Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Conflict with Danzo, Becoming an Anbu Captain

January 1st, another new year.

This year felt very different to Natsuki.

First, because he and Yakushi Nonou had moved to the Senju clan compound.

During the New Year’s Eve crossing, they were joined by Tsunade, Uzumaki

Kushina, and Nawaki, making it livelier than in previous years.

Second, because the Second Shinobi World War had just ended less than two weeks

ago.

When Natsuki and Yakushi Nonou went shopping, the Konoha Village residents they

encountered were extremely enthusiastic towards him.

He could even get discounts or free items when buying things.

And the Konoha Village ninjas now didn’t dare to call him directly by his name,

adding the respectful title "Lord."

Although Natsuki wasn’t an adult yet, his combat record in the Second Shinobi

World War was too terrifying.

They could no longer treat him as a junior.

"Teacher, we’re here!"

Before even entering the house, Nawaki shouted loudly.

Hearing his voice, Orochimaru walked to the door and opened it.

"Teacher, Happy New Year!"

Nawaki, Natsuki, and Yakushi Nonou said in unison.

"Happy New Year."

A faint smile appeared on Orochimaru’s face.

For someone as stoic as him, this was already extremely rare.

"Come in."

Orochimaru turned and walked towards the living room.

Natsuki then closed the door and followed Nawaki and Yakushi Nonou to the living

room, sitting on the sofa.

"Teacher, these are the gifts we bought for you."

Nawaki took out a storage summoning scroll and said, "Remember to take a look

when you have time."

"Mhm."

After putting away the storage summoning scroll, Orochimaru asked, "Do you know

about Ryuchi Cave?"

"Teacher, are you going to make us contractors of Ryuchi Cave?"

Nawaki instantly became excited and said, "I’ve been looking forward to this for

a long time!"

"Ryuchi Cave is one of the Three Great Sage Regions for summoning beasts, home

to many powerful snakes."

Seeing that Nawaki had ignored Orochimaru’s question, Natsuki answered.

"Correct."

Orochimaru nodded and said, "I accidentally went to Ryuchi Cave before and

became a contractor of Ryuchi Cave."

After speaking, he took out a giant contract scroll.

"Natsuki and Nawaki, you two write your names on this first."

Orochimaru opened the contract scroll and said, "Nonou, you are a medical ninja.

The summoning beast of Shikkotsu Forest is more suitable for you."

Hearing this, Yakushi Nonou wasn’t surprised.

She was essentially Tsunade’s student, not Orochimaru’s.

"What are your thoughts on summoning beasts?"

Orochimaru watched them sign and asked.

"They are our friends."

Nawaki answered immediately.

"Collaborators."

Natsuki put down his pen and said.

"Both of you are somewhat correct, but the summoning beasts of Ryuchi Cave are

not among them."

Orochimaru said in a deep voice, "They treat their contractors with an attitude

of indifference and can kill them directly if necessary."

"Ah?"

A look of astonishment appeared on Nawaki’s face.

He completely didn’t expect there to be such fierce summoning beasts.

Natsuki wasn’t surprised because he had read the original work.

"Then should I still summon them in battle?"

Nawaki scratched his head and asked in confusion.

"You can summon them, but you need to be selective."

Orochimaru explained, "For example, there is a summoning beast in Ryuchi Cave

called Manda. Do not summon it unless absolutely necessary."

"Why?"

Nawaki asked subconsciously.

"It has an arrogant personality. If you want to order it to fight, you need to

prepare sacrifices for it."

Orochimaru paused and said, "The sacrifices it demands are living humans."

"???"

Hearing this, Nawaki’s face was full of question marks.

What do you mean the sacrifices are living humans?

Why do these Ryuchi Cave summoning beasts sound so evil?

Natsuki thought of Manda’s fate in the original work.

Uchiha Sasuke used it as a shield, letting it die in Deidara’s self-destruction.

In the entire ninja world, only between the Ryuchi Cave summoning beasts and

their contractors is there only mutual killing, no mutual love.

"Nawaki, although you have become a contractor of Ryuchi Cave, I suggest you

wait until you are a Jonin before going to Ryuchi Cave."

Orochimaru continued, "At that time, you can use your strength to subdue some

snakes to fight for you."

"Yes, Teacher."

Nawaki nodded.

After hearing how fierce Manda was, he naturally wouldn’t recklessly run to

Ryuchi Cave.

