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Hiruzen Sarutobi truly felt like the sky was falling.
Had the Fourth Raikage been captured and brought back? What in the world was going on?! He hurried out of his office, his eyes red with worry.
Kumogakure was never easy to deal with, and with the Fourth Raikage in their custody, who knew what chaos might follow?
But then, he spotted someone else—Danzo. That old schemer was already here.
"Hiruzen, did you receive the intel?" Danzo got straight to the point, striding up to him.
"The Fourth Raikage has been brought back. He's currently being held at one of Root's bases outside the village."
Rubbing his forehead, Hiruzen didn't even bother to scold Danzo for refusing to address him properly as Hokage.
What mattered was the information: Root's base. "You're saying... the Raikage is in your custody?"
"Yes. And according to the reports, Tsunade is there too." Danzo nodded. In truth, the moment he received the intel, he'd rushed to check it out.
Since Shigenari Shuuzawa awakened his Wood Release, Danzo hadn't seen him.
He was genuinely curious about the boy's current state. But this situation had taken a turn far beyond his expectations.
Even more troubling was that Tsunade was involved.
Knowing her temperament, Danzo was certain he wouldn't gain any advantage from going alone. So, instead, he dragged Hiruzen along.
"Lead the way. Let's move." Hiruzen nodded and bolted out the office doors. As he moved, the nearby ANBU operatives followed closely.
The Hokage was personally heading out—they had to be there too.
It took them half an hour, but when they arrived at the base and saw the massive figure of the Fourth Raikage standing there, face dark with fury, Hiruzen's heartbeat nearly skipped.
It was him. Damn it, why didn't they just kill him and cover it up? That would've saved them a whole world of trouble.
In that moment, Hiruzen truly felt like he'd aged several years. Still, he composed himself and stepped forward calmly.
"Lord Fourth Raikage, what a surprise to see you visiting Konoha. What an... honour."
"Oh, a visit? Sure, if being tied up counts as a visit." The Fourth Raikage was seething.
He glanced at Hiruzen, then swept his gaze to Danzo, who hadn't said a word.
"Konoha knows how to roll out the red carpet. You people are more 'hospitable' than I expected."
"Lord Hokage, Lord Danzo, you've arrived," Shuuzawa said as he walked out from behind.
He nodded respectfully to both men, then gave the Raikage a faint smirk. "Weren't you the one who agreed to come—so we could help treat your subordinates?"
"Hmph!" The Raikage grunted and turned to Shuuzawa, his eyes narrow. "How are things? What's the situation inside?"
"I'm already out here, aren't I?" Shuuzawa blinked and shrugged. "Sorry, but I don't know any medical ninjutsu. If you've got questions, maybe ask Lady Tsunade directly?"
The Raikage clenched his fists, but knowing his position, he refrained from exploding. He turned and headed inside without saying anything.
Watching him retreat, Hiruzen rubbed his forehead again. He then called over Shisui and Yuugao.
"What's going on? And how did this whole Raikage situation even happen?"
He was utterly baffled. He needed to understand how things escalated this far.
"Lord Hokage, here's what happened..." Shisui looked left and right, then noticed Shuuzawa taking a step back, Yuugao following suit, clearly leaving him to take the lead.
He sighed. These two only seemed to remember he was the team captain when it was time to report something.
Still, Shisui quietly recounted everything that had happened on the mission.
As he spoke, both Hiruzen and Danzo's eyes widened in disbelief.
The Fourth Raikage had sought out Tsunade to save his subordinates. Just their luck. What a nightmare.
Then came the part where Shuuzawa used Wood Dragon jutsu in combination with Flying Thunder God to launch continuous attacks.
That part left them both stunned. Shuuzawa could use Wood Dragon already?
That technique was a tier below Wood Human and Deep Forest Emergence—powerful, advanced Wood Release. And he'd only recently received the scroll?
At that moment, they truly realized how terrifying Shuuzawa's talent was.
When they heard how the trio captured the Raikage together and leveraged the situation to force a political stalemate that would keep Kumogakure in check, Hiruzen was finally relieved.
Shuuzawa's strategy had bought Konoha peace—at least for now.
"You brat..." Hiruzen placed a hand over his chest. His emotions were all over the place. Shuuzawa's skill and talent were something to celebrate.
A genius like this would surely carry Konoha to even greater heights. And it wasn't just his power—his vision and tactical mind were equally impressive.
Still... there was one thing that frustrated him.
"Shuuzawa, from now on, can your team please focus on one main objective—capturing Uchiha Obito? That okay?"
Hiruzen gave a helpless smile. This team always delivered surprises. Each member was strong.
Even Yuugao, who wasn't much help in direct combat, was skilled in medical support—her presence was more than justified.
But if this team kept acting so unpredictably, Hiruzen swore they'd give him a heart attack, just one day like today.
"Uh, understood." Shuuzawa glanced at Shisui with some confusion. Why wasn't the Hokage telling him that?
