Chapter 558 Transition

Inside the courtyard.

"Even if you want to become stronger, it's really rare for you to look like this."

In the courtyard, Shikamaru, who was practicing the family Yin escape secret technique, suddenly heard such a sentence from his ear.

He put down his seal palm, turned to look at the person who came, it was his father Lu Jiu.

"A veteran of the three dynasties, are you so leisurely?"

Shikamaru pursed his lips, as if he thought it would be embarrassing to be seen practicing hard.

After all, his past performance really doesn't match words like hard work.

"The elders of the Three Dynasties..."

Lu Jiu's mouth twitched violently at his son's complaints.

This generalization is actually not a mistake. He has gone through three, four, and five Hokages, and all held important positions as the squad leader of the Jonin during their administration. He can indeed be called the "senator of the three dynasties".

In just twelve years, so many things have happened to Konoha, and the Hokage staff has been changed several times, which really makes him, the jonin squad leader, very unhappy.

"How is it, working at New Hokage? I heard that he is a difficult person to get along with."

Especially about women, Shikamaru suddenly had a bad association. Because women are equal to tigress in his mind.

"This kind of thing has nothing to do with you as a ninja. You should consider the Chunin exam next year."

Shikajiu doesn't plan to talk more with Shikamaru in this regard.

The content of his work belongs to the category of high confidentiality, what can be said and what can't be said, this point he can still be clear about.

Some things, even family members, cannot disclose the slightest bit.

"Yeah?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows, but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Then, regarding Sasuke and Kakashi old... Hatake Kakashi, has the upper management already started to prepare for action?"

After a pause, Shikamaru turned to other topics.

Shikaku glanced at Shikamaru and asked, "Are you asking for Naruto?"

"No, no matter how you say it, it's also a companion from the past, so it doesn't matter if I care about it."

"It's really stubborn." Shikamaru's careful thinking can be seen at a glance, and Shikaku didn't blame him, so he said to Shikamaru: "Forget it, it's okay to tell you. Generally speaking, such dangerous rebellion must be resolved as soon as possible in principle. Because they are not only powerful, but if they are left alone for a long time, the credibility of the village may decline. On the other hand, because they have too much confidential information about the village, in order to prevent these secrets from leaking, it may endanger the village. safety, this part of the risk also needs to be prevented and controlled.

"But the key is that the village should not have so much spare capacity now."

Shikamaru hit the nail on the head of the village's current sore spot.

Originally because of the change of Naruto, Konoha has become physically and mentally exhausted. The internal factions have not yet stabilized under the reconciliation of the new Hokage... If it is dealing with general rebellion, it is naturally unnecessary. Sending a random hunting force is sufficient. But this time the goal is different, and the task entrustment system also needs to be restored. In fact, there are very few ninjas who can be freely mobilized.

"It's basically like this. Although the wanted document for betrayal and ninja has been released, it is an indisputable fact that the village has no power to pursue them now."

Actually, in Lu Jiu's opinion, there are two more important reasons, that is, the shuffling of Anbu's cards and the game between high-level officials are still going on in secret. After all, with Konoha's size, it is still possible to squeeze together a large-scale pursuit force. However, the changes in the Anbu and the high-level made this kind of matter have to be put on hold, and the patrol troops were temporarily dispatched to show Konoha's attitude.

If Konoha wants to fully recover its turnover, at least it will have to wait until February next year. The situation is going well, maybe it can be a little earlier, but in that case, my vacation will be gone.

Thinking of this kind of thing, Lu Jiu couldn't help but imagine the pain of working overtime.

Even if he is a ninja, when he thinks of working overtime now, he can't help but feel bitter in his heart.

"Okay, let's practice hard, and by the way, I will also supervise Ino and Choji. In a short time, there may not be much time for you to enjoy this security."

After saying this, Shikahisa left here quickly without waiting for Shikamaru's inquiry.

He was silently calculating something else in his mind.

That is the plan to sanction the kingdom of ghosts, headed by the daimyo of the country of fire, and unite with the daimyos of other countries, and it is moving forward.

Although there was a brief stagnation in this plan due to Naruto's change, after Tsunade's return, the plan moved forward again.

As the Jonin squad leader, he has the same right to know about this plan as the higher-ups. I was also fortunate enough to follow the Three Generations of Hokage to the Daming Mansion to participate in this decision-making, and part of the planning was provided by him.

But now the third Hokage unfortunately died halfway, so, as the successor, Tsunade, out of emotion and reason, must inherit the legacy of the third Hokage and carry out this plan to the end.

Although Lu Jiu believes that there are many uncertain risks in promoting this plan, but with the support of several big names and half of the five shadows, then this plan is beyond his control to consider whether it should be implemented, but must be implemented and implemented as soon as possible.

Lu Jiu sighed in his heart, a gloomy look flashed in his eyes.

