The Attention of Obito / A Bounty on Asuma

However, he still left the arrest to Anbu. He continued to suspect there was a conspiracy behind it.

He wanted his own people to capture Shisui even more, while also preparing to secretly step up his precautions against Danzo. He still needed to find out exactly what connection Shisui had to Danzo!

Chapter 37: Obito's Attention

After leaving the Hokage Building, Uchiha Gin and Fugaku went straight back to the Military Police Force.

There were hardly any people at the Military Police Force now. They were all spread throughout the village on patrol, preventing ninja from enemy villages from causing trouble. Everyone was frantically busy.

Back at the Military Police Force, Uchiha Gin immediately gave Fugaku a rough account of the situation.

"Was Shisui really willing to sacrifice himself to that extent?"

Fugaku's expression was complicated.

Previously, his thinking had actually been much like Shisui's. But as the Uchiha Clan's leader, he had focused more on finding a way for the Uchiha and the village to coexist.

However, once he realized that this was impossible, and with Uchiha Gin's appearance, he chose the Uchiha and abandoned the idea that Konoha could fully accept them.

He also hadn't expected Shisui to still hope that the Uchiha and Konoha could coexist peacefully and make it through the rest of the Third Hokage's time in power, even after learning what the Uchiha High Command had done.

"Everyone has their own ideas. Don't let too many people know about this. If it gets out, it'll cause a lot of trouble."

Uchiha Gin said this at last.

They'd been incredibly busy lately. Konoha would probably behave itself for a while now.

A Hokage Assistant had fled, and now a Mangekyō Sharingan user had fled too. Konoha's leadership wouldn't dare act against the Uchiha until they'd figured out what was going on. And if Shisui really used Kotoamatsukami on Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Uchiha should be able to gain a suitable period in which to develop.

"Yeah, I understand."

Fugaku nodded.

Now he was waiting for the day Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer serve. He would throw his full support behind Orochimaru as the next Hokage, and the Uchiha could be reborn!

As things stood, Konoha really couldn't find anyone more suited to take over as the next Hokage than Orochimaru.

The Third Hokage had been the Second's student, and the Fourth Hokage had been the Third Hokage's grandstudent. The Fourth Hokage had only one student left, Kakashi, but he was too young. Uchiha Fugaku didn't think he could compete with Orochimaru.

Fugaku didn't know much about the research into the First Hokage Cells. Itachi had kept it well hidden.

But he had a rough idea of what kind of dealings Uchiha Gin and Orochimaru had. His son was involved, which meant he was involved too. If anyone found out, he was sure he'd be the first one they came after.

"I'm exhausted. I'm going home to rest."

"I can drop a hint to Itachi, or I can talk to him myself later. That's all."

Uchiha Gin said this, then went straight home.

Several times, he'd wondered whether he'd have fewer problems if he were from the Senju Clan.

The clan with the strongest Will of Fire in Konoha!

Thinking of his son, Fugaku felt uneasy. He knew that Shisui held the same place in Itachi's heart that Kagami Uchiha held in his.

Back then, he had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan after learning that something had happened to Kagami Uchiha.

At least this time, Shisui hadn't died. He had only defected.

"Konoha's had so many things happen lately!"

In Kirigakure, Obito looked at the intelligence Zetsu had brought him and wore an astonished expression.

These events had clearly taken him completely by surprise.

After sending his teacher and his teacher's wife to keep Rin company, Obito had come straight to Kirigakure for revenge. He had taken control of the Fourth Mizukage and indulged himself in the village, intending to make his revenge last.

"A new Mangekyō user could pose a threat to you, but you could try working with him. It looks like Konoha has been suppressing the Uchiha Clan pretty heavily, and they've been putting up quite a bit of resistance lately."

"Shimura Danzo was even driven out of Konoha. It seems he had his eye on the Land of Rain, and may have known that Uchiha Madara was hiding in Akatsuki."

Zetsu spoke to Obito in his nasal voice.

Even he was surprised that Konoha had turned its attention to Akatsuki and connected Uchiha Madara to the organization.

Had Akatsuki exposed something?

"Then let's find an opportunity to meet Gin."

"It's been a long time. I didn't expect him to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan too."

Obito's expression remained calm. He and Gin were about the same age.

