You Wouldn't Be Able to Learn It Anyway—Could Uchiha Dan Be Used by Me?

"All right!" Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand. "Koharu, it's settled. Drug development is the priority."

"Once the medicine has been developed, we'll still have to rely on your Pharmaceutical Department for production."

Utatane Koharu was immediately left speechless, but her mood did not improve in the slightest.

Drug development was incredibly time-consuming, labor-intensive, and resource-intensive. There were far too many opportunities to manipulate things along the way.

If she was only responsible for manufacturing after the drugs had been developed, there would be far fewer benefits for her to skim off.

How could she not be angry?

And if this guy demonstrated even greater value, did that not mean she would be even less able to make a move against him?

How could that be acceptable?

After all, she had said plenty of things she should not have without any restraint. If Uchiha Dan used them against her, would she come out of it unscathed?

"All right! Tsunade, Orochimaru, you two go out first!" Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand at his two disciples.

Tsunade and Orochimaru nodded. After exchanging a glance with Uchiha Dan, they left the office.

The moment the two of them left with Hatake Sakumo, the atmosphere in the office immediately changed.

"Dan, I seem to recall issuing an order forbidding you from training, didn't I?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, his tone slightly cold.

"Yes, you did issue such an order, and I have always obeyed it strictly," Uchiha Dan nodded.

"All these years, you never trained in secret?" Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

"Whether I trained in secret or not, others might not know, but would you, Lord Hokage, not know?" Uchiha Dan asked unhappily.

"First, a whole squad took turns watching me. After that squad was withdrawn, that bastard Hatake Sakumo kept his eyes on me day and night. How was I supposed to train?"

"Then how did you become so strong?" Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed.

"I'm not that strong, am I?" Uchiha Dan sighed dejectedly. "Besides, whenever I fight, I rely on my natural brute strength. Who told me I couldn't use those flashy ninjutsu?"

"Then what was that teleportation about?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the question that concerned him most.

"That? That's even simpler!"

"Every place in this world is what we call space, and every place is filled with dense spatial power," Uchiha Dan explained.

"With a little perception, you can detect it precisely."

"Of course, I don't know whether other people can sense it, but I've been able to feel it since I was little."

For the next half hour, Uchiha Dan spoke at length.

He described how he had possessed an exceptionally clear perception of space since childhood.

He described how this issue had troubled him.

Then, by chance, he heard that the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, could travel through space and teleport, and he had been unable to stop thinking about it ever since.

Not only did Uchiha Dan recount his experiences, he also broke down the principles behind teleportation and explained them to the others in painstaking detail.

He explained how he had gradually discovered that he could communicate with space, and how he had worked out a way to teleport.

He did not care about telling them. They would not be able to learn it anyway.

Tobirama Senju had already taught everything that needed teaching countless times. If these people could learn it, they would have done so long ago.

But told this way, the whole matter sounded very real.

To demonstrate, Uchiha Dan picked up a small ornament from the desk.

When he released it from his right hand, the ornament instantly appeared in his left hand. It was just that magical.

"And then, two years ago, you suddenly learned to teleport?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, his face full of disbelief.

"Yes, I suddenly learned it!"

"Then why didn't you report it to me?" Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded.

"I did think about coming to see you!" Uchiha Dan said aggrievedly. "Two years ago, when I was making medicine in the Pharmaceutical Department, I asked Elder Utatane to arrange a meeting with you."

"But I don't know whether Elder Utatane never told you, or whether you knew and simply did not take it seriously. In the end, the matter was dropped."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Because he actually remembered such a thing happening.

One day two years ago, he had found it strange that Uchiha Dan was suddenly clamoring to see him.

At the time, when Utatane Koharu mentioned it, Hiruzen Sarutobi had merely snorted coldly and ignored it.

Fuck...

Of course, Uchiha Dan had not wanted to see Hiruzen Sarutobi because he had mastered the Flying Thunder God. He had been planning something else.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had refused to see him, causing his plan to fall through, so he had not revealed why he wanted an audience with the Hokage.

Now, it was the perfect excuse.

I wanted to see you and tell you, but you yourself didn't take it seriously. Who could you blame?

"Two years ago, you suddenly insisted on seeing me because of this?" Hiruzen Sarutobi confirmed once more.

"What else could it be?" Uchiha Dan shrugged. "I couldn't exactly trouble Lord Hokage over some trivial matter, could I?"

"Then why didn't you explain the reason?"

"Do I need a reason to see you?" Uchiha Dan looked puzzled. "I'd never met you before, so I wasn't familiar with the procedure."

"Besides, is something like this really something I could casually tell others?"

"You couldn't explain the reason even to Elder Utatane?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.

"She humiliated me every day back then. I didn't want to tell her." Uchiha Dan grew angry and complained, "I heard from the villagers that Lord Hokage was someone who truly cared about everyone, so I only wanted to tell you."

"Too bad you wouldn't see me back then!"

"Hmph! Nothing but lies." Shimura Danzō spoke coldly from the side. "I don't believe that if you had already mastered teleportation, you wouldn't have fled."

"Why would I flee?" Uchiha Dan asked in confusion. "What the Hokage Assistant said is strange."

"I'm from Konoha. My home is in Konoha. Even if I couldn't become a ninja, I was living quite well. Why would I flee?"

"Just because I was being watched, I should run away? What kind of person do you take me for?"

"Why would the Hokage Assistant use such words to humiliate me?" By the end, Uchiha Dan's tone was already furious.

Why would you flee?

Because we wanted to kill you!

But could they really say something like that to Uchiha Dan's face?

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly thought of a possibility: Could it be that Uchiha Dan truly didn't know we wanted to kill him?

Once that thought arose, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly found it quite reasonable.

That was right. Over these past seven years, we had only monitored him and never actually done anything detrimental to him. It was normal that he didn't know.

Although we had discussed it in secret, the matter had always remained among the higher-ups. We had never told anyone else, nor had we ever put it into action.

So Uchiha Dan couldn't possibly know.

In the end, the irreconcilable conflict I believed existed between us was merely an idea born from my own desire to eliminate him over all these years.

Perhaps, in Uchiha Dan's eyes, I, the Hokage, was actually quite decent!

Otherwise, after mastering teleportation two years ago, why would he have wanted to come and tell me?

Wasn't that trust in me?

So, could Uchiha Dan truly be used by me?