Chapter 322: The Villages Send Their Blessings; Sage Crystals Forged from Natural Energy [HN]

Late autumn had arrived in Konoha, and the air was filled with the crisp fragrance of grass and trees, along with the satisfaction of a bountiful harvest.

Two and a half months quietly passed.

Chiya had circled several important dates on his schedule in red ink.

They were the days Konoha Hospital had arranged regular examinations for Tsunade and Mikoto.

No matter how many urgent documents were waiting for him or how many village affairs required his personal decision, he stubbornly and unquestioningly kept these two days free.

On this day, he gently supported Tsunade with one hand while keeping the other firmly around Mikoto’s waist.

The three of them walked side by side along the tree lined path leading to the special examination area of Konoha Hospital.

His movements were natural and smooth, yet his cautious manner was completely different from the Hokage who normally commanded everything on the training ground and made decisions that affected the entire village from his office.

“I say, do you two really need to be this nervous?”

Tsunade helplessly patted the hand supporting her arm, although a pleased smile remained at the corner of her lips.

“I’m currently the strongest medical ninja in the shinobi world, and Mikoto’s physical condition is excellent too. We’re only walking. Do you really think we’ll fall?”

Mikoto obediently leaned against Chiya’s side and smiled softly when she heard this.

“Tsunade-nee is right. Chiya-nii, you’re being far too careful.”

Chiya remained unmoved, his expression serious.

“There’s no harm in being careful. The two of you are now Konoha’s special protected persons, more important than any S rank mission scroll.”

His gaze swept over Tsunade’s broad abdomen, where the outline of her pregnancy could already be seen, before falling on Mikoto’s still flat lower abdomen. The tenderness in his eyes seemed almost ready to overflow.

“Especially you, Mikoto. You need to be even more careful during the early stages.”

“Okay, Chiya-nii!”

…

After arriving at Konoha Hospital, the examinations went very smoothly.

Both children were developing extremely healthily.

When Shizune, who was responsible for the examinations, pointed out the clear chakra images with a delighted smile, even Chiya, who had long been accustomed to major events, could not help holding his breath for a moment.

Within the images were two faint yet tenacious embryonic forms of life.

“Look here, Hokage-sama.”

Shizune pointed at the slightly larger embryo inside Tsunade and spoke with barely contained excitement.

“We can sense that this child’s inherited vitality is exceptionally powerful. It naturally possesses chakra fluctuations already… Its future will certainly be extraordinary.”

She then pointed toward the examination image of Mikoto.

“When we examined this child with the chakra equipment, we discovered that the child is extremely sensitive to chakra and has an unusually concentrated chakra response. It’s truly remarkable.”

Chiya extended his hand and gently brushed his fingertips through the air above the image, as though he could feel the connection of blood between them.

He turned his head toward the two women beside him.

Tsunade’s face radiated a mixture of pride and maternal warmth, while Mikoto’s eyes shimmered with tears of excitement as she tightly held his hand.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

He spoke softly to them, with countless emotions condensed into those three words.

The news that Tsunade and Uchiha Mikoto had gone for their examinations also spread rapidly throughout Konoha’s upper ranks and the major clans.

Although Chiya had deliberately tried to keep things low key, the simultaneous pregnancies of the two Hokage’s wives were unprecedented in Konoha’s history, and their symbolic significance went far beyond the scope of a family matter.

Starting the next day, the small reception room beside the Hokage’s office was filled with all kinds of congratulatory gifts.

The Nara Clan’s clan head personally delivered precious medicinal herbs passed down through the clan that could help calm the mind and replenish vitality.

The Akimichi Clan brought specially prepared secret dishes that were extremely nutritious and easy to absorb.

The Yamanaka Clan presented specially cultivated flowers that gave off a peaceful fragrance.

As one of Konoha’s oldest clans, the Hyūga Clan was even more meticulous with its etiquette and sent a treasured jade passed down through generations. It was said that wearing it for a long time could nourish and strengthen the body.

The Aburame Clan, which had always focused on controlling insects, also sent soft cloth woven from special gentle insect silk that was suitable for a baby’s delicate skin.

Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Sango also sent gifts they had personally chosen, while Sango pulled Tsunade and Mikoto aside and spoke to them at length with warm and caring words.

Even Konan, who had already returned to the Land of Rain, entrusted someone to deliver a special congratulatory gift.

