I Choose Orochimaru as Hokage, Ascending to the Moon in Ten Years Chapter 32

"The Akatsuki organization poses a grave danger now. You are aware of the Nine-Tails Incident in Konoha, aren't you? The person responsible for that incident is very likely Uchiha Madara, and according to Konoha's investigations, Uchiha Madara is currently hiding within this Akatsuki."

"My mission this time is to uncover the truth behind this matter. That is why I staged my defection from Konoha—to make it easier to operate while simultaneously investigating whether Uchiha Madara and the Uchiha Clan are colluding."

Danzo spoke directly.

He positioned himself as a martyr, and whenever he spoke ill of the Uchiha, his mind became exceptionally clear.

Moreover, mixing nine parts truth with one part lie made his words far more convincing.

He did not believe that Hanzo would remain indifferent if he knew Uchiha Madara was hiding in Akatsuki; after all, he knew this man was just like him—intolerant of any trouble that threatened his status.

"What did you say!"

Sure enough, upon hearing the name Uchiha Madara, even the Demigod of the Shinobi World could not remain calm.

Hanzo raised his hand, and immediately someone removed the curtain between the two. Danzo was able to see Hanzo's current state and discovered that Hanzo indeed looked much weaker than when they had last met.

However, Danzo knew this was simply due to age; like himself and Sarutobi Hiruzen, he was no longer in his prime.

"Uchiha Madara is hiding within the Akatsuki organization."

"At the same time, this organization has recruited many people. On the surface, it functions as a mercenary group, but there is almost no information regarding its core members."

"We only know the leader is referred to as God, and a woman is known as the God's Envoy."

Danzo did not hesitate further and revealed the intelligence that had been so difficult to gather over this period.

Amegakure was, after all, a small hidden village. Its talent and manpower were far inferior to Konoha's, and the intelligence they gathered was limited to the areas around their own village; they were simply incapable of investigating further afield.

"Uchiha Madara, and that cripple and woman are colluding together!"

Hanzo's expression turned grave.

He did not think Danzo was deceiving him; after all, such a thing could be verified with a simple investigation.

If Danzo had come to ask for his help against Konoha, he certainly would not have believed him, but it was the Akatsuki organization!

The shock brought to him years ago by that boy whose legs he had crippled was the main reason he had not dared to show his face for so long.

"I do not believe Uchiha Madara is merely an ordinary participant in this organization!"

"This matter requires our cooperation. Akatsuki is an enemy to both Amegakure and Konoha!"

Danzo said to Hanzo.

"I hope you are not deceiving me. If this is true, then an alliance is naturally the best choice."

"I will arrange for my men to verify the situation. If it is confirmed to be true, then we shall officially form an alliance."

At this moment, Hanzo's sharp aura from years ago resurfaced.

He was like an aging lion king; although his strength had declined, his presence was no less formidable than before.

"Of course!"

"I will cooperate with you!"

Danzo nodded, speaking with a solemn expression.

But inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally found a force he could utilize. Having lost the support of Konoha, he had been unable to execute many of his schemes, which had left him deeply dissatisfied. Now, one of his troubles had been resolved.

Chapter 47: Exploiting Child Labor, Cultivating Sasuke

While the area outside Konoha was bustling with activity, the interior of Konoha was equally lively.

The missions issued by Uchiha Gin sparked much discussion; after all, such high-paying and safe missions were very attractive to ninjas.

Konoha had over 15,000 ninjas, with those in logistics departments—such as medical, sealing, and barrier units—accounting for about 15 percent of the total.

Medical ninjas rarely lacked work, but the sealing and barrier departments did not often go on missions outside the village. They were not very helpful in direct combat, though they performed better on the battlefield. Generally, daily missions of B-rank or higher did not include these two types of ninjas.

Therefore, aside from receiving their basic stipends and completing missions issued by Konoha, the vast majority of missions these sealing and barrier ninjas could take outside the village were C-rank. Only those skilled in combat could handle B-rank missions, and there were almost none capable of performing A-rank missions.

Now that a mission had appeared that was almost devoid of danger and prioritized sealing and barrier ninjas, it was naturally met with great enthusiasm.

