Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Then, she turned her attention to her old rival, Koharu Tsurugi.

Compared to the clever and tactful Mitokado Homura, this old fellow is clearly still reluctant to give up his power, and he is also quite thin-skinned. He is still undecided and has not yet made a decision.

"Well, Yan's suggestion is good. With a formidable enemy at hand, it's the perfect time to cultivate talent. We should give Kirito a lot of support. What do you think, Haru?"

The Third Generation Momoka turned her gaze to Koharu Utatane, who still hadn't made a choice. She coughed and spoke.

Mitokado Homura knew when to advance and when to retreat, and decisively surrendered. The Third Hokage naturally understood what this meant and admired Mitokado Homura to some extent, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow.

The Book of Seals has always been kept by the Hokage. Now that it is being handed over to Kirito, it undoubtedly implies that Kirito will become the Hokage in the future, and also implies that he should hand over the Hokage's authority as soon as possible.

The third generation is now quite open-minded about this and has agreed. They'll also help out Xiaochun, who's transferring dorms, out of respect for the teacher.

When Koharu Utatane heard that the Third Hokage had agreed to Mitokado Homura's proposal, she finally broke down.

Knowing that the tide had turned and she could no longer retain her power, she gave a bitter laugh and said, "If you think it's good, then it's excellent. Of course, I agree. Let's do it this way."

"Hmph, you're smart to know what's good for you."

Seeing that Koharu Utatane had finally softened her stance, Momoka revealed a mocking expression on her face, and then stated, "It is right to do everything we can to nurture Kirito. Kirito is very strong now, and his talent and potential are terrifying, but he still needs time to grow. The village should now do everything it can to help him shorten his growth time."

As a result, the suggestion that Mitokado Homura had just made was passed unanimously.

"Momoka, Madara Uchiha is a formidable opponent. We can't rely solely on Kirito to deal with him and put all the pressure on him. The rest of us must also share some of the burden. Besides Kirito, Konoha has produced many other talented ninjas. I think it's necessary to nurture these talented ninjas as well. We can't put all our eggs in one basket."

Once the proposal was approved, the third generation immediately put forward a new suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Momoka narrowed her eyes slightly and asked, "What the Third Hokage said makes a lot of sense, but I wonder which genius ninjas you just mentioned are you referring to?"

Chapter 274: Revisiting Wood Release

"Uchiha Chizuru and Namikaze Minato."

The Third Hokage pondered for a moment before revealing the genius ninja he wanted to train.

“I can understand your recommendation of Minato Namikaze. This child is indeed an outstanding genius who has mastered Lord Soma's Flying Thunder God Technique. As long as we solve the problem of his insufficient chakra, he will definitely be a powerful force for our Konoha.”

However, isn't it a bit unreasonable for you to recommend Uchiha Chizuru? After all, she is a member of the Uchiha clan.

Upon hearing the two names mentioned by the Third Generation, Momoka frowned and said...

From beginning to end, her hostility towards the Uchiha clan never disappeared. It was only for the sake of Konoha's overall interests that she tolerated the Uchiha clan's growth and reproduction in Konoha. But that doesn't mean she would support the training of Uchiha clan ninjas.

Even though she knew that Uchiha Chizuru and Kirito had a special relationship, it was still the same.

"This woman is still the same as ever, full of hostility towards the Uchiha clan."

Koharu thought to herself, and couldn't help but applaud the Third Generation's suggestion.

Minato Namikaze was Orochimaru's disciple, clearly one of their people, and he also mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, making him an outstanding talent.

The Flying Thunder God Technique may not be a particularly powerful ninjutsu, but its support capabilities are ridiculously strong. As long as the user combines it with a powerful ninjutsu, they will instantly transform into a top-tier assassin ninja who can appear and disappear at will.

Once Minato Namikaze grows up, he will be able to fight anyone, and may even be able to kill Madara Uchiha and Kirito.

The Flying Thunder God Technique is such a ninjutsu; it grants ninjas an extremely high potential for power.

While Uchiha Chizuru wasn't on their side, she was a member of the Uchiha clan. The Senju and Uchiha clans had a blood feud that was almost impossible to resolve, meaning that Uchiha Chizuru couldn't possibly be a member of the Senju clan.

Madara Uchiha killed Homura Uchiha, making him Chizuru Uchiha's enemy. This means that Chizuru Uchiha would not betray Konoha and was worthy of Konoha's strong support.

Because of Kirito, the Senju clan's power is now far too great, and they must rely on other forces to counterbalance it.

Uchiha Chizuru is an excellent choice. According to the information Orochimaru previously sent back, Uchiha Chizuru has already begun to use the Mangekyou Sharingan, and the eye technique ability of one of the Mangekyou Sharingan is extremely terrifying, capable of nullifying ninjutsu.

If Chizuru Uchiha were to grow up and combine with Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique, she would definitely have the strength to fight Kirito.

