Chapter 352: The Surprise from Kiyoshi Ishizawa
Only Danzō remained unwilling to let the previous matter go. He said, "Hiruzen, Kakashi..."
"Enough! Kakashi is Minato's student. He has inherited the Will of Fire. I trust him," Tsunade slammed her hand on the table.
Regarding this matter with Kakashi, Tsunade also felt powerless. Although Kakashi was the Fourth's student, seemingly from a pure and proper lineage who had always received the full support and training of the high command, this was only because the leadership couldn't find any other descendants of the proper lineage. They had placed their hopes on Kakashi only because they had no other choice.
The First Hokage had no disciples. The Second had quite a few. Konoha's "proper lineage" only consisted of two types of people. The first were the descendants of the past Hokage, namely the Senju clan and the Sarutobi clan. But none of the descendants of these clans had amounted to anything. The only one with decent talent, Asuma Sarutobi, had run off to the capital of the Land of Fire some time ago after an argument with Hiruzen.
The other type were the disciples of the Kage, or their disciples' disciples.
But if one counted carefully, among Hiruzen Sarutobi's line of successors, only Kakashi was suitable. Orochimaru had defected, so they couldn't possibly train his disciple, Anko. Tsunade had no disciples. As for Jiraiya's line, that was Minato Namikaze's line, and of the three students Minato took on, only Kakashi survived.
And if they didn't look within Hiruzen's line, they would have to find someone from Danzō's, Koharu's, or Homura's circles. Unfortunately, these individuals had not trained any disciples. Only Danzō felt he was still young, at the perfect age to serve as Hokage. In everyone else's eyes, the only suitable successor to the Hokage was Kakashi.
It was against this backdrop that Kakashi was pushed forward by the high command.
But Kakashi also had his political flaws. His father was a stain on the Third's administration, and his teammate Obito, representing the Uchiha clan, was a thorn in their side. Therefore, the Third and his cohort were both hopeful and wary of Kakashi.
Having been Hokage for some time now, Tsunade had gradually come to understand the minds of the Third and his advisors, which was why she interrupted Danzō in such a firm tone. She was genuinely afraid that her particularly persuadable teacher would actually be swayed by Danzō.
In Tsunade's view, Konoha could not afford any more internal strife. It could no longer withstand internal consumption. She could not watch another of Konoha's outstanding next generation be destroyed by their own people.
Thinking of this, Tsunade said, "Transfer Kakashi to my side to serve as my guard. As it happens, my Kage Guard has not yet been formed. Kakashi will serve as the captain of the Kage Guard."
"Absolutely not! Tsunade, you need to be clear on what you're doing! That is a Quasi-Kage who might have been brainwashed by Iwagakure!" Danzō roared at Tsunade.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "I have no objection."
He had no choice. Tsunade was now the Hokage, and a Hokage possessed many powers that others were not permitted to infringe upon. The advisors could veto the Hokage's proposals on some matters through voting, but the rules of Konoha stipulated that there were many things the Hokage could decide on their own. For example, the selection of the Kage Guard members: the Hokage could select four guards from the entire ninja system of Konoha. In theory, the Hokage could even transfer important members of Root to their own Kage Guard. As long as Tsunade wasn't afraid of being stabbed in the back, she could do so to weaken Danzō's power.
Hiruzen did not support Tsunade's decision, but he had to uphold the authority of the Hokage.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you will regret today's indecisiveness!" Danzō spat out angrily. Then, ignoring the attempts of Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado to stop him, he violently threw open the door and left the meeting room.
Having dodged a bullet, Kakashi took Shikaizumi Nara to the hospital and then walked alone through the streets of Konoha.
His mindset was different now, and his perception of the Konoha villagers had changed as well.
"Shikaizumi Nara-senpai was right. The villagers here also have that kind of confidence on their faces. And I can feel that everyone's confidence is more natural than that of the Iwagakure villagers. They've even made this confidence a habit."
"Perhaps in everyone's hearts, Konoha is supposed to be the strongest, and we villagers of Konoha are supposed to be happier than others. Perhaps everyone feels this isn't something to be particularly proud of, so they don't deliberately show it off like the villagers of Iwagakure. That's why I didn't feel it before. It is precisely this naturalness that makes the village more prosperous."
Subsequently, Kakashi turned his gaze in the direction of the Uchiha clan's compound and sighed inwardly. He didn't know if the conflict between the Uchiha and the high command would cause turmoil in the village and ultimately break this peace.
Just then, a voice came from ahead: "Yo, Kakashi, my eternal rival! Let's have a youthful duel!"
After speaking, Might Guy didn't wait for Kakashi's consent as he usually did, but launched a direct attack.
Although Might Guy's intelligence wasn't high, his intuition was sharp. He had noticed the change in Kakashi from the look in his eyes just now. Whether Kakashi was a Quasi-Kage or not, Guy didn't know. He only felt that Kakashi's current state was not right. He had to help Kakashi. As for the method of helping... a fight.
