaru replied respectfully after bowing.
...
The next day, Uchiha Touhuan went to the Hokage Building early in the morning. After handling some routine matters, he took a document to the room where Jiraiya was being held at the Nakagawa Grand Hotel.
It wasn't really a detention; Jiraiya's fate had already been decided. He was now a genin who had left the ninja ranks and could leave at any time.
However, Jiraiya still seemed unable to recover from his reclusive state that day and refused to leave his room.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to persuade Jiraiya twice, but Jiraiya seemed determined not to leave the room. Every day, besides sleeping, he spent his time giving money to the guards—who were ostensibly there to watch over him but actually looked after him—to buy alcohol.
So, when Touhuan Uchiha arrived, Jiraiya was sitting alone by the window, drinking.
"Lord Jiraiya has quite the refined taste. I wonder how long Lord Jiraiya intends to stay in my guard unit?" Touhuan Uchiha said as he entered Jiraiya's room.
"Touhuan?" Jiraiya turned around and was somewhat surprised to see Uchiha Touhuan.
He then walked from the window to the table in the room, sat down, leaned back in his chair, and said with his head tilted back, "I'm just a retired genin now, so please don't use terms like 'sir'."
"The current solution is just to give everyone an explanation. Lord Jiraiya has contributed to the village and is my senior; for that alone, he deserves this respectful address," Uchiha Touhuan said with a smile.
Jiraiya looked at Uchiha Touhuan, who was wearing the Fifth Hokage's robes, and was momentarily lost in thought. The robes involuntarily reminded him of his disciple, Minato Namikaze, who, when he became Hokage, was just as spirited and ambitious as the young man before him.
But thinking of Minato Namikaze, and recalling what Touhuan Uchiha had said that day, Jiraiya's lips moved slightly before he asked, "Touhuan, have you always looked down on me?"
"Lord Jiraiya, let bygones be bygones. One must learn to look forward," Touhuan Uchiha said calmly.
"Eh." Jiraiya understood Touhuan's answer and sighed heavily. "Speak, what brings you here?"
"I hope you can help me find Lady Tsunade and ask her to return to the village," Touhuan Uchiha said.
"Tsunade? If she wanted to come back, she would have already. The old man probably sent her more messages than he sent me," Jiraiya said.
This was true. Given Hiruzen Sarutobi's situation at the time, having Tsunade return was a million times more reliable than having Jiraiya return. However, Tsunade completely ignored him.
"If you find Lady Tsunade, please give this to her for me. She should be willing to come back," Uchiha Touhuan said, handing Jiraiya a document titled "Medical Ninja Specialized Training Plan." Jiraiya took the
document and glanced at it, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Uchiha Touhuan's plan proposed a radical overhaul of the existing medical ninja training program.
First, at the ninja academy level, students with talent in this area would be selected to form a specialized academy for specialized training.
After graduation, these students with talent would be further divided based on their combat abilities.
Those with no combat talent but good talent in medical ninjutsu would directly enter the village hospital. Those
with some combat talent would be assigned to the combat unit and receive specialized training in self-defense and escape ninjutsu to ensure they wouldn't become a burden to their teammates in battle.
And those with top talent in both areas would be heavily trained by the village to become like Tsunade, capable of both fighting and healing.
It can be said that Uchiha Touhuan's plan completely refined the village's original medical ninja training program, which was similar to an interest group. If this plan can be successfully implemented, Konoha will have many more talented medical ninjas in the future, and perhaps it will truly achieve Tsunade's original idea of having a medical ninja in each team, thereby improving the survival rate of the village's ninjas.
And the name of the dean of Konoha Medical Academy in this plan is none other than Tsunade.
"Alright, I'll give it a try." Jiraiya nodded, accepting the task, and said, "I think she will be willing to come back after seeing this plan."
"I'm counting on you." Uchiha Touhuan nodded, "Also, I would like to ask you to continue the pursuit of Orochimaru. He has recently done something remarkable."
"What did Orochimaru do?" Jiraiya asked hurriedly upon hearing the news about Orochimaru, even sobering up.
Seeing Jiraiya's reaction, Uchiha Touhuan was speechless. He hadn't seen this much reaction when Tsunade was mentioned earlier; Orochimaru was definitely his true love.
"Orochimaru assassinated a daimyo recently," Uchiha Touhuan said.
"What?!" Jiraiya jumped up in shock.
Uchiha Touhuan then embellished the events of the past few days and told Jiraiya.
Jiraiya immediately made a decision: he would set off that day, find Tsunade, and then search for Orochimaru.
...
After seeing Jiraiya off at the Nakagawa Grand Hotel, Uchiha Touhuan returned to the Hokage's office.
Getting Jiraiya out of the village was a well-considered decision. After all, Konoha would become the new capital of the Land of Fire, and a large number of nobles would inevitably move there. Letting this old lecher wander around the village, if he were to peep on some noblewoman, would be a disgrace to the Hokage.
Not long after Uchiha Touhuan returned to his office, Hyuga Hiashi came to his door, requesting that Neji, Hinata, and Hanabi be taken back.
During Uchiha Touhuan's time in the Land of Fire, Hyuga Hiashi had been busy dealing with clan affairs.
Because the focus was on purging the heads of the other main branches of the clan, for the children's safety, Hyuga Hiashi had arranged for the three children to be fostered by the Uchiha Fugaku family for a period. Including Naruto, who, after Kakashi's mission, was now able to easily bring his luggage, the Fugaku family had essentially become a small daycare.
Now, Hyuga Hiashi had finished dealing with the clan's affairs, and more importantly, he had finally found the method to release the Caged Bird Seal from among the clan's ancient scrolls.
"It seems Clan Head Hiashi has finished dealing with the clan's affairs?" Uchiha Touhuan said with a light laugh.
"Thanks to the Hokage-sama's timely assistance, all those involved in this incident have been dealt with by the Hyuga clan," Hyuga Hiashi said.
Originally, Hiashi Hyuga might have faced some resistance in dealing with Hyuga Kazuki and the others, given their considerable support from branch families. However, after witnessing the complete annihilation of the Utatane and Mito clans, the branch families under the main clan collectively chose to submit to Hiashi Hyuga. Hiashi Hyuga seized this opportunity to completely control the clan, and thus, he could use the pretext of replenishing the main clan's membership to exceptionally release Neji from the Caged Bird Seal.
Although the potential dangers of Neji's future rise to power would remain, at least for now, it wouldn't significantly impact the clan's order. As for the future, Hiashi Hyuga decided to trust in the wisdom of future generations.
"In that case, let's choose an auspicious day to complete the apprenticeship ceremony," said Touhuan Uchiha.
"Understood," Hiashi Hyuga nodded.
...
During this time living with the Uchiha clan, Neji Hyuga felt better than ever before.
Although both were prestigious clans in the village, the atmosphere of the Uchiha clan was much more relaxed compared to the strict and rigid rules of the Hyuga clan. At least here, no one from the main branch would treat him arrogantly because of his status.
Even Uchiha Sasuke, the Hokage's disciple and the second son of the elder family, treated him with great respect.
Coupled with Uchiha Mikoto's attentive care, Neji felt a long-lost sense of home.
Aside from his sister's constant, secret stares at a certain blond-haired boy, which annoyed him, this period felt like a dream to Neji.
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