At the beginning of August, in the middle of the scorching heat, the clouds seemed to have melted and disappeared from the sky without a trace.

The damaged buildings in Konoha Village are still under construction, but almost twenty days have passed since the attack, and most of the work is gradually coming to an end and is in the final stage.

Although there is a sultry air in Konoha Village, Konoha is in the middle of the forest of the Fire Country, and even if the weather is hot, it is still within the tolerance range. The ninja on duty also did not complain, and was on duty at his post conscientiously to avoid the attack more than twenty days ago, which befell Konoha again.

It's not just the ninjas in the village who have resumed their work and have begun to get busy, and as the Hokage's Tsunade, the work at hand has never stopped from the beginning.

As the Hokage, there are too many things to deal with every day, especially in terms of task entrustment, which takes up almost half of the Hokage's working time. In many cases, although Tsunade knows that such a task is entrusted with such a job, and if it continues for a long time, it will soon be opened up by the country of ghosts, but such a 'tradition', to be honest, with Konoha in his current state, if he wants to change, he can't do it in a short period of time.

Although a lot of great things have happened in Konoha in the two or three years since she became the Hokage, her main focus is still on gathering power. If he can't even achieve this step, then this Hokage is just a puppet supported by the people below.

Moreover, no matter how friendly you are to the grassroots, it is not too realistic to want to learn from the teacher Ape Fei and cultivate a large number of diehards belonging to your own faction, without ten or eight years.

And by that time...... Tsunade couldn't help but smile bitterly and have a headache, at that time, he was already over sixty years old, and it was almost time to elect the sixth Hokage.

Regarding the election of the sixth Hokage, in fact, in the current Konoha Village, some voices that are not favorable to Konoha have already appeared.

For example...... There is no successor.

At present, among Konoha, there is no new generation of ninjas who can really provoke the beam.

Tsunade is very suspicious that he will continue to work in this position for the next twenty or thirty years.

Of course, if she can do it for twenty or thirty years, she can do it, and with her physical health, it is not a problem to live to the age of ninety. But only if it ...... Until then, there will be no new turmoil in Konoha.

Looking at the confidential information that had been sorted out and handed in by the dark department, Tsunade's brows were furrowed, and there was a sullen breath in her chest that could not be released, which made her worry about Konoha's future.

"It's too fast......"

Tsunade put down the document in his hand, and the content described on it was basically related to the country of ghosts, followed by the country of thunder.

These are the two most powerful powers in the military force of the ninja world today.

Regarding these two military powers, it is not a secret in the ninja world that small countries are used as a stage for fighting behind the scenes.

Among them, the country of ghosts is the most, and a considerable number of small countries have been enveloped, forming an alliance system with the country of ghosts as the core. The values and ideologies of these small countries have begun to tilt like the country of ghosts, and even in some places, shrines have begun to be built to worship the shrine maidens of the country of ghosts.

In Tsunade's view, this is even more terrifying than pure armed aggression.

The small countries that were intervened, at least did not have much resistance at the bottom, and almost all of the dissatisfied people were the country's aristocratic group.

Tsunade is well aware that this is the intention of the Oni Country to divide the upper and lower levels of these countries and provoke contradictions between the two sides.

has no longer concealed it, and completely stood on the opposite side of the one-country-one-village system established by her grandfather.

Although the ninja village nominally belongs to the state, it is actually only bordering the country's aristocratic group, because these nobles with a long heritage are the masters of the country.

But with the intervention of the Oni Country, the situation is completely different.

The next time the conflict erupts, it won't be too long.

Therefore, the idea of continuing to develop steadily in Konoha for twenty or thirty years is simply unrealistic.

In the first conflict, the Fire Nation organized the Fourth Shinobi War.

Now the Fifth Ninja World War, according to the current strategic arrangement of the Oni Country, it is estimated that it is not far away. And Tsunade has a hunch that the next war will not stop like the Fourth Ninja World War, and maybe it will not be a situation of death.

"However, even if you know, it's useless, that kid won't give Konoha such a chance...... Now Konoha also has no ability to start a war on his own initiative. ”

Tsunade rubbed his eyebrows, worried about this kind of thing.

Because the initiative is in the hands of the country of ghosts, if you want the country of fire to gain the initiative and gather all the power, it is a necessary premise, otherwise it will only repeat the mistakes of the past and increase casualties.

And if you want to regain all the power, with Konoha in her current situation, it will take several years of preparation.

While she was worried about this, the leader of the seventh squad, Amazo, knocked on the door and walked in, holding a thick document from his arms, which should have something important to report.

"Hokage-sama, this is something sent by Elder Danzang, please read it."

As he spoke, he placed the materials in his arms on Tsunade's desk.

