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When the Hyuga father and son arrived at the Hokage Building, they saw that the Hokage Office was still brightly lit, with a few figures vaguely visible inside.
As one of Konoha's highest-ranking clans, the Leader of Hyuga Clan naturally had the right to meet the Hokage at any time.
However, as he strode in, he happened to see the clan leaders of the Ino–Shika–Chō clans leaving the Hokage Office together.
The eyes of the five instantly fixated for a moment.
They had just met in the Uchiha secret room not long ago, and now they ran into each other again.
The Nara clan leader smiled awkwardly: "What a coincidence, Lord Soumin must also have important matters to report, right?"
Hyuga Soumin returned a slightly stiff smile: "Lord Shikamaru has been working diligently until now; he truly dedicates himself wholeheartedly."
The two sides exchanged a few brief words and passed each other.
On the other hand, Hyuga Hiashi, who was beside them, looked like he hadn't seen much of the world. After the clan leaders of the Ino–Shika–Chō clans had gone far, he looked in their direction with a look of surprise:
"Father, they are also…"
"Hurry!"
Instead, Hyuga Soumin suddenly became a bit anxious; he didn't catch the first wave.
Unfortunately, when they knocked on the door of the Hokage Office, they saw that there were other people inside.
The Aburame clan leader and several clan members stood by the desk, organizing some intelligence around Orochimaru.
At this moment, seeing Hyuga Soumin bring his son, the face hidden beneath his sunglasses and trench coat showed no discernible expression. He merely paused for a moment, then nodded in approval towards them.
Those who understand the times are outstanding.
Clearly, the Ninja clans of Konoha understand this very well.
"Lord Soumin."
Tsunade, sitting behind the Hokage's desk, completely ignored their slight awkwardness, as if she knew nothing, and said: "May I ask why you are here so late, sir?"
"I have important matters to report."
Subsequently, Hyuga Hiashi followed his father and briefly explained the 'minor disagreement' that occurred in the Uchiha Clan's secret room.
Tsunade responded with a serious expression, but ultimately did not give a resolution. She merely stated that she understood, then easily sent the father and son away.
After they left, Tsunade let out a long sigh, a hint of a smile still on her face.
Clearly, people's hearts were burning.
No, more precisely, everyone stood on the side of the strong.
This was thanks to that brat, Sawara Kiri.
Tsunade thought this, her gaze glancing at the young man on the sofa beside her.
He was currently lying idly on the sofa, flipping through a colorful novel he bought from who-knows-where, reading it with great interest, occasionally with illustrations.
Then she looked at the various official duties she was busy with.
Suddenly, she felt a bit annoyed again.
This kid?!
"Hey, Kiri!"
"Go make me a cup of tea!"
Sawara Kiri lay on the sofa and lazily rolled over: "Go yourself, it's only a few steps."
He originally didn't want to get involved in these messy affairs here.
However, after Tsunade received news that a large number of Ninja clan leaders were gathering at the Uchiha Clan's compound, she dragged him, the backbone, here to deal with special situations at any time.
But the Ninja clan leaders who had made it this far weren't fools.
With such a huge power disparity, who would dare to risk their neck and stage a coup?
The Aburame clan leader was very self-aware.
Even before attending the meeting at the Uchiha compound, he had already submitted his pledge of allegiance to "Substitute Hokage Council."
Several Aburame clan members had entered the Hokage Office early, and the entire Ninja clan meeting was basically live-streamed, with various records perhaps even clearer than what they themselves remembered.
—In fact, this was also because most of the reforms by the "Substitute Hokage Council" faction would not affect this secret insect-user clan.
Their main business was in the cultivation and collection of insect materials, as well as daily luxury goods industries including honey, insect herbal medicines, and so on. They had ample room to pledge loyalty to "Substitute Hokage Council."
It wasn't just their clan.
This one evening, three or four waves of people had come and gone in the office, all coming to report and pledge loyalty—if such a Ninja clan alliance could succeed, that would truly be unbelievable.
