I Choose Orochimaru as Hokage, Ascending to the Moon in Ten Years Chapter 39

"It would be better to turn Hanzo into Pain and keep him in the public eye, claiming he was the victor, while the Akatsuki continues to operate from the shadows."

Konan, standing to the side, spoke up.

This was a contingency plan they had discussed previously, one they had not intended to use.

After all, that fellow Hanzo was the primary culprit behind Yahiko's death, but for the sake of the bigger picture, they had no choice but to do this.

"It can only be so. Use the Preta Path to replace him."

Nagato nodded, deciding to proceed in this manner.

Next came the task of cleaning up the battlefield, which would require some time to handle.

Amegakure could be said to have been reduced to ruins; the ninja beasts summoned by the Animal Path were massive in size, and a few casual movements had destroyed quite a number of buildings.

However, these could be slowly repaired with manual labor later; there was no rush.

He then summoned Biwa Juzo and Shisui through the Deva Path. There was also that enemy, Shimura Danzō; he wanted to see the man dead.

Shisui and Biwa Juzo arrived quickly.

"Where is Shimura Danzō?"

Seeing only the two of them, without a corpse or a severed head, the Deva Path furrowed his brows.

Biwa Juzo also glanced at Shisui. He had wiped out all of Shimura Danzō's subordinates, so could it be that this kid was too young and let that old fox Shimura Danzō escape?

He wondered if he should help take the blame; it seemed troublesome to make Pain angry.

"He was taken away by Uchiha Madara."

Shisui said with a calm expression.

"?"

Biwa Juzo widened his eyes.

It felt as if he had heard a name of immense weight.

The Deva Path frowned.

"Do not speak of this to anyone."

He then instructed Biwa Juzo.

He believed that Shisui was likely in league with Uchiha Madara, but looking at Shisui now, he seemed dissatisfied with Uchiha Madara.

Nagato had never fully trusted Uchiha Madara, but there was no way to break free from him for now, and he also wanted to leverage the man's power.

Biwa Juzo nodded, having no objections.

He had merely defected from Kirigakure and come out looking for a job; he did not want to invite any trouble.

"Go maintain order and assist Sasori and Kakuzu. If anyone creates chaos or tries to flee, execute them on the spot."

The Deva Path then assigned the two new tasks.

Neither had any objections and went straight to work.

I hope I can successfully pass the intelligence back!

Shisui also took advantage of the chaos earlier to successfully create a Shadow Clone to carry out this task.

Moreover, he had been prepared; knowing that Zetsu had powerful sensory abilities, the chakra signature of a Shadow Clone was identical to the original, so if the clone simply ran out, it would be discovered. Therefore, he deliberately used the smallest amount of chakra possible, while simultaneously using a genjutsu to control an Amegakure ninja, injecting his chakra into the Shadow Clone to scramble his own chakra signature.

He could only maintain this for ten minutes at most; if he couldn't escape by then, he would fail, and there was a risk of being discovered and exposed!

Uchiha Gin did not feel such pressure, and even if he knew this information, he wouldn't care, because he had known it all along. Arranging for Shisui to go out was mainly to let him go out and engage in a battle of wits, so he wouldn't focus his thoughts on his own home.

"What did you say?"

"The Uchiha Clan is selling ninjutsu!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen wore an expression of disbelief.

After all, ninjutsu was the foundation of these clans. Aside from bloodline clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga, and secret technique clans like the Ino-Shika-Cho and Aburame, the foundation of other clans was the ninjutsu they collected.

Being able to make their clan members stronger and more well-rounded than ninja of the same level was exactly where clan ninja held an advantage over civilian ninja.

Civilian ninja, aside from risking their lives for Konoha to take on dangerous missions in exchange for opportunities to learn ninjutsu, could only obtain them from the enemies they killed. This was basically the way all civilian ninja in the ninja world acquired ninjutsu.

Now, the Uchiha Clan was actually putting ninjutsu out for sale for money?

Wasn't this setting themselves against those numerous small and medium-sized clans!

And the largest supplier of ninjutsu, Konoha!

"This is a flyer they are distributing to ninja at the gates of Konoha. They are selling C-rank and D-rank ninjutsu of all five attributes, about a hundred types in total."

An Anbu member handed a black-and-white flyer to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

When he picked up the flyer, Sarutobi Hiruzen unconsciously took out the reading glasses from his drawer and put them on.

After reading it, he found that it was true.

The large Uchiha Clan crest was right there on it.

"C-rank and D-rank, huh!"

"And Orochimaru is involved too?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned the moment he saw Orochimaru's name on the promotional flyer.

He didn't consider this student of his a fool; on the contrary, he was the brightest of his three disciples.

Doing something like this was undoubtedly pitting himself against every small and medium-sized clan!

Although the rank of a ninjutsu didn't represent its power, but rather its difficulty to learn, C-rank and D-rank techniques—which generally didn't involve nature transformation or shape transformation—were more than sufficient for Genin and Chunin.

These were the trump cards for the vast majority of small and medium-sized clans.

"What exactly is their goal? Is it just for money?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a dull ache between his brows.

The position of Hokage was truly difficult to sit in!

