Konoha Notes.

Chapter 554 Goodnight

Chapter 554 Goodnight

Compared to his own aimless waiting, Orochimaru's plan was clearly more strategic. Zetsu couldn't help but be tempted.

Kaguya has everything she needs except chakra.

With another living Sage of Six Paths about to emerge in the ninja world, trying to replenish some resources from the outside while outlasting him sounds like a not-so-bad plan.

Just then, the demonic statue vanished from the cave without a trace.

"Madara's actions are incredibly efficient, absolutely," Orochimaru remarked.

Madara had just decided to bring peace to the ninja world when he immediately began to deal with the things that had been left outside.

Jue asked, "Is the first target the Wraith?"

"It's been out for a while now, and it's collected a lot of negative energy," Orochimaru lamented. "And then, there's Shennong."

"I hope he can be more decisive when Madara comes knocking and choose to betray Jigen."

"There are fewer and fewer people I have genuine friendships with."

Black Zetsu said, "Becoming acquainted with you is a very dangerous thing in itself, Orochimaru."

"Besides, do you even care about this kind of thing? Their fate is all your doing."

Orochimaru chuckled softly.

"When facing someone with whom you need to spend a long time, appropriate tact will give both of you more patience, absolutely."

"Moreover, Shennong and Beiliuhu are not the same."

"His dark energy technology can efficiently convert living organisms into usable energy, which can be somewhat useful in the journey to outer space."

"However, now that Madara has started to gather all the external energy, Shuuji-kun should have a headache."

"After all, there wasn't much left for him."

"6

Tobirama Senju is also considering this issue.

A single piece of Grell ore has a relatively high energy level, and as a weapon and energy supplement, it can play an excellent supporting role in battles at the Jonin level.

However, the energy available now to support Jonin-level battles is not considered a powerful charging system.

The amount of ore that Obito brought was not small, but it wasn't a huge amount either.

The mine is now completely destroyed; apart from the large crater left after the war, there is truly nothing left.

This was relayed back to the village only after being reported by the people of Iwagakure and confirmed by Jiraiya himself.

Kabuto, standing to the side, adjusted the probe of the detection equipment: "Hokage-sama, can we release the mother plant now?"

Xiu Si shook his head: "That thing is relatively well-behaved inside my body, but it might not be so after it leaves."

Tobirama pondered, "In that case, we can't perform the fusion downstairs in the laboratory building."

Xiu Si said, "Let's move to the back of the old house. That used to be my experimental forest, and the environment there is quite nice."

"Maybe it will miss the place where it was born."

Tobirama nodded: "Have Momoka take those children to live elsewhere for the time being."

Kabuto also famously suggested, "If energy supply is insufficient, perhaps we could consider having the Jinchuriki assist with their Tailed Beast chakra."

.

As for what the village behind them thinks, that's not important at this point, since they're already in the village.

The Second Hokage believed the plan was feasible, and all previous concerns were now trivial and could not be bothered with.

Furthermore, it doesn't require using the power of all the jinchūriki from other villages first.

At least the half of the Nine-Tails on the Fourth Hokage would be a good arrangement, which would simply be to return the tailed beast nature and leave the chakra behind.

"That's about it." Shuji ripped the patch off his arm. "If we keep calculating, we won't be able to squeeze out any more."

"Yes." Kabuto lowered his gaze.

He had another plan in mind.

Shuji brought back the Three-Tails' chakra this time, and Naruto is now also a Jinchūriki who contains the chakra of all nine tailed beasts.

Sasuke also received Fugaku's eyes, becoming the first Uchiha clan member in history to possess the Mangekyou Sharingan without ever awakening it.

As long as the situation is explained, without any coercion, they will definitely agree to assist.

Let them train a little longer, drawing out more of the chakra belonging to Asura and Indra. As a supply, that will definitely be—

Dou hid his thoughts.

Now is not the time to explain. We'll wait until the most crucial moment, when we're in a difficult situation.

He accompanied Xiu Si upstairs.

Outside the laboratory building, Naruto and Sasuke stood opposite a high-class sparring partner: Nagato, the holder of the Rinnegan.

Sheren simply looked at them with a detached expression.

His eyes were already a deep sapphire blue. At this moment, even though Naruto and Sasuke were far ahead of their peers, they were still not enough to catch his eye.

Shuji said, "I heard that after Hinata returned from the moon, you also went back. Did you see Hamura?"

Toneri looked at Shuji: "The ninja world is in danger. These are the words left by our ancestors."