Although the combined number of these two types of ninjas was likely no more than 500—as the vast majority of logistics personnel were medical ninjas—it was still more than enough for the number of people Uchiha Gin required.

Nearly fifty people showed up for the first week of testing, including spies planted by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The content of this test included questions from the Ninja Tool Development Department, problems previously posed by Orochimaru, some of his own ideas, and finally, an additional question—a difficult problem they had recently encountered. If someone could solve it, they could join immediately, with ninjutsu rewards promised; these rewards were written at the end of the final question.

"The content of this test is to screen for suitable candidates. Please do not use any cheating methods. Answer seriously. If you are caught by the proctors, you will be immediately disqualified."

Uchiha Gin said to the crowd below from the podium.

At the same time, he signaled the Uchiha clan members standing in the four corners, all of whom had their Sharingan activated to observe them.

"You have two hours. You may hand in your papers as soon as you finish!"

Uchiha Gin said in conclusion.

Following this, the people below the podium began to quickly scan the test questions to gauge the difficulty. Many frowned the moment they saw the questions.

Uchiha Gin did not concern himself with what followed; after handing things over to the staff of the Ninja Tool Development Department, he left directly.

The assessment was held in the Military Police Force conference room, as there were quite a few people, and the Ninja Tool Development Department was only a four-story building with no space for them to take the test.

"When the papers are graded later, you are responsible for the scoring."

Outside the door, Uchiha Gin saw Itachi standing nearby and spoke directly.

"Understood!"

Itachi nodded.

There were dark circles under his eyes, as he had been constantly busy lately.

During the day, he had to go to the Ninja Tool Department to develop new gear, and at night, he had to go to Orochimaru's Laboratory to conduct human experiments.

He was busy all day long; apart from his lunch break and a few hours of rest after returning home in the evening, he had no free time. He worked at least 16 hours a day.

For a child of nearly nine years old like him, it was truly too exhausting.

Uchiha Gin felt not a shred of pity. If he didn't work this guy to the bone, it would be troublesome if he suddenly awakened and decided to take a few stabs at the whole family.

Regarding the matter of Shisui, Uchiha Gin had communicated with Itachi once. After informing him that Shisui was working for the sake of the clan and had not truly defected, the melancholic state that had gripped Itachi finally came to an end.

"How are things with Sasuke?"

"He is almost four years old now; it is time to begin serious training and lay a solid foundation for him."

Uchiha Gin asked Itachi.

He was already preparing the materials for his Mystic Code, and Uchiha Gin planned to sell some magic items to earn the necessary funds.

The target audience was the nobility. Uchiha Gin could engrave simple barriers onto gemstones while leaving behind a trace of magical power, allowing the gems to trigger the barrier upon activation.

There were two types currently: one that sensed killing intent and another that provided a defensive barrier. Both were extremely practical for nobles.

Wealthy people feared death the most. After all, they had so many things to enjoy, so they were naturally willing to spend money to buy insurance. Furthermore, Uchiha Gin prepared to categorize the gemstone barriers by strength and sell them accordingly; he wouldn't even consider selling them unless he could make twenty to thirty times the cost.

Therefore, during this free time, Uchiha Gin intended to keep a close eye on the future head of the Uchiha Clan and train him properly, rather than letting him continue to slack off at the Ninja Academy.

"Father and Mother have already agreed; Captain Gin, you may make arrangements at any time."

Although Itachi felt a pang of heartache, he understood the uniqueness of his younger brother; possessing the ability to protect oneself was vital.

The more he knew, the more he understood the importance of having sufficient strength to protect everything.

After finalizing the arrangements for the exam here, Uchiha Gin directly dispelled his Shadow Clone. The diligent investigations of the past period had resolved quite a few troubles, and things had been very peaceful lately with no danger, so his main body had been at home focusing on physical training.

At home, Uchiha Gin saw a white-scaled snake appear in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Uchiha Gin, the snake opened its mouth and spat out a scroll, which was stained with mucus. Uchiha Gin frowned at the sight.

After spitting out the scroll, the white-scaled snake slithered away rapidly, disappearing from Uchiha Gin's sight.

"Couldn't you have made it a bit cleaner?"

Despite his complaint, Uchiha Gin picked up the scroll, wiped it off with a towel, and opened it to take a look.

