XX-level Hokage

As expected, given Kushina's personality, it's difficult to quickly increase her affection level. Name: Uzumaki Kushina

Gender: Female; Age: 20; Affection Level: 30; Relationship: Friends

Favorability Reward (50): Nine-Tails Chakra Favorability Reward (90): "The Chain of Sealing" is a long road ahead.

Kushina chatted with Mashiro with great interest, and a little while later, Minato returned.

"I'm going back to my room now, let's talk again tomorrow." Mashiro glanced at Minato, said softly to Kushina, and then went back to her room.

"Look at you, you scared Izumi away." Kushina, interrupted in the middle of her fun, said to Minato in an annoyed tone. Minato could only scratch his head, unsure of how to handle the situation.

"I don't think Izumi-chan is a bad person. At least she wouldn't do anything detrimental to Konoha," Kushina said, leaning on Minato's shoulder on the sofa. "I don't want her to either, but her significance is too great. Time travel—that's a power even the Second Hokage didn't master. It's a power that the entire ninja..."

"A forbidden power that has never existed in the ninja world before. If it falls into the hands of some ninjas with malicious intentions, it would be a huge problem for the ninja world. Therefore, we must treat it with caution," Minato said seriously.

"Has the Hokage confirmed it? Izumi came from the past." Kushina hesitated for a moment before asking.

"The Hokage confirmed with the head of the Hyuga clan, and it's basically confirmed that Izumi wasn't lying; she is indeed a ninja descended from the Hyuga clan," Minato said. Although he had found it unbelievable before, the facts were now undeniable.

"Ugh, I finally found a friend who's compatible with me, but it turns out to be a ninja from the same generation as my ancestor." Kushina was somewhat devastated.

"It's nothing. Although Izumi is of a high generation, according to her actual age, she should be two years younger than us. Just treat her with normalcy." That was all Minato could say to comfort her.

The next day, Shuimen had to carry out a mission, and Ang was waiting at the door early in the morning.

After Mashiro and Kushina finished dinner, leaving two ninja soldiers to wash the dishes, Mashiro followed Subaru back to the Hokage's office. "Hokage-sama," Mashiro greeted the Third Hokage respectfully.

"Izumi, no need for formalities. If we're talking about seniority, I should be the one bowing to you. Just call me Hiruzen," the Third Hokage said with a smile. The power represented by time travel was far too great, even capable of altering the entire ninja world's格局 (geju, a concept encompassing overall structure, overall situation, and overall dynamics), so Sarutobi had to take it seriously.

“According to my age, I’m only 18. Elders should be respected, and you are the Hokage of Konoha. It should be me who bows to you.” Mashiro said with a smile. The Third Hokage didn’t say anything more, after all, he hadn’t called Mashiro here today to discuss etiquette.

"Izumi, I've arranged for a medical team to give you a physical examination today. I hope you'll cooperate." The Third Hokage said to Mashiro without further ado.

This was also an arrangement made by Mashiro. Yesterday, when Mashiro had Hiashi report to the Third Hokage, he mentioned that Mashiro's body was different from that of ordinary Hyuga clan members. This naturally attracted the Third Hokage's attention, so research under the guise of examining his body naturally began.

“Of course, I will cooperate,” Mashiro said cleverly. This naturally made the Third Hokage's attitude towards Mashiro even better.

“Then, Ang, take Mashiro to Konoha Hospital.” The Third Hokage said to Ang, who was standing beside him.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. This way, Ms. Izumi." Ang replied respectfully, then led Mashiro out of the Hokage's office.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had just come out of his laboratory and was buying some useful materials at a nearby general store. "Lord Orochimaru, what are you doing here?" Hiashi suddenly entered the store and said to Orochimaru.

"Hiashi, what a surprise to run into you," Orochimaru said with a cold laugh. Orochimaru harbored no goodwill towards any of Konoha's major clans.

"Didn't you help the Hokage with his research? After all, it's such an important research?" Hiashi asked, seemingly puzzled.

"Research?" Orochimaru frowned slightly. Before he could ask anything, Hiashi left.

Orochimaru frowned and quickly went to Miyo's research institute. He found that many researchers were not there. Grabbing one of the researchers who was still there, Orochimaru asked, "Where are the others?"

Seeing Orochimaru's cold gaze, the researcher who remained behind was startled and said nervously, "The Hokage called me away. He's at Konoha Hospital."

"Release the researcher," Orochimaru said grimly as he walked out of the research institute. "Something's bothering me again, Master."

The conflict between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage began after the Second Shinobi World War. The death of Nawaki and the cruelty of war made Orochimaru's personality increasingly cold-blooded and dark, which caused the Third Hokage to start to have opinions about Orochimaru. Finally, after the Third Shinobi World War, the conflict between the two officially broke out. The Third Hokage's decision to elect Minato as Hokage caused Orochimaru's remaining master-disciple relationship with the Third Hokage to dissipate completely.

Orochimaru was obsessed with researching all sorts of forbidden things.

