I Choose Orochimaru as Hokage, Ten Years to Reach the Moon Chapter 26

However, he decided to leave the capture to the Anbu, as he remained suspicious that there was a conspiracy afoot.

He preferred for his own men to capture Shisui, while simultaneously preparing to secretly increase his defenses against Shimura Danzō and investigating exactly what kind of relationship existed between Shisui and Shimura Danzō.

Chapter 37: Obito's Attention

After leaving the Hokage Building, Uchiha Gin and Uchiha Fugaku returned directly to the Military Police Force.

There were few people left at the Military Police Force, as everyone was scattered throughout the village on patrol to prevent ninjas from enemy villages from causing trouble; they were all busy as bees.

Upon returning to the Military Police Force, Uchiha Gin gave Uchiha Fugaku a rough summary of the situation.

"Is Shisui really willing to sacrifice himself to this extent?"

Uchiha Fugaku's eyes were complex.

Previously, his mindset had actually been similar to Shisui's, but as the head of the Uchiha Clan, he sought the coexistence of the Uchiha and the village.

However, after realizing that this was impossible, coupled with the appearance of Uchiha Gin, he chose the Uchiha and abandoned the idea that Konoha could fully accept them.

Furthermore, he had not expected that even after learning of the actions taken by the Uchiha leadership, Shisui still hoped for the Uchiha and Konoha to coexist and to pass through the Third Hokage's term of power in peace.

"Everyone has their own ideas. Don't let too many people know about this; if it's exposed, it will cause quite a bit of trouble," Uchiha Gin said finally.

He had been incredibly busy lately, but Konoha should be a bit more well-behaved now.

With the Hokage Assistant gone and a Mangekyō Sharingan user having fled, it was impossible for the Konoha leadership to take the initiative against the Uchiha until they figured out the situation. Moreover, if Shisui really used Kotoamatsukami on Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Uchiha should be able to secure a suitable period for development.

"Mm, I understand."

Uchiha Fugaku nodded.

He was currently waiting for the day Sarutobi Hiruzen was no longer in power; if he fully supported Orochimaru for the next generation of Hokage, the Uchiha would be able to be reborn!

In the current Konoha, there was indeed no one more suitable to succeed as the next Hokage than Orochimaru.

The Third Hokage was a disciple of the Second, the Fourth was the Third's grand-disciple, and the only remaining disciple of the Fourth was Kakashi, but he was too young; Uchiha Fugaku did not believe he could compete with Orochimaru.

As for the research on First Hokage Cells, Uchiha Fugaku was not entirely clear on the details, as Itachi had kept it well hidden.

However, he roughly knew that Uchiha Gin and Orochimaru were up to something, and since his own son was involved, it was as if he were involved himself. He believed that if anyone found out later, he would certainly be the first to know.

"That took a lot out of me. I'm going back to get some rest."

"You can give Itachi a hint, or I can talk to him when the time comes. That's all."

Uchiha Gin said before heading straight home.

He had thought several times that if he were a member of the Senju Clan, he probably wouldn't have so much trouble.

They were the clan with the strongest Will of Fire in Konoha!

Thinking of his son, Uchiha Fugaku felt a bit concerned; after all, he knew that Shisui held the same position in Itachi's heart as Kagami Uchiha held in his own.

He had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan back then precisely because he learned that something had happened to Kagami Uchiha.

But it was fortunate this time that Shisui hadn't died; he had merely defected.

"So many things have happened in Konoha during this time!"

In Kirigakure, Obito looked at the intelligence delivered by Zetsu and revealed a look of surprise.

Clearly, these events were completely beyond his expectations.

After sending his master and mistress to accompany Rin in Konoha, Obito had come straight to Kirigakure for revenge. He had controlled the Fourth Mizukage to vent his frustrations thoroughly, intending to torture him slowly.

"A new Mangekyō poses a threat to you, but you could try to cooperate. The Uchiha Clan seems to be deeply suppressed by Konoha and has put up quite a bit of resistance lately."

"Shimura Danzō has even been driven out of Konoha. This guy seems to have some ideas about the Land of Rain, as if he knows that Uchiha Madara is hiding in the Akatsuki."

Zetsu said to Obito in his raspy voice.

He was very surprised that Konoha had noticed the Akatsuki and linked Uchiha Madara to the organization.

Had the Akatsuki exposed something?

"Then find an opportunity for me to meet this guy, Gin."

"It's been a long time. I didn't expect this guy to have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan as well."

