The Hokage Building.
It's still quite well-preserved here.
Everyone was in the Hokage's office for the final discussion.
Kurotsuchi and Mei Terumī didn't make any demands; they just sat by, supporting Shiro.
The Flying Thunder Formation that Shiro wanted was, at its core, meant to connect the transportation between various countries, facilitating travel. This itself was greatly beneficial to their ninja villages and countries.
Secondly,
They were still very grateful to Shiro.
As the saying goes, one doesn't know the cost of oil and rice until one manages a household.
Similarly, Mei Terumī and Kurotsuchi, not managing their own households, had no idea how wealthy their countries actually were, or how abundant their resources.
Admittedly, their countries' resources weren't as rich and diverse as the Land of Fire, but even so, if other things remained constant and undeveloped, their ninja village populations could double or triple without issue.
Moreover, it wasn't until they met Shiro that they realized the long-held belief that the Daimyo "supported" the ninja villages was unfounded.
The fixed, low-level benefits distributed in the Daimyo's name were barely enough to sustain a ninja's normal life; the main source of income for ninja came from taking on various missions.
In this situation, ninja were also considered laborers, unlike purely unproductive armies and officials.
Furthermore, ever since Shiro enlightened them about history, the earliest ninja—at the inception of Ninshu—used various ninjutsu to assist in production.
With this new perspective, low and mid-level ninja gained new sources of mission income.
Water Release users could water crops, Earth Release users could till the land... Under this reform, the danger coefficient of missions significantly decreased, while the base income and sources of income increased considerably.
Ninja were almost being turned into Palworld Pals.
But even so, the ninja from these allied ninja villages were very supportive of the new policies.
I could have endured the faint glow of a firefly if I had not seen a flashlight.
Ah, I will enslave you, make you work six hours a day, only allow two hours for lunch break, only drink milk for breakfast, and only rest on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays!
In short, in the Hokage's office, though it was said that everyone was discussing together, in reality, only Shiro and Hiruzen Sarutobi were conversing.
"Alright then, it's a deal."
Hiruzen Sarutobi signed the scroll, fulfilling his previous promise.
What surprised Hiruzen Sarutobi was that Danzo hadn't shown up to cause trouble.
Did Root inform Danzo that his enemy was in the Hidden Rain Village?
The requested items were—
Basic knowledge of various ninjutsu.
This was the biggest difference between large ninja villages and small ninja villages, and between Konoha Village and large ninja villages.
Orochimaru might be able to compile such a thing, but having Orochimaru do something like writing elementary school textbooks was a waste of his talent.
It was better to just ask Konoha for it directly.
Anyway, this was nothing compared to the next few items.
Next were the training methods for the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Flying Thunder Formation, as well as having the three existing users of the Flying Thunder Formation explain the key points of training and usage.
Finally, Hyuga Hanabi of the Hyuga Clan was to go to the Hidden Rain Village to assist for five years.
These three conditions, for Hiruzen Sarutobi, were actually nothing significant.
The first one goes without saying; the third was another matter, unrelated to Orochimaru's assistance in invading Konoha.
Essentially, it was just the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that the rarest thing in space-time ninjutsu was not the technique itself, but the talent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could tell that the Hidden Rain Village, Hidden Mist, and Iwagakure's true objective was the latter, the Flying Thunder Formation.
As for the Flying Thunder God, Hiruzen Sarutobi merely considered it due to the Fourth Hokage's legendary reputation, and that other ninja villages were too fixated on it, wanting to try it out.
The Flying Thunder Formation, however, could not be used in normal combat; it could only serve as a teleportation tool.
In this situation, even if someone truly learned it, it wouldn't pose any threat to Konoha.
Moreover, if what Shiro and Orochimaru said about a common enemy appearing in the ninja world in the future was true, then he wasn't aiding an enemy now, but rather assisting an ally.
Hiruzen Sarutobi called over Aoba Yamashiro, Shiranui Genma, and Iwashi Tatami, the three former guards of the Fourth Hokage, and instructed them to accurately convey the essence of the Flying Thunder Formation to Shiro.
"Hokage-sama, this..."
Facing this command, the three's expressions turned grim.
The Flying Thunder Formation was their honor as the Fourth Hokage's guards, and a means to protect the village. Now they had to hand it over to outsiders?
"This is an order, and the Hidden Rain Village will be our ally from now on. This is to facilitate communication between allies."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone became slightly heavier, tapping the table with his pipe.
His use of "ally" did not mean he intended for Konoha to join the current alliance of several ninja villages for development; it was just a pretext.
Anyway, he was about to retire soon. When the new Hokage took office, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to either use this name to pursue his ambitions or to disavow the alliance.
