On the other side,
after leaving that street, Danzō also stopped. Then he turned around and looked back in the direction where Yuu had just been. His right eye, the one not covered by bandages, became gloomy and deep, like a cold abyss that made people shudder.
"Kō."
"Yes, Lord Danzō."
The Root ninja following behind him immediately responded.
Then Danzō slowly spoke.
"During this period, keep a close watch on him. I want to know his every move within the village, who he comes into contact with, and what he says. Also… send a few more people to pay attention to his parents, as well as that female ninja named Nohara Rin."
"Hm?"
Kō hesitated slightly, then tentatively asked, "Lord Danzō means…"
Although most Root ninja had been heavily brainwashed by Danzō and their thinking had become abnormal, they were not stupid.
Mikami Yuu was a rising star whose reputation had recently soared within the village. He had countless connections to Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Sannin, while his team leader, Namikaze Minato, was also an elite jōnin in the village. One could say his backing was very strong. And his own strength was not to be underestimated either.
Under such circumstances, although Kō was also dissatisfied with Yuu's dismissive attitude toward Root and very much wanted to find a chance to teach him a lesson, he understood even more clearly that the other party was not an easy target to manipulate. If things went wrong…
they would probably lose their lives.
"This is only preparation to prevent trouble before it happens. Before receiving my order, there is no need to take any extreme action."
There was no rise or fall in Danzō's voice, only an indescribable coldness.
"However, if Mikami Yuu dares to do anything harmful to the village, then do not blame this old man for showing no mercy. Any possible threat to the village must be strangled in the cradle ahead of time."
"…Yes."
Kō's figure once again merged into the shadows, as if he had never appeared.
At this moment, Danzō raised his head slightly and looked toward the Hokage Building, letting out a long breath.
"Everything I do… is for Konoha."
…
A moment later,
after being announced by Anbu, Yuu pushed open the door to the Hokage's office and walked in.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was holding his pipe in his mouth, looking at an intelligence scroll that had just been sent over from the Kumogakure battlefield.
During this period, although the fighting with Sunagakure had come to an end, the battle with Kumogakure was still ongoing, while Iwagakure and Kusagakure were also stirring restlessly.
In terms of the overall situation, Konoha's current position was only slightly better than when it had been fighting on two fronts not long ago. However, Namikaze Minato's recent battlefield performance had somewhat exceeded the expectations of many Konoha higher-ups, including Sarutobi Hiruzen.
According to the latest battle report, the squad he led had encountered Kumogakure's A-B combination, and he had forced the other side to retreat while fighting one against two. If Jiraiya had not personally testified, Sarutobi Hiruzen would even have doubted the authenticity of this achievement. But its nature was indeed extremely inspiring.
At this moment,
seeing Yuu come in, Sarutobi Hiruzen unhurriedly finished reading the scroll, casually wrote a note on it, then raised his head and revealed a kind smile.
"It's you, Yuu. You came so early? How have you rested these past two days?"
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Third. I'm doing well."
Yuu nodded slightly, first saying a few polite words. Then he briefly explained how he had encountered Danzō on the road just now and been invited to join Root.
"Danzō?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, thought briefly, then said, "I understand. You don't need to worry about this matter. I'll find time to speak with him. Konoha is not such an unreasonable place. Even if we really need to arrange a position, we will respect your personal wishes."
After a pause, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his head again.
"You didn't come here just to tell me this, did you?"
"No."
Yuu did not dwell further on the topic of Danzō and directly got to the point.
"Regarding the matter of studying the Scroll of Seals, which you promised last time, I've more or less thought it through. The techniques I want to learn are the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique or the Spirit Transformation Technique.
"If I can learn both, that would be best. If not, then I'll choose one of the two."
"The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was somewhat surprised by this choice, but quickly understood.
"You probably learned about this technique from Tsunade, didn't you?
"The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique is a powerful genjutsu developed by the First Hokage. It can deprive the target of vision. Its effect in close combat is exceptional, and it can also guard against some genjutsu. It fits very well with your swordsmanship system and can produce an effect greater than the sum of its parts. It is indeed a very good choice.
