Konoha Notes

Chapter 171 Evil God
Enjoying the hot springs in Yugakure was just a bonus. While in the Land of Hot Springs, Shuji decided to look for any unique tree species.

Then it's time to go out for a stroll. Considering his responsibilities as a leader and to avoid unnecessary trouble, Shuji's main body remained at the inn, while a shadow clone went out.

The shadow clone formed hand seals and used the Transformation Technique to transform into an unremarkable middle-aged man, blending into the crowds on the streets of Yugakure.

He first strolled slowly along the main street, his eyes scanning the trees planted on both sides of the road. These were all common varieties, nothing special.

Afterwards, Xiuji turned into a quiet alley rarely visited by tourists, paying attention to the branches and leaves peeking out from the walls of residents' courtyards, hoping to find some privately cultivated or locally unique varieties.

After searching without much success, he finally entered a shop on a street corner that looked quite old.

Shuji walked into the store, pretending to browse casually, and stopped in front of a shelf displaying a small amount of dried herbs and plant seeds.

"Are you interested in the herbs from the Land of Hot Springs, sir?" the shopkeeper greeted him warmly.

"Well, I guess so." Xiu Si lowered his head and replied in a slightly hoarse voice befitting a middle-aged man. "I'm personally quite interested in different plants from different places, and I'm used to collecting seeds or specimens."

The shop owner immediately began to introduce the seeds, and Shuji followed his instructions, selecting several types. After paying, he didn't leave: "Boss, besides these more common ones, do you know if there are any less common or more unusual trees or plants in the Land of Hot Water?"

"Or, are there any ancient legends or folk tales related to unusual plants circulating locally?"

"To be honest, I once heard that there is a huge tree in this world that is called a god."

"That's why I'm interested in collecting information and seeds of all sorts of unusual plants."

The Divine Tree once absorbed the natural energy of the entire world and left its roots in many places in this world, but they were all destroyed during the era of the Sage of Six Paths.

Shuji pondered that if he were to find a suitable tree species, even if it wasn't a branch or root system left by the divine tree, but was related to it, its usability would probably be much higher.

The shopkeeper looked thoughtful: "I've never heard of any deities related to trees, but what the deity said..."

“In our local area, there is a deity associated with death.”

Death? ...Wait, could it be an evil god?

"But it's just a legend. Some people say it's a god that brings death to the enemy or something like that."

The shop owner seemed unwilling to delve deeper into the topic, quickly turning away to organize other shelves, losing interest in the conversation. Seeing this, Xiuji knew that further questioning would be pointless, so he politely took his leave and left the shop.

Cults of evil gods—not to mention the fact that believers call their own gods evil gods, which is something to be criticized—it's actually possible that such things exist.

Hidan from the Akatsuki organization, that guy has an immortal body and a cursed technique called Death Possession Blood.

If we only consider the latter, we can actually find some explanations from the perspective of chakra theory.

Human blood contains chakra, which can be seen as a special backup of personal life information, capable of accurately identifying an individual.

Theoretically, using blood as a medium, it might be possible to more precisely lock onto and connect to the life information field of a specific individual, thereby achieving a trade of injuries. Although the specific principle is unclear, compared to Tobirama Senju's Impure World Reincarnation, it's not actually that far-fetched.

Hidan's immortality makes the existence of the evil god highly probable, though the exact mechanism of its operation remains unclear, as it's not explained in the original work. In the ninja world, sages are beings capable of using natural energy, while gods often involve more abstract, conceptual, or rule-based concepts.

But now is not the time to study evil gods. He still has the job of leading the Chunin Exams to take care of, as well as another task at this stage—to take advantage of this long trip to collect as many valuable plant samples as possible.
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Shadow Clone is a good technique, comparable to Wood Clone.

When the main body is enjoying peace and quiet, it will not feel the hardship of the shadow clone until it is dispelled, and it returns with the memories and fatigue of the night.

The following day, Shuji once again gathered the Konoha ninjas and embarked on the final leg of their journey to Kumogakure.

The night they spent in Yugakure was probably the most comfortable night they could enjoy before reaching their destination.

The Land of Frost is not a comfortable place, especially in January when it is bitterly cold. But they still rested there for one night as planned.

After all, when they arrive at Kumogakure, the ninjas representing Konoha must not show any signs of fatigue or dishevelment.

Shuji's decision proved to be wise. As soon as they crossed the border of the Land of Frost and officially entered the Land of Lightning, the reception staff from Kumogakure were already waiting for them ahead.

She is a female ninja with blond hair, blue-green eyes, and fair skin.

She was also the first person Shuji had ever met who was no less physically imposing than Tsunade.
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"Within the Root base, all existing intelligence data has been initially archived and organized, and the remaining Root personnel within the base have also been basically reorganized and reassigned."

Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage's desk, reporting on the progress of his work over the past six months, but his eyes were filled with helplessness.

“But that’s all.” He paused, then continued, “The Root has a large number of long-term spies operating outside, but inside the base, there are no detailed personnel lists, contact information, or even mission records to match them.”

"Even if the existing Root members are willing to cooperate with the investigation, they are bound by the 'Seal of the Extinction of Tongue Disaster,' and Root's extremely tight, single-line intelligence operation mechanism means that they know very little about this core secret and have no way to start."

The task Tsunade assigned him—cleaning up and taking over Root's publicly known assets and personnel—went relatively smoothly.

But the more crucial information—the secret intelligence that the root group has independently collected over the years but has never reported to the village's higher-ups, as well as the records of other unknown operations they have carried out in secret—remains shrouded in mystery.

Kakashi spent a full six months of his time and energy, but made very little progress in this area.

He was so certain because he couldn't even find Tianzang's experimental data in the current base archives of the Root.

After hearing Kakashi's report, Tsunade's initial sense of satisfaction from outmaneuvering Danzo vanished almost entirely.

"Silence, the seal that eradicates the root of tongue-related calamities, has the sealing team come up with a solution?"

Silent shook her head: "There are no results yet."

"In that case, let's proceed as planned. Jingyin, go prepare the next batch of documents that 'need' the consultant's personal review; the variety can be more extensive. Keep him occupied!"

In any case, Konoha has been established for decades, and the amount of old cases and documents that have accumulated over the years, involving various secrets and with unclear procedures, is definitely enough.

"Kakashi, don't let your guard down on your end either." Her gaze returned to the silver-haired Jonin. "Keep trying to find other breakthroughs. That old man Danzo still won't truly let go, which means that Root definitely has something more important hidden."

(End of this chapter)