Because this document was so important, Tenzo personally escorted it.

Maybe it's because of Shikamaru's relationship, the relationship between the Hokage faction and the martial arts faction led by Danzou has eased a lot recently.

Although it was an unexpected joy, Tsunade still didn't dare to be careless about the mind of Tuan Zang, and relaxed his vigilance.

This is a poisonous snake that hides in the shadows, and once it relaxes, it will be bitten by him fiercely.

However, after opening the documents, Tsunade's eyes widened and his face appeared with an incredible color, as if he was surprised by the contents of the documents.

"Are you sure this is someone sent by that old thing from Tuanzang?"

Tsunade closed all the documents in front of him and looked at Tenzo seriously, the surprise in his eyes not disappearing.

Although Tenzo didn't know what was recorded in these documents, he could tell from Tsunade's reaction that the information in the documents was very important to Tsunade.

So, he nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama, this is something sent by Danzo's confidant, the oil girl Nagen."

The other party is not only from the oil girl clan, but he is also a shinobi who is highly trusted by the group in the roots, and the things escorted by him will naturally not be simple.

Tsunade's brow furrowed, loosened, and looped back and forth several times, as if he was extremely confused.

"Hokage-sama, may I ask ...... on this?"

"Some of the information of the ninjas of the martial arts faction, looking at the meaning of the group, should be that they plan to integrate these forces into the Hokage faction."

For Tenzo, Tsunade doesn't think it's anything that can't be said.

Moreover, if you really want to take action against the martial arts faction, you also need to rely on Tianzang to lead the dark department to execute.

Tenzo's mouth opened slightly, as if he was also surprised by Tsunade's words.

That Elder Tuanzang would ......

Tenzo's reaction was expected by Tsunade.

In fact, regarding the suppression of the martial arts faction, she has been waiting for the opportunity to eat this powerful force, but she has never found a suitable opportunity, so she has to give up.

Now it seems that Danzou has offered to help, which makes Tsunade a little uncomfortable.

"That old guy in Tuanzang, it seems that his body is really ......"

Tsunade sighed faintly, thinking of something, and his eyes showed a color that he didn't know whether it was complicated or worried, making Tianzo wonder.

◎

"I haven't been able to find any tasks to do lately, and I feel like I'm waiting in the village, it's so boring!"

Inuzuka was lying on the cement pipe in the open space of the park, basking in the sun and complaining.

And the rest, such as Shino, Ino, and Dingji, were either leaning back or sitting on the cement pipe, listening to Ya's whining, and at the same time deeply agreed.

Due to the tension in the external situation, some high-level mission entrustment is to save money, except for some D-class missions that are not of much help to them, such as C-level and B-level missions, it is also difficult to grab them from the rest of the experienced ninjas.

Not to mention, their leader Shangnin, was also arranged to work in the village and had no way to go out.

As subordinates, they can only stay with them.

"What's the solution, I've heard that because of Sasuke's matter, the village is going to war with the country of ghosts again. Looking at this situation, from now on, the village is estimated to enter a state of readiness. ”

As the eldest lady of the Yamanaka family, Ino is much faster at collecting information than ordinary ninjas.

After all, when Sasuke attacked Konoha, some ninjas of the Yamanaka clan also suffered casualties, although there were not many, but many people in the family also felt resentment and dissatisfaction with this member of the last Uchiha descendant who was born in Konoha, and they wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

This made Ino's heart very complicated and guilty, and at the same time, he clearly ordered himself not to communicate with each other anymore and cut off the last trace of friendship.

After all, Sasuke had done such a thing, and she couldn't find any more reasons to excuse him.

"But there hasn't been such an order yet, so it's a bit too much."

Ya sat up straight from the cement pipe, holding Akamaru, who was about the same size as himself, in his arms, and expressed his opinion.

The voices in the village against Sasuke can't be stopped at all, although as classmates, even if they can't bear it, they can't change anything in the face of such a general trend. At the same time, because of Sasuke's involvement in the diplomatic problem with the country of ghosts, it was also completely detonated.

The fact that the country of ghosts has many criminals in Konoha has been criticized by Konoha recently, although I heard that the effect is not obvious.

The reason is that recently, the famous Fenghua Xiaoxue of the Snow Country made another phenomenal movie that swept the market, successfully taking the lead and attracting more people's attention.

"Not necessarily, it depends on what you think. However, I don't think the chances of victory on the village's side would be high even if the war broke out. ”

Shino pushed the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose and expressed his opinion.

"Shino, how can you grow the ambition of others and destroy the prestige of your own people? If war does break out, I'm going to do it next. I've heard that in war, ninjas can be promoted much faster than usual. ”

The tooth seems to be dissatisfied with the will is this pessimistic and negative thought.

