"Alright, this kid is thirteen or fourteen years old. He's past the most troublesome age, his foundation is pretty solid, and he has enough potential to improve. It's not like we can't train him."
Meikyō nodded, which was considered an agreement.
The Third Hokage is the Third Hokage, Asuma is Asuma. Unlike his Pops, who is a political figure, this kid is rebellious, loves to show off, and is a typical teenager in his chuunibyou phase. He is also quite outgoing, Meikyō doesn't have any ill feelings towards him.
During the original Shippuden, Sarutobi Asuma at his the Book of Men.
This is undoubtedly a very high number, on par with Kakuzu.
Of course, in terms of strength, Asuma is definitely a level below Kakuzu true Kage Level powerhouses. But overall, it shows that his comprehensive qualities are up to par. He may only be missing an opportunity to reach Kage Level.
Kakuzu was Elite Jonin of Takigakure in his youth. After being betrayed by the higher-ups to assassinate the First Hokage, he turned around and slaughtered all the higher-ups in Takigakure.
At the age of thirty, Asuma's strength was probably at this level. The difference was that Kakuzu had obtained the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, which greatly improved his five elemental Ninjutsu and his own survival ability, thus making him a Kage Level expert.
If Sarutobi Asuma could also obtain the Earth Grudge Fear, or learn the Flying Thunder God, or cultivate a Kekkei Genkai, his strength could also reach the Kage Level.
Just as Meikyō and Dan Katō were talking, an Anbu Body Flicker Technique appeared in the Hokage's Office.
"The Fourth Hokage, Lord Meikyō, the head of the Hyūga Main House, and Hyuga Hiashi, a Jonin to visit."
Meikyō and Dan Katō exchanged a glance, and the latter immediately spoke:
"Bring them in."
"The Fourth Hokage Lord, and... the Advisor Meikyō."
Hyuga Hiashi hadn't expected Meikyō to be there, and thinking about the purpose of his trip, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
"Hiashi, is there something you need?"
Dan Katō asked Hyuga Hiashi.
"This... Fourth Hokage Lord..."
Hyuga Hiashi glanced at Meikyō, gritted his teeth, and said.
"And Meikyō Advisor, I apologize, but I had to come here due to pressure from the elders of the Main Family."
With a helpless tone from Hyuga Hiashi, Meikyō and Dan Katō finally learned what had happened.
"I say... Chief Hiashi, aren't the elders of your Hyuga Clan's Main Family a bit too ungrateful?"
Meikyō couldn't help but complain.
During the Fourth Hokage's rise to power, your Hyuga Clan did little more than add a final push by voting for Dan Katō when the situation was almost settled. In the Third Shinobi World War, while your overall achievements were not insignificant, you didn't produce any particularly outstanding war heroes. How dare you make this request?
"Terribly sorry!"
Hyuga Hiashi looked extremely awkward.
"However, I know this is wishful thinking, so my idea is, if the Hyuga Clan is willing to give up some benefits, could we be given a position similar to the Hyuga Clan Anbu? That way, I can report back to the elders in the clan."
Meikyō could see that Hyuga Hiashi a rather pathetic clan leader, subject to checks and balances from the elders and clan rules in every aspect. In the original timeline, under the pressure of the Third Hokage, he had no choice but to send his younger brother Hizashi to his death in his place.
These were all powerful clans that had been passed down for thousands of years in the Ninja World. If it weren't for the appearance of the Meikyō, the Uchiha Clan Downfall would have been wiped out by then.
However, the Uchiha Clan was changed by the appearance of the Meikyō of Knowledge, which revived the Uchiha's reputation and led to its flourishing development.
However, after the Caged Bird System was introduced during the Sengoku period, the Hyuga Clan went from being a super-powerful clan that could rival the Senju and Uchiha to declining and barely maintaining its size.
However, with the Byakugan bloodline limit and the Caged Bird Seal system in place, the Hyuga Clan can indeed maintain a minimum standard, and it is difficult for them to fall into a situation like the Uchiha in the original timeline, where they were wiped out.