He turned another page of the novel in his hand.
However, just as he was thinking this, he saw an Aburame clan member, who was sitting nearby maintaining a sensing hand seal, suddenly speak as if he had perceived something:
"Lord Orochimaru."
"Important intelligence obtained from the Leader of Sarutobi Clan and the rogue Ninja Uchiha Setsuna."
"Hmm?"
Almost at the instant this voice fell, everyone present swept their gaze towards this Aburame Jonin.
Even Sawara Kiri lifted his head from the sofa.
It had been an entire evening, and not a single piece of information had been deemed 'important intelligence' yet.
Without needing anyone else to instruct him, that Aburame Jonin immediately maintained his one-handed seal, staying connected with his insects, while quickly recording the dialogue intelligence on paper with his other hand.
After the entire conversation was over, everyone present couldn't help but become a bit more serious.
"Seven days later."
"Sawara Kiri will be sent to the Land of Lightning front lines?"
Orochimaru looked at the lines of text, his brows slightly furrowed.
As the war continued, those who understood the enemy's level best were naturally themselves.
After the Third Raikage's death, the only remaining threat in the entire Kumogakure should be the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, who was rumored to have not reached the level of a perfect Jinchuriki.
However, with his level, the combined efforts of Hatake Sakumo and Namikaze Minato were already enough to exhaust him on the battlefield.
If they weren't careful, the opponent might even die at the hands of the two of them.
Jinchuriki were not invincible.
Even if they colluded with other Villages, it was absolutely impossible to conjure a powerful combat force out of thin air.
So, what else could possibly force Sawara Kiri to enter the fray?
As for Sawara Kiri himself, he had stood up from the sofa at some point and was now standing behind the Aburame Jonin.
His gaze calmly fixated on the words 'take the opportunity to kidnap Sawara Yuki and Shizune,' saying nothing, just waiting quietly.
However, Orochimaru, who knew the young man even better than Tsunade, largely understood the moment he stood up.
This matter would likely cause a huge stir.
"Kiri-kun, stay calm."
Thinking of this, Orochimaru spoke first to reassure him: "Behind this Uchiha Setsuna, there should be other forces—as a mere rogue Ninja, he cannot cause too much trouble, whether within the Uchiha Clan or Konoha."
"Okay."
Sawara Kiri replied, then sat back down on the sofa.
However, he didn't continue reading the book in his hand. Instead, he opened his own system panel.
Recently, because he had been far from the battlefield and the smell of blood, and even the Hidden Mist, which was like a blade constantly hanging over his head, was gone, and he himself was known throughout the Ninja World for his invincibility, he found that he had indeed become somewhat complacent psychologically.
Whether it was Uchiha Madara, Kaguya, or Ōtsutsuki, they were all very far from him now.
In terms of strength alone, it was already sufficient.
However, he still lacked other means to quickly transport and protect others.
Originally, he had thought of using Limitless to strengthen Yuki as well, but unlike Megumi, she not only lacked a naturally large Chakra reserve but also wasn't very skilled at precise Chakra control. As a result, she still hadn't mastered the Yin Seal and Mystical Palm Technique, and still needed a longer time to grow.
So, now he could only rely on the four heart nodes he had saved up, and see if he could draw something useful from the system.
"Targeted Wishing Pool"
"Abilities"
"Talents"
"Items"
"Number of draws available: 4"
Just as he was thinking this and opened the Wishing Pool, he noticed that a new option had suddenly appeared in the selectable categories without him realizing it.
When did this pop up?
Sawara Kiri thought this, and the system's prompt sound already rang in his ears.
"Ta-da!"
"This is the reward for completing an intermediate-level heart node for the first time!"
"A reminder, there will also be a corresponding reward mechanism after completing a deep-level heart node for the first time, oh."
Upon hearing this, Sawara Kiri couldn't help but feel curious.
