"Hiruko..."
""
Standing in place, Minamikawa Yuu pondered thoughtfully: "Is this the Hiruko I'm thinking of?"
If it really was the Hiruko who created the Ghost Bud Technique, then like Orochimaru, he was a prime piece of livestock.
For Minamikawa Yuu, such research-oriented talents were far more useful than guys like Jiraiya, who were only good for fighting.
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Thinking this, his heart stirred, and he prepared to meet the other party.
Of course, he didn't make it too deliberate. He started by summoning Tsunade as the top-ranked student and went down to the last person.
This way, it wouldn't be too conspicuous.
Otherwise, if he only summoned Hiruko alone, it would seem far too strange.
Moreover, as the headmaster, it was only fitting to encourage the newly enrolled students.
The individual conversations didn't take too much time; in just a moment, the majority of the people in front were done, and soon it was the end.
Minamikawa Yuu quickly met Hiruko.
Compared to the future, he appeared very young now, about the same age as Jiraiya and the others.
He had white hair, a somewhat pale complexion, looked slightly nervous, and had an introverted personality.
"H-Hokage-sama."
Hiruko walked into the office, looking nervously at Minamikawa Yuu before him.
"Don't be too nervous."
Minamikawa Yuu spoke with a smile, his attitude very gentle: "In this promotion exam, your results were the opposite of Jiraiya's."
"His practical combat and taijutsu scores were almost perfect, but his theory was close to zero.
"Your theory was close to perfect, but your practical combat and taijutsu were close to zero."
"In a way, that's quite similar."
He smiled and spoke thus: "Are you and Jiraiya acquaintances?"
"Yes."
Hiruko nodded: "You could say we're friends."
He was acquainted with Tsunade and the other two; they were all in the same class.
However, relatively speaking, he was more familiar with Jiraiya.
Tsunade and Orochimaru were too much of geniuses, making it difficult for him to keep up no matter what. Even just being around them daily felt immensely pressuring.
But with Jiraiya, it was much better.
At least at this current stage, Hiruko believed he wasn't much worse than Jiraiya.
"Your talent is quite good. It would be a shame if you didn't receive proper nurturing."
Minamikawa Yuu spoke: "Would you be interested in being my assistant?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Minamikawa Yuu's words, Hiruko was first stunned, then suddenly reacted: "Me?"
Minamikawa Yuu smiled and nodded.
Only then did Hiruko fully comprehend.
"Willing, I'm very willing!"
At this moment, a surge of wild joy welled up in his heart.
For Hiruko, who had always longed to keep up with Tsunade and Jiraiya's footsteps, recognition from Minamikawa Yuu, the Hokage, was undoubtedly extremely important.
This at least proved that he indeed possessed some hidden talent, enough to rival Tsunade and Orochimaru.
"Besides you, the others selected this time are Tsunade and Orochimaru.
As if aware of Hiruko's obsession, Minamikawa Yuu spoke again: "I hope you can all get along well in the days to come.""
.
"If nothing unexpected happens, you will form a small team in the future, personally led by me."
As the words fell, Hiruko's heart grew even more elated.
"Only the three of us will become Hokage-sama's assistants?"
Emotions surged in Hiruko's heart, and various thoughts flashed through his mind: "Tsunade, Orochimaru, I've finally caught up to you two...
"
Holding this thought, he left somewhat excitedly, leaving Minamikawa Yuu alone behind.
After walking out, Hiruko couldn't wait to share this good news with his friends.
Especially Orochimaru and Tsunade.
"Is that so?"
Hearing this news, both Orochimaru and Tsunade were somewhat surprised: "So he chose you, Hiruko."
Following the tradition of Ninjas forming three-person teams, they could guess that there was likely one more person in Minamikawa Yuu's assistant team.
However, they had thought the final spot would go to someone else and had been secretly speculating about it earlier.
Yet, unexpectedly, that last person turned out to be Hiruko before them.
"Why him!"
Hearing this news, Jiraiya nearby let out a wail: "I want to team up with Orochimaru and Tsunade too!"
"Hokage-sama's selection of assistants is not a casual matter."
Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya and couldn't help but shake his head: "If it were a normal Ninja team, you might still have a chance. But since he's selecting assistants, you definitely have no hope."
As Jiraiya's friend, he also recognized Jiraiya's abilities.
If forming a traditional Ninja team, with Jiraiya's outstanding taijutsu and practical combat skills, he might actually have been selected.
But Minamikawa Yuu's team was different; it also served as experimental assistants.
From that perspective, Jiraiya was definitely out of the running.
"My theory score was perfect. Tsunade's was a bit worse, but her level in Medical Ninjutsu is top-tier and can assist in experiments.""