War

Opening the door of Hokage's office, Lu Jiu saw a mountain of papers on the table at first sight.

In the corner of the office, there are also piles of papers, stacked together in bundles. Obviously, this is not finished.

Shikahisa lamented the hard work of being the new Hokage's Tsunade. Thinking about it this way, he doesn't feel pain when working overtime.

Even Hokage took the lead in working so hard, as a subordinate, how could he still stagnate?

Thinking about this, Shikahisa walked quickly to the desk, and then saw Tsunade lying on the table, drooling from the corner of his mouth, falling asleep soundly.

This may be a dream.

After all, Konoha is so busy up and down, how can Hokage be lazy at such a time?

This must be an illusion, an illusion.

Just when Lu Jiu thought so, Tsunade seemed to hear the movement next to him, opened his eyes from his sleep, and asked in a daze.

"What, Jing Yin, have you bought the pork chop rice?"

"No, it's me, Hokage-sama."

The corner of Lujiu's mouth twitched.

What is pork chop rice? It shouldn't be lunch time now, there are at least two hours before the meal time.

"Uh, it's Lujiu. Sorry, I made you laugh."

Tsunade noticed that it was Shikahisa who came, and he was not at all embarrassed. He calmly picked up a tissue and wiped the indecent-looking saliva from the corner of his mouth.

Then, she said seriously:

"Let me explain first, I was definitely not slacking off and sleeping just now, I was just thinking deeply about the development planning of some villages. Don't get me wrong."

Let's get rid of the drool tissues first, Hokage-sama. Lu Jiu sighed in his heart.

"Since you're tired, it's better for Hokage-sama to go home and have a rest."

Considering that Tsunade has been working intensively since he came back, it is not incomprehensible to find some time for himself to be lazy. After all, it is also the responsibility of subordinates to care about the health of their superiors.

"Don't worry, I'm full of energy now!"

Tsunade said that he is fine and can continue to work, posing as a hard-working boss who works hard.

This kind of words sounded even more guilty.

He suspected that as soon as he left here, the other party would directly lie on the table and sleep again.

"these are"

Shikaku saw the stack of papers on the table in front of Tsunade, and his expression changed.

"Ah, these are the personnel information of the medical department."

Although Tsunade can handle government affairs with ease, what she is best at is still matters related to the medical department. After all, this is her old business, and it is indeed more convenient to manage it than to deal with other things.

"Are you planning to reorganize like Anbe?"

Lu Jiu thought about it.

"That's not necessary. Although there are some problems in the medical department, as long as the senior cadres of the department have no problems, everything is within the controllable range. Unlike Anbu, who has been infiltrated into a sieve from top to bottom."

Tsunade said so.

"You can't say that. None of us knew that Kakashi would be a spy for Orochimaru. Maybe Kakashi was a member of Orochimaru before Minato. I think we should also investigate the senior management of the medical department. Maybe we can catch some big fish from it."

Shikajiu thought for a while, and suggested to Tsunade.

Tsunade couldn't help narrowing his eyes when he heard these words, and began to think seriously.

Although she took over the affairs of Hokage, from the beginning, she used her strong style to temporarily deter the two consultants, but in the end, it was only for her own convenience. But in terms of the details of the village, she still didn't take good care of some places.

And Shikahisa can make up for her shortcomings. As the squad leader of the ninja, he knows all aspects of Konoha better than himself.

"Yes, but it needs to be done in secret. But since we want to investigate to the end, we should secretly dispatch people from the Hyuga and Yamanaka clans to cooperate with Anbu."

Tsunade did not hesitate, and quickly finalized the matter.

"Okay, I will go to Hinata and Yamanaka later."

Lu Jiu nodded, taking this matter on himself.

"Also, something about this little girl..."

Tsunade pulled out a piece of paper from the documents in front of him.

"Haruno Sakura?"

Lujiu saw the photo on the paper, it was Haruno Sakura, the medical ninja from Class 7.

As a new generation of medical ninja, Haruno Sakura has a good reputation in the medical department. Coupled with the medical talisman incident, Lu Jiu also fell in love with this twelve-year-old girl.

"Yes."

Tsunade glanced at it, and the opponent's identity information, ability information, and ninja resume were all at a glance.

"Master Hokage means..."

"Check to see if she has been disturbed by Kakashi. In addition, her medical talisman research is very interesting. Remember to get some experimental items later."

"yes."

Although he didn't know why Tsunade made such a decision, Shikajiu still nodded seriously and agreed.

"You are doing it wrong, try again!"

Somewhere in the back of Mount Miaomu, there is a pool formed by a waterfall, and there are various stone toads of different sizes beside it.

Senjin Fukasaku sat on the head of a stone toad, holding a black stick in his hand. I don't know how many times he corrected Naruto's mistakes in cultivating natural energy. However, seeing Naruto's brows wrinkled after seeing that Naruto still couldn't get in after so long.

