Chapter 97: One Year Later.
"Wonderful wonderful simply wonderful!"
Hearing Danzo Shimura's idea, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but sigh with admiration in his heart.
[It had to be you, Danzo! I knew you had plenty of tricks up your sleeve! Such a simple strategy... now it's mine!]
"So, Hiruzen, you agree!"
Seeing the smile on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, Danzo Shimura's lips also curled into a smile.
[It's a sure thing! This is definitely a sure thing! A top-tier genius is about to fall into my hands!]
But before Danzo Shimura's smile could last for long, Hiruzen Sarutobi's words left him stunned on the spot.
"Agree? What did I agree to?"
Danzo Shimura: "???!!!"
"Hiruzen! You promised me..."
"What did I promise you?"
"I only asked you who you wanted; I never said I would give you the person you wanted."
"You... Hiruzen! You will regret this!"
After saying that, he stomped out in a huff.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi like this, Danzo Shimura knew his old friend was prepared to play dirty.
Knowing there was no hope, Danzo was unwilling to linger any longer.
Bang!
The loud sound of the door slamming echoed again.
"Danzo! I am the Hokage! Hee hee~"
"Someone, come here."
"Hokage-sama."
An Anbu stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi and spoke respectfully.
"Tell Elder Danzo that I'll give him ten... no, twenty slots."
"Yes!"
---
Root Base.
"Hmph! Hiruzen! Since you were the first to disregard martial ethics, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"How are the contacts with those Ninja Clan going?"
"Reporting to Danzo-sama, the smaller Ninja Clan have all agreed, but as for the major Ninja Clan..."
"Speed up the progress. Since I can't have it, then no one shall!"
"Yes!"
---
One year later.
Inside the Kazekage's office in Hidden Sand Village.
Saito was brewing the first tea of the year and lying on a lounge chair, sunbathing.
As for why he was sunbathing in the Kazekage's office...
There was no other reason.
It was simply the highest point.
"Ah~, so comfortable!"
Feeling the warmth of the sun on his body, Saito couldn't help but let out a sigh of contentment.
"This is the kind of work a village shadow should be doing!"
Knock~ knock knock. The sound of knocking on the door rang out.
"Come in!" Saito's lazy voice drifted out.
Click! The door was pushed open from the outside, and then Ebizo walked out.
Crack! This was the sound of Ebizo crushing the doorknob.
"The repair fee will be deducted from your salary!"
Snap! This was the sound of the doorknob being ripped off by Ebizo.
Ebizo promptly put the detached doorknob into his pocket and then said to Saito,
"Lord! Kazekage!"
His voice sounded like he was grinding his teeth.
"What's up?"
"Whew huff" Ebizo took a deep breath before speaking.
"According to intelligence from the Land of Rivers, Hatake Sakumo's mission in the Land of Rivers recently ended in failure!"
Hearing the intelligence from Ebizo, Saito, who had been squinting his eyes in enjoyment, immediately snapped them open. A sharp light flashed in his eyes as he sat up straight, looked at Ebizo, and spoke words that seemed completely unrelated.
"How are the preparations for food and Ninja tools going?"
"The granaries are full; they can completely support the Land of Wind for five years! If it's not enough, Obito..."
"There is no more Obito; he is leaving soon!"
"Uh, then should we..."
"No need! It's only a temporary departure."
"Yes."
"Regarding Ninja tools, specifically exploding tags, thanks to the Puppet Research Institute developing an automated exploding tag manufacturing machine last year... not counting Konan... each Ninja can carry an average of a thousand exploding tags. If we manufacture at full speed... in a month, everyone should have two thousand."
"No need, just keep everything as it is. Just stockpile more raw materials."
"Yes."
"The materials for making flak jackets are now all hundred-refined steel, and currently the entire force is equipped with them. Standard Ninja tools are also of this grade."
