Tomie blinked hard.
An illusion?
But the panel inside her sea of consciousness hadn't changed at all.
It was still filled with nothing but question marks.
Seeing the look on her face, Orochimaru and Tsunade—who were accompanying Hiruzen during the inspection—exchanged a knowing glance and smiled.
When they had first seen Hiruzen fight Hanzō, their reactions had been even more exaggerated than Tomie's...
The two of them knew that ever since Hiruzen had fully embraced Tobirama's legacy several years earlier, he was no longer bound by the old rules and conventions...
Not only had he launched sweeping reforms, but when it came to ninjutsu and training, he had probably embraced every kind of Kinjutsu he could find.
With the foundation of Tobirama's disciple and the Professor of Ninjutsu, there was no telling how many experiments he had performed on himself...
What neither Orochimaru nor Tsunade had expected was that their teacher could reach this level.
Whether it was the Uzumaki Clan's ultimate forbidden technique, the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, or all manner of Kekkei Genkai...
If there was a technique that could make him stronger, Hiruzen would quietly study it himself, rarely relying on the village's shared resources...
The key point was...
He actually mastered them.
His strength had skyrocketed.
Whenever Team Hiruzen gathered in private, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade would often sigh:
"Sensei spent so many years playing the honest man that everyone forgot he used to be a genius..."
In a sense, Hiruzen's current performance had caused the Sannin—and many other shinobi of Konohagakure—to look back on his youthful talent through an increasingly flattering lens. By now, they regarded him as someone who had once stood on the same level as Tobirama and Hashirama.
'How is this possible...?'
'My ocular power can't even penetrate Hokage-sama's body... and this is a Mangekyō Sharingan!'
Ever since awakening these eyes, this was the first time Tomie had encountered such a situation.
To Tomie, Kuebiko's lowest-output mode consumed very little ocular power, so she often used it casually around the village to check the panels of other Konoha shinobi...
She had even mocked Isshin for being overly old-fashioned because of it.
The veteran had repeatedly warned her that the Mangekyō's ocular power was limited and could never regenerate, so she had to use it with extreme caution.
Tomie, however, thought it wasn't that big of a deal.
Her talent was simply exceptional!
What she still hadn't realized was that the reason her Mangekyō's ocular power lasted longer and could even recover slightly was because she had consumed a large amount of Shio's blood. The immense vitality and chakra contained within it were responsible...
Tobirama and Izuna also chuckled.
As Hiruzen's Uchiha training partners while he practiced the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, the two of them knew better than anyone just how resistant the Hokage had become to genjutsu and Yin Release-based dōjutsu...
Against him, even a fully powered three-tomoe Sharingan could barely make the slightest dent.
As for the Mangekyō Sharingan...
A tentative probe like Tomie's was utterly useless.
Izuna had already tested it himself, and afterward he couldn't help but sigh sincerely.
"Fūinjutsu really is incredible..."
"I'd almost forgotten about that..."
Seeing Tomie standing there in a daze, Hiruzen smiled warmly.
"I've made some progress with my Fūinjutsu recently. I'll suppress it for a little while, so there's no need to be so nervous, Tomie. Everyone here is one of our own, so I'm not worried about my abilities becoming known."
"This is also a good opportunity for you to test how your dōjutsu reacts to different people. It'll help prepare you for real combat in the future."
At that moment, the panel in Tomie's vision changed again.
Its entire frame seemed to be pulled by some invisible force, twisting into a half-solid, half-illusory state.
The question marks representing the values were dragged away by that mysterious force and became long dashes instead...
That was because the moment Tomie's ocular power came into contact with Hiruzen, it was as though it had fallen into a whirlpool, where it was dismantled and absorbed.
Without continuous power to sustain it, the panel naturally began to collapse.
Tomie nodded blankly.
Fūinjutsu?
Then why hadn't she sensed Lord Hokage using any sealing technique at all?
There hadn't even been the slightest flow of chakra...
'Didn't the old records say there was almost no way to counter a Mangekyō ability?'