It was a pair of lifelike white paper cranes folded using her unique Paper Style Technique, with her pure chakra attached to them. They symbolized safety and her enduring longing.

These congratulatory gifts were not simply matters of courtesy.

They represented the unconditional support of Konoha’s various factions for Chiya’s leadership, as well as their most sincere blessings for the new generation that symbolized peace and the future.

However, Konoha’s happiness inevitably reached the outside world as well.

Land of Earth, Iwagakure.

Ōnoki stared at the encrypted intelligence that had been sent back, his brows tightly furrowed.

“The Fourth Hokage Chiya’s two women… are pregnant…”

He put down the intelligence, floated toward the window, and looked at the gloomy rocky mountains outside with a solemn expression.

“Old man, isn’t this a good thing? With Konoha’s Hokage being absorbed in his family, wouldn’t that benefit us even more?”

The tall Kitsuchi spoke in a deep voice from the side.

“Fool!”

Ōnoki scolded him.

“Don’t you understand? Uchiha Chiya’s strength is already unfathomable, and now his bloodline is about to continue.”

“This means Konoha’s ruling power and deterrence may continue for decades! A powerful enemy isn’t frightening. What’s frightening is a powerful enemy that has successors and remains united internally!”

He fell silent for a moment before finally sighing.

Thinking about the humiliation of being captured back then…

Chiya’s strength had left him completely unable to resist, and he had been utterly powerless.

“Prepare a generous gift and send it in the name of Iwagakure to congratulate the Hokage.”

“Remember, the specifications must be high and our attitude must be sincere.”

A complicated light flashed through his eyes.

“Until we understand the limits of how he treats our Land of Earth, we absolutely cannot act recklessly.”

The same scene was taking place in Kumogakure, Land of Lightning.

The newly appointed Fourth Raikage, A, slammed his fist onto the desk, instantly covering the solid wooden surface with cracks.

“Damn it! That Uchiha Chiya!”

He growled angrily, lightning flickering across his body.

“Raikage-sama, please calm down.”

His secretary, Mabui, calmly pushed up her glasses.

“According to the intelligence, Konoha’s strength has expanded to an unprecedented level. The village is united internally, and with Uzumaki Kushina as a Jinchūriki, its combat power is complete. Becoming hostile toward them at this time would be extremely unwise.”

“Are we really just going to watch him…”

A clenched his fist unwillingly.

The Third Raikage, his own father, had been captured by Uchiha Chiya back then.

That humiliation had been stuck in the Fourth Raikage’s throat and made him feel as though he were sitting on pins and needles.

He had never stopped thinking about washing away that humiliation.

“We need time, Raikage-sama.”

Mabui spoke in a deep voice.

“Time to analyze his weaknesses and time to accumulate our strength. At this moment, expressing goodwill is a necessary diplomatic strategy.”

“The gift has already been prepared. Samui’s team will escort it to Konoha.”

…

Thus, in an atmosphere that was both subtle and complicated, congratulatory gifts from the major hidden villages gradually arrived in Konoha.

Behind these gifts were deep apprehension, reluctant compromise, and schemes hidden beneath the shadows.

Placed alongside the sincere blessings from within Konoha, they formed a silent battlefield and demonstrated the immense importance of Chiya and his soon to be born children within the current balance of power in the shinobi world.

Of course, Terumi Mei of Kirigakure was an exception.

Faced with this external goodwill, Chiya merely smiled faintly and instructed his subordinates to accept everything, record it all, and then set aside these gifts representing the unease and fear of the outside world as casually as ordinary documents.

…

Underground laboratory on the outskirts of Konoha.

The air still carried the smell of disinfectant and special cultivation fluid, but compared with before, it seemed to have lost some of its gloomy and sinister atmosphere and gained a little more… sense of order.

Inside the enormous observation window, Jugo was in a deep sleep. The grayish white signs of his body hardening had almost completely disappeared, and his breathing was as steady as that of an ordinary person.

Orochimaru stood before a sophisticated chakra energy conversion device, his golden snake eyes focused on the waterfall of data flowing down the screen.

What he held in his hand was no longer the writhing and ominous prototype of a curse mark, but a crystal the size of a fingernail that emitted a stable pale blue glow.

“Hehehe… Chiya-kun, you came at just the right time.”

Orochimaru did not turn around. His hoarse voice carried obvious excitement.

