Orochimaru was dead, but he wasn't dead.
And then there was the Eight Branches Technique he had mentioned...
Hyuga Sho held the head Orochimaru had abandoned in one hand, pondering these matters.
Shinno looked extremely regretful.
"Looks like the Ankbandian matter will have to be postponed again..."
After saying this, Shinno turned around and immersed himself in researching cloned bodies...
"My lord."
Gui came in from outside. She had obtained new intelligence.
"Itachi has joined the ANBU..."
It was the "Sixth Squad."
This squad had quite a history with Hyuga Sho and Gui.
At the beginning.
Gui had been the captain of Anbu Squad Six.
She had taken orders from Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō.
Later, Kakashi joined.
Not long after that, Kakashi became the captain of the Sixth Squad.
Later still, Yamato was persuaded by Kakashi and joined the squad.
Uzuki Yugao also entered the squad as a junior newcomer.
And now...
Uchiha Itachi had joined as an even later junior and became the least experienced member of the Sixth Squad.
"There are still Danzo's people in the squad..."
Last year.
A ninja named Aburame Yanagi had joined the Sixth Squad.
Aburame Yanagi was a Genin.
When Itachi became a Chunin, he operated as Itachi's teammate.
In other words.
Danzo had been monitoring Itachi's movements all along.
Now, Aburame Yanagi was protecting Itachi's operations under the ANBU codename "Tsureryu."
"The closer someone is to the village's center of power, the more they dislike the Uchiha Clan... It's not strange that some people would be happy to see Itachi die..."
Gui told Hyuga Sho what she thought.
There were three kinds of attitudes toward discriminating against the Uchiha Clan.
1. They were displeased that the evil Uchiha had joined the ANBU and insisted that the ANBU should maintain its "purity."