I, Konoha's Sage of Life-Chapter 156: This Counts as Wood Release? How Embarrassing!

With Kyoichi stepping in to help, most of the wounded in the camp were already treated, so by the next day, the remaining ninja began withdrawing from the frontlines one after another.

That included the Uchiha Clan's police force.

This time around, things hadn't gone too well for the Uchiha.

They had made it to the front, but apart from the final battle against Kirigakure and Kumogakure, they spent the rest of the time patrolling and handling chores—there wasn't even a real chance to fight.

Many Uchiha were left feeling frustrated and stifled.

However...

Fugaku didn't share that sentiment.

On the contrary, he faintly felt—

This might actually be a sign that the Hokage administration was softening its stance toward the Uchiha, that things were beginning to improve.

The Third Hokage truly did want to ease the tension.

Obito and Shisui had both performed relatively well during the war. Obito was a bit simple-minded, but at heart he was a kind and honest kid—a promising shinobi.

Shisui was even better.

Smarter, more mature, and far more likely to shoulder great responsibility.

As someone who inherited parts of the Second Hokage's ideology, the Third wouldn't seek to erase the Uchiha unless he had no other choice. That was a key difference between him and Danzō.

Of course...

No matter how much he wanted to reconcile, it still required the Uchiha to cooperate and walk down the steps laid out for them.

Hopefully, Fugaku would understand that.

The Third sighed.

"By the way, where's Orochimaru? What's he been up to lately?"

"Uh... you're asking me, Sensei?"

Jiraiya had just been thinking about what he'd do when he got back when the question hit him out of nowhere. It instantly threw him into internal conflict.

Should he tell...

Or not?

"You were with him all day yesterday, weren't you?" the Third asked, puzzled.

Jiraiya let out a dramatic cough. He had forgotten—the old man had that jutsu that let him see a lot without leaving the house. Left with no choice, he sighed and said, "Nothing big... he just compiled a list of Senju descendants. I think he's planning to help Kyoichi finish that jutsu faster."

"Senju descendants..."

The Third frowned.

If it was really just to help, he wouldn't be worried. But what if Orochimaru was thinking of pursuing some... other line of research?

Like bloodline revival.

"It's probably not what you're worried about," Jiraiya said. "I get the feeling he found a different kind of pursuit through Kyoichi."

He had been worried about Orochimaru too, but after thinking it over last night, he began to suspect that this so-called "different path" Orochimaru had mentioned wasn't one of those twisted experiments they'd feared.

And if it was connected to Kyoichi...

Then it definitely wouldn't be.

Kyoichi loved research, but he had a strong moral line he wouldn't cross.

As for what Orochimaru was really thinking...

Honestly...

This was one area where Jiraiya had to admit Orochimaru had a point—

He really didn't understand what went on in Orochimaru's mind.

He used to think he did, but later realized he'd never truly known what Orochimaru sought, what drove him, or what he wanted to achieve—and even now, he still didn't know.

"Let's hope you're right."

The master and student each carried their own worries.

As for Orochimaru?

He didn't care how the old man or Jiraiya saw him. He would do what he needed to do. As for how Kyoichi would continue his own research, that wasn't Orochimaru's concern.

In the past, what he sought was eternal life of the soul.

But now...

On top of an undying soul, he also wanted to leave behind a bold, indelible mark in the history of the ninja world.

Everything. I want it all.

That was Orochimaru's current pursuit.

However...

If he'd had a proper conversation with Kyoichi, he would've realized that Kyoichi hadn't thought things through that far. He just wanted to make some money and get some things done along the way.

As for changing the shinobi world or leaving his name in the history books—those were all Orochimaru's own assumptions.

Kyoichi's thoughts at the moment were much simpler: he just wanted everyone to have enough to eat, improve life a little in the village, and maybe raise a few fat sheep to "shear some wool" from.

As for Madara and the Otsutsuki clan...

He'd think about them later.

He couldn't beat them now anyway—he'd deal with it once he could.

Kyoichi was nothing if not pragmatic.

Fame was just vanity. Leaving your name in history? That only mattered if you survived first!

Like right now...

"Sensei! That's Wood Release—it's Wood Release!" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Yūhi Kurenai exclaimed, overjoyed, staring at Kyoichi's hand.

From his palm, a tiny seedling had sprouted—not clear if it was grass or a tree, but at least a single bud had broken through the soil he'd conjured.

It was small—barely visible.

But that wasn't all.

The Wood Release chakra immediately collapsed.

The sprout yellowed in an instant, going from fresh to dead within a second. No matter how much chakra Kyoichi poured into it, it didn't react anymore.

"Keep your voice down... This doesn't count as Wood Release! Pretend you didn't see anything, got it?"

Kyoichi's face darkened as he canceled the jutsu.

This was supposed to be Wood Release?

Hell, it didn't even qualify as Grass Release!

Honestly...

Deep down, he'd once silently mocked Kazematsuri Moegi, thinking her green-based techniques were barely worthy of being called Wood Release—more like Grass Release.

And now...

Shameful.

And Kurenai just had to shout so loudly.

What a disgrace.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like many people had heard her, and no one gathered around to watch.

Kyoichi quietly pondered where he'd gone wrong.

This result was the fruit of a full day's work. With the system's Hashirama Cell analysis, he'd reverse-engineered some information on Wood Release, and it seemed like he'd succeeded—but clearly, not fully.

It was... weird.

"But this should count as a success, right? Even if it's just a seedling, it's a good start?"

"If it were a real success, it wouldn't have withered."

