Beauty Maintained by an Entire Nation

Hiruzen Sarutobi had great faith in Hiruko's abilities.

If Hiruko said that child had potential, then he most likely truly did. After all, Hiruko was not someone who spoke carelessly.

If he said Minato's child had the potential to recreate the First Hokage's power, then there had to be a reason for it.

Regardless of whether this child could truly become the next First Hokage, or how much of the First Hokage's strength he could inherit.

One thing was beyond doubt: this unborn child was absolutely Konoha's future. Sooner or later, he would grow into a towering tree that supported Konoha.

As for Tsunade, whom Hiruko had mentioned, the Third Hokage did not give it much thought.

Tsunade was not in a good mental state right now. Even with unparalleled strength, she might not be able to bring much of it to bear.

It would already be quite good if she could wield thirty percent of her full strength, so the Third Hokage did not dwell on it.

"Hiruko, you and Tsunade are Konoha's strongest medical ninja, and you also possess unique insight into life itself."

After pondering for a moment, the Third Hokage spoke to Hiruko in a serious tone. "I hope the two of you can personally deliver Kushina's child."

"Once Tsunade is in better condition, tell her that for the next month, she must remain on standby at all times and must not act recklessly."

The Third Hokage's words carried unquestionable authority. Although he had already entered a semi-retired state, Minato had been in office for less than a year, so he was not yet Konoha's highest authority.

Still, with two experts in the medical field delivering Kushina's child, Minato Namikaze could not possibly object.

At present, he was probably too concerned with appearances, and his seniority was somewhat low, so he felt embarrassed to raise the matter directly with Hiruko and Tsunade.

"No problem. I'll be there when the time comes." Hiruko glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi before replying calmly.

Hiruko had always been interested in the Nine-Tails. Besides, Jiraiya had once asked him to look after Kushina.

Whether out of personal feelings or reason, he had no objections and naturally felt no resistance toward it.

Of course, Hiruko had long found Obito detestable.

Having the chance to teach him a harsh lesson this time was not bad at all.

But Hiruko still believed that, with his current abilities, killing that man would be very difficult.

Even poison would probably not be enough.

Obito was quite strong. He could not be killed in an instant, and with the God Tree around, purging poison would not be difficult.

He likely possessed considerable detoxification abilities, and there was a good chance he had many hidden cards as well.

The odds of Hiruko killing Obito outright were practically zero.

Afterward, Hiruzen Sarutobi warmly pulled Hiruko into several more minutes of casual conversation before slowly pacing toward the exit.

With his pipe tucked behind his back, he looked like an old man in his twilight years, gradually walking toward the end of his life.

Watching from afar, Hiruko shook his head and silently swore that he would never become as aged and decayed as that.

Late at night, deep beneath Konoha's most concealed underground area, several elderly people sat together.

They were seated around a table inside an extremely sealed room.

Countless elite guards wearing animal masks stood outside, while innumerable sealing arrays had been set around the area, lending it an air of mystery and solemnity.

While sipping the tea on the table, Homura Mitokado looked seriously at Hiruzen Sarutobi and asked, "How is Hiruko's mental state? Is it possible that he might become like Orochimaru?"

A trace of concern showed in his words.

Orochimaru had become increasingly indifferent, and his feelings toward the village had grown ever weaker. It seemed that he no longer regarded human lives as important.

Although Hiruko's request had temporarily pulled him back onto the right path, the problem of his lost emotions had not been fundamentally resolved.

Sooner or later, Orochimaru might very well betray Konoha. Besides, the old men had jointly plotted against him once before, so it would not be strange if Orochimaru left someday.

This was the sort of thing these old men and women feared most.

If Orochimaru and Hiruko both betrayed Konoha at the same time, it would undoubtedly deal Konoha a devastating blow.

After all, Hiruko had brought Konoha far too much wealth and benefit.

Hiruko was currently one of Konoha's most sought-after rising figures, and his talent had brought Konoha more than mere financial gains.

Through reforms in the ninja world, the development of prosthetic bodies, enhancement potions, and other measures, he had greatly strengthened Konoha.

Although Hiruko himself was not flashy and had always immersed himself in all kinds of research and experiments, he would have been a top figure anywhere.

Even the Hidden Cloud Village had sent spies, promising to support Hiruko with all the beautiful women in the Land of Lightning if he could be won over.

However, Hiruko would never accept such terms.

In this life, he was destined to crush the Hidden Cloud Village and avenge what had happened back then.

Yet the more important Hiruko became, the more uneasy Konoha's higher-ups felt.

After all, Orochimaru had already set a precedent. He possessed Kage-level strength, yet remained detached from Konoha and seemed to be considering leaving.

This situation made Konoha's higher-ups even more cautious in their attitude toward Hiruko.

These old men and women were filled with extreme wariness toward Hiruko, this research-obsessed technological geek.

They knew very well that the greater Hiruko's contributions to Konoha became, the greater the losses Konoha would suffer if he ever defected.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said with a smile, "Hiruko is a good child. Although he and Orochimaru are close, he will never take the same wrong path."

"And he likes Tsunade very much too. The two of them will become Konoha's foundation!"

The four old men all nodded solemnly.

Mentioning Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi's once-proudest disciple, caused a faint ache in his heart.

He was reflecting on whether it had been his own fault that Orochimaru had gone astray, causing him to become increasingly indifferent toward the bonds between people.

Perhaps those extreme human experiments had shaped his cold personality.

However, what Homura Mitokado said was also an undeniable fact.

Moreover, observing Hiruko—or even personally monitoring him—had been a joint decision made by all the higher-ups.

To put it bluntly, they still did not fully trust Hiruko.

If Hiruko had not once saved Konoha from a crisis alongside Minato, and if his enhancement potions had not brought considerable aid to those backward ninja clans.

They would have been even more wary of Hiruko.

However, Minato's firm support for Hiruko was also a major factor in their considerations.

Though Minato was young, since he was the Hokage, they still had to give him the proper respect.

The Life No. 3 Wood Release Enhancement Potion developed by Hiruko was not merely an ordinary enhancement potion. It was a potion capable of awakening a precious bloodline limit.

The Life No. 3 Wood Release Potion did not merely give young jonin-level ninja a high chance of obtaining Wood Release.

And...