Almost half a room was filled with scrolls and ancient texts, making for a breathtaking sight at first glance.
The Water Release scroll Tsunade brought back wasn't limited to just the Water Release techniques created by Tobirama Senju.
It also included many early Water Release training manuals passed down from the Senju Clan,
Countless notes left behind by predecessors: training experiences, ideas for developing new jutsu, and even casual writings inspired in moments of sudden insight.
All of these had been reorganized and annotated by Tobirama Senju himself.
These materials alone would make any Water Release specialist's heart skip a beat.
But Tsunade treated them like garbage.
She carelessly tossed them aside, brushed the dust off her hands, and returned to her room to continue developing her jutsu.
"Big sister, you're so generous! Just let me know whenever you want to eat something~"
Kei Yamanaka lavished her with flattery.
This was something capable of establishing the foundation of a ninja clan. It was beyond measure in terms of value.
It was the fundamental guarantee for a clan's heritage and stability!
As long as they possessed such resources, even if future generations turned out untalented or mediocre, causing the clan to gradually decline,
Once someone of decent talent emerged, the family could quickly rise again through this inheritance and continue thriving.
With such a massive gift dropped on him,
If Kei had still held onto even a shred of dignity, he would've grabbed her leg on the spot and belted out a song called "Ode to My Big Sister."
Of course, if he actually did that,
Kei wasn't sure if Kushina Red Pepper would lose it—but Tsunade absolutely would.
That older sister had never been known for her patience.
For those daring to take advantage of her, she had a complete set of highly effective countermeasures.
Pushing aside his stray thoughts and resisting the urge to bury himself in the study until all hours of the night, Kei started earnestly recreating various delicious dishes.
He had just returned from a mission yesterday.
Unless an urgent mission came up—one that required his specific skills to even stand a chance—
Given Konoha's current workload and the Third Hokage's usual practices, it would probably be at least ten to fifteen days before he received another assignment.
He had plenty of time to gradually absorb all the experience and knowledge passed down from previous generations.
"Oh, right, Kushina, how's Nine-Tails doing today?"
Kei suddenly asked. Yesterday, he had pulled a prank on the Nine-Tails that nearly caused it to lose control, so he was feeling a little worried now.
"Relax, relax~ I guided it properly today, and it laughed happily, honk honk honk honk~"
Kushina let out a burst of goose-like laughter as she said this.
But judging from her expression, currently, with Nine-Tails facing constant suppression from Kushina's continuously growing strength combined with multiple auxiliary techniques,
It really didn't pose much of a threat anymore.
"Don't keep bullying the Nine-Tails; that old fox has it rough enough already."
"Yesterday wasn't *you* who bullied it first? Today, it already started mimicking the curses from your genjutsu!"
"...I remember there's a sealing technique called Sealing the Mouth Technique."
"Yeah, but its rank is too low—the sealing power just isn't strong enough. Nine-Tails can easily break free with just a little force."
"Tomorrow just so happens to be the day Honoka's coming over. The two of you can work on an upgraded version together."
"Huh? Huh!? Seriously?! Is she really allowed to come over?"
"Don't worry, she's already gone through Anbu's reverse hypnosis interrogation today. Once that's done, no one will have any objections."
"Honoka's just too good~"
Kei Yamanaka and Kushina chatted away while deftly preparing various ingredients.
The Three Little Troublemakers watched the two work in perfect sync, feeling increasingly out of place. For some reason, this vast kitchen suddenly felt uncomfortably cramped.
——————
Konoha Hospital.
Orochimaru shoved open the hospital room door where Danzo was staying.
His hand tightened around the doorframe as it threatened to fall off completely, making his eye twitch involuntarily.
Who even builds a door with no screws that opens inward like that?
Glancing at the slightly warped door frame and the dented door itself, he immediately understood—Tsunade had been treating Danzo earlier today.
After dragging the door into the room, several banded krait snakes slithered out from his sleeve, carefully repositioning the door back into its frame.
"Looks like Lord Danzo's had quite the eventful day."
The snakes crawled back into his sleeve and vanished.
Orochimaru's lips curled upward, his normally sinister aura now tinged with eerie amusement.
He was certain Tsunade hadn't resolved Danzo's problems either.
But judging from Danzo's urgency, Tsunade must've given him some inspiration—otherwise this old man wouldn't have called him here so desperately.
"I need an ability that can fully resist or completely nullify these attacks."
Danzo ignored Orochimaru's taunting tone, focused solely on resolving his current issue.
Hiruzen always hesitated, lacking the decisiveness and strength required of a Hokage.
With rising tensions across the ninja world, if something happened to him, Hiruzen wouldn't be able to handle what came next.
"Body modification, Kekkei Genkai."
A glint flickered in Orochimaru's eyes as his long tongue licked his lips, instantly understanding Danzo's intentions.
"[Magnet Release], [Shikotsumyaku], and the [Hozuki Clan's bloodline limit]. What kind of success rates are we looking at?"
Danzo's sharp gaze locked onto Orochimaru's serpent pupils, awaiting his response.
"Magnet Release is uncertain—we don't have any Magnet Release test subjects available. Around thirty percent success rate for both the Takehira and Hozuki Clans."
"That's far too low."
"What I need are more test subjects—more samples of bloodline limits."
Orochimaru restrained his inner excitement beneath his usual cold demeanor.
He knew his experiments relied heavily on Danzo's support.
And this time, he'd caught Danzo at his most vulnerable moment—the resulting backing would be unprecedented.
This would propel his dream forward dramatically!
Immortality… Now *that* is a truly fascinating and intoxicating concept...
"My patience is limited."
"One month—no more than a month. Once the test subjects arrive, I'll boost the success rate above eighty percent."
"I hope you deliver on your words."
Danzo tapped his right index finger gently against the back of his left hand.
Though the words were laced with threat, not a trace of displeasure or panic crossed Orochimaru's face.
After all, he lied!
He genuinely lacked sufficient data on the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, making it hard to gauge even a rough success rate for its transplantation.
The Takehira Clan's Shikotsumyaku was notoriously dominant as well—the historical success rate had barely reached thirty percent.
But the Hozuki Clan's Kekkei Genkai wasn't an overt ability-based bloodline limit. If it was simply a matter of acquiring the qualification to master the Hydrification Technique, he was already over eighty percent confident.
After all, his good friend Shimon Hiruko was far more obsessed with Kekkei Genkai than himself.
Years of experimentation and research had already yielded relatively mature methods and a solid theoretical foundation for Kekkei Genkai transplantation.
[Chimera Technique]!
A truly extraordinary ninjutsu.
If only Shimon Hiruko hadn't wanted to push further—attempting to fuse multiple Kekkei Genkai simultaneously to achieve power beyond both Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tota—
That man could have already attained unfathomable strength, far beyond what ordinary people can comprehend!
What a greedy man.
Just like me!
"Well then, if there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave."
Orochimaru snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at the large door fitted into the frame, and decisively opted to leap out the window.
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