Search and a Small Matter Concerning His Son

The Hokage's Office.

Shuichi looked relaxed as he leaned back in his recliner, watching the large group of young ninjas in front of him.

"Well then, congratulations."

From today onwards, you are officially Chunin of Konoha Village. From now on, you will all be capable ninjas who can stand on your own. Don't let me down!

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

"No problem, teacher!"

"Okay..."

Several newly promoted Chunin responded in unison.

Sasuke's lips curled up slightly.

Sakura, Shino, and Neji all wore calm expressions, some serious, some resolute.

Shikamaru seemed a little lacking in enthusiasm at the end, but judging from his expression, he actually took it quite seriously.

"Also, Tengji, Jonin, right..." Shuichi turned to look at another group of people.

"Both Hozuki Suigetsu and Terumi An from your village are outstanding individuals with great potential. The ninja leaders from various countries and I believe they are qualified to serve Chunin. I wonder if Kirigakure agrees?"

Tengji was a middle-aged man with a somewhat fierce expression.

But now he stood ramrod straight, his attitude unusually respectful. "Thank you for your recognition, Lord Hokage."

We certainly agree, and hope to hold Joint Chunin Exam again in the future.

"Haha, that would be perfect," Shuichi smile.

"Thank you for your recognition, Lord Hokage!"

Hozuki Suigetsu and Terumi An stepped forward side by side, their faces showing no arrogance, and bowed slightly to Shuichi.

The unexpected events of the Chunin Ninja Exams Konoha. Even though the Hokage made proper arrangements, the life-or-death struggle was still very dangerous.

However, the effects of this battle were truly immediate.

After all, this kind of "forced" display of force is far more shocking than the Chunin Ninja Exams.

The nations of the Shinobi World, to varying degrees, are aware of the power of Konoha.

From the Hokage to the Jonin, and then to the new generation of Genin, they all displayed strength and depth that overwhelmed other ninja villages.

Having experienced it firsthand Mei Terumi was very decisive; the effort to befriend the Land of Fire must continue.

As the Mizukage, she had to return to the village as soon as possible. Before leaving, she specifically instructed the Jonin and Genin who remained in Konoha to lower their guard a little.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated that Kirigakure was going to become someone else's subordinate, the general idea was pretty much the same.

Since the village itself wasn't significantly affected, Shuichi, the Hokage, was quite carefree.

After quickly eliminating the rebels, they decided to continue the interrupted Chunin Ninja Exams, ensuring that all the spectators who had traveled from afar did not leave empty-handed.

After witnessing the high-level duel Genin, the employers naturally gave Konoha a huge thumbs up and were also impressed by Purple Aurora's confidence.

It seems that from now on, sending a request to Konoha will be the most reliable option...

After the newly Chunin left, Shuichi stayed in the office to organize the documents.

Bai was still helping out, as there was a lot going on lately.

In addition to envoys from various ninja villages, large and small, coming to express goodwill and request exchanges, he also had to arrange all sorts of follow-up tasks for the ninjas.

After all, the village is no longer the Konoha of the original story. It was attacked but powerless to fight back, and it didn't even have the strength to track down Orochimaru.

"Lord Hokage..."

Just then, a member of the Anbu suddenly appeared and quickly reported to the leader, "The third squad has completed its mission and all members have returned."

A large number of people, documents, and experimental equipment have been discovered at Orochimaru's stronghold. They have been moved outside the village and are awaiting your instructions.

"Thank you for your hard work." Shuichi slowly stood up. "Proceed as before. First, identify the test subjects and ninjas. Put all the data into the storage room. I'll go check it out right away."

"Yes!"

After Orochimaru was sealed by Uchiha Itachi, the prescient Shuichi certainly wouldn't let go of Orochimaru's various experimental bases, at least not wanting Kabuto Yakushi, who had escaped, to use them at will.

Therefore, he directly dispatched a large number of people to the Land of Fields to quell any potential riots in the Otogakure in advance, and to collect Orochimaru's research findings.

It must be said that the consequences of acting recklessly are indeed terrifying.

In just a few years, Orochimaru built up an extremely large personal force. Shuichi made arrangements based on his memories from the original story, Anbu only had time to clear out Orochimaru's three major strongholds.

There must be places we've missed; there are probably countless more hidden outposts.

Even so, the village prison was almost overflowing with the hundreds of extra people, and that was after excluding the mutated Cursed Seal test subjects, ninjas with special abilities, and so on.

Shuichi arrived at the underground base of the Anbu and inspected each of the newly furnished large rooms.

When they clashed at the Heavenly Citadel that day, Orochimaru wasn't lying; the subordinates he sent to attack Konoha were all mediocre cannon fodder.

They're probably the group of people with black stockings on their heads, only showing their eyes, who were wiped out by Sasuke in the original story.

Among the large group of people brought back by the Anbu, there are quite a few skilled individuals.

However, the bizarre features on many of these individuals all reflect the horror and taboo of Human Experimentation, which would certainly cause extreme discomfort to ordinary people.

For example, a latent "expert" whose anus and digestive system have been modified, requiring only one bowel movement every few months;

A highly skilled listener with ears larger than half a head;

A person with exceptional eyesight, whose eyes resemble those of an eagle;

Mutant Speedster with modified reflexes...

Finally, Shuichi also found a test subject equipped with Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Fortunately, Yamato, who discovered this person, Yamato very clever and immediately covered up the news.

Otherwise, if the Uchiha Clan finds out, it will inevitably cause some minor trouble.

"..."

As expected, Orochimaru's research process was very "rigorous"; he didn't just approach Itachi based on guesswork.

They probably tried many ways to enhance those Three-Tomoe.