Of course, she was also aware that Chizuru Uchiha and Kirito had a very good relationship, making it difficult for Chizuru to deal with Kirito, but there was still a possibility.

In the future, the Senju clan will dominate Konoha. Given the poor relationship between the Senju and Uchiha clans, the Uchiha clan will inevitably be suppressed.

At that time, it would be reasonable for Chizuru Uchiha to join forces with them for the benefit of the Uchiha clan.

In just a few seconds, Koharu Utatane automatically filled in a lot of reasons why the Third Hokage would recommend Chizuru Uchiha and Minato Namikaze, and immediately felt that the Third Hokage had not completely given up resisting and was still trying to preserve the power of resistance.

Mitokado Homura's thoughts at this time were similar to those of Utatane Koharu, but he did not think highly of the Third Hokage's proposal to train Uchiha Chizuru.

Influenced by his teacher, the Second Hokage, he had a deep understanding of the Uchiha clan and realized that this clan did not actually have much of a sense of belonging to its own people; they valued their own emotions more.

Just look at Madara Uchiha. He killed Homura Uchiha and even planned to target Chizuru Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan. This shows that the Uchiha clan will not hesitate to kill anyone who is not someone they value.

This is especially true for Uchiha ninjas who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Uchiha Homura is dead. In Uchiha Chizuru's heart, Tohsaka Kirito was probably the person she cared about the most. Is it realistic to expect her to fight against Tohsaka Kirito in the future?"

Mitomon was deeply concerned about this.

The Third Generation had no idea what Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were thinking at that moment. If he had known, he might have cursed them, accusing them of slandering him.

He didn't think too much about it when he selected Uchiha Chizuru and Namikaze Minato as the key trainees. He simply felt that relying on Tohsaka Kirito alone to deal with Uchiha Madara was not safe enough, and he wanted to train a few more combatants to deal with Uchiha Madara.

He was interested in Minato Namikaze because of the Flying Thunder God Technique. With this ninjutsu, Kirito could escape even if he was no match for Madara Uchiha in battle. He could also stand guard for Kirito and pose a threat to Madara Uchiha.

As for why he took a liking to Uchiha Chizuru, it's because Uchiha Chizuru has the Mangekyou Sharingan, can also use Susanoo, and has mastered a special eye technique that can neutralize ninjutsu, so she can definitely cooperate with Kirito in the main battlefield.

It can be said that with the help of these two, Kirito's chances of defeating Madara Uchiha will increase significantly.

Ninjas are never a lone wolf. Different types of ninjas can team up and cooperate well. Even if one of them is no match for the other, they can still fight against the enemy together.

So when Momoka asked him why, he answered without any guilt: "Although Chizuru is a member of the Uchiha clan, she is an enemy of Uchiha Madara. Moreover, she has already awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, so her strength is guaranteed. Besides, she is someone Kirito trusts, so she can definitely play a role in Kirito's fight against Uchiha Madara."

"Hmph, I hope so. Third Hokage, you'd better not trust the Uchiha clan too much, especially those who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan. They are all unstable bombs. If you provoke them a little, they might just turn on us."

Momoka stared intently into the Third Generation's eyes and found that his gaze was clear and showed no sign of guilt. She said coldly.

She knew, of course, that Chizuru Uchiha was a powerful weapon against Madara Uchiha, but she ultimately did not trust the Uchiha clan and was worried that Chizuru Uchiha would become the second Madara Uchiha.

Judging from the potential that Uchiha Chizuru has shown so far, she has the potential to become the next Uchiha Madara.

He developed the Mangekyou Sharingan at the age of 11; his potential is extraordinary.

"Ahem, I personally think that training Uchiha Chizuru and Namikaze Minato is a good suggestion. However, training just the two of them is not enough. We have many other talented ninjas in Konoha, such as the Hyuga brothers Hiashi and Hyuga Karen from the Hyuga clan, Nawaki is also very outstanding, and then there is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina. I think they are all very good. As long as they grow up, they will be able to become excellent combat forces."

Mitokado Yan then interjected.

Upon hearing this, the Third Generation and Momoka quickly began to consider it as well.

Then, the Third Hokage spoke up: "Ham is right. Konoha is going through a difficult time right now, and we must do our best to cultivate talented ninjas."

Konoha is ultimately a community of interests formed by many ninja clans. His recommendation of only Uchiha Chizuru and Namikaze Minato is clearly not in line with the interests of the other ninja clans in Konoha, especially the Hyuga clan, one of the three great clans.

Although the Hyuga clan has always appeared outdated and conservative, their overall strength is still very high. It would be unreasonable to exclude them from the large-scale training of talented ninjas.

Moreover, the Byakugan plays an excellent role in battle; with Byakugan ninjas around, it would be difficult for Madara Uchiha to launch a sneak attack.

Mitokado Homura's words just now effectively made up for his previous lack of consideration, and they are commendable.

