About ten minutes later, Orochimaru and Tsunade, holding the report on Might Duy's current physical condition, found it incredibly astonishing. The healing effect was simply too powerful.
If each treatment yielded such potent results, they believed Might Duy would eventually recover.
Upon seeing the report, Orochimaru's desire for Sage Mode grew even stronger.
"If Sage Mode could be integrated into Forbidden Jutsu..."
For an exceptional scientist, once inspiration strikes, they will engage in many insane behaviors.
And Orochimaru, the ninja world's top scientist, was even more unstoppable.
An hour later, Veigar, Orochimaru, and Tsunade agreed on their next treatment session ten days from now. Veigar then walked out of Konoha Hospital.
Knowing that the treatment was effective, Veigar didn't intend for Might Duy to recover immediately but planned to take it slow.
A treatment frequency of once every ten days was just right; Might Duy's body needed time to adapt.
Just as he stepped out of Konoha Hospital, an Anbu ninja appeared before Veigar.
"Veigar-Jonin, the Third Hokage requests your immediate presence."
Veigar glanced at the Anbu ninja before him and calmly replied:
"Understood."
Without further words, the Anbu ninja vanished from Veigar's sight, hiding nearby and following Veigar.
However, Veigar leisurely strolled towards the Hokage Residence, occasionally buying snacks, showing no urgency whatsoever, which greatly irritated the Anbu.
He didn't know how many times he had wanted to jump out and urge Veigar to hurry up.
At Konoha Hospital, after Veigar and Orochimaru left, Tsunade remained in deep thought, her mind solely focused on Veigar using Sage Mode to treat Might Duy.
Meanwhile, upon returning to his secret laboratory, Orochimaru met with Danzō, who provided him with research materials.
"Orochimaru, what ninjutsu did Veigar use to treat Might Duy?"
The moment they met, Danzō made no attempt to hide his thoughts and asked directly.
"Senjutsu."
Seeing Danzō's inquisitive demeanor, Orochimaru revealed the answer he wanted without hesitation.
"Senjutsu?"
"Sage Mode?"
Danzō's eyes widened in shock. As one of the disciples of the Second Hokage, he was not unfamiliar with Senjutsu.
Nearly two hours later, Veigar finally arrived at the Hokage Residence and met Hiruzen.
"Veigar, I've reviewed the report on your treatment of Duy."
"I called you here today because I wanted to ask if you're interested in taking a position at Konoha Hospital."
Before Hiruzen, Veigar remained perfectly calm. Even when he heard Hiruzen's intention to assign him as a medical ninja at Konoha Hospital, Veigar showed no reaction.
"It's all the same, no matter where I go!"
Veigar's unperturbed demeanor furrowed Hiruzen's brow, as he simply couldn't fathom what Veigar was thinking.
Then, he probed:
"Have you considered returning to the Anbu?"
This wasn't the first time Hiruzen had asked about him returning to the Anbu; he had asked Veigar the same question three years ago.
"I accept all of the village's arrangements."
Anyway, the election for the Fourth Hokage had already begun, and the countdown to Hiruzen's retirement had started, so Veigar wasn't in a hurry about anything.
"In that case, then..."
Hiruzen hadn't finished speaking when an Anbu ninja suddenly burst in, holding a scroll, half-kneeling before Hiruzen, and said in an urgent tone:
"Third Hokage-sama, emergency intel from the front lines!"
The appearance of this Anbu interrupted the conversation between Hiruzen and Veigar, but Hiruzen showed no displeasure, understanding that if it wasn't a genuine emergency, this Anbu ninja would not have appeared before him so abruptly.
"Bring it here."
"Yes, sir."
The Anbu ninja handed the intel scroll to Hiruzen, bowed, and then left using the Teleportation Jutsu.
After reading the newly arrived intel, Hiruzen's expression changed, and he grew anxious.
Standing in the office, Veigar showed no interest in Hiruzen's anxiety. His current self-positioning was...
To coast.
To coast until Minato Namikaze took office.
Of course, this was just Veigar's apparent approach, meant for show.
Covertly, he wouldn't be idle.
After all, he planned to make a big move after Minato succeeded as the Fourth Hokage.
However, Veigar, who had intended to coast for a while, was out of luck this time.
"Veigar, I have an urgent S-rank mission for you."
At this moment, Veigar somewhat suspected Hiruzen was messing with him, but he had no proof.
"Yes, sir."
Since Hiruzen had already assigned him this mission, he readily accepted.
Putting down the intel scroll, Hiruzen's tone was very serious. He clasped his hands on the desk and stared intently at Veigar, saying:
"This recent intel clearly indicates the movements of the Iwagakure. Our war with the Iwagakure was almost over."
"But the Iwagakure are unwilling to accept defeat, and now they've amassed a large quantity of war supplies, preparing to support the front lines."
"Therefore, I hope you can go and assist Minato's team, who are currently on a mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge."
"This is an S-rank mission. Depart immediately."
The intel Hiruzen had just received was indeed real, sent by Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin and the commander on the front lines.
It was also a request for aid.
As commander, Jiraiya naturally couldn't easily leave the front-line command post. The war with the Iwagakure was on the verge of victory, with the Iwa shinobis about to be driven back to Iwagakure.
Now that he knew of the Iwagakure's actions, how could he remain idle?
So, Jiraiya immediately dispatched his most favored student, Minato, to execute the mission of destroying the Kannabi Bridge.
If one were to say Jiraiya had no ulterior motives, it would certainly be false; otherwise, he wouldn't have just sent Minato alone for this mission.
Because Jiraiya knew better than anyone that Minato, who was running for Fourth Hokage, desperately needed this achievement.
Once the mission was completed, and without this supply of resources, the Iwa-nin currently stalemating him would face only one outcome:
Death or defeat.
At that time, Minato would also gain significant support due to this battle record, and with Jiraiya's subtle push from behind, Minato being hailed as a Konoha hero would undoubtedly be a certainty.
This would greatly increase Minato's chances of succeeding as the Fourth Hokage.
As for the purpose of him sending this intel to Hiruzen, he was using an overt strategy.
The distance between Konoha and the Kannabi Bridge was too great; it would be impossible for Hiruzen to send other ninja to seize this credit.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]