It was not just the two of them, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, who were far away on the southeastern front, adopted the same approach.
Although the two advisors could not attend personally, they each sealed a Shadow Clone and sent it back to Konoha, demonstrating the seriousness with which they regarded this society.
It could be said that, although the Ninja Way Origins Research Society was nominally only a civilian academic society, because its founder was Shinichi Higashino, from top to bottom throughout Konoha, from the Hokage to the advisors, from the Sannin to the major clans, not a single person treated it as an ordinary civilian organization.
In fact, it was not only Konoha. More than half of the Shinobi World viewed it the same way.
The Daimyo's residence sent a chief butler in person, nearby small ninja villages all expressed their intention to attend as observers, and even the Akatsuki organization in the distant Village Hidden in the Rain, which had never had any dealings with Konoha, proactively sent a formal visiting card.
No one regarded this as an ordinary society inauguration.
Everyone was watching the boy who was about to step onto the podium at the founding ceremony, waiting to see what kind of changes he would bring to the Shinobi World next.
To a certain extent, the scene before them already carried a hint of the atmosphere from when the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, raised his arm and called upon the major ninja clans to set aside their old grudges and work together to build Konoha.
Of course, Shinichi's influence was still far from comparable to that of the true God of Shinobi, but he was only eleven years old.
No one remembered what Hashirama Senju had been doing at the age of eleven, but the eleven-year-old Shinichi Higashino had already drawn the attention of more than half the Shinobi World to a single point.
The weight of such potential was enough to leave any observer shaken.
"I'll make the arrangements." Danzo Shimura nodded, and after remaining silent for a moment, he suddenly changed the subject. "Hiruzen, do you think it's really appropriate to bring up Madara Uchiha's name directly like this?"
Over the past few days, in the promotional notices leading up to the society's founding, the name "Madara Uchiha" had quietly begun appearing on bulletin boards throughout the streets.
This taboo name, which Konoha had avoided speaking of for decades, was now being placed alongside the name of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, as a historical example of setting aside old grudges and connecting people's hearts, used to promote the Will of Fire and the society's purpose of returning to the original spirit of the ninja.
Although Danzo had gradually emerged from the darkness over the years, the deep-rooted wariness he held toward the Uchiha Clan had not diminished in the slightest.
Whenever the Uchiha were involved, he would never relent easily.
The third Hokage pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Shinichi talked to me about this once before. He said that although Madara Uchiha committed unforgivable crimes, he also made great contributions to the founding of the village. Merit is merit, fault is fault. It's better to put everything out in the open and let people see and judge for themselves. The more we hide it and refuse to talk about it, the more it makes us seem guilty, and the more likely people are to invent even more outrageous stories in private."
"Rather than that, it's better to take this opportunity to establish a preliminary conclusion about him. After all, treating him forever as a taboo whose name cannot even be mentioned is not a long-term solution."
In fact, Shinichi had once proposed an even bolder suggestion to the third Hokage: simply include Madara Uchiha's name, deeds, merits, and faults directly in Konoha Ninja Academy textbooks so that students could learn that history in class.
The third Hokage had hesitated for a long time before ultimately deciding that the time was not yet right and declining the proposal.
"Fine. If it was that kid's idea, then let's leave it at that." Danzo said nothing further. He closed the file, stood up, and prepared to leave.
"Wait, Danzo." The third Hokage suddenly called out to him.
Danzo paused and turned around.
"What do you think... Hmm..." A rare look of hesitation appeared on the third Hokage's face.
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "Do you think that after the society is established, we should restart the first Hokage's Wood Style experiment? This time, with Shinichi leading the project. What do you think?"
Ever since the advent of medical scrolls, this thought had been lingering constantly in the third Hokage's mind.
However, the previous Hashirama's Cells experiment had caused the tragic deaths of more than a dozen villagers, and he understood the dangers of the undertaking better than anyone.
Furthermore, the existing stockpile of Wood Style trees had been relatively sufficient, and the raw materials were temporarily adequate, so he had never been able to make up his mind.
But now, the situation is different.
The rate at which medical scrolls were being consumed on the front lines had far exceeded expectations, while large-scale experimentation and production had caused demand for Shinichi Paper to rise sharply.
At present, with the war slowing, the various forces could still barely maintain supply, but in a few months, after the great ninja villages had completed their recovery and the conflict intensified once again, demand for medical scrolls would inevitably surge again.
By then, the stockpile of Wood Style trees used as raw materials would be depleted even further. No matter how large the stockpile was, if it could not be replenished, it was never a real solution.
And the things Shinichi had presented to him over recent days, the creation of three Light Water, the mass-cultivation techniques for a new type of antibacterial medicine, and that mysterious item which had not yet been made public but already gave him the feeling that it might alter the balance of the Shinobi World, the third Hokage had come to realize that this child's attainments in Medical Ninjutsu had probably already surpassed Tsunade's, making him the true number one in the Shinobi World today.
If he were placed in charge of the Hashirama's Cells experiment, perhaps, just as he had done countless times before, he would create another miracle.
At that point, Konoha would no longer need to worry about the raw material supply for medical scrolls, and the idea of sealing even more advanced Medical Ninjutsu into scrolls could be pursued much more boldly.
Yet for certain reasons that could not easily be spoken of to outsiders, the third Hokage still could not make up his mind.
Danzo let out a cold laugh, as though he had already seen through all the twists and turns in his old partner's thoughts.
"Hiruzen, what's wrong? Are you worried that once you bring this up, it'll damage your glorious and noble Hokage image in that kid's eyes?"
The third Hokage's expression immediately turned awkward.
Danzo had hit the mark exactly.
Using the cells of a previous Hokage for experiments, even if they were only cells and not an actual corpse, was still an extremely taboo matter.