Bloodline Boiling!

Konoha, Hokage Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was pondering using the Crystal Ball on his desk to get a good look at Konoha's current state.

Kakashi had no problems for the time being. Though he had suffered a great deal, his resilience was still worthy of praise.

The investigation into the mysterious organization and Obito Uchiha had been handed to Danzō, and Kitagawa Gen had Jiraiya watching him, so naturally, he could relax a little.

"Hiruzen."

But just as he was about to infuse Chakra into it, Shimura Danzō suddenly pushed the door open and entered, instantly making him a little flustered.

"Danzō? What brings you here?"

Putting on a puzzled look, Hiruzen Sarutobi casually covered the Crystal Ball with a piece of cloth, then asked.

"Is there news from Kirigakure?"

"Hmph."

How could Shimura Danzō not know roughly what Hiruzen Sarutobi had been up to? But he could not be bothered to say much about it.

"There has been some progress in the investigation on Kirigakure's side. For now, we know they are in great chaos, and there seems to be a risk of civil war breaking out."

Shimura Danzō told the truth. He knew very well that if he wanted to regain all his authority, it was better to behave honestly for now.

After all, he was not the Hokage.

"Civil war?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, and his gaze immediately sharpened.

When it came to Kirigakure, his thoughts were the same as Shimura Danzō's. They both loathed them especially. If they really started fighting a civil war, that truly would not be a bad thing!

But given the current situation, he had to think a little more about it.

"So, you mean the person we need to investigate is assisting one side?"

"That's right."

Shimura Danzō nodded.

"Although the situation is tense now, I think it has not yet reached the most dangerous point."

"Oh?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. He had a feeling that this old friend of his was probably going to stir up trouble again.

However, he could not figure out where the problem was for the moment. After pondering briefly, he asked.

"Tell me your view, and what else you discovered."

"I found traces of Orochimaru. He is currently in the Land of Hot Water."

Since he had decided to sell out Orochimaru, Danzō had not the slightest hesitation.

"Orochimaru is a member of that organization, and the fact that he still has not gone to the Land of Water means the situation has not reached its most severe point yet.

So I intend to send in more of my people to conduct a deeper and more comprehensive investigation.

At the same time, we also need someone to track Orochimaru. That may be better."

"Orochimaru?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed. He probably knew Danzō's purpose now.

Sending his own subordinates over was nothing more than slicing the sausage, slowly restoring his own authority bit by bit.

But unfortunately, there really was nothing he could do about it. It was indeed reasonable to hand the investigation over to Root, and as for Orochimaru, he truly could not ignore him!

"Fine. I understand."

After pondering for a moment, he finally spoke.

"If the situation were extremely severe, he should indeed be in the Land of Water, but from the Land of Hot Water, he can also reach the Land of Water by sea.

There is indeed no problem with investigating his situation. As for your side..."

At this point, he stopped, as though he was still hesitating. After quite a while, he finally made up his mind and nodded.

"I will temporarily allow you to mobilize Root members for action, but you should understand the rules. No information can be exposed. I believe you understand that."

"Hmph, no need for you to remind me. Naturally, I know."

Shimura Danzō gave a faint snort and replied calmly, but in his heart, he was more than a little excited, because his goal had been achieved!

"Then I will take my leave first. I still have many things to do."

Without wasting any more words, Shimura Danzō turned and left. Only this time, even his steps seemed to have become somewhat lighter.

"..."

Seeing Danzō like this, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help rubbing the space between his brows.

But he could not be bothered to say anything more. After all, there was still a whole pile of matters to handle right now.

He gently tapped the desk, then said.

"Please bring Jiraiya here. I have something to discuss with him."

"Kid, looks like you've run into trouble too."

Deep inside a forest in Konoha, Jiraiya looked at Kitagawa Gen with a wicked grin on his face.

"How many days has it been? Looks like you still haven't grasped the key points."

"It is indeed a little troublesome."