"As for the Spirit Transformation Technique…"
That one was a little harder to evaluate.
After all, in all the years since Konoha's founding, the only person who had mastered this ninjutsu to proficiency was Katō Dan, who had died during the Second Ninja World War. Logically, even if Yuu had the talent for this and was suited to cultivating the technique, Tsunade should not have suggested it…
Sarutobi Hiruzen's thoughts turned briefly, but he did not think too much about the issue. Instead, he put down his pipe and slowly stood up.
"Follow me."
"The archive room where the Scroll of Seals is stored is beneath this building. No one without permission can enter. As for the rules for reading it…"
"It is nine in the morning right now. You have four hours to read it on-site. You may not copy it by hand, take anything away, or damage any of the archive room's facilities. You may only rely on your memory and comprehension to understand it on the spot.
"If you have spare capacity, learning one or two more techniques is not impossible. However, this old man suggests that you focus on only one technique. The techniques on the Scroll of Seals are all vast and profound. If you bite off more than you can chew, you may end up gaining nothing."
"…Understood. Thank you for your guidance, Lord Third."
Yuu nodded.
So he was not restricted to only reading a specified ninjutsu. Instead, just like Naruto in the original timeline, only the reading time was limited, and the specific operation depended entirely on the individual…
In that case, the degree of freedom was higher than he had originally expected.
At once,
Yuu followed Sarutobi Hiruzen downward through the Hokage Building. Passing through a hidden door, they entered a concealed passage. A staircase spiraled downward, extending all the way to a heavy metal door.
The door was carved full of complex and cumbersome sealing runes. Anbu ninja guarded both sides, and two things that seemed like surveillance cameras were installed above the wall. In this era of the ninja world, this thing belonged to emerging technology. Yuu had only seen it once at Konoha's research institute.
Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen, the two Anbu silently saluted.
"Open the door."
"Yes."
After receiving Sarutobi Hiruzen's instruction, one of them immediately formed seals with both hands and removed one seal on the door. Then the other undid the second seal.
"Lord Third, please enter."
Good grief…
It was even a double lock. The defense was strict enough.
Seeing this heavily guarded scene, Yuu could not help somewhat doubting how Naruto in the original timeline had infiltrated this place and stolen the Scroll of Seals. Even if he had driven away the Anbu in advance, finding the hidden door and entering this place would not have been easy.
Mm… considering Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals more than ten years later, perhaps the storage location of the Scroll of Seals had been changed during that period.
Alternatively, that Scroll of Seals might have been purely a smoke bomb used as bait, and Mizuki had received false intelligence from the start, while the real item had always been hidden here. Judging from the current situation, the latter possibility seemed more likely.
Soon,
as the door opened, Yuu followed Sarutobi Hiruzen into a room that was not very large. The walls around the room were lined with embedded bookshelves, on which were placed some ancient-looking scrolls and texts. On the stone platform in the center lay an exceptionally large scroll.
It was the Scroll of Seals.
"Yuu."
Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed lightly and said, "You can look through it here first. I still have some official business to handle, so I'll go back up first. When the time is up, the guards will remind you.
"Also, if you have any questions after reading the ninjutsu you need, you can come ask me. Although I have not practiced all these techniques, I understand most of them to some degree, so I should still be able to give you some guidance."
"…Alright. Thank you, Lord Third."
Yuu politely thanked him, but another thought flashed through his mind.
Logically speaking, in a situation like this, the galgame system should react a little, right?
After all, last time Sarutobi Hiruzen taught him ninjutsu, it had been judged as "introducing him to a blind date." In theory, the nature of reading the Scroll of Seals this time should be similar to that occasion…
As if to confirm Yuu's thoughts, in the next moment, he saw—
[The old man who enthusiastically introduced you to girlfriends after the ninja school graduation exam has once again paid attention to you. He is very concerned about your personal romantic life, so he has brought you to a place full of lovely young ladies. Multiple high-quality girls are imprisoned here. Would you like to begin a forbidden and thrilling encounter with them?]