“I agree to involve the Hyuga clan, but as for Nawaki and Kushina, I think we need to think about it more carefully.”

After the third generation finished speaking, Momoka said with a somewhat helpless expression.

It wasn't that she didn't want to recommend Nawaki for the genius ninja training program, but she was very clear about Nawaki's personal abilities. Calling him a genius was a stretch, after all, his chakra reserves were indeed terrifying, and he had some of the style of the First Hokage.

Unfortunately, Nawaki never inherited the First Hokage's Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. Despite possessing a vast amount of chakra, he couldn't effectively unleash it through other ninjutsu, and his current specialty is taijutsu.

She didn't deny that the Eight Gates technique was powerful, but the conditions for opening the Gate of Death made her extremely unwilling to see Rope Tree use it.

Nawaki is one of only two bloodlines left in this world from the first generation, and she doesn't want Nawaki to take any risks.

This was due to her selfishness.

As for Kushina, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, she was also unwilling to let her fight Madara Uchiha because the risk was too great. Once Madara Uchiha took the Nine-Tails, Madara Uchiha's strength would return to its peak, making it much more difficult to defeat him.

Moreover, the Nine-Tails' power is not so easy to control, and it is difficult to achieve it quickly.

Although Kushina was favored by Lady Mito and said to have a special ability to restrain the Nine-Tails' power, her current strength is far inferior to Lady Mito's, making it impossible for her to effectively utilize the Nine-Tails' power in battle.

“I don’t object to Nawaki joining the genius training program, but it’s absolutely unacceptable to include the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. The Nine-Tails is powerful, but it was once Madara Uchiha’s summoning beast. Who knows if he might have some hidden tricks up his sleeve? Kushina isn’t Lady Mito, so it would be difficult for her to stop Madara Uchiha from leaving any tricks up his sleeve.”

Koharu, who was switching dorm rooms, finally voiced her opinion.

She is still very concerned about the current matter concerning dealing with Uchiha Madara and has given it serious consideration.

"What Xiaochun said makes some sense. Madara Uchiha once plotted against Lady Mito, and it is indeed very likely that he still has some tricks up his sleeve with the Nine-Tails. We must be on guard. It is indeed not very safe to let Kushina fight Madara Uchiha."

When the Third Hokage heard Koharu Utatane say this, his expression immediately turned serious, and he decisively removed Kushina from the list of geniuses to be nurtured.

However, he chose to keep the rope tree.

He was aware of Momoka's selfish motives, but Konoha was now facing the imminent threat of annihilation, and Nawaki, who had mastered the Eight Gates technique, was a powerful force.

"Momoka, Madara Uchiha has reappeared. I believe that the power of Wood Release is a very important part of dealing with him. I have no intention of offending the Senju clan, but I think it is necessary for Konoha to restart the Wood Release plan."

Seeing that the Third Hokage did not intend to exclude Nawaki from the genius training program, Mitokado Homura had an idea and made a bold suggestion.

"impossible!"

The next moment, Momoka spoke loudly, glaring angrily at Mitokado Yan.

The Wood Release plan is a permanent pain in the hearts of the Senju clan. In order to make Wood Release reappear, many members of the Senju clan died. Now, the Senju clan is left with only the elderly, women and children, and can no longer withstand another mass casualty.

Moreover, Mitokado Homura's Wood Release plan clearly harbored malicious intentions, because in the current Konoha, the people most likely to awaken the Wood Release bloodline limit are Nawaki and Tsunade.

But Wood Release is not so easy to awaken; if the awakening fails, it means certain death.

"Don't get agitated, Momoka. Yan is only thinking about Konoha. Wood Release is indeed the best choice to deal with Uchiha Madara, but the Wood Release plan is too dangerous. We can't let the tragedy repeat itself. Let's not mention this again."

Seeing that Momoka was angry, the third generation quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

In fact, he had considered restarting the Wood Release plan, but he hadn't mentioned it for fear of Momoka getting angry. Now that he saw Mitokado Homura step on the landmine for him, he knew that the Wood Release plan could not be restarted.

Once the restart occurs, Konoha might descend into chaos before even engaging in war with Uchiha Madara.

With a formidable enemy at hand, Konoha absolutely cannot afford internal strife.

"However, if Konoha were to regain the power of Wood Release and create another God of Shinobi, then Madara Uchiha's threat would essentially be eliminated without a fight."

The third generation thought to themselves without showing any emotion.

Only after the Third Hokage vetoed the Wood Release plan did Momoka's anger subside, but she still looked at Mitokado Homura with a hostile expression.

She realized that Mitokado Homura, that old bastard, had definitely been eyeing Wood Release for a long time, and was probably already secretly working on it.

"This old guy may have been secretly researching Wood Release with Danzo a long time ago. Now that Danzo is dead, he and Koharu Utatane have taken over the new Root, and it is very likely that he has obtained the legacy left by Danzo."

Tao Hua began to speculate maliciously.