"Obsession?"
"Yes." The Mire Witch lovingly gazed at her daughter Shion in the cradle and smiled at Hakushi, "Perhaps all the witches of the Land of Demons throughout history are essentially the same person. After all, Chakra is a mysterious force that can grant self-awareness."
◎
After spending less than an hour in the shrine, Hakushi emerged.
Standing on the mountain slope, Hakushi looked up at the shrine, far from the worldly smoke and noise, with regal buildings and white mist lingering, like a heavenly realm.
Before leaving the shrine, Hakushi received a definite answer from the Mire Witch.
She'll make arrangements in the Land of Shadow; there's no need to deliberately station forces there. When the time is right, the Land of Shadow will become a vassal state to the Land of Demons.
As for the second matter...
Hakushi looked at the purple scroll in his hand and sighed deeply.
He truly didn't want to become a "witch."
This scroll contained the necessities for a witch's training.
It is a training system vastly different from the current Chakra and Sage Art System.
It can be used to suppress various monsters, even entities like Tailed Beasts, and once mastered, the techniques recorded in the scroll can easily seal them.
However, the cost of performing the jutsu is heavy.
You must detach from the "human" system and become a special "substance" existing in the world.
On the surface, you appear human, but essentially you've transformed into an alien life form similar to a demon.
While the ability to easily suppress the power of Tailed Beasts is indeed enticing, the drawback is a reduced threat to humans.
This means it has a special attack force against monsters, Tailed Beasts, and alien life forms.
Additionally, you must keep your mind pure, without too much impurity, or else the power will weaken...
Thinking of Ruri and Ayane, Hakushi felt the witch's training system was truly too difficult for him.
Hakushi looked at the sky; there's still some time until nightfall, and the research on Tailed Beasts and the Zero-tailed must continue.
Thus, he carefully stored the scroll gifted by the Mire Witch. Although he couldn't train in it, there were some training methods in it that Hakushi felt could be adapted for use in Sage Arts to enhance the effectiveness of sealing and perception ninjutsu.
On his way to the research facility, before even starting work, Ayane approached him.
"Hakushi-kun, there's an important intelligence report from Konoha."
"Important intelligence? Is Hidden Cloud making new moves again?"
If Konoha has sent an important intelligence report, based on existing intelligence systems, Hakushi could conclude it pertains to Hidden Cloud's movements.
"It's unrelated to Hidden Cloud. They currently have no intention of clashing directly with Konoha. They're only engaging in minor harassment along the Land of Fire's border, sparring back and forth with Konoha's border ninja squad. The important intelligence I'm talking about is that Nine-tails Jinchuriki Uzumaki Kushina is pregnant."
Ayane shook her head and relayed the information to Hakushi.
"Nine-tails Jinchuriki is pregnant?"
Hakushi narrowed his eyes. As Ayane said, this was indeed significant intelligence.
◎
Konoha.
In a certain meeting room of the Hokage Building, a total of five people attended this important meeting.
Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato.
Previous Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Semi-suspended Root Leader Shimura Danzo.
And the two senior advisors Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
Uzumaki Kushina's pregnancy is not a trivial matter. While it does not concern Konoha's survival, it should not be taken lightly either.
Uzumaki Kushina is not only the wife of the Fourth Hokage Minato, but she is also an invaluable Jinchuriki for Konoha, with the strongest Tailed Beast Nine-tails sealed inside her.
This means Uzumaki Kushina's pregnancy isn't just her personal affair but a significant event for all of Konoha, and must be handled seriously.
At this time, everyone, from the retired Third Hokage Hiruzen to the advisors, unanimously set aside their differences.
The only topic of this meeting was how to ensure Uzumaki Kushina gives birth smoothly and then protect her personal safety.
"Kushina has faced two major crises in the past. One was when she was almost kidnapped by spies infiltrating from Hidden Cloud, but fortunately Minato stopped it at the time. The other was the defection incident five years ago when Uchiha Ruri used the Sharingan to cause massive damage to Konoha's northeastern region and the Death Forest."
Utatane Koharu recounted calmly, demonstrating her concern over the matter of Nine-tails Jinchuriki Uzumaki Kushina's pregnancy.
"At that time, we couldn't foresee the internal rebellion, and the Ninja Realm war had consumed most of Konoha's attention, leading to that opportunity for those individuals. But it also means even inside Konoha, it's not absolutely safe. I think the protection level for Kushina can be elevated another tier."
Mitokado Homura nodded, offering his opinion.
"Regarding this matter, the Third Hokage has already communicated with me beforehand and decided to dispatch two more squads of Anbu personnel. I've also decided to have Hatake Kakashi lead an Anbu squad to protect Kushina. Adding this to the two existing Anbu squads already guarding Kushina, there will be a total of twenty Anbu Ninja in protection. For extra precaution, I've placed a specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai next to Kushina."
Minato briefly outlined Kushina's current security situation.
Among these Anbu Ninja, more than half are Jonin, and their abilities cover fields of perception, ninja techniques, taijutsu, illusion technique, secret techniques, medical ninjutsu, sealing technique, and barrier jutsu.