Obito's expression was calm; he and Gin were about the same age.

However, his branch of the Uchiha Clan had no status—by the standards of the Hyuga Clan, they were definitely a branch family—whereas Gin was the grandson of the Great Elder, and their statuses were completely different.

Therefore, they rarely met and had only spoken a few times back at the Ninja Academy.

"Mm, I will arrange for White Zetsu to conduct strict intelligence gathering in Konoha during this time," Zetsu said.

It was very convenient for him to gather intelligence; he just needed to control White Zetsu to infiltrate these ninja villages.

However, Konoha was the most troublesome. In addition to having barriers, it also had the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan, both families with dōjutsu. Fortunately, White Zetsu's transformation technique was almost the strongest in the ninja world; they could absorb the target's chakra through the Spore Technique to perfectly imitate that character.

Thereby, they could obtain intelligence through that person's identity.

White Zetsu have infiltrated several major Konoha families, such as the Sarutobi Clan and the Shimura Clan. Only the Hyuga and the Uchiha are exceptions; they cannot be maintained for long periods. This does not mean these two families are impossible to infiltrate, but rather that their upper echelons are too difficult to blend into.

One has the Byakugan, the other has the red eyes.

"Tell Nagato to be careful lately. It is not the right time for the Akatsuki to be exposed. However, if there is a risk, resolve it early. If Shimura Danzō does anything that crosses the line, deal with him."

Obito said finally.

The Akatsuki is currently in the stage of recruiting personnel while simultaneously gathering intelligence on the Tailed Beast.

Although White Zetsu has more detailed information, neither Obito nor Black Zetsu chose to reveal it to Nagato. They act more like puppeteers, letting Nagato operate as their puppet.

They are not suited to appear in the public eye too early.

Otherwise, with the abilities of Obito and Black Zetsu, capturing the Tailed Beast directly would be far faster than the Akatsuki's methods. Just like the current Fourth Mizukage; Obito has the ability to take the Three-Tails from within him at any time.

"Understood!"

After speaking, Zetsu sank directly into the ground, preparing to notify Nagato.

"Caw! Caw!"

A day after Shisui defected from Konoha, he finally found a place to sit and rest, his entire body tense.

However, when he saw a crow flying toward him, he did not continue to flee. He watched the bird vigilantly, knowing that Uchiha Gin and Itachi both kept crows as summons.

The crow did not approach, instead dropping a scroll.

Shisui caught the scroll, activated his Sharingan, and opened it cautiously.

Finding no traps, he finished reading the scroll, fell silent for a moment, and then burned it.

"Gin is still wary of me. But if it were me, my precautions would be even tighter."

A wry smile appeared on Shisui's face.

He knew that as a spy for Konoha, he had leaked much information to the village's upper echelons, so he did not feel aggrieved by this treatment.

However, he would prove that he, in his current state, had absolutely no intention of betraying his clan.

The scroll contained intelligence regarding the Akatsuki, including speculations about 'Uchiha Madara's' space-time abilities, as well as information on the capabilities of core members like Pain, Konan, and Zetsu.

It was to prevent Shisui from falling into a trap unprepared.

He had spotted the Anbu sent by the Third to find him and had even used genjutsu to neutralize a squad. He was not in a position to contact the Third right now; only by creating pressure and keeping the Third uncertain of his intentions could he force the leader to be hesitant and unable to move against the Uchiha.

"Don't die out there, Shisui!"

After retrieving his familiar, Uchiha Gin's shadow clone looked in the direction Shisui had left and sighed.

However, he believed that it wouldn't be long before Shisui returned. He did not think Sarutobi Hiruzen could tolerate the Uchiha's continued development for long, even with Kotoamatsukami.

Chapter 38: A Bounty on Asuma

A week after Shisui's defection, the village gradually returned to calm. During this period, people from other ninja villages did indeed appear, attempting to cause destruction. The prison managed by the Military Police Force was also attacked, but the situation was easily resolved.

This incident did not affect ordinary people, but the upper echelons of the major families were very concerned. They had not expected the Uchiha Clan to be so full of hidden talent, with the younger generation becoming more formidable one after another.

Two Mangekyō Sharingan users had appeared in succession; fortunately, the two sides were at odds, and one had run away.

However, not everyone believed this story. Some speculated that the Uchiha Clan had intentionally let Shisui go, or even wondered if he had gone out to search for Uchiha Madara.

In any case, all sorts of rumors were flying around the village!

