As for the last disciple slot, Senju Mori planned to select from the major Ninja Clans of Konoha.
If Tsunade represented the 'orthodox' of the past, and Orochimaru represented the growing 'commoners', then the third disciple absolutely had to come from the strongest force in Konoha today—the 'Ninja Clans'.
Tsunade could not possibly represent the Ninja Clans.
Having even lost her surname, let alone representing any Ninja Clans, it was even questionable whether she could still represent the Senju; at most, she could only represent her two Hokage grandfathers.
Originally, the Hyuga Clan had the best chance to obtain this opportunity.
They were the first Ninja Clans to express their stance, and their displayed support was truly unreserved, earning Hyuga Sogo a lot of goodwill from Senju Mori.
However, unfortunately, Hyuga Sogo's son was already over twenty years old, and although he had already married, due to the short time, he had not yet had any children.
If other Hyuga main family members were taken as disciples, it might instead shake the succession of Hyuga Sogo's lineage as clan head, which would be more harmful than beneficial, a completely foolish act that harms others without benefiting oneself.
As for the Nara Clan, which was only second to the Hyuga Clan?
The Nara Clan, Yamanaka, and Akimichi Clans had a special rule: each generation's clan head had to train and grow together with the other two, and form a cooperative team upon reaching adulthood.
During the Sengoku period, this both continuously solidified the alliance of the three clans and improved their combat effectiveness and tacit understanding during joint operations.
Considering that Nara Shikatsune had already severely betrayed his two allied Ninja Clans in the previous Hokage election, if Senju Mori were to actively break up this generation's Ino–Shika–Chō combination again... that would be an overt act of alienation, which would only invite resentment, vigilance, and hostility from the three families.
After much deliberation, Senju Mori couldn't help but pick up a document from his desk again; it was a list of all current students and past graduates of the Ninja Academy.
Just at first glance, Senju Mori indeed noticed a very special name.
Sakumo Hatake.
Senju Mori did not know the exact birth and death years of Sakumo Hatake, and he had not expected that he would be around the same age as Tsunade and the others.
However, upon closer thought, Kakashi was born in Konoha Year 37, and Sakumo Hatake, who gave birth to Kakashi in his twenties, should have been born around Konoha Year 13, shouldn't he?
It seemed that Might Guy's father, Might Duy, was also around the same age.
Senju Mori then flipped through the list of Ninja Academy students and quickly found Might Duy's information.
"Might Duy, from a commoner Ninja background, born in Konoha Year 15..."
To Senju Mori's surprise, Might Duy was actually two years younger than Tsunade and the others.
After satisfying a sudden surge of curiosity, Senju Mori put Might Duy's information back and instead carefully examined Sakumo Hatake's information.
"Sakumo Hatake, son of Jonin Hatake Shuuichi, born on September 3rd, Konoha Year 13, Ninja Academy assessment results were..."
A moment later, Senju Mori let out a long breath, placed Sakumo Hatake's information together with the two previous detailed files belonging to Tsunade and Orochimaru, and then got up and left the Hokage's office.
Time was pressing; after dealing with some necessary governmental affairs, he would continue his research on Ninjutsu.
No matter how much power he held, strong ability was the foundation supporting all plans.
If he hadn't survived the brutal First Ninja World War, if he wasn't the strongest Ninja in the Senju Clan at the moment, if he didn't have the power to intervene in the battle between the Second Hokage and Kinkaku... then no matter how meticulously he planned, it would ultimately just be a joke...
Deep in the forest east of Konoha, this place originally had quite beautiful scenery.
Giant trees reached the sky, their branches and leaves intertwined into an almost impenetrable canopy, and a few lucky rays of sunlight, seeping through, cast speckled dots of broken gold on the grass-covered ground.
The air was filled with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, and silence reigned all around, with only an occasional insect chirp or bird song... But in this deep forest, which should have been tranquil and peaceful, there were now traces of training everywhere—
Large areas of trees were cut in half, leaving only many solitary stumps, with marks of high-pressure Water Release blades still remaining on them.
Looking around, it was even more of a mess.
Large tracts of forest, after being ravaged by torrents, had already formed murky pools, with mud, sand, and broken tree branches caught within, making it even more chaotic...
Apart from Training Ground 44, known as the "Forest of Death," ordinary training grounds were mostly located within the Village and were too small, not supporting Senju Mori's unrestrained practice of large-scale Ninjutsu.
Therefore, Senju Mori usually used the forests on the outskirts of Konoha as his training grounds.
The previous battle with Kinkaku made Senju Mori clearly realize his biggest problem at present—his defensive and survival capabilities were up to standard, but his offensive capabilities were severely lacking.
As a result, his role in that battle was more about distracting Kinkaku and using Water and Earth Release Ninjutsu to restrict his movements, ultimately cooperating with Senju Tobirama to deliver the finishing blow.
Although theoretically, Wind Release Chakra, known for its "sharpness," was the Chakra nature with the strongest offensive capability, Senju currently did not have much information on advanced Wind Release Ninjutsu.
Moreover, in terms of sheer power, Senju Tobirama's "Water Release: Water Severing Wave" and other techniques were already deadly enough.
While familiarizing himself with various Ninjutsu, Senju Mori also did not forget to study the special hand seal method left by Senju Tobirama.
This was actually nothing complicated.
No matter what kind of Ninjutsu, its essence lies in Chakra extraction and Chakra control.
Hand seals, initially created by Indra, the eldest son of the Six Paths Sage, were an auxiliary technique whose purpose was to help the user better guide and control Chakra.
Along with countless Ninjutsu, the twelve seals once created by Indra were passed down.
Tobirama's special hand seals were an innovation based on this, with the optimized hand seals providing higher Chakra control efficiency.
Of course, if one's Chakra control ability reached a certain level, the assistance of hand seals would naturally no longer be overly needed during casting; the most famous representatives of this were Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
But as everyone knows, improving Chakra control ability is not something that can be done casually; it requires arduous training and the accumulation of battle after battle.
In contrast, for two people with similar Chakra control abilities, if they could use the special hand seal technique created by Tobirama, it would undoubtedly greatly improve their Chakra control ability in a short period of time.
This was a shortcut to quickly enhance one's power.