Without outside interference, that transformation should have been slow and gradual, growing stronger over time. Yunchuan Hyuga could not afford to wait, and to gain more realization points he needed to approach higher-quality targets and reveal some of his ability to raise his value.
That brief "resistance" was only the first step. If nothing unexpected happened, news that he had undergone human experimentation by Orochimaru would soon be known by more people.
Hiruzen Sarutobi should have already taken Yamato, now codenamed "A," under his wing. As one of the only two surviving test subjects of Orochimaru, both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura would certainly turn their attention to him and probe him.
Thinking of this, Yunchuan Hyuga recalled his eyes again. His gaze flickered as he silently thought, "Manifest item, pure Byakugan that can open Tenseigan after fusion."
[Spend 10000 realization points, confirm manifestation]
"It's exactly enough to manifest?" Yunchuan Hyuga hesitated for a moment.
To be safe, he tested again in his mind. "Manifest item, the method to fuse pure Byakugan with pure Otsutsuki bloodline to open Tenseigan."
[Insufficient points]
"…" Yunchuan Hyuga's face darkened. "As expected, something is still missing."
Fortunately, he had not fallen for this system's trick. If he had spent everything on impulse and ended up with a pair of useless Byakugan, there would be nowhere to cry.
"In that case, only the second method is safer," Yunchuan Hyuga frowned.
The Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan should be purer than that of the Otsutsuki branch on the moon. The only problem was numbers, since they could not compare to the Otsutsuki Clan who had occupied the moon for thousands of years, and he did not know whether digging out eyes from the whole clan could produce Tenseigan.
"Cough."
As the thought formed, Yunchuan Hyuga coughed and quickly muttered a silent apology. Digging out everyone's eyes was too evil, and he was not Uchiha Itachi, that monster.
It would be enough to take only those Hyuga Clan members who had awakened their eyes. Ordinary people without awakened eyes would be useless anyway.
Of course, this could not be done by him. He already had a better candidate.
Now, he only needed to wait for those old men to reveal their ugly faces.
Inside the Hokage Building office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair with his eyes lowered in silence, a pipe clenched between his teeth as smoke drifted in slow breaths. The air felt heavy, like a sealed jar under pressure, making one want to break the walls or pry the lid open just to escape.
"Cough, cough!"
Only when Koharu Utatane could not hold it in and coughed did the suffocating stillness finally break.
"Hiruzen, about this matter…"
Homura Mitokado let out a quiet breath of relief, glanced at the stubborn Danzo who refused to lower his head, and then looked back at Hiruzen Sarutobi as he tried to persuade him. "This time, Danzo really did go a bit too far…"
"Conducting Wood Release experiments in secret, hiding the results, and even concealing Wood Release shinobi. Is that still not too far?"
Before Homura Mitokado could continue defending him, Hiruzen Sarutobi cut in with a blank expression. "That is Wood Release. Do not tell me you do not understand what that means."
At those words, Homura Mitokado's aged face flushed slightly as he looked helplessly toward Danzo Shimura. Yes, that was a Wood Release shinobi, something no one would have expected Danzo to dare hide.
If not for the investigation into Orochimaru's defection, they still would not know that Wood Release had appeared again. Danzo's current grip over Root even made Homura Mitokado uneasy.
"Root is Konoha's Root, it is the Root of ANBU, and it is also my Root. Yet now it dares to hide such critical intelligence from me as the Hokage. Does that mean…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, narrowing his eyes at Danzo as he questioned him. "That it has become an independent organization serving certain people's private interests?"
Hearing this, Danzo, who had remained expressionless, spoke in a low voice. "Everything I do is for Konoha."
Listening to the firm reply of his old companion, Hiruzen Sarutobi silently exhaled smoke. His face was obscured by the white haze, unreadable from Danzo's angle.
"Hiruzen…"
Even Koharu Utatane, who had stayed silent, could not help speaking up.
"That is enough." Hearing them about to plead again, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand in irritation, signaling them to stop.
After his teacher Tobirama Senju died due to a plot from Kumogakure, he had taken over the position of Hokage in a time of crisis. Yet the role was nothing like the dream he once had, as war and clan pressure shattered his illusions the moment he stepped into office.
In the beginning, neither the Hyuga Clan nor the Uchiha Clan truly respected his authority, obeying orders but ignoring decrees. Fortunately, when competing for power he held the moral high ground, and aside from the Sarutobi Clan, he also had the support of Ino-Shika-Cho.
Thus, he adopted a strategy of suppressing some while winning over others. With Danzo and others assisting him, he used certain methods to set the Uchiha and Hyuga, the two great clans, against each other.
Only then did he finally stabilize his position as Hokage, grasp the authority that belonged to it, and place his confidants into key posts. In Tobirama Senju's era, Root had merely been a training arm of ANBU.
It was only after he handed Root to Danzo, to handle matters that could not be done in the name of ANBU such as monitoring clans, that it gradually became an intelligence organization. In essence, the Root under Danzo was equivalent to an ANBU squad, and by regulation he should have commanded only four teams, seventeen people in total.
However, with Hiruzen Sarutobi's deliberate or unconscious tolerance, Root kept expanding. Under Danzo's influence, its methods grew darker and darker, until today.
If Root were allowed to continue like this, it would eventually become impossible to control and turn into Danzo's personal armed force. Therefore, it had to be restrained.
"The matter of the Wood Release shinobi 'Tenzo' will not be discussed further. I have already transferred him into ANBU. There is something else."
Ignoring Danzo's resentful expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the three before him with deep eyes. "Reports from the border say that Kumogakure seems to be moving troops, possibly preparing some new provocation. What are your thoughts?"
As soon as he said this, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado frowned at the same time.
"Again? Disgusting."
Homura Mitokado furrowed his brows and spoke seriously. "No matter what, we cannot act rashly."
"En is right," Koharu Utatane nodded. "No matter what they intend, we only need to stay alert. We must not give them any excuse to start a war."
Hiruzen Sarutobi neither agreed nor disagreed. He tapped his pipe lightly and looked at Danzo. "What do you think?"
Danzo's shadowed eyes narrowed slightly, and after a moment of silence he answered bluntly in a hoarse voice. "We hit them hard."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. With the pipe still in his mouth, he took a deep draw, held it in his lungs, and then slowly exhaled.
Although the Third Shinobi World War had ended, the shinobi world was far from stable. The main reason was the severe lack of top-tier combat power in Konoha.
First came the suicide of the White Fang of Konoha, who had risen to fame during the Second Shinobi World War. Then the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, died in the Nine-Tails incident.