After returning to the Hokage's office, Gensakuya still hadn't made a decision. He chose to take things step by step. Perhaps when the time came, he would know whether he should save that couple whose fate had left countless Hokage fans sighing in regret.
He gave a brief report on this mission. After all, there wasn't much he had personally witnessed. The full account would have to wait until Hatake Kakashi woke up and reported it himself.
"I see… so Nohara Rin still couldn't be saved?" The Third Hokage let out a sigh.
There was sorrow for the loss of one of his villagers, but even more so, concern. He was well aware of Kakashi's past. Back then, entrusting him to Namikaze Minato had been an attempt to save that prodigy, but now it seemed the situation might only worsen.
If Kakashi truly broke down because of this, it would be a tremendous loss to the entire village.
The Third Hokage took a deep drag of his pipe, exhaling a cloud of white smoke that obscured his expression.
What a headache. At this point, all he could do was trust that Namikaze Minato could pull Kakashi back.
"I understand the situation. The mission… can be considered complete. Your reward will be issued according to A-rank standards. That should keep you from coming here late at night looking for work again, right?" The Third Hokage forced a light tone, teasing Gensakuya.
This kind of mission belonged to the village, so naturally, the payment came from the village's own funds.
"Yes." Gensakuya nodded. For now, he could choose whether or not to take on missions.
There was still much for him to research. The Uzumaki bloodline's sensory technique, the Kagura Mind's Eye, still needed work. He also needed to begin studying Lightning Release and Wind Release techniques. There were plenty of things to do.
So for the time being, he wasn't in a hurry to fuse a second bloodline.
"Hokage-sama, it's getting late. I'll take my leave. You should rest as well," Gensakuya said. He had already arrived late, and with the unexpected incident in between, it was now well into the night.
"Heh, alright. Head back," the Third Hokage replied warmly.
After Gensakuya left, the Third Hokage let out a long, heavy sigh. With no one else around, the exhaustion on his face was no longer concealed. Too many things had slipped beyond his control, draining him mentally.
Perhaps it was time to pass this position on to the next generation.
As he pondered, two figures seemed to appear in his mind.
One was cold, unsettling, and difficult to approach—his disciple, Orochimaru.
The other radiated warmth, had excellent relationships, a strong reputation, and outstanding ability—his disciple's student, Namikaze Minato.
Comparing the two in his heart, the Third Hokage gradually made his choice.
If Minato didn't exist, Orochimaru might have been the only option. After all, the candidates were limited to his own disciples. Tsunade and Jiraiya had no interest in the position. Tsunade suffered from hemophobia, a crippling condition for a medical ninja, while Jiraiya was too free-spirited to be bound by the responsibilities of Hokage.
So without Minato, even if Orochimaru wasn't ideal, he would still have to be chosen. It certainly couldn't be Shimura Danzo—he wasn't even younger!
But with Minato, everything changed. Compared to Orochimaru, Minato was almost all strengths with none of the weaknesses.
"Let's wait until the war is completely over," the Third Hokage decided.
...
Elsewhere, Gensakuya sensed the Three-Tails' chakra within his body. At this moment, he couldn't be considered a Jinchūriki. There was no Three-Tails sealed inside him—only a portion of its chakra.
He began to circulate his own chakra, channeling it into the seal.
The purpose was simple: to cultivate the Three-Tails' chakra. Although the amount he had obtained wasn't small, it was still far from the full chakra of the complete Three-Tails.
This brought up the question of how to cultivate tailed beast chakra, but it wasn't particularly difficult.
In the original story, Sora's Nine-Tails chakra had been nurtured from a mere trace into something capable of manifesting up to six tails. Of course, it eventually went berserk and was calmed by Uzumaki Naruto's words, but Gensakuya estimated that six tails might already have been the limit—perhaps seven at most.
Aside from Sora, Orochimaru had also used fragments of the Eight-Tails' horn to grow a massive horn.
So it was certain—tailed beast chakra could be cultivated.
For Gensakuya, this wasn't difficult. Compared to Kazuma, his mastery of sealing techniques was on an entirely different level.
He wouldn't grow monstrous limbs or lose control.
Strictly speaking, even Sora hadn't gone berserk without reason—his outbursts were deliberately induced by his father.
Still, keeping tailed beast chakra sealed within his body indefinitely, especially as it grew, wasn't a good idea. He needed a suitable storage medium.
Gensakuya's gaze turned toward the distance—the direction of the Land of Rain.
That was where Jiraiya's three disciples were.
Originally, he thought that by the time he obtained the Chimera Technique, he would miss that crucial event. But now it seemed Shimura Danzo had yet to collaborate with Hanzo of the Salamander to betray the Akatsuki, so there was still time.
Unfortunately, Gensakuya didn't have a clear understanding of the situation there. He had used crows to locate traces of the Akatsuki, but…
Nagato's Rinnegan, even if transplanted, was no ordinary eye. His crows had been detected, and the result was obvious.
Trying to monitor the Akatsuki through crows now was no longer easy.
On top of that, both Shimura Danzo and Hanzo were not easy targets to observe. Sending crows once might work, but repeated attempts or prolonged surveillance would almost certainly be noticed.
Not everyone was as crude and weak as Hiruko.
Then again, if Hiruko weren't weak, he wouldn't have created the Chimera Technique in pursuit of power.
As for Shimura Danzo, one could call him ruthless, but not incompetent. His Wind Release alone had once pressured a fully powered-up Uchiha Sasuke, even cutting through Susanoo. Though it wasn't a complete form, who would have imagined Wind Release could slice through it?
And if Sasuke hadn't had allies, Danzo might have succeeded.
Then there was Hanzo. Being known as the "Demigod" wasn't without reason. His strength could not be underestimated.
So Gensakuya could only monitor the movements of the Rain Village. The moment they proposed talks with the Akatsuki would be the moment he moved toward the Hidden Rain.
As for his goal? The Rinnegan was out of the question.
But something else… he could certainly take a share.