"Is it news from the Hidden Mist Village again..."
Senju Mori took the scroll, his face not showing too much surprise.
After the Anbu responsible for delivering the message disappeared with a Body Flicker Jutsu, Senju Mori opened the scroll in his hand. As expected, it contained the latest batch of trade intentions and several reliable trade routes.
As the internal strife within the Hidden Mist Village grew fiercer, Yuki Shingen, the Jonin of the Yuki Clan whom Senju Mori had sent back, quickly proved his worth.
He served as the initial bridge, creating opportunities for Senju Mori and the great Ninja Clans of Hidden Mist to communicate and interact. Both sides quickly established close ties through this exchange.
In addition to intelligence communication, Senju Mori directly bypassed the official channels of the Land of Water and privately engaged in trade between the two countries with the major Ninja Clans of Hidden Mist.
The current Hokage of Konohagakure in the Land of Fire, the Senju Clan, Konoha's foremost Ninja Clan, and the three great Ninja Clans of Hidden Mist, whose influence permeated every corner of the Land of Water, jointly safeguarded this business.
It could be said that within the scope of the two great nations of Fire and Water, there was almost no armed force that could threaten this trade.
To some extent, this had even moved beyond the realm of smuggling, resembling semi-official international trade.
With the three great Ninja Clans and the new Mizukage almost falling out, Hidden Mist significantly reduced the resource allocation to the three clans. In contrast, Konoha continuously provided them with food, weapons, and various essential supplies.
Compared to the Land of Water, which had a small territory, infertile land, and was perpetually in a humid environment, the Land of Fire, with its suitable climate, was never short of food.
Other supplies such as medicinal herbs, weapons, explosive tags, and military rations were precisely the inherent industries of Konoha's major Ninja Clans.
In return, the three great Ninja Clans sold unique marine biological materials from the Land of Water to Senju Mori at a low price.
These included various medicinal herbs unique to the Land of Water, tonics, rare materials used to make special antidotes and poisons, and even high-quality pearls and corals, which were luxury goods.
After being handled by Konoha's Ninja Clans, led by the Senju Clan, these were then resold at a high price to the nobles of the Land of Fire.
The enormous profits generated by trade with the Hidden Mist Ninja Clans significantly eased Konoha's financial situation in recent years.
Although it still nominally received allocations from the Land of Fire's Daimyo's Mansion each year and maintained its former attitude towards the Land of Fire's ministers who visited Konoha, it had actually completely broken free from economic constraints.
Although the trading parties were almost as close as could be, the Hidden Mist Ninja Clans would, of course, not be willing to abandon the Land of Water unless they faced a crisis of extinction.
And Senju Mori was happy with this, after all, he also couldn't bear to part with the huge profits this trade route brought in every year... Just as Senju Mori was contemplating his next trade plan, the door to the Hokage Office was knocked on once again.
"Teacher!"
A white-haired, grey-eyed boy, looking sickly, pushed open the door, his face filled with immense excitement.
"Cough... cough cough..."
Before he could say anything more, his body uncontrollably started coughing, and his face instantly became even paler.
This boy's name was Hiruko.
He was a contemporary of Orochimaru, Tsunade, and others, but due to his weak body and mediocre Ninja abilities, he never showed any outstanding performance, only graduating from the Ninja Academy at the age of 10.
However, to everyone's surprise, this mediocre Genin somehow gained the favor of Hokage-sama, directly catapulting him into the ranks of the Hokage's disciples.
Unlike Orochimaru and others, after Hiruko was taken as a disciple by Senju Mori, he did not join any squad but quietly joined the newly established "Secret Research Special Force."
This was another special operations unit established under the leadership of the Third Hokage, Senju Mori, after the Anbu, which was the "Assassination Tactics Special Force," was created by the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama.
It was specifically responsible for human experimentation, the capture and hunting of experimental subjects, and clandestine secret research... And Hiruko, who had always been considered mediocre and without any Ninja talent, thrived almost like a fish in water after joining this "Secret Research Special Force."
He not only displayed extremely powerful learning abilities but also quickly revealed astonishing talent in research.
Now, at only thirteen years old, he had already surpassed many experienced researchers and, with his genius mind in research, showed a subtle tendency to lead the entire laboratory.
In the few years after Hiruko joined, the previously slow, almost stagnant experimental progress was rapidly advanced, and Senju Mori even saw the dawn of experimental success.
Facts proved that this world was just that unfair; no matter how hard ordinary people worked, they could not compare to the innate talent of geniuses.
If he weren't worried that his disciples might go astray because of this, Senju Mori would have wanted to pick out Orochimaru and Tsunade and throw them into the laboratory to do research as well.
"Don't rush, speak slowly."
Senju Mori got up and walked to Hiruko's side, placing one hand on his back. A Chakra full of warmth and vitality quickly flowed into the boy's body.
Seeing the sickly paleness on Hiruko's face recede, replaced by a touch of color, Senju Mori continued to ask:
"Has there been any new progress in the experiment?"
"Yes, Teacher."
Hiruko, having recovered, quickly continued to report:
"This morning, we successfully achieved complete compatibility between Shodai(1st)-sama's cells and Kinkaku and Ginkaku's cells."
"As long as cell transplantation is performed in a specific ratio, the invasiveness of both types of cells can be suppressed to the maximum extent, achieving a relatively stable balance within the experimental subject."
"You truly are a genius, Hiruko."
Senju Mori casually patted Hiruko's head, praising him without reservation.
But he also noticed at the same time that, compared to Tsunade's silky smooth blonde hair, Hiruko's hair had a very poor texture.
It felt fine, soft, fragile, and lacking resilience, like a damp silk cloth, and it looked very grey, messy, and dull.
So Senju Mori added:
"But don't overwork yourself. Your body is still very weak. Don't overdraw your health for the sake of experimental progress."
As Hiruko nodded repeatedly, he tightly clutched the corner of his clothes, a brilliant smile appearing on his face.
For him, who had been overlooked since childhood, Senju Mori was not only the first person to acknowledge and appreciate him but also the most respected teacher in his life.
"Let's go. We'll go see your experimental results together first, and then you must rest immediately."
Senju Mori took the boy's hand. The warm Chakra continuously flowed into his body, making Hiruko feel all his fatigue vanish, as if he had returned to his optimal state.