The Uchiha Clan was also very angry, believing that Shisui had been turned by the Konoha leadership, which was why he had attacked Uchiha Gin.

Fortunately, Uchiha Gin's strength was immense, so no harm was done. At the same time, the Uchiha Clan placed Shisui on their kill list, directly posting a bounty for him on the black market, priced at one Asuma—35 million ryo.

Meanwhile, progress on the Scientific Ninja Tool was rapid, and the Elemental Chakra Blade, specifically the fire-style version, was ready for mass production.

It required skilled ninjas proficient in the Cursed Seal and sealing techniques to complete the various procedures. The Uchiha had such personnel; the single-Magatama Sharingan could copy these techniques, allowing them to master the process quickly. Uchiha with the Sharingan were naturally better at learning than ordinary people.

The legality of this project was approved by the village leader, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as he truly had no reason to stop it.

At the same time, because members of Root were involved, Sarutobi Hiruzen was aware of the specific circumstances, including the production methods. The Anbu could have manufactured them entirely on their own, but this had to be kept from the Uchiha Clan—not only would it provoke their anger, but it would also be quite embarrassing.

If Konoha were to do this openly, would the businesses of other families also be replicated and stolen by the village?

This was something a manager and supervisor should not do. However, the Konoha leadership had no such reservations regarding the Uchiha. While such sales were not permitted within Konoha, they could be sold privately abroad, provided they didn't let the Uchiha catch them in the act.

The first batch of fifty blades went on sale at the Uchiha ninja tool shop.

Each blade was priced at one million ryo.

They sold out on the very same day.

A normal Chunin could handle B-rank missions at most, which involved combat with other ninjas. The bounty for such missions was at most 200,000 ryo, with a minimum of 80,000. Usually, a four-man squad split the money; even at the maximum of 200,000, each person received 50,000, meaning they would need to complete twenty missions to save up enough.

But C-rank missions were what the vast majority of Chunin performed, with each person earning an average of 10,000 to 20,000 ryo per mission. The danger was very low, as they were mostly dealing with bandits, making it much safer.

Once a ninja reached the Chunin level, they could generally save up one million ryo in a year. However, after accounting for daily ninja tool expenses, it would take two or three years to afford this fire-style Elemental Chakra Blade.

So, while this weapon was a bit of a burden for a Chunin, it was a no-brainer for a Jonin. If they hadn't mastered the fire attribute, they would simply buy one.

Although the chakra conversion rate was only about 60%—far inferior to the 80% achieved by injecting one's own elemental chakra into a chakra blade, and not to mention the high-end custom blades like Asuma's—it was worth the one million ryo if it could play a role at a critical moment. For an ordinary ninja, mastering an attribute took a very long time.

"It seems this ninja tool sells quite well."

Orochimaru and Uchiha Gin sat in a small shop across from the ninja tool store.

Watching the ninja tool store nearly sell out after being open for only half a day, they both wore expressions of excitement.

"The highest cost right now is still acquiring the chakra metal. Even though it's all low quality, the Land of Iron doesn't lack buyers."

"We can only make less than 300,000 ryo per blade, and that's before factoring in labor costs."

Uchiha Gin replied.

This kind of product would only see increased profit margins once the price of chakra metal was driven down and it could be manufactured as an industrial good.

The current Chakra Blade was much smaller than when Uchiha Gin had first developed it; if they had sold it at the original size, they wouldn't have made any money at 1,000,000 ryo.

"I will arrange for some men to seize control of a few chakra metal mines to resolve this matter."

Orochimaru's methods were crude and straightforward.

"If you can."

Uchiha Gin had no objections.

This Scientific Ninja Tool Company was meant to find an additional path for the Uchiha Clan, but the core of it remained the genetic science Orochimaru was researching.

However, a portion of the money earned also belonged to Orochimaru, intended as a research fund.

"Leave it to me. Danzo has made quite a few preparations in secret, and since he isn't here now, it's our gain."

"Everything is set for tonight, right? The test subjects you prepared are fine?"

Orochimaru said with a sinister smile.

Danzo suffered from a chronic case of "someone is always trying to harm me," so he had made many preparations outside of Konoha, including monitoring major ninja villages to ensure they wouldn't do anything harmful to Konoha; Yakushi Kabuto was one such spy who had been sent out.

At the same time, Konoha could not afford a shortage of war supplies. Privately, these were the responsibility of the Land of Fire, but Danzo couldn't trust them, so he had made backup preparations and had alternatives in place.