"..."
Akihara Kagura fell silent.
On the other side.
Tsunade was still overwhelmed by her troubles.
Because Jiraiya thought Tsunade's actions were somewhat domineering, it made Tsunade doubt if she had really done something wrong. She left the Hokage Tower intending to take a stroll around the village.
The rumors in the village had not yet subsided; many villagers still showed respect when they saw Tsunade, yet their fear and unease were palpable.
Where did the source of this conflict come from…?
Did that guy Akihara Kagura think that by wanting to transfer Karin away, I intended to dismantle his Root and strip away his power?
Just then.
Tsunade happened to see a group of young people gathering.
Just as the Jonin of Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy's generation gathered, these Genin of the same age would also gather, even inviting those like Tenten, who weren't much older.
Because Karin was also their classmate, and the Root's work was actually easier compared to missions the Genin often carried out, she would occasionally attend these gatherings.
"I really don't understand…"
Naruto Uzumaki, scratching the back of his head, was the most clueless about the village rumors: "Although I also think Kagura isn't really fit to be the Hokage Assistant, he seems to be pretty nice to everyone in the village, doesn't he?"
"..."
The other Genin were rather confused.
Because for these kids, this matter was still too early.
The group of Genin quickly moved past this topic and started discussing the troublesome assignments they had recently completed, then went their separate ways to continue their missions.
Only Karin aimlessly returned to the Root Base.
"That little one called Karin…"
Tsunade stopped Karin and began expressing her thoughts: "I want to take you as my disciple; your talent is very suitable…"
"Sorry, I don't want to leave the Root!"
Karin quickly interrupted Tsunade, continuing on her own: "The reason you could discover my talent, Lady Tsunade, is because Lord Kagura saved me when I was six, guiding me to where I am today. Unless I die, I will never leave Lord Kagura…"
Karin had always been by Akihara Kagura's side, knowing almost all of his secrets, as well as many of the things he had done.
At the age of six, Karin was brought to Konoha, enrolled in the Konoha Ninja School, and even given a private tutor for her to keep up with the pace;
After graduating, Karin became Akihara Kagura's assistant, continuing to receive his guidance, with additional lessons from Kabuto and Dean Nonou;
During the Chunin Exams, Akihara Kagura helped her find suitable teammates, worrying that the young girl wouldn't have food during the exams.
If one day…
Akihara Kagura were critically injured on the verge of death…
Karin would give him all her blood to save him, letting Kagura live.
"Is that so…"
Tsunade pondered for a while, then, after a sigh, took out a scroll and handed it to Karin: "This is a gift for you. You can learn from it… go tell Kagura, I won't transfer you. Hopefully this turmoil ends soon!"
However…
Tsunade returned to the Hokage Tower to find the Four Hokage present.
"Grandfather, Second Grandfather, Sarutobi Sensei, Minato…"
Seeing their arrival, Tsunade felt a bit panicked inside.
The feeling was as if she, the inept ruler, had just done something foolish, and the former Hokage had come to jointly reprimand her.
"We're here concerning your conflict with Kagura."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke upon seeing Tsunade still looking troubled, "Tsunade, don't worry, this time it's because you wanted to transfer Karin from his side, and Kagura just overreacted…"
"Enough!"
Senju Tobirama interrupted Sarutobi Hiruzen from continuing, saying sternly: "We've already talked to that young Kagura, we're just here to offer a solution for your dispute, letting Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura take responsibility for this matter. They'll resign to give the villagers an explanation…"
"!!!"
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's expressions suddenly became peculiar.
It seemed…
Something seemed off?
The Hokage and Hokage Assistant were in a conflict; why should the two Hokage Advisors resign due to this? Why is the problem landing on their shoulders!
However…
The Four Hokage were present.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura couldn't argue.
They couldn't refuse to sacrifice themselves for the stability of Konoha, could they?
Within Konoha Village.
This matter quickly settled down.
Because the two Hokage Advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, falsely issued commands under the Hokage's order, causing a conflict between the Hokage and the Hokage Assistant. They had to resign in disgrace.
Thus, the conflict was resolved.
For Tsunade and Akihara Kagura, this solution was substantially beneficial.
Tsunade, the newly appointed Hokage, freed herself from the restraint of two Hokage Advisors, and Akihara Kagura didn't need to bother with the Hokage Advisors anymore.
Konoha's upper echelons were reduced to just two people.
[System Notification]: [Abandon the political struggle with Tsunade and maintain Konoha's peace and stability. Task has been completed, reward: Asura Chakra (Senju Hashirama).]
[System Notification]: Asura Chakra has merged with the God of Ninja trait.
"!!!"
Akihara Kagura couldn't believe the reward he received.
Is this some kind of joke?
Is this mine about to collapse?
How was Senju Hashirama's past Chakra dug up while mining?
Akihara Kagura furrowed his brow, deep in thought. He could feel his Chakra inside was already abundant, almost endless, with even the Ten-tails' shell capable of providing Chakra. The Asura Chakra was more formidable than the Nine-tails' Chakra.
The only issue was…
He couldn't find a comparison object.
If we seriously evaluate, the Chakra amount should have increased a lot, but this still didn't reach a transformative point…
However…
Akihara Kagura knew by looking down that there were still resources from Senju Hashirama to mine further, because the resources from Senju Tobirama were really about to be exhausted.
[System Notification]: [Abandon the political struggle with Tsunade and maintain Konoha's peace and stability. Task has been completed, reward: Battle Experience (Senju Tobirama).]
This supervisor, for Konoha's sake, left all the Kinjutsu he researched and studied in Konoha, all of which Akihara Kagura mastered…
This also meant…
The mines of this Second Hokage-sama were depleted, yielding this battle experience.
The same went for the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.
As the Ninjutsu Professor, the Third Hokage mastered many Five Release Jutsu. After his death, Akihara Kagura had no impediments to learning those Jutsu, and the Third Hokage's lifelong battle experience was in applying the Five Release Jutsu.
The only remaining resources…
Probably only Namikaze Minato remained.
[System Notification]: [Abandon the political struggle with Tsunade and maintain Konoha's peace and stability. Task has been completed, reward: Yin Nine-tails Chakra (Namikaze Minato).]
[System Notification]: Yin Nine-tails Chakra has merged with the Ten-tails (shell)!
"..."
Akihara Kagura sensed that the Ten-tails' eyes immediately gleamed with two lights, receiving nearly half a Nine-tails within the Ten-tails shell. The resurrection progress of the Ten-tails rapidly increased by a quarter, already over sixty percent!
Yet half of the Nine-tails Chakra rewards had been mined, seemingly indicating that Namikaze Minato's resources were about to be exhausted as well…
"Konoha's resources are nearly mined out…"
Akihara Kagura watched Namikaze Minato, internally pondering about this Fourth Hokage's traitorous student: "I must quickly retrieve Uchiha Madara's legacy from Obito…"