Ultimately, it was deduced that only the Mangekyo combined with a powerful soul could possibly achieve the Rinnegan, and Sasuke, who only Two Tomoe, thus luckily escaped this fate.

"Huh, what's this?"

Shuichi paused, paced around the room filled with experimental supplies, bent down, and picked up a jar filled with a clear solution.

A fist-sized chunk of white flesh floated in the jar.

"The true form of the White Phosphorus Snake? That makes sense; many strongholds probably hide it..."

After thinking about it, he decided to put the thing away; he might need it soon.

After inspecting everything the Anbu had brought back, Shuichi quickly assigned tasks to the ninjas in the Medical Department, Intelligence Department, and Research Department.

Villages with research value will be selected for study, while more taboo projects will be temporarily shelved and reopened when the time is right...

It was already afternoon when he left the Anbu Base. Back at the Hokage Building, Shuichi decided to work diligently for a while longer.

No sooner had he sat down than Bai walked in from the doorway and immediately spoke to him:

"Lord Hokage! Lord Kurenai just informed me that Takuma seems to have... accidentally hurt someone."

She's hiding at home and not saying a word. I don't know how to comfort her. You should go see her as soon as you have time.

"Um?"

Shuichi's expression remained unchanged; judging from his pale complexion, the situation shouldn't be serious.

"I understand. You can come along too, and tell me what happened on the way."

Leaving a Wood Clone behind to keep watch, the two left the Hokage Building and headed towards the large Villa.

During the journey, the Anbu responsible for protecting Takuma arrived quietly and explained the whole story to Shuichi.

It turns out that this afternoon, Takuma was playing a game with his friends when he suddenly used his Explosion Release, injuring a child of the same age.

Fortunately, the other person was not seriously injured; only some flesh was blown off one arm. After receiving treatment and bandaging at the hospital, they have safely returned home.

However, the other children were truly terrified. After all, it looked like just a light touch, followed by spurting blood. These little ones, only a few years old, had never seen anything like it.

An unavoidable fear of contacting Takuma again arose.

But the other party was the Lord Hokage's son; they dared not flee, nor dared they stay.

The more sensible Takuma could only manage a wry smile, walk away on his own, and then retreat to a corner at home, becoming somewhat withdrawn.

"I see..." Shuichi.

It seems that my son is indeed very talented.

Shuichi n't want to force him to become a ninja, so the focus now was on counseling him and comforting the injured child and his family.

As parents, we must set an example and set a good example for our children in how to conduct themselves; this is an inescapable responsibility.

Back home, Shuichi slowly walked to the rooftop terrace.

The little one is sitting quietly in a secluded spot, hugging his knees with both hands.

Hearing footsteps, she peeked back and, seeing it was Shuichi, immediately fidgeted nervously, "Father, I..."

"I've heard about it." Shuichi Earth Flow his side and patted Takuma's head. "I know you didn't mean it, right?"

"Yeah, but seeing everyone's expressions, I don't know how to explain it..."

Takuma's eyes reddened. "The adults around me all say that I will be an excellent ninja in the future."

But in that instant, I felt like I couldn't control myself. Did being a ninja mean I had to hurt the people around me?

"Of course not. Power is for protecting those you cherish." Shuichi said seriously, "What you need to do is not run away, but to fully control it and use it in the right place."

"Facing all problems and difficulties head-on is what a real man should do; wallowing in self-blame and sadness will do no good. Get up, let's go see our injured comrade..."

At dusk, on the streets of Konoha.

The villagers saw the Lord Hokage walking down the street with his child and greeted him warmly, to which Shuichi responded in kind.

Before long, two figures, one tall and one short, arrived at Hani's door.

After a gentle knock, the door opened quickly, Special Jonin, Hani Shun, looked at the visitor with surprise. "Lord Hokage..."

"I apologize for the intrusion, Hani!" Shuichi said politely, his tone clearly apologetic, bowing slightly. "My son unintentionally injured your daughter today, and I have brought him here specifically to apologize. I hope you can forgive his recklessness."

"You're too kind, Lord Hokage!" Hani Shun was somewhat at a loss. He really hadn't expected the Fifth Hokage to come in person and adopt such a humble attitude. "My daughter's injuries are not serious; she just needs some rest to recover."

"I see. Luckily, Takuma didn't cause any major trouble. I'll definitely teach him a lesson from now on." Shuichi sigh of relief and said with a smile:

"Could I see the child? Takuma to apologize to her in person; maybe they'll grow up to be comrades-in-arms."

"Ah... of course, no problem!" Hani Shun hurriedly replied, "Please wait a moment, my daughter will be right there..."

A moment later, a big-eyed girl with one arm wrapped in bandages and pigtails came out. She was a little flustered when she saw Shuichi and Takuma at the door, but with her father's gentle tug, she managed to get closer.

"Yuna, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I hope you can forgive me!"

Takuma a little nervous, then put on a flattering look and handed her a stack of books. "These are comic books that my father specially drew for me. I'm giving them all to you now, okay? Please continue to play with me from now on!"

"..."

When Shuichi saw Takuma using his manga to pick up girls, he couldn't help but laugh and cry. "This kid has quite a future. He's acting like a simp for the Hokage's son, and in the end, he's got everything he could want!"

Young girls are indeed easy to fool; the exquisitely colored comics instantly captured their attention, and the two little ones were soon playing together again.

Shuichi and Takuma stayed at Hani's house for about ten minutes before ending their visit.

Afterwards, they went to the homes of the other frightened children one by one. With the Lord Hokage's intervention and a substantial "bribe," the matter was easily resolved.

As the sun set, Shuichi walked home hand in hand with his son, lost in thought, "It's time to teach Takuma chakra training."

This will bring about a new revolution in the ninja profession, but who knows how long that will take... Oh well, let's think about the future later."