The Third Hokage felt a bit disappointed deep down; it seemed he hadn't managed to extract any valuable intelligence after all.
Knowing that Might Guy wouldn't lie to him, he dismissed him. Left alone in his seat, the Hokage sat quietly, lost in thought.
Regarding how Ryōsuke Uchiha was able to improve his strength so quickly, based on what Might Guy had said, there were three suspicious factors.
The first was physical resilience, but the Uchiha Clan showed no signs of body modification. The recovery ability of a normal person was just that—normal; no matter how strong, it had its limits.
The second point was the Uchiha Clan's special healing potion. Its medicinal properties allowed for rapid recovery from injuries. However, merely having a healing effect wasn't enough; it would likely need to possess constitution-enhancing effects as well, which was even more improbable. If such a potion existed, it would have been famous throughout the village long ago, so this was also unlikely.
That left only the reason of "getting beaten up."
Analyzing this far, he couldn't help but sigh.
This feeling didn't seem very reliable either, but Ryōsuke's strength had undoubtedly increased—solidly and substantially. It had reached a point where even the current Hokage might not be his match.
If the village united to resolve the Uchiha Clan issue by force, it would likely be a case of damaging the enemy by a thousand while losing eight hundred oneself. Only by figuring out the source of the opponent's power could he possibly obtain that same strength and take appropriate measures.
It seemed he had to put down the work at hand for now.
The Third Hokage took an Anbu member to a secret base, a space that belonged solely to him.
He turned and spoke to the Anbu member.
"Come, attack me."
The Anbu member who had followed the Third Hokage had a face full of question marks.
"Lord Hokage, what is the meaning of this?"
He couldn't quite figure out what Lord Hokage wanted to do. As a member of the Anbu, how could he possibly launch an attack on the Third Hokage?
The Third Hokage understood that such a mission was indeed a bit bizarre for the Anbu. He felt it was a bit bizarre himself, but to verify that conjecture, he had to test it personally.
"Don't worry, I am testing a training method for taijutsu."
"Just don't attack my vital points."
Hearing this, the Anbu member understood what Lord Hokage intended.
He could only slowly approach the Third Hokage, and then forcefully punched him in the abdomen. The power of this punch wasn't great; the Third Hokage didn't even feel pain in his stomach.
How could such a strike have any training effect?
He spoke helplessly.
"Use more force."
The Anbu member had no choice.
"Third Hokage, pardon the offense."
Then, his eyes narrowed, he clenched his fist, veins bulging, and he smashed a heavy punch directly into the Third Hokage's stomach.
This made the Third Hokage instantly wince in pain, a look of suffering appearing on his face.
"Yes, just like that. Again."
The Anbu member steeled his heart and began swinging both fists, launching attacks at the Third Hokage.
This time, he didn't hold back.
Although the Third Hokage didn't reach out to block, the muscles all over his body surged, resisting the onslaught.
He kept shouting continuously.
"Again."
Hearing this, the Anbu member felt there was no need to hold back anymore and immediately threw another heavy punch.
This experiment lasted for fully half an hour.
Even the Anbu member, who had been attacking with full force, was a bit tired. Looking at the Third Hokage lying on the ground, he was somewhat at a loss. Had he beaten the man into an injury? If so, his sins would be grave.
He couldn't help but ask with concern.
"Third Hokage, are you alright?"
The Third Hokage slowly climbed up. The pain in his body was becoming a bit too much to bear; after all, he wasn't a young lad anymore. And even if a young lad underwent such a training method, they probably wouldn't be able to sustain it for long.
He spoke slowly.
"From now on, come here once every other day at this time. This method needs to be continued properly; it won't show results in a short time."
The Anbu member nodded, obeying the order.
To be honest, it felt kind of satisfying to beat up the Third Hokage, but he didn't really agree with this method.
He even voiced his worry.
"Lord Hokage, if you carry out such training over a long period, I fear it will leave hidden injuries in your body."
For a ninja, the body was the most important thing. How could one engage in such self-destructive training?
Although the Third Hokage felt the other party made a lot of sense, he had no other choice. If he didn't try it, he wouldn't find the reason for Ryōsuke Uchiha's skyrocketing strength.
In that case, the Uchiha Clan would truly become very difficult to deal with.
He could only say slowly, "Rest assured, I will protect my body well. I won't let hidden injuries remain."
He valued his body more than anyone. If he didn't have a robust physique, he wouldn't be able to serve as Hokage for many more years.
After this, he would have to go back and apply some of his Sarutobi Clan's healing potion. He hoped that combined with this, he would find his physical constitution greatly enhanced after a period of time.
A few days later, Danzo arrived at the Hokage's office.
Seeing the Third Hokage covered in injuries, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Third Hokage, what is with all these injuries?"
As far as he knew, the Third Hokage hadn't left the village, and there hadn't been any attacks within the Leaf Village. Who could possibly reduce him to this state?
Even he wouldn't dare to attack the Third Hokage inside the village.
"It's nothing."
The Third Hokage didn't tell Danzo about the matter, lest the other party also use this method to increase his own strength.
He would always keep his guard up against Danzo.
Seeing that the Third Hokage didn't want to talk about it, Danzo didn't dwell on the issue.
After all, the most important thing right now was to ruthlessly suppress the Uchiha Clan and prevent them from completely rising to power.
He spoke with a smile on his face.
"I've already had the villagers who are dissatisfied with the Uchiha Clan write letters of complaint. It won't take long to collect them all. Now we just wait to convene the Clan Head meeting to forcibly suppress the Uchiha Clan."
"I still hope the Third Hokage will cooperate."
"Naturally, I will cooperate," the Third Hokage responded without hesitation. Suppressing this clan was something he and Danzo had planned beforehand.
It aligned with both of their interests.
At the same time, he spoke slowly.
"You will ensure it is foolproof this time, right?"
They had failed before. Although the result had been drawing out the Uchiha Clan's hidden forces, which counted as somewhat useful—otherwise, he wouldn't have known the Uchiha possessed such terrifying individuals—this time, he didn't wish to see any other unexpected situations occur.
Danzo smiled.
"Rest assured, Lord Hokage."
"Of course, the Hokage cannot stand by and watch either. The families under Lord Hokage's command must stand firmly on our side."
"Otherwise, if the Uchiha Clan grows stronger within the village, the Third Hokage alone might not be able to suppress them."
He said this to guard against the Third Hokage changing his mind at the last minute.
If he stepped forward alone to crush the Uchiha Clan, but the Third Hokage took that opportunity to cause trouble, then Danzo would truly end up standing completely on the opposite side of the Uchiha Clan alone.
He would likely feel immense pressure by himself.
Although such a thing basically wouldn't happen, he still wanted to give a heads-up first.