Uchiha's personal opinion

"So this is Fire Release..."

Orochimaru stared intently at the purple flames rising from the small katana that Uchiha Tokumitsu held across his chest, muttering to himself.

The sword stance displayed in the lower left section was also slightly scattered.

"……Yes."

After hesitating for a moment, Uchiha Tokumitsu answered with some hesitation.

"The fusion of Yin Release and Fire Release... the power of Yin Release to create form from nothingness combined with the power of Fire Release to melt all things..." Orochimaru's long tongue darted out once again, seemingly wanting to try and lick the aura on Uchiha Tokumitsu's katana, but fortunately he restrained himself and just vigorously washed his face with his tongue.

"It seems we won't be able to fight today." Uchiha Tokumitsu's left ear twitched slightly, and he smiled knowingly.

"Oh?" Orochimaru casually replied, his eyes still fixed on the flames rising from the blade.

Suddenly, Orochimaru seemed to sense something and turned to look behind him.

After a while, an ANBU member leaped out of the woods and instantly knelt on one knee in front of Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, Jonin, the Hokage summons you!"

“That’s true.” Orochimaru gave Uchiha Tokumitsu a deep look, then the Anbu turned and left without hesitation.

“There will always be a chance.” Uchiha Tokumitsu smoothly sheathed his katana. “Orochimaru-sensei, who respected his teacher…”

A New Year's letter to my book-loving friends

January 17th, the seventeenth day since this book went on sale. I wrote this letter in accordance with the official event.

This book has been in the works for two months now, and has nearly 240,000 words.

For a newcomer writing a novel for the first time, this is quite an achievement.

Two hundred and forty thousand words. From a reader's perspective, it would take about one or two hours to read quickly, and at most half a day.

But I wrote it for two months.

This experience has made me realize the hardships faced by online novel authors.

Neither word choice nor sentence structure nor plot development is easy. Even with an outline, writing something vivid is still quite difficult.

Fortunately, the problem was resolved.

From 10,000 words, to 100,000 words, to 200,000 words, and perhaps in the future, one million, one hundred and five hundred thousand, or two million words.

Everything is possible.

Just do it.

Yes.

Just do it.

This sentence is also a New Year's blessing for the readers of this book.

Anything is possible if you take the plunge.

I never imagined that my first book would have the opportunity to be signed and published.

I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to have readers urging me to update in the chapter review section and book review section.

I really hadn't thought of this before writing it.

Some readers have even kindly offered me suggestions on various chapter plots or on how to create a fan club.

I never thought about these things before I did it.

Nothing in this world is difficult if you put your mind to it.

The past year was also a particularly unfortunate one.

But the past will eventually pass, and the future lies ahead.

A new year means a new journey, but no matter where the road ahead leads, anything is possible as long as you take action.

Let us all strive together!

Chapter 72 Discussion! The Hokage's Helplessness and Mito's Power

Hokage Building.

Guided by the ANBU, Orochimaru arrived at the Hokage's office with practiced ease.

After a slight hesitation, Orochimaru raised his hand and knocked on the door a few times.

"Knock knock knock~"

"Come in!"

The loud voice of teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi echoed from inside the office.

Unlike his usual soothing yet weary tone, Orochimaru heard a hint of joy in his teacher's voice at this moment.

Just as Orochimaru reached for the doorknob, the door swung open from the inside, revealing a large face painted with face paint on its cheeks.

Orochimaru!

“It’s you…” Orochimaru frowned slightly, then forced a smile onto his cold face. “Jiraiya…when did you come back?”

"I just got back and came to see you, teacher." Jiraiya grabbed Orochimaru by the neck and pulled him into the office.

"You gloomy fellow, did you go to some hot spring and hide in a secluded corner to gather materials? It's amazing how the Anbu have been looking for you for so long."

"I'm not you." Orochimaru shook off Jiraiya's hand with a hint of disdain, slightly composed himself, and greeted the smiling Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Sensei, I'm late."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Jiraiya just happened to be back from his vacation and wanted to call you." The Third Hokage smiled at his most prized disciple. "Did I disturb you?"

"No..." Orochimaru paused for a moment before saying, "I met that person at the training ground."

"Who?" Before the Third Hokage could speak, Jiraiya leaned closer, his eyes shining. "Whose daughter is she?"

Orochimaru pushed Jiraiya away with disgust, "Stay away from me! You idiot!"

He then straightened his clothes slightly and looked at the teacher, whose expression remained kind, and slowly said, "That child from the Uchiha clan... Uchiha Tokumitsu."

The third generation nodded, a relaxed smile rarely seen on his face.

"That arrogant brat from the Uchiha clan? The deputy commander of the Northwest Border Defense Force?" Jiraiya was somewhat surprised. The name reminded him of unpleasant experiences of being humiliated. "What's that narrow-minded kid up to now..."

Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's rambling and simply watched the Third Hokage silently.

"How is it?" The Third Hokage sighed slightly, leaned back in his chair, and relaxed his back.

"Not bad..." Orochimaru said.

