On the night of the Nine-Tails, I shattered the Tailed Beast Ball with a single punch.

"Is it still a matter of strength?" Orochimaru wondered.

However, although he had this idea, he couldn't put it into practice.

Getting Danzo to recruit some ninjas would be difficult, but it's still achievable, as there are plenty of wandering ninjas in the ninja world.

But if Danzo were to bring over a group of Jonin, that would be wishful thinking.

Jonin are the village's top fighting force. If even one of them disappears without a trace, an investigation is necessary, let alone the disappearance of a group.

Orochimaru has no intention of defecting at this time. He is living a very comfortable life in Konoha. His research can be subsidized by the village, and he also has Danzo's support behind the scenes.

Furthermore, given Konoha's extremely rich reserves of forbidden techniques, it became even less likely that Orochimaru would leave Konoha.

Actually, Orochimaru did achieve some results. During his research on implanting Hashirama cells into human subjects, he unexpectedly discovered that Hashirama cells could also be implanted into individual limbs.

However, the strength of a single limb is simply insufficient, and there is also a risk of backlash, which Orochimaru considers a failed approach.

In his view, it would be best to directly implant the interstitial cells into the human body.

After the test subject perfectly adapts to Hashirama's cells, their vitality will greatly increase. Even if they did not have chakra talent before, they will instantly become a genius among ninjas, born with powerful chakra and able to use the First Hokage's Wood Release.

Even if only one case succeeds, his experiment will be a huge step forward, with the hope of mass-producing Wood Release ninjas, while also greatly increasing his own vitality.

Unfortunately, it seems he went down the wrong path; after so long, not a single success story emerged.

After recording the experimental data, Orochimaru left the hidden laboratory and went to the streets of Konoha.

Even he, after failing for so long, would feel frustrated.

The sun was already high in the sky, casting its warm rays upon the earth.

However, Orochimaru seemed to have a built-in 16-degree air conditioner; people passing by him would instinctively shiver and quickly keep their distance.

Only when encountering a ninja will someone stop and respectfully call out "Lord Orochimaru".

Before the Hokage position was announced, many people thought it would be held by Orochimaru or Jiraiya.

Unexpectedly, it was Jiraiya's disciple, Minato Namikaze, who became Hokage, leaving everyone speechless.

Orochimaru wandered aimlessly, eventually finding himself near the Hokage Building. Just as he was about to return to conduct his experiments, a presence alerted him.

Snakes have very keen senses, especially about anything that threatens their existence.

Orochimaru looked at the handsome ninja in front of him with great interest.

He could sense that the person in front of him was not ordinary, but strangely, Orochimaru did not recognize him.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any powerful individuals in Konoha that he didn't know, but an unexpected incident occurred.

"Who are you?" Orochimaru asked in a hoarse voice.

Looking at Orochimaru, who exuded a chilling aura, Nagasawa replied calmly, "I am Fujiwara Nagasawa. May I ask what brings Lord Orochimaru here?"

He never expected to run into Orochimaru as soon as he left the Hokage Building.

For some reason, Orochimaru seemed to have taken a liking to him and actually came over to ask him his name directly.

“Fujiwara no Nagasawa…” Orochimaru showed a thoughtful expression.

He realized that he seemed to have heard the name somewhere before, but he really didn't have any impression of Nagasawa.

Orochimaru, with his excellent memory, quickly remembered where he had first heard the name Fujiwara no Nagasawa: from Danzo.

On the day Root disbanded, Danzo cursed Minato Namikaze the most, followed by Nagasawa Fujiwara.

"What right does a mere ordinary newly promoted Jonin have to comment on me!"

Orochimaru recalled Danzo's words.

'So he's a newly promoted Jonin. It's normal not to recognize him. But that feeling just now...' Orochimaru thought to himself.

Now, Nagasawa suddenly lost that dangerous feeling he had just had and became normal again.

"It's nothing, I just think Fujiwara might have something in common with me." Orochimaru began to deceive.

"I think so too. I've heard that you, Lord Orochimaru, enjoy doing experiments. Actually, I'm quite interested in experiments myself." Seeing Orochimaru's reaction, Nagasawa started rambling on as well.

Orochimaru's eyes lit up and he said, "Actually, my lab is quite big. Fujiwara, would you like to come and take a look?"

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Orochimaru. Although I would like to go, I have urgent business to attend to right now. I'll definitely go next time," Nagasawa said with a smile.

"That's a real shame." Orochimaru shook his head regretfully, preparing to go back and investigate Nagasawa.

He trusted his intuition.

Chapter Ninety-One Assessment

Konoha, Training Ground No. 8.

A large number of ninjas dressed in ANBU uniforms have gathered here.

Today is the day the Dark Guard training team will be assessed.

Not only were all the training team members present, but also some members of the Fourth Hokage's First Division, as well as the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

The training team members stood in three rows in groups, facing Nagasawa and Minato.

The first squad's ANBU stood behind Nagasawa and Minato, curiously observing the training squad's ANBU.

