Strengthening Across the Board, I Want to Be the Next Asura!

"Lord Danzo, that's how it happened. Please forgive me, Lord Danzo. If we hadn't done that, it would have been difficult for us to return."

At Konohagakure's Root Base, Hidezawa looked at Danzo before him and maintained a respectful demeanor.

Especially after glancing at Aburame Ryūma beside him and the Root shinobi training outside, he felt it was better to behave himself a little until there was a necessary opportunity.

Danzo, meanwhile, had fallen into deep thought. Though his expression was restrained, his eyes looked almost exactly like Hiruzen Sarutobi's.

Perhaps even more stunned!

Danzo truly was stunned. He had never expected to hear such news.

Just as Kabuto's report had said, Hidezawa had actually turned Sunagakure upside down and done so many things in his name?

And yet, he could not find any reason to criticize him.

From Konohagakure's standpoint, forcibly destroying the peace agreement between Sunagakure and Kirigakure was equivalent to wiping out Rasa's leverage against Iwagakure.

A weakened Sunagakure was the kind of Sunagakure that served Konohagakure's interests. There was absolutely no doubt about that!

Besides, Danzo truly disliked Rasa. He still remembered the grudge from the Third Great Ninja War, and Hidezawa had directly found him an ally—Ebizo.

Even if Ebizo had not agreed yet, that was normal. Hidezawa lacked the authority, his promises carried little weight, and Ebizo was cautious enough not to compromise so easily.

But this was absolutely a good thing!

Sometimes, Danzo even wondered whether he himself could have done such a good job.

"No, you did very well. Extremely well."

After quite a while, Danzo finally reacted.

"Your growth satisfies me, and there was nothing wrong with your strategy. As for your mission, she is more valuable alive. Consider it completed."

Consider it?

Damn it, I worked that hard, and it only counts as 'considered completed'?

Hidezawa felt like cursing, but at that moment, his interface suddenly flashed.

Mission Completed: Resolve Pakura

Mission Evaluation: S

Reward Obtained: 5 Free Points

Special reward obtained for completing a high-difficulty mission

Danzo's Wind Release

After a brief daze, a respectful expression immediately appeared on Hidezawa's face.

"Thank you, Lord Danzo."

The special reward was not particularly impressive, since he had barely dabbled in Wind Release Chakra.

But those 5 Free Points were impossible to resist!

So the higher the mission difficulty and the better the evaluation, the more Free Points he would receive?

In the past, Hidezawa had always operated under the mindset of, 'I'm working for Danzo, and the monthly allowance is barely anything. Why should I risk my life?'

Besides, he was an old hand. As an "intern," he had always deployed alongside a team, allowing him to safely slack off. Therefore, he had only ever completed missions to the bare minimum standard.

Now, it seemed he could put in more effort in certain areas.

"Also, I will not pursue Kabuto's matter any further. He did contribute to this incident."

As Hidezawa pondered, Danzo continued.

"However, remember this: Root must still obey Root's rules. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

Hidezawa nodded repeatedly, while Danzo seemed to think of that troublesome "Kano" again. He simply waved his hand.

"Leave. Kabuto should be back by now. Go meet him. Also, I'll leave the follow-up liaison work with Sunagakure to you."

"I understand. Then this subordinate shall take his leave."

Hidezawa had wanted to leave for a long time. He truly had no interest in trading empty words with Danzo here.

Besides, he wanted to see exactly what his reward was like. Thus, he gave a slight bow and decisively left.

As for handling future dealings with Sunagakure, Hidezawa was not surprised in the slightest.

Danzo had directly squandered all of his most elite "Root 1.0" forces in the Rain Country. When facing the rampaging Nagato, he had nearly failed to return alive himself.

Danzo probably truly did not dare leave Konohagakure now. Only after becoming the "5.5th" Hokage would he dare to venture out again.

And the result—

"The late king's great enterprise was unfinished, yet he perished among the stable horses!"

Reaching a shady spot outside Root's entrance, Hidezawa simply sat down to wait for Kabuto while taking a proper look at his rewards.

"Another 5 Free Points. This time, I've really struck it rich!"

Although he had received rewards of 2 or 3 Free Points before, getting 5 or even 6 at once was genuinely rare for him.

He needed to think carefully about how to allocate them.

"I'll raise Yang Release to LV2 first, then put the rest into my Chakra reserves."

The power of Yang Release was indeed tempting, and his Yang Release seemed to have caught the same "Numerical Monster" bug.

Yin Release enhanced techniques, while Yang Release enhanced Taijutsu. It left Hidezawa rather speechless.

But he was still very aware of the importance of physical attributes.

He actually wanted to invest points into Yin Release, Yang Release, the Cursed Seal, and all the release techniques he was skilled at using, but without enough points, he could only choose what would strengthen him the most.

Certainly, investing in Yin Release and the Cursed Seal would yield decent results.

"But without a powerful body to bear and unleash those powers, they'd still be useless."

Shihara Hidezawa

Body Comprehensive Quality: LV7

Chakra: LV7

Abilities: Cursed Seal LV3, Yin Release LV3, Yang Release LV2, omitted.

Free Points: 0

Looking at the changes in his status panel and feeling the surging Chakra within his body, Hidezawa nodded in immense satisfaction.

"By now, I should count as an Elite Jonin, right?"

Though the strength of his release techniques might be a little lacking, his base attributes were right there. Combined with all those miscellaneous enhancements, his strength would only be greater!

As for Danzo's Wind Release—

"Can I obtain the Wind Release of a Jonin-level Danzo?"

Hidezawa found it rather amusing. This ability was somewhat similar to the Shinobi World Professor, except the Ninjutsu Doctor covered a far broader range.

It could designate a specific technique for improvement, while Danzo's Wind Release could only improve Wind Release.

"Not bad, though. Scorch Release requires Wind Release anyway. As long as I raise my Fire Release, I might be able to try it."

Hidezawa nodded. This trip to the Wind Country had also revealed some of his shortcomings. In certain environments, his offensive methods were still insufficient.

Water Release in particular had no chance at all to be used in that damned place called the Wind Country.

Now that he had Wind Release to make up for it, his combat strength would only become greater!

"Once I've improved my abilities enough, I'll focus on my physical qualities. I really want to see whether I'm truly advancing toward becoming Asura."

There was no upper limit to Hidezawa's growth. That was the system's definition.

But Hidezawa himself was also curious about just how far he could go, and now, he seemed to truly see some possibilities.

What made Asura so powerful?

Yang Release born from the mutated power of the fruit, along with physical strength—this suited Hidezawa more than Indra's eyes did.

Even without Asura's inherited Yang Release, his endlessly growing body still allowed Hidezawa to see hope!

"In that case, Naruto can step aside. I want to become the next Asura!"

Clenching his fist, Hidezawa made his decision.

But at that moment, he saw Kabuto, already changed back into Konohagakure attire, walking toward him.