On the way back from Root's secret base to the Hokage's office building through the underground passage, "Kou" silently followed behind Yuhara and the Hokage. After getting away from Danzo, Yuhara began explaining the matter of the "Wood Style" to the Third Hokage.
"When I first came to Konoha, I became Lord Orochimaru's... well, subordinate, by a twist of fate. So for quite a long time, I stayed in one of his underground bases. During that period, Lord Orochimaru conducted all kinds of bold experiments. This 'Kou' was a Test Subject who happened to survive one of them. Before I left that base, I personally saw him use Wood Style."
There was no way the Third Hokage could be unaware of Yuhara's origins and experiences. He even knew that the strength Yuhara had displayed before was probably related to Orochimaru. Yet whenever something like this happened, the Hokage always fully embraced a certain style known as "pretending not to know when it was advantageous..." He did not investigate the source of Yuhara's abilities, nor did he intend to pursue the responsibility of his beloved disciple.
There were countless similar incidents. That was simply the Third Hokage's way of handling things: muddle through whenever possible, and keep postponing things whenever he could... until the lid could no longer be kept on.
"Ever since the Second Hokage's time, Konoha has never lacked people seeking and researching the First Hokage's extraordinarily powerful strength. Some of these studies were beneficial, while others were dark. Even I have found it difficult to completely halt this trend, because the First Hokage's power..." The Third Hokage suddenly fell silent. His face was filled with disbelief. After a pause, he continued, "I never expected Orochimaru to have actually achieved some results?"
As the shared disciple of the First