The Research Begins

"Why don't we take this opportunity to deal with Orochimaru?" A cold glint flashed in Uchiha Fugaku's eyes. "I'd like to see how he plans to run for Hokage after his human experiments are exposed."

"Probably not possible." Uchiha Akira shook his head. "Orochimaru's lab is in Root."

Danzo's Root was the Hokage's Anbu, and it wielded even more power than the Police Force.

Under normal circumstances, the Police Force couldn't interfere in Root's affairs.

That said, it wasn't impossible for the Police Force to get involved. For example, they could act if evidence in a disappearance case pointed to Root.

Of course, doing that would mean a complete break with them. They couldn't waste a move like that casually; saving it for a critical moment would maximize their gains.

Uchiha Fugaku's expression shifted between light and dark. After a long moment, he let out a breath.

"Then forget it. I thought we could take Orochimaru down right away and put Minato straight into the Hokage Position."

"I think we could hold on to this and use it to deal a fatal blow to Danzo and Orochimaru at a critical moment later," Uchiha Akira said.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded. "That's not a bad idea. With the Third still in office, this might not have much of an impact on Danzo anyway."

Back home, Uchiha Akira summoned the Ninja Cats and entrusted them with finding Karin and Jugo.

Now that research into Cloning Technology was underway, it was time to look for Karin and Jugo too, to prepare for the Chimera Technique.

The Ninja Cats were the Uchiha Clan's source of intelligence. Cats could be found throughout the world, making them natural information gatherers.

As long as they paid a little attention, they could uncover plenty of things that weren't particularly secret.

Uchiha Akira had some confidence in the Ninja Cats' abilities. The people he was looking for weren't in any of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, so there was a good chance the cats could find them.

Karin hadn't been born yet, but there was a good chance her mother had already entered Kusagakure. They only had to wait for her to show up.

Finding Jugo would be more difficult. His Sage Transformation might not be unique to him; it could be an inherited trait in some bloodline.

Uchiha Akira didn't know which village Jugo came from.

So all he could do was tell the Ninja Cats what Jugo looked like after undergoing Sage Transformation, and ask them to keep an eye out for clans with those characteristics.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, three months went by. It was now August.

During those three months, Shentian Bio, the company acquired by the Uchiha Clan, had established itself on the outskirts of the Uchiha district in Konoha, and research had officially begun.

The Uchiha Clan truly was one of the Shinobi World's most illustrious clans. As soon as they opened recruitment, large numbers of researchers in related fields came to apply.

The names of Konoha and the Uchiha were powerful draws. Shentian Bio hired enough researchers in a very short time.

Konoha was currently the safest place in the Shinobi World. Three major wars had broken out over the past few decades, while wandering ninja ran rampant everywhere. Naturally, ordinary people wanted to settle somewhere safe.

Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to move to Konoha for good. The village didn't let just anyone settle there.

Now that the Uchiha Clan had established its company headquarters in Konoha, it offered ordinary people a perfect opportunity.

Shentian Bio was currently conducting three major research projects. The first was cloning; the second was an extension of that work, Targeted Cloning.

The last was a project concealed within those two, named "Overcoming Organ Transplant Rejection." It focused on transplanting Hashirama Senju Cells.

Aside from those three projects, Shentian Bio hadn't abandoned its existing pharmaceutical business. After hiring a large number of people, it continued developing new drugs.

The focus had shifted somewhat. Previously, the drugs they researched were intended for ordinary people; now, they were geared toward ninja.

Compared to ordinary people, ninja were much better at earning money.

Still, research on drugs for ordinary people hadn't stopped.

Adults were all about having it all.

To Uchiha Akira's surprise, Yakushi Nonō knew far more about biological cloning than she'd let on when she said she was only somewhat familiar with it.

Yakushi Nonō had extensive knowledge of biological cloning.

In just one month, she won over the other members of the project team and became its lead researcher.

By then, everyone in Konoha knew the Third Hokage was about to step down, and that the race for the Fourth Hokage was about to begin.

To the surprise of most villagers, there were only two nominees for Fourth Hokage: Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, and the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.

Jiraiya, one of the leading candidates for Hokage, wasn't participating in this election.

The news spread, and undercurrents surged throughout Konoha as everyone prepared for the Fourth Hokage election.

Small-scale clashes along the Land of Fire's borders were still ongoing, but the war as a whole had ended. The dawn of peace was about to break.

As Konoha busied itself preparing to welcome the Fourth Hokage, the Akatsuki was on the verge of being reborn within the Land of Rain.

Above a canyon, Danzo gazed down at the scene with a cold glint in his eyes. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and a smug smile flashed across his face.

After two months of scheming, he had finally gotten them to fight in earnest.

"Now all that's left is to sit back and reap the rewards. Let this old man see the power of the Rinnegan!" Danzo sneered inwardly.

Three months earlier, he had come to the Land of Rain. To sabotage the peace negotiations, he'd sent Root members disguised as ninja from other villages to wreak havoc throughout the country.

What surprised him was that Hanzo hadn't sent anyone to clear out the Root ninja causing trouble and protect the people of the Land of Rain.

Instead, a new organization within the country, called the Akatsuki, had sent people everywhere to protect the villages.

This caught Danzo off guard. During an ambush, he'd unexpectedly discovered that one of the leaders of this organization called the Akatsuki possessed the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—the Rinnegan.

After getting a glimpse of the monsters summoned by the Rinnegan, an idea took root in Danzo's mind.

He would pit the newly formed Akatsuki against Amegakure, led by Hanzo, and hopefully use the opportunity to eliminate either Hanzo or the person with the Rinnegan.

Over the course of two months, Danzo first bribed Hanzo's deputy, Kanzo. Then he had Root attack Amegakure's ninja before showing up himself to pin the blame on the Akatsuki.

Everything went so smoothly that Danzo could hardly believe it. The old fool Hanzo had actually swallowed the story whole.

Beneath the torrential rain, Yahiko and Nagato stood facing each other at the bottom of the canyon.

On a raised platform, Hanzo held Konan hostage, watching the two below with cold eyes.

Looking down from above, Hanzo fixed his icy gaze on Nagato and Yahiko, surrounded by Amegakure's ninja.

"Red-haired brat, kill Yahiko and I'll spare your life. I'll let this girl go, too."