chapter 94 part 2
"Even I wouldn't dare to be disrespectful to Lord Hokage, so you definitely cannot," Tsukasa Kaede said.
"Hahaha, no need for that, you can let him go. It's perfectly normal for youths not to know me. Kaedemply put, I am the Hokage of this Village, the one who is willing to die to protect its people." The Third Hokage wasn't angry; instead, he laughed.
This was actually one of the Third Hokage's charismatic qualities. Regardless of how many terrible outcomes his inaction caused, in terms of personality, it was actually very difficult to provoke him.
Much less a public questioning from a carefree fellow like Hidan.
"*Hiss*, he's actually the Hokage? I can't tell at all—Ow, ow, ow!"
"My apologies, Lord Hokage. Hidan only recently arrived in Konoha and isn't familiar with many things, nor has he undergone systematic training. I originally intended to report to you once he was sufficiently trained, and then have him carry out some missions. According to my plan, after training him for a few more months, he should be able to become a powerful, self-reliant Ninja." Tsukasa Kaede said.
"Is that so? Then I appreciate your hard work. A disciple you value must have extraordinary qualities. I look forward to his growth in the coming months." The Third Hokage didn't question it at all, smiling and nodding.
A few months? A powerful, self-reliant Ninja? Listen, is that something a normal human would say? Many people thought they'd misheard, but after much thought, they figured a person of Tsukasa Kaede's standing wouldn't talk nonsense on such an occasion. Yet, training for just a few months to make someone with extremely poor fundamentals self-reliant… no matter how you looked at it, it was utter nonsense!
Nevertheless, with the Third Hokage's public endorsement, no one would question Hidan's background anymore. This also meant that, in terms of status, Hidan now faced no obstacles in Konoha.
"Go talk to Kushina. She lets my words go in one ear and out the other. Her sense of belonging to the Village is still not enough." The Third Hokage also had no choice.
Someone like him could easily discern Kushina's mentality. To be honest, Jinchuriki hating their Villages was a very common occurrence in other Ninja Villages.
In the future, Roshi of the Four-Tails, Han of the Five-Tails, Utakata of the Kaedex-Tails, and others would all run away from their Villages early on. Nominally, they weren't Rogue Ninja, but in behavior, they were no different from Rogue Ninja.
Therefore, the best methods various Villages had figured out were either to bind the Jinchuriki to the Kage, simply let the Kage become the Jinchuriki, or let the Jinchuriki become the Kage.
The Third Hokage couldn't possibly cultivate Kushina into the Fourth Hokage. That was absolutely impossible. Kushina had her own thoughts ever since she arrived in Konoha, and such a person was not suitable to be the next Kage.
He had originally considered finding an opportunity to bring together a truly legitimate, talented junior from the Hokage Faction like Minato Namikaze with Kushina, but a series of changes disrupted his plan, so it ended up like this today.
But no matter, the Third Hokage felt that since things were already like this, he would just observe, quietly waiting for developments. It wouldn't be too late to step in and correct things when something was about to happen.
Tsukasa Kaede assented, and after the crowd gradually dispersed, he stood by Kushina's side.
"Is this girl the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? She doesn't look much older than me. Can she kill me? No, right? Then I can also be a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. If I sacrifice the Nine-Tails to Lord Jashin, maybe Lord Jashin would be very happy," Hidan asked carelessly.
"Your Jashin might get blown apart by the Nine-Tails. They are both supernatural entities distinctly different from humans, and the Nine-Tails is one of the most powerful special entities you could ever know. If it wanted to kill you, it could easily do so, simply by blasting you into endless dust."
Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently, "Now, scram and practice your training. Tomorrow I'll check the results of your training. You should be clear on what happens if you don't meet the standard."
Hidan shivered, recalling various painful memories, and hurried to the training ground.
"Everyone is watching you. You are Lady Mito's successor." Tsukasa Kaede patted Kushina's shoulder heavily. "Carefully sense your surroundings; many eyes are staring at you."
"It's because I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, right? They never understood Grandma Mito at all anyway."
"Not just that, they're also guarding against you losing control and rampaging due to excessive sadness. No one knows whether you can truly restrain the Nine-Tails," Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently. "However, if even you can't do it, then probably no one in the Village can."
"You can't do it either?" Kushina suddenly looked up.
Tsukasa Kaede shook his head. "That's right, I can't either. How should I deal with the Nine-Tails? Should I personally use the Reaper Death Seal Jutsu to take it down with me? But if I use Corpse Release: Reaper Death Seal, even if I work myself to death, I'd have no way to deal with the Nine-Tails."
Even if he completely used up all his willpower, at most he could only scratch a layer of skin off the Nine-Tails; he couldn't completely Seal it.
It's sad to say, in the current Konoha, there are quite a few strong individuals, but the one most suitable to be a Jinchuriki was none other than Kushina Uzumaki, who had received Mito's teachings since childhood and mastered various Sealing Jutsu.
"Go back, get a good night's sleep. After you wake up tomorrow, it'll be another beautiful day. You are yourself first and foremost, and only then the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki." Tsukasa Kaede turned and left.
He wasn't a caring older brother; he didn't have much time to waste on Kushina.
Hidan was more worth his attention. Jashin's power hadn't been unearthed yet. First, he needed to raise Hidan's strength to no less than his peak period in the original Timeline, and only then consider how to further tap into Hidan's potential.
Jashin's upper limit shouldn't be like this. Even the Shinigami could instantly kill anyone below Kaedex Paths Level; no matter how bad Jashin was, it shouldn't be too far off, right?
The news of Mito Uzumaki's death soon spread throughout the Shinobi World, causing a huge stir.
Most people celebrated. That living fossil was finally dead. The remnant from the Village Founding Era, Mito Uzumaki, whose strength was unfathomable—it was indeed better that she was dead.
"No chaos erupted in Konoha? It seems the handover was smooth. That old hag Mito Uzumaki, I'd hoped she'd die along with the Nine-Tails, letting Konoha completely lose the Nine-Tails."
"But this is also good. It would already be impressive if the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki could ensure she doesn't rampage, let alone use the Nine-Tails' power. This means Konoha won't be able to use the Nine-Tails for many years to come!"
This was crucial!
During the Second Great Ninja War, Mito Uzumaki was elderly and didn't participate in battle. When the next Great Ninja War erupted, Kushina Uzumaki might also be unable to participate, which would be beneficial to other Villages.
As a result, all Villages that possessed Tailed Beasts desperately developed Tailed Beast weapons.
What Konoha, the strongest Ninja Village in the Shinobi World, couldn't use, became an advantage for other Ninja Villages, and they had to exploit it with all their might!
At the same time, the Hidden Cloud Village became a joke.
"What?! Mito Uzumaki is dead? Then our operation to kidnap Kushina Uzumaki a few days ago… effectively amounted to kidnapping a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?!"