Takuno watched Minato still deliberating over candidates; although he could not propose anyone, as Minato's side was not monolithic, if word got out, he would surely offend people.
He was not afraid of offending people, but the things he had done made it better for him to remain low-key.
However, he could still say something without offending others, such as... "Hokage-sama does not need to rush so much. Wait a few years, and once your disciple, Kakashi, grows up, he will surely become your right-hand man."
"Ah, Kakashi, he still needs a few more years of experience." When Kakashi was mentioned, Minato smiled, clearly quite satisfied with his disciple.
Takuno also nodded. As long as Minato did not die, Kakashi would not completely sink into the Anbu darkness, only slowly emerging from the shadow after Might Guy pulled him out.
With Minato and Kushina present, he would still be able to recover slowly.
From the supplementary daily content later on, it is clear that Minato and Kushina treated their three disciples exceptionally well, which only served to highlight the monstrous nature of Obito.
In fact, besides Kakashi, the number of people Minato could use was quite large.
Although the Third Hokage had retired, his experience in managing village affairs, especially as a mediator, could help Minato. Of course, political matters should not be entrusted to the Third Hokage.
Besides the Third Hokage, those two old Advisors were not unusable; they were a relatively neutral faction compared to Danzo. They were certainly stubborn, but they could handle logistical work.
After all, although those two did not directly participate in the war, it can be seen from the manga that they were responsible for logistics and did a decent job, at least not hindering the front line.
Furthermore, those two seemingly supported Danzo everywhere, yet the day after the Third Hokage's death, knowing that Danzo wanted to become Hokage, they finished their meeting with the Daimyo and immediately recommended Jiraiya for the position, which is quite telling.
Moreover, they had a fundamental difference from Danzo, such as during the Nine-Tails Attack.
The two Advisors personally went to the battlefield and stood on the front line with the Third Hokage. If Minato had not arrived in time to take the Nine-Tails, which was using a Tailed Beast Bomb, away, then the two Advisors would have died alongside the Third Hokage.
So, where was Danzo at that time? He was never seen taking action throughout the entire event, and even the Root ninjas he led did not show up, failing to even carry out simple tasks like civilian evacuation.
Thus, it is clear that while these two old fogeys have outdated ideas, they are loyal to Konoha.
And they certainly have a lot of experience; it is best just to take the essence and discard the dross.
Even excluding the two Advisors, the current generation, including Nara Shikaku, has fully matured.
Therefore, Minato actually has many people he can use. Compared to him, the Third Hokage, who succeeded him later, was worse off.
At that time, the Nine-Tails Attack caused a huge number of Konoha ninjas to die, Minato was also gone, Orochimaru defected, and the Nine-Tails was sealed inside an infant body, meaning the nuclear deterrent was also sealed and unusable.
The Third Hokage during this period was the one under the most pressure, especially since the Nine-Tails Attack and Minato's death caused the Cloud and Stone Shinobi to launch wars against Konoha again.
At this time, Tsunade had developed hemophobia, making it difficult for her to utilize her full strength.
Internally, the Hyuga Clan was growing stronger and increasingly disregarded the Hokage, later even skipping crucial Konoha peace talks just to celebrate a daughter's birthday... It could be said that perhaps Jiraiya was the only truly reliable person available then.
Despite all this, Konoha managed to weather the storm relatively stably, proving that a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.
Later, when Minato gathered all the Advisor in the conference room to discuss matters.
Takuno, as the first speaker, somewhat resignedly recounted his concerns regarding Konoha's Great barrier in front of all the Advisor once again.
After he finished speaking, the Advisors exchanged glances but offered no objection.
Since this matter neither affected their interests nor was genuinely beneficial to Konoha, they naturally would not object.
"Very well, this matter will be fully managed by the Sealing Team," Minato said, then looked at Takuno and instructed, "Takuno, be sure to complete this task quickly."
"Yes!"
Takuno nodded. Finally, in such a serious meeting, Minato no longer called him 'senior.'
At this moment, his gaze was somewhat obscure; he could finally tamper with Konoha's Great barrier openly and legitimately.
Afterwards, he leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat resigned again. Having attended this kind of meeting, he had no right to leave early... Finally, the long meeting concluded.
Takuno walked out of the conference room, rolling his eyes. Honestly, in his previous life, he had been dominated by all sorts of meetings during work.
Moreover, he was an 'introverted' person and truly disliked dealing with such affairs.
Now, he wouldn't even want to be the Hokage; it was terribly troublesome, and he wouldn't have time to cultivate. What was the point?
Upon returning to the Sealing Team, he briefly explained the mission he had accepted for the team and then distributed the tasks.
As a minor leader, he couldn't possibly handle everything personally, could he?
He only needed to check the results eventually, and while doing so, leave himself a secret entrance so he could freely enter and exit using the Summoning Jutsu without being recorded or discovered.
After arranging the tasks, Takuno once again immersed himself in the world of Sealing Jutsu, continuing to research and experiment with that specific Sealing Jutsu.
However, what he did not expect was that in the afternoon.
A ninja wearing a mask with gray stripes walked through the office and appeared before him.
"Who are you?"
Takuno frowned. Naturally, he recognized the identity of the other party: a Root ninja.
Anbu masks were usually white and typically animal-themed, making them easy to distinguish from Root masks.
"Takuno, our superior is looking for you," the Root ninja said emotionlessly.
"So, who is your superior?" Takuno asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Our superior is the leader of Root, Lord Danzo!" the Root ninja introduced, his voice carrying reverence.
"Hmm? What does a big shot like him want with me?" Takuno felt slightly strange.
"You will know when you get there," the Root ninja replied.
"Alright, wait a moment then." Takuno did not refuse. After tidying up the scrolls in his laboratory, he followed the Root ninja through layers of hidden doors, arriving at a secluded, sunless location.
There stood an old man leaning on a cane, his head and right eye wrapped in bandages, wearing a dark gray kimono, with one hand completely encased in bandages.
This was none other than Shimura Danzo.