"Alright, as you command, Third Hokage-sama."
The three, resigned, went with Shiro to the adjacent small room and began explaining the essence of the Flying Thunder Formation.
The three were honest and didn't hide anything.
Actually, there was no need to hide anything.
The theoretical essence of the Flying Thunder Formation was very simple, as simple as training in Sage Mode.
But achieving it was extremely difficult.
The essence of using the Flying Thunder Formation was this: one person marks the jutsu formula, another person positions the space, and the last person provides and connects the chakra.
It was like Jiraiya summoning Shima and Fukasaku for Sage Mode.
Shiro recorded the essence and put it away.
The Flying Thunder Formation was clearly developed by Minato Namikaze specifically for his guards, which is why Shiro specifically requested these three to explain it.
Otherwise... couldn't Orochimaru just use Impure World Reincarnation on Senju Tobirama and have him lecture?
After Shiro returned to the Hokage's office, Sunagakure had also finished their discussion with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Temari and the others used the method Shiro provided: a nine-truths-one-lie approach, claiming Orochimaru killed their father, the Fourth Kazekage, to distance themselves from the incident.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, being an old fox, could naturally see through their falsehoods, but Konoha was indeed not in a suitable position to wage war, let alone against the impoverished Sunagakure next door.
Even if they demanded compensation, it was unlikely they could pay anything.
If pushed too hard, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind might just abandon these prisoners and establish a new village.
So, Hiruzen Sarutobi chose to sign an alliance agreement with Sunagakure and let the matter rest.
Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the head of the Sarutobi clan, gave them a scroll.
This matter would not be recorded in the village history.
—
The next day, at the Konoha Village gate.
Everyone was preparing to return to their villages.
Kakashi, who had already recovered, arrived at the gate with the members of Team 7.
In addition, there were several members of the Hyuga Clan.
Hyuga Hiashi walked up to Shiro, with Hyuga Hanabi, who had the Caged Bird Seal etched on her forehead, following him with her head bowed.
Hyuga Neji stood behind them, watching the scene with a somewhat melancholic expression, as if reminded of his own father.
"You truly are heartless, Hiashi Clan Head. Hanabi, did it hurt when the Caged Bird Seal was etched on?"
Shiro lifted Hanabi's hair and gently touched the green cursed seal twice.
"Mmm mmm mmm."
Hanabi shook her head.
"Here."
Hyuga Hiashi handed a scroll to Shiro.
"What is this?"
"This is the essence of Gentle Fist training. Outsiders without the Byakugan cannot train it. Remember to have Hanabi practice it and don't let her neglect it."
Hyuga Hiashi clearly didn't believe Shiro's earlier words about being able to make Hanabi's training speed and achievements surpass those who remained in the Hyuga Clan.
"To take away Hinata's sister, causing her to have the Caged Bird Seal etched on, is that really for her own good...?"
Sakura whispered to Naruto and Sasuke nearby.
The Caged Bird Seal and Shiro's talk of nurturing Hanabi were no longer secrets.
Shiro ignored Hyuga Hiashi and didn't pay attention to Sakura's words, which were a bit critical of him while she was concerned for her companions.
Instead, he looked at Kakashi.
"Kakashi, do you know? There's a very simple way to break a cursed seal. Watch closely."
"Hmm?"
Kakashi frowned, a bit confused. What did he mean by saying this to him now?
Cursed seal? Was it related to him?
Did he mean the mark Orochimaru left on Sasuke's neck?
Wait!
He said, 'Watch closely'?
Did he mean the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal?!
Bang!
Kakashi had just lifted his forehead protector and activated his Sharingan when, using its insight, he witnessed a terrifying sight.
"Huh?"
Hanabi scratched her head, looking up at Shiro in confusion.
Just now, it seemed like her head felt a little itchy.
"It's nothing."
Shiro rubbed Hanabi's small head.
"Hiashi Clan Head, do you want to etch it again?"
Shiro's other hand, which had been clenched into a fist, loosened, and the Caged Bird Seal he had held in his hand fell to the ground, slowly dissipating.
Hyuga Hiashi had naturally seen what had just happened.
The moment he saw his youngest daughter seemingly killed by Shiro, Hyuga Hiashi was bewildered and enraged, but in the next second, it transformed into shock and confusion.
Hyuga Hiashi initially thought Shiro, upon seeing the Caged Bird Seal and realizing he couldn't get the Byakugan, had dropped the act and, in a fit of rage, was going to kill Hanabi.
But the result... On the other side, Kakashi, upon seeing this scene, suddenly thought of Rin.
Rin, whom he had pierced through the heart with Chidori.
Could Rin, back then, also have had a cursed seal placed on her?
....
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