Chapter 68: The Hokage Rock
Uchiha Madara's departure had no impact on the clans or civilians of Konoha.
Days passed as usual, and time flowed on. The only difference was that the Uchiha clan's voice in Konoha had diminished.
Although Uchiha Izuna had replaced Madara in the Council of Elders, even Madara couldn't do anything against the other three elders when he was around. Izuna stood even less of a chance.
In the blink of an eye, it was Year 5 of Konoha. The village had been established for four full years.
Masahiko walked through the streets of Konoha, where traces of the New Year celebrations were still visible.
Ever since Madara left, Masahiko had put improving his strength back on the agenda. He had been training hard for over half a year. After adapting to the strength gained from adding points, he had charged headfirst into the path of fusing Yin and Yang attributes...
However, until now, there had been no progress. With the New Year festivities over, he wanted to come out to clear his mind and change his way of thinking.
While Masahiko was pondering the reason for the fusion failure, the sound of clink, clank tapping in the distance snapped him out of it. Masahiko looked up and saw a person busy working on the massive cliff face behind the Hokage Building.
"Are they carving the Hokage Rock already?" Masahiko murmured.
He knew that Hashirama had this idea ever since Konoha was founded. Of course, Hashirama had originally intended for Madara to become Hokage and to have Madara's face carved on the cliff for the villagers to admire.
Unexpectedly, Hashirama became the Hokage in the end, and he hadn't mentioned the idea since. Now that Madara was gone, work on the Hokage Rock had finally begun.
Unknowingly, Masahiko walked to the base of the Hokage Rock, looking up in a daze.
"This will be the landmark of Konoha in the future, the Hokage Rock. I can already see the model of Hashirama's face..."
The person carving on the cliff face was also a ninja. Seeing Masahiko watching from below, he quickly ran down the cliff.
"Elder Masahiko!" he greeted proactively.
Masahiko nodded, glanced at the Hokage Rock again, and praised, "Nice work. You've captured the shape of Hashirama's face quite well..."
The sculptor smiled. "You flatter me, Elder! It's actually not that difficult. As long as you get the proportions right, anyone can do it. For example, the length-to-width ratio of Lord Hokage's face is about 6:4, and the distance from his eyes to his mouth takes up about 35% of the total length..."
The sculptor continued his explanation, but Masahiko had stopped paying attention. His mind was completely filled with the sculptor's first sentence: "As long as you get the proportions right..."
"Do Yin and Yang attributes also need the right proportions?" Masahiko murmured.
Previously, when fusing Kekkei Genkai or Kekkei Tota (Dust Release), he had fused the chakra in a 1:1 ratio. So, for Yin-Yang Release, he hadn't considered any other direction.
Action followed thought immediately. Ignoring the sculptor in front of him, Masahiko began fusing Yin and Yang attributes inside his body.
After repeated attempts, Masahiko fused Yin and Yang in a 2:8 ratio.
Before he could rejoice, his face twisted in pain. The fused portion of chakra was rampaging inside his body. Fortunately, the amount fused wasn't large; otherwise, he might have exploded...
Masahiko looked around. Residential houses were everywhere. Finally, he turned toward the Hokage Rock. Looking at the sculptor who was still explaining things, he smiled bitterly. "Brother, I have to apologize to you..."
Chakra gathered... Release!
And so, the sculptor watched as Elder Masahiko's face turned pained during his explanation. Then, a small black dot appeared in the Elder's mouth. And then... the painstakingly carved Hokage Rock exploded. Exploded. Ex... ploded.
"Elder Masahiko, you..."
"Sorry. I don't know what came over me. I think I just fired a Tailed Beast Ball..."
Half an hour later...
Hokage Building.
Hashirama looked at Masahiko in front of him, a slight headache coming on.
"Great-Uncle, are you saying you accidentally blew up the Hokage Rock?"
Masahiko spoke sheepishly, "I don't know what happened just now. I felt like I transformed into a Tailed Beast and fired a Tailed Beast Ball..."
Hashirama clearly didn't believe him, but he didn't know how to press the issue. "Then..."
Masahiko volunteered, "Don't worry! It's just a Hokage Rock, right? Your Great-Uncle will carve it for you personally!"
"Elder Masahiko, that won't be necessary. Let me do it!" The sculptor standing nearby, who had come to report the incident, spoke up. He hadn't dared to interrupt the conversation between the Hokage and the Elder until now. Hearing Masahiko propose to carve it himself, he had to interject.
Carving the face rock for the Hokage was a matter of great pride for a sculptor, especially for Hashirama. He didn't want to give it up.
Masahiko saw his thoughts and said, "Let's do it together. It'll be faster with two people..."
And so, for the next period of time, Masahiko joined in the carving of the Hokage Rock.
At first, he naturally caused all sorts of trouble, making the sculptor's face turn bitter as he realized how hard this job was going to be...
However, a day later, Masahiko instantly transformed into a master sculptor, leaving the sculptor dumbfounded.
The reason, of course, was that Masahiko used a Witness Point:
Sculpting: LV6 (10000/20000)
Although he still had 20 Witness Points, he didn't need his sculpting level to be too high. There was no need to carve Hashirama too realistically... that would only make Lord Hokage look undignified.
A month later, Masahiko stood under the cliff, looking at the completed carving, slightly lost in thought.
"Here, in the future, Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato, Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto... will all be carved."
"Wait, Tobirama can't be carved up there! He should just be Hashirama's guard for the rest of his life..."
"Great-Uncle, I heard the Hokage Rock is finished?" Tobirama's voice interrupted Masahiko's thoughts from the side.
"Yes. Call your brother over to take a look!" Masahiko turned around with a smile, showing no sign that he had just been "cursing" Tobirama. "Er, it seems the sculptor already went to find Hashirama..."
"Great-Uncle, the older brother you carved looks a bit stern." Tobirama looked at the Hokage Rock. Before Masahiko could explain, he continued, "But this is perfect."
"I thought so too. Otherwise, if future generations saw that the First Hokage was a goofball, I'm afraid... they would lose confidence in Konoha." Masahiko laughed.
A short while later, Hashirama rushed over. He was very satisfied with the Hokage Rock. Perhaps in his own mind, he was a stern and serious person...
With the Hokage Rock incident settled, Masahiko finally had the chance to study his fused Yin-Yang Release jutsu.
"It wasn't really a Tailed Beast Ball, was it...? I'm not a Jinchuriki." Masahiko tried again in an open area. The result was still spitting a sphere of chakra from his mouth.
He tried adding the 2:8 Yin-Yang Release mixture into the Rasengan and Rasenshuriken. The resulting jutsu turned a black-jade color. The power increased significantly, but the consumption didn't increase by much.
"In that case, besides the high-damage, high-consumption Dust Release, I have another killing method. Although its power isn't up to Dust Release, it saves a lot of chakra..."
"But still... I really did fire a Tailed Beast Ball, didn't I..."
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