"Danzo has almost finished investigating things on the Kirigakure end. It's as complex as we thought."
In the Hokage office, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with a worried expression, relaying the intelligence sent by Danzo.
Although he had anticipated it, seeing Kirigakure, a village 'on par' with Konoha, in such disarray still made him feel a pang of sympathy.
"And according to Jiraiya's intelligence, that mysterious organization was hired by the Mizukage, so you two…"
Even though Sarutobi Hiruzen was in a foul mood, he patiently explained, but as he spoke, he felt his forehead twitching.
Because he noticed that Jiraiya and Kakashi, who were in front of him, were completely zoning out and not listening to him seriously.
This is an intelligence meeting!!!
Didn't you two keep clamoring to go to Kirigakure for investigation?
Why are you both so distracted now? What are you doing?
"Cough, cough…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen lightly coughed, trying to get Jiraiya and Kakashi's attention.
But he found that both of them remained unchanged, which immediately made a mark appear on his forehead.
"Hey, you two, that's enough! What's going on? Do you think this behavior is appropriate?"
"Uh…"
Jiraiya and Kakashi finally snapped back to reality. Both of them looked a bit embarrassed. They indeed hadn't been listening carefully just now.
"What exactly happened?"
Seeing them return to their senses, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, then asked in confusion, "Why are you two like this? What's going on?"
"Lord Hokage, this…"
Kakashi glanced at Jiraiya, then decided to speak himself.
"It's Takemi, he…"
"Takemi?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's spirits lifted when he heard that name.
He truly liked Takemi. He was a bit unlucky as he encountered Jūzō and Itachi when he left the village.
On top of that, he also encountered someone suspected to be Obito when he returned, and then again met someone with the Shikotsumyaku when he went out with Jiraiya to find Orochimaru.
But despite all these unfortunate instances, he still managed to resolve each situation, which showed his extraordinary potential and ability.
But there's a problem. He is also really good at causing trouble.
Last time, with a pot of poisoned mushroom soup, Takemi taught Naruto to respect the elderly and cherish the young, which was good.
But what about afterward?
He just left it at that?
He still occasionally had images of those colorful mushrooms bubbling in the pot appear in his mind.
Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, "What has this kid done now?"
"He…"
Kakashi pondered for a moment, then said very seriously, "Seems to have learned the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Hmm?!"
As if to calm himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded while taking out his pipe.
But just as he lit the match, his hand suddenly stopped, and his eyes widened involuntarily.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique? Learned it?"
"That's right, old man. That kid seems to have learned the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's reaction, Jiraiya added with a sigh of emotion, "Just now, that kid actually condensed a Flying Thunder God mark right in front of us, and then even used it. That kind of jutsu, that kind of transfer method... Even if it was very clumsy, I wouldn't mistake it, that's the Flying Thunder God Technique…"
At this point, Jiraiya also stopped, the shock he felt in that instant was truly unimaginable.
"That's right, Lord Hokage, that's exactly what happened." Kakashi nodded, then also fell silent, seemingly recalling everything that had just happened.
"He learned the Flying Thunder God Technique?" Sarutobi Hiruzen was now stiff, his eyes wide.
Even though he heard Jiraiya's assessment that Takemi used it clumsily, the question was, how long had he had the Flying Thunder God Technique?
And how difficult was the Flying Thunder God Technique?
At this moment, he truly understood Jiraiya and Kakashi's state. If it were him, he probably wouldn't have the mind to listen to an intelligence report either.
"This kid…"
Standing up, Sarutobi Hiruzen calmed his inner turmoil.
He walked to the window and looked out at the Hokage Rock standing on the mountain peak. After a while, he mumbled, "Konoha will get better and better…"
A gentle breeze blew, and green leaves swayed with the wind, yet Sarutobi Hiruzen pursed his lips again at this moment.
"If only his personality were more like Minato's, it would be even better."
These words made Jiraiya and Kakashi nod simultaneously.
.....
"They left so quickly, I suppose the Kirigakure operation is about to begin."
After Jiraiya and Kakashi left, Takemi also decided to go home.
Given how quickly those two had left, combined with the mission he had received earlier, it was likely related to this matter.
In fact, his display of the Flying Thunder God Technique was for this very reason. To deliver a painful blow to Obito, he naturally needed the capability.
Otherwise, if he couldn't even protect himself, he absolutely wouldn't accept such a mission.
"Now I'm afraid Sarutobi Hiruzen won't agree to me going. It seems I still need to do some convincing…" Takemi pursed his lips.
If he hadn't shown the Flying Thunder God Technique, he probably wouldn't even have been considered for such a mission.
But now that he has shown it, he might be even less likely to get this mission.
Protecting talent is a common thing, and Takemi was quite helpless about it.
"Let's see first. I'll try to resolve Kakashi's exclusive mission."
While thinking, Takemi walked towards his home. There weren't many people in Konoha at the moment, probably because it was a weekday, he didn't even see Naruto.
But this was also good. He could carefully consider his upcoming plans and arrangements.
"The bones absorb Chakra slowly, and progress is very slow, but the eyes…"
Takemi had a feeling that his eyes were nearing their limit.
Now, his eyes were absorbing and nurturing Chakra at an accelerating rate, as if in a final frenzy, and perhaps they would slow down once a certain limit was reached.
And at that time, his eyes would finally awaken.
Regarding his eyes, Takemi felt it was most likely the Byakugan, as it was considered the standard for Ōtsutsuki.
"Moreover, no matter what energy I absorb, it seems to ultimately transform into the purest power and nurture the Ōtsutsuki Bloodline." Takemi muttered to himself.
Sometimes he wondered if his bloodline had undergone an atavism, that is, returning to the initial state. Maybe even to the point where an Ōtsutsuki hadn't awakened the Byakugan yet.
Of course, this was just speculation. No one knew what the original Ōtsutsuki was truly like.
"Once the eyes are fully developed, it's a matter of waiting for the body, but this won't bring me too much development progress. I still need more power, for example…"
Kekkei Genkais.
Tailed Beasts.
And the power of Indra and Asura!
Takemi didn't want his bloodline to develop into a 'plain and unremarkable' Ōtsutsuki. He yearned to be like an Ōtsutsuki who possesses the power of the Chakra Fruit.
Given this, he couldn't let go of any of these things.
He wasn't quite ready to think about Tailed Beasts yet, as he wouldn't encounter them for the time being.
Although Naruto was right in front of him, he also needed the courage to do something about it.
Perhaps, that guy named Sora is suitable?
"But there's only one, far from enough, and as a Genin, I can't go on solo missions, so…"
So Takemi felt that he should focus his energy on Kekkei genkais.
In the entire Ninja World, it seemed that besides the Uchiha, Senju, Hyuga, and Kaguya, and a very few other, all other Kekkei genkais were formed through Chakra fusion.
And his control over Chakra had reached an almost instinctive level. Given this, he could certainly put effort into this direction.
Admittedly, fusing different types of Chakra carried extremely high risks. Otherwise, there wouldn't be few ninjas with kekkei genkais in the entire Ninja World.
However, he could try to engage in combat with some ninjas who have a Kekkei Genkai.
"Even if I don't gaining something through missions, just by fighting and sensing the proportion of different types of Chakra, I will be confident in replicating it!"
He wasn't called the Lil Copy Ninja for nothing.
Coincidentally, althoughKirigakure seemed to have extreme prejudice against Kekkei Genkai users, they actually had quite a few such people there.
"It seems…"
Thinking this, Takemi looked up at the Hokage office.
"There's another reason why I must go…"
(End of Chapter)
Read 40 Advanced Chapters on
patreon.com/astralicity