Breaking Ties with Orochimaru

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, be gentler, Kazashiro," Obito winced, looking at Kazashiro's small hands messing with his face as he sat on the ground.

"Tch, so dramatic. Weren't you just saying you wanted to become Hokage? You can't even handle this little pain," Kazashiro sneered, increasing the pressure on his hands.

Hmm, that should be about enough.

Seeing that the wounds on Obito's face had been smeared with ointment and no spot was missed, Kazashiro walked to the nearby river and washed his hands with the water.

Kakashi is really a warm guy, carrying external wound ointment with him.

"Does the Hokage need someone to apply medicine? A Medical Ninja would have come long ago and healed it with that green-palm jutsu of theirs," Obito pouted, fiddling with his crooked goggles.

"Yes, yes, yes, the future Hokage Lord, where is your Medical Ninja now?" Kazashiro walked up to Obito and pressed his wet hands onto Obito's clothes, rubbing vigorously and leaving all the moisture on him.

"Medical Ninja, hehe, well, ah~" Obito seemed to have thought of something, his cheeks flushing slightly. He didn't notice Kazashiro was using him as a hand towel.

Seeing him like this, he must have met Rin.

Kazashiro looked at Obito's lovesick face, and the image of Obito's beloved also appeared in his mind.

"If there's nothing else, I'm going back to training," Kakashi said lazily, crossing his arms behind his head, not wanting to watch the two fools interact anymore.

"So cunning, Kakashi. You're going to leave this idiot with low IQ to me to take care of? This is our shared effort," Kazashiro said, darting forward and grabbing Kakashi's arm, refusing to let him go.

"Hey, you, what shared effort?" Kakashi glared with his dead fish eyes, struggling to break free from Kazashiro's grip.

Obito, who was standing nearby, was stunned for a moment before reacting, "Damn it, Kazashiro, what do you mean 'low IQ'? I'll fight you!"

With that, Obito lunged like a rabid dog, joining the fray.

The three of them became entangled, and somehow, someone lost their footing, causing everyone to tumble into the nearby bushes and roll away.

"So, Fugaku didn't take any measures, not even planning to gather the clan for a meeting?" Hiruzen Sarutobi finally found his pipe, quickly lit it, and stuffed it into his mouth. He only showed a look of satisfaction after taking a deep drag and exhaling a thick cloud of smoke.

Talking to women and smoking were Hiruzen Sarutobi's two main hobbies.

This was also why he appeared on the streets of Konoha every day.

After all, most of the administrative work was handled by the council, and Danzo took care of the military and intelligence aspects. As Hokage, he only needed to control the general direction to ensure that Konoha, this small boat, sailed smoothly through the ninja world.

"Yes, Third Hokage."

"Since that's the case, we adults shouldn't interfere in the children's squabbles. Konoha is vast, and minor disputes among children are endless. If the Military Police Force had to intervene every time they fought, the Uchiha clan would be overwhelmed." Hiruzen exhaled the last puff of smoke, patted the shoulder of the Anbu in front of him with a smile, indicating his stance.

Anyone with eyes could see the problems within the Uchiha clan, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had no good solutions.

All he could do was ensure that this thunderclap, capable of destroying Konoha, didn't erupt too soon, until a successor of the Will of Fire emerged in the next generation or the one after that, who could completely resolve this hidden danger without resorting to force.

"Let the Uchiha suffer a little, and Danzo will bear the infamy."

This was Hiruzen Sarutobi's universal solution for dealing with the Uchiha clan.

Confirming that the Uchiha clan would not take any drastic actions for the time being, Hiruzen Sarutobi, with a smile, walked back onto the streets of Konoha to chat with young, pretty girls.

Meanwhile, Danzo returned to his Root base with his subordinates and met Orochimaru there.

"Lord Danzo," Orochimaru greeted Danzo in his signature sinister tone.

Seeing Orochimaru's arrival, which he had anticipated, Danzo instructed his subordinates behind him, "You may leave."

"Orochimaru, what is it? Why are you here to see me at this hour?" Danzo asked, feigning ignorance after ensuring they were alone.

"Heh heh, I just wanted to inform Lord Danzo that there has been some new progress with the experiments on Hashirama Cells..." Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

This sinister white snake.

Danzo subtly raised an eyebrow.

This Orochimaru is trying to use the guise of Wood Release to get my attention and control the situation.

Unfortunately, if it were the old me, I would have agreed by now.

"Is that so, Orochimaru? If I recall correctly, your teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, has issued an explicit order to completely ban experiments on Wood Release. Doing this shows utter disregard for the Hokage," Danzo said coldly.

This old geezer!

Orochimaru's expression instantly turned grim.

If this old geezer hadn't approached me for cooperation back then, I would have found a way to pursue eternal life long ago, instead of wasting so much time on Hashirama Cells.

Now, not only has my research funding been inexplicably cut off, but he's also preparing to disown me and distance himself from me.

Shocked by Danzo's shamelessness, Orochimaru was speechless for a moment, and the two stood in an awkward silence.

"I can pretend I know nothing about today's events. You may leave." Danzo, having decided to completely cut ties with Orochimaru, didn't intend to pay him any more attention and walked into the Root base.

"Lord Danzo..." Orochimaru, unable to give up on Danzo's funding, couldn't help but speak up.

"Ah, right. I will inform Hiruzen that with your abilities, it's a waste for you to be in Root. You should return to working under Hiruzen." Danzo didn't stop at Orochimaru's call, and his next words directly expelled Orochimaru from Root.

"Is that so? I understand." Orochimaru had his limits. Since you're determined to cut ties with me, I won't go begging for your attention.

Seeing Danzo's firm attitude, Orochimaru dropped the pretense and looked at Danzo's retreating back with eyes like a venomous snake.

"I hope you don't regret your decision today, Lord Danzo."