Yes, death is faster than usual. Ino silently complained in his heart.

Not only did she learn the secret art of her family, but she also dabbled in some medical ninjutsu, so she once worked in a hospital for a while, and more than once received the job of comforting the wounded who had survived the war.

She could more or less guess that war was anything but something so light.

What's more, the opponent is still the country of ghosts who have defeated Konoha.

"However, Shikamaru and Naruto don't seem to be there, and the other two in Class Seven don't know where they are."

Ino looked around, but he didn't see Shikamaru and Naruto and the others.

"That'...... The ......" soft voice sounded, and Hinata, who had been quietly listening to his companion's words, slowly spoke: "In the morning, I saw Naruto-kun and the other two people from the seventh class going out, I think they should have gone to practice." ”

"Really? It's really hard. I heard that he repelled Sasuke alone this time, and the place where they fought, I took a look at it, and it was really miserable, and I don't know how to do it......"

Ino thought of something and secretly began to speak.

"So, what about Shikamaru? Dingji, I remember you said in the morning that you were going to visit Shikamaru's house. ”

As he spoke, Ino turned his gaze to Dingji, who had been eating snacks.

Ding Ji stopped chewing the potato chips.

"This matter, when I went in the morning, he had already gone out and didn't touch it, so I guess he wanted to be alone and quiet."

"It's not like him, and besides, when I went to deal with Sasuke before, he didn't even say a word to us, and he went alone."

Ino crossed his hands on his hips in dissatisfaction, and seemed to be dissatisfied with Shikamaru's solo action.

"I don't know about this, I always feel that he has something in his heart, and when he wants to say it, he should take the initiative to say it. Moreover, we can't rely on him and Naruto for everything. ”

Ding Ci didn't seem to care about it, just eating a snack.

Ino was slightly speechless, the guy who had been eating snacks was not convincing at all when he said this.

……

"Welcome."

There was no grand welcome ceremony, and standing in front of Shikamaru was an oil girl Nakine, a ninja dressed in pitch black.

Behind him, there were also two masked root ninjas who looked through the eye hole of the mask with indifferent eyes, examining Shikamaru from top to bottom.

Shikamaru stood still in front of the three of them, not saying a word.

Oil Girl Takone was not a man of many words, and felt that this was already a welcome ceremony, so she turned and entered the passage behind her, motioning for Shikamaru to follow in his footsteps.

Shikamaru was not afraid, but with the mentality of revisiting the old place, he once again entered this secluded passage that he had visited once in more than a month.

The renovated Konoha Torture Room has been completely reduced to a base for the root office.

This also makes some people think that the location of the heavy sentence room can be shifted, so as not to let the prisoners here get too close to the roots.

Not for the safety of the roots, but for the safety of the lives of the prisoners inside.

Follow the oil girl to the base until she stops in front of a room door, and the oil girl takes the initiative to push open the door, which is a small study with bookshelves on the walls and a large number of books and scrolls. In addition, there is a bed for resting and a writing desk for the office.

"From now on, this is your room, and you can use the contents as you like. The information files on the shelves can give you a faster understanding of the operation mode of the root mechanism. ”

Oil girl Takine didn't look at Shikamaru, just looked at the furnishings inside the room, and spoke like air.

"Don't you have to go to see Tuanzang?"

Shikamaru asked.

Oil Girl Tone shook her head, looked at Shikamaru and said, "To be honest, since more than two years ago, Danzo-sama's physical condition has been drastically declining. For the current Danzo Lord, rest is more important than anything else. If there is nothing particularly important, it is better not to bother him, and just tell me if there is something. Unless Danzo-sama takes the initiative to find you, understand? ”

After speaking, without waiting for Shikamaru to speak, the oil girl took the two root ninjas behind her and turned to leave.

……

In the underground ward.

Tuan Zang heard footsteps, and he was lying on the seat, and he opened his eyes quietly.

didn't speak, just stared at the oil girl who came over to find his roots with a pair of indifferent eyes.

Looking at the other party's outfit, it coincided with the dead subordinate in his impression for a long time, the oil girl Ryoma.

is also talented, and is also from the same oil girl family...... Entered the roots and became a nameless man in the darkness.

However, this nostalgia was quickly cut off by Tuan Zang.

Maybe he still has human feelings in his heart, but he has fallen to this point, and he definitely can't indulge in such nostalgia.

Because the remembrance of the dead is meaningless, people have to live in the present and in the future.

There is not much left of his life, and there is only one purpose left - to cut off all the people, organizations, and countries that threaten Konoha.

