Chapter 175: Mind's Eye
"What else can consume Sage chakra?"
"It seems there's nothing else. My understanding of Sage Mode is too limited."
"Hmm? No, it feels like I've forgotten something." Ishiro felt his thoughts becoming sluggish.
"What was it that was related to Sage chakra?"
"That's right, it's the S-rank ninjutsu I just obtained: Mind's Eye."
"How was this Mind's Eye ninjutsu described again?"
Ishiro exerted a great deal of effort to recall the incredibly profound descriptions of Mind's Eye. Then, he attempted to practice it according to those descriptions.
After a long time, Ishiro heard someone calling his name beside his ear. "Hmm, has even my hearing become dull?"
Thinking this, Ishiro intended to open his eyes. But before he could, he seemed to "see" the people around him.
Of course, this wasn't seeing, but perceiving.
"This chakra, it's very familiar. It's Ōnoki's."
"Lord Tsuchikage?" Ishiro called out tentatively while opening his eyes.
It really was Ōnoki. This was Ishiro's first reaction.
Then, after a good while, Ishiro finally recovered from his earlier muddled thoughts.
"Ishiro, how are you feeling now?"
"Feeling? I'm fine, aren't I?" Saying this, Ishiro started to stand up. Halfway through the motion, he realized.
"I can move?" He quickly stretched out his hand to look.
"Phew~~" The petrification had disappeared.
Ishiro sat back down with a thump, calmed his emotions, and then said to Ōnoki, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Tsuchikage. I should be alright now."
Just as Ōnoki was about to speak, Ikura also entered from outside.
Ikura had already gone to bed; Ōnoki had sent someone to notify him after receiving the news.
Ishiro nodded to Ikura and immediately said to him, "I'm fine now."
Ikura also nodded, somewhat relieved, and then greeted Ōnoki first.
Ōnoki then asked, "What exactly happened? Why were you petrifying just now? And how did the petrification suddenly recede? Have you mastered Sage Mode?"
When Ōnoki entered, Ishiro's petrification hadn't yet subsided. He too was at a loss and had tried to wake Ishiro. But at that time, Ishiro's consciousness was gradually fading, and he was concentrating on cultivating the S-rank ninjutsu, so he hadn't heard anything at all.
Ikura also looked over with a worried expression upon hearing this.
Ishiro assessed his body, shook his head, and said, "I don't think I've learned Sage Mode. I don't have any chakra in my body, and my physical strength hasn't changed. It's completely different from Sage Mode."
"However, the petrification should be related to natural energy. Fortunately, I probably didn't absorb much natural energy, so the petrification speed was very slow."
"Later," Ishiro frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Later, I tried to consume the abnormal Sage chakra synthesized from natural energy."
"In the end, it seems I consumed that Sage chakra by cultivating the S-rank ninjutsu."
"Hmm?" Ishiro suddenly remembered something as he said this.
Then, with a pleasantly surprised expression, he said, "I think I've learned the S-rank ninjutsu!"
Saying this, Ishiro quickly closed his eyes. Sure enough, when Ishiro shut off his vision, his strongest sense, the ability of Mind's Eye manifested again.
Now, there were three chakra sources around Ishiro: one was Ōnoki, another was Ikura, and the last one was so small it was almost negligible – that was Natsuki. Additionally, Ishiro also sensed the faint natural energy in the surroundings.
Ishiro opened his eyes again. That feeling was still there, but because his attention was primarily focused on his vision, the sensation had weakened considerably.
Hearing Ishiro say this, Ikura was somewhat speechless. Seriously, was S-rank ninjutsu that easy to learn?
Ōnoki was also speechless. He himself hadn't mastered many S-rank ninjutsu.
Looking at Ishiro and then at Ikura, Ōnoki said, "Tomorrow, you two can each receive another S-rank ninjutsu."
Ishiro and Ikura both nodded.
Ōnoki added worriedly, "It's useless to learn too many ninjutsu. You must master the ones you know thoroughly. Don't be greedy for more."
"Alright, Ishiro, you rest first. Tomorrow, tell us in detail what happened just now."
"Yes." Ishiro knew Ōnoki wasn't just referring to him and Ikura, but also the village's four advisors.
Natural energy was a major affair and required everyone's participation in decision-making.
Ōnoki and Ikura left soon after. Ishiro then looked at Natsuki, the only one still remaining in the room, gratefully patted her small head, and said, "Thank you, Natsuki, this time. Go to bed early; you have to wake up early for training tomorrow."
"Hmph." Hearing that she still had to wake up early for training tomorrow, Natsuki pouted and went to bed unhappily.
Now, Ishiro's mental energy was greatly depleted, and he didn't dare to refine chakra again. Mind's Eye expanded his perception range; there were at least two Anbu squads nearby.
Safety was not an issue. Ishiro directly chose to sleep, leaving everything for tomorrow.
The next day, Ishiro refined chakra outside the sealing barrier, gave his three disciples from Team Two a day off, and then went to the Tsuchikage's office.
For Iwagakure, the Third Great Ninja War was already over, so the several advisors were all in the village. Plus, the busiest post-war period had passed, so the advisors, along with Ōnoki and Ikura, were chatting in the Tsuchikage's office.
After Ishiro arrived, Ōnoki gestured for Ishiro to sit in an empty seat that had been prepared for him in advance.
"My treatment has improved, huh," Ishiro thought.
Previously, when Ishiro came to the Tsuchikage's office, there was no seat for him, and it seemed Ikura didn't have one either.
