Outside Konoha Village, in a hidden laboratory.
Click.
A beaker fell from Orochimaru's hand. He stared at Tanzō in shock, his voice hoarse.
"Lord Tanzō, I've put in so much effort and finally made some progress. You can't do this!"
He had just found sixty children and was about to proceed to the next stage of the experiment. Who would have thought that Tanzō would call the whole project off.
Permanently!
"Humph," Tanzō snorted. "I'm not here to discuss this with you. I'm just letting you know."
"Clean up everything right away. Don't let Hiruzen find even a hint of it. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble!"
Tanzō had mastered Wood Release. Now, he no longer needed Orochimaru to continue the experiments.
Moreover, as someone vying for the position of Hokage, he had to be more cautious than ever.
Continuing the secret experiments would do him more harm than good.
"I understand, Lord Tanzō."
Orochimaru's face twitched. Finally, he gritted his teeth and agreed.
"You're a smart man, Orochimaru. Better not do anything you shouldn't," Tanzō warned coldly. "Without my cover, you can't hide anything from Hiruzen."
"Orochimaru understands." After respectfully seeing Tanzō off, Orochimaru sneered.
"Heh, Tanzō!"
He had just made some progress, and Tanzō wanted to terminate the experiment?
Tanzō must be trying to take credit for his achievements. That was such a move of burning his bridges and killing the goose that lays the golden eggs!
"This just shows that my research direction is correct," Orochimaru murmured to himself.
"Maybe just one more experiment, and I'll be able to understand the power of the First Hokage. I can't stop now..."
Konoha Hospital.
In a bright private office, shouts could be heard from time to time.
"A pair of threes!"
"Pass."
"A single four."
"Pass..."
"Pfft, what a wimp!"
Tsunade burst out laughing. Under Kaze's glum look, she played her final card.
"This game called 'Fight the Hokage' is really fun," Tsunade said, beaming with joy after winning all morning.
She had discovered a trick: as long as she didn't team up with Kaze, she was guaranteed to win.
"Yeah, it's really fun. Kyu and I used to play this all the time," Minato said with a smile as he shuffled the cards.
"Stop playing. I've lost all morning!"
Kaze slammed the cards down and waited for Tsunade to comfort him and wash his face.
Suddenly, someone opened the door without knocking.
"Tsunade, you... Oh? Are there guests?"
After the man with blue - gray hair noticed someone in the room, he quickly hid the flowers in his hand behind his back and scratched his head with the other hand to cover his embarrassment.
"Jiraiya, what are you here for?" Tsunade asked lazily after glancing at the visitor.
"I... I'm here to... to..." Jiraiya stammered for a long time but couldn't get a word out.
He couldn't exactly say that he came to Tsunade to have a good chat and enjoy some alone time with her!
"Um..."
Jiraiya averted his gaze, trying to change the subject. Then he noticed two kids beside him and they looked somewhat familiar.
"Hey, aren't you two Orochimaru's apprentices? What's his name... Shimura... Kaze?"
"Pfft, pfft! What are you talking about? Bad luck! Don't mention that guy in front of me!"
Tsunade spat twice irritably and hugged Kaze and Minato beside her.
"Now, this is my apprentice, and this is my brother - in - law. You should take good care of them from now on, got it?"
(Minato blushed.)
Although he didn't know what was going on, Jiraiya nodded and cunningly changed his words.
"Ah, so they are Little Tsunade's apprentice and brother - in - law. No problem. Just come to Uncle Jiraiya if you need anything."
Oh?
Kaze rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Actually, I do have something to trouble you with, Master Jiraiya."
"This Shimura brat really doesn't know how to be polite."
Jiraiya was a bit annoyed, but he couldn't show it in front of Tsunade.
He had no choice but to say helplessly, "What is it? Just say it."
"Well, it's like this." Kaze pointed to Minato beside him.
"Minato has encountered some problems in his training recently. I wonder if you could spare some time to give him a hand with his training?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Minato didn't know what Kaze was up to, but he still nodded in cooperation.
"Sorry, I'm swamped with work and have no time to guide his training." Jiraiya refused Kaze without even thinking.
Tsunade patted Kaze on the shoulder and spoke up for Jiraiya.
"Kaze, Jiraiya is really busy. If Minato has any questions, just tell him to come to me."
She knew that Jiraiya had been searching for the "Child of the Prophecy" and really had no intention of guiding others' training.
"..."
Kaze didn't say a word but looked at the light screen in front of him.
[Ding! Congratulations, host! You've triggered a choice!]
[Option 1: Decide it's hopeless and ditch the plan to convince Jiraiya. Completion reward: Fire Release: Flame Bullet.]
[Option 2: Keep bugging Jiraiya to get him to teach Minato. Completion reward: Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet.]
[Option 3: Keep badgering Jiraiya to get him to teach you. Completion reward: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet.]
"System, I'll go for Option 2," Kaze murmured silently in his heart.
His purpose in deceiving Jiraiya was mainly to give Minato a chance to access the Sage Art.
Since he had already signed a contract with the Shikkotsu Forest, why go out of the way to snatch his friend's chance?
"Gentlemen, you may not know that the problem Minato is facing is mostly psychological," Kaze said slowly.
Since he was making things up on the spot, he knew he'd lose track if he spoke too fast.
"Psychological?" Minato asked in confusion.
Then, when he turned around, he found Jiraiya and Tsunade looking at him with even more confused expressions.
He quickly coughed twice and said, "Well, now that I think about it, it does seem to be a psychological problem."
Everyone looked at Kaze again, and Kaze continued to make up his story.
"Yes, Minato has been dreaming almost every day recently about his future self bringing all kinds of changes to the ninja world."
"Sometimes he brings stability to the ninja world, and sometimes he brings destruction. He's acting like a nut. He..."
"Stop!" Hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but interrupt Kaze.
"This isn't just acting crazy. He's probably actually nuts!"
"Wait here. I'll go to the psychiatry department and find two experts to examine Minato!"
With that, Tsunade rushed towards the door in a hurry.
"Hey, it's not..."
Kaze and Minato both looked like they wanted to say something but stopped.
"Damn it, I (Kaze) seem to have overdone it," Kaze thought to himself.
At the critical moment, Jiraiya grabbed Tsunade and said with a solemn look, "Little Tsunade, don't be in a hurry. Let them finish talking."
"Yes, yes. Let me describe Minato's situation!"
Kaze didn't dare to waste any more time, fearing that Minato would be taken away as a mental patient.
If that happened, the doctor would ask Minato to prove that he wasn't crazy, and Minato wouldn't be able to prove it. Then he'd have to spend the rest of his life in a mental asylum alone.
And then he'd have to take care of Kushina for Minato for the rest of his life... Even a dog would be appalled!
"In his dreams, Minato's mind is simultaneously dominated by two conflicting thoughts. He vacillates between peace and destruction. This influence has even spread to reality, which really troubles him," Kaze said.
Kaze didn't mention the prophecy at all, but his words hit all the right points.
"I think it's very likely that Minato is at a turning point in his life and needs a master to guide and enlighten him to make the right choice."
"No, what Minato needs now is an excellent psychiatrist!" Tsunade shook her head and said seriously.
"Being affected by dreams in reality and unable to distinguish between reality and dreams is a very serious mental illness!"
Well...
Minato looked at Kaze painfully and sent him a silent signal: "Kaze, why are you doing this to me?"
Kaze blinked and said, "Shut up. Just cooperate with me. There'll be huge benefits."
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