Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 194 Two years later, Konoha begins to stir up trouble.

In the days that followed, Yahiko and his two companions, who wanted to become stronger, proposed to train together with Li Yao and Xiao Yezi.

Just when things seemed hopeless, Li Yao was surprised by the unexpected good fortune and immediately agreed.

Practicing together means frequently exchanging ideas and techniques.

This inevitably leads to frequent physical contact.

Therefore, Li Yaohua became a master of taijutsu, attacking without using ninjutsu, ostensibly to train the reaction speed of Yahiko and the other two in close combat life and death situations.

Actually, it was so that he could frequently come into contact with Nagato's body and more quickly perceive the changes in the nature of the Rinnegan's chakra in his eyes.

In the blink of an eye.

Two years have passed.

Leaf.

evening.

Hatake Saigumo walked home, the setting sun casting a shimmering glow on his neatly combed white hair. (PS: Here, Kakashi's father is referred to by the name Hatake Saigumo.)

"Lord Zuoyun, it's been a long time."

"Didn't we just meet the day before yesterday, Brother Jingzhong?"

"Really... Haha, I forgot."

"Lord Zuoyun, would you like a drink?"

"Maybe next time, Uncle Yunye."

On his way home, the pedestrians he encountered greeted Hatake Sakumo warmly, and he responded to each one with a faint smile on his face. He seemed aloof but actually gave people a feeling of being very easy to get along with.

In addition, Hatake Sakumo remembers the name of everyone who greets him, when he last saw them, and what they were doing at the time.

This makes people feel valued.

After all, you can only remember clearly the people or things you care about and value.

These small details in life easily win people's favor.

Although Hatake Sagumo's ability to remember the names of everyone he knew in the village and the little details of their last meeting stemmed from his powerful memory and keen observation skills as a ninja, it had nothing to do with whether he valued others or not.

However, he still won the favor of most people in Konoha with this talent, especially ordinary villagers, almost all of whom liked Hatake Sagumo.

This fondness turned into a wave after Hatake Sagumo earned the immense fame of "Konoha's White Fang" during the Second Shinobi World War.

"The next Hokage will definitely be Lord Sakumo."

"I support Lord Sagumo becoming the next Hokage."

"If Lord Sakumo becomes Hokage, he will definitely be the most beloved Hokage."

Although Hatake Sagumo was a genius comparable to or even surpassed the Sannin in the past, he was not well-known.

In the later stages of the last Shinobi World War, Hatake Sagumo single-handedly held up an entire front, causing the Sand Village to suffer repeated defeats and earning him the title of Konoha's White Fang. His reputation was even greater than that of the Legendary Sannin.

Now, Hatake Sagumo has finally turned the popularity he had built up in Konoha into tangible benefits.

Even though the Third Hokage was still in his prime, the villagers were already discussing who should become the next Hokage.

What does that mean?

I'm not dead yet!

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi was furious.

He originally thought that only the Uchiha clan in Konoha would threaten his position as Hokage, but he didn't expect that Hatake Sagumo would suddenly appear, which caught him off guard.

So he quickly promoted Hatake Sagumo, since his son could no longer serve as the head of the Anbu (Anbu Department), so he promoted Hatake Sagumo to the position of head of the Anbu.

He thought that if he were transferred to the Anbu and spent his days in darkness, Hatake Sagumo's popularity among the villagers of Konoha would decrease, and the discussion about the next Hokage would be completely extinguished.

As a result, the villagers misunderstood.

It was thought that the Third Hokage promoted Hatake Sakumo to the position of head of the Anbu as a way to groom him as the next Hokage, which was tantamount to officially appointing Hatake Sakumo as the head of the Anbu.

After all, everyone knows that the Anbu is a ninja unit directly under the Hokage, the most trusted ninja unit by the Hokage, and the ninja unit responsible for the Hokage's safety.

Entrusting such a trusted force to Hatake Sagumo—wasn't this preparation for the Third Hokage's smooth transition of power in the Anbu, a move to ensure the next Hokage's succession?