Orochimaru spoke: "If I'm not mistaken, your results on that answer sheet weren't bad either, Hiruko, otherwise you wouldn't have caught Hokage-sama's attention."
Hiruko nodded, feeling somewhat proud about this.
"That's right."
Tsunade also spoke: "Don't be disheartened, Jiraiya."
"After graduating from the intermediate academy, I heard there will be a mentor system next. As long as you take the exam and achieve a decent score, you can choose a mentor yourself and study under them."
"Those mentors are all excellent Ninjas from the Village. As long as you pass the exam then, your future won't be too bad either."
Compared to others, her relationship with Minamikawa Yuu was closer, and she was well aware of his ideas.
The so-called mentor cultivation system was essentially the graduate student system from his previous life.
In Minamikawa Yuu's view, this system was quite suitable for the current Konoha.
Coincidentally, there were quite a few idle senior Ninjas within Konoha.
These older-generation Ninjas, limited by age and status, mostly could no longer participate in actual combat.
But their abilities and experience were unquestionable, making them perfectly suited to act as mentors.
For example, Uzumaki Mito. Minamikawa Yuu planned to invite her to preside over the academy.
With a major figure like her holding the fort, other matters could proceed much more smoothly.
"Is that so? So I still have a chance!"
Hearing Tsunade say this, Jiraiya quickly cheered up again: "Then you all better work hard, and don't let me catch up to you too easily!"
He let out an arrogant laugh, seemingly looking forward to the upcoming intermediate academy life.
Soon, this batch of students who passed the exam officially began their studies.
Because they were the first batch to undergo this exam, the requirements were relatively strict. Thus, the overall quality and abilities of these students were quite good.
To put it bluntly, anyone who could enter the intermediate academy basically had the potential to become a Jonin.
Exceptional individuals, like Jiraiya, even possessed the talent to become a Kage.
Entering the intermediate academy, they could receive the best resources and instruction.
The mentors responsible for teaching various courses were now in place. They were all professional talents invited from various Ninja Clans, experienced in specific techniques, and had even taught many of their own clansmen.
Even from the Uzumaki Clan, Minamikawa Yuu had Uzumaki Mito specially invite several retired senior Jonin to teach Sealing Techniques.
Everything was proceeding relatively smoothly, gradually getting on track.
After handling these matters, Minamikawa Yuu also turned his attention to his own experiments.
He looked towards the laboratory, where there were already quite a few results.
Over a year passed in the blink of an eye.
"A genius concept!"
After learning the true identity of the little Nine-Tailed creature beside him, Orochimaru would often stare at the Nine-Tails, his eyes blazing with fervor: "First, use cloning technology to create a body capable of bearing one's consciousness, then transfer one's own consciousness into another body."
"If utilized properly, wouldn't that mean one could achieve immortality directly?"
This thought flashed through his mind, and a look of wild joy appeared on his face: "One could even use this method to occupy other people's bodies,
thereby forcibly obtaining the Bloodline Limits within them!"
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
Compared to the future, the still-youthful Orochimaru was not yet so fanatical.
But the pursuit of immortality had already taken root in his heart. Once this idea emerged, it immediately became uncontrollable.
"Immortality, a boring pursuit."
Hiruko retorted: "What's the point of immortality gained by constantly changing bodies?"
"Even to achieve that goal, one should accomplish it with one's own body."
"I have an idea. Using the technique I envision, one can use their own body to seize and fuse the Bloodline Limits within others."
"This way, one can continuously gather the various Bloodline Limits within the Ninja World, converging them into one's own body."
"Imagine, the Senju body and Chakra, the Uchiha's Sharingan, the Hyuga's Byakugan, and Bloodline Limits like the Dark Release and Transparent Release, all gathered in one person. What an incredibly powerful Ninja that would create!"
"Orochimaru, the immortality you yearn for is insignificant compared to such power."
His face was fanatical, as if envisioning that future.
Unlike Orochimaru's desire for immortality, what he craved was absolute power.
Therefore, in the laboratory, the direction of his research also differed from Orochimaru's.
The Ghost Bud Technique he was researching could forcibly extract the Bloodline Limits from others' bodies and integrate them into his own.
Using this method, even if one didn't possess a Bloodline Limit, they could obtain others' Bloodline Limits by devouring them, forcibly becoming a Bloodline Limit Ninja, thereby gaining absolutely powerful strength.
Listening to Hiruko's words, Orochimaru merely sneered: "The thoughts of a mediocre talent."
"Temporary power is ultimately just temporary. Even someone as powerful as the First Hokage ultimately met his end one day."
"Only immortality is the truth."