Chapter 67: Orochimaru's Interest
"Go and investigate the intelligence on Orochimaru's side. I believe that those rats from the Akatsuki Organization, who are hiding their heads and showing their tails, have already begun to act!" Danzo Shimura issued his first order after returning to the Root base.
Although Danzo Shimura was secretly pleased, having not only weakened Hiruzen Sarutobi's influence but also brought his stain into the open.
Yet, Danzo Shimura was still very worried that this uncontrollable mysterious person from the Akatsuki Organization, who was proficient in the Flying Thunder God, would become an unstable factor—a double-edged sword that could harm both others and himself!
After all, the Akatsuki Organization was not some righteous group, and Danzo Shimura still had no clue about their true purpose. As an ambitious hero who was black to the bone, it was impossible for Danzo Shimura to set his mind at ease.
To put it bluntly, it was just mutual utilization and mutual wariness. In the eyes of a politician, there was no trust to speak of other than interests; no matter what they did, it was perfectly normal.
Konoha Forest, training ground.
Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke skipped class again today, accompanied by the good girl, Hyuga Hinata.
"Attach Chakra to the soles of your feet and use the properties of Chakra to make yourself walk on the tree trunk as if you were on flat ground." Naruto hung upside down from a branch. "But Chakra is violent; if you are not careful, you will cause damage to the tree trunk and make yourself fall from it."
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the thin branch could not withstand the destruction of the Chakra, and Naruto fell from the height headfirst. However, at the critical moment, Naruto twisted his body to change his falling posture. Not only did he land steadily, but not even a speck of dust was kicked up on the ground.
"If there is too little Chakra attached, you won't be able to climb the tree trunk as if walking, but if there is too much, the Chakra will destroy the trunk, resulting in what just happened." After landing steadily, Naruto explained to the two.
"This training mainly practices one's control over Chakra. The more precise the control, the more effective it will be in the future release of Ninjutsu, producing the effect of using less Chakra without reducing its power in the slightest. This is of great help in actual combat."
Intending to cultivate the two, Naruto held nothing back and explained all his understanding to them, looking every bit like a good teacher of the current age.
"Alright, I've given you the theory; the rest is up to practice."
After Naruto finished rambling on about the theory, he was powerless regarding the remaining practice. This matter still had to rely on themselves; all Naruto could do was stand by at the bottom of the tree, ready to prevent the two from falling off the tree and injuring themselves due to practice errors.
"Mm!"
Uchiha Sasuke nodded. After the analysis Narutogave that night, peeling back the layers of the truth, Uchiha Sasuke had become more steady and taciturn, and his attitude toward Naruto had also undergone a great change.
Uchiha Sasuke's arrogance was not enough to make him follow Naruto's lead in everything, but in many cases, Uchiha Sasuke was still very willing to accept Naruto's suggestions, even momentarily ignoring the fact that they were peers.
As for Hyuga Hinata, it was much simpler. Although Naruto was not everything in her life, with the foundation of the two times he had saved her like a hero and Naruto's perfect performance over these years, in Hyuga Hinata's heart, even if Naruto wasn't everything to her, he was close to it.
"Ah!"
Hyuga Hinata, who was practicing, let out a cry of surprise. Being less talented than Uchiha Sasuke, she was the first to fall from the tree trunk. Looking at the height she had climbed, it was only less than three meters high.
"Ugh... Naruto-kun..."
Hyuga Hinata's face turned red again. The moment she fell, she was caught in Naruto's arms. This sense of security was so similar to when Hyuga Hinata had encountered crises in the past.
With warmth and softness in his arms, Naruto truly couldn't remain completely unaffected, but Hyuga Hinata was still too young now. Apart from a slight ripple in his heart, Naruto quickly returned to normal. After comforting Hyuga Hinata with a few words, he put her down very naturally.
"You're much better than I was when I first practiced. Back then, I fell down several times before I reached your position."
This sentence was not Naruto deliberately belittling himself to comfort Hyuga Hinata; this matter had actually happened. At that time, Narutohad not yet carried out the third life experience game, and the violent Nine-Tailed Chakra made his control over Chakra very rough.
However, all of this vanished into thin air with the end of the third life experience game.
In addition to adding all his experience points to the Mental attribute of the five-dimensional attributes, with the Awakening of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Naruto's Mental attribute also ushered in an explosive growth.
It not only exceeded Naruto's Recovery attribute, and by quite a lot, which made Naruto's control over the Nine-Tailed Chakra increasingly handy, but it also let Naruto see some hidden dangers.
The various attributes of the body and the Mental attribute are complementary. It stands to reason that the growth of both in equal measure is the most beneficial, but Naruto's current situation is far from his expectations.
Although a particularly prominent attribute does not have too much restriction on Naruto's development, Naruto, who is accustomed to the middle path, will not think about taking extreme measures, seeking far and wide to pursue the evolution of the Mangekyo Sharingan while neglecting the evolution of his own body.
Admittedly, the Sage Eyes and the Sage Body are existences on par with each other, but Narutowants both. The excessive growth of Mental Energy is very beneficial to Naruto, but it has created obstacles for the development of the Sage Body.
When the body and mind are neck and neck, this problem will not occur at all. But when one of the two breaks the balance, the lagging one will be suppressed by the leading one, making it difficult to catch up.
"I wonder what choice Orochimaru will make..."
Naruto was a little worried. To make his body attributes and Mental attributes develop in parallel, Hashirama cells had almost become an unavoidable problem, and Orochimaru, who mastered the majority of the research progress on Hashirama cells, had become a hurdle Narutocould not bypass.
...
Sound Village, Orochimaru's underground laboratory.
"This piece of intelligence is very interesting!" Orochimaru stretched out his long, thin tongue, which resembled a snake's tongue, and lightly licked his lips. "Minato Namikaze, after your death, the Flying Thunder God has reappeared in the world. The Ninja World now is truly becoming more and more interesting!"
"However..."
Orochimaru unfolded another piece of intelligence similar to a letter. The content written on it made Orochimaru fall into a brief silence; the amount of information in this was really a bit large.
"This letter interests me even more. And you, who call yourself 'Heaven', your mysterious identity is no less than those two from the Akatsuki Organization!"
Orochimaru took out a small Seal scroll that had been sealed in the letter. Accompanied by his hand Seals, a puff of smoke rose. After the smoke cleared, what replaced it was a Sharingan soaked in saline solution!
"Using an Uchiha eye to trade with me, you really know me quite well. It seems you know I have developed a fanatical need for the UchihaBloodline. Just who are you! You guy who calls yourself 'Heaven'!"
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