Chapter 263: Danzo Wants the Byakugan
Asuma's wind-style chakra infused his chakra blades, forming sharp, blue chakra extensions capable of easily severing Sasori's chakra threads. However, his blades were custom-made, expensive, utilized rare materials, and required a long crafting time.
Attempting to forge ten of them at once would likely mean Jiraiya would be retired by the time they were completed.
Ino's Water Release: Water Blade Slash could achieve a similar effect, but ordinary individuals lacked her proficiency in Water Release, nor could they learn the Second Hokage's Water Release ninjutsu.
Asuma proposed the creation of a chakra blade more suitable for cutting chakra threads.
This task could only be undertaken by the Ninja Tool Research Team. Jiraiya ordered them to produce a finished product as soon as possible. Given the skill level of the team members, who were more inclined to play cards and slack off, there wasn't much confidence, but there were no other alternatives.
The remaining issue was the antidote.
Ino, Tsunade, and Shizune worked together to study Sasori's poisons. After more than half a month of effort, they finally developed an efficient and fast-acting antidote. As for whether Sasori would improve his poisons, whether it would be a case of "the Dao rises one foot, the devil rises ten," remained to be seen.
Jiraiya privately asked Ino if the Spirit Transformation Technique could be used to deal with Sasori. Ino's answer was that she wasn't confident.
She truly wasn't.
Sasori could hardly be considered human anymore.
A normal human's chakra relied on the body's chakra network, and the soul, due to the chakra, maintained a standard human form.
The Third Hokage's use of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on Orochimaru's arms was clear proof of this; the soul wasn't a traditional gaseous mass but a relatively standard human shape.
Given Sasori's current grotesque state, how much of a soul did he even possess? The only human part of his body left was a cylindrical regeneration core. Were all his soul fragments squeezed into it? Or was the regeneration core's interior like a sponge, capable of self-expansion?
Ino didn't want to provoke such a formidable individual, nor did she wish to contaminate the purity of her own spirit. Konoha had plenty of skilled ninja; it was better to stick to conventional methods.
Zetsu came and went quietly, effortlessly taking Konan's Byakko ring from the Konoha warehouse.
The ninja responsible for warehouse management initially thought he had misplaced it. After a thorough search yielded nothing, he was taken to the interrogation unit for questioning. Only after his brainwaves were subtly read was he cleared of suspicion.
The ninja world lacked the ability to turn back time, so no one knew when the ring had been lost.
Ultimately, it was the Inuzuka Clan's ninja hounds that detected some of the enemy's scent, allowing Konoha to finally confirm that an enemy had infiltrated and stolen the ring.
Jiraiya pondered the situation and concluded that the village's defense system was flawed. He thus solicited opinions from the Jonin and Chunin regarding the establishment of a new defense system.
Ino, as a Chunin, submitted a proposal to create an entirely new sensory system.
Konoha's current alert mode could be described as extremely primitive: relying on direct surveillance!
The main gates were heavily guarded, with several defensive lines established around the village. If an enemy entered, an alarm would be raised immediately.
This alert mode had already been proven slow, inefficient, and full of loopholes during Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan.
The samurai and soldiers under the Daimyo, lacking chakra, could only use such primitive methods. But they weren't the Daimyo; they were ninja who used chakra and possessed numerous Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques. Couldn't they devise something more efficient?
Inoichi's intelligence department was often made the scapegoat precisely because these measures were too outdated. Ino formally submitted her sensory defense system, which she named "Iron Wall."
Simply put, it involved registering chakra.
In the sensory perception field, different people's chakras manifested differently.
Civilians without chakra were not a concern; in this world, having no chakra meant posing no threat. A common person, even given a sword, could hardly kill a ninja who could leap eight meters in a single jump. Even Ninja Academy students were difficult for ordinary people to kill, given their reaction speeds.
The "Iron Wall" system targeted individuals with chakra.
Anyone entering Konoha village would have to undergo a more rigorous "registration." If the sensory team detected an unregistered individual, they would immediately notify the Anbu Black Ops.
This defense system would involve ninja from the Hyuga, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans. The future sensory team would be composed of ninja from these four clans.
As Ino had anticipated, when her proposal was submitted, only Jiraiya, the Hokage, supported it. The three advisors unanimously opposed it.
Register chakra? Wouldn't that mean exposing all their hidden strengths? Absolutely not! Danzo was the most resolute in his refusal. Orochimaru was in his Root division; if an investigation occurred, it would be: "Huh? Who is this? Why is Orochimaru in your Root?" It would be impossible to explain.
Even many ninja clans voiced their opposition. Compared to security, they valued their freedom more.
Back in Root headquarters, Danzo reviewed Ino's "Iron Wall" plan, which elaborated on the various uses of the Byakugan in reconnaissance and vigilance. He became thoughtful.
It seemed he had fallen into a dead end in his thinking.
He wanted to understand the progress of Orochimaru's experiments and the specific condition of the chakra pathways in his arm. The Sharingan couldn't do it, but the Byakugan could!
During his peak influence, Danzo had once coerced the Hyuga clan to dispatch two branch family ninja to join Root. However, those two ninja had died in battle years ago, and their Byakugan had been destroyed by the main family's Caged Bird Seal. He currently had no Byakugan.
Dispatch two more Hyuga ninja? He estimated it would be difficult. With Jiraiya and Tsunade in the village, he couldn't suppress the Hyuga clan.
Besides, he didn't trust these clan ninja at all, even with the "Tongue-Curse Seal," it wasn't foolproof.
He wanted to control a Byakugan, a pure Byakugan that wouldn't be destroyed by the Hyuga main family.
In reality, the Hyuga main family had a considerable number of members. There was no rule stating that Hinata would be relegated to the branch family if she couldn't inherit the position of head of the clan.
Hyuga Hizashi was placed in the branch family because his father, the previous Hyuga clan head, saw the rift between the main and branch families. So, he sent his second son to the branch family to show he would treat both equally, and simultaneously use the brotherly bond between Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi to mend the cracks between the main and branch families.
He sent his son to the branch family, and the branch family responded by making Hyuga Hizashi the head of the branch family, accepting the main family's goodwill.
Hizashi later dying in Hiashi's place was a separate matter.
The notion that the eldest son belonged to the main family and the second son to the branch family was merely an expedient measure to resolve conflicts, not a tradition.
Otherwise, the main family would only consist of Hyuga Hiashi as the clan head and Hyuga Hanabi as the next head. That's it? A Hyuga clan that had endured for a thousand years would have only two members in its main family? All others would be branded with the Caged Bird Seal and become branch members? Impossible.
The Hyuga main family had many ninja, and there were also a host of elders. Did they just pop out from a stone?
Danzo gave his subordinates a "very simple" mission: to bring him a Byakugan.
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 30 advanced chapters available on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/GirlsLove1