"But, I can't feel the 'natural energy' you mentioned, Grandpa Immortal. After all, is there really any so-called natural energy?"

Naruto began to doubt the authenticity of the existence of natural energy in this world.

In the past, when he practiced ninjutsu, although he would encounter various problems, after a few days in a row, he still had no gains at all. This was the first time he encountered such a situation.

"Yes, but the natural energy hidden in the earth and the air is more difficult for us to discover and use. Even for the little Zilaiye back then, it took several years to get started."

"Years!? Getting Started!?"

When Naruto heard this, he immediately opened his mouth wide, looking extremely surprised.

"Well, although there are reasons for his own laziness, lack of perseverance, and giving up halfway, natural energy is indeed not such an easy power to grasp. Even Miaomu Mountain, which has accumulated rich natural energy, a considerable part of the toads in it cannot sense natural energy, let alone the more difficult fairy art."

Sensei Fukasaku jumped off the stone toad and said to Naruto.

"What about me? Immortal Grandpa, how long do you think it will take me to get started?"

Naruto asked, pointing at himself.

"Hmm... It's a bit hard to say. In terms of chakras, you have indeed met the basic requirements for cultivating immortal arts, but your basic ability seems to be a bit weak, even worse than that of Xiao Zilai..."

Immortal Fukasaku looked at Naruto carefully and said.

"Isn't it? Am I worse than a lustful fairy?"

"It's hard to say. When Xiao Zilai was practicing fairy arts, unlike you, his chakra control was already very good. With a good chakra, he sensed natural energy very early, but he couldn't control it freely. So his later fairy arts were only half-level, and he needed me and the child to maintain it before he could enter the perfect fairy mode."

"It turns out that the lecherous fairy hasn't mastered it completely. If I master this, will I be better than the lecherous fairy?"

Naruto began to think about it.

He knows how powerful Jiraiya is. If he surpasses the opponent, maybe the next generation of Hokage will be his turn.

"Don't think about these good things. Even Xiaozilai can't enter the perfect fairy mode by himself, but as far as humans are concerned, he is still a very remarkable ninja. Ninety-nine out of ten human beings who come to Mt. Miaomu Mountain to seek fairy arts are stuck at the entry level. Human beings who can enter the fairy mode on their own have been few in the past thousands of years. And the fate of the losers has become these stone toads."

Senjin Fukasaku pointed to the big and small stone toads around him, and warned Naruto not to be careless in this regard, otherwise the end would be miserable.

Sure enough, Naruto gulped down his saliva after hearing Fukasaku Sage's words.

At this moment, the two heard footsteps approaching, turned their heads to look, and saw Zilai walking over.

"How is it, Boss Fukasaku, how about Naruto's natural energy cultivation?"

Jiraiya asked as soon as he came over.

Senjin Fukasaku glanced at the unwilling Naruto, and said without any concealment: "Not at all, the little Naruto can't sense the existence of natural energy. After so many days, I still can't do anything. According to my opinion, we should wait for a while, maybe it will work."

"Does it need to be so troublesome? Can't you use toad oil to assist your cultivation?"

Zilai also frowned and asked.

Sensei Fukasaku hesitated for a moment.

"Toad oil can indeed play an auxiliary role, but the degree to which that thing senses and absorbs natural energy is judged by the basic ability of the person concerned... If the control ability is too poor, it may immediately turn into a stone toad."

In other words, in the eyes of Immortal Fukasaku, it is too dangerous for Naruto to use toad oil to assist his cultivation.

"You have to try it to know. And isn't there you Fukasaku Boss? Naruto is the son of the prophecy predicted by the big toad sage. This level can definitely be overcome."

Jilai also has sufficient confidence in Naruto.

"...Okay. But let me say first, if you fail, you will temporarily give up the practice of immortality and start from the foundation of chakra control."

Sage Fukasaku also felt that Naruto, since he was the son of the prophecy said by the Great Toad Sage, might really be able to perform miracles.

So, it jumped to the side of the pool, stretched out its hand into the pool, and let its palms be covered with toad oil in the pool.

"Naruto, take off your shirt."

Zilai also ordered.

Although Naruto was puzzled, he did as he did and took off his shirt, revealing a sturdy figure.

Then, Fukasaku Senjin, who had his hands covered in toad oil, jumped behind Naruto, and spread the toad oil on Naruto's back.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a slight coldness, something uncontrollably drilled into his body from the outside world.

"Well"

Naruto realized that his body had become extremely stiff, as if he had lost control, showing surprise.

"not good!"

Seeing that Naruto's head began to swell, and his body began to show signs of petrification, Immortal Fukasaku immediately took out the black stick in his hand, aimed at Naruto's back, and struck quickly.

"ah!"