Chiya’s figure emerged from the shadows. His eyes swept over the crystal, and he could sense the highly compressed and purified natural energy contained within it. The energy was gently restrained inside the crystal’s internal structure without the slightest trace of violence.

“Looks like you’ve made some good progress, Orochimaru.”

“Thanks to the ideas you provided and… the ‘insignificant’ sample of Sage Body.”

Orochimaru turned around and licked his lips, his eyes shining with the pure pleasure of scientific discovery rather than the greed and ambition he had displayed before.

“By abandoning the crude methods of forced implantation and control of the will and instead seeking external, controllable energy assistance… this is indeed a more elegant and much broader path.”

He raised the pale blue crystal in his hand.

“I named it the Sage Chakra Resonance Crystal, or Sage Crystal for short.”

He walked to the control console and brought up a new energy diagram.

“Look. It has no offensive properties of its own, nor can it directly grant Sage Jutsu to its user. Its function is more like a… guide and amplifier.”

The diagram clearly showed that when an ordinary ninja’s chakra was injected into the Sage Crystal, the stable natural energy within the crystal would be gently stimulated and form a strange resonance with the ninja’s chakra.

“Under this resonance state, a ninja can perceive the existence of natural energy more clearly. Their chakra activity and control precision will increase significantly, making the practice of ninjutsu, especially high level ninjutsu, far more effective. More importantly…”

He pointed toward another set of data.

“Long term training with the assistance of the Sage Crystal can subtly improve the user’s physical constitution and increase their affinity with natural energy, laying a solid foundation for possible true Sage Jutsu training in the future.”

“Moreover, once its energy is depleted, it only needs to be placed somewhere rich in natural energy, and it can slowly recharge itself.”

Chiya carefully examined the data, approval appearing in his eyes.

This completely matched his expectations.

A safe, accessible strategic resource that could systematically improve the overall strength of Konoha’s ninja.

It avoided the uncontrollable nature and backlash of the curse mark and instead followed a straightforward path of enhancement.

“What about side effects?”

Chiya asked. This was the most important question.

“The side effects observed so far are extremely minor.”

Orochimaru rarely used such a rigorous academic tone.

“First time users may experience slight discomfort because of the sudden increase in chakra activity, similar to a mild electric shock, but they will quickly adapt.”

“The potential risks of long term use… require a longer period of observation and more accumulated data.”

“But I can confirm that there will absolutely be no terrifying consequences like the curse mark’s erosion of the will or alteration of the body.”

He paused before adding,

“Of course, the manufacturing process of this Sage Crystal is extremely complicated and expensive. In particular, the core energy stabilization structure requires me to reach an extremely deep understanding of the special factor within Jugo’s cells before it can be completed. Large scale production will not be possible in the short term.”

“No matter.”

Chiya nodded in satisfaction.

“Prioritize stability and safety. First, produce a small batch on a trial basis and give them to ANBU elites and the top prospects participating in the Taijutsu Ranking Tournament. Let them test them and collect combat data.”

“This will become one of Konoha’s foundations for the future.”

He looked at Orochimaru, his tone carrying a trace of formal recognition.

“Orochimaru, you did very well this time. With this successful Sage Crystal, you have finally brought your work into the light.”

Orochimaru slightly bowed, a complicated smile appearing on his face. There was pride in it, along with the satisfaction of exploring the unknown.

Perhaps there was also a trace of belonging to this village that he had once wanted to abandon, something even he himself had never noticed.

“The path of pursuing truth is enough to intoxicate anyone in itself, Chiya-kun.”

After leaving the laboratory, Chiya was in an excellent mood.

Internally, his family was happy and he had successors. Externally, powerful enemies were lying low and peace was temporarily preserved. In the exploration of power, he had also found a promising path toward a brighter future.

He looked up toward Hokage Rock, his gaze seemingly piercing through the stone.

Konoha already had the beginnings of a large family.

Next, he would personally select the wood and arrange the nursery for the two little ones who carried the hopes of countless people.

Perhaps he could design two connected rooms, one decorated in the warm colors of the Senju Clan crest and the other in the calm colors of the Uchiha Clan crest, with a small connecting door between them…

At the thought of this, the curve of his lips softened further, and his footsteps unconsciously quickened.

The warmth of home and the weight of the future now blended perfectly within his heart, pushing him forward and carrying all of Konoha with him.

Toward a brighter and more stable future, they moved forward step by step.