Hokage, I Choose Orochimaru, Ten Years to the Moon Chapter 5

Are you the Hokage?

Know your place!

You aren't even as great as Sarutobi Hiruzen!

Shimura Danzō's face flushed red with rage instantly.

In this life, there were two things he hated most.

One was being told he was inferior to Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the other was the Uchiha Clan!

Now that both had collided and were being used to mock him, he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Lord Danzō, please, do not be angry..."

Fugaku stepped forward with a headache, trying to appease Shimura Danzō.

This was completely beyond his control; what on earth was Uchiha Gin trying to do?

Fugaku's mind was in such a chaotic mess that he couldn't think clearly at all.

It was fortunate that Danzō wasn't an Uchiha, or he might have been so enraged he would have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan on the spot.

"Fine, fine, fine. Is this the Uchiha? Is this the Uchiha Clan Military Police Force?"

Seeing Fugaku, Danzō nodded repeatedly, his face twisted in fury.

He wore the expression of someone who had memorized a face and was waiting for his chance at revenge.

"Some people just don't know their own standing. They aren't even a match for the Third Hokage, yet they harbor delusions of taking the top seat."

Uchiha Gin, standing to the side, continued his cold sarcasm.

The purpose of stirring up trouble today was to draw the attention of Konoha's high-ranking officials, allowing his clone to move freely.

Uchiha Gin hadn't expected to hook Shimura Danzō directly, but he certainly wouldn't be polite; he went straight for the throat.

He knew this guy was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong.

When Pain attacked, he hid underground and didn't make a sound; only after Pain was defeated did he emerge, shouting that he was the Sixth Hokage—a man defined by his cowardice.

Besides, if Danzō couldn't help but lash out and a fight broke out, it would be Sarutobi Hiruzen who would be anxious.

Sarutobi Hiruzen would never allow such a sudden war; he would only move against the Uchiha when Konoha's military strength was at its peak. These old men would only endure, so Uchiha Gin wasn't afraid at all, continuing to provoke Shimura Danzō to buy time for his Shadow Clone.

"You, you, you!"

Danzō was so furious that he couldn't even speak clearly, his face turning a deep shade of red.

Inside the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene through his Crystal Ball, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Clearly, he understood Shimura Danzō's petty mind well—otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to manipulate him so easily—but seeing him get so rattled by a junior of the Uchiha Clan left him feeling helpless. Sarutobi Hiruzen wondered if he had overestimated Shimura Danzō.

"I can't let this escalate. Is the Uchiha Clan testing the waters?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up, picked up his Hokage Hat, and placed it on his head, frowning as he pondered the Uchiha Clan's actions today.

Internal division?

Or was there another motive?

Perhaps they had an even greater goal?

He didn't think of the Uchiha as fools, so he had to be cautious—extremely cautious.

"Truly like a rat in the sewer, unable to show your face."

Uchiha Gin's Shadow Clone, having changed into an Akatsuki robe and wearing a Tiger-Skin Mask, was currently infiltrating the base of Root.

His goal was to see Orochimaru.

That guy hadn't shown his face in a long time, and meeting him was too much of a hassle.

To avoid drawing attention, Uchiha Gin had instigated today's chaos, sending his Shadow Clone to meet Orochimaru while disguised as the man who invaded Konoha during the Nine-Tails Incident. If he were exposed, it wouldn't matter.

Who would be the one to explain it then? After all, why would the culprit behind the Nine-Tails Incident go to Root?

It would be Shimura Danzō who would be the most anxious.

Orochimaru was still a member of Root and had dealings with Shimura Danzō. Although the Uchiha Clan didn't know the exact location of Orochimaru's base, they had a general direction—an area where the Uchiha were forbidden to approach.

Thus, Uchiha Gin only needed to use genjutsu to interrogate members of Root along the way to easily obtain the information. After all, this wasn't a top-secret, and the cursed seals in their minds wouldn't detonate from mere fear.

