Crack!—the cane suffered again.
Danzo's face darkened as he continued his attack. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
But Homura quickly threw out a Doton: Doryūheki to block for Hiruzen. "Danzo, you need to rein it in. The clans have a lot of complaints about Root."
Danzo nearly crushed the cards in his hand. "Homura, you're a partner?"
Then Koharu followed with a Fūton: Shuriken no Jutsu aimed at Danzo. "Danzo, I'm a partner too. In this match, there's only the Kage and partners. No rogues, no enemy ninjas, and no spies."
"...Good! Very good!"
Danzo tossed his hand away and flipped over his identity card. "So you've all decided I'm the usurper and ganged up on me? I've toiled in the shadows for years, doing the dirty work none of you would touch. Now the Uchiha are gone, and you want to cast me aside like a worn-out tool?"
The three said nothing.
With what they knew about Danzo, calling him a usurper wasn't far off.
This man had even attempted to assassinate the Hokage, and his eyes were always set on the Hokage seat. If that wasn't a usurper, what was?
Hiruzen also set his cards down, took a deep puff from his pipe, and sighed. "Danzo, disband Root. The village is heading into an era of peace, and Root has become a hindrance to that peace. You should understand."
Danzo remained silent for a long while. But he had no room to refuse.
Yet deep in his eyes was a glint of ferocity and unwillingness. "...Fine. I'll hand over the list of Root members. But I want to keep a few aides."
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. "That's acceptable."
Danzo stormed out, but not an ounce of submission could be seen in his eyes.
Fine, he'd disband it. But with the curse mark he'd implanted on their tongues, those who left Root would still be his.
As long as he lived, the game wasn't over. He would definitely become the Fifth Hokage!
—That night, the first of the month—
Natsuki slipped into his special lab, carrying a flash bomb in his hand.
Channeling chakra, he absorbed the flash bomb's properties into his body. Then, imitating Tien Shinhan's stance, he planted his feet and pointed his fingers at his temples.
Buzz! A brilliant flash of light burst from his body, flooding the area.
Even though Natsuki was the source of the light, the flash still left his vision blurred. Any enemy in front of him would've been in an even worse state.
Natsuki was very satisfied. "Didn't think it'd succeed this easily. Still, I'd better carry extra sunglasses from now on. If I hit my team with Taiyōken too, no one will be left to back up the ambush."
First project done—time to move on to the next big jutsu.
He mentally conjured a massive forest in the lab and formed a rasengan in his hand, pressing it onto a large tree.
"Oretomo Nagasengan!"
"Suiton: Uzushio Futama!"
Boom! Natsuki hurled the scalding whirlpool water ball into the distance. It exploded on impact, unleashing a giant vortex that shredded an entire mountain to pieces, while a cloud of boiling steam swept out in every direction.
Thankfully, he'd thrown it far enough that he wasn't caught in the blast.
Clearly, after many tweaks, his version of Uzushio Furutama was far more stable and now usable as a long-range jutsu.
"Phew! Finally got it. All that research paid off!"
Natsuki grinned. He could now confirm his combat power was at least jōnin-level, only lacking real battle experience. That could come after graduation—no rush.
Next, he began testing other techniques.
He clapped his hands, and a huge Doton spinning top shot out of the ground, spinning violently and crashing down, instantly drilling a deep hole into the earth.
"Doton: Chōten Mawari!"
Then came the next move. He lifted a grindstone-sized spinning disk of water over his head. It whirled fiercely, emitting a terrifying slicing noise, then he flung it forward.
Zzzzz! The Suienzan spun straight through a mountain neck and beheaded it in one clean sweep—its sharpness was undeniable.
Natsuki then extended both hands. From his left fingers shot out razor-sharp chakra threads that cleanly sliced a thick tree into firewood. From his right hand came sticky chakra threads that easily latched onto several trees and ripped them from the ground with a tug.
"Yup, that's about it. These techniques should be more than enough for now. As for what's next, I'm aiming for the Hachimon and the Hatake swordsmanship. Once Hiruzen dies and Tsunade becomes the Fifth Hokage, I'll ask her for Hiraishin no Jutsu. When Konoha's short on talent, I doubt she'll refuse."
"But that's all theoretical. No telling how things will actually go."
"In the meantime, I can't waste the remaining years before graduation. The top priority now... is Sage Mode!"
In truth, the history of the ninja world held plenty of examples of absorbing natural energy. Even the library might have relevant texts, since Sage Mode wasn't a foreign concept to most shinobi.
Jiraiya, Minato, even Hashirama—each of them had mastered Sage Mode.
From the founding of Konoha to now, many had seen it. But few dared attempt it. Randomly absorbing natural energy turned people into stone.
Only Jiraiya and Minato succeeded thanks to the guidance of the toad sages.
As for Hashirama—he was the God of Shinobi. Of course he could use it.
So really, finding a method to absorb natural energy wasn't that hard. Even if the library didn't have it, worst case he could buy it at the Exchange Pavilion. No way he wouldn't get his hands on it.
Once he had it, he could safely conduct experiments in his lab without dying.
As long as he carefully adjusted the ratio of natural energy, physical energy, and spiritual energy, he would eventually master Sage Mode.
At that point, his power would skyrocket—easily Kage-level.
Everything was planned out.
—The next day, on the second—
Shino arrived at Natsuki's house.
Tenten was there too, flipping through a stack of scrolls. Shino wasn't surprised—Tenten had the house key and had long since claimed the role of lady of the house.
"You're here, Shino. Come on in. Tenten, you too."
Natsuki ushered them both inside and handed out sunglasses for himself and Tenten. "The light from Taiyōken is intense, so we need these. I'll teach you both now."
He shut all the doors and windows, strapped the flash bomb to himself, and assumed the stance to activate Taiyōken.
A burst of blinding light filled the house. Even with sunglasses on, the three of them struggled to see clearly. But that only proved how effective Taiyōken really was.
Tenten praised it. "This is a great move! The enemy would be instantly blinded—like lambs waiting for slaughter!"
Shino nodded in agreement. "Very effective. But we need to prep the team with sunglasses and come up with a code word. Once the signal is given, everyone puts them on. If not, and teammates get blinded too, it defeats the purpose."
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