"Lord Hokage, should we stop them?"

An Anbu operative inquired.

Clearly, he was also indignant; the vast majority of people joined the Anbu for the sake of ninjutsu.

Otherwise, ordinary ninjas lived much easier lives without so much pressure—after all, Anbu missions carried a high probability of encountering Jonin.

Working so hard, wasn't it all for the sake of obtaining the ninjutsu rewarded by the village!

Although the ninjutsu obtained by the Anbu were actually better—allowing for the selection of B-rank, or even A-rank for high merit—and the Uchiha were currently only selling up to C-rank, that didn't mean he was willing to see this happen.

Having walked through the rain himself, the mentality of the vast majority was to tear down everyone else's umbrella.

Help others hold an umbrella?

Seeing others with umbrellas just made them feel uncomfortable!

"Issue an order to stop them. Inform the Uchiha and Orochimaru that this matter will be discussed at the Konoha meeting in one week."

Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered decisively.

Even if he didn't know what they were planning, stopping them was the right move!

This kind of thing absolutely could not be allowed to spread.

If it weren't for the Uchiha and Orochimaru, he would have ordered an arrest long ago for anyone else.

This time, at the meeting, he would make the Uchiha and Orochimaru kneel and apologize!!

"They moved faster than I imagined."

On the roof of the Military Police Force building, Orochimaru and Uchiha Gin watched the Anbu below delivering Sarutobi Hiruzen's prohibition order; neither showed the slightest hint of panic.

"After all, this is something that truly threatens the interests of the ruling class."

"How is the new development coming along?"

Uchiha Gin said dismissively.

What they were doing now was akin to distributing the power of literacy to everyone in a feudal dynasty; it was bound to face obstruction. And Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't even an emperor—he was just a village chief.

When a village chief and landlord discovered that all the villagers were suddenly literate, how could he not panic?

Who would be left to farm the land and risk their lives for him?

He had never even considered using these educated people to create greater benefits.

"It's a success. The Enhancement Serum developed using the newly discovered genes from those three test subjects has a restorative effect on the genes of the Uchiha Clan."

Orochimaru replied.

Only when the genes of the Uchiha and the Senju were fused together could they be considered complete.

This newly extracted gene allowed the Uchiha Clan's bodies to adapt more easily, with almost no risk of backlash.

However, the improvement gained was not as great as using First Hokage Cells directly, and it also cut off the possibility of using First Hokage Cells for further enhancement later. It was like receiving a vaccine; once resistance was gained, the effect of the virus would be weakened, or even rendered useless.

"If we had the genes of Uchiha Madara to fuse with the First Hokage Cells, that combination would be perfect."

Uchiha Gin wasn't surprised. After all, in Boruto, First Hokage Cells could even be developed into ninja tools and used directly to create prosthetic limbs.

If ordinary people could handle it, there was no way the Uchiha Clan would have a problem.

"Is it the power of Indra and Ashura?"

Orochimaru asked.

"So Itachi told you. That's right, that is the power I crave."

Uchiha Gin nodded, not surprised in the slightest, and then said with a smile.

This was indeed his goal, though only one of them.

Surely Itachi wouldn't be stupid enough to tell Orochimaru that Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra.

"Things are getting more and more interesting."

Orochimaru responded with a smile, though it remained as sinister as ever.

He did not mind being kept in the dark; he found the process of constant decryption to be immensely enjoyable.

He was already looking forward to the troubles he would encounter next.

The day of the Konoha meeting arrived.

Every ninja in the village was discussing the Uchiha Clan's attempt to sell ninjutsu a few days prior.

Although Orochimaru's name was attached to it, it seemed few people paid much attention to that, as the focus was entirely on the Uchiha Clan.

Perhaps this was due to someone deliberately steering the narrative.

Inside the meeting hall, the participants had already gathered.

On the side of the Uchiha Clan, it was still Fugaku and Gin, but Tekka and Shisui's seats had been replaced by Hyuga Himon.

This guy had been quite exhausted lately; in addition to his duties as a city guard, he was responsible for snooping into the secrets of the Military Police Force. However, there were no secret investigations to be found within the Military Police Force at all—the members of the Uchiha Clan simply looked forward to clocking out after arriving at work. Aside from their daily tasks, they spent their time slacking off, and while some did train, there was absolutely no sign of preparation for combat.

At this moment, the area around his Byakugan was ringed with dark circles, making him look rather frail.

Furthermore, he could feel hostile gazes constantly directed at him from all around.

He was well aware of the situation; the Uchiha's sale of ninjutsu had incited public outrage, but he desperately wanted to shout that he wasn't part of the Uchiha Clan and ask them to stop targeting him!

Sarutobi Hiruzen soon entered with the two old fogies. They sat down in a triangular formation, with Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura positioned on either side behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Looking down at the Uchiha and Root contingents, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a sense of irritation in his heart.

Because after the ban was issued, many civilians were resentful. Since a few civilian ninjas had managed to purchase the techniques early on—only about twenty or so—it had made those who didn't get a chance extremely angry.

Although they dared not say anything openly, the complaints behind the scenes could not be stopped.

The lower classes wanted to climb upward, while the upper echelons blocked the path; such was reality.