"Two gems' worth of mana weren't enough to see Orochimaru, so I'll have to use Plan B."

Uchiha Gin was naturally using someone else's face, but hanging around his neck was a necklace set with a ruby.

Jewel Magecraft allowed for the storage of mana within gems, and its conversion properties enabled Uchiha Gin to swap his chakra and mana interchangeably. With the effect of the magic craft Tears of the Goddess, there was virtually no loss.

This was why Uchiha Gin believed a single Shadow Clone was enough to complete the mission; each of these two gems contained the equivalent of his entire chakra reserves. This was the joy of being a "pay-to-win" player!

"Found it!"

Uchiha Gin dropped the person wearing the Anbu mask and looked up toward the depths of the forest to the northwest.

Orochimaru's underground research base was in that direction.

To avoid leaking information, Uchiha Gin used genjutsu to control these members of Root directly. Given his high level of mastery in genjutsu, combined with the immense mental power he gained after awakening his Mangekyo, he could easily manipulate them.

Although he was a cut below Shisui, dealing with the vast majority of Root members—who were only at the chunin level—was a breeze, allowing him to easily extract non-core intelligence.

Chapter 8 Orochimaru: Huh? Me, become Hokage?

Orochimaru's eyes were bloodshot, and his hands never ceased their precise movements. He wanted to create a perfect body, one that would allow him to live forever—a body of immense power!

Having witnessed several wars and the deaths of many friends and loved ones, he felt the fragility of life, which was why he wanted to live, to go on living forever.

Power!

That was the most important factor in being able to survive indefinitely.

Orochimaru felt the limitations his own body imposed, preventing him from advancing further, so he set his sights on Kekkei Genkai—all kinds of Kekkei Genkai—hoping to find the perfect body most suited to him!

"Urgh... ahhh..."

But this experiment failed once again. The human subject convulsed repeatedly, let out a heart-wrenching scream, and then stopped abruptly, dying on the spot.

The research subject he had gone to such lengths to acquire could not withstand the power he bestowed upon it and lost its life instantly.

"Trash!"

Orochimaru could only curse in anger.

However, he did not lose his composure and destroy this 'work.' After all, even failed experiments had value; they could help him avoid the same problems next time.

Taking off his gloves, Orochimaru flipped through the research logs, trying to confirm the cause of this failure.

Because he lived underground for long periods without sunlight, his skin was abnormally pale, and with his bloodshot eyes, Orochimaru looked like a vampire.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's hand paused.

"An intruder?"

Orochimaru wore a look of surprise.

Someone had triggered the sensory traps he had set. The research he was conducting was not permitted in Konoha, so his laboratory base was extremely well-hidden; in Konoha, only Danzo and the Root members he had placed a Cursed Seal on knew of its existence.

On the map of Konoha, this area was hidden. Neither the Anbu nor the Uchiha Police Force would come here, and even if Konoha were invaded by foreign enemies, it would be difficult to find this location.

Moreover, he had set up many traps himself. The one triggered was a sensory trap located in a room where he kept research data in a sub-base he controlled personally. Usually, no one else was allowed inside, but now it had been tripped.

Unless Root decided to turn on him, they wouldn't trigger the trap, so it could only be an outsider!

"Has Konoha been invaded?"

"Or does Danzo have other ideas?"

Orochimaru's expression shifted. He immediately discarded the first thought and frowned, considering the possibility of the second.

After all, he was no fool; he had been guarding against Danzo for a long time. The sensory traps were part of his precautions, and he had already mapped out escape routes, ready to flee at any moment.

However, since the situation was still unclear, Orochimaru created a Shadow Clone to identify the intruder while he began to pack, ready to bolt. He was prepared to abandon everyone else in the lab; he had no intention of taking them with him. He didn't yet have the strength to topple Konoha, nor did he want a direct confrontation. Survival was the primary rule Orochimaru followed.

After all, when he started these human experiments, he had already prepared to run. But he felt that if his human experimentation had truly been discovered, it wouldn't have triggered this specific sensory trap. Was someone testing him?

