Deputy Director of Konoha's Research Bureau

"I never imagined I'd see Princess Tsunade's Summoning Technique Katsuyu, the Slug, one day."

As the Katsuyu disappeared before his eyes, Maruboshi Kosuke remarked with considerable emotion.

"Huh? Uncle Kosuke, you've actually seen Lord Tsunade's summoning beast before? Speaking of which, isn't Captain Kazashiro a disciple of the Third Hokage? How come he can summon Lord Tsunade's summoning beast?"

"Yes, back in the day I went on missions with the Sannin."

Maruboshi Kosuke said with a chuckle, a nostalgic look on his face.

"Really? Uncle Kosuke, you're an Eternal Genin? No, wait, how could Eternal Genin possibly use such a powerful Water Release!"

Tokiyoshi Kan subconsciously referred to Maruboshi Kosuke as a "Eternal Genin," but then he instantly remembered the incredibly powerful Water Release the other had just unleashed, and his worldview began to crumble slightly.

"Haha, don't worry about the details."

Maruboshi Kosuke let out his signature laugh, put his hands behind his back, and slowly began cleaning up the battlefield.

"Speaking of which, why didn't Captain Kazashiro just take care of that intruder? The opponent already used Water Release; he must be a ninja from Kirigakure."

Seeing that neither Maruboshi Kosuke Kazashiro were paying attention to him, Tokiyoshi Kan muttered to himself as he packed up his spoils.

Upon hearing the other person's words, Tokuma Hyuga stopped what he was doing and looked at the eighteen-year-old ninja with some surprise.

The highest achievement this guy has ever attained in his life is only Chunin.

"If Water Release is considered Mist Ninja, then wouldn't Uncle Kosuke become our enemy?"

After releasing the Ice Release, Kazashiro looked at the various shaped enemies inside. Too lazy to search, he gestured for Tokiyoshi Kan to come over and asked her a question in return.

"This..."

"That's right. The enemy could very well be impersonating Mist Ninja to launch an attack on us. That way, even if they fail, they can still pin the blame on Kirigakure. Besides, we're already at war with Kirigakure."

Maruboshi Kosuke patted Tokiyoshi Kan's shoulder and thoughtfully explained to him.

The group continued carrying out their tasks.

In Konoha.

The various patrol teams sent back information piecemeal.

Except for a few exceptionally lucky squads that escaped attack, most other squads encountered the enemy to varying degrees.

"It seems that news of the attack on Konoha has reached the ears of various countries, proving that there are indeed enemy ninjas lurking around Konoha."

Sakumo stacked the reports in his hands together and handed them to Jiraiya was standing not far away.

"There's nothing we can do; there are still four vacancies in the Dark Division."

Jiraiya was well aware of the situation in the village, but at the moment they simply didn't have enough resources to search for spies hiding somewhere.

"Well."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply and stroked the pipe in his hand.

He knew someone who could turn the tide in a situation like this, but Sakumo wasn't sure if Hiruzen could suppress his opponent.

After hesitating for a long time, he still couldn't bring himself to say the name.

"Why not hand this over to the Military Police Force? Maintaining village security is Military Police Force duty, and counter-espionage is also a means of maintaining order."

Sakumo suddenly had an idea.

"That is indeed a method, but the Uchiha Clan has no experience in capturing spies, does it?"

Hiruzen spoke in a low voice, while fixing his gaze on Jiraiya: "What the Uchiha Clan does most often is probably arresting peeping tom spies and other lawbreakers..."

"Old man, just tell me what you're saying, why are you looking at me?!"

Jiraiya immediately noticed Hiruzen's gaze and jumped up from the sofa in a panic.

"Hmph, you know the truth in your heart."

Hiruzen coldly and withdrew his gaze.

"Damn it, if you're going to do this, don't blame me for reporting your crystal ball to the old lady later—"

Before Jiraiya could finish his threat, Hiruzen, with lightning speed, covered his mouth.

"Shut up, you traitor!"

"Let go! Did you wash your hands after using the toilet?!"

"I'll wash!"

"Impossible, how could it still be like that after washing—"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi, who seemed to have let himself go after stepping down, Sakumo twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing an ugly smile.

As expected, the position of Hokage is not as easy as I imagined.

I should also train a successor so that I can retire and go home within a few years, and even help Kakashi take care of his kids.

Just as Hiruzen was about to summon the Enma to give Jiraiya a good beating, there was a gentle knock on the Hokage's Office door.

"Please come in."

As soon as Sakumo invited them inside, Hiruzen and Jiraiya had already straightened their clothes and returned to their seats, sitting upright.

The door was pushed open, and a white-haired young man in a white coat slowly walked into the room.

"Lord Third, Fourth Generation- sama."

After respectfully greeting the two Hokage, the young man finally turned his gaze to Jiraiya: "Lord Jiraiya."

"Oh, it's Hiruko. It's alright, no need to be so formal."

After Jiraiya the person who had arrived, Jiraiya smiled and waved at them.

"Hiruko, weren't you accompanying Orochimaru to oversee the reconstruction of the Research Bureau? What brings you here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not have a good impression of Hiruko, who had secretly conducted live experiments. However, since Hiruko did not target any Konoha Ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi simply sent people to secretly strengthen surveillance on him.

When Orochimaru proposed Hiruko to the Research Bureau to assist him, Hiruzen Sarutobi readily agreed, entrusting this somewhat unstable element to Orochimaru's care.

"Yes, actually, it's like this: Orochimaru and I used the Anbu's facilities to examine the corpses that had fought against the Fourth Generation, and we made some discoveries."

Hiruko his head as he answered Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, while simultaneously taking out the folder in his hand.

Jiraiya reached out and took it, glanced through it casually, and was immediately overwhelmed by the dense technical jargon. He quickly tossed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was standing nearby.

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't understand the contents either, so he flipped to the last page, read the conclusion, and immediately handed it to Sakumo.

Sakumo took it, glanced at the first page, and then immediately demanded the conclusion from Hiruko: "So, what did you discover?"

"We can understand the manipulation of corpses as a kind of Illusion Technique, but it's Illusion Technique cast on the corpse, and it requires certain qualities from the corpse."

Jiraiya asked curiously, "What are the requirements?"

"The corpse must be fresh, because only a recently deceased corpse will have Chakra. In addition, Lord Orochimaru has already developed methods to resist this technique."

Hiruko continued his explanation.