"The Blue Pill has been successfully developed, and the human trials are complete. As expected of Orochimaru."

Uchiha Gin was somewhat surprised, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

Scientific Ninja Tool development was a gamble on the future and a tool in its own right, but for making money right now, he had to rely on this. A man reaching middle age has no choice; those who can't want to be able to, those who can want to be stronger, and those who are strong want to be even stronger.

This is the instinct of a man.

"However, now is not the time to use it, but the worries have been resolved. Next, I'll just wait for Sarutobi Hiruzen to get a headache."

Uchiha Gin put away the scroll, already prepared for his next move.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen had received a letter from Danzo. Knowing that Danzo had brought Hanzo on board and was preparing to deal with the Akatsuki together, Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to dispatch some personnel to Danzo. After all, in his eyes, the Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara were immense threats.

The trouble with the Uchiha Clan was still under control for now.

The primary target that needed to be resolved first was Uchiha Madara and the Akatsuki!

"Sunset, you will be in charge of this mission. Ensure that Danzo is indeed dealing with this Akatsuki organization and Uchiha Madara. If he moves against the Uchiha, stop him first; the current situation is not suitable for that."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said to his eldest son.

Sarutobi Sunset was the head of the Anbu and the person he trusted most.

Kakashi was trained by Minato and was intended to succeed Sarutobi Sunset in the future, but that time had not yet come.

Chapter 48: Sasuke's First Day of Training

Danzo had sent back news, but Shisui did not have that opportunity.

He had been arranged by Obito to meet Konan and Deva Path Pain directly.

He officially became a member of the Akatsuki, and the ring he received was 'Vermilion'!

At the same time, as a probationary period, Obito had stated clearly that he would arrange for people to monitor him, warning him not to act rashly. Shisui also discovered that something seemed to have been left on his body, but he immediately cleared it away.

"Is this the thing called White Zetsu from the intelligence Gin provided?"

Shisui was not entirely ignorant. Uchiha Gin had given Shisui a great deal of intelligence; aside from Obito's identity, almost everything else had been disclosed.

At this moment, Shisui was essentially an intelligence-gathering Jiraiya, capable of maximizing his own strength.

Shisui knew about the abilities of Pain and Konan. In total, what had been told to Shisui were the abilities of these four people: Pain, Konan, 'Uchiha Madara', and Black Zetsu.

After all, Uchiha Gin was not trying to send Shisui to his death, but rather placing him outside Konoha to focus on external enemies, preventing him from causing trouble in the village while also keeping an eye on Obito and causing him a bit of trouble.

Knowing that he could not transmit information, Shisui could only give up. He knew that he would eventually have the opportunity to go out on missions, and at that time, he should have a chance to pass information back to the village.

"As expected, it is a dangerous organization. Should this intelligence be reported to the village?"

At this moment, this was the matter Shisui was most hesitant about.

His impression of the Konoha leadership had already been shattered. After much deliberation, Shisui decided to leave the final decision to Uchiha Gin.

He felt that if the Konoha leadership knew about these things, they should prioritize dealing with this Uchiha Madara and the Akatsuki, while also clarifying the blame for the Nine-Tails Incident—that it was this guy's doing and had nothing to do with the Uchiha. However, he no longer believed the village would let the Uchiha off so easily.

Therefore, he ultimately decided to leave the choice to Uchiha Gin.

Of course, he did not know that this intelligence was completely meaningless to Uchiha Gin. However, what Uchiha Gin wanted was for Shisui to be conflicted and caught in internal strife here, as long as he didn't suddenly decide on a whim to prioritize Konoha for the sake of the greater good.

Early in the morning, Uchiha Gin was waiting at Fugaku's doorstep.

Sasuke was led out by Itachi, yawning.

"I'm so sleepy, brother!"

Sasuke was still rubbing his eyes, letting out another yawn right after speaking.

It was six in the morning, and since Sasuke was still in his growth phase, he usually didn't wake up until after seven.

"You are going to train with Captain Gin today; we agreed on this yesterday."

Itachi crouched down and said softly to Sasuke.

"Huh?"

"Are you going, brother?"

Only after hearing this did Sasuke snap back to reality, and he quickly followed up with a question.

Itachi shook his head, and Sasuke immediately pouted.