Rasa could see right through the meaning behind Michikawa's question. It wasn't hard to guess since Rasa was also about to become a father.
"Mm. With the current rate at which Dragon Oasis is expanding, it'll probably only take a year or two before it becomes visible to people in the village. So there's no need to keep it a secret anymore. That said..."
Rasa paused, his tone shifting slightly.
"To be honest, this place is still too far from Sunagakure. If you're thinking of sending Kunmi here just for training, it wouldn't be practical. Let him stay in the village. Apart from the methods developed by the Shinobi Sect, there's still no viable technique that allows ordinary people to harness Senjutsu Energy. And I won't have the time to develop one in the near future."
Michikawa gave a faint nod, a touch of disappointment flashing across his face, though he understood the reasoning.
Just then, Chiyo suddenly let out a mysterious chuckle and raised a surprising question.
"But what if this old lady figured out a way for ordinary children to train in Senjutsu Energy?"
The entire room went still.
---
Dragon Oasis, inside a three-story pavilion.
In Chiyo-sama's laboratory.
Everyone had gathered around a reinforced cage that held several white mice. Even with a casual glance, they could all clearly feel it: Senjutsu Energy was flowing inside the bodies of three of the mice.
"What is this?"
Pakura asked, startled by what she was sensing.
Only Rasa, eyes narrowing with precision, recognized the mechanism at work.
"A cursed seal."
"Exactly," Chiyo confirmed with a pleased nod.
"Ever since you asked me to come up with a method that would let ordinary people use Senjutsu Energy, I've been working on it nonstop. The breathing technique you gave me, though... it stumped this old woman. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. But thankfully, the cursed seal technique you provided last time sparked a new idea. I noticed that it worked in a way quite similar to how you share Senjutsu Energy through the Shinobi Sect's network. That gave me a thought, what if I could implant Senjutsu Energy directly into the bodies of ordinary shinobi using a seal? Then, through a gradual training process, they might be able to adapt to the energy and eventually sense and manipulate it on their own."
Rasa's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't even considered such a method.
"But it wasn't easy at first. You were able to let us use Senjutsu Energy because our bodies and chakra were already developed enough to handle the active transformation it triggers. Not to mention, you could finely control the amount of Senjutsu Energy we received."
Chiyo turned to the others, her voice turning more serious.
"Ordinary shinobi don't have that kind of control or resilience. I tried testing it on these white mice, but in the beginning, their bodies couldn't adapt at all. Some collapsed from chakra overload, others mutated horribly from the energy imbalance."
"But these mice look perfectly fine..."
Pakura pointed out, her voice tinged with surprise.
Chiyo smiled.
"That's thanks to the medical scrolls Yashamaru delivered not long ago. The outside world really is full of strange wonders. I always thought Tsunade-hime was the pinnacle of medical ninjutsu, but I never expected that man Shinnō to be even more formidable. His dark medical arts are terrifyingly effective. One of his techniques actually prevents the cellular breakdown caused by chakra rejection. Using that, I stabilized the seal's effects on the mice."
Rasa, though composed, felt genuine admiration stirring within him. Chiyo had managed to find a possible path he hadn't even dared explore, and it was already showing results.
At that moment, Rasa was genuinely astonished. The development in front of him had exceeded even his boldest expectations.
"So, have you succeeded?"
"You could say that…"
Chiyo replied, her eyes gleaming with cautious pride.
"By merging the Cursed Seal with some of the techniques derived from dark medical ninjutsu, I created what you see here, a new seal I call the Sage Seal. For now, though, I've only tested it on animals. As for humans..."
"I understand."
Rasa gave a short nod, then paused before asking directly.
"Chiyo-sama, how confident are you in applying it to a human?"
Chiyo's expression turned serious. She fell into brief thought before answering.
"I'm fairly confident. But as you know, Kazekage-sama, there's no such thing as absolute certainty. Especially with something like this, any misstep could be catastrophic."
"Mm."
Rasa had considered a riskier route earlier. He'd thought about using children from the academy with weaker aptitude as test subjects, reasoning that failure would pose less of a threat to the village's future. But even as the thought had surfaced, it struck him as reckless and crude. He dismissed it outright.
"From now on, I'll assign Baki's Anbu to assist you in secret. Everything must proceed with safety and stability as our highest priorities. I don't need the Sage Seal to turn our shinobi into monsters. It's enough if it can raise their base strength, even modestly."
"I understand, Kazekage-sama."
Chiyo responded with a respectful nod.
"Also, there's one more thing. I've developed a taijutsu system that's specifically designed to complement the Sage Seal. It's a framework that can't be tested on animals, though. I recall you once mentioned that aside from Seramu's daughter, there were three other children in the academy who could naturally sense Senjutsu Energy. I'd like you to entrust those three to me."
Chiyo's words sparked a memory in Rasa.
"No problem. I'll notify Baki and have him bring those three children to you directly."
With that matter settled, Rasa turned to Pakura, his expression darkening slightly as he recalled troubling news.
"I hear those three brats from Akatsuki are actually considering cooperating with Hanzō of Amegakure?"
---
Konohagakure.
The idea of forming a cooperative alliance between Amegakure and the Akatsuki had, in fact, originated from Minato Namikaze himself.
Ever since Shikaku Nara had returned from Sunagakure to deliver his report, Minato had come to a crucial realization: Rasa wasn't refusing to attend the Five Kage Summit out of apathy. On the contrary, he was waiting for the right justification. If that weren't the case, he would never have deliberately leaked the information that the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki was still alive.
Seeing an opportunity, Minato reached out to Iwagakure immediately. To his surprise, Ōnoki responded with notable goodwill, stating that he was willing to buy back the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki at the same price their village had once paid to Hashirama Senju. It was a gesture that hinted at Iwagakure's openness to peace, but for Minato, it still wasn't enough.
Around that time, an intelligence report landed on his desk, and there were signs of unrest within Amegakure.
The Akatsuki, the enigmatic organization that had rapidly risen to prominence during the war, appeared to be experiencing internal friction. As soon as he read it, Minato's sharp mind began calculating all the potential uses for this information.
Among the Five Great Villages, it was already an open secret that the Akatsuki had developed some form of connection with Sunagakure. Their recent public visit to the village had only solidified those suspicions. Minato began formulating a plan.
After consulting with his former mentor Jiraiya, who had once trained the three founding members of the Akatsuki, Minato drafted a personal letter to the group. His strategy was simple but precise: foster a cooperative relationship between Amegakure and the Akatsuki, then leverage their existing ties to Sunagakure to persuade Rasa to attend the Five Kage Summit.
However, what Minato didn't realize was that the intelligence he'd received about the Akatsuki's internal strife had been no accident.
It had been carefully placed before him by none other than Danzō Shimura.
As the newly appointed Hokage, Minato had not yet solidified his authority over the Anbu Black Ops. There were still layers within the village that operated independently of his will. In fact, even the scroll he had personally written and sent to Yahiko and his comrades had been intercepted and reviewed by Danzō before it ever left Konoha.
From the shadows, Danzō observed everything with quiet disdain.
"Minato... I'll let reality prove that you were never fit to be Hokage. This Five Kage Summit... will be the stage for your downfall."