After opening the "Items" category, he saw four items appear in the center of the panel: "Weapons," "Armor," "Applications," and "Special."
The first two were relatively easy to understand, but the latter two options were a bit puzzling.
'What kind of things would the last two options draw?'
He tried asking the system.
"The universal capsules you received before belonged to the 'Applications' category. Besides that, it also includes daily usable items such as medicines, powerful daily necessities, special transportation tools, houses, and so on."
"The 'Special' category, on the other hand, can yield things like parts of anomalous creature corpses, S-class anomalous memes, and so on—Customer service here advises against drawing from this category carelessly."
Just hearing the System describe it, Sawara Kiri immediately wanted nothing to do with that last option.
Goodness, even when Ōtsutsuki arrived, it was just sword against sword, blade against blade, a few clashes. But this, this is good—it directly shifts from a shonen manga to a world-building scale.
If he wasn't careful, he might end up like the System, with her foul temper.
Sawara Kiri thought about it for a moment, then stepped out of his room and headed to the bathroom in the corner of the hallway.
He didn't overthink it; he'd first draw a piece of defensive gear for his Yuki.
"Target: Defensive Gear"
"Cost: 1"
"Let me see what goodies are inside!"
The familiar nonsensical words on the panel flashed and then immediately vanished.
A wide cloak with a somewhat familiar pattern appeared in the center of the panel.
"Witch's Cloak (B)"
"Information localized, completed"
"Details: A Chakra-based defensive item with anomalous properties."
"Mist: When not engaged in combat, a sensory-blocking mist shield can be formed within one meter of the wearer."
Sawara Kiri's eyes lit up.
Not only because the defensive gear had decent attributes, but also because after an item was drawn, as long as he didn't choose to immediately retrieve it, the equipment would remain stored within the system panel.
This meant he could now draw items freely, even in front of others.
After the first draw, his previously restrained urge to gamble immediately became hard to control.
Sawara Kiri stared at the panel, itching to try again, for a while, then finally drew one item each from "Items," "Abilities," and "Talents."
"Black Blade Shusui (B)"
"Navy Six Powers (B)"
"Perfect Bloodline (A)"
There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the first two B-rank items. Although the description for "Black Blade Shusui" included the line "even if a dinosaur stands on it, it won't budge an inch," for the current Sawara Kiri, it was merely a convenient item.
The only thing worth noting was the A-rank talent.
Almost the moment this talent appeared in the information bar, his existing "Kekkei Genkai (A)" began to blur, and in just a moment, both talents disappeared simultaneously.
When they reappeared, the name had changed.
"Kekkei Genkai · Evolving (S)"
The moment Sawara Kiri saw that line of text, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Although he was from the Kaguya Clan, he rarely used the 'Shikotsumyaku.' The only times he occasionally used it were with the Kaguya Clan's unique taijutsu.
At this moment, he instinctively extended his hand slightly forward.
Then he saw that the stinging pain of the skin breaking during the proliferation and growth process was greatly reduced, almost imperceptible.
At the same time, the condensed bone blade was incomparably sharper than before.
Even when cutting his own "Limitless," his Chakra felt a strange sense of consumption.
When he looked at the tip of this bone blade with his "Six Eyes," he saw a faint, extremely shallow layer of gray substance subtly covering the surface of the white bone.
He could feel his space being 'annihilated' by this gray substance.
Sawara Kiri's brow furrowed.
Clearly, this was a sign that his Shikotsumyaku was regressing to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's 'All-Killing Ash Bones.'
However, he didn't rely on the power of the Shikotsumyaku. If he developed some bloodline illness due to bloodline evolution, that would be too much of a loss.
However, when he dispelled his "Limitless" and allowed this layer of gray substance to cut his skin, he found that it had no reaction whatsoever on his body.
Sawara Kiri's azure eyes gradually brightened.
It seems this evolution isn't a blind, comprehensive evolution, then?
It wasn't just the enhancement of the Kekkei Genkai itself.