Because all the members of the Dark Organization who joined the training team signed confidentiality agreements, the members of the First Squad knew that there was a special training team newly added to the Dark Organization, but they did not know the specifics.

"The assessment only tests the required part, which is their proficiency in the six mandatory techniques..." Nagasawa and Minato Namikaze were talking about the assessment.

"I set a passing grade. As long as you pass the passing grade, you are qualified. If you don't pass the passing grade, you need to increase the training."

Minato nodded. This method was undoubtedly more humane than determining punishment based on rankings.

In rankings, there will always be people at the bottom, but passing is something everyone can achieve.

Of course, if the training is ineffective, it can also cause everyone to fail.

"Let's begin," Nagasawa prompted Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded and stepped out of the line. In today's assessment, he was not only a judge responsible for scoring, but also a referee for the Moonwalk, Shave, and Finger Pistol events.

Inuzuka Midori was in charge of three projects: Tetsuya, Arashi, and Kagami.

If Salt Water had arrived, each person would have been able to complete two projects, but unfortunately Salt Water was away on a mission.

Kakashi didn't really like this kind of work; he even felt that the assessment was meaningless.

Doesn't he know the level of the group members? No matter how well they perform, it's still just so-so; no matter how badly they perform, it won't be that bad.

Instead, let him score based on his usual training performance.

No matter how much he complained in his heart, it was still the captain's order, and he had to do it.

Kakashi looked at the training team members expressionlessly and said calmly:

"The Moonwalk assessment will begin in three minutes. Those who have chosen Moonwalk as their compulsory course can start warming up now. Those who haven't chosen it can review their selected compulsory course."

Upon hearing Kakashi's words, the training team members began their warm-up exercises.

Some people who chose other projects set aside a certain distance and found a suitable place to review the six techniques they had chosen.

Two and a half minutes later, Kakashi checked the time and said:

"The lunar walk assessment is about to begin. Let me first announce the assessment criteria: being able to use lunar walk to lift off the ground ten meters and remain in the air for more than one and a half minutes is considered passing."

A good result is achieved when the aircraft is 15 meters above the ground and remains suspended in the air for more than one minute and fifty seconds.

"A height of 20 meters above the ground, with an airborne state lasting more than two and a half minutes, is considered excellent."

When the assessment time arrived, Kakashi began to call out the names of the examinees in order of their Anbu numbers.

Since the training team didn't have many members, aside from Kakashi and his team leader, there were only sixteen ordinary members who needed to take the test, so they were tested one by one.

The Anbu members whose names were called immediately became extremely alert, trying their best to perform better and impress the Hokage.

Minato watched as the Anbu members used Moonwalk to walk through the air as if climbing stairs, and his eyes lit up.

"This physical technique is very practical. In terms of offense, it can be used to launch a surprise attack on people from the air, or to sneak in from the sky."

Escaping is also very easy; ordinary ninjas don't have that ability.

Jumping ten meters high was easy for Minato, and even for ninjas, but that was all. They could only jump ten meters; they couldn't stay in the air.

However, this kind of physical technique is not very useful for him, who has the Flying Thunder God Technique.

With the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato's mobility is maximized, eliminating the need for mobility-enhancing techniques like Moonwalk or Shave.

“If it weren’t practical, I wouldn’t have bothered to set up a training team,” Yongze said with a smile.

The Six Styles are certainly nothing to true masters, but their strength lies in their applicability to intermediate levels and their powerful practicality.

At this moment, the ninjas from the First Division, who had been summoned by Minato for a visit, also developed a strong interest in Geppu.

If they learn this taijutsu, many missions will become much easier, even though this ninjutsu doesn't involve direct flight.

However, for ninjas, even a brief moment of airtime can increase many possibilities.

Some of the ninjas in the first squad started to get excited, wondering if they could possibly join the training team.

They knew the people in the training team; at a glance, they were all from the second squad.

They were all members of the fourth generation of the Anbu, and since the fourth generation of the Anbu had only just been established, they had basically all carried out missions together, so they all knew each other.

Since the people in the second squad can join, there's no reason why the people in the first squad can't join.

Moreover, shouldn't the Dark Guard Training Team be training Dark Guards?

After the monthly assessment, the next step is the shaving assessment.

The requirement for the shaving test is explosive speed; the faster you reach the designated location, the higher your score.

While the shave technique didn't have the same wow factor as Moonwalk, Minato, with his extensive combat experience, knew that this taijutsu could also have unexpected effects.

Compared to the regular Body Flicker Technique, which requires hand seals, Shave has a clear advantage: it can be used in conjunction with many other ninjutsu.

The first squad's ANBU also thought this physical technique was good; if they learned it, their mobility would be improved.

Soon, all six styles were tested, and Minato had also finished watching the complete six styles.

He had to admit that Nagasawa was truly amazing, having created a taijutsu style completely different from the existing taijutsu schools in Konoha, and with such high practicality.

At this moment, he was glad that he had invited Nagasawa to the Anbu. Otherwise, it would have been a huge waste to keep such a genius in the Chunin position without making any progress.