Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

In the original storyline, it was Nawaki who received the treatment, but now it's his turn.

Although Kirito didn't believe in fate, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

He's not like Naruto, who has the protagonist's halo and is the reincarnation of Ashura. Who knows what deadly threats he might encounter on the battlefield?

However, he is not Nawaki or Kato Dan. His current strength is much stronger than the two in the original story. Unless the enemy sends two or more Kage-level powerhouses without his knowledge, they will not be able to capture him.

Furthermore, the First Hokage's necklace is a very important ninja tool. The gem on the necklace is a super precious chakra crystal, which also contains the power of Hashirama Senju and has the function of suppressing tailed beasts.

However, as far as Kirito knows, the only way to unleash the power within the First Generation Necklace is with Wood Release chakra.

In the original story, Yamato was able to successfully activate Hashirama Senju's power within the necklace and suppress Naruto, who had grown five tails in his tailed beast form, precisely because he possessed Wood Release chakra.

"Is it really true that only Wood Release chakra can unleash its power?"

Kirito looked at the first generation necklace in his hand, frowning as he pondered.

The First Generation Necklace is undoubtedly a very powerful sealing ninja tool. If he can unleash its power, it will greatly enhance his ability to suppress tailed beasts. Perhaps it will even allow him to suppress the Nine-Tails with a modified sealing technique, the Adamantine Sealing Technique, without needing to activate the power of the Yin Seal.

After all, in the original story, Yamato, a Wood Release ninja with only the strength of an elite Jonin, successfully suppressed Naruto's Five-Tails transformation using the First Hokage's necklace.

If it were him, he would be fully capable of displaying the sealing technique, Vajra Lock, in the form of a sealing array, and then using the original necklace as the array's core to enhance the power of Vajra Lock.

The combined effect of these two powers that can suppress tailed beasts is definitely not as simple as 1 plus 1 equals 2.

The only remaining question is how to unleash this potential.

He does possess Wood Release chakra, but he cannot yet explain its source.

Therefore, he needs to find other ways to unleash this power.

"Speaking of which, this thing is quite fragile. We can't use the whole thing for experiments. If we break it, Tsunade will be very sad. Let's try to get some fragments first."

Kirito thought to himself, recalling how Naruto, in his tailed beast form, had crushed the necklace with his bare hands.

Soon, a series of ideas for experimenting with the original necklace came to mind.

"Humph."

Suddenly, a cold hum sounded in Kirito's ear, bringing him back from his reverie.

The voice was very familiar, and Kirito immediately knew who the humming belonged to. He turned his head and looked at Chizuru, who had suddenly appeared not far away, and smiled, "You've come too."

"Humph."

Chizuru turned her head away and continued to snort coldly.

"Why is she angry again?"

Kirito noticed that Chizuru seemed rather irritable today and wondered aloud.

"Cough cough~"

Then, a coughing fit came from behind.

Upon hearing the sound, Kirito decisively turned around and kicked hard.

Rope Tree, who had just emerged from the ground using Earth Release: Earth Dragon Concealment Technique, was immediately kicked away by Kirito. After landing, he immediately complained loudly, "You're treating people differently!"

"Who told you to sneak out from behind me?"

Kirito ignored Nawaki's sarcastic remarks, then went up to Nawaki and reached out to pull him up from the ground.

At that moment, Chizuru also came to their side.

Rope Tree got up from the ground, looked around, and found that there were only the three of them. He said with dissatisfaction, "Where is the teacher in charge? Didn't we say we would meet here at eight o'clock sharp? Why haven't we arrived yet?"

"Fool."

Chizuru responded sarcastically to Nawaki's words.

"Hey, get your facts straight. We're teammates now, so don't leave out half a sentence. And what's with this attitude? I'm not stupid."

Upon hearing this, Nawaki glared angrily at Chizuru and shouted.

He had long disliked this female Uchiha, but he had always been unable to defeat her, so he had to swallow his anger.

But things are different now. After opening the four gates, he is confident that he can defeat Chizuru.

Although the female Uchiha's techniques are quite powerful, he is not to be underestimated. He can use Shadow Clone Technique in combination with Rasengan to deal with her, and at the critical moment, he can use the Eight Gates Technique to turn the tide.

He knows more than just the Eight Gates technique.

This move is his trump card. He usually uses the Shadow Clone Technique, taking advantage of his large chakra reserves to create numerous shadow clones that he combines with various ninjutsu and taijutsu to defeat his enemies.

"What? You don't like being called an idiot? It's really strange that someone who wasn't even noticed by the teacher in charge was able to get into this team."

Chizuru saw that Nawaki was unconvinced and said coldly.

In her opinion, having an extra rope tree in the team was completely unnecessary.

Moreover, judging from Rope Tree's performance just now, it can be seen that Rope Tree's perception ability is really very low and his alertness is not high. She was somewhat dissatisfied with having such a guy join this elite team.

A few days ago, she, like Kirito, received a summons from the Third Hokage, asking her and Kirito to form a ninja team and go to the battlefield.

She just didn't expect that the third person would actually be this guy, Rope Tree.