This is exactly what Mashiro wanted: that he would appear when Orochimaru learned that the Third Hokage was watching him conduct other research.

At Konoha Hospital, looking at the doctors and nurses disguised as researchers, Mashiro calculated the time; Orochimaru should be arriving soon.

Chapter 118: Like a God

There are two main reasons why researchers were asked to pose as doctors and nurses.

One reason is that Zhen Zi is, after all, a guest, and it's impossible to directly say that she's doing research. Changing the name to "physical examination" would sound much better.

The second reason was to avoid Danzo and Orochimaru. Danzo was an old friend of the Third Hokage, and he knew very well what kind of person his friend was. Orochimaru's actions were also becoming increasingly extreme. Therefore, the Third Hokage wouldn't let Danzo and Orochimaru know about time travel until he himself had figured it out.

"Ms. Izumi, may we draw blood now?" a researcher asked Mashiro. In the examination room, Mashiro was sitting on a bed, her legs gently swinging.

"I'm a little squeamish about blood, so I need to prepare myself mentally and wait a bit longer," Mashiro said with a smile. The researchers had no way to deal with this and could only silently wait for the girl in front of them to finish preparing. After about five minutes, Mashiro sensed a familiar presence.

"Alright, all ready, we can start drawing blood now," Mashiro said softly, stopping her leg from shaking.

The researcher in charge of drawing blood was overjoyed and hurriedly prepared his tools, ready to begin the blood draw. Just then, the door to the examination room suddenly opened.

"What are you all studying, everyone?" Orochimaru asked with a sinister smile, scanning the familiar faces in the consultation room.

Two ANBU ninjas were following behind Orochimaru, clearly unable to stop him. "Orochimaru, this is fire." A researcher was about to say something when Orochimaru stopped him.

He stepped forward, took the syringe from the researcher in charge of drawing blood, and said, "Thank you all for your help. Leave the rest to me. I will give Lord Hokage a good answer."

The other researchers wanted to say something, but seeing Orochimaru's cold gaze, they had no choice but to leave the examination room.

After everyone left, Orochimaru closed the door to the examination room, looked at Mashiro who was smiling lightly in front of him, and calmly asked, "Tell me, what are they researching?"

Looking at the still somewhat immature Orochimaru, Mashiro sat cross-legged on the bed in the examination room and said, "This is really interesting. I didn't expect you to actually get angry because of the Third Hokage's favoritism."

"What are you saying?" Orochimaru's face darkened.

Mashiro gently raised her hand, and an invisible force tightly bound Orochimaru. Orochimaru was shocked and tried to break free, but found it was futile.

Orochimaru couldn't help but look at Mashiro, and then he saw those pale blue Rinnegan eyes. What are those eyes?

Orochimaru's pupils dilated involuntarily.

“Orochimaru, you must be feeling hopeless about life that is so easily corrupted,” Mashiro said softly. Orochimaru didn’t speak; he was still shocked by Mashiro’s eyes.

"Who exactly are you?" Orochimaru asked seriously. "I am a sage," Mashiro said with a light laugh.

"Immortals? Hmph, do you think I would believe such a thing?" Orochimaru sneered.

But soon, his smile vanished. Mashiro snapped his fingers lightly.

Suddenly, an invisible force began to brew. Shinshiro's Rinnegan emitted a faint blue light, her hair turned silver-white and floated in the air, and a small silver-white horn grew on her head. She sat cross-legged, one hand supporting her face, and floated in the air.

Under the gaze of those eyes, Orochimaru felt incredibly small, like an ant peering at the starry sky.

This is Mashiro's complete form, Otsutsuki Mode! "Orochimaru, do you desire immortality?"

Faced with Mashiro, who now seemed like a god, Orochimaru's defenses were completely breached. After all, Orochimaru was no longer as lawless as he was when he became a rogue ninja.

Seeing Orochimaru's speechless expression, Mashiro landed in front of him and gently patted his shoulder. "Eye Technique: Sura - Bewitching God" activated.

"You mean Orochimaru broke into Konoha Hospital and kicked out all the other researchers?" The Third Hokage frowned as he listened to the Anbu's report. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru is currently examining Izumi alone," said the Anbu guarding Konoha Hospital.

"I understand. Go to Konoha Hospital and wait there. After Orochimaru finishes his examination, have him come to see me," the Third Hokage said, exhaling a puff of smoke.

At this moment, Orochimaru was merely seen as somewhat rebellious and extreme by the Third Hokage, but in the Third Hokage's heart, Orochimaru was still his most prized disciple. "Yes, Hokage-sama." After saying this, the Anbu member used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from the spot.

"Orochimaru, what exactly are you trying to do?" The Third Hokage muttered to himself, looking out at the scenery of Konoha.

After a long while, the door to the examination room opened, and Masashi walked out with a light laugh. "The examination is finished. May I go back?" Masashi asked softly. "Of course, I'll take you back," Ang said.

Ang had been waiting nearby for Mashiro. As for why he didn't help when Orochimaru broke in, it's simple: it wasn't his responsibility. His only task recently was to guard and protect the young girl.

