Konoha Notes

Chapter 200 A New Choice
Danzo is probably buried in the ground and can't be brought back to life.

Even though the darkness of Konoha seemed to be struggling, Orochimaru had realized this long ago.

When Konoha's power structure underwent a fundamental change, Tsunade forcefully took over everything, and began systematically eliminating its allies, Danzo's defeat was already inevitable.

However, Orochimaru had little interest in the internal turmoil of Konoha, nor in the external disturbances of the ninja world.

Over the past year, his forbidden techniques have become more refined, and his basic research on the flesh and blood and eye power of the Uchiha clan has temporarily come to an end.

As for the Sharingan, without a suitable bloodline, the Sharingan is meaningless to Orochimaru and might even be a hindrance.

What he now craves is a young and promising vessel that is born with a powerful bloodline limit.

The deeper one studies, the clearer it becomes how powerful the power represented by bloodline is in this ninja world.

That is an innate chasm between individuals, a gap that is almost impossible to cross through later efforts.

The ultimate goal that countless ninjas can reach through a lifetime of arduous training may be merely the starting point for some bloodline holders.

Even Orochimaru was instantly defeated in a single eye contact.

That is the power of the Uchiha, a powerful force they were born with.

Orochimaru looked towards the corner, where Zetsu rose from the ground.

"It's you. This time, are you acting on the orders of the 'Mizukage' again?"

White Zetsu replied lightly, "That's not the case this time. The Mizukage has been quite busy lately."

Black Zetsu said in a deep voice, "We are here on behalf of Akatsuki to extend a formal invitation to you."

Orochimaru remained noncommittal: "Then, what can you offer me?"

"As a rogue ninja, what you need for security is..." Black Zetsu replied. "You only need to follow the organization's orders during missions; otherwise, you are free to act as you see fit."

Orochimaru chuckled softly, "Alright, I agree."

With Danzo nearing his end, his channels of cooperation within Konoha are in jeopardy, and he definitely needs to find new ways to acquire resources.

His research and his goals require quite a lot of things.

Moreover… Orochimaru looked at Zetsu and licked his lips with his long tongue.

The organization itself, and its members, are also excellent research material.
-
The envoys from each village have left one after another to return to their respective villages for final preparations and personnel selection.

With the pressure of entertaining guests gone, Shuji was able to focus more on his own affairs.

The tree-planting experiment has reached a stalemate. He can't find a more suitable tailed beast chakra to use as material for the time being, meaning he can only use the chakra of the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails.

As for the choice of tree species, it is not convenient for me to personally go to the Land of Lightning to look for new possibilities at the moment.

After all, during this period, he could probably avoid carrying out missions, but it wouldn't be good for him to leave the village.

With no way to update the experimental materials, it seems that the only way to find a breakthrough is to look at the research approach.

Ironically, or rather, from a cold, hard research perspective, there seems to be a sample within the village that can serve as a reference point.

"An empty corpse?" Tsunade frowned slightly after hearing Shuuji's request. "You want to study the Nine-Tails' chakra?"

She paused slightly, then corrected her question: "Or is your goal him as a chakra vessel himself?" "To be precise," Shuuji clarified his purpose, "I am interested in the mechanism by which tailed beast chakra resides in a living organism, can be continuously generated, and can even mutate under external catalysis."

He had no need to hide anything from Tsunade; as long as it wasn't about betraying the village, he could just tell her directly.

Tsunade would naturally refuse any request that was truly inappropriate.

“Ku’s situation is very special.” Tsunade crossed her hands and placed them on the table. “After his body was brought back, I personally conducted a detailed examination. That guy named Kazuma, although his ideas were crazy and extreme, did have unique skills in sealing techniques.”

"Even after being fed to the Box of Bliss by Kusagakure and undergoing such a violent and illogical transformation process, there are still some unique traces of the Nine-Tails' chakra and a complex sealing technique structure inside Sora's body."

At this point, she stared at Xiu Si for a few seconds, her eyes scrutinizing him.

"What? You've become interested in this after studying Grandpa's cells?"

“No,” Shuji answered decisively, “I’m simply interested in the tailed beast chakra. This might provide a new perspective for my Wood Release research.”

"...Whatever you want." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "However, I must remind you, having only started systematically learning theoretical knowledge last year, do you really understand the ins and outs?"

Her eyes held undisguised suspicion.

Shuji is certainly not a poor student, but he is neither a top student nor a genius in scientific research.

He's just an ordinary, outstanding person.

It is clearly not enough to independently analyze such an extreme case as Ku, which involves multiple complex factors such as high-level human body sealing, tailed beast chakra residue, and energy pollution from the Paradise Box.

The person being questioned paused for a moment, carefully reflecting on their progress in theory and practice over the past year, and then frankly gave their conclusion:
I don't think so.

Tsunade chuckled, crossed her arms, and leaned back comfortably in the wide chair, watching him with a leisurely air.

“So,” she drawled, “do you know what you need to do next?”

Shuji readily agreed and lowered his head slightly, adopting a very humble posture.

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave the subsequent analysis work to you, Lady Tsunade."

Princess Thousand Hands smiled and said, "Come on, say a few more nice words, and lower your head a little more."

I've been preparing a return gift for two years, and now it's finally your turn to come knocking on my door.

She thought to herself, "Let's settle all our old and new scores at once."

Tsunade cleared her throat and deliberately put on a stern face, saying:
“Come, repeat after me— ‘Lady Tsunade, in recent years I have committed many disrespectful crimes, deserving of death.’”

"Tell me quickly, and I'll consider helping you."
-
"The organization still has vacancies for new members," Hei Jue said to Orochimaru, who had just agreed to join. "As a former Sannin, you should know some strong individuals who are dissatisfied with the current situation."

"Hehehe..." Orochimaru let out a low laugh, "Still looking for new targets?"

His golden snake eyes flickered slightly as several names and figures flashed through his mind.

"However, there are indeed suitable candidates... and more than one."

"However, how to find them and persuade them to join... that's a problem the organization needs to solve on its own."

(End of this chapter)