But Kitagawa Gen did not get annoyed either. He shrugged and said.

"But if Lord Jiraiya didn't keep disturbing me, maybe I would have learned it long ago."

Time passed quickly, and a week went by in the blink of an eye.

During these days, he had been carefully recalling and organizing the information about the Flying Thunder God in his mind.

After all, this was not something the system had given him, and the scroll had long since destroyed itself automatically. He also could not copy it down, so the cost of integrating and learning it naturally doubled.

After all, for the sake of secrecy, this was also very normal.

Although Jiraiya was not very reliable, he had stayed with him these days. At the same time, to prevent him from getting stuck in a dead end, Jiraiya had also done a lot.

For example, he took Kitagawa Gen to relax and soak in a hot spring. For example, he taught Kitagawa Gen some other things so that he would not get overly tangled up in certain vexing problems.

In his words, it was a balance of work and rest. Besides, ninjutsu all shared common principles; when learning other things, perhaps he might gain something too.

But although it was well-intentioned, it really did interfere with Kitagawa Gen.

"You brag without even drafting it first. And you really don't know a good heart when you see one, kid."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. He plopped himself down and said unhappily.

"Space-Time Ninjutsu is far too difficult to master. Even this Sage has not grasped its key points.

The complexity of this kind of technique far surpasses other techniques. Otherwise, it would not be only the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage who mastered it.

Blindly drilling into a dead end is not a good thing. Relaxing at the right time will help you instead. This is my experience!

And you really are stubborn, kid. I told you to sign a contract with the Toad Clan of Mount Myōboku, but you refused. The Summoning Technique can be considered a kind of space technique too, right?"

"No. I don't really like toads."

Kitagawa Gen immediately shook his head, but he had bitterness in his heart that he could not voice.

If he still had an ordinary human bloodline, he naturally would have been willing.

The Flying Thunder God was hard to say, but it was also a variant of the Summoning Technique. Learning the Summoning Technique would naturally help him speed up his learning and understanding.

But the problem was...

"My bloodline is already Otsutsuki, and that old toad guided the Sage of Six Paths against Otsutsuki Kaguya back then. If anything gets discovered, it'll be hard to say what happens."

For safety's sake, Kitagawa Gen could only give up in the end.

"Tch, suit yourself."

Jiraiya pursed his lips and could not be bothered to say anything more about Kitagawa Gen. At that moment, however, he suddenly raised his head. From afar, he saw an Anbu coming this way.

"More trouble again?"

He raised an eyebrow, then stood and said to Kitagawa Gen.

"Looks like you'll be training on your own today. Work hard."

"Mm, I know."

Kitagawa Gen nodded, and Jiraiya immediately leaped up, leaving the forest together with that Anbu in the distance.

Watching Jiraiya's departing back, Kitagawa Gen stretched slightly.

"I really do need to work hard. This Flying Thunder God is kind of messing with my mentality..."

Among the techniques Kitagawa Gen had learned before, although some had not been granted by the system either, their difficulty was nowhere near as high as the Flying Thunder God.

As for things granted by the system, no matter how complex they were, all the knowledge would be thoroughly broken down and poured into his mind.

Learning them was naturally easy and convenient for Kitagawa Gen, unlike now, where he had to keep recalling and pondering on his own. His efficiency had naturally dropped far too much.

Moreover, the Flying Thunder God was especially complex, and there were also a great many things involved in it. That was why it had taken him so much time.

"But now I've more or less digested that knowledge. I can try it a little."

Closing his eyes, following the knowledge system he had built in his mind, he began to slowly mobilize his Chakra.

Time passed little by little, and the Chakra on Kitagawa Gen's body grew stronger and stronger.

All of a sudden, Kitagawa Gen seemed to catch a faint trace of spatial fluctuation. And the instant he truly delved into investigating that trace—

Buzz—

In an instant, he felt the Chakra throughout his entire body begin to erupt.

Most importantly, he felt that his blood had also begun to boil at this moment.