"The same goes for training in Sage Mode. You must be cautious."

Orochimaru reminded them.

"What is Sage Mode? Why do we need to be cautious?"

Nawaki hurriedly asked.

"Sage Mode can be understood as a secret jutsu unique to the Three Great Sage

Regions. Once learned, it can amplify ninjutsu and taijutsu."

Orochimaru replied, "But the training difficulty is very high. If the training

fails and your strength isn’t enough, you will be eaten by the Three Snake

Princesses."

"Eaten?"

Nawaki couldn’t help but click his tongue, "This Ryuchi Cave feels so

dangerous."

"The Three Snake Princesses are the higher-ups of Ryuchi Cave. Without

Jonin-level strength, it’s very difficult to escape from them."

Orochimaru paused and said, "There’s no rush for you. Natsuki can try training,

but he also needs to be fully prepared."

"I’ll go in a while."

Natsuki said without hesitation.

Although he didn’t know if he had the talent to train in Sage Mode, he most

likely didn’t.

Since that was the case, going would just be suffering.

It would be better to wait until he unlocked the Jiraiya template’s Sage Mode

before going.

"Teacher, did you successfully train in Sage Mode?"

Nawaki asked curiously.

"No."

Orochimaru shook his head and said, "Among the three of us, only Jiraiya has

some talent for it."

"It’s that hard?"

Nawaki widened his eyes and said, "Then I probably won’t be able to learn it

either."

In his view, the talent of Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya was already among

the top in the ninja world.

If two out of the three of them couldn’t learn Sage Mode, then the number of

ninjas in the entire ninja world who could learn it probably wouldn’t exceed

five.

"Once you have enough strength, you can go try."

Orochimaru didn’t hold much hope for Nawaki and Natsuki either.

After all, learning Sage Mode is too difficult.

But what if?

If they could master Sage Mode, their strength would advance by leaps and

bounds.

"Natsuki, come with me."

Orochimaru stood up and said, "Nawaki and Nonou, you two stay here and wait for

us."

Nawaki wanted to say something but stopped, ultimately suppressing his curiosity

and not asking.

Natsuki also felt it was strange.

He followed behind Orochimaru and soon arrived at the underground laboratory.

"Teacher, what are you researching?"

Natsuki raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but ask.

In the original work, Orochimaru researched many things, but without exception,

they all involved human experimentation, which was forbidden in Konoha Village.

For example, the Wood Release experiment and cloning technology.

And the Living Corpse Reincarnation body replacement experiment.

But right now, Orochimaru hadn’t turned evil yet, so logically, he wouldn’t be

conducting these experiments.

But theory is theory.

What if Orochimaru still walked this path like in the original work?

"The First Hokage’s cells."

Orochimaru asked in return, "Did you know that Konoha Village once conducted a

Wood Release experiment?"

Natsuki’s heart instantly skipped a beat.

Oh no!

Is Orochimaru going to cooperate with Shimura Danzo again to conduct the Wood

Release experiment?

In the original work, the Wood Release experiment they conducted severely harmed

innocents, leading to the deaths of multiple infants.

Ultimately, only Yamato survived and inherited Wood Release.

Orochimaru was also discovered because of this and defected from Konoha Village.

"I heard Teacher Tsunade mention that this Wood Release experiment was to

recreate Wood Release."

Natsuki asked in confusion, "Teacher, do you also want to recreate Wood

Release?"

"I had originally given up, but just a while ago, I suddenly realized

something."

As Orochimaru spoke, he took out a vial of the Red Healing Potion.

Natsuki was slightly taken aback, vaguely grasping something in his heart.

"The reason the Wood Release experiment failed was because the First Hokage’s

cells possess intense vitality."

Orochimaru continued, "After his cells are transplanted, they rapidly erode,

ultimately leading to the death of the transplanter."

Natsuki nodded slightly.

In the original work, the only ninja who survived directly transplanting

Hashirama cells was Yamato.

Others, like Uchiha Obito, also transplanted Hashirama cells, but the Hashirama

cells he transplanted weren’t the original version.

Of course, Uchiha Madara was an exception.

"Your Red Healing Potion contains the First Hokage’s cells."

Orochimaru said with shining eyes, "Logically speaking, drinking it should also

cause erosion, but it didn’t."

"I see."

Natsuki understood.

Orochimaru wanted to research the Red Healing Potion to eliminate the erosion of

Hashirama cells on the transplanter.

