"Lord Hokage, Lady Kushina…"
After Habara left the Konoha Hospital, Kushina Uzumaki and the Third Hokage approached the medical ninja who had been attending to him.
"What's going on with Habara?" Kushina asked immediately.
The medical ninja promptly explained Habara's condition.
Kushina listened, paused for a moment in thought, and then said, "This is… quite a change. Habara never had any sustained combat ability before."
Habara had always been an assassin type – high burst damage, but he had to retreat after using a set of techniques because he didn't have much chakra. Now, however, it seemed he could maintain that burst output indefinitely.
Kushina wasn't particularly concerned about Habara's chakra reserves. As a pure-blooded Uzumaki and the jinchuriki of half of the Nine-Tails, who could possibly have more chakra than her? What concerned her was this sudden, significant change.
Her mind quickly went back to Habara's previous request to review Minato's mission records. Combined with his recent help in resettling the Rouran refugees – supposedly because he had accidentally destroyed the ancient city… and the Ryumyaku – Kushina had a strong suspicion that Habara had found a way to utilize the Ryumyaku's power.
Kushina had undoubtedly already discussed this with the Third Hokage, so he said, "Habara has deep ties to Orochimaru, after all. But he knows the rules."
As long as they could figure out how Habara had increased his power, it wasn't a major issue. He hadn't kidnapped any Uchiha, he hadn't experimented on anyone from Konoha, and he hadn't even harmed any civilians… He pushed anything unspeakable onto Orochimaru, maintaining his own image of upright righteousness, and he'd even proactively reported these changes. What problems could Habara possibly have? He had no problems at all; he was as trustworthy as ever.
Yes, that's right: proactively reported.
Habara had come to Konoha Hospital the moment he returned to the village. This meant he wasn't hiding his condition. While he didn't know when the hospital staff would relay the information to the Hokage, he believed that the Third Hokage would find out sooner or later.
"I went out for a bit, and I gained a little bit of power. Now, I'm reporting this information to the village. This is my voluntary action. As for the details of how I obtained this power, that's personal privacy. I hope you won't pry…" This was the tacit understanding between Habara and Konoha, and there was nothing wrong with stating it plainly.
Furthermore, Habara's actions couldn't even be considered bargaining. Even for the sake of a village's administrative duties, you couldn't force a ninja to reveal their secret techniques. In many cases, this was an inviolable rule… For a ninja, a secret technique could be equivalent to their life. Even the Hokage couldn't order someone to die without a good reason.
The Nara clan's secret techniques were incredibly useful and were not a kekkei genkai. In theory, they didn't necessarily require bloodline inheritance; other ninja could potentially learn them. But could Konoha force the Nara to hand over their secret techniques?
The same principle applied to Habara.
There's nothing that can't be discussed, right? Habara wasn't Orochimaru; he hadn't done anything wrong. So, revealing his condition to the Hokage was no big deal… The sooner the Third Hokage knew about the changes in him, the more it proved that Habara's actions were correct.
If the Third Hokage were indifferent to such matters, Habara would have to drag out the Nine-Tails, stuff a scroll in its mouth, or teach it to speak Mandarin… The words "Great Chu will rise" weren't that hard to say.
After a bit more discussion with the medical ninja, the Third Hokage and Kushina left. It was nothing serious. Or rather, it was a good thing. The gap in Konoha's high-end combat strength caused by Orochimaru's defection would likely be filled soon.
However, what the Hokage didn't know was that, although Habara was different from Orochimaru, he was also like Orochimaru… Neither of them were truly aligned with the Hokage, let alone cut from the same cloth.
......
Habara could go to Konoha Hospital and wander around the village, but Kakashi couldn't go anywhere. He was stuck at Habara's house, guarding the sealing container for the Three-Tails.
Habara returned from the hospital, paid no attention to Kakashi, and immediately began writing a project proposal. His writing speed was so fast, so fluid and inspired, that it made Kakashi's right eyelid twitch.
It seemed that after a period of calm, Habara was aiming to make a big splash – he clearly intended to pull something major.
The next day, Habara gave his proposal to Kushina. That same afternoon, the proposal landed on the Third Hokage's desk… This demonstrated that Habara still knew the rules; his "minor report" hadn't bypassed his direct superior and gone straight to the superior's superior.
And then, on the third day, the Third Hokage summoned Habara.
When the Third Hokage saw Habara, he felt a headache coming on. He really wanted to ask… Who sent you to me?
Of course, the Hokage wasn't annoyed with Habara, nor was he annoyed with Habara's plan. He just preferred fewer problems to more – a rare moment of leisure, you could say, driven by inertia.
