CHAPTER 354: CHAPTER 250 : PAKURA AND KUSHINA!!

Uchiha Setsuna was finally declared a rogue ninja, with a high bounty placed on his head and his name added to the Bounty Station lists.

At the same time, under Orochimaru’s leadership, the proposal to overhaul Konoha’s internal barrier and defense system was approved during the jōnin council meeting.

In Orochimaru’s words, the current Konoha barrier defense system was already outdated.

The recent attack by White Zetsu served as a wake-up call.

Thus, more sensitive barrier detection techniques needed to be developed and integrated into the village’s defense network.

The Barrier Division, the Sensory Division, the Sealing Division, and the Technology Development Department—which provided the technical expertise—were all merged into one unit.

Kushina Uzumaki became one of its members.

Her body recovered quickly.

Thanks to Tsunade’s treatment and the naturally resilient physique of the Uzumaki clan, she returned to peak condition the day after giving birth to Naruto.

After Tsunade confirmed her full recovery, Kushina rolled up her sleeves and took on some of the sealing missions.

As for Naruto?

He was in the care of Biwako, an experienced elder, during Kushina’s busy hours.

To be honest, spending every single day solely caring for a baby felt like a kind of torment to her.

Back when she was under surveillance, it was bearable.

But ever since Orochimaru took power, and aside from not being allowed to leave the village at will, she had been granted considerable freedom.

That fiery and untamed side of her, once suppressed because of her status as a jinchūriki, was now beginning to stir again under this new sense of "freedom."

Simply put, she truly enjoyed this feeling—having a mission, being needed and respected by both the people and the village.

As her husband, Minato Namikaze was more than happy to support her in this.

Inside the Ninja Academy classroom, Kushina Uzumaki glanced at the group of children. Though the number of students was small, she couldn’t hold back the excitement bubbling inside her.

This was the first time she had officially become a squad leader and instructor.

These children, gifted in the art of sealing techniques, would become the first batch of students in her special sealing class.

She tried hard to suppress both the joy and nervousness in her heart, replaying the advice she had asked Minato for the night before on how to lead a team.

Almost instinctively, she began following what Minato had told her.

First and foremost—be approachable. Become friends with the students, someone they can rely on and trust!

Among the fewer than fifteen students, she quickly noticed two of them wearing forehead protectors from another village, along with the female shinobi standing behind them.

"You three must be the ones sent by Sunagakure to study sealing techniques?" Kushina asked, looking at the ones with Sand Village headbands.

"Yes, I am Pakura, ambassador of the Sunagakure delegation to Konoha. These two children are from our village and possess talent in sealing techniques," the female shinobi replied.

She was a woman who appeared rather stern, but her cool demeanor didn’t come across as cold or unwelcoming.

At the very least, the way the two children naturally stayed close to her in this unfamiliar setting showed no signs of fear or discomfort.

"You’re the Scorch Style user, Pakura? I’ve heard of you!" Kushina’s eyes lit up with recognition.

"You’re amazing, especially as a kunoichi! I heard you ran for the position of Fourth Kazekage but didn’t make it?"

Pakura was momentarily at a loss for words. Kushina’s words sounded like they could be mocking her, but her tone and expression were nothing but sincere and friendly.

She could sense that Kushina Uzumaki meant her no harm. Even so, she still couldn’t give her an answer.

What could she even say?

That she never intended to compete for the position of Fourth Kazekage?

Or that she was simply bitter about losing?

She had already been sent to Konoha...

Yes! In Pakura’s eyes, being sent to Konoha was nothing less than exile.

No matter how fancy the title of "long-term ambassador to Konoha" sounded, it didn’t change the fact that it was a position pushed far from the power center of her village.

To Pakura, this post—aside from any hidden political agendas—was no different from a retirement post.

And if necessary, it could even be the kind of post that was meant to be abandoned. A person meant to be sacrificed.

She was clearly dissatisfied with Rasa’s arrangement, but he was the Fourth Kazekage.

And his cooperation with Konoha had already gained approval from the entire village, as well as the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Wind.

Unless she chose to defect, as a Suna shinobi, Pakura had no way to refuse a mission assigned by the Kazekage.

"I’m Kushina Uzumaki, wife of Minato Namikaze!"

Seeing Pakura fall silent, Kushina scratched her head awkwardly.

She thought her failure to introduce herself had made the other woman unsure how to respond, so she quickly gave her name.

Although she had carried out missions outside the village before, most of them were highly confidential.

In the entire shinobi world, those who had even heard of the nickname "Red-Hot Habanero" were few and far between.

"Yellow Flash?" Pakura looked at Kushina in surprise.

Both Minato Namikaze and she had made their names during the Third Great Ninja War, but the fame of the Yellow Flash far surpassed her own.

At the very least, enemy village shinobi would never issue such a ridiculous order like abandoning the mission just because they saw a Scorch Release user like Pakura.

"This is my student, Maki. She has a natural talent in sealing techniques," Pakura said, gently patting the head of the girl beside her as she introduced her to Kushina.

