The Hokage Position, Cultivating the Three-Tails

After returning to the Hokage Office, Minamoto Takuya still did not make a decision. He planned to take things one step at a time. Perhaps when the time came, he would know whether he should save the couple whose fate had left so many Hokage fans sighing in regret.

He gave a simple report on this mission. After all, he had not seen much himself. The real report should be made by Kakashi Hatake after he woke up.

"I see. Rin Nohara still couldn't be saved?" The Third Hokage let out a sigh.

He was saddened by the death of one of his villagers, but even more than that, he was worried. Naturally, he knew about Kakashi Hatake's experiences.

He had entrusted Kakashi Hatake to Minato Namikaze in hopes of saving that genius. Now, it seemed the situation might become even more serious...

If Kakashi Hatake truly became crippled because of this, it would undoubtedly be a major loss for all of Konoha!

The Third Hokage took a pained drag from his pipe. The white smoke he exhaled obscured his expression.

What a headache. For now, he could only trust that Minato Namikaze would be able to save him.

"I already understand the process. The mission... counts as completed, and your reward will be given according to A-Rank mission standards. Now you won't have to take missions so late at night anymore, right?" The Third Hokage made light of his troubles and teased Minamoto Takuya.

A mission that belonged solely to the village naturally had to be paid for by the village treasury.

"Yes." Minamoto Takuya nodded. At present, he was free to take missions or not.

He still had many things to research, such as Mind's Eye of the Kagura, the sensory ninjutsu of the Uzumaki Bloodline. He also needed to put the study of Lightning Release Ninjutsu and Wind Release Ninjutsu on the agenda. There was still... much to do.

So he was not in a hurry to fuse a second bloodline for the time being.

"Well then, Hokage Lord, it's getting late. I'll head back first. You should rest early too, Hokage Lord," Minamoto Takuya said. He had arrived at the Hokage Office rather late to begin with, and this unexpected incident had occurred midway through.

Thus, the Third Hokage had not rested either. By now, it truly counted as the dead of night.

"Hehe, all right. Go on back first," the Third Hokage said gently.

After Minamoto Takuya left, the Third Hokage let out a deep sigh. With no one around, exhaustion finally appeared on his face. Many matters seemed to have already slipped beyond his control.

It left him mentally and physically drained. Perhaps it was time to hand this position over to the next generation.

As he thought this, two different figures seemed to emerge in his mind.

One was his disciple Orochimaru, cold and sinister, someone who inspired fear and made others afraid to approach.

The other was his granddisciple Minato Namikaze, who had always been like sunshine—popular, well regarded, and more than capable.

As he compared the two in his mind, the Third Hokage gradually made his choice.

If there had been no Minato Namikaze, perhaps Orochimaru would have been the only choice. After all, the few who were qualified were none other than his disciples.

But Tsunade and Jiraiya had no interest in the position. Moreover, Tsunade suffered from hemophobia, a psychological condition fatal to a medical ninja, while Jiraiya had grown too accustomed to being a prodigal and had no desire to be bound by the position of Hokage.

Therefore, without Minato Namikaze, even if Orochimaru was unsuitable, he would have had no choice but to select him. He couldn't exactly choose Shimura Danzō, could he? Shimura Danzō was not any younger than him!

But with Minato Namikaze, everything was different. Compared to Orochimaru, Minato Namikaze had almost nothing but strengths, without any of Orochimaru's flaws!

"Let's wait until the war is completely over." The Third Hokage made his decision.

Elsewhere, Minamoto Takuya sensed the Three-Tails Chakra within his body. At this point, he could not be considered a Jinchuriki. There was no Three-Tails inside him, only a portion of its chakra.

At that moment, he began mobilizing his own chakra, pouring it into the seal.

Naturally, he did this to cultivate the Three-Tails Chakra. Although the amount he had collected was not small, it was still insufficient compared to the chakra of the Three-Tails in its complete form.

This involved the question of how to cultivate Tailed Beast Chakra, but it was not particularly difficult to solve.

In the Original Work, the Nine-Tails Chakra within Sora had been cultivated by his father Kazuma from a wisp of leaked Nine-Tails Chakra until it could erupt with the power of six tails.

Of course, Sora had continued to go berserk afterward before being reformed by Naruto Uzumaki's Talk no Jutsu. But Minamoto Takuya estimated that seven tails would have been the most he could reach. Six might even have been the limit.

Besides Sora, Orochimaru had also cultivated a massive Eight-Tails Horn from fragments of an Eight-Tails Horn.

Therefore, Tailed Beast Chakra could definitely be cultivated.

This matter was not difficult either. Minamoto Takuya had figured it out with ease. He was not Kazuma; his mastery of Sealing Jutsu far surpassed Kazuma's.

He would neither grow an extra monstrous palm nor go berserk at random.

Then again, Sora would not go berserk at random either. His berserk episodes were the result of his father's deliberate guidance.

But keeping Tailed Beast Chakra sealed in his body was not a good thing, especially once he cultivated enough of it. Naturally, he needed to find a suitable storage vessel.

Minamoto Takuya looked into the distance, toward the Land of Rain.

Jiraiya's three disciples were there. He had originally thought that obtaining the Chimera Technique first would make him miss the events there.

But now, it seemed Shimura Danzō had yet to join forces with Demigod Hanzo to frame the Akatsuki Organization, so there was still time.

Unfortunately, Minamoto Takuya did not know much about the situation over there. He had used Crows to locate traces of the Akatsuki Organization, but...

Even if Nagato's Rinnegan had been acquired later in life, it was not for show. Nagato discovered his Crow, and the result was obvious.

Thus, it was not easy for him to use Crows to monitor the Akatsuki Organization's movements now.

Furthermore, neither Shimura Danzō nor Demigod Hanzo were easy targets to monitor. Sending a Crow once was fine, but if it happened too often or lasted too long, it would inevitably be discovered.

Not everyone was as crude and weak as Hiruko.

Then again, if Hiruko had not been weak, he would not have developed the Chimera Technique in his pursuit of strength.

As for Shimura Danzō, one could call him wicked, but not weak.

He had used Wind Release to beat the overpowered Sasuke Uchiha into that state. His Wind Release had even cut through Susanoo. Although it had not been Susanoo at an advanced stage, before that, who would have imagined that Wind Release could cut through Susanoo?

And if Sasuke Uchiha had not had companions, Shimura Danzō might really have succeeded.

There was also Hanzo. Since he had been called a Demigod, his reputation was well earned. His abilities could not be underestimated.

Therefore, Minamoto Takuya could only monitor the movements of the Amegakure Ninja. When they proposed talks with the Akatsuki Organization, that would be when he went to Amegakure.

As for his goal? The Rinnegan was impossible, but... he could take a portion of something else!