[Yes / No]
[Warning: These imprisoned girls are all outstanding in appearance, graceful in figure, and possess unique skills. However, most of them have small flaws in personality or interests, and have therefore been confined by the village and forbidden from going outside freely. The process of pursuing them may involve great risks and may cause irreversible effects on the host's body and mind. Please proceed with caution!]
"…"
Good grief.
Speak of the Devil.
So in the galgame system's eyes, the ninjutsu recorded on the Scroll of Seals were a group of "female prisoners" with special skills…
That made sense. The ninjutsu listed here were basically all powerful while also having major flaws. For example, Reanimation Jutsu required living sacrifices, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags and Dead Demon Consuming Seal were both mutual-destruction techniques, and using too many Multiple Shadow Clones could endanger one's life…
From a human perspective, they were like a cannibal saintess, a self-harm enthusiast, or a "problem girl" who liked draining the main body dry… very reasonable.
The Eight Gates essentially belonged to this type too, with a bit of self-abuse attribute. But compared to these seniors on the Scroll of Seals, it was honestly a small witch meeting a great witch.
At once, Yuu gathered his thoughts. He did not immediately respond to the galgame system. Instead, he first opened the Scroll of Seals and looked through the table of contents at the front.
Flying Thunder God Technique, Reanimation Jutsu, Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Eight Branches Technique…
Every name seemed to carry the weight of history and the aura of forbidden taboo.
[Ding! Giftable item detected: Legendary Limited Skin — Summoning Technique: Flying Thunder God Technique. Note: Legendary Limited Skins can only be gifted after affection reaches 90.]
[Ding! Giftable item detected: Legendary Limited Skin — Binding Formula Seal: Dead Demon Consuming Seal.]
[Ding…]
A string of text prompts appeared continuously.
However, because most of the techniques recorded on the Scroll of Seals were A-rank and S-rank ninjutsu, namely "Legendary Limited Skins," the requirements for gifting them were very high. They often required 90 affection.
Among the ninjutsu in Yuu's possession, there were currently not many that had reached this level of affection. They were mostly concentrated among Fire Release and the Three Basic Techniques. The affection of Summoning Technique and sealing techniques was relatively low, so he had no way to directly gift them—except for Multiple Shadow Clones, which corresponded to Clone Technique.
Taking a step back…
even if he could gift them, Yuu could not possibly gift the Scroll of Seals directly. After all, this thing was Konoha's village treasure. The reading rules were already so strict. If he came in once and made this thing "disappear," Sarutobi Hiruzen would probably fight him to the death.
The only method was to rely on memory and forcefully memorize the contents of the Scroll of Seals, then after returning home, copy them onto blank scrolls and gift them as skins.
At once,
Yuu skipped over Reanimation Jutsu and first flipped to the main target of this trip.
[Ding! Overspec potential target detected: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!]
[In the underground archive room of the Hokage Building, you saw a girl dressed in black. Her skin was almost transparently pale, making her pitch-black eyes especially striking. They were eyes without any whites, so deep they seemed capable of absorbing all light. At this moment, she was staring fixedly at you, making your scalp tingle.]
[Bringer-of-Darkness Technique: Hehe, has a new person finally come here again? You look like a child. Want to play hide-and-seek with me?]
[A: Sure, sure! I want to play, I want to play!]
[B: Hide-and-seek? Childish! I came here to learn ninjutsu. Don't lead me astray!]
[C: May I ask what the rules of hide-and-seek are?]
"So this time it's a playful little girl…"
The nature of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique was to deprive vision, similar to the Hidden Mist Technique. Now that the encounter was taking the form of "hide-and-seek," it did make sense.
Yuu pondered for a moment and chose C.
[Bringer-of-Darkness Technique: Rules? They're very simple. You just have to find me. But… be careful. If you can't find me within the time limit, you may be lost in this darkness forever.]