While Sasori was struggling with babysitting, Anya calmly continued her Wood Release Experiment.
At the beginning of the experiment, she was energetic and confident. After a few days, she was already scratching her head in frustration, and not long after, she found herself staring blankly into space.
She couldn't remember how many years Orochimaru had spent on this experiment in the original story, but now Anya was on the verge of collapse. The supply of test subjects was nearly exhausted, and there was no hope of Danzo providing any more. Would she have to hunt down the test subjects herself?
Anya fell into deep thought.
Minato, who had successfully been elected as the Fourth Hokage, faced his first diplomatic incident since taking office.
The Kages of various countries had sent letters of inquiry. The root of the problem was the wildly popular board game, Five Nations Kill.
Minato tried the game himself and quickly figured out how deceptively tricky it was. As a game, it was brilliant, but the characters were all real-life figures. Not to mention the two ultimate cards—Hashirama and Madara Uchiha. In a single match, once a player drew one of these "god cards," they could practically dominate the game. Without the opposing god card to counter, victory was practically guaranteed.
Both of those figures belonged to Konoha.
Some cards were especially controversial. One was the Raikage's skill. Players mockingly called him "King of Turtling"—a player who hid from beginning to end without playing any cards, only striking at the last moment to claim the kill. The Tsuchikage was called "Ugly Pint-Sized," inspired by his card illustration—short, ugly, and with a comically twisted nose. The Kazekage was nicknamed "Skinny Saboteur," because his skill was selfishly aggressive—sabotaging others' resources to benefit himself.
After further investigation, Minato couldn't help but shake his head in amusement. From his many battles with A, he could imagine A was already furious.
Indeed, when Raikage A learned of these cards, he was so enraged he flipped the table. He had already ordered the cards to be banned from sale within Konoha. Yet people couldn't help themselves—the forbidden fruit effect made everyone want to try it even more.
Soon, Boss Nian Nian was invited to the Hokage's office.
Minato noticed Nian Nian was visibly nervous, so he smiled warmly and said, "Nian Nian, don't be afraid. I just want to ask a few simple questions. Did you make these cards?"
Nian Nian shook his head. "No."
Minato already had his suspicions. Whoever made these cards had to be a ninja. The game contained too much ninja knowledge—especially the precise definition of each jutsu's rank. There was almost no deviation.
"Do you know who did?"
"A Konoha Anbu."
An Anbu? That was the culprit?
Minato was surprised. He hurriedly asked, "Can you describe what he looked like?"
"I can draw it."
"Good."
Before long, Minato received the drawing from Nian Nian. At one glance, he recognized the face. He sighed in exasperation. It was Anya. As Head of the Anbu, she rarely showed her face—and now she was behind this game? What was she thinking?
After bidding farewell to Nian Nian, Minato turned toward an Anbu standing outside the window and said, "Kuroyuki, go bring the Head over."
Anya, who was still in the middle of her experiment, soon received the notice—but the one who informed her was Danzo himself.
Danzo had already done his best to avoid this madwoman. He had even helped cover for her a little.
This was Root territory. Danzo knew exactly what Anya was up to by conducting experiments openly here. Though furious inside, he still dared not expose the project.
When Kuroyuki saw Anya, his masked face showed great surprise: "Why do you look so disheveled? Did you get into a fight inside Root?"
"Oh, Kakashi," Anya casually smiled. "I'm the department head after all. Who would dare lay a hand on me? I've just been too busy with lab work to bother tidying up."
Black Snow was indeed Kakashi's codename in Anbu. He quickly regained his composure: "Master wants to see you."
Arriving at the Hokage's office, Minato couldn't hide his surprise at how Anya looked. After a brief greeting, he placed a deck of playing cards called Five Nations Kill in front of Anya.
"Did you make this?"
"Yeah."
"Why?" Minato asked puzzled.
"To make money, of course." Anya answered straightforwardly. "Look at me—running experiments costs a fortune. Regular missions just don't cut it."
Minato hadn't actually considered this point before, and it did sound reasonable.
Hold on...
Minato said disapprovingly, "I can understand you making playing cards to earn money, but the content inside is just too..."
"Hahaha!" Anya laughed joyfully. "That's on purpose. Making money while annoying them a bit—Isn't that fun?"
Minato was stunned, saying nothing for a long time.
After finishing his laugh, Anya curiously asked, "Why did you suddenly freeze up and stop talking?"
Minato's eyes revealed something unusual. "Ever since you left the Ninja Academy, it's been a long time since I've seen you laugh so purely. Just now, for a moment, you looked like a child again, returning to how you were when you were little."
Now it was Anya's turn to fall silent.
"Could you change the characters on these cards, or perhaps modify the skills a bit?" Minato offered several suggestions.
Anya shook his head. "Too late to change now. I've already pushed too many out there. Just relay this to them—if they dare attack, let them come. I'll handle another twenty-thousand-strong Allied Forces army just fine."
After listening, Minato couldn't help but smile bitterly and simply said, "Alright, I won't keep you from your experiments. I'll think of another solution."
After Anya left, the retired Hiruzen Sarutobi walked in puffing on his pipe.
"Do you think what Anya said just now was sincere?"
"Absolutely," Minato affirmed. "His smile already explained everything. His heart truly thinks this way."
"It doesn't sound like him at all," Hiruzen recalled the first time he met Anya. "Back then when he was so young sneaking to steal books, he appeared quite seasoned. How come now that he's older, he's becoming more hotheaded instead?"
Minato awkwardly smiled. "So you already knew back then."
"That's right. I even specially investigated him," Hiruzen didn't pursue this topic further. "Minato, how do you plan to handle this matter?"
"I'll officially ban external sales, but what happens privately is no longer my concern." Minato smiled calmly. "It's just a game after all. If they make a big deal out of it, Konoha won't be afraid."
Since becoming Hokage, Minato had gradually developed an air of authority. He was no longer the gentle-looking man he once seemed to be.
Sarutobi chuckled and nodded. "Sounds good to me."
As he spoke, Sarutobi secretly grabbed the Five Nations Kill cards from the table.
Minato asked in confusion, "Third, what are you doing?"
"Haha, I heard he's pretty strong in this game. He can even take on four opponents at once. I've never played it before, and now that I'm retired, I might as well go back and find someone to play with." Sarutobi laughed, quickly stuffing the cards into his pocket and running off, as if he'd be chased down by Minato if he hesitated for a second.
Shortly after Sarutobi left, Kushina pushed the door open and immediately asked, "Minato, where's my deck?"
Minato suddenly realized the deck had been Kushina's all along. Unfortunately, it had already been taken by the Third, so he could only sigh and say, "I gave it away."
"What? You... actually gave away the rare deck I waited in line for hours to buy?"
Kushina's eyes turned bloodshot, and her long, flowing red hair bristled with rage. After all, she was truly worthy of her nickname "The Red-Hot Habanero."
Minato's skin prickled instantly. "Don't get upset. I'll buy you a new one immediately."
"You can't replace it! That was a limited-edition deck signed by Master Oub!"
"Master Oub?" Minato looked puzzled, but noticing Kushina was on the verge of exploding, he didn't have time to think further. Using the [Flying Thunder God] technique, he vanished from the office in an instant, leaving behind just one sentence: "I promise I'll get you an Oub-signed edition!"
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