Naruto screamed in pain, feeling as if his back had been cut off with a black stick by the Fukasaku Immortal, he was breathing cold air to reduce the pain.

With this blow, the uncontrolled natural energy in his body was also knocked out of his body by the black stick, allowing Naruto to return to his original state.

"Can't you?"

Looking at Naruto who kept breathing, Jiraiya also sighed.

Immortal Fukasaku said helplessly: "You have also seen the situation. Toad oil has advantages and disadvantages, but it is definitely not suitable for Naruto at this stage. Ziraiya, you'd better get his foundation right first. If he can't even control Chakra well, then it is impossible to control natural energy and integrate Senju Chakra."

Immortal art is not that simple. Even in Miaomu Mountain, there are only a very small number of elites who can master the fairy art.

Sensing natural energy, controlling natural energy, and then manipulating and merging with chakra. Although the steps are simple, most people can skillfully control natural energy, which is a remarkable existence.

If you want to go to the third stage and integrate your own fairy chakra, it is not a power that can be popularized casually.

"It seems that's all there is to it, but don't worry, Boss Fukasaku, I'll let him control his balance as soon as possible."

Zilai also felt that he was too hasty.

If you want to become a fat man with one bite, you will definitely kill Naruto to death.

The road to becoming stronger still needs to be done step by step.

"Well, I will trouble you. In addition, go to the workshop and get a few sage charms, and use them for Xiao Naruto, which can promote his growth faster, and even help him use sage arts in the future."

Sensei Fukasaku thought of something.

"Is that thing ready?"

Ji Lai also got excited.

"It's about the same. Although it can't be mass-produced, it is still possible to make a hundred and eighty copies."

"Great, this is like abolishing a general of the enemy! Then I won't stay here any longer, Naruto, pack up and salute, let's return to Konoha as soon as possible!"

Jiraiya was excited and urged Naruto to act quickly.

After speaking, without waiting for Naruto to respond, he hurriedly ran towards Mt. Miaogi's workshop.

Mist Hidden Village.

Shuiying office.

"This is a letter from the Kingdom of Ghosts."

Terumi Mei came to Yakura with a letter and said to him.

Yakura put down what he was doing, quickly took the letter, opened it and glanced at it, the expression on his face softened a little.

"How is the situation, Mizukage-sama?"

Terumi Mei didn't know what was written on it, but judging by Yagura's expression, something good should have happened.

"The country of ghosts has successfully contacted Ryuji Cave."

"So, is the threat from Mt. Miaogi lifted?"

Terumi Mei asked like this.

"It's true for the time being, but we need to play a game to know how it is. However, Ryuji Cave and Mt. Miaomu are both holy places, and the difference in strength between the two will not be too big. With the assistance of the Kingdom of Ghosts, it should not be a problem to join Ryuji Cave to capture Mt. Miaomu."

Yakura tapped the table with his fingers, expressing his opinion.

Even without Ryuchidong's assistance, he felt that it would not be a problem to take down Mt. Miaomu with the military power of the Oni Land, but it would be very difficult to operate in that way, and would be disturbed by various accidental factors, which would lead to certain deviations in the results.

"Next, you follow me to the Daming Mansion and meet with the Daming. Regarding the matter of going to the Fire Nation Council after the next year, we still need to make some preparations as soon as possible."

Soon, Yagura also made this decision.

"So fast?"

Terumi Mei was taken aback.

"Well, maybe the war will come sooner than we imagined. It was originally intended for Akatsuki and the other big countries to use the tailed beast as a flash point to weaken the strength of both sides, and then swallow them all at once... But now, the daimyos of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, and even our daimyo, seem to have other ideas."

Although Yakura knew that Oni no Kuni's actions would attract the attention of these daimyos sooner or later, he did not expect that these daimyos would unite so quickly. The ability to perceive the crisis is sharper than imagined.

And according to the information revealed by the daimyo of the country of water, the country of the earth seems to have plans to join the alliance and jointly sanction the idea of the country of ghosts. Of the first five major nations, only the Kingdom of Thunder remains, and their stance has not yet been firmly established, and they have other plans.

"If this is the case, then the next action needs to be more careful."

Terumi Mei thought for a moment and answered.

"Actually, there is no need to worry too much. This kind of alliance just looks like a lot of gimmicks, but in real operation, it is not so easy to run in because of internal trust issues. All countries have their own interests and demands. At that time, the only ones who will really contribute on the battlefield are Konoha and Sand Hidden."

Compared to Terumi Mei's cautious attitude, Yakura's attitude is a little more optimistic.

Leaving aside Sand Yin who is still in the recovery period, but Konoha...maybe those high-level people will burst out some big melons that will stun everyone.

Konoha's most powerful enemy is not outside, but inside. If this problem is not resolved for a day, there will always be huge hidden dangers. This is true for himself and for the allies.

(end of this chapter)