"As for Chakra weapons, they are still a bit lacking. Due to the scarcity of materials, only about a hundred have been forged so far. Most are currently equipped to veteran experts, and a small portion serves as rewards for outstanding members of the younger generation."
"Hmm, step up the procurement. Money is not an issue."
"Yes."
"How is the ideological work for Nadeshiko Village going?"
"It has all been completed now."
"Very good. What is the progress on the Tiangong-go?"
"It's almost ready. With our overt and covert assistance, it's expected to be completed in half a year."
"Mm. Then go notify Elder Miya Jomon. Have him assemble the Ninjas of the Chinoike Clan and go to Konoha to support Miya Kiko."
"Yes."
After saying that, Ebizo intended to go get to work.
Of course, as he turned around, he didn't forget to curse Saito in his heart.
"Wait a moment."
"Hmm?"
[No way! Could the Kazekage's strength have reached the point where he can eavesdrop on my inner thoughts?]
"Remember to tell Elder Ooyashiro not to forget to bring back the Chinoike Clan members stranded in Konoha."
"Yes!"
[Whew~, thank goodness, thank goodness.]
Once Ebizo left the office, Saito lay back down on the lounge chair.
He then turned his attention to his Fusion Panel.
[Fusion Progress: 52%]
"Sigh~, still quite a way to go."
Saito had vastly underestimated the difficulty of advancing to the third stage; the energy actually required was over ten times what he had estimated.
And Saito hadn't been idle these past two years; he had traveled to many places alone.
Similarly, he had left many unsolved mysteries in the Ninja World.
For example:
Why did the Hero's Water of Takigakure completely disappear overnight?
Why would the Seven-Tails become listless every month?
Why would the Star Stone of Hoshigakure lose all its energy?
And why would perfectly good mountain ranges suddenly collapse?
And so on and so forth... There was only one answer to these questions... Saito did it all.
He stole the Hero's Water, he drained the Seven-Tails, he sucked the Star Stone dry, and as for the mountain range, who told the gelel stone to be inside there?
Wasn't it because the energy was sucked dry that it collapsed?
However, Saito didn't waste the gelel stones that were devoid of energy; he brought them all back.
In the end, research discovered that this kind of ore was a natural Chakra battery with extremely high conversion efficiency.
Now they had become the power cores inside the exploding tag manufacturing machines.
---
Inside the Ninja Academy training ground.
"Next match: Kakashi Hatake vs. Obito Uchiha."
As the teacher announced the students for the next match,
A burst of cheers and shouts erupted from the spectator area.
However, the cheers and shouts were all directed at Kakashi.
Nevertheless, there was one voice among them cheering for Obito.
"Go for it~, Obito!"
Hearing someone cheering for him, Obito hurriedly looked toward the direction the voice came from.
Sure enough, as Obito expected, the shouting came from a young girl with face paint on her cheeks.
[Hahaha~, Rin is cheering for me! Rin really does like me!]
"Go for it~, Kakashi!"
The shouting voice came from Rin's mouth again, but this time she was calling Kakashi's name.
[Tch! Stuck-up Kakashi! But... Rin called my name first, so she still likes me a bit more! Hehehe...]
At the thought of this, Obito Uchiha's heart filled with joy, and he let out a silly grin on the outside.
"idiot!"
Looking at Obito Uchiha, who was grinning like a fool as soon as he stepped onto the stage, Kakashi habitually uttered the insult he had been using for a year.
And a certain Obito, who had been insulted for a year, immediately snapped out of it and bristled upon hearing those two words.
"Stuck-up Kakashi! Were you just insulting me again!"
Facing Obito Uchiha's inquiry, Kakashi showed no interest in answering and simply rolled his eyes.
"Bastard Kakashi! Today I'm definitely going to let you experience the feeling of being beaten up by yours truly."
Just as Obito Uchiha was about to lose his temper and strike, the proctor stepped in just in time to stop the farce.
"Alright! Both sides, form the Seal of Confrontation! The duel... begins!"
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