Today, both of them had seats. Could it be?
Ishiro, having thought of something, didn't voice his doubts but first spoke about what happened last night.
"Lord Tsuchikage, esteemed seniors, yesterday while training, I unintentionally absorbed natural energy, which led to partial petrification of my body. This process was silent and without notice. If Natsuki's cry hadn't interrupted me, I would probably have turned into a rock by now."
"Afterwards, I continuously tried to consume the Sage chakra in my body. Finally, through the S-rank ninjutsu, Mind's Eye, I managed to consume all that chakra."
"However, I'm currently not sure how I absorbed natural energy last night, nor am I sure if this process can be repeated."
"I only know that yesterday I had just learned a C-rank Wind Release ninjutsu. On a whim, I exhausted all my chakra. Perhaps this was the reason I unintentionally absorbed natural energy."
After hearing this, everyone was silent for a moment. Finally, Ikura said, "This is a possibility, but it still needs to be tested again."
Saka also said, "That's right. If one could absorb natural energy merely by depleting their body's chakra, that would be too simple. I think there must be other reasons."
Ōnoki nodded and said, "Then let's try this method first. However, Ishiro, you don't try it for now. Let's find someone else to try first."
Ōnoki had been frightened by the sight of Ishiro's petrification yesterday. It wasn't easy for the village to produce a quasi-Kage.
Although theoretically, in the Tsuchikage's eyes, every ninja in the village should be the same, Ōnoki would still make the choice between letting a future Kage take risks or letting an ordinary ninja take risks.
"For the next two days, Ishiro, don't train within the natural energy area. Saka, you go find a few volunteers. At that time, we will all watch from the side."
Saka nodded, "Understood."
Seeing that the matter of natural energy was more or less dealt with, the elderly male advisor spoke with a smile, "Alright, that's settled. Let's talk about Ikura and Ishiro."
Ōnoki nodded and said, "Hmm, Ikura, Ishiro, the two senior advisors plan to retire. We have discussed it, and the two vacant advisor positions will be succeeded by you two."
Ishiro had already been prepared for this, so he wasn't surprised. He glanced at Ikura; Ikura should have known about this in advance, so he wasn't surprised either.
The two advisors were already old, and this war had caused them much worry. Now, both of them looked much older than before the war. They had indeed reached retirement age.
Ishiro and Ikura involuntarily looked at the two advisors.
The two smiled faintly, and the female advisor said, "We are old. We have lived from the Warring States period until now. People of our era have long since passed away. To see the village we personally established have successors in our later years, we are very content."
Measured by a ninja's lifespan, the two advisors were indeed very old. Among the high-ranking officials of various countries, only Chiyo of Sunagakure could compare with them in age.
In the original story, Chiyo lived until Naruto's time only because she retired early. If she hadn't come out of retirement again, Chiyo should have been able to live until the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Perhaps retiring early wasn't bad for the two advisors.
Thinking of this, Ishiro nodded and said, "I accept the appointment."
Ikura also replied, "I also accept the appointment."
Ōnoki smiled and said, "Very good. Now, let's assign your respective tasks. Saka, you first explain to them."
Saka nodded, then looked at Ishiro and Ikura and said, "The village has many types of political affairs. Since there are only four advisors, the numerous political affairs are distributed among us four."
"Each advisor is responsible for several sectors. For example, before the war, I was responsible for the Mission Assignment Office, the Ninja Academy, the Intelligence Department, the Interrogation Department, and the Prison."
"You two can choose a few departments from the village's many departments that you are skilled in."
Saying this, Saka handed them a list.
The village had many departments: Anbu, Intelligence Department, Prison, Interrogation Department, Medical Department, Barrier Team, Logistics Department, Ninja Academy, Mission Assignment Office, Contribution Office, Political Affairs Department, Finance Department, Trade Route Maintenance Office, External Affairs Office, etc.
Among these departments, Ishiro was most familiar with the Barrier Team, Anbu (which was directly under the Tsuchikage and not managed by advisors), the Ninja Academy, and the Trade Route Maintenance Office, which was newly established because of Ishiro.
Ishiro originally planned to choose the Ninja Academy, Barrier Team, and Trade Route Maintenance Office. But after hesitating for a moment, Ishiro decided to choose a few unfamiliar departments to understand the village's operational methods better.
After choosing for a long time, Ishiro selected four departments: the Medical Department, the Intelligence Department, the Interrogation Department, and one department that was also originally under the Tsuchikage's direct jurisdiction.
This Tsuchikage-direct-controlled department had only one task: to guard the Tailed Beast. The reason it was directly under the Tsuchikage was that originally, only Ōnoki in Iwagakure had the ability to suppress the Tailed Beast; other advisors couldn't.
To maintain secrecy from the outside world, this department didn't even have an official name. Ishiro's sealing jutsu mastery was not low, so others had no objection to him choosing this department.
Ikura chose three: the Mission Assignment Office, the Barrier Team, and the Contribution Office.
Seeing that both had finished choosing, Ōnoki nodded and said, "Alright, go and coordinate the handover of affairs with your predecessors. Start your official duties tomorrow."
"Both of you have newly graduated students to lead. Pay attention to arranging your time well, and don't forget to handle political affairs."
"Yes!" Ishiro and Ikura nodded in unison. They looked at each other and saw the same drive in each other's eyes. Both were young, full of confidence in the future, and wanted to achieve great things.
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