As for the final disciple slot, Senju Mori planned to choose someone from among Konoha's major ninja clans.
If Tsunade represented the "orthodox past," and Orochimaru represented the growing strength of the "Civilian," then the third disciple had to come from the most powerful faction of Konoha's present—the ninja clans themselves.
Tsunade could not represent them.
Having even lost her clan name, she could hardly claim to represent any ninja clan—let alone the Senju. At best, she was now seen as the granddaughter of two generations of Hokage.
Originally, the Hyūga Clan had the best chance.
They were the first to publicly support Mori, and their backing had been vigorous enough to earn Hyūga Sōgo a fair amount of goodwill in the new Hokage's eyes.
Unfortunately, Sōgo's son was already in his twenties and had only recently married. He had yet to produce any children.
To take another member of the Hyūga main family as a disciple would risk destabilizing the clan's line of succession—a foolish act that would harm everyone involved.
Then there was the Nara Clan, second only to the Hyūga in strength.
The Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi Clans had long upheld a special rule: in every generation, their clan heirs were to train and grow together, forming a squad that perfectly synchronized their skills.
In the Warring States era, this tradition had both reinforced the alliance between the three clans and greatly enhanced their combat coordination.
Considering that Nara Shikajō had already betrayed the alliance by stabbing both of his allied clans in the back during the Hokage election, if Senju Mori were now to break apart the current "Ino–Shika–Chō" trio…
It would be seen as nothing less than a deliberate act of division—a provocation that could only earn him resentment, distrust, and hostility from all three clans.
After much thought, Mori once again picked up a dossier from his desk—the complete registry of students and graduates of the Ninja Academy.
At a glance, one particular name immediately caught his attention.
Hatake Sakumo.
Mori wasn't familiar with the exact birth and death dates of Hatake Sakumo—nor had he realized the boy was about the same age as Tsunade and the others.
But thinking it over, it made perfect sense: Kakashi was born in Konoha Year 37, and if his father had been in his early twenties at the time, Sakumo must have been born around Year 13 of the village's founding.
It also occurred to Mori that Might Guy's father, Duy, should be about the same age.
He flipped through the student registry again until he found Might Duy's record.
"Might Duy— civilian shinobi, born in Konoha Year 15…"
To Mori's surprise, Duy was actually two years younger than Tsunade's group.
Having satisfied his momentary curiosity, Mori set Duy's file aside and focused again on Hatake Sakumo's records.
"Hatake Sakumo, son of Jōnin Hatake Shūichi, born September 3, Konoha Year 13.
Ninja Academy assessment scores …"
After reading for a while, Mori exhaled slowly, then placed Sakumo's file alongside the ones belonging to Tsunade and Orochimaru.
With that, he stood from his desk and left the Hokage's office.
Time was tight. Once he handled a few remaining administrative matters, he would return to his real focus—researching ninjutsu.
After all, no matter how much authority he wielded, formidable personal strength was the foundation supporting all his plans.
If he hadn't survived the brutal First Great Ninja War…
if he weren't the strongest shinobi currently in the Senju clan...
if he hadn't possessed the strength necessary to intervene in the battle between the Second Hokage and Kinkaku...
Then no matter how intricate his schemes, they all would have amounted to nothing but a cruel joke.
...
Deep within the eastern forest of Konoha, the scenery here was once quite beautiful.
Towering trees stretched high into the sky, their interwoven branches forming a canopy so thick that almost no light could penetrate. A few stray beams of sunlight filtered through, scattering across the grassy ground in dappled patterns of gold.
The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. The surroundings were eerily silent—only the occasional chirp of an insect or call of a distant bird broke the stillness.
Yet within this forest, which should have been tranquil and serene, there were traces everywhere of intense training.
Whole sections of trees had been cleanly sliced in half, leaving behind countless lonely stumps. The marks of high-pressure water blades were still visible on the wood.
All around was chaos and ruin.
Large patches of forest had been ravaged by raging torrents, leaving behind murky pools of water filled with mud, debris, and splintered branches—a scene of devastation and disorder.
Aside from the so-called Forest of Death, Training Ground 44, most regular training areas within the village were far too small and enclosed to withstand Senju Mori's large-scale jutsu practice.
Thus, he usually chose the forests on the outskirts of Konoha as his training grounds.
His previous battle against Kinkaku had made one thing painfully clear to Mori—his defense and survivability were adequate, but his offensive power was severely lacking.
During that fight, his main role had been to distract Kinkaku, restrain his movements with Water and Earth Release techniques, and ultimately assist Tobirama Senju in landing the finishing blow.
Theoretically, Wind Release chakra—renowned for its sharpness—was the most offensively potent element. However, Mori had very few advanced Wind Release jutsu scrolls or references to study from.
Besides, in terms of sheer destructive power, techniques such as Tobirama's Water Release: Water Severing Wave were already lethally effective.
While mastering a variety of ninjutsu, Mori was also studying the special hand seal methods left behind by Tobirama.
It wasn't an especially complicated art.
Every ninjutsu, no matter how elaborate, fundamentally relied on two things: the refinement of chakra and control over it.
Hand seals were originally invented by Indra—the elder son of the Sage of Six Paths—as an auxiliary method to help a shinobi better channel and shape chakra.
Along with countless ninjutsu, Indra's twelve basic seals were passed down through generations.
Tobirama's "special hand seals" were an innovation built upon that foundation, optimizing them for greater chakra control efficiency.
Of course, if one's mastery of chakra control reached a high enough level, hand seals became almost unnecessary. The most famous examples were Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, who could perform complex jutsu effortlessly without seals.
But as everyone knew, enhancing chakra control wasn't something achieved easily—it required relentless training and countless battles of experience.
Therefore, for two shinobi with roughly equal chakra control, mastering Tobirama's specialized hand seal technique could dramatically improve precision and efficiency in a short time.
It was, without question, a shortcut to power.