If he could truly succeed, it meant recreating Wood Release wasn’t impossible.

At the same time, he also felt relieved.

Orochimaru hadn’t turned evil, nor had he cooperated with Shimura Danzo.

Just researching the Red Healing Potion wouldn’t be as heinous as the Wood

Release experiment in the original work.

"If Teacher can recreate Wood Release, Konoha Village will definitely reach a

higher level."

Natsuki snapped back to reality and said.

But he knew this statement was somewhat inflated.

Whether it was Orochimaru or the other Konoha Village ninjas, they were all

shocked by Senju Hashirama’s strength and forgot one thing.

What was strong was Senju Hashirama, not Wood Release.

With Senju Hashirama’s strength, no matter what elemental jutsu he used, he

could become the God of Shinobi.

This can be seen from Yamato’s performance in the original work.

Although he possessed Wood Release, his strength was only that of a Jonin, a

hundred and eight thousand miles away from the invincible Senju Hashirama.

"Let’s not talk about uncertain things for now."

Orochimaru shook his head and said, "Now that the Shinobi World War is over, I

have some free time temporarily, so I’ll give it a try."

Konoha Village failed even after gathering the strength of the entire village,

so he wasn’t certain either.

But with the precedent of the Red Healing Potion, he believed there was a

certain success rate.

"I’m telling you this because you are the inventor of the Red Healing Potion."

Orochimaru added, "If I encounter related problems, I will come to you for

advice."

"Okay."

Natsuki actually didn’t know much about the Red Healing Potion.

After all, the formula was provided by the system.

But since Orochimaru said so, he couldn’t refuse.

"Teacher."

Natsuki suddenly thought of something, took out a ninjutsu scroll, and said,

"This is the Konoha Rokushiki I created."

He had already taught Tsunade, Nawaki, and the others, so he couldn’t play

favorites with Orochimaru.

He didn’t give it to him before because Orochimaru was the battlefield commander

and simply had no time to learn the Konoha Rokushiki.

"The Konoha Rokushiki currently only has four techniques."

Natsuki added, "But I added another taijutsu called Armament Haki."

Orochimaru didn’t refuse and took the ninjutsu scroll.

He had a dream to learn all the ninjutsu in the ninja world, and Natsuki’s

self-created ninjutsu was naturally included.

Moreover, he had seen the Konoha Rokushiki before, and it was indeed an

extremely outstanding taijutsu.

As for Armament Haki, he didn’t know what effect it had, but if Natsuki included

it, it definitely wasn’t bad.

After chatting, the two returned to the living room.

Today was the New Year, so experiments and research were temporarily put aside.

The four of them, teacher and students, sat together, eating, watching TV, and

chatting.

After lunch, Natsuki and the other two said goodbye and left.

Seven days passed quickly.

The New Year holiday ended, and it was time to go to work.

Early in the morning, Natsuki heard a knock on the door.

He changed clothes, went to the entryway, and opened the door.

"Nawaki, why are you here so early today?"

Natsuki asked in confusion.

"Aren’t you going to work at the Anbu today?"

Nawaki chuckled and said, "I’m going too."

"You joined the Anbu?"

Natsuki was stunned and asked, "Why didn’t I know?"

"I didn’t join. I’m just curious about the Anbu and want to go take a look with

you."

Nawaki explained.

"A place like the Anbu isn’t really interesting."

Natsuki said carelessly, "If you want to go, then let’s go."

"Who told you and my sister to disagree with me joining the Anbu?"

Nawaki’s mouth twitched, and he said with some dissatisfaction.

"Your top priority right now is to get stronger as quickly as possible. Joining

the Anbu will only waste your time."

Natsuki looked at him and said, "And joining the Anbu doesn’t mean I won’t do

missions with you guys."

"I know, you’ve already said it twice."

Nawaki looked around and asked, "I see you guys just got up. How about going to

my house for breakfast?"

"Then I’ll go get Nonou."

Natsuki nodded and agreed.

He went to Yakushi Nonou’s room and knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door opened.

Yakushi Nonou appeared wearing pajamas.

Her pajamas were very loose, looking like a short skirt on her.

The hem stopped at her thighs, revealing her slender legs.

Because she had just woken up and was still a bit groggy, she looked very

adorably dense.

"Change your clothes. We’re going to Teacher Tsunade’s house for breakfast."

Natsuki chuckled lightly and said.

Yakushi Nonou turned around, walked to the wardrobe, and began taking off her

clothes with her back to him.