The Third Hokage coughed up blood. He never expected that his supposedly gentle, gradual approach would backfire so badly. Not only did it fail to dispel the villagers' belief that Hatake Sagumo was the next Hokage, it actually made them misunderstand that he was already preparing to step down.

The key point is that not only did Hatake Sagumo himself believe this, but he also began to consider himself the next Hokage and demand more of himself from him.

The fact that even the major ninja clans of Konoha believed it was the most fatal flaw.

Ordinary people are easy to deal with, but the various ninja clans that make up the big family of Konoha are the real trouble.

The Uchiha clan, in particular, were overjoyed to see that someone could dethrone Hiruzen Sarutobi from the position of Third Hokage, and they fully supported Sasuke Hatake.

The Uchiha clan's thinking is very simple.

If they can take down Hiruzen Sarutobi, without the Hokage's direct targeting, the Uchiha clan will definitely be able to regain its former glory and quickly ascend to the position of Hokage.

Thus, the Uchiha clan made their statement.

The high-ranking officials of all the major clans in Konoha were treating Hatake Sagumo as if he were the next Hokage.

The escalating situation left the three generations with no way to express their grievances.

He can't very well say he doesn't want to step down!

Moreover, even if he were to abdicate, it wouldn't be Hatake Sagumo's turn.

One of his three disciples should be chosen to succeed him as the next Hokage.

The third generation, burdened with unspeakable suffering, eventually entered the Root Base.

We can't delay any longer. If we do, the public opinion in Konoha won't be discussing whether Hatake Sagumo will become the next Hokage, but rather that he should step down as soon as possible.

Inside a secret room at the root base.

The third generation met his best friend Danzo.

"Why are you here?" Danzo turned around and glanced at the Third Hokage, asking in confusion.

"Don't you know what's been happening in Konoha lately?" The Third Hokage's face darkened, clearly displeased that Danzo had lost his usual political vigilance.

"What happened?" Danzo was a little confused. After the war, he had plunged into the research of Wood Release cells.

Li Yao and Sarutobi Ayase's son, named Konoha Hatsuse, has cells in his body that are naturally highly adaptable to Hashirama cells. During the first experiment, he successfully transplanted Hashirama cell fluid and obtained Wood Release comparable to Li Yao's at the beginning.

This delighted Danzo and the Third Hokage, who began to study the factors in the primary cells of Konoha that were adapted to Hashirama cells.

In their view, as long as they find the factor that is compatible with Hashirama cells and inject it into their bodies, they can also transplant Hashirama cells and possess Wood Release.

However, more than two or three years have passed since the war ended, and the research has not yet achieved final success.

Intercolumn cytokines were extracted, but they were weakened considerably, and could only be adapted to intercolumn cells that were weakened many times over.

Transplanting those cells might at most slightly improve an individual's physique and increase their chakra reserves, but it wouldn't allow them to master Wood Release.

Currently, Danzo's experiments are still in the stage of purifying and enhancing interstitial cell adaptation factors.

In the center of the secret chamber, inside a huge glass container, Konoha Hatsumi, enveloped in blue liquid, was curled up like a fetus. Transparent tubes connected to needles were inserted into various parts of Konoha Hatsumi's body, absorbing something.

Danzo spent his days in this secret room conducting various experiments using the adaptation factors extracted from the bodies of Konoha's newborns, excluding Hashirama's cells.

Although the ultimate goal has not yet been achieved.

However, Danzo, who had already seen the hope of successfully transplanting the original solution of Hashirama cells, focused all his energy on the laboratory and paid little attention to the outside world. He was unaware that the situation had now reached the point where the Third Hokage might be forced to step down prematurely.

After the Third Hokage explained the situation to Danzo, Danzo also realized the gravity of the situation.

He is still tied to the third generation.

When the Third Hokage stepped down and a new Hokage took over, he wouldn't be allowed to continue researching Wood Release and using a young child as a test subject.

"Tell me, what do you want to do?" Danzo asked his best friend.

(End of this chapter)