"That’s great! We can teach them together," Kushina nodded in agreement.

She understood that she couldn’t treat the Sand Village genin as her own students and teach them personally, so she didn’t mind Pakura claiming Maki as her student.

Before coming here, Kushina had already confirmed the teaching scope with Orochimaru and Kagetsu.

In the beginning, she wouldn’t be teaching any advanced sealing techniques anyway.

Just the basic knowledge chosen to be passed down was enough to keep these genin occupied for a long time.

Some of them might even be eliminated later.

Pakura had already confirmed it in her heart—Kushina was a straightforward, passionate, and kind person.

At the very least, she didn’t show any hostility or distance toward her or the students sent by the Sand Village.

Though Pakura couldn’t quite understand how someone with a personality like hers managed to survive in this harsh ninja world, thinking about her husband made it clearer—perhaps she was simply well-protected.

After all, the Uzumaki name... belonged to the surviving descendants of that clan known for their mastery in sealing.

...

"You really have too many ideas!"

Inside the Technology Development Department, Tsunade looked at the new project proposal Kagetsu submitted, holding her forehead with one hand, her tone filled with a hint of helplessness.

Faced with such a brilliant youngster whose creativity never seemed to run out, Tsunade was beginning to feel that she was struggling to keep up with his pace.

"I must admit, this proposal surprised me. You’ve come up with an idea that’s never been thought of before," Orochimaru, standing beside her, finished reading the document and praised it with genuine interest.

"Don’t you think this is a bit too far-fetched? Granting a ninja chakra beyond their own limits—setting aside whether it’s even possible—just having such a massive chakra source usable in warfare is already a huge problem."

Tsunade rolled her eyes at the teacher-student duo.

"Actually, there’s a precedent for it. The inspiration for my proposal comes from the Tailed Beast Cloak... and Katsuyu."

Kagetsu turned to Tsunade, speaking softly.

"Tailed Beasts and Katsuyu?"

Tsunade crossed her arms, her gaze sharp and focused on Kagetsu, waiting for him to explain further. Beside her, Orochimaru remained silent but also looked toward Kagetsu with interest.

"I remember, Tsunade-san, you use a technique called Katsuyu: Immense Network Healing, right?" Kagetsu asked, seeking her confirmation.

"That’s right. It’s a medical jutsu that I can only use by working together with Katsuyu. This technique relies on Katsuyu’s power to heal a large number of ninjas—an ultimate medical jutsu. As long as the caster has enough chakra, it’s not impossible to heal an entire village’s worth of shinobi."

"The principle behind it is simple. Katsuyu splits herself into multiple clones and uses them to transmit my chakra to each injured person. Through that, their wounds can be healed."

"The jutsu also serves to protect the wounded using Katsuyu’s body. On top of that, we can share vision through her, transfer chakra, and even pass on intelligence and information."

"But the burden is enormous! Before I had the Hogyoku Mode, I could only support the technique by releasing the Yin Seal to sustain the chakra consumption."

Tsunade nodded as she explained the technique, and at the same time, she began to understand where Kagetsu was going with this.

"You’re thinking of using Katsuyu’s neural link and her ability to split as a model—to transfer chakra and relay information?"

Orochimaru was the first to voice what Tsunade had begun to grasp. But quickly, he frowned again.

"But how do you plan to replicate Katsuyu’s unique traits? You can’t just use Katsuyu, right? Her chakra nature is healing."

If it was only about healing, then there would be no need for all this effort. Besides, it didn’t align with what Kagetsu had written in his proposal.

"It’s possible to create a ninja tool that mimics Katsuyu’s traits," Kagetsu answered.

Just like how the power of a Tailed Beast can be distributed by a jinchūriki to other shinobi, what Kagetsu aimed to do was establish a massive chakra source as a reservoir—one that could supply chakra to ninjas and enhance their overall strength.

"So, what do you plan to use as the energy source?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "A Tailed Beast?"

"We can also use the Gelel Stone, which represents life or yang-type chakra," Kagetsu replied calmly.

The Ryūmyaku vein, the Gelel Stone, Tailed Beasts, or even the near-infinite Reaitsu of the Hueco Mundo—any of these could serve as a power source.

The only difference was how easy they were to obtain and the challenges involved in the process.

Right now, the simplest choices were undoubtedly the Nine-Tails or the Gelel Stone.

"Looks like you’ve made new discoveries in your research on the Gelel Stone," Orochimaru said, a hint of envy in his tone.

Even though he had finally become Hokage like he wished, it came at the cost of having far less time for his experiments.

He even briefly considered stepping down soon and switching roles with Kagetsu.

Of course, that thought only flashed through his mind for a moment. Unless he died in battle, frequently changing Hokage would only destabilize the village.

He had been able to keep the village stable because he had survived the Second and Third Shinobi Wars, had his teacher’s support, and had built a base of loyal followers.

If he suddenly decided to quit now, the village—which was finally starting to recover from chaos and move toward stability—would be thrown into turmoil again.

That would only cause more trouble and harm the village.

****

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