Communication Between Scientists

The next morning, Yusuke and his family changed into the black clothes worn for memorial services and left early to head toward the designated location.

The weather was very clear at this time, and there were already many people on the road heading to the memorial site, including ordinary villagers and quite a few ninjas.

Everyone appeared very sorrowful; those walking together on the road rarely chatted or interacted, and many acquaintances merely nodded to acknowledge one another as a form of greeting.

Clearly, although the war had ended, the sacrifice of so many fellow villagers still hung over people's hearts like a haze.

With Uchiha Hazuki, his mother, on his right and holding Izumi's hand with his left, the three of them arrived at the memorial stone, where the service was being held.

Without waiting too long, the area in front of the memorial stone was crowded with people, all dressed in black.

Amidst the gaze of the masses, the Third Hokage slowly walked to the front of the memorial stone and began to mourn the martyrs who had sacrificed themselves in the Third Shinobi World War.

Many of the attendees had friends or family who had died in this war, and upon hearing the Third Hokage's emotional speech, many could not help but sob; the entire memorial site was filled with the sound of weeping.

At this time, the Third Hokage was not yet as frail and elderly as he appeared in the original story; although his stature was not tall, he still stood straight and upright.

However, Yusuke could tell that the Third Hokage was already beginning to go downhill; as his age increased, his strength would gradually decline.

The memorial service did not last long, and after the ceremony to honor the dead concluded, the Third Hokage announced news that shocked everyone.

The Third Hokage believed that the village had suffered too great a sacrifice in this war, a large part of which was his own responsibility, and he decided to step back to the second line and select a Fourth Hokage to manage Konoha.

Although many in the village expressed opposition, the Third Hokage still insisted on his decision and announced the two candidates for the Fourth Hokage: one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, and the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato.

Of the two candidates, Orochimaru was nominated by the elder Danzo, while Namikaze Minato was nominated by the Third Hokage. Originally, some wanted to nominate the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, to join the race, but he declined.

As a transmigrator, Yusuke naturally knew that the final winner of this election would be Namikaze Minato, though this was expected.

Orochimaru was unqualified based on appearance alone; he was too sinister and terrifying. He wouldn't even need makeup to star in a horror movie, and if someone met him in the middle of the night, they could be scared to death. No one would choose someone they were afraid to look at as their Hokage.

As for Namikaze Minato, a disciple of the Sannin Jiraiya, he was not only powerful with countless merits, but also humble and of civilian origin. His story was highly inspirational, and he was already the most popular person in the village.

If Namikaze Minato were to lose, the people in the village would likely suspect that the election was rigged.

In a remote corner of the Konoha cemetery, in front of an anonymous tombstone, a fair-skinned man with long black hair was sighing to himself: "Lamenting for the dead has no meaning. If death has any meaning, it only exists when it can be utilized."

The person sighing was none other than one of the Sannin, Orochimaru.

"What is the meaning of life?" A six or seven-year-old boy with delicate features suddenly arrived beside Orochimaru and asked curiously.

Orochimaru looked at the little boy with appreciation. Because of his sinister appearance and the faintly radiating killing intent, even Jonin usually avoided him out of fear; unless necessary, few people would take the initiative to speak to him.

Yet, there was not a trace of fear in the eyes of this little boy as he looked at him; instead, he appeared neither humble nor pushy.

"It has no meaning," Orochimaru said slowly, then added, "If it does, it only exists when life is eternal."

"Lord Orochimaru, I have a mission tomorrow and don't have much time, so let's start as soon as possible today." At this moment, a voice rang out, interrupting the two who were discussing the eternal mystery of the meaning of life.

The two looked toward the sound and saw a young man wearing a standard ninja vest walking slowly toward them; it was Yusuke.

Because he had an appointment to meet Orochimaru, Yusuke had let Uchiha Hazuki and Izumi go back first while he lingered for a while to wait for Orochimaru.

Hearing Yusuke's words, Orochimaru nodded at the little boy and then said to Yusuke, "Yusuke-kun, I'm truly sorry. As I get older, I enjoy making some useless sighs. Let's meet at the old place." After saying this, he used a few Body Flicker techniques and left the cemetery.

Yusuke glanced at the delicate-looking little boy and immediately recognized his identity; it was the tragic genius of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Itachi.

At this time, Itachi was still a very cute little boy, but his eyes seemed to hide countless worries.

Yusuke was not familiar with Itachi, and after finding Orochimaru, he said no more. He formed a seal with two fingers pressed together on his chest, transformed into a burst of flame, and vanished from the spot, heading toward the location agreed upon with Orochimaru.

"That big brother just now seems to be the 'Flame Tachi' Yusuke-senpai," Itachi murmured.

Since Yusuke arrived in the Naruto world, Orochimaru could be considered half a friend, though their interactions were mostly exchanges regarding ninjutsu.

Because Yusuke was a scientist before he transmigrated, he was obsessed with the development of ninjutsu after arriving, and Orochimaru could also be considered a scientist in the world of Naruto, so the two had quite a lot in common.

It was for this reason that although Yusuke addressed Orochimaru as 'Lord', his actual tone was very casual, like that of an ordinary friend.