"You know how important the positions in the Anbu, the Administrative Affairs Department, and the Finance Department are, Hiashi. Only people I truly trust can hold these positions. Although the Hyuga Clan has ninjas who have studied Medical Ninjutsu, none of them have reached the level to hold important positions in the Medical Department. The same applies to the Sealing Unit."
Dan Katō took a sip of tea and eliminated about half of the important departments within Konoha in one go.
"I see."
With no one else present, Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Main Family, bowed respectfully to the Fourth Hokage.
Seeing Hyuga Hiashi's gesture of submission, Dan Katō's lips curled into a smile.
"As for the other departments, Root, Logistics Department, Konoha Military Police Force, and Intelligence Analysis Unit, you'll need to talk Hiashi the other high-ranking officials of the village and the Third Hokage. I have no objection. The only requirement is that the candidates your Hyuga Clan submits must meet the requirements in terms of strength, battle achievements, and prestige."
Dan Katō raised a finger, presenting a condition to Hyuga Hiashi.
Hyuga Hiashi knew that this condition was to restrict members of the Main Family from holding positions.
In terms of battle merits alone, not a single member of the Hyūga Main House could pass the test. The only one, Main Family ninja who was spurred onto the battlefield by Uchiha Meikyō and Uchiha Fugaku, did not achieve any battle merits. Instead, he had one of his Byakugan gouged out by Kirigakure.
"By the way, I remember the Hyuga Clan has quite a few excellent intelligence ninjas. After all, the Byakugan is very useful in intelligence gathering. Meikyō is right here. If you have anyone you'd like to recommend, you can ask him."
Dan Katō at the Meikyō and said.
"Everything is decided by the Fourth Hokage."
Hyuga Hiashi said decisively.
In this way, no matter what happens next, he can shift the blame to Dan Katō and tell the elders: This was all the Fourth Hokage's decision.
"Then I'll discuss it with the other senior executives. You may leave now."
Dan Katō considered for a moment before speaking.
Not long after, Uchiha Fugaku, Minato Namikaze, Torifu Akimichi, and the Third Hokage arrived at the Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already decided to continue contributing at the Ninja Academy, training a few more ninjas like the Sannin for Konoha. Seeing the village prosper was what he most wanted to see in the second half of his life.
Tsunade, on the other hand, had somehow gone off to party at the casino. When asked about this, she simply told the Anbu who had been sent to inform her, "Anyway, it's not like we're just stuffing people into the Medical Department. Let Dan and the others handle it themselves."
Turning his head, this big fat sheep continued to happily hand over money to other gamblers.
Where is Orochimaru?
After learning what had happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked curiously.
Hyuga Clan ninjas are actually quite well-suited to working in places like the Anbu or Root.
"Lord Orochimaru is still in the laboratory, so he sent me instead."
A Root ninja with purplish-brown hair, wearing a green Jonin Vest, answered.
He is Mitarai Shīshō, Elite Jonin of Konoha, and a loyal follower of Orochimaru. After Orochimaru became the head of Root, he transferred him to Root to handle most of the trivial matters, allowing Orochimaru to devote his energy to those experiments.
So for now, Orochimaru is still hiding in the laboratory under the Konoha Military Police Force.
"Experiment? Fourth Hokage, have you restarted the Wood Release experiment?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Dan Katō with a serious expression, and Minato Namikaze also turned his gaze in that direction.
"Wood Release experiment? No, but the First Hokage's cells are indeed a treasure of the village and have significant research value."
Dan Katō shook his head at the Third Hokage.
"After becoming Hokage, I saw those human experiments related to the Wood Release research. Such things that could potentially harm our comrades in the village are absolutely impossible to happen during my term."
"Let's put the Hyuga Clan's affairs aside for now and talk about the experiment you and Orochimaru started. Now that you're the Fourth Hokage, I can't stop you from doing whatever you want, but I still hope to understand it."
After a moment of silence, the Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and spoke.
"Alright."
Dan Katō, then glanced at Meikyō.
"Take out the item, that potion."
Meikyō was taken aback, then realized what Dan Katō was talking about, so he took out the Sealing Scroll and took out one of the two remaining bottles of Golden Potion on his body.