'Looks like our ancestors liked telling little lies...' Tomie grumbled inwardly as she focused and poured more ocular power into her eyes. The Mangekyō's pattern glimmered faintly.
She understood that the Hokage was thinking of her.
After all, the shinobi world was filled with powerful opponents and bizarre techniques.
If she only ever used her dōjutsu on targets that were easy to analyze, she'd inevitably run into trouble the day she encountered a truly difficult opponent...
The Hokage was using his own secrets as a training opportunity for a promising junior like her.
'A shinobi's battles are battles of intelligence...'
'Not only is Hokage-sama allowing me to observe him, he's even encouraging me to approach it as though it were a real battle so I can sharpen my skills...' Tomie couldn't help but marvel at Hiruzen's generosity.
What she didn't know, however, was that Hiruzen genuinely didn't care if other people learned how his combat system worked.
He wasn't the kind of shinobi who relied on an elaborate combination-based fighting style.
What he relied on had always been overwhelming fundamentals.
Even if someone understood his entire combat system, finding an effective countermeasure against him would still be extraordinarily difficult.
After all, it was nothing more than raw speed, strength, durability, resistance to disabling effects, and a rock-solid command of all five basic nature transformations.
The Hokage wasn't one for overly flashy fighting styles...
Tomie took a deep breath and activated the dōjutsu in both eyes at once, pushing them into a deeper state.
When Kotoshironushi activated, a faint black glow seemed to rise from Tomie's eyes. She entered a "Blessed State" that heightened her intuition, allowing her to achieve twice the result with half the effort whenever she used a technique.
Kuebiko also entered its deep-analysis state.
Hiruzen deliberately restrained the Evil Sealing Method, looking forward to seeing what Tomie's dōjutsu could do.
Even so, Hiruzen couldn't completely disable his resistance to genjutsu.
The most he could do was relax it in the same way someone might stop tensing their muscles.
That was because, just as Uzumaki Ashina had envisioned, Hiruzen had realized the insane concept of becoming one with the seal...
The current Hiruzen was the living embodiment of Fūinjutsu—and one that continued to grow stronger.
'It finally worked...'
'I can see it! I can finally see it!' Tomie increased the output of her ocular power, delight flashing through her eyes.
Being able to analyze a powerhouse on the Hokage's level was clearly excellent training for her dōjutsu.
The panel slowly faded away, replaced by a stream of information.
Once Kuebiko entered this state, it used Tomie's ocular power to obtain all kinds of information about the target of the technique, then broke that information down with analytical capabilities far beyond normal limits.
This ability was closely tied to both Tomie's ocular power and her own knowledge.
'The target possesses exceptionally powerful vitality, along with immense physical and spiritual strength. Their overall capabilities surpass those of every individual observed thus far.'
'The target possesses seven chakra natures and is presumed to have mastered all of them. Traces of chakra fusion are also present, indicating a high probability that the target possesses abilities related to both sealing and power amplification.'
'The target's body possesses extremely pronounced Fūinjutsu characteristics. The ocular power currently being applied is rapidly being broken down and absorbed. A similar phenomenon is suspected to occur with other chakra natures.'
'The target is presumed to possess powerful resistance to genjutsu, Fire Release, and Water Release, and may be capable of absorbing and dismantling techniques.'
'An enormous quantity of chakra is concealed within the target's forehead and may be capable of being released all at once.'
'The target's body contains a phenomenon that cannot currently be analyzed. It is presumed to be a specific form of aggregated chakra capable of greatly enhancing physical strength, chakra quality, and the speed at which techniques are performed.'
Tomie fell silent after reading the information Kuebiko had gathered on Hiruzen.
What was that supposed to mean?
Was it saying that the Hokage was essentially a walking, immensely powerful sealing technique...
One that was also absurdly fast, overwhelmingly strong, proficient in all seven chakra natures, and possessed multiple Kekkei Genkai?