Orochimaru's Shadow Clone sped through the dim tunnels, left the research base, and arrived at a nearby sub-base under his exclusive control.

There, he saw a person wearing a black robe with red clouds and a Swirl One-Eyed Mask standing at the entrance of the data room, staring straight at him.

"Uchiha Madara?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's attire, Orochimaru stopped in his tracks, his expression filled with suspicion and shock, until he finally couldn't help but speak to test the waters.

After all, information that was difficult for the Uchiha to obtain was easily accessible to Orochimaru, who was the Third Hokage's prized disciple and the de facto deputy commander of Root.

He knew the attire of the person who had attacked Konoha and controlled the Nine-Tails. What confirmed it most for him was the blood-red eye visible through the mask's single eyehole: the Sharingan!

Orochimaru thought rapidly, wondering why such a person would appear before him.

But before he could speak again, he saw Uchiha Gin remove the mask from his face.

"Uchiha Gin?!"

Orochimaru looked astonished, recognizing him immediately.

As a member of Root, targeting the Uchiha was a primary mission.

Orochimaru had seen the files on all high-ranking Uchiha members, including information on Uchiha Gin, the only descendant of the Great Elder of the Uchiha Clan. Memorizing intelligence was the most basic operation for a ninja.

Not to mention a genius ninja like Orochimaru, who possessed an incredibly strong memory.

In an instant, Orochimaru's Shadow Clone tensed his body, ready to dispel himself and relay this information to the main body.

He suspected that the Uchiha Police Force had discovered his laboratory. If the people of Konoha found out about this, it would be a massive problem.

Orochimaru assumed that Danzo had been watching the Uchiha for too long, causing them to grow desperate and target him, which led to the exposure of this base. Orochimaru had no time to curse Danzo now; he felt that running away was the best option.

"Don't be afraid. It's not that your human experimentation has been discovered by the Uchiha Police Force."

Under the observation of the Sharingan, Orochimaru's nervousness was naturally seen through, and Uchiha Gin spoke directly.

"Whoosh!"

But the moment those words left his mouth, Orochimaru's figure surged toward Uchiha Gin like a phantom.

What Orochimaru feared most was Konoha finding out about the human experiments. Now that Uchiha Gin claimed only he knew, Orochimaru immediately decided to kill him. He had no interest in listening to anything else Uchiha Gin had to say; he went straight for the kill.

Orochimaru moved with an incredibly swift Body Flicker, appearing before Uchiha Gin in the blink of an eye while thrusting a kunai straight toward him.

"Clang!"

The kunai struck the skeletal frame of the silver Susanoo directly, leaving behind a faint mark, but it failed to penetrate the ribs to harm Uchiha Gin in the slightest.

Orochimaru was shocked by the phenomenon manifesting around Uchiha Gin, but his body, honed by thousands of life-or-death battles, instinctively shifted, preparing to dive into the ground and launch an attack from beneath.

However, the moment he moved, his body locked up.

"Gold Binding Jutsu!"

Orochimaru was surprised that he had actually fallen for a genjutsu.

Yet, as Orochimaru had not yet performed the Living Corpse Reincarnation and his soul remained intact, his resistance to genjutsu was still quite high, and he dispelled this low-level technique in an instant.

"Did you never consider that I might be a Shadow Clone?"

As Orochimaru prepared to launch his next offensive, Uchiha Gin's words caused him to freeze instantly.

His expression turned grim, his eyes filled with killing intent, though he ultimately suppressed it.

"What is your objective?"

Orochimaru asked directly.

He did not believe that Uchiha Gin had come to find him for any good reason.

Having learned of his human experiments, was he looking to use him to deal with Danzo, or perhaps Konoha?

But the words Uchiha Gin spoke next caused Orochimaru's eyes to widen instantly, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"Do you have any interest in the position of Fifth Hokage?"

"Huh? Me?"