"Righteous Qi and Dark Qi."
Zenji somewhat excitedly uttered these two terms.
Compared to the Cursed Energy Chakra and purifying chakra that corresponded to Yin-Yang Release, the level of Righteous Qi and Dark Qi—corresponding to the scope of all things—was clearly a tier higher.
Research. I want to research right now.
Zenji looked at Shinno beside him.
He took a deep breath, calming himself down and soothing his agitated heart.
The Zero-Tails was a nearly completed manufacturing concept. But it lacked actual experimentation.
To create the Zero-Tails required human experiments—and it would probably cause some commotion.
In the village, my hands are tied. And the timing right now isn't ideal either.
Zenji cast his gaze toward the Hokage Building.
In the original story, it was precisely tonight that Kakashi defected to Hiruzen Sarutobi, revealing intelligence about Root.
Orochimaru and Danzo Shimura's human experiments were exposed. Chunin and Genin in the village occasionally went missing. Even ANBU ninjas vanished without a trace.
In the villages surrounding Konoha, large-scale disappearances of children occurred even more frequently.
These originally clueless cases all had new leads.
Next should be the plot of Orochimaru's defection.
Zenji grabbed Shinno and walked toward the house. With a flash of light, they arrived at the underground laboratory barrier space.
In the vast and spacious area, a spherical barrier over ten meters in diameter sealed a large mass of the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood.
A small cluster of Nine-Tails flesh was flying between Zenshu's hands, being continuously separated under the influence of a force.
It went from one piece to two. One piece was somewhat illusory—looking like pure energy, emitting a heavy aura of hatred.
The other piece was like real flesh and blood, radiating a rich aura of vitality and chakra.
"Truly miraculous. Even though Yin and Yang have been completely separated, both still contain the form of flesh and blood." Zenshu's cloudy gaze brightened slightly.
He turned his head and cast a glance at Zenji from the corner of his eye, immediately noticing Shinno in his hand.
"Shinno?"
He immediately thought of the two techniques the other party possessed.
The Body Revival Technique and Physical Regeneration were both excellent flesh-related secret techniques.
"I need to go out for a while." Zenji spoke while looking at the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood above.
Zenshu immediately understood his thoughts. He looked up at the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood. He indeed also needed to go out to conduct some experiments.
"It's not a good time to leave recently."
He reached out and pinched his chin, calculating for a moment before suddenly narrowing his eyes.
"However, Hiruzen Sarutobi should very much wish for me to temporarily leave Konoha."
"Good." Zenji nodded, then thought of something.
"By the way, have those thirteen ninjas been handed over? What did you get in exchange?"
Hearing this, the corners of Zenshu's mouth curled up slightly. He looked very satisfied.
"The qualifications to build a school that does not involve chakra or Ninjutsu knowledge."
"In the future, the seven techniques of the Chakra Enhancement Technique will be added as standard criteria for Jonin promotion—just like shape transformation and nature transformation."
"The Forbidden Jutsu Research Institute will be led by me from now on."
"Finally, there are three Jonin qualification applications. As long as I submit them and the basic conditions are met, they'll be approved immediately."
Becoming a Jonin was not simple.
After all, a Jonin was at minimum the village's middle management—qualified to enter the decision-making circle.
It wasn't an application system, but rather evaluated by the upper echelons through judgments and tests.
Only during wartime, by relying on life-and-death struggles to establish military merit, could one bypass the upper echelons to become a Jonin.
"I originally proposed to strip Danzo Shimura of his position as Hokage Assistant or Root leader. Hiruzen Sarutobi refused no matter what—and instead exchanged other benefits with me."
Hearing this, Zenji couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
"In a couple of days, Hiruzen Sarutobi will probably regret it."
Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the dim office with a gloomy face.
He was already regretting it.
Danzo, I hope you haven't truly reached such a point. The current village cannot withstand any chaos.
Although he thought so in his heart, Kakashi's intelligence was already very obvious.
Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe. He slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke, tilted his head, and pressed his temples.
The Uchiha clan. An outsider who recently joined. An outsider Young Master with the Sharingan.
The covetous Danzo. The extremely closed-off Hyuga clan who only cared about themselves during the disaster.
And that masked man.
Internal strife and external threats. And they still come to cause trouble.
In that instant, Hiruzen had the thought of executing Danzo Shimura.
But he abandoned it in a flash. Whether it was Danzo or the Root under his command, they were extremely precious and powerful combat assets right now.
They couldn't be wasted. Let alone disrupt the village's internal affairs because of it.
The other issues are easy to resolve. Even if I can't refuse for a while, it won't be a major problem.
Hiruzen exhaled smoke, his gaze profound.
What needs to be resolved right now are Danzo and Zenshu.
Thinking of Danzo, Hiruzen immediately had a countermeasure: beat him at his own game, seize his weakness, and then he could control him.
On the contrary, Zenshu made him feel it was a thorny issue.
The other party was also a hero who'd saved the village. And he didn't have long to live. Hiruzen absolutely couldn't treat him harshly—or even show the slightest discrimination or hostility.
But whether it was the other party's strength and identity, or the Sharingan on his so-called younger brother, they could all be hidden dangers.
There can't be any signs of targeting. So how can I reasonably get him to temporarily leave Konoha?
Even just a few days would be fine. A few days would be enough to travel to the capital of the Land of Fire and complete his reinstatement.
After all, he wasn't a new Hokage. It didn't need to be that troublesome.
After thinking all night, Hiruzen still couldn't come up with a reasonable method without traces of targeting.
He could only summon ANBU ninjas first and, according to the original plan, issue an order to select five people to determine the route.
In reality, it was bait for Danzo.
He agonized over it—until Zenshu arrived.
"You want to leave the village for a trip?"
Hiruzen felt a surge of joy internally but maintained an unchanged expression.
"What happened?"
"I discovered a petty thief who broke into my house. His name is Shinno, a wandering doctor."
"In reality, he is a remnant of the Land of Sky—coming to Konoha to gather intelligence."
Zenshu sat nearby leaning on his cane while Shinno sat tied up on the ground.
"The Land of Sky? That small country that overestimated itself during the Second Shinobi World War." Hiruzen felt slightly surprised, turning his gaze to Shinno.
"I didn't expect them to still exist."
"Not only do they exist, but they've researched some decent methods for utilizing mechanical technology. I want to take a mission to eliminate this group of hostile ninjas on the border of the Land of Fire."
Zenshu spoke calmly.
Hiruzen understood immediately. He must have taken a liking to some of their technology.
But this was perfect. What kind of technology could a struggling hidden village possibly have?
If he could use this opportunity to send Zenshu away, it would be the best deal ever.
"Although it's just the remnant hidden village of a small country, it's not an ordinary mission."
Hiruzen immediately took out documents.
He directly drafted an S-rank mission, though the reward was only the minimum one million Ryo.
"...Personnel." He paused, looking up at Zenshu.
"With Zenji. Any other personnel are fine."
"Zenji?"
"Yes. Time is running out. I want to personally instruct the next Clan Head of the Zen family."
"Alright. Then I will directly have Zenji graduate early."
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