Passing the Blame

"Researching the transplantation of First Hashirama Senju's cells?" Uchiha Mikoto stared at her husband in shock.

She had never imagined that her husband would consider doing something like this.

As the wife of the Uchiha Clan's leader, Uchiha Mikoto was quite strong in her own right, a Konoha Jonin.

She also knew a fair bit about things Konoha had done in the past.

Back then, Konoha had conducted large-scale human experiments in an attempt to bring First Hashirama Senju's Wood Release back into the world.

The experiments had failed one after another, and many volunteers had died as a result.

Success remained nowhere in sight, and repeated failures had taken a severe toll on their personnel.

The Konoha High Command had been forced to order the experiments stopped and everything sealed away.

"Fugaku, this is too dangerous. There's no need to go this far, is there?" Uchiha Mikoto said gravely. "Minato has a good chance of becoming Hokage. At a time like this, we don't need to take such a risk, do we?"

Transplanting Hashirama Senju's cells was strictly forbidden in Konoha. If they were discovered, the entire Uchiha Clan would be implicated.

That would inevitably ruin the Uchiha Clan's reputation and reduce a thousand years of honor to nothing.

Hearing Mikoto's words, Uchiha Fugaku looked uncertain, his thoughts in turmoil.

As she'd said, given the current momentum, Minato Namikaze was very likely to be elected Fourth Hokage.

Considering the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and Minato Namikaze, it was obvious that the clan would enter the village's center of power once he took office.

At a time like this, meddling with Konoha's taboo really didn't seem like a wise move.

"Akira, what do you think?" Uchiha Fugaku pondered for a moment, then looked at Uchiha Akira.

Uchiha Akira, of course, wanted to push this matter forward.

To master the Chimera Technique, he would need to invest a great deal of resources in fields such as Hashirama Senju cell transplantation, Biological Cloning Technology, and Targeted Organ Cloning Technology.

He couldn't manage all of that on his own. He needed the Uchiha Clan's substantial financial support.

Uchiha Akira said, "Leader, Sister Mikoto, I think we still need to go ahead with this."

"Tell us why," Uchiha Fugaku said, nodding slowly.

Uchiha Mikoto also gave him an inquisitive look.

"Leader, Danzo is close to Orochimaru, one of the Sannin." Uchiha Akira looked at them both and spoke with pointed meaning. "I'm sure you and Sister Mikoto know that Orochimaru isn't just powerful. He's also overseen many of Konoha's research projects, especially in the field of biology."

"Danzo..." Uchiha Fugaku murmured, a cold glint flickering in his eyes.

It was common knowledge that Danzo and the Uchiha Clan didn't get along.

As the Uchiha Clan's leader, Uchiha Fugaku was naturally familiar with Danzo.

A Uchiha Jonin had once gone missing, and all signs pointed to Danzo's Root being responsible.

But Danzo was the Hokage Assistant, and he controlled Root, whose strength was no less than that of Anbu.

Without concrete evidence, the Uchiha Clan had no choice but to swallow the loss.

"Are you saying that the shinobi with both the Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Release was created through a joint effort by Danzo and Orochimaru?" Uchiha Fugaku asked thoughtfully.

"It's very possible." Uchiha Akira nodded and sneered. "Danzo is a man who'll stop at nothing to achieve his goals. There are some very interesting things going on inside Root."

Uchiha Fugaku's expression changed. "Akira, did you infiltrate Danzo's Root?"

Uchiha Mikoto looked at Uchiha Akira with concern. "That's too dangerous. Root is no ordinary place."

Uchiha Akira chuckled. "Leader, Sister Mikoto, you're overthinking it. I'm not the impulsive type."

"That's good." Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto both breathed a sigh of relief.

They'd been afraid Uchiha Akira might lose sight of his own abilities, get carried away, and charge into Root.

"Why do you say Root is interesting? What are Danzo and Orochimaru doing? And how do you know?" Uchiha Fugaku asked, puzzled.

Seeing their confused expressions, Uchiha Akira smiled, took out a scroll, and placed it in front of them.

With a poof, a cloud of white smoke appeared.

When it cleared, a light-green glass bottle filled with liquid sat before them.

Uchiha Fugaku stared at its contents in surprise. "An intact Byakugan?!"

"Akira, how did you get a Byakugan?" Uchiha Mikoto's eyes widened.

In the Shinobi World, obtaining an intact Byakugan was even harder than getting a Sharingan.

Because of the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal, obtaining a Byakugan was extremely difficult.

When a member of the Hyuga Branch Family died, their Byakugan would automatically be destroyed, while members of the Hyuga Main Family rarely went to the battlefield.

"Did you intercept the Byakugan that went missing on the battlefield?" Uchiha Fugaku asked, briefly puzzled before suddenly remembering what had happened.

"That's right." Uchiha Akira nodded. "I was lucky. While tracking them, I came across Kirigakure shinobi, and the Byakugan was an unexpected find."

"I see." Uchiha Mikoto understood.

As a Jonin, Uchiha Mikoto had also taken part in that war.

"So you saw it with this Byakugan?" Uchiha Fugaku nodded slowly, thinking he had figured everything out.

Uchiha Akira hadn't actually used the Byakugan to observe Root. There was no way Uchiha Fugaku would actually ask him to transplant it and spy on Root.

He had done this solely to make his claims seem more credible and to convince Uchiha Fugaku to make up his mind.

Uchiha Mikoto looked at Uchiha Akira gravely. "Akira, what exactly did you see?"

"Danzo and Orochimaru are secretly conducting Wood Release transplantation experiments, human cloning transplantation experiments, and targeted organ cloning experiments," Uchiha Akira said.

At Uchiha Akira's words, Uchiha Fugaku's expression immediately darkened.

For the Uchiha Clan, this was certainly no good news.

Danzo was the Hokage Assistant and controlled Root, a force no less powerful than the Hokage's Anbu.

Orochimaru was the Hokage's prized student, one of the Sannin, renowned throughout Konoha and followed by many.

Both men held powerful positions in the village. One could imagine how formidable a force they would be together.

More importantly, were the experiments they were conducting authorized by the Hokage?

Wood Release transplantation and human cloning experiments were one thing, but Uchiha Fugaku knew exactly what their targeted cloning experiments were meant for.

They were undoubtedly after the Sharingan and other dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai like the Byakugan.

Seeing Uchiha Fugaku's grim expression, Uchiha Akira decided to add fuel to the fire. In a grave voice, he said, "Leader, Danzo has transplanted a Sharingan."

"What?" Uchiha Fugaku flew into a rage, his scarlet Sharingan appearing involuntarily.

"I'm going to see the Third Hokage right now!" Uchiha Fugaku said, starting to leave the Shrine.

"Leader, does the Hokage really not know about this?" Uchiha Akira's words brought Uchiha Fugaku back to his senses.

Whether the Third Hokage himself knew wasn't important. In Uchiha Fugaku's mind, Sarutobi Hiruzen was already in on it.

Uchiha Fugaku gritted his teeth and growled, "They... How dare they..."