"He already has a three-tomoe Sharingan... Seriously, to become a Jonin at such a young age, the Uchiha bloodline is truly enviable." Jiraiya chimed in, "But you actually made him Sakumo's Jonin's assistant, which is surprisingly good to him."

The Third Hokage could only shake his head with a wry smile at Jiraiya's words.

"Idiot!" Orochimaru scolded mercilessly. "The main combat ninjas in Sakumo Jonin's mobile unit are mostly drawn from the Uchiha clan. If he doesn't take command, do you think others can recruit those ninja clans to fight?"

Orochimaru glared fiercely at the outspoken Jiraiya, "The power of the ninja clan is an indispensable part of Konoha. If you continue to mess things up like this, you'll eventually push the ninja clan to the opposite side of the village!"

“But Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza are also from ninja clans…” Jiraiya argued, still unconvinced. “If you ask me, it’s the Uchiha clan members who are a bit petty. Besides, they didn’t attend the village’s ninja academy, so they don’t have any feelings or bonds with their comrades in the village, which is why they act this way…”

Orochimaru was too lazy to pay any more attention to Jiraiya, who was acting childish again.

If you're not the Hokage's apprentice, the successors of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio won't bother with you.

Orochimaru's feelings towards Jiraiya, his fellow disciple, were quite complex.

She both looked down on his lecherous and dissolute personality and admired his tenacious ideals in certain aspects; moreover, having been together since childhood, from the ninja academy to being taken in as a disciple by the Third Hokage, going through the trials of the genin and chunin stages, and finally the three of them being promoted to jonin together, the friendship between them could not be shallow.

However, in Orochimaru's view, Jiraiya sometimes seemed too simple-minded, often oversimplifying complex matters and recklessly rushing in without regard for the consequences. While this might sometimes have an unexpected positive effect, it mostly only made the situation more dangerous and complicated.

"By the way, where's Tsunade?" Jiraiya continued, seemingly oblivious to his own thoughts. "Doesn't she know that the handsome Jiraiya-sama is back? She's being so neglectful!"

"Lord Mito hasn't been feeling well lately, and Tsunade is taking care of him." The Third Hokage, while fond of his lively and somewhat exasperated student Jiraiya, said, "You'd better not say anything out of line, or Tsunade will send you to the Konoha hospital for another month..."

"Konoha Hospital is pretty good too, I remember there are a few nurses there who are quite cute..."

Orochimaru ignored Jiraiya's distracting and disruptive behavior, and simply watched his teacher silently.

After loading the tobacco, the third generation lit it by rubbing two fingers together and took a deep, satisfying puff.

"You've already had a match with him, haven't you?"

Orochimaru nodded silently.

"What do you think?"

"The illusion techniques are very strong." Orochimaru said succinctly, then added, "And the so-called fire release... is not simple either."

The third generation nodded silently and took another puff of his pipe.

Using the thick smoke as cover, the Third Hokage, his eyelids drooping, sighed with a hint of helplessness: "A ninja clan with two bloodline limits... just thinking about it is terrifying."

Orochimaru and Jiraiya both fell silent.

Although Jiraiya usually appears rather carefree, he is actually a reliable ninja with a strong will. After a conversation between his teacher and fellow students, he naturally understood what their words meant.

The Hokage's office fell silent.

“I remember… Uchiha Tokumitsu isn’t even ten years old yet, is he?” Jiraiya, unable to bear the somber atmosphere any longer, was the first to break the silence. “No matter how talented he is, he’s just a kid. He shouldn’t be too hard to handle, right?”

The Third Hokage and Orochimaru both shook their heads.

In terms of overall tactics, the Naruto series and A-list are quite similar. They start by approaching each other with a friendly demeanor, then gradually open up and get to the heart of the matter. They even use various vague but extremely seductive words to purposefully induce the target, such as praise like "the potential to become Hokage." In the process, they also give the target some benefits.

Once the target has truly opened their heart, there will be a gentle decline or an order that contradicts the family's stance to test the bottom line. If the test is successful, it will prove that the target is a qualified successor of the "Will of Fire", and then the target will be trapped for the rest of their life.

In the past, this approach, inherited from the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, was always successful. Through the Ninja Academy, a very useful propaganda tool, geniuses from the common people and elites from the ninja clans entered the Hokage's inner circle. While constantly enriching the Hokage's direct subordinate units such as the Anbu, it also gave the Hokage's faction the opportunity to intervene in the internal affairs of the ninja clans.

However, this tactic has proven completely ineffective against Uchiha Tokumitsu, the most outstanding member of the Uchiha clan in the modern era, after several rounds of testing and trials.

"Alright." The Third Hokage tapped the ashes from his pipe. "How about we go visit Lady Mito together? We can also see Tsunade while we're at it."

As he finished speaking, the Third Hokage winked meaningfully at Jiraiya with his left eye.

"Hehe..." Jiraiya nodded repeatedly with a silly grin.

Orochimaru has no problem with it.

The Third Hokage picked up the bell on his desk, shook it, summoned a member of the Anbu, whispered some instructions in his ear, and then waved for him to go and prepare.