Although she had a premonition that this would happen, she was still somewhat surprised when she actually saw Rope Tree there.

She actually thought Nawaki's strength was pretty good, but she didn't think Nawaki was a reliable ally, at least not on the battlefield.

It's important to know that the team she formed with Kirito was led by the powerful ninja Sakumo Hatake from Konoha.

She learned about this from her grandfather.

Therefore, it is clear that their next mission must be extremely dangerous, and Nawaki, the second-generation scion of the Senju clan, should never have come here.

"What did you say? The teacher in charge of the group has already arrived?"

When Nawaki heard Chizuru say that, his face turned ugly. Then he turned to look at Kirito, and when Kirito nodded, his expression became even uglier.

The next moment, he immediately used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to create a large number of shadow clones, sending them to find the teacher who was hiding.

However, no matter how hard he searched, he still couldn't find the teacher who was hiding.

"Nawaki, don't be discouraged. You're not a sensory ninja to begin with, so it's normal that you can't find our team leader."

Seeing Nawaki's dejected expression, Kirito patted Nawaki's shoulder to comfort him.

Then, he suddenly turned around, threw a handful of kunai at a large tree less than ten meters in front of him, and shouted, "Am I right, Mr. Hatake?"

"Ding ~"

The two kunai collided in mid-air, sending up a spark.

Then, to Nawaki's astonishment, Hatake Sakumo emerged from behind the tree.

"It was him."

Nawaki thought to himself in shock as he saw Hatake Sakumo.

He had learned from his sister that his team leader would be a very powerful ninja, but he never expected it to be Sakumo Hatake, a Kage-level ninja known as the White Fang of Konoha.

At the same time, his frustration at not being able to discover Sakumo Hatake gradually dissipated.

The opponent was none other than Konoha's White Fang, the most powerful assassin ninja in Konoha. His stealth ability must have been astonishing, so it's understandable that he couldn't detect him.

But soon, a deep sense of resentment arose in his heart. He looked at Chizuru beside him and asked in confusion, "Kirito was able to discover Konoha's White Fang, which must be thanks to the Spirit Transformation Technique, but how did this female Uchiha discover Konoha's White Fang? Damn it, I'm so unwilling."

Chizuru noticed Nawaki's unwilling look and gave him a disdainful glance in return.

Over the years, she had met Nawaki many times because of Kirito.

But for some reason, she just couldn't stand him. He was always acting silly, which often seriously affected her conversations and training with Kirito.

Kirito inwardly groaned at the sight of the two exchanging such hostile tension from the very beginning.

"Kirito, Nawaki, Chizuru, hello. I am Hatake Sakumo. From today onwards, I will be your Jonin instructor. We will be carrying out missions together from now on. Please take good care of me."

Sakumo Hatake appeared before the three of them with a Body Flicker Technique without any hand seals, and smiled slightly.

His eyes swept over Kirito and the other two, finally settling on Kirito. He then said to Kirito, "Kirito, from now on you will be the squad leader of this team. If I am not present during the mission, you will be responsible for commanding the team's operations."

Chapter 160: The Great Operation to Seize the Bell

"Make me the squad leader?"

Kirito was startled when he heard what Sakumo Hatake said.

They made him a squad leader right after meeting him; they really think highly of him. Although he is stronger than Chizuru and Nawaki, so he should be the one to take the position, he is probably not happy about being appointed as a squad leader right away.

The next moment, he subconsciously looked at Chizuru beside him.

Chizuru was also looking at him, her eyes filled with deep resentment. Then she turned her gaze to Hatake Sakumo, her eyes filled with indignation.

Rope Tree was also somewhat unwilling, but unfortunately no one was paying attention to him, which made him even more unwilling.

"Just wait, when I become Hokage, I'll give you a whole bunch of super annoying tasks to do. I'm going to get stronger, even stronger. Then I'll go home and find a sensory ninjutsu that I can use to learn."

Rope Tree silently cheered himself on.

"Kirito, did you hear me?"

Seeing that Kirito did not answer immediately, Hatake Sakumo spoke again.

"Ha~"

Seeing that Chizuru didn't react, Kirito agreed.

"Mr. Hatake, I heard from my grandfather that you are very amazing. Could you show us your skills?"

The next moment, Chizuru erupted, directly challenging Sakumo Hatake's authority.

She knew that Sakumo Hatake was very powerful, but she had never experienced it firsthand.

Therefore, she still harbors some resentment towards Sakumo Hatake.

The reason she didn't react earlier was because she was indeed no match for Kirito right now. It didn't matter if she gave him the squad leader position; she would obediently follow Kirito's orders in future operations.

But if Sakumo Hatake wants to make her obey, he must first defeat her.

"I'd like to see it too."

Upon hearing this, Rope Tree was immediately eager to try, and a strong fighting spirit ignited in his heart.

Kirito had witnessed Sakumo Hatake's prowess firsthand; killing Jonin was as easy as killing chickens for him. Sakumo Hatake's Body Flicker Technique had reached an extremely high level, allowing him to unleash it at will without making a sound.