Chapter 194: Two Years Later, Konoha Starts Stirring Trouble
In the days that followed, Yahiko and his team, eager to grow stronger, asked to train alongside Li Yao and Yuzu .
This unexpected blessing made Li Yao pleasantly surprised, and he agreed on the spot.
Training together naturally meant frequent sparring.
Which, of course, involved frequent physical contact.
So Li Yao dubbed himself a taijutsu master, claiming he would not use ninjutsu in order to help Yahiko's team sharpen their reflexes in life-and-death close combat situations.
In truth, he wanted frequent physical contact with Nagato to better and more quickly perceive the nature shifts of the Rinnegan's ocular chakra within his body.
Time flew.
Two years passed.
Konoha.
Evening.
Sakumo Hatake walked home beneath the glow of the setting sun. The fading light bathed his neatly groomed white hair in a golden shimmer.
(PS: Sakumo Hatake is referred to here by his full name, Hatake Sayun.)
"Lord Sayun, long time no see!"
"We just met three days ago, Brother Inokawa."
"Did we? Haha, I must've forgotten!"
"Would you care for a drink, Lord Sayun?"
"Another time, Uncle Yunye."
As he walked, villagers warmly greeted Sakumo. He responded to each with a calm smile, seemingly aloof but actually very approachable.
Even more impressive was that Sakumo remembered everyone's names, when they last met, and even what they were doing at the time.
It gave people the sense of being seen and valued.
After all, only those who care remember the little things.
These small, everyday gestures won him great favor among the villagers.
Of course, Sakumo's ability to recall every name and detail stemmed from his exceptional memory and observation skills as a shinobi—not necessarily personal affection.
But this talent still earned him widespread admiration in Konoha, especially among the civilian populace.
That admiration surged after the Second Great Ninja War, where Sakumo earned the title "Sakumo of Konoha" with legendary feats.
"One day, Lord Sayun should be Hokage."
"I support Lord Sayun as the next Hokage."
"If Lord Sayun became Hokage, he'd be the kindest one ever."
Before, though Sakumo's talent rivaled or exceeded the Sannin, he lacked fame.
But in the latter part of the war, when he single-handedly held down an entire front and drove back Sunagakure, his name roared through the land, outshining even the Three Legendary Ninja.
At last, the public goodwill Sakumo had built up in Konoha transformed into real influence.
Even though the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was still vigorous and in office, villagers had already begun debating who the next Hokage should be.
And that... irritated Hiruzen.
He had always thought that only the Uchiha clan posed a political threat to his position—he didn't expect a sudden rise from Sakumo Hatake.
Unprepared, he quickly promoted Sakumo to head of the ANBU. His own son could no longer serve in that role, so the timing was perfect.
His intent? Assign Sakumo to dwell in darkness with the ANBU, hoping that public favor would fade and the talk of next-Hokage would die down.
But instead—people misunderstood.
They believed Hiruzen was grooming Sakumo to succeed him. Giving him command of the Hokage's personal black ops was seen as a sign of trust and succession planning.
After all, everyone knew the ANBU were a direct extension of the Hokage's will, responsible for both personal protection and secret missions.
Entrusting that to Sakumo could only mean one thing: Hiruzen was preparing a smooth transition.
Hiruzen almost spat blood.
His carefully crafted "boil the frog slowly" plan had backfired—spectacularly.
Not only did the villagers continue to support Sakumo as the next Hokage—they now assumed Hiruzen wanted him to succeed.
Worst of all?
Sakumo himself started believing it. He began acting with the sense of responsibility fitting a future Hokage.
And to make matters worse, Konoha's major clans began treating him as such too.
That... was the real crisis.
Civilians were manageable—but the great ninja clans were the true power bloc within the village.
Especially the Uchiha.
They were ecstatic to see someone capable of dethroning Hiruzen.
Without the Hokage's constant suppression, they believed they could restore their former glory—and possibly claim the position for themselves in the near future.
So the Uchiha publicly voiced their full support for Sakumo.
With their backing, all major clan elders began treating Sakumo as the next Hokage.
The momentum was now beyond Hiruzen's control.
He couldn't exactly say, "I'm not stepping down!"
And even if he were to step down—he certainly didn't want Sakumo as his successor.
He had three disciples—it should be one of them.
Frustrated and unsure how to stop the rising tide, Hiruzen finally entered the Root base.
He couldn't delay anymore. If this continued, public opinion wouldn't be about whether Sakumo should be Hokage—but when Hiruzen would finally step down.
Inside a sealed chamber in the Root base.
Hiruzen met with his old comrade—Danzo.
"What brings you here?" Danzo asked, glancing back curiously.
"You don't know what's been happening in the village lately?" Hiruzen scowled, clearly displeased with Danzo's apparent loss of political awareness.
"What happened?" Danzo was genuinely puzzled. Ever since the war ended, he had buried himself in Hashirama Cell research.
Li Yao and Sarutobi Ayase's son—named Konoha Hatsune—had cells that displayed extraordinary compatibility with Hashirama's DNA. During the first experiment, he successfully assimilated raw Hashirama cells and developed Wood Style similar to Li Yao's early abilities.
Danzo and Hiruzen were ecstatic. They began researching the cellular factor that allowed this compatibility.
Their theory: if they could isolate and inject that factor into themselves, they too could awaken Wood Style.
But nearly three years had passed since the war, and the experiment hadn't yet succeeded.
The compatibility factor had been extracted, but it was severely diluted—only capable of accepting similarly weakened Hashirama cells.
Implanting such cells would slightly enhance physical strength and chakra volume, but not bestow true Wood Style.
Danzo's current experiments were focused on refining and enhancing this compatibility factor.
In the middle of the chamber, floating inside a massive glass tank filled with blue fluid, was Konoha Hatsune, curled like a fetus. Transparent tubes ran from his body, drawing out samples.
Danzo spent his days here, running experiments using the extracted compatibility factors.
Despite the lack of final results—
The success of the first raw Hashirama cell graft had given him hope.
So much so that he'd shut out the outside world—and had no idea that Hiruzen's hold on the village was slipping.
Only after Hiruzen explained the situation did Danzo realize how bad things had gotten.
He was still politically tied to Hiruzen.
If Hiruzen lost power and a new Hokage took over—especially one who disapproved of his methods—there'd be no way he'd be allowed to continue experimenting on a child.
"So, what's your plan?" Danzo looked at his old friend.
(END CHAPTER)
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