However, the Hokage couldn't directly reject Habara's plan. That would be a dereliction of his duty as Hokage, because Habara's plan clearly benefited Konoha. The problem was that while it brought these benefits, it would also disrupt the existing system.
No wonder the Hokage had a headache. It was like honey mixed with shit; he'd be crazy not to have a headache.
"Habara, is what you've written here true?"
The Third Hokage resisted the urge to rub his temples and pointed at Habara's proposal.
Habara didn't waste any words. He placed a small, centimeter-cubed object that looked like a pale blue sapphire on the Third Hokage's desk. The Third Hokage picked it up, examined it, and all his doubts vanished.
"Whose is this?" the Hokage asked.
"Kakashi's," Habara replied. You can't always fleece yourself; the current Kakashi no longer had the Sharingan's chakra leak, so his chakra levels were quite good.
Since Habara's report was genuine, the Third Hokage naturally understood the significance of this matter. And it was precisely because he understood this significance that he hesitated.
"Habara, you must understand the profound implications of such a technology for a ninja village. It's a means to greatly increase the village's combat power, arguably an unprecedented transformation since Konoha's founding… But there's a conflict.
First, it necessitates the concentration of a large amount of chakra. This concentrated energy poses a significant hidden danger. For safety reasons, I cannot place it within Konoha.
Second, once this technology is widely applicable, it will be difficult to keep secret. And once other nations learn of it, the chakra stored outside Konoha will no longer be secure…"
Simply put, Habara's plan required concentrating the chakra of many Konoha ninja. If this chakra were stored within Konoha, the Hokage felt it would be a ticking time bomb, liable to accidentally blow the entire village sky-high. But if this chakra were stored outside the village, the Hokage also felt it wouldn't be safe enough, and the corresponding secrets could easily be stolen by other ninja villages.
There might also be an issue of trust regarding Daigo. Could the Third Hokage fully trust Daigo? Habara wasn't sure.
Because of Orochimaru's betrayal, the Third Hokage now seemed weary and aged. Habara felt that such a Hokage had little ambition left. Rather than leading Konoha to further advancement, it was likely that the Third Hokage was now more concerned with maintaining the status quo.
The Third Hokage's life's mission was complete. All that remained was to hand Konoha over to the next Hokage, and his life would be fulfilled. Therefore, he valued a smooth transition above all else. Habara, a ninja who charged ahead blindly… well, he was born at the wrong time.
Habara hadn't previously considered the so-called safety issues. The Third Hokage's concerns were valid. And after being prompted, Habara also felt that the chakra shouldn't be concentrated within Konoha – Konoha wasn't necessarily safer than the outside of the village, because soon there might be waves of people wanting to "carry rice" into Konoha.
So, setting up a base outside the village might be a better option. The question then became how to protect the security of this off-site base.
"Lord Hokage, I believe it can be placed outside the village. With proper arrangements, the base's security will be essentially guaranteed."
Habara thought a special method could be used to set up the base, perhaps even making the restricted area disappear, or be visible but unreachable… just like Mount Myoboku.
"In any case, this can't be rushed. We can experiment slowly; this won't pose any safety issues. If problems arise, we can immediately halt the project," Habara added, taking another step back.
The Third Hokage hesitated slightly, but finally nodded. "We can try it… This… uh, Chakra Library Project."
The name was awkward. The Third Hokage didn't know what Habara was thinking.
"What about the latter half of the plan, regarding the further dissemination and exchange system for ninjutsu? Lord Hokage, we must not be narrow-minded, nor should we hoard what we have… Lord Hokage, focus on development with all your heart and soul."
The Chakra Library Project consisted of two parts. Chakra alone wasn't enough; you also needed… well, 103,000 ninjutsu books.
But the matter of the "ninjutsu books" was, in a sense, even more troublesome than the first matter. The Third Hokage found it extremely difficult to make a decision.
Habara continued to persuade him, "Lord Hokage, it's just general ninjutsu and elemental techniques that can enhance the combat power of Konoha's ninja. It doesn't involve forbidden techniques or secret techniques. This poses no threat to Konoha's security. If you seek peace through conflict, peace will remain; only with strength can we deter war…"
"This matter has far-reaching implications. I need to think it over carefully before making a decision…" On such a matter, the Third Hokage couldn't be swayed by Habara's few words. He had to come to his own conclusions.
The Third Hokage glanced at Habara and said, "Habara, I'm assigning you an important mission… You will return the Three-Tails to Kirigakure."
The Third Hokage's meaning was clear:
Stop causing trouble. Go play somewhere else. And if you must… go cause trouble for Kirigakure.