He was not good with words; fighting was what he considered the most effective method. When Kakashi had fallen into a dark period in his life before, this was how he had slowly fought him out of the darkness. So, no matter what kind of predicament Kakashi was in this time, Might Guy felt he could save him through fighting just the same.
This time, Kakashi also, unexpectedly, did not refuse. He directly chose to counterattack.
Having fought so many matches in Iwagakure and improved at a divine speed, Kakashi easily suppressed Might Guy. Even when Guy used the Eight Inner Gates Formation in the end, it did not change the situation.
However, Might Guy was not one to give up so easily. "Kakashi, truly worthy of being the rival I acknowledge! Let's call it a draw today. We'll compete again next time!"
Might Guy knew he was not as strong as Kakashi right now. No matter. He would just increase his training volume and catch up. If he couldn't even make Kakashi get serious when he was going all out, how could he pull him out of the darkness?
After Might Guy left, Kakashi said softly, "Guy, thank you. But... I have something I must protect."
Kakashi began to think about how to gather intelligence on the Uchiha clan. He needed to figure out who within the clan was pro-war and who was pro-peace. This was not easy for an outsider like him.
Whether he would ultimately choose one of the three paths offered by Ishiro, or which one he would choose, Kakashi hadn't decided. But making some preparations beforehand was definitely the right move.
After Obito's sacrifice, Kakashi had no friends in the Uchiha clan, not even someone he could talk to. In fact, Kakashi didn't just lack friends in the Uchiha clan; he didn't have many friends in all of Konoha. Even Might Guy had attached himself to him.
Thinking of this, Kakashi suddenly thought of someone: Shisui Uchiha. That genius of the Uchiha clan, the Uchiha known as "Shisui of the Body Flicker."
Kakashi and Shisui Uchiha didn't have much interaction. He had only seen the man and heard about his character. This was a kind Uchiha, just like Obito. Perhaps his thinking was not extreme.
But, he had to test him first.
...
While Kakashi was preparing to test Shisui, Ishiro, far away in Iwagakure, suddenly heard something that left him dumbfounded.
In the Tsuchikage's office, his student, Kiyoshi Ishizawa, was explaining something to him.
Ishiro's students rarely came to the Tsuchikage's office. This was a place for handling important village affairs, and his students knew their place and wouldn't disturb him here. Of course, there was another reason: Ishiro was rarely here himself.
But this time, Kiyoshi Ishizawa had come to the Tsuchikage's office on his own initiative because he felt the matter he had to report was very important.
"Try it again, try it again! I didn't see clearly just now. No, wait, wait, wait a minute. Let me call the other advisors over first. Let them see it together," Ishiro said incoherently to Kiyoshi Ishizawa.
Soon, the advisors arrived at the Tsuchikage's office, their faces filled with confusion. Seeing Kiyoshi Ishizawa standing nervously in the office, the advisors didn't ask what was going on, but they knew that Ishiro calling them here today must have something to do with this child.
"Alright, you can begin," Ishiro had calmed down considerably by now. He said to Kiyoshi.
"Mm," Kiyoshi acknowledged, then extended his right hand and began to channel his chakra.
A few seconds later, Kiyoshi's right hand actually began to slowly turn into water. However, this process was very short, and it changed back after only a few seconds.
"Hiss~"
"The Hydrification Technique!"
"That's right, that is definitely the Hydrification Technique of Kirigakure's Hōzuki clan!"
"This is incredible! Although the Hydrification Technique is a secret jutsu and not a Kekkei Genkai, I've never heard of anyone outside the Hōzuki clan being able to perform it."
"Kiyoshi Ishizawa, how did you do it?"
Including Kitsuchi and the two Tsuchikage assistants responsible for taking notes, no one in the office could remain calm. They all exclaimed in shock.
Ishiro had anticipated this scene. He didn't interrupt, waiting quietly for a few minutes for everyone to accept this fact before he spoke. "Kiyoshi, explain in detail. How did you achieve this?"
Kiyoshi Ishizawa said, "Master Ishiro, you gave me a scroll last time, the one obtained from that Sasori of the Red Sand that could perform Water Release ninjutsu. I learned the Hydrification Technique from that scroll."
"I feel that the scroll seems to have been made from someone's body. The material of the scroll was a ninja's body. I suspect that the ninja who was made into a scroll by Sasori was likely a ninja who could use the Hydrification Technique. Sasori used a special method to preserve that ninja's abilities."
"That's why the scroll had the ability to release Water Style jutsu, because the scroll was full of cells that could extract water-nature chakra."
"It's just that I have now used up all the cells within the scroll, and the scroll itself has disappeared."
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We've hit 400 Power Stones goal As promised This week, here's the bonus chapter. Thank you for your support—please keep it coming!