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[Konoha2] Chapter 15: Yakushi Nono!
🕑 Added 2025-04-27 17:26:58 +0000 UTC"Finally succeeded!"
Hajime Hoshita beamed with joy.
He had just mastered an A-rank ninjutsu. Its difficulty was second only to S-rank techniques, placing it firmly in the ultra-high-difficulty category.
For comparison, B-rank jutsu were considered jōnin-level.
His accumulated knowledge, the immense chakra granted by Hashirama's cells, the foundation of an elite chūnin, and his thorough understanding of the Rasengan’s training process—
All of these factors allowed Hajime to master this A-rank, hand-sign-free technique in a remarkably short period.
"Next is getting fully proficient, and then incorporating elemental chakra transformations."
As he packed up and headed back to the inn, Hajime was already thinking about the next phase of Rasengan training.
The potential of the Rasengan was immense.
Not to mention the S-rank Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, there was also Wind Release: Rasengan, Flame Exploding Rasengan, Lightning Release: Rasengan…
Even the Rasengan itself could have its power scaled depending on the amount of chakra infused.
For example, the Big Ball Rasengan, or the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan.
But then Hajime started pondering how to integrate the Rasengan into his own combat style.
Leaving Wood Release aside, at mid-to-long range, he primarily relied on Wind Release for offense.
For close-quarters combat, it was kenjutsu.
This system was already a mature combat style.
So next, he needed to design a fighting mode that incorporated the Rasengan in situations where he didn’t have his sword.
Using the Rasengan alone—without sufficient speed to land a direct hit—would require support from Shadow Clones to connect properly.
Frankly, he could just straight-up copy Naruto’s approach.
"The Rasengan works best when paired with the Flying Thunder God Technique..."
Hajime couldn’t help but feel that combining the Rasengan with Flying Thunder God was the coolest style by far.
Especially if he managed to develop a less-destructive version of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. With Flying Thunder God, he wouldn’t have to worry about injuring himself while using it—he could simply teleport away before the technique backfired, leaving the enemy to take the full brunt of the damage.
Of course, if his Wood Release ever reached the level of Hashirama Senju, he wouldn’t need any of that.
Just one Wood Style jutsu would be enough to suppress the entire ninja world.
"Flying Thunder God... I don’t have the confidence to master it."
Hajime scratched his head.
Not to mention, putting Flying Thunder God into practical use required lightning-fast reflexes.
Otherwise, you'd just teleport yourself straight to death.
Thinking along those lines, Hajime realized that even if he did learn the technique, he’d still need one more thing to complement it.
The Sharingan!
And it had to be the three-tomoe version!
"So, in order to better utilize the Rasengan series, I need to train in Flying Thunder God."
"And to better use Flying Thunder God... do I need to go pop someone’s eyeballs?"
Under the moonlight, Hajime couldn’t help but look up and sigh.
Damn this trashy Status Bar—if only it were more reliable, he wouldn’t have to work this hard.
In a couple of days, it would refresh again. He was curious to see what it would give him this time.
Back at the inn, Hajime did a bit of tidying up before quickly falling asleep.
The night passed peacefully.
The next morning, Hajime rose early as usual and made his way toward Konoha. By 10 a.m., he had returned to the Root base to report in to Danzo.
Danzo listened to the report without questioning why Hajime had only returned today. Instead, he asked, "If we were to deal with the Sky Ninja Village, how do you think we should go about it?"
Hajime replied without hesitation, "The best and most straightforward way is, of course, to start a war."
"With Konoha’s strength, we could easily wipe out the Sky Ninja Village in one decisive move."
"You must’ve already thought of this, Lord Danzo, but the Third Hokage doesn’t agree."
Danzo nodded. "Correct. The current situation isn’t suitable for launching a full-scale assault on the Sky Ninja Village."
"But Hiruzen has already given permission for Root to handle them. However, with our current strength, Root alone can’t eliminate them completely."
"The Sky Ninja Village has repeatedly provoked Konoha. If we don’t make an example of them, the other Hidden Villages will begin to look down on us, and even our allies may start to waver."
From beneath his mask, a surge of killing intent rose in Hajime’s eyes. "I believe we should launch large-scale assassination operations against the Sky Ninja Village."
"Ambush their mission teams, assassinate their personnel, plunge them into an atmosphere of fear and terror. Disrupt their ability to complete mercenary tasks, weaken their economy, and gradually deplete their manpower."
"As their strength diminishes and ours grows, once the time is right, you can lead us in wiping out the Sky Ninja Village in one strike—shaking the entire ninja world!"
A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered in Danzo’s eyes. Hajime’s proposal suited his tastes perfectly.
That method of ‘accountability’ Hiruzen favored—Danzo considered it far too weak.
The Sky Ninja Village was clearly ambitious. Even if they bowed under questioning, it would only be superficial.
Only through thunderous force and spilled blood could they truly be made to fear Konoha!
Still, Danzo gave no overt reaction—just a slight nod. Then he said, “Come with me to the Ninja Academy this afternoon.”
The Ninja Academy?
Hajime paused for a moment before realization dawned.
Hiruzen had finally tasted the benefits and actually agreed to let Danzo recruit from the academy.
Not that surprising—after all, Danzo and Hiruzen's relationship hadn’t yet reached the level of hostility it would later become.
***
2 PM.
Just as the Ninja Academy resumed afternoon classes—
Hajime Hoshita and Shimura Daichi followed Danzo to the academy.
Inside one of the offices—
Stacks of student files, already prepared in advance, were laid out on the desk.
Of course, these were the leftover files.
While Hiruzen had allowed Danzo to pick students from the academy, he had no intention of letting the top-tier candidates be absorbed into Root.
That went double for the potential jinchūriki for the Nine-Tails.
And there were also successors to the next generation of major clans like the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
So these files were the ones that had been filtered through and left behind by Hiruzen.
But Danzo didn’t mind.
Even among the leftovers, there were promising seeds.
He believed that, with his training, they could still be forged into something useful.
Besides, what he needed were tools to complete missions—not people.
“Begin,” Danzo ordered.
Hajime and Daichi immediately got to work, flipping through the student profiles.
They needed to select thirty candidates to present to Danzo, who would then narrow it down to ten for induction into Root’s training program.
Shimura Daichi began carefully reviewing each file, scoring them meticulously.
Hajime, on the other hand, quickly skimmed through the documents, aiming to get a broad understanding of all the students’ capabilities.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Hajime’s hand paused.
The name on one of the files stood out: Yakushi Nono, age ten.
Among all the profiles he had read so far, this was the only name he recognized.
Without hesitation, Hajime set Yakushi Nono’s file aside.
As for the idea of intentionally not choosing her—Hajime didn’t entertain that for even a second.
Root would be his one day. How could he possibly let such a talent slip through his fingers?
This selection wasn’t for Danzo.
It was for himself.
(End of Chapter)
