Kazemori Masaki was touring a secret laboratory in Konoha Ninja Village, accompanied by Tsunade. This was not one of the Medical Department's secret research facilities, but the laboratory of the research team that included Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki. Their goal was to develop plants capable of absorbing natural energy on their own and conducting it.
Anyone who entered without knowing its purpose would have thought they had wandered into a botanical garden. Plants of every kind crowded the place, and the vegetation covering the floor made it somewhat difficult to move around. The air, however, was exceptionally fresh and pleasant.
Kazemori Masaki attached great importance to this research project. If energy based on natural energy was to become available throughout the village, and eventually the entire country, these special plant materials would be essential. Other substances capable of conducting natural energy might exist, but among the options currently known, Wood Release was undoubtedly the most suitable, quickest, and least costly. Pursuing other materials might lead them down any number of blind alleys.
Very few people knew about this secret research. Aside from the Konoha High Command, only the research team's members were aware of it. Even the team's core membership was pitifully small; everyone else assisted with plant growth and observation.
After all, few people even knew about natural energy, and fewer still understood it or could interact with it. Even Konoha Ninja Village had very few such talents. Uncovering its secrets was no easy task.
As they went farther inside, Kazemori Masaki spotted Nawaki talking with someone. Nawaki had now grown into a young man, but the former Hokage's grandson rarely appeared in public. He spent most of his time here conducting secret research. Until his work produced results, his name was unlikely to become familiar to the villagers.