But his branch of the Uchiha Clan had little standing. By the standards of the Hyuga Clan, he would definitely have been part of the branch family, while Gin was the Great Elder's grandson. Their positions were completely different.

So they rarely saw each other. They'd only talked a little back when they were at the Ninja Academy.

"Understood. I'll have White Zetsu conduct a thorough intelligence investigation in Konoha during this period."

Zetsu replied.

Gathering intelligence was easy for him. He just had to get White Zetsu to blend into the ninja villages.

Konoha was the most troublesome, though. It had a barrier, as well as two dōjutsu clans, the Hyuga and the Uchiha. Fortunately, White Zetsu's Transformation Technique was practically the strongest in the Ninja World. He could absorb a target's chakra through the Spore Technique and imitate them perfectly.

That let him gather intelligence while impersonating the target.

There were White Zetsu in several of Konoha's major clans, such as the Sarutobi and Shimura Clans. They couldn't infiltrate the Hyuga or Uchiha for long, though that didn't mean it was impossible to enter those clans. Their leaders were simply very difficult to get close to.

One clan had white eyes, the other red.

"Tell Nagato to be careful for now. It's still too early for Akatsuki to be exposed. But if there's a risk, deal with it ahead of time. If Shimura Danzo crosses the line, take him out."

Obito said this at last.

Akatsuki was still recruiting members, while also gathering intelligence on the Tailed Beasts.

White Zetsu had more detailed information, but neither Obito nor White Zetsu had chosen to share it with Nagato. They were more like puppeteers controlling Nagato, letting him act on his own.

They couldn't afford to appear in the open too early.

Otherwise, with Obito and Black Zetsu's abilities, they could capture the Tailed Beasts themselves much faster than Akatsuki could. Just like with the Fourth Mizukage: Obito could take the Three-Tails from his body at any time.

"Understood!"

After saying that, Zetsu sank straight into the ground, preparing to inform Nagato.

"Caw, caw!"

A day after leaving Konoha, Shisui finally found a place to sit down and rest. His whole body remained tense.

But when he saw a crow flying toward him, he didn't continue running. He simply watched it warily, because he knew that Uchiha Gin and Itachi both kept crows as their summoning animals.

The crow didn't come any closer. It dropped a scroll instead.

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

After confirming there were no traps, he read through it. Then, after a moment of silence, he burned the scroll.

"Gin's still wary of me. But if I were in his place, I'd be even more cautious."

A bitter smile appeared on Shisui's face.

He knew that, as Konoha's spy, he had given Konoha's leadership a great deal of information. He didn't feel wronged by this treatment.

But he would prove that he no longer had any intention of betraying the clan.

The scroll contained intelligence about Akatsuki, including a theory about the space-time abilities of "Uchiha Madara," as well as information about the abilities of Akatsuki's core members: Pain, Konan, and Zetsu.

It would keep Shisui from getting caught off guard and falling into a trap.

He had spotted the Anbu sent by the Third Hokage to find him, and had even used genjutsu to deal with one squad. He couldn't contact the Third Hokage right now. That way, he could put pressure on him and leave him unsure of Shisui's intentions, making him hesitate to act against the Uchiha.

"Don't die out there, Shisui!"

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

But he thought Shisui would be back before long. He didn't believe Sarutobi Hiruzen could tolerate the Uchiha's continued development for very long. Even Kotoamatsukami probably wouldn't be enough.

Chapter 38: A Bounty on Asuma

A week had passed since Shisui defected, and the village was gradually returning to normal. As expected, people from other ninja villages had shown up during that time to cause trouble. The prison run by the Military Police Force had also come under attack, but the intruders were easily dealt with.

These incidents had no effect on ordinary people, but the higher-ups of the various clans were concerned. They hadn't expected the Uchiha Clan to have so many hidden talents, with each new generation more impressive than the last.

Two Mangekyō Sharingan users had appeared one after another. Fortunately, the two didn't get along, and one had fled.

Still, not everyone believed this story. Some suspected that the Uchiha Clan had deliberately let Shisui go. Others even wondered whether Shisui had gone looking for Uchiha Madara.

The village was full of rumors and speculation!

The Uchiha Clan was furious too. They believed Konoha's leadership had turned Shisui against them, which was why he had attacked Uchiha Gin.