Kyoichi tossed the soil away and refocused on the road, not bothering to explain further. He himself wasn't sure what the problem was. Everything should have been fine, yet the Wood Release chakra barely lasted a second before collapsing.

Looks like...

He'd have to apply for support from the Hashirama Cell reserve when he got back.

That was a complicated process, though—too many people were watching that stash. A normal person would never be able to get access.

Fortunately, he wasn't a normal person.

Kyoichi suddenly remembered—he was a provisional ANBU squad leader. If he applied under ANBU protocols, and all the procedures were followed properly, it shouldn't be too hard.

Now he just had to get back.

He was dying to return—but unfortunately...

This was a large-scale operation. He couldn't just ditch the unit and leave on his own.

Behind him, Yūhi Kurenai was starting to get tired.

To be fair, she'd trained her taijutsu a lot over the past year. If it were the freshly-graduated version of her, she wouldn't have lasted this long.

Kyoichi used his reverse chakra absorption technique to transfer his own chakra to her, breaking it down into physical and spiritual energy to help her maintain stamina.

That's when an idea hit him—

This could be a great way to help them train!

Not enough stamina?

I've got it!

As long as they weren't unconscious, they could keep running. If you hadn't passed out, then the training wasn't over.

With this kind of brutal regimen, he didn't believe their stamina wouldn't improve.

Brilliant!

Yūhi Kurenai could endure hardship—she just lacked natural talent in taijutsu.

But with Kyoichi supplementing her stamina, she gritted her teeth and pushed through. In fact, she went from being at the back of the unit to running alongside Kyoichi at the very front.

Seeing this, many ninja secretly envied her.

Not everyone got to have such a supportive mentor.

Especially now...

Kyoichi's reputation among the ninja forces was on par with the legendary Sannin and Minato Namikaze, the wielder of the Flying Thunder God. In fact, in the western division, Kyoichi's prestige might even be higher.

After all, the western battlefield had been under Kyoichi's command from the beginning. He'd developed Lightning Release: Kirin, taken on Ōnoki in battle, and even captured Kitsuchi and Roshi.

Though Minato's surprise raids were impressive, they hadn't been on the frontlines.

So...

Right now, countless people wished they could become Kyoichi's students.

Unfortunately...

Kyoichi's three students were all still young—especially Uchiha Shisui, who was only six months old. Not even a full year.

Yūhi Kurenai had become a Chūnin.

But she was still too young. With a genius like Kakashi "shining like a jewel" ahead of her, there weren't many Chūnin willing to team up with someone her age in peacetime. So the most likely outcome was that she'd stay under Kyoichi's wing.

And with no vacancies...

Even the great clans couldn't push their own people into his team.

In fact...

Some had already started eyeing his students' future.

Like Asuma and Yūhi Kurenai.

If you couldn't be Kyoichi's student, then maybe being his student's student was the next best thing?

After all, the kids weren't even born yet.

Plenty of people had the same idea—Inoichi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame, and others.

Konoha sat at a major crossroads in the Land of Fire, located toward the north-central region, so traveling back from the northeast wasn't that far.

Even with a large group—including the weak and wounded—it'd take maybe two days at most.

Not to mention...

The first wave of returnees had been mostly Genin and Chūnin.

Kyoichi's group, aside from the medical team, consisted mostly of elite Chūnin and higher-ranking ninja. The slowest among them was Yūhi Kurenai and the wounded.

Once Kurenai caught up, the group's overall pace increased significantly.

During a break—

Everyone took a ration pill and sat down to rest wherever they could.

Yūhi Kurenai sat beneath a tree and quickly fell asleep.

Completely defenseless.

Kyoichi sat beside her, sighing inwardly as he was about to doze off himself. But a faint sound caught his attention.

Kakashi was perched up in the tree, clearly debating whether to come down or not.

Then—

A light tap on his shoulder.

He turned around instantly.

Kyoichi stood behind him, a kunai in hand, squinting lazily. "What are you up to?"

"I—! N-No, I just wanted to tell you, I tried that method you mentioned earlier, and I think I've got something. I wanted to show you."

Kakashi's words stumbled out in a fluster.

"Everyone's resting. Talk to me when we get back. But if you've managed to concentrate Lightning Release chakra, then next you can try creating high-frequency vibrations with it."

Kyoichi's mind drifted to the image of Killer B.

Kakashi seemed thoughtful, then nodded lightly. But then...

He fell silent again.

His mask hid his expression, but Kyoichi could guess—this kid was probably debating whether to ask something else.

"If you've got something to say, just say it."

"Yes. I wanted to ask—about that Earth Release sword technique you mentioned last time... any progress? I'm just curious."

Kakashi asked.

Before meeting Kyoichi, he'd thought his swordsmanship—if not the best in Konoha—was at least among the top. He'd been pretty confident.

But...

After meeting Kyoichi, that confidence had taken a hit—especially with that Earth Release sword technique...

He just couldn't imagine it.

"Have you heard of Light-Weight Rock and Heavy-Weight Rock? It's essentially that kind of Earth Release nature transformation. I haven't mastered it yet, but I suspect it involves modifying density with Earth chakra."

"It's good that you're studying this. Everyone's talent leans in different directions—who knows, maybe you'll figure out the secret behind weight transformation faster than I do."

Kyoichi didn't blame Kakashi for aiming high.

Being curious and willing to study was a good thing. Far better than blindly copying techniques without ever improving or innovating.

"Understood. Thank you, Kyoichi-sensei."