After leaving the Hokage Tower, Aozora quickly returned home.
The two Anbu had already left, and no one was watching him anymore. He finally allowed himself a smile.
From now on, he could truly take a permanent vacation.
Through prior operations against criminals, mission completions, and dismantling the black market, he had amassed more than enough wealth. In the short term, [Root] wouldn't have to worry about income issues.
In fact, he was now genuinely free of burdens—wealthy and at leisure.
Back in his bedroom, Aozora comfortably lay down on his large bed.
First, he reviewed the recent high-level meeting.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's credibility had basically collapsed; it was crucial to push Fugaku to expel Iwagakure as soon as possible, then seize the Hokage seat riding on that victory.
The only concern was that Jiraiya's seniority and contributions were no less than Fugaku's—perhaps even more respected.
Since Keshin kept attacking the black market, it would be wise to send word ordering him back to the Summoning Realm temporarily to lay low. The Daimyo's Guardian Shinobi still possessed some strength; if Keshin accidentally stumbled into a barrier trap, escape would become nearly impossible.
As for the Daimyo pressuring Konoha again because he couldn't locate Keshin?
Sorry, but Aozora was now officially a Konoha villager, not a ninja anymore.
Unless Aozora turned himself in, Hiruzen wouldn't dare face him like that again.
To Aozora, the Daimyo's threat to cut the budget was just hot air.
If the budget actually got reduced, Konoha could simply recall all the ninjas stationed along the northwest and northeast borders back to the village.
Let's see how the Daimyo copes when land starts slipping away.
Besides, should the Daimyo indeed reduce the budget, and should Hiruzen swallow his pride and accept it quietly, this would benefit the Uchiha even more.
Relations between Konoha and the Daimyo's court would sour immediately. Once Fugaku returned to the village, they could expose the news of Asuma serving as a Guardian Shinobi at the Daimyo's court—then the Sarutobi clan would instantly become traitors who sold out the village.
Of course, Aozora believed Hiruzen wouldn't be so foolish.
After realizing he couldn't do anything about Aozora, he'd likely flat-out refuse the Daimyo's demands to save face.
After finishing his review, Aozora felt confident there were no major oversights. He then calmly began tallying his gains.
First, eliminating the black market brought him massive amounts of Golden Droplets.
He had a talent for taking credit for kills, ruthlessly cutting down many guilty Bounty Hunters and Black Market owners during the operation. As a result, the Heavenly Book was filled with countless Golden Droplets packed tightly together.
Second, he had finally escaped the constraints of being a Konoha ninja. From now on, he enjoyed absolute freedom.
No need to dwell on other matters—he could now fully focus on improving his Chakra Control to meet Tsunade's condition for learning Sage Art.
Finally, this incident had effectively severed his older brother Shisui's ties with the Hokage Faction.
When Shisui stood before him, Aozora knew he had chosen Aozora over Hiruzen.
Because of this incident, neither Hiruzen nor Shisui could ever return to mutual trust.
Danzo had already defected from the village, and [The Third] had lost all credibility.
Through this series of events, Shisui could no longer easily trust the Hokage faction again, avoiding repeating the mistakes from the original story.
With Fugaku and Shisui standing firm within the Uchiha Clan, as long as Akatsuki didn't intervene directly, the clan was basically free from the danger of extermination—at least in the short term.
Now that the crisis involving his clan and elder brother had passed, Aozora felt a great burden lifted, finally able to focus on cultivation without distraction.
"Let's try completing the [Rotation of Creation] first! It was said to be the divine method used by ancient gods to shape the world."
Although the Golden Droplet had other uses, Aozora couldn't suppress his curiosity about the legendary divine technique from the creator goddess Nuwa, said to have shaped humanity.
Focusing his mind, Aozora visualized the four gray-colored Ancient Characters — "[Rotation of Creation]" — upon the Heavenly Book.
Instantly, the Golden Droplet on the Heavenly Book began to boil, surging toward the four ancient characters.
One after another, droplet after droplet infused into the characters.
Yet the originally grayish ancient characters showed no change whatsoever, failing to emit any golden glow.
Seeing the dwindling amount of Golden Droplet remaining on the Heavenly Book, Aozora hurriedly shifted his visualization to other perfected techniques.
Looking at those dull, ancient gray characters spelling out "[Rotation of Creation]," although he had expected this outcome, Aozora still felt a pang of regret.
"It must be because I lack key knowledge required for completion. It's better to save the remaining gongde (spiritual merit) for future Sage Art training and feedback skills."
Sighing deeply, Aozora calmed himself and began training his Chakra Control using the Scalpel.