Mashiro left with Ang.

A short while later, Orochimaru also came out of the consultation room.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Hokage requests your presence," said the guard in charge of Konoha Hospital.

"Understood, I'll be there." Orochimaru said, then followed Kagami towards the Hokage's office. "Orochimaru, why did you suddenly barge into Konoha Hospital?" the Third Hokage asked calmly, looking at Orochimaru.

"It's nothing, teacher. I was just curious about what you were doing behind my back," Orochimaru said with a smile.

"Now you should know, so what results did you get after your research?" the Third Generation asked, puffing on his pipe.

“Everything is normal. If I had to say something, her eyes seem a little unusual. I need to study them for a while longer. I’ve asked her, and she’ll cooperate,” Orochimaru said.

"Don't go too far, take it one step at a time," the Third Generation said slowly and deliberately, but his words seemed to have a hidden meaning.

"My teacher never seems to trust me," Orochimaru said suddenly after hearing the Third Hokage's words. The Third Hokage did not reply.

"Don't worry, Master, I won't tell Danzo. I'm just a little curious; I won't do anything outrageous," Orochimaru said. The Third Hokage looked into Orochimaru's eyes, and facing his most prized disciple, finally nodded slightly.

Orochimaru nodded slightly and turned to leave the Hokage's office. Meanwhile, Ang escorted Mashiro towards the Minato residence.

Mashiro suddenly spoke up, "I want to go visit the Hyuga family." Subaru looked at Mashiro.

"What? Is that not allowed?" Mashiro asked with a smile. "Sure, I'll take you there right away."

In the Hyuga clan's underground training grounds, Mashiro, Hiashi, and Orochimaru were gathered together. "Did you bring it?" Mashiro asked softly.

Hiashi nodded, took out a sealing scroll, formed a hand seal, and a dozen glass jars appeared on the spot, each containing a pair of white eyes.

To prevent the Byakugan from being leaked out, the Hyuga clan destroys the Byakugan of branch families using the Caged Bird Seal when a member of the clan dies, while the main family members destroy their own eyes. If someone is sent back with severe injuries and cannot be cured, their Byakugan is retrieved and preserved after death.

"Is that all?" Orochimaru asked.

“These are from the branch family. If that doesn’t work, I’ll bring over the main family’s,” Hiashi said. “It doesn’t matter, let’s begin,” Mashiro said softly.

"The experiment regarding the artificial Tenseigan. In the evening, Mashiro returned to the Minato residence. 'Are you back?' Kushina asked."

"Yes, I'm back," Mashiro said with a smile.

"Why are you back so late?" Minato asked, coming out of the kitchen. He should have been back by noon after finishing the inspection. "I went to Hyuga," Mashiro said.

Chapter 119: Mikoto

In her previous life, Mashiro and Orochimaru researched the artificial Mangekyou Sharingan. They initially thought it had failed, but now it seems they succeeded.

Therefore, Mashiro wanted to replicate his previous approach and conduct an artificial Tenseigan experiment. This time, Mashiro not only joined forces with Orochimaru but also brought in Hiashi, who provided the Tenseigan, while Orochimaru conducted the research, and Mashiro was responsible for providing the ideas and methods.

However, what Mashiro didn't know was that the Tenseigan was not designed to match the Square Flower Sharingan, but rather the ultimate form of the Sharingan, the Rinnegan. This meant that Mashiro's experiment was destined to fail.

The Hyuga clan's underground training grounds had been transformed into a laboratory by Orochimaru and Hiashi.

"Another failure." Orochimaru said, looking at the exploding eyeball in his hand. This was the third time the experiment had failed.

“At this rate, even if we use the remaining Byakugan from the main clan, we might not succeed,” Hiashi said, frowning. Each Byakugan represented the life of a Hyuga clansman, which made him feel extremely reluctant.

"Something must be wrong," Mashiro muttered to herself.

She and Orochimaru are now using the method from their previous life to create the Mangekyou Sharingan. They first extract the special chakra from the ordinary Byakugan, then combine it, and finally inject it into a Hyuga clan member's body.

But they ran into trouble at the very first step; they couldn't extract it. Although the Byakugan contained energy different from ordinary chakra, it couldn't be extracted. "Stop the experiment for now. I need to study the Byakugan carefully," Mashiro said.

"Hiashi, how does your Hyuga clan awaken the Byakugan?" Orochimaru took off his gloves, threw them on the lab table, and turned to Hiashi to ask.

"Our Hyuga clan's Byakugan isn't something we're born with; it requires a lot of arduous training to awaken. However, there are exceptions; members of the clan with pure bloodlines may awaken their Byakugan on their own as they age and their bodies mature," Hiashi said.

“Then, could it be related to the bloodline of the Hyuga clan?” Orochimaru said to Mashiro.

Orochimaru's words gave Mashiro a reminder. Indeed, the awakening of the Byakugan does not require strong emotional fluctuations like the Uchiha clan. In other words, the awakening of the Byakugan is not due to so-called special chakra, and there may not even be any special chakra in the Byakugan.