Yusuke was not skilled in the 'biological science' that Orochimaru excelled at. Yusuke focused on the study of energy and energy operation; of course, in the Naruto world, this referred to the study of chakra and ninjutsu.

Inside one of Orochimaru's secret bases, Yusuke and Orochimaru were discussing the development of a new ninjutsu.

"Yusuke-kun, the ideas you once mentioned regarding cellular genetic inheritance have greatly inspired me. The Cursed Seal developed in coordination with the First Hokage's cells has improved significantly. Are you sure you don't want to try it?" Orochimaru tempted.

"No need. Compared to performing all sorts of messy experiments on my own body, I prefer to develop power that belongs to me," Yusuke refused.

He had no interest in letting Orochimaru place those immature Cursed Seals on him, and besides, he knew these seals were one of the means Orochimaru used to initiate the 'Living Corpse Reincarnation'.

"Is that so? That is truly a pity," Orochimaru said with regret, then suddenly formed seals with both hands, and his body transformed into hundreds of white snakes that surged madly toward Yusuke.

Seeing this, Yusuke retreated rapidly, and a Tachi immediately appeared in his right hand; it was the Zanpakuto Ryujin Jakka.

At this time, Yusuke had not activated his Shikai, so Ryujin Jakka was in the form of a normal Tachi, with no flames attached to the blade.

Yusuke swung the Zanpakuto in his hand, slashing at the incoming white snakes. However, to Yusuke's slight surprise, these white snakes seemed to have no physical form, and the Zanpakuto passed directly through the middle of their bodies.

The hundreds of white snakes took the opportunity to swarm him, biting Yusuke tightly, and the parts of his body bitten by the white snakes immediately began to petrify. Soon, Yusuke, whose entire body had petrified, was submerged by the hundreds of white snakes.

With a "poof," the sound of flames fluttering erupted from the middle of the hundreds of white snakes. A flash of fire appeared, and the surrounded Yusuke had already disappeared.

"You've already succeeded with this technique? The speed is truly beyond my expectations." At this moment, Yusuke's voice rang out from the other side. The one who had just been swallowed by the white snakes was merely a Fire Clone.

The hundreds of white snakes quickly gathered and finally condensed back into Orochimaru.

Orochimaru took a scroll from his bosom and tossed it to Yusuke, saying, "Originally, I was just helping you develop a new ninjutsu, but it also gave me quite a bit of inspiration. I went ahead and modified the Wanluo Snake Substitution Technique. As expected, it became even more bizarre and unpredictable after introducing genjutsu and elemental chakra."

Yusuke caught the scroll Orochimaru threw, unfolded it, and looked at it carefully. A moment later, Yusuke closed the scroll, tucked it into his bosom, and began to form seals rapidly.

"Fire Illusion Crow Technique."

Yusuke's body suddenly split apart piece by piece, the separated parts transforming into crows wreathed in flames.

These crows flickered between normal and distorted forms; they were clearly not solid, or at least, not entirely solid. Yusuke called these crows 'Fire Illusion Crows'.

Once Yusuke's body had completely divided into dozens of Fire Illusion Crows, they circled in the air for a moment before gathering back together, coalescing into Yusuke once more.

The 'Fire Illusion Crow Technique' was a ninjutsu developed by referencing Uchiha Itachi's specialty, the 'Crow Clone Technique'. By introducing elemental attributes to the illusion-based crow clones, the technique's power was greatly enhanced, though the difficulty of execution had also increased.

"Your hand seal speed seems to have increased again. Judging by your speed, you've already surpassed me," Orochimaru laughed. Even his casual laughter felt chilling.

Over the years, Yusuke had put immense effort into the fundamentals of being a ninja, covering taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. He firmly believed in the philosophy that "in all martial arts, only speed is invincible," and he practiced his hand seals diligently every single day.

"It's just a minor trick. I originally intended to discuss the development of this technique with you today; I didn't expect you to have completed it so quickly. I'll remember this favor," Yusuke said slowly.

Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively and sat down casually on the tatami mat, saying, "What is your take on the upcoming Fourth Hokage election? What do you think my chances of winning are?"

Yusuke sat down across from Orochimaru, not answering directly: "What do you think? Compared to Minato, where do your advantages lie?"

Upon hearing Yusuke's words, Orochimaru's pupils constricted, a murderous aura seemingly gathering in his eyes as he flicked his snake-like tongue to lick his lips.

Yusuke said nothing, simply watching the other man quietly.

After a moment of silence, Orochimaru suddenly changed the subject: "A while ago, I encountered a very interesting ninja. The puppet jutsu they used was quite troublesome, even for me. It has actually piqued my interest in puppet arts."

A puppet user who finds even Orochimaru troublesome—that's almost certainly Sasori, Yusuke thought to himself. At this point, Sasori had already killed the Third Kazekage and defected from Sunagakure, though he likely hadn't joined the Akatsuki yet.

Some friends have asked where the protagonist's father is.

Because the background of the protagonist's family is taken from Itachi Shinden, his mother Uchiha Hazuki and younger sister Uchiha Izumi are established characters, but the father has no name in Itachi Shinden. The author doesn't want to fabricate a name, so in this book's setting, the protagonist's father is in a state of being away for work!

Perhaps he will appear in the final chapter! Probably.