Training at the Sacred Grounds

"Wait, kid. How exactly did you get in here?"

"This is a serious matter. You have to tell me the truth!"

Jiraiya suddenly furrowed his brow and asked sternly.

Hearing the question, Touma showed no sign of worry. He pointed with his right hand at the ventilation hole in the northeast corner of the underground chamber. "There. I came in through that hole, using this method..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Touma swiftly entered the Sky Dance of the Heavens state. His lower body began to elementalize, turning into a whirlwind that slowly floated up toward the ceiling.

"This... this is elementalization... You've mastered it?"

Jiraiya stared at the sight, almost wondering if he had fallen under a genjutsu.

The kid before him was only twelve, yet he had already achieved a training goal that other talented ninja might never reach in their entire lives.

So far, the only ninja in Konoha's records to have mastered elementalization were the brothers Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. Senju Hashirama could elementalize Wood Release, while Senju Tobirama could elementalize Fire Release.

Even his teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," hadn't come close to mastering elementalization in the nature transformation he was best at: Fire Release.

That was because, according to the accepted wisdom of the Shinobi World, elementalizing chakra with a physical form was far easier than elementalizing chakra without one.

And yet this "overly familiar kid" had mastered in just twelve years a skill others might spend their whole lives trying to achieve. Talent alone couldn't fully explain such an accomplishment.

However, once his surprise passed, Jiraiya immediately reined in his curiosity.

He knew that the ninja in the underground chamber might not have encountered chakra elementalization before. At most, they would mistake it for a Kekkei Genkai, and soon forget what they had seen.

But if word got out about how shocked he had been, and other forces learned the relevant details about the "overly familiar kid," trouble would come his way one thing after another.

Being able to elementalize chakra didn't mean one's fighting strength had fundamentally changed. Combat experience, tactical intelligence, and the ability to contend over information were what truly determined the outcome of a fight.

Besides, no matter how talented the "overly familiar kid" was, his physical foundation and chakra reserves still had to lag behind those of adult ninja. It would take plenty of time to close that gap.

So Jiraiya could only suppress his shock and act nonchalant. "Tch, what's so impressive about that? You just exploited a weakness in the defenses..."

"You'd better watch how I deal with all those ninja in the city first!"

His tone barely changed, but Touma saw Jiraiya giving him an emphatic look.

Only then did Touma realize he had drawn a little too much attention. It seemed Jiraiya didn't trust the aides around him as much as he'd thought.

In fact, Sunny City wasn't the only place whose command center had been infiltrated. The one in Kikyo City had been infiltrated even more severely.

Since Orochimaru had taken over as acting commander, he had carried out three purges. Hozuki Mitsuki had even managed to take Kamikawa Ryuhei's place and infiltrate a unit rotating back to the village.

Put simply, this kind of infiltration was impossible to prevent completely. Only if everyone had been marked with an identity-recognition Cursed Seal like Root's could they have guaranteed absolute loyalty.

But if the Hokage really dared to mark every ninja with an identity-recognition Cursed Seal, he might as well resign. Such a show of distrust would instantly shatter the fragile authority he had spent so long maintaining in the village.

Shimura Danzō might have been waiting for Sarutobi Hiruzen to make a mistake. Then he could overthrow him and take the Hokage's seat with every appearance of legitimacy.

Honestly, Touma didn't think the Hokage's position was worth fighting over. Shimura Danzō's obsession wasn't really about becoming Hokage. It came from his stubborn belief that his teacher hadn't appointed him as Hokage when they were young only because he had been a step slower than Sarutobi Hiruzen to sacrifice himself.

He didn't realize that Senju Tobirama had already judged the personalities of his students. Only Sarutobi Hiruzen and Kagami Uchiha were suitable to succeed him as Hokage.

But Kagami Uchiha came from the Uchiha Clan and couldn't completely separate himself from it, so he would inevitably be influenced by his clan. Sarutobi Hiruzen was therefore the only choice. The other four had never even been considered.

What's more, after becoming Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen had noticeably spent less time training and developing ninjutsu. The difference might not have been obvious, but his actual combat strength had indeed declined.

That was why, after the Second Shinobi World War began, Sarutobi Hiruzen only appeared at the front to give pre-battle speeches. Unlike during the First Shinobi World War, he didn't charge into battle as a main fighting force. He was afraid his opponents would notice the change in his strength.

After all, the Second Shinobi World War had been underway for a month, and so far, no Jinchūriki or Kage Level powerhouses had appeared on the battlefield. There had been few battles even among the Jonin; the main fighting force still consisted of Genin and Chunin.

For example, Hanzo of the Rain from the Land of Rain had never appeared on the battlefield. There were no recorded appearances of Ibuse or other salamander summons, either. Clearly, the use of strategic deterrents was being restricted.

The moment either side deployed a Kage Level powerhouse or a summon on par with one, the scale of the war would expand instantly. The losses would be far greater than they were now.

Take Jiraiya's use of the Four Flower Tree Formation to ambush all the ninja in the city. Among them were Jonin from various small ninja villages, but Jiraiya had never intended to kill them.

Taking them prisoner and demanding war reparations from their villages was far more valuable than killing them outright. And if any of the ninja knew which way the wind was blowing, they could even try to turn them around and bring them over to serve Konoha.

That was why Sarutobi Hiruzen and the two Hokage advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, had repeatedly rejected Shimura Danzō's requests to become a frontline commander.

They had been Shimura Danzō's companions for so many years that they knew exactly how ruthless he was. If he'd been given an opportunity like the one Jiraiya faced now, probably no one in Sunny City would have survived. Even the civilians would likely have been wiped out as "collateral damage."

Some might ask whether Orochimaru could restrain himself from killing prisoners. Of course he could!

The Orochimaru of today wasn't the one from the original Naruto Shippuden era. In particular, Nawaki, who would normally have graduated and become his student, hadn't been sent to the front. Instead, after Touma's interference and encouragement, Tsunade had sent him to Shikkotsu Forest to learn Senjutsu.

The Hokage had directly approved this. After Shibi demonstrated the power of Insect Sage Mode, even ninja from clans with a little influence wanted to see if they could master Sage Mode.

For example, through the Uchiha Clan's connections, Hideaki Uchiha had gotten the chance to enter Hollow City, the Ninja Cat Clan's sacred ground. Sarutobi Hiruzen's eldest son, Kyo Sarutobi, had also been taken by Enma to Flower Fruit Mountain, the Ninja Ape Clan's sacred ground, to train in Senjutsu.

The Hyuga Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, and the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans had also found sacred grounds belonging to their respective ninja beasts, sending out all their most promising disciples.

As a result, the enemy nations' plan to assassinate Konoha's geniuses had basically fallen apart. Once those geniuses returned with Sage Mode mastered, they would be beyond the reach of those assassination tactics!