Still, he nodded obediently. It never hurt to agree first—after all, once they were on the field, the chain of command often changed.
"All right. You're dismissed. Go rest."
Hiruzen waved them off with a weary sigh. "You all performed extremely well on this mission. You'll be rewarded once you return."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the three responded in unison. As they left, Hiruzen turned to Danzo, who was already itching to approach Shuuzawa. But Hiruzen cut him off.
"Danzo, come with me. Let's go meet the Raikage. We've got some things we need to... properly discuss."
"Tch... fine," Danzo muttered, his expression stiff. He had hoped to speak with Shuuzawa, but now that chance was gone. His face darkened with frustration.
In the end, he still nodded and didn't argue.
Meeting the Fourth Raikage wouldn't be a bad idea. He could even think of it as paving the way for his future as Hokage.
"It's finally over," Yuugao exhaled in relief as Hiruzen and Danzō walked away.
This mission might not have been as dangerous as the one in Sunagakure, but it was thrilling enough.
"Yeah," Shisui nodded and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder what the reward will be. Not that I need anything."
"Getting a reward is always a good thing. Who cares what it is? There's plenty of good stuff in the village anyway,"
Shuuzawa chuckled beside them, his eyes drifting back to the system interface only he could see.
The village's reward didn't matter much to him—it might help him expand his jutsu collection a bit, but the system's rewards were what truly mattered.
[Side Mission Completed: Find Tsunade]
[Mission Rating: SS]
[Reward Earned: 10 Free Points]
[Bonus Reward: Due to far exceeding expectations and capturing the Fourth Raikage]
[Special Reward: Lightning Release Chakra Mode – Insight and Experience]
Looking at the ten free points, Shuuzawa immediately felt satisfied. Free points were always his favourite.
With enough of them, he could practically become a "superhuman" and keep pushing toward surpassing Ashura.
As for the Lightning Release Chakra Mode… he scratched his head.
It wasn't that he looked down on the Jutsu. Quite the opposite—he knew exactly how powerful it was.
"But why just give me the experience and insight?" he couldn't help but grumble internally.
The strength of Lightning Chakra Mode heavily depended on physical conditioning.
The stronger the body, the more effectively it could handle the lightning's cell-stimulating effects, amplifying speed and power.
Shuuzawa had already maxed his physical stats to Level 10—he could handle the load. Yet here he was, getting insight instead of the full technique.
Worse, he hadn't even unlocked his Lightning Release affinity yet, making this feel awkward.
Wouldn't it make more sense to just give him the complete jutsu, along with Lightning Release?
"Still… maybe this isn't so bad," Shuuzawa blinked, suddenly struck by a thought.
If he'd received the full jutsu, he'd still have to level it from scratch. That would be time-consuming and inefficient.
But couldn't he use the " formula " as a reference point if he had the "formula" behind it? Maybe he could develop his version using other chakra natures.
After all, Chakra Modes were arguably one of the most powerful systems in the shinobi world—second only to dōjutsu.
Sage Mode was essentially a "Natural Energy Chakra Mode." Then there was the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, the Yang Release Mode...
"And the Tenseigan Chakra Mode," he muttered with a gleam in his eyes.
The "Yang Release Chakra Mode" was what most people called Naruto's Six Paths Sage Mode.
But Naruto didn't possess Yin Release—that belonged to Sasuke. So, Shuuzawa preferred to call Naruto's version "Yang Release Chakra Mode."
And as luck would have it, Shuuzawa had access to controllable Yang Release.
"His version of the mode was a fusion of Nine-Tails Chakra, Yang Release, and Sage Chakra.
I don't have Kurama, but I do have Dragon Vein, Yang Release, and a Cursed Seal."
Shuuzawa's eyes lit up. He wondered how to make the most out of the Dragon Vein's power.
Now, he might've found the perfect way—using the Lightning Chakra Mode's formula as a template!
It was another matter of whether it would work. But at the very least, the formula would guide him in developing his path forward.
"Besides, I already have Yin Release, and I've got the Yin-Yang Release formula from Tobirama's databanks. Maybe I can start experimenting with more advanced systems in the future."
Accumulating experience was necessary for evolution. With that in mind, Shuuzawa made his decision.
"System, upgrade the Cursed Seal and Yin Release."
[Cursed Seal upgraded: Current Level – LV6]
[Yin Release upgraded: Current Level – LV5]
[Remaining Free Points: 1]
He had no worries about compatibility with the Cursed Seal and Yang Release, now at Level 6.
He'd boosted Yin Release to enhance his future jutsu output and set a solid foundation for what was coming.
Feeling the change within his body, Shuuzawa nodded with satisfaction.
He'd wanted to upgrade his physical stats, too, but he had only just reached Level 10 and hadn't fully adjusted yet.
It was time to let his body settle while focusing on improving his offensive capabilities.
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