Konoha Notes

Chapter 168 Team Leader Appointment
The tree-planting experiment did not go smoothly. The trees that were directly stimulated by the power of Wood Release were difficult to maintain after losing the support of the caster's chakra. Even if some of the tailed beast's chakra was transferred in, it was easily absorbed by the tailed beast and turned into nutrients to sustain its life.

Wood Release also has a way to make ordinary trees grow, but the wood that grows does not have the ability to contain the chakra of the tailed beasts.

As for whether there are any slightly weaker levels of power, Shuji looked around and found that there were no suitable options among the existing Wood Release techniques.

After all, Hashirama Senju might use Wood Release to absorb chakra, or to plant trees, or even to build houses.

However, he doesn't need to consider controlling the power of Wood Release to make it a vessel for nurturing the chakra of the Tailed Beasts. After all, the First Hokage was interested in the Tailed Beasts and could simply capture them.

Therefore, Shuuji has to develop this skill himself. He needs to choose a suitable tree species and use Wood Release to promote its growth and revitalization.

As for tree species, he had already searched through all the existing species in Konoha Village and conducted a round of experiments, but the results were not very satisfactory.

Going forward, we may need to search further afield to see if there are any more suitable tree species to choose from.

Fifty-six years of Konoha had passed in the blink of an eye. Shuuji was sixteen years old, and had grown taller, now about 175cm. When he stepped into the Hokage's office again that day, Tsunade, who was reviewing documents, looked up and was clearly taken aback.

Shuji hadn't appeared at the Hokage Building for over a month. At that time, he was focused on conducting experiments using various tree species available in the village, and he had specifically taken a long leave for this purpose, also informing Tsunade of it.

Therefore, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha gave him some freedom for a rare period of time.

When she saw Shuji again, she immediately stood up from her chair and circled around him.

"Have you... grown taller again?"

"You saw it, yes."

Tsunade is 163cm tall. Now that the two are standing together, the height difference is more obvious than before, with Shuuji being almost half a head taller than her.

"Hmph, as expected, he's just a kid who's still growing."

"Are you envious? After all, you've already left this stage..." Before Shuji could finish speaking, Tsunade's eyes radiated an exceptionally chilling killing intent.

“Keep going.” She stepped forward, grabbed Xiu Si’s collar with one hand, and pulled him closer, her fist already poised to strike. “Come on, keep going. At this distance, I guarantee I won’t miss.”

“It’s been several months already.”

"Hmph, although he's grown a bit taller, he's still an awkward guy who can't say a single nice word." Princess Thousand Hands released her grip, turned around and sat down on the sofa next to her, pointing lazily to the desk, "Go and look at that document on the desk."

"After you've finished looking at it, could you please bring me the things from the low cabinet next to it?"

Shuji walked to the table, picked up the document, and quickly scanned it. "Chunin Exams...list of examinees?" He glanced at it, his gaze lingering on a familiar name.

Iruka Umino? He's still a genin?
It's not surprising. He apparently became a Chunin at the age of sixteen, so it's reasonable for his name to appear on the list of participants in the Chunin Exams at that time.

"Hmm," Tsunade's voice came from the sofa, "In about two months, the Chunin Exams hosted by Kumogakure will begin. The Raikage sent a letter specifically hoping that our Konoha team can set off as soon as possible."

"Not many ninja villages are participating this time. Apart from us, who agreed to participate because of last year's deal, only the smaller villages of Frost Village and Hot Spring Village have explicitly stated that they will participate."

Shuji was a little puzzled: "Why do we need to set off so far in advance? Last year, didn't their Cloud Village team also arrive in Konoha close to the start of the exams?"

"Bring the things over first."

Tsunade urged him on, and Shuji opened the low cabinet next to his desk.

This time, besides the usual few bottles of sake, there weren't any snacks to go with the sake, but rather some individually packaged snacks.

Upon closer inspection, they were various snacks perfect for pairing with drinks—flavored mini sausages, spicy squid tentacles, dried scallops, and dried grilled salmon. "It's still daytime," Shuuji reminded him.

"Shut up! You do the work today. People who have been on vacation for so long have no right to complain!"

After Shuji placed the snacks and a bottle of sake on the coffee table next to the sofa, Tsunade continued, "The Hidden Cloud Village has already publicly announced that Konoha will participate in this Chunin Exams. Taking advantage of this, many wealthy merchants from all over the country have already reserved seats to observe the exams."

"They've even started selling tickets publicly."

"The reason we wanted to get there earlier was largely due to this."

"After all, if it's just Frost Village and Hot Spring Village, then the tour seats aren't worth much."

As she spoke, Tsunade clicked her tongue slightly, looking a bit annoyed: "Those guys from Kumogakure are actually pretty good at business. I heard that tickets for the main tournament alone have been sold for tens of thousands of taels each."

This price is indeed quite astonishing. Recalling last year's Chunin Exams hosted by Konoha, which involved three villages, it seems even those didn't sell for such high prices.

Of course, that's mainly because Konoha's invitations were primarily to daimyo and nobles, focusing on negotiating mission quotas. This year, however, Kumogakure seems to be prioritizing ticket revenue itself.

Thinking about it carefully, this does make sense for the Hidden Cloud Village. Its geographical location is relatively remote, and its influence most directly extends to the Land of Frost, the Land of Hot Springs, and even further to the Land of Forest.

Lacking the geographical advantage of Konoha, a key transportation hub with a natural abundance of mission requests, it's better to capitalize on ticket revenue and build brand awareness rather than waste time negotiating for potentially limited mission quotas. If the competition is exciting enough, these wealthy merchants will naturally seek cooperation.

Tsunade leisurely sipped her drink, while Shuji continued to peruse the list of examinees.

"Uzuki Yugao? She must have been a member of the Anbu for quite some time now, right?"

"And Moonlight Gale..."

"I remember these two were promoted to Chunin a long time ago, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Tsunade said nonchalantly, "The Cloud Village has made such a big fuss and publicized it so much, it's hard to guarantee that they won't arrange some extraordinary experts among the participants."

"We always have to make some corresponding preparations."

"If Kumogakure only sends ordinary genin to participate, then Hayate and Yugao will naturally hold back, and may even concede defeat depending on the situation. After all, they have to save face for the organizers."

"But if we don't prepare anything, and the genin we send out lose too badly, it will affect the village's image this year, and may in turn affect the number of missions we can accept."

"Isn't there another genin in the village? Maruboshi Kosuke..."

Tsunade looked slightly surprised: "You knew about this too?"

"He has some reputation in the ninja world, so it would be too embarrassing to send him out. Hayate and Yugao are from the same year as you, so they are not old and it is acceptable."

"If you tone it down and don't show off so early, you might be sent to compete this year."

"However, although you won't be involved in the competition, you'll still be the one leading the team to Kumogakure."

Looking at Shuuji, Tsunade's tone became slightly more formal: "Regarding the specific procedures and details of the competition, the Cloud Village has some scheduling issues they want to discuss with us before the competition."

"If you go, any problems can be decided on the spot. After all, it's just a Chunin Exam."

(End of this chapter)