A flash of white passed through Natsuki’s eyes, and he hurriedly closed the

door.

He couldn’t help but shake his head.

The two of them were too familiar with each other, making Yakushi Nonou

increasingly lack a sense of boundaries, or rather, completely unguarded against

him.

After breakfast, Natsuki and Nawaki headed towards the Anbu Base.

Yakushi Nonou, on the other hand, followed Tsunade to Shikkotsu Forest.

She successfully became a contractor of Shikkotsu Forest.

Among the Three Great Sage Regions for summoning beasts, Shikkotsu Forest is the

most special.

Ryuchi Cave is a group of snakes, Mount Myoboku is a group of toads, but

Shikkotsu Forest is a single slug.

The slug, also known as the Katsuyu Sage, its true name is Katsuyu.

Its personality is quite gentle, and its strength is also formidable. It can be

considered the most dedicated and responsible summoning beast.

Natsuki wasn’t worried at all that Yakushi Nonou would encounter any danger.

Mount Myoboku was relatively safe as well.

The most dangerous was Ryuchi Cave.

The two quickly arrived at the Anbu Base.

"Lord Natsuki."

The Anbu ninja guarding the gate took the initiative to call out upon seeing

Natsuki.

The news of Natsuki becoming the captain of the Anbu’s Fourth Division had

already been notified to all Anbu members.

"Where is my office?"

Natsuki guessed the reason and asked directly.

"First room on the fourth floor."

The Anbu ninja replied.

Natsuki nodded and walked into the Anbu building.

"So imposing."

Nawaki sighed emotionally.

In his impression, Anbu ninjas had always been extremely mysterious and

powerful, appearing superior in front of ordinary ninjas.

"When you become a Jonin, you’ll be even more imposing."

Natsuki glanced at him and said with a smile.

The two went up to the fourth floor and found an Anbu ninja already waiting.

"Lord Natsuki."

The Anbu ninja introduced herself, "I am Haru, responsible for briefing you on

the situation of the Fourth Division."

Natsuki remembered there was indeed an Anbu ninja named Haru in the original

work.

The reason he remembered was because she wore a distinctive frog mask.

Natsuki walked into his office.

A very ordinary office, nothing special, just a desk.

"Lord Natsuki."

Haru picked up a document from the desk, handed it to him, and said, "This is

the roster for the four squads of the Fourth Division."

The Anbu is divided into four divisions.

Each division has seventeen people: one division captain and four squads,

meaning four ninja squads.

Natsuki opened the document and began to read.

As expected of the Anbu, the four squads had six Jonin, two Tokubetsu Jonin, and

eight Chunin.

But that was normal.

The Anbu reports directly to the Hokage, and the missions they accept come from

the Hokage, all of which are highly difficult missions.

Ninjas without strength joining the Anbu would just be throwing their lives away

for nothing.

Under normal circumstances, Anbu conceal their identities, wearing Anbu masks

and using codenames to execute missions.

But Natsuki was the division captain and had the right to know the true

identities of his subordinates.

Among the six Jonin, many came from ninja clans, such as the Aburame clan.

"Lord Natsuki."

Haru reminded him again, "There is another document, which is the list of

external Anbu members."

Natsuki couldn’t help but be somewhat surprised.

In the original work, it was never mentioned that the Anbu had external members.

He took the second document and began to read.

After a couple of glances, he suddenly understood.

The so-called external members were Konoha Village ninjas sent as spies to the

major ninja villages. They communicated directly with the Anbu.

Besides that, there were also intelligence providers for the Anbu, many of whom

were not ninjas.

Natsuki nodded slightly.

This fit the setting of the Anbu’s intelligence department.

After all, one division has seventeen people, and the entire Anbu has only

seventy people.

If seventy people had to understand the situations of all the major ninja

villages, how busy would they have to be?

Having external members was very reasonable.

"First matter: contact the Konoha Maximum Security Prison and confirm the

Amegakure ninjas who can act as our inside contacts."

After Natsuki finished reading, he said.

He planned to use the surrendered Amegakure ninjas to control Amegakure.

After all, the number of Anbu was limited.

Now that Hanzo was dead, there would definitely be Amegakure ninjas who

understood the times and recognized the situation.

"Second matter: have the six Jonin of the Fourth Division gather at the Anbu

training ground at 1 PM."

Natsuki said with a smile, "I want to meet them."

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