It Was All Danzo's Fault

It sounded complicated, but simply put, the Third Hokage intended to collect protection fees throughout the Land of Fire.

Of course, not the kind collected by unscrupulous gangs, where "protection" was merely extortion in disguise.

He genuinely intended to crack down hard, defying the current traditions of the ninja world by purging every unruly group and stabilizing society as a whole.

Within the Land of Fire, Konoha was truly the only one capable of doing this. Even the Daimyo's government forces would struggle to manage it, and they might not even be bothered to try.

And Konoha had not only the strength, but also the authority.

After all, the Konoha ninja village was ultimately the Land of Fire's highest military and national defense institution. If it truly moved to purge internal lawbreakers, no one could say a word against it.

The only reason it had lacked the motivation to do so in the past was that, as a ninja village, it wanted to preserve this environment in order to ensure an ample supply of Mission Quotas.

But if it truly wanted to act, it had both the strength and the authority to do so.

Afterward, it could collect profits through the Joint Security Company.

That also fit the ninja village system perfectly. Ninja villages were originally hired by employers to complete missions for them.

It was simply that this time, the scale of the employment was "a little larger."

In truth, it was entirely reasonable.

It fell completely within the operational framework of a ninja village, as well as within Konohagakure's strength and authority.

In other words, theoretically speaking, this could not be used as solid grounds to condemn Konoha. Who could blame Konoha for being such a deformed monster, a mixture of public authority and private interests? If anyone was to blame, it was this inherently deformed world.

Furthermore, if Konoha united all interested parties, it was not impossible to make this happen.

But if they did this, what kind of situation would arise in the future?

For a moment, Orochimaru felt unsteady, as though he were caught in unknown waves. Before him was the oar steering the boat, yet he had no idea where it would take him.

"Teacher, I'll give it a try," he said. "I don't know what sort of situation will arise then. I only hope I won't disappoint you."

And that he would not disappoint himself.

No matter what, he still hoped that the idea his teacher had proposed—

Could solve Konohagakure's shortage of funds.

"Then work hard, Orochimaru."

Taking another puff of his cigarette, the Third Hokage said, "Once we have sufficient funding, I hope you can properly formalize the village's scientific research system. In the future, Konoha must not only be a village of ninja, but also a village of science. I believe we must place importance on cultivating all kinds of research talent... The village's education must also be valued. Not only ninja education—those unsuited to becoming ninja can become other kinds of talents who can likewise serve the village. Research talents in particular must not be ranked below ninja. The most outstanding researchers may even be more important than I, the Hokage."

Hearing his teacher say this, Orochimaru felt a rare warmth in his heart.

After all, the village's finest research talent—and, if he was being a little confident, perhaps the finest in the entire ninja world—wasn't that Orochimaru himself?

In other words, Orochimaru's identity as a researcher was even more important than his potential identity as Hokage.

That made Orochimaru happier than becoming Hokage would have.

"Teacher, I will value the cultivation of research talent, improve the village's scientific research system, and place importance on the village's education as well."

"Take it slowly, Orochimaru."

The Third Hokage did not rush him either.

He knew these matters could not be hurried. Only by letting things proceed naturally could they achieve twice the result with half the effort.

However, the topic seemed to have drifted... Of course, these matters were important too, so perhaps it had not drifted at all.

But what they had originally been discussing was the Uchiha matter.

Earlier, they had said they needed to placate the Uchiha.

"Teacher, how do you think we should placate the Uchiha?" Orochimaru had realized that his teacher had quite a few ideas, so he once again asked him for a plan.

"Since we are going to placate them, either do nothing, or do it thoroughly."

That was what the Third Hokage said.

Orochimaru nodded as if it were only natural.

"Orochimaru, do you know what the Uchiha want most?"

"...The Hokage."

That was no secret.

Any old woman in the village knew that the Uchiha often complained that the village owed them a Hokage.

The Uchiha's obsession with the Hokage ran so deep that it was nearly a heart demon.

At this, the Third Hokage smiled.

Wasn't that an excellent point to exploit?

With such protagonist-like aspirations, the Uchiha Clan had not truly become estranged from Konohagakure.

It was not a problem for the Uchiha to have ambitions. The problem would be if they had none.

"Then give them a chance to become Hokage."

Orochimaru's heart stirred, and he asked, "You mean?"

"Take an Uchiha as a disciple. The son of their clan head—I believe his name is Itachi?"

"Yes. The eldest son, Itachi. Besides the eldest son, Uchiha Clan Head Fugaku also has a younger son who was only recently born, Sasuke." When he spoke Sasuke's name, Orochimaru slightly stressed it.

The Third Hokage smiled as well.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's father had been named Sasuke Sarutobi. It was obvious that Uchiha Clan Head Fugaku was showing goodwill to the Third Hokage.

"I heard this child is more than two months older than Naruto?"

"Yes."

"Mm."

The Third Hokage nodded.

Then he came to the main point. "Then take Itachi as your disciple."

"The Council Elders, especially Danzo, will likely be very unwilling."

"Then say that the Second did the same thing back then."

If the Second could do it, why couldn't the Fifth?

With the Second's precedent, the elders who had personally lived through it would have no way to easily reject the idea.

Because their political foundations came from the Second, and they themselves were even closely tied to the things the Second had done.

In the end, the elders could not go against their own political foundations.

"But Teacher, the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes that night..."

"Just issue an announcement explaining it. Say it was an Uchiha clansman who had wandered outside the village." At this point, the Third Hokage recalled what Konoha had discovered while investigating that night.

Then he said, "That Uchiha clansman hated Konoha, so he launched the Nine-Tails' Rampage. It was his own choice alone and had nothing to do with the Uchiha."

"Hated Konoha?"

"Wood Release traces were left at the scene that night. So, after issuing this announcement, secretly spread the word that it was an experiment conducted by Konoha's Root. Root secretly abducted an Uchiha, claiming on the surface that he had gone missing, when in reality they took him away for experimentation. To a certain extent, the experiment succeeded. That Uchiha inherited the First's Wood Release power, and under immense stimulation, awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan. Possessing both of these legendary powers, he decided to take revenge on Konoha, because Konoha's Root had brought him pain and torment."

"..."

Orochimaru rubbed his chin.

He genuinely began to wonder whether Wood Release and the Mangekyō could appear in the same person.

After all, the Sharingan capable of controlling the Nine-Tails had to be the Mangekyō, no matter how he looked at it. Wood Release traces had also appeared that night, and he had confiscated Root's files some time ago. He knew that those Wood Release traces had nothing to do with Root or Danzo.

In other words, could it really have been that unknown, hidden Uchiha who had triggered the Nine-Tails' Rampage through the Sharingan that night?

Of course, it was also possible that, besides the Uchiha, there had been a Wood Release Ninja working with him.

However, the possibility of one person possessing both the Mangekyō and Wood Release could not be ruled out either.

Then should he conduct research in that direction?

Such a thought sprang up in Orochimaru's mind.