"This medicine was made by Senior Orochimaru using a certain method, extracting Yang Release Potion from a substance similar to the cells of the First Hokage. In a sense, it has the potential to become a panacea. By taking this medicine for a long time, it can subtly improve a ninja's potential, enhance physical fitness and Chakra reserves. It can also be used as a precious supplementary medicine to restore Chakra like Ration Pills, but its effect is more than a thousand times that of a regular Ration Pills."
Minato Namikaze breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it's not like Danzo's inhumane human transplant experiments, it's fine.
"Enhancing physical fitness and Chakra, and rapidly restoring Chakra —that certainly sounds like an ability of the Senju Clan."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and then asked:
"Does this medicine have any side effects? If not, it is indeed something that can greatly enhance the village's strength. At least in terms of its ability to quickly restore Chakra, if it were provided to the village's strong members during wartime, it would be enough to greatly enhance their combat endurance."
"I tested it with Teacher Tsunade and Senior Orochimaru, and the medicine has no side effects, unless you have excessive energy for a few days after drinking it and have trouble sleeping at night."
Meikyō put the potion back into the Sealing Scroll and said.
This one alone costs over six million taels, which is equivalent to the reward he would receive for carrying out five or six S-rank missions.
"Then I am relieved. So, Meikyō, what is the production cost of this medicine, and is it possible to mass-produce it?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi asked again.
If this thing could be mass-produced, not only would Konoha Ninja have one, but even if every Jonin in the village had one in their Jonin Ninja Tool Pouch, it would undoubtedly be a great help in battle.
"It's very difficult. The production of this potion requires a large amount of precious medicinal materials that possess Yang Release Chakra. It is then extracted using serum produced by Orochimaru through biotechnology researched using the First Hokage's Cells. Even excluding the precious production equipment, the other costs would still be several million taels to produce one dose. This is why I asked Orochimaru to continue the research and development, to try to improve the production method, or to create a weaker version to reduce costs."
Before Meikyō could answer, Dan Katō preemptively answered.
The cost alone is several million taels per tube?!
Minato Namikaze was startled.
He recently used most of his savings to buy a house in the heart of Konoha as his and Kushina's wedding home. He probably only has enough money left to buy one gun at most.
"It seems that ordinary ninjas will have a hard time affording this kind of medicine. At most, they will prepare one or two doses for the village's key combat forces."
Torifu Akimichi commented.
He felt that this thing was a good match for the Butterfly Technique.
This thing can replenish a large amount of Chakra in a short time. If he had had one on the battlefield back then, he wouldn't have burned off all the fat in his body, almost died, and his strength would have been greatly reduced.
"Fourth Hokage, the Logistics Department should have a considerable amount of precious Yang Release -type medicines in its inventory. We can take out some of them first. In addition, I can persuade the Nara Clan to provide Yang Release -type medicines to the laboratory at cost price. However, I hope that the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans can obtain a certain share of future drug production, or have priority purchase rights."
Torifu Akimichi Dan Katō.
"The Uchiha Clan was the first to sponsor Senior Orochimaru's experiments, and they have invested more than 200 million ryo in the past six months. If there were a right of first refusal, the Uchiha Clan would be the first to receive it."
Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but step forward and speak up.
The Golden Potion is an important item that can restore the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Although the Uchiha Clan has mastered the complete set of production materials, no one except Uchiha Meikyō has been able to replicate this potion.
However, if Meikyō were to do it, the cost would actually be much higher than that of Orochimaru.
After all, Snake Uncle is the real expert in this matter.
"I, on behalf of the Sarutobi Clan, will also invest 100 million taels, on the same terms as the Torifu."
Hiruzen Sarutobi also spoke impatiently.
If used properly, this thing can save even the life of Kage Level expert.
"Um... well, Kushina and I don't have much money, but we can buy two to show our support for Senior Orochimaru's research."
Minato Namikaze raised his hand and said.
He planned to prepare one of these life-saving items for himself and Kushina, but he estimated that he only had enough money left to buy one, and Kushina would probably have to pay for the other one.
Having served as the leader of the Sealing Unit for several years, Kushina has also carried out S-rank missions such as repairing barriers. In addition, with some inheritance left by Mito Uzumaki, she is actually quite wealthy.
Thank you for the 500 Qidian coins!