Even his Chakra, which had already reached Kage-level, seemed to have strengthened considerably during this process.
Although the increase wasn't huge, it was a continuous process.
He just didn't know how long this evolution process would last.
Thinking this, he resumed his previous displeased expression and returned to the Hokage Office.
In just this short time, the three people in the room had largely decided on a direction.
"Instead of just waiting for the other side to be ready, it's better for us to make the first move."
Orochimaru's voice was as calm as ever: "As soon as the Sarutobi Clan is ready to launch a strong assault on the Senju Residence, we'll take them all down—it just so happens that the reform process also needs some scapegoats to be sacrificed."
Jiraiya was clearly hesitant: "But if we do that, the casualties within the Sarutobi Clan might be uncontrollable, right?"
"If we could just punish the ringleaders—"
"Jiraiya, your ideas are too naive."
"Orochimaru, that's Sensei's clan!"
Just as they were still discussing, Sawara Kiri pushed the door open and entered from outside.
The argument between the two immediately stopped.
His timing for opening the door was too coincidental, so much so that it didn't seem accidental.
Orochimaru nodded cordially in his direction. Sawara Kiri didn't say much, but Jiraiya still shut his mouth.
Clearly, this issue had already been resolved.
What needed to be weighed next was how large this 'coup' needed to be.
The more during a period of reform, the more ruthless the internal cuts needed to be—the heads of the Sarutobi Clan alone were clearly not enough; they needed more restless individuals to join this 'feast.'
For a period of time, the entire Konoha Village maintained an eerie calm.
Neither the "Substitute Hokage Council" faction, which was about to wield the blade of reform, nor the various Ninja Clan leaders who had gathered people and loudly discussed how to obstruct the reforms a while ago, seemed to have made any moves recently.
However, beneath this surface calm, there was a turbulent undercurrent.
The Sarutobi Clan was using their utmost strength and most abundant leverage to continuously win over the various small and medium-sized Ninja Clan leaders who were also pushed to a dead end by the reforms. At the same time, the entire Sarutobi Clan was reorganizing their military affairs under various pretexts.
However, the actions produced by this entire process were very small, limited to a mere hundred or so elite Ninja. It didn't at all resemble a grand, sweeping movement to launch a coup, to the extent that even the Ninja Clan leaders who were in contact with them didn't think the Sarutobi Clan intended to directly confront the Hokage faction.
These actions were both reassuring and worrying.
Even though they were secretly allied with the Sarutobi Clan, these Ninja Clan leaders still had to consider the question of 'Does Sarutobi truly have the courage to stand against the Hokage Building by himself?'
Time quickly passed.
The sixth night.
On this night, when the entire Konoha remained completely silent.
Inside the Sarutobi Clan grounds, however, there was a chilling atmosphere.
One hundred and twenty elite Sarutobi Ninja, fully equipped and ready, stood in the center of the secret room, all looking towards the Leader of Sarutobi Clan who stood at the very front.
Originally, Sarutobi Saizo should have given a speech to boost morale.
But when it truly came down to making the decision, he found that it was all unnecessary.
He calmly looked at the people before him:
"Lord Hiruzen's disciples have betrayed his ideals, attempting to erase our Ninja Clan, who have rendered great service to the Village, from the Village, leaving us no place to stand. Hence, this desperate struggle."
"The rise and fall of the Sarutobi Clan rests upon this single action of ours."
Sarutobi Saizo spoke loudly, raising his Ninja blade high and shouting:
"Live through death!"
"Live through death!!"
All those who followed behind raised their Ninja blades high.
As elites of the Sarutobi Clan, Ninja who had enjoyed the vast majority of the clan's resources, they were both members of the Ninja Clan and the staunchest supporters of this special class.
Seeing that morale was high, Sarutobi Saizo immediately felt confident.
Now, he just waited for the news of Sawara Kiri's transfer.
However, just as the Leader of Sarutobi Clan turned his head with a slight smile.
"Bang—"
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