The Showdown

"Okay!"

Since it concerned the secrets of Konoha, Uchiha Yue's expression became serious as he prepared to listen to the Shadow's explanation.

Furthermore, before the Shadow revealed those secrets, Uchiha Yue already knew why the Shadow wanted to tell him those secrets. Undoubtedly, the Shadow wanted to tell Uchiha Yue those secrets not because Uchiha Yue was Shikaku Nara's friend, but because Uchiha Yue was Tsunade's disciple. As Tsunade's successor, the Shadow must have received information that Tsunade intended to groom Uchiha Yue to be her successor.

Therefore, even if the Shadow doesn't reveal those secrets to Uchiha Yue now, Uchiha Yue will definitely be able to obtain that confidential information through other channels in the future. In this way, the Shadow might as well form a good relationship with Uchiha Yue. If the Nara Clan encounters trouble in the future, Uchiha Yue might help the Nara Clan overcome their difficulties out of respect for the Shadow and Shikaku Nara.

Then, as Uchiha Yue gazed intently at the Shadow before him, the Shadow slowly spoke to him, "Uchiha Yue- kun, I'll just call you that! After all, you're very close to my cousin Shikaku, and there are no outsiders here, so I won't use the Anbu title to address you. Otherwise, you might feel distant from me."

The Shadow paused for a moment, then said, "Moon Lord, what you just said is absolutely correct. Our Nara Clan, along with the Yamanaka Clan and Akimichi Clan, are indeed direct descendants of the Hokage. However, the true object of our loyalty is not actually the Hokage, but only the Third Hokage Akimichi Clan. To put it simply, our Nara Clan Yamanaka Clan are loyal to the Sarutobi Clan, that is, to the direct descendants of the Sarutobi Clan."

"After the Second Hokage's death, the Third Hokage succeeded him and needed the help of our three clans. Therefore, our three clans pledged allegiance to the Sarutobi Clan. While helping the Third Hokage consolidate power in Konoha, the Third Hokage also helped our three clans. However, few people know that members of our three clans actually served in the Anbu. But those members of our three clans who served in the Anbu did not belong to the true Anbu; instead, they belonged to the Third Hokage's 'Root' team!"

"Etc!"

Upon Shadow this, Uchiha Yue suddenly frowned and asked, "Mr. Lu Yang, did I mishear, or are you mistaken? If I remember correctly, the Root team is under Danzo's control, right? Why did you just say that the Root team is the Third Hokage's Anbu? Could it be that the Third Hokage and Danzo have a good relationship?"

"Hmm? Of course!"

As soon as Uchiha Yue finished speaking, Shadow raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he didn't understand why Uchiha Yue was doing this.

Immediately after figuring out the reason, Shadow chuckled and said, "Hehe, Moon Shadow, I originally thought that as a member of the Uchiha Clan, you would have more information than me. It seems you have very little information! You don't even know the relationship between the Third Hokage and Danzo. It seems I need to explain it to you."

At this point, Shadow took a deep breath and continued, "There are some rumors circulating in the village that Lord Danzo wants to become Hokage. However, those spreading these rumors have forgotten that Lord Danzo and the Third Hokage had a very good relationship. Therefore, the Third Hokage was able to assign the Root team to Danzo, allowing him to take charge Danzo it. Gradually, everyone seems to think that the Danzo team is under Lord Danzo's control, but that's not the case."

"The one who truly controls the Root team is still the Third Hokage."

"Otherwise, why would members of my Nara Clan, the Yamanaka Clan, and the Akimichi Clan join the 'Root' team?"

"Hmm, I see."

Hearing Shadow's words, Uchiha Yue nodded slightly, but he still firmly believed that the "Root" team was actually controlled by Shimura Danzō.

Uchiha Yue's reasoning was simple: he knew that in the original story, Shimura Danzō tightly controlled the Root team. Perhaps, in Shadow's eyes, Shimura Danzō had a good relationship with the Third Hokage, which is why the Third Hokage Shimura Danzō him with control of the Root team. However, as Shimura Danzō, the team was actually completely under his Shimura Danzō. Even Shadow probably didn't realize that he was now serving Shimura Danzō, not the Third Hokage.

Of course, Uchiha Yue couldn't possibly break through this barrier in front of the Shadow.

Immediately afterwards...

After Uchiha Yue nodded in reply, the Shadow's gaze fell upon him, and he said, "Uchiha Yue -kun, I just told you why, as a member of the Nara Clan, I was able to join the Anbu. Now, I will tell you why, as Anbu, I serve Lord Orochimaru!"

"Actually, the reason I serve Lord Orochimaru is very simple. The Third Hokage intends for Lord Orochimaru to succeed him as Hokage, so naturally, he needs to allocate some power to Lord Orochimaru. As a member of the Nara Clan and also holding a position in the Anbu, I was naturally assigned by the Third Hokage to serve Lord Orochimaru. However, while serving Lord Orochimaru, I also need to pass on some information about Lord Orochimaru to the Third Hokage. It can be considered a test from the Third Hokage for Lord Orochimaru!"

"Mr. Lu Yang, you mean..."

As soon as the Shadow finished speaking, Uchiha Yue asked in surprise, "You mean, you're a spy planted by the Third Hokage among Orochimaru?"

"Yes, that's one way to do it."

Upon hearing this, Shadow frowned slightly and said, "However, Lord Orochimaru knows my identity and that I work for the Third Hokage. Now, we need to understand the mission we're tasked with. Moon Lord, you have a good relationship with Lord Orochimaru; you must have discovered what Lord Orochimaru's secretly researching, right? Moreover, I feel that the group of Lord Orochimaru wants us to go to the Land of Earth to rescue are the Lord Orochimaru objects of his research."

"So..."

"Based on my guess, Lord Orochimaru is very likely to be researching forbidden techniques!"

"Furthermore, the forbidden techniques that Lord Orochimaru wants to research will likely require human experimentation!"

Then, the Shadow standing before Uchiha Yue gave a rather forlorn smile, and then, as if talking to itself, said, "Lord Orochimaru really trusts us, actually sending me to carry out this mission. It seems that Lord Orochimaru has no intention of keeping it a secret at all, and is instead using me to confront the Third Hokage!"

"Lord Orochimaru is going to tell the Third Hokage that he plans to conduct human experiments in order to research forbidden techniques!"

"Moon Lord, what should we choose now?"

"Should we tell the Third Hokage about this, or keep it a secret for Lord Orochimaru?"