The Sixth Hokage chuckled, "As expected of the Sage of Six Paths' brother."

A hint of confusion appeared in Sheren's eyes.

"He is on par with his brother in terms of his inability to speak human language."

"But at least Hagoromo conveyed his message that he didn't want his brothers to be 'incestuous'."

"So he's still a bit better than Hamura."

After a long silence, the scholar finally offered his explanation: "—It was my ancestors who misunderstood the meaning of our forefathers."

Shuji didn't pursue and kill him. Once they entered the stage of preparing for the Bloodline Limit, the top regular combatants in the village, besides Gai, were Toneri.

Nagato would definitely be no match for Madara.

Although it was within his expectations, Ban should now realize that continuing to stir up trouble is pointless, and he is probably planning to play the role of the mantis stalking the cicada.

It's hard to say, but we can't just not prepare.

At this moment, a golden chakra cloak ignited from Naruto's body, and in Sasuke's pupils, the three tomoe swirled and connected into a line, transforming into a brand new kaleidoscope pattern.

Nagato became somewhat wary.

Before the two could even make a single complete movement in front of Xiu Si, Xiu Si's figure had already vanished from the spot.

"—Shuji has already left."

Nagato offered a reminder.

Naruto's chakra cloak flickered and then went out. He chuckled, "I still want to show Shuji-nii-san my current strength."

Sasuke silently withdrew the three-tomoe Sharingan from his Mangekyou Sharingan.

After telling Granny Momoka about the woods behind the old house and entrusting her with the task of telling Gaara and the others that they needed to move out temporarily, Shuji walked alone into the dense woods behind the house.

A significant portion of this forest was created from his early chakra.

A slow and gentle silence permeated the space between the trees.

An indescribable welcome emanated from the depths of his roots, climbed up the trunk to the branches and leaves, and dripped from the tips of the leaves onto his shoulders.

They are expressing greetings.

Xiu Si put aside his distracting thoughts and began to set up the sealing spell. The barrier unfolded layer by layer, and the ink-black incantations spread along the ground as if they were alive, weaving into a net between the tree trunks.

After finishing the arrangements, he sat cross-legged under an old tree to rest for a while.

This training was completely different from the previous ones.

His attempt to enter the realm of bloodline limit was the first breakthrough he made on his path as a ninja without any precedent.

Success or failure, it's all in the balance.

That's why he handed over the Hokage position. Although Kakashi didn't fully accept it, Shuji had already done what he was supposed to do.

The rest will fall into place naturally when the time is right.

As dawn broke, he first went to the Ninja Academy.

When they returned, the Grell ore had already been moved to its place by the Dark Force and scattered across the nodes of the sealing array.

At the very center of the formation stood a figure that surprised him somewhat.

"You won't even stay in the hospital anymore?" Xiu Si walked over and raised an eyebrow.

Tsunade, who was leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, frowned immediately upon hearing this: "You, your first words aren't thanks?"

""

After saying that, the Fifth Hokage softened his tone: "Silence can handle the rest."

"But here, it's because I gave you the contract for the live slug."

"To prevent you from getting your brain squeezed by a tree, in this situation, the only person who can directly transfer chakra to you, instead of that tree, is me."

"Although it's boring to stay here, it's still better than helping out at the Hokage Building."

"Grandpa Tobirama, he really can't stand seeing people idle."

As she finished speaking, a smile curved her lips, and she glanced sideways at Shuji: "You've dumped all the responsibility on Kakashi, haven't you?"

"I told you before that I could find a chance to slip away after a few years, but you didn't believe me."

'

"...just two or three years." Xiu Si sighed and sat cross-legged on the grass not far from her. "You all went to unnecessary trouble with that inauguration ceremony."

He formed a hand seal, and a small, lively slug clone landed on his shoulder.

Tsunade sat down not far from him, with a live slug perched on her shoulder as well.

"Because you suppressed yourself for the sake of the village for so long."

"Besides this, there's nothing else I can do for you."

He did not respond.

Just as he closed his eyes, the mother plant slowly detached from his body.

The moment the roots sank into the soil, the surrounding seals activated simultaneously. Incantations rose from the ground, climbed along the tree trunk, and transformed into a perfect barrier as they spun faster and faster.

Shuji's figure disappeared into the mother plant's outstretched trunk, leaving only his last words before he floated lightly into the silent forest.

"Good night."

The fifth generation watched the sixth generation's figure disappear.

"Good night----"

"Don't forget to wake up, Shuji."