Naruto: The Strongest Sage.

Orochimaru once thought he had found Aoba's secret.

Why did the other party suddenly become stronger and know so many secrets? That was because Shangchuan Qingye had inherited the Six Paths Sage's legacy.

But Qingye's answer was completely the opposite.

Orochimaru was silent for a long time, and then the body with Sasuke's face began to slowly disappear.

"Although there are still many things that are unclear, I roughly understand what you are doing. I have to say, Aoba-kun, you are really unique. Compared to you, my pursuit seems insignificant.

But it doesn’t matter, it’s because of people like you that this world becomes more interesting to me. It’s really so interesting, hahahaha.”

After a burst of standard Orochimaru-style laughter, Orochimaru's last words were heard.

"Tell Sasuke this is my gift to him."

Sasuke felt like he was having a dream. The content of the dream was huge and complicated, with a feeling that was both strange and familiar.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Aoba Sakura and Karin standing by the window.

"Teacher Aoba, what's wrong with me?"

"Feel it yourself. You should be able to feel it now."

After hearing this, Sasuke closed his eyes and felt his body. There was nothing wrong with his body, and he felt no discomfort. On the contrary, he could feel that the chakra in his body had increased.

He could even feel that the previous cursed chakra had merged with his own chakra, making his chakra extremely powerful.

And that's not all, the biggest change in myself is that I have a lot of skills in my mind, including ninjutsu, forbidden techniques, swordsmanship, and even combat experience.

"Something happened. I feel like I'm different."

"It's indeed different now. The power of the curse has completely merged with you. And you don't have to worry about the backlash of the curse anymore."

"Why? I don't remember defeating Orochimaru."

"That's right. There was no fight. He gave up this part of his spirit and skills to help you."

"I was fulfilled? Why?"

“Haha, you can probably think of it as an early stage investment.”

The skills that Orochimaru sealed in Sasuke's body were acquired during the Chunin Exams. His combat experience and various ninjutsu were also acquired during that time.

According to Aoba's standards, he was not that strong. And Sasuke couldn't accept him completely. But he was still one of the famous three ninjas of that era. A real Kage-level master.

Even if Sasuke can only receive about half of it, it is definitely enough for him to digest.

There is nothing wrong with Sasuke's talent, what he lacks is time and experience. Now Orochimaru has given him the key link of experience. There is basically no bottleneck in his growth from now on.

After checking his own changes, Sasuke was silent for a while, and then he spoke about a situation that surprised Aoba.

"Teacher Aoba, I feel like my Sharingan is about to awaken."

"Awakening?"

Aoba was stunned for a moment, then thought of Orochimaru's gift. After fusing with the curse seal, Sasuke's body and spirit were greatly improved.

This may have had an impact on his physical self-perception.

According to Aoba's judgment, the reason why Sasuke's Sharingan cannot awaken the Mangekyō is the body's self-protection, because the awakening of the Mangekyō is too much of a burden on the body. As the reincarnation of Indra, he has a stronger Otsutsuki gene. The body's self-regulation ability is stronger, which automatically suppresses the awakening of the Mangekyō.

Now, after my physical fitness has improved, this inhibition seems to be released.

"This should be normal. But to be on the safe side, you will live in the laboratory during this period of time, and let Sakura monitor your body changes at any time."

"Got it. Thank you for your help, Sakura."

Qingye nodded, then handed the time to a few young people and left the laboratory.

The news came from the Hokage's office, and Aoba rushed over to attend the meeting.

At this time, Konoha had too many Hokage. However, the four resurrected Hokage were quite sensible and agreed not to interfere in Konoha's high-level meetings.

Currently, the second generation Senju Tobirama went to the research institute to work on the research and development of the Black Zetsu body. The fourth generation Namikaze Minato went to teach his son Naruto.

The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was assigned to the secret team of the Anbu and began to go out on missions. As for Hashirama Senju, he was one of Konoha's trump cards.

Aoba's request to Hashirama was that one of them must always stay in Konoha. This was to prevent Konoha from being in danger.

Because no matter if Madara, Konoha, or Nagato really attacked, if Aoba was not there, only Hashirama could deal with it.

Even if Hashirama is not in his complete form, 70% to 80% of his strength is enough to deal with any enemy in this period of time.

In the conference room, Tsunade, Kakashi, Shikaku, and Hiashi were already waiting.

"Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting now." Tsunade said, throwing a document to Aoba.

"This is the news sent back by the Anbu. Take a look first."

Qingye took the document and opened it to read. After a few minutes, he put the document down.

"The content of the document is very simple. The Hidden Cloud Village was attacked by the Akatsuki organization."

The current Cloud Village is at its weakest point since the Third War. The Raikage is disabled, the Eight-Tails is dead, and a large number of elite soldiers were lost in the previous battle with Konoha. The entire ninja village is seriously injured.

Kumogakure knew that he was weak, so he tried his best to keep a low profile. But he didn't expect that he would still be targeted by the Akatsuki organization.

Under normal circumstances, Akatsuki would not target Kumogakure so early, just like Hiruko's previous test was aimed at Sandgakure.

But now, it is clear that they are just bullying the downtrodden dog.

"It seems that the war between Akatsuki and Kumogakure is completely in the interests of Konoha. And the intelligence shows that Akatsuki has only conducted a test and has not yet started a real war. Why are we in such a hurry?"

"It's not us, it's the Daimyo." Tsunade explained, handing over another document.

"This is the official order document issued to us by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. It requires us to assist Kumogakure and wipe out the Akatsuki organization."

Aoba glanced at the document and threw it on the table.

"Did the Daimyo of the Fire Country get kicked in the head by a donkey? The Lightning Country and the Fire Country are enemies. Why are you asking us to help the enemy?"

"The order seems unreasonable, but if you think about it deeply, it is not impossible. I think the Daimyo of the Land of Fire may be testing us. Many of Konoha's previous actions ignored or even violated the Daimyo's orders.

They must have noticed something. That's why they issued this order. It's to test our obedience."

Shikaku's analysis still makes sense. Aoba took the document, read it again, and then threw it away.

"To be honest, if they hadn't done this, I would have almost forgotten that there was such a group of people. But since they have jumped out, let's solve this problem first. After all, we must first stabilize the country before we can resist foreign aggression."