"Danzo-sama, Nara Shikamaru...... I've arranged it as you commanded. ”

The oil girl saw Tuanzang lying on the seat, sickly, and hesitated before speaking.

He had seen Tuanzang's cruelty, ruthlessness, and cold-bloodedness, but he had never seen the other party so weak and decadent.

So much so that he forgot that the old man in front of him was also a mortal.

In the face of the carving knife of the years, no matter how powerful the ninja is, there is nothing he can do.

What's more, there are still many hidden dangers in the body.

This is no longer an area that medical ninjutsu can reach.

Thinking of this, the oil girl, who had already decided to give up her feelings, couldn't help but feel sad in her heart.

"In addition, the information of some important personnel of the martial arts faction, I also handed it over to the Hokage according to your instructions. With the ability of the other party, you should be able to gather the main forces of the martial arts faction before your deadline comes, avoid internal strife, and better deal with the country of ghosts......"

The oil girl took the root and told Tuan Zang one thing to hear.

And Tuan Zang just opened his eyes and listened quietly, without saying a word the whole time.

It wasn't until the oil girl finished speaking that he slowly closed his eyes.

Seeing this, the oil girl sighed, knowing that Tuan Zang was not in a good state of mind, and left after bowing slightly.

◎

Sasuke returned to the land of demons in early August, close to the middle of the month.

Knowing that when they return to the country of ghosts, they will not have too many days to intersect in the future.

Kakashi would most likely continue to work in the intelligence department and then be transferred to an important ministry by his superiors.

And on his side, he also has to accept the arrangement of the Uchiha clan, but he doesn't know if he will be transferred there for the time being.

As for what kind of position the family will get for him in the military, to be honest, Sasuke doesn't care.

What he believes in is his own power.

As long as his strength is still there, without the help of his family, he can also gain a foothold in the military of the Oni Country.

On the contrary, if you don't have the strength, even if you have the help of your family, you can't go far.

From the very beginning, he had a very clear understanding of himself.

So, after arriving at the military region where Shion City was located, Sasuke said a brief goodbye to Kakashi and rushed all the way to the research area.

His next purpose is very clear, that is, to fuse Itachi's pair of kaleidoscope writing wheel eyes, let his eyes go further, and obtain the power to surpass the kaleidoscope writing wheel eyes!

Through a series of rigorous identity verifications, Sasuke arrives at the special research institute where Shiraishi is located.

The area is huge, but Sasuke knows that the only researcher who works here is Shiraishi and a woman named Nohara Rin.

Before he reached his destination, Sasuke saw Shiraishi in the hallway.

The other party should have already sensed his chakra and waited here in advance.

The other party's image is the same as before, wearing a spotless white coat, with his hands in the pockets of the coat, and a slight smile always hanging on the corner of his mouth, which looks quite affinity.

"You're here just in time, hurry up and help me transplant the eyes of the Itachi, don't tell me that it's been so long, and you're not ready to work here."

However, Sasuke ignored the affinity shown by the other party and said unceremoniously.

"I'm so anxious when I just came back, and I'm still a young man after all." There was no blame in Shiraishi's tone, and he just continued in a normal tone: "Don't worry, your brother's writing wheel, the result of the simulation fusion is going well. Coupled with my medical ninjutsu to give you a cover, there is no risk of failure. ”

"It's for the best."

"Follow me, the operating room is over here."

Shiraishi turned around and led the way ahead.

Sasuke followed him to an operating room with several computers on the screen, which showed a large number of writing wheel eye compositions, including the kaleidoscope writing wheel eye of him and Itachi.

And next to the operating table, there is a mature woman with a slender figure and also a white coat - Nohara Rin.

She held a glass bottle in her right hand, and a pair of scarlet eyeballs were soaked in the solution.

Sasuke could make out that it was the kaleidoscope writing wheel eyes that belonged to Itachi.

Taking a slight breath, Sasuke suppressed the inexplicable restlessness in his heart and tried to calm his mind.

"Come here and lie down."

Not caring about the tension in Sasuke's heart, which was so thin that it was almost non-existent, Shiraishi just lightly ordered, as if the next surgery was just a normal little thing, not worth mentioning.

Sasuke nodded, and as Shiraishi had requested, he lay down on the operating table.

Watching Sasuke lie down, Shiraishi reached for Sasuke's forehead and pressed it gently.

Sasuke immediately felt a strong drowsiness hit him, and he didn't resist, allowing it to erode his consciousness and let him fall into a stupor.

"Lynn, let's get started."

Seeing Sasuke asleep, Shiraishi's facial expression became solemn.

"Yes, Teacher."

Lynn pulled the lid and reached her finger into the scarlet eyeball in the glass bottle.

(End of chapter)