And on top of that, he had something similar to Mito-sama's Strength of a Hundred Seal as a final trump card for pushing himself to the absolute limit?
No...
Tomie suddenly smiled in relief.
She finally understood why Clan Head Isshin had become even more modest and low-key after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, and why Seisui, despite being an Uchiha, had been granted permission to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique so easily...
Even when dealing with powerful clans that were difficult to keep under control, Hokage-sama had simply waved his hand and allowed them to rapidly grow stronger...
Of course, that had much to do with the Will of Fire, balancing interests, and uniting people's hearts...
But there was probably another major reason as well.
This man's combat strength had already left all of them behind!
He possessed the overwhelming power and confidence needed to keep everything under control...
'What would happen if I fought a shinobi on Hokage-sama's level...?' The thought inexplicably surfaced in Tomie's mind.
At that exact moment, the intuition-enhancing "Blessed State" granted to her by Kotoshironushi began issuing a warning!
The edges of Tomie's entire field of vision were engulfed in an incredibly dense red so dark it was nearly black. Her mind buzzed violently, as though Konohagakure's wartime alarm had gone off directly inside her skull!
This was a manifestation of Kotoshironushi's predictive ability.
'I wouldn't stand even the slightest chance?'
Tomie's mind went blank for a moment. She deactivated her Mangekyō Sharingan and fell completely silent.
In the months since awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Tomie had relied on her nearly infallible intuition to rapidly establish the direction of several major projects in Konohagakure.
Even Orochimaru had repeatedly remarked:
"With Tomie around, there's no telling how much funding, manpower, and material resources we've saved!"
Tomie had also discovered that her ocular power was remarkably long-lasting, and she had unconsciously begun to grow proud of herself.
She believed that her talent ranked among the very best in the entire village...
Shio was certainly no slouch, and Seisui was also extremely strong.
But Tomie's development had been delayed by illness. Now that all her accumulated potential had erupted and she had caught up to them, she should have been the strongest of the three!
More than that, during quiet nights when no one else was around, Tomie had even allowed herself to imagine...
Perhaps she wouldn't merely become the strongest of their trio. Maybe she could become the greatest kunoichi—or even the strongest shinobi in all of Konohagakure someday.
This wasn't because Tomie was arrogant. The Mangekyō Sharingan simply increased an Uchiha's strength far too quickly.
She had suddenly received such an enormous boost, including the rare simultaneous awakening of two dōjutsu. Added to that were her past struggles with illness, the accidental way Uzumaki and Uchiha traits had complemented one another within her, and the deliberate or unintentional pressure placed on her by Tobirama and Shio...
All these factors combined had left Tomie somewhat carried away.
But Hiruzen was like a towering mountain that had suddenly appeared out of thin air before the young Uchiha genius.
The sheer majesty of him standing there instantly brought her back to her senses.
She still had a long way to go...
Immediately afterward, Tomie found herself troubled by a question she could scarcely understand...
The Hokage was this powerful, yet had he truly never considered solving problems through forceful measures in his everyday dealings?
With Konohagakure having developed to its current state, nearly every matter was handled by having everyone sit down and talk...
Even the Uchiha clan's many problems and historical burdens had been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. The Hokage's terrifying military might had never once been openly presented as a factor...
'What extraordinary character and strength he must possess...' Tomie couldn't help murmuring.
What Tomie didn't know was that Hiruzen's strength had always been the decisive factor behind every negotiation and reconciliation of competing interests.
There was simply no need to place it openly on the table.
Whether it was Isshin or Tenzō, Orochimaru or Danzō...
The members of the Konoha Council, the village's jōnin, chūnin, and genin, the daimyō and nobles of the Land of Fire, and even the merchants who came to the village to conduct business...
They all possessed their own wisdom for survival.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's strength was not a violent tool used to force them into submission. It was the step that allowed everyone to calm down and communicate with level heads.
Many problems could be resolved simply by sitting down and talking them through.
But often, the hardest part wasn't deciding what to say—it was getting everyone to sit down in the first place.
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