Fortunately, Uchiha Gin had been strong enough to avoid getting hurt. The Uchiha Clan had also placed Shisui on its kill list and put a bounty on him through the Black Market: one Asuma, or 35 million ryo.

Meanwhile, the development of Scientific Ninja Tools was moving quickly. The fire-nature Chakra Sword was already ready for mass production.

The process required skilled ninja who were proficient in Cursed Seals and Sealing Jutsu, but the Uchiha had people with those skills. One-Tomoe Sharingan users could copy the techniques and quickly master them. Uchiha with the Sharingan were naturally better at learning than ordinary people.

The village chief, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had approved the project's legality. After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no real reason to stop it.

At the same time, because people from Root were involved, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew the details, including how the tools were made. Anbu could make them on their own, but that would have to be kept hidden from the Uchiha Clan. It would make the Uchiha furious—and, at the very least, look bad.

If Konoha openly did something like this, wouldn't it copy and steal the businesses of the other clans too?

It was something those responsible for managing and overseeing the village couldn't do. But Konoha's leadership had no such qualms when it came to the Uchiha. It simply wasn't allowed to happen inside Konoha, though they could sell the tools outside the village in secret, as long as they didn't leave the Uchiha any evidence.

The first batch of fifty went on sale directly at the Uchiha Ninja Tool Shop.

Each one cost a million ryo.

They sold out that very day.

A Chunin could generally take on B-Rank Missions at most, which meant fighting other ninja. The highest bounty for a mission was 200,000 ryo, and the lowest was 80,000. Usually, a four-person squad split the reward. Even at the highest rate, each person would get 50,000 ryo and need to complete twenty missions just to save up enough.

But most Chunin took on C-Rank Missions. Each person usually earned only 10,000 to 20,000 ryo per mission, and the danger was much lower. They mostly dealt with bandits and similar threats, so they could stay much safer.

Once a ninja became a Chunin, saving up a million ryo would generally take about a year. But after factoring in the cost of regular ninja tools, buying this fire-nature Chakra Blade would take two or three years.

So the weapon was a bit of a stretch for Chunin, but Jonin didn't need to think twice. Those who couldn't use fire nature bought one right away.

Its chakra conversion rate was only about sixty percent, well below the eighty percent achieved by injecting nature-transformed chakra into a Chakra Blade yourself, not to mention the pair of expensive Chakra Blades Asuma had custom-made. But if it proved useful at a critical moment, it was worth a million ryo. Learning and mastering a nature transformation took ordinary ninja a very long time.

"Looks like these ninja tools are selling well."

Orochimaru and Uchiha Gin sat in a small shop across from the Ninja Tool Shop.

Watching the shop's stock nearly sell out after only half a day in business, Orochimaru looked excited.

"The biggest expense right now is still getting Chakra Metal. It's all low-grade, but the Land of Iron has no shortage of buyers."

"We can make less than 300,000 ryo per blade, and we still have to pay for labor."

Uchiha Gin replied.

The only way to increase profits was to bring down the price of Chakra Metal and manufacture these things as industrial products.

The Chakra Blade was already much smaller than when Uchiha Gin had first developed it. If they sold it at its original size, they wouldn't make any money at a price of a million ryo.

"I'll send people to take control of a few Chakra Metal mines and settle this."

Orochimaru's approach was direct and simple.

"If you can."

Uchiha Gin had no objections.

The Scientific Ninja Tool Company had been set up to give the Uchiha Clan another way forward. The real focus was still on the genetic research Orochimaru was conducting.

But Orochimaru would also get a share of the profits, which would serve as research funding.

"Leave it to me. Danzo made plenty of preparations behind the scenes. Now that he's gone, we might as well take advantage of them."

"Tonight, then. The test subjects you've prepared are ready, right?"

Orochimaru said with a sinister grin.

Danzo was convinced that everyone was out to get him, and he'd made plenty of preparations outside Konoha. These included monitoring the other ninja villages to ensure they didn't do anything that could harm Konoha. Yakushi Kabuto was one of the spies he'd sent out.

Konoha's war supplies also couldn't be allowed to run short. The Land of Fire was responsible for them in secret, but Danzo didn't trust that arrangement. He had made backup plans, including substitute supplies.