Time flew quickly, and soon night fell.
Under the dim lamp light, Shisui hurried back home.
Pushing open the door, the warm lighting brought a slight smile to his face, but the next moment, a sense of disappointment welled up inside him.
His eyes swept around, but he didn't see Aozora anywhere.
He took a quick sniff, but there was no smell of food either.
Obviously, Aozora hadn't made dinner like he usually did.
Thinking how much Aozora had loved the Village all along, yet today had slashed through his own forehead protector in deep disillusionment—how could he possibly have the mood to prepare supper?
Standing before Aozora's bedroom door, Shisui knocked gently.
"Aozora, are you okay?"
Silence filled the room for quite some time before a voice, full of dejection, finally responded.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
How could Shisui possibly feel reassured? He tried to push open the bedroom door only to find it locked from the inside.
Though Shisui could have easily broken the door down, he didn't dare to force his way in.
Struggling to soften his tone, he asked, "Aozora, have you eaten?"
No sound came from inside the bedroom.
Helplessly, Shisui continued, "Then... are you hungry? Let me make something for you. No matter what, we can't let you go to bed with an empty stomach."
Inside the room, Aozora hesitated briefly before replying hoarsely, "I'm merely an ordinary villager. I don't deserve to have a member of the Shadow Guard Team cook for me."
He said that partly to see if Shisui had really broken with the Third.
Upon hearing this, Shisui smiled bitterly and replied, "After what I did today, how could I continue serving in the Shadow Guard Team? I've already finished submitting my resignation this afternoon. Now I'm just an ordinary Jonin of Konoha."
Hearing this, Aozora nearly burst into delighted laughter but managed to suppress it, maintaining silence for a while before regaining his composure.
He choked out an apology, "I'm so sorry… This is all my fault. You left the Shadow Guard Team because of me! If it weren't for me… I should be the one dead right now!"
Shisui hurriedly tried to console him inside the room, saying, "It's not your fault. You were right all along. The Third Hokage was the one who did wrong!"
To shake his younger brother out of his despair—and those suicidal thoughts—Shisui quickly turned to bashing the Third Hokage.
As he listened to Shisui denounce Hiruzen Sarutobi, Aozora managed to keep quiet only by pinching his thigh hard and later sympathetically remarked, "Even Hokage-sama has his own burdens to bear. I just haven't contributed enough to Konoha to earn his trust."
"No, you've already sacrificed plenty for Konoha. It's definitely not your fault," Shisui comforted him.
Afterward, Shisui asked again, "Aozora, are you hungry? It's bad to have an empty stomach!"
The room stayed quiet for a long time, until finally came a faint "Oh."
Upon hearing this, Shisui relaxed slightly and grinned.
If his little brother was willing to eat, surely he had abandoned the idea of taking his own life!
"Aozora, what do you want to eat? I'll cook for you!"
Inside the room, Aozora hesitated briefly before replying, "You decide. Just make something edible."
"Sure thing!"
Shisui readily agreed and rushed into the kitchen.
Standing in front of a mess of ingredients, Shisui suddenly realized he had no clue what to make.
After several attempts and wasting many ingredients, he finally made a bland bowl of noodles and brought it upstairs for Aozora.
Aozora cracked the door open just enough to take the noodles inside, then handed the dishes back out after finishing his meal.
He knew he'd have to cook for himself from now on—if only to keep his stomach from rebelling.
Still, starting today, washing the dishes would be Shisui's responsibility.
In the following days, Shisui continued going out early and returning late to carry out missions.
Though disappointed with the Third Hokage, he still deeply loved Konoha.
With Konoha short-handed these days, he was determined to contribute his efforts.
Meanwhile, Aozora stayed indoors, silently honing his chakra control.
At the same time, thanks to the "efforts of mediation" by the Third, the Daimyo no longer pursued blame against Aozora and the other two.
On the other side, Kintai quickly revoked Aozora's position as Chief Instructor of the Flying Tigers.
The reason was straightforward—the Police Force belonged to Konoha, and since Aozora was no longer a ninja of Konoha, he no longer met the requirements for being the Chief Instructor of the Flying Tigers.
Receiving the notice, Aozora merely shook his head slightly without showing any surprise.
Although Kintai could manipulate public opinion through the Police Force to support him when the entire village turned its back on him,
once they were no longer under external pressure, Kintai wouldn't pass up any chance to bring down his rival—removing his post was perfectly normal.
Aozora decided to put matters concerning the Flying Tigers aside temporarily and endure this period of discomfort for a while.
Once Aozora set everything else aside and fully focused on practicing [Scalpel], his chakra control gradually approached the standard set by Tsunade.
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