Orochimaru: Huh? I'm Becoming Hokage?

Are you the Hokage?

Know your place!

You're no match for Sarutobi Hiruzen!

So Shimura Danzo's face instantly flushed red with anger.

There were two things he hated most in this life.

One was being told by other people that he was inferior to Sarutobi Hiruzen. The other was the Uchiha!

Now the two had come together to mock him. He was about to lose it.

"Lord Danzo, please don't get angry..."

Fugaku stepped forward with a troubled expression, trying to soothe Shimura Danzo.

This had completely gotten out of his control. What exactly was Uchiha Gin trying to do?

Fugaku's mind was in a muddle. He couldn't think straight.

If Danzo had been an Uchiha, he probably would've been so enraged that he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan on the spot.

"Fine, fine, fine. So this is the Uchiha. This is the Uchiha Police Force?"

Seeing Fugaku, Danzo nodded repeatedly, his face full of fury.

He looked like he was saying, I'll remember this. Just you wait.

"Some people just don't know their place. They're clearly no match for the Third Hokage, yet they still delude themselves into thinking they can take his position."

But Uchiha Gin kept sneering from the sidelines.

His goal in stirring up trouble this time was to draw the attention of Konoha's High Command and give his clone a chance to act.

Uchiha Gin hadn't expected to draw Danzo out so easily. Naturally, he wasn't about to hold back. He went straight for the jugular.

He knew Danzo was a classic bully who picked on the weak and feared the strong.

When Pain attacked, Danzo hid underground and didn't dare make a sound. Once Pain was defeated, he showed up and shouted that he was the Sixth. The man was the very picture of a coward who only cared about saving his own skin.

And it would be even better if Danzo couldn't hold back and started a fight. Sarutobi Hiruzen would be the one in a hurry then.

Sarutobi Hiruzen would never allow a sudden war like that to break out. He would only make a move against the Uchiha when Konoha's forces were at full strength. So those old coots would only put up with it. Uchiha Gin wasn't worried at all. He provoked Danzo outright to buy time for his Shadow Clone.

"Y-you!"

Danzo was so furious he could barely get the words out. His face flushed red.

In the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the scene through a Crystal Ball and couldn't help twitching his mouth.

Clearly, he knew all about Danzo's little ambitions. Otherwise, how could he have kept Danzo so easily in check? Still, seeing Danzo get so worked up by a younger Uchiha left him feeling helpless. Had he overestimated Shimura Danzo?

"I can't let this get out of hand. Is the Uchiha testing me?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up, picked up his Hokage Hat with his right hand, and put it on. Frowning, he considered everything the Uchiha Clan had done that day.

An internal schism?

Or did they have some other motive?

Maybe they had an even bigger goal?

He had no intention of treating the Uchiha like fools, so he had to be cautious—extremely cautious.

"Just like rats in a sewer, hiding from the light."

Uchiha Gin's Shadow Clone had changed into an Akatsuki cloak and put on a Tiger-Skin Mask. He was sneaking into the Root Organization's base.

His target was Orochimaru.

That guy hadn't shown his face in ages. It was a pain just trying to meet him.

To avoid drawing attention, Uchiha Gin had stirred up chaos that day and sent his Shadow Clone to meet Orochimaru. He'd even used the same look Obito had when he invaded Konoha. If he got exposed, so be it.

Who knew who would have to explain themselves then? After all, why would the culprit behind the Nine-Tails Incident go looking for Root?

Danzo might be the one in a panic.

Orochimaru was still a member of the Root Organization and had a deal with Danzo. The Uchiha Clan didn't know the exact location of Orochimaru's base, but they knew roughly where it was—an area Uchiha weren't allowed to approach.

So Uchiha Gin only had to use genjutsu to interrogate Root members along the way and get information to easily find Orochimaru. It wasn't classified information, after all, and the fear seal in their minds wouldn't activate.

"Two gems' worth of magic wasn't enough to find Orochimaru. Guess I'll have to use Plan B."

Uchiha Gin was using someone else's face, of course, but he wore a necklace with a Ruby on it.

Jewel Magecraft could store magical energy in gems. Its conversion property also let Uchiha Gin convert chakra and magical energy back and forth. With the effect of the Mystic Code Tears of the Goddess, there was practically no loss.

That was why Uchiha Gin thought one Shadow Clone would be enough to complete this mission. Each of these two gems held the equivalent of all his chakra. That was the joy of paying to win!

"Found it!"

Uchiha Gin lowered the person wearing an Anbu mask from his hands and looked up toward the depths of the forest to the northwest.

Orochimaru's underground research base was in that direction.

To avoid revealing anything, Uchiha Gin had used genjutsu to control the Root members directly. His skill at genjutsu was excellent, and after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, his spiritual power had grown tremendously. Controlling Root members was easy for him.

He still fell short of Shisui, but against Root members who were mostly only Chunin-level, he had them completely under control. It was easy to get information from these members who weren't privy to anything important.

Chapter 8: Orochimaru: Huh? I'm Becoming Hokage?

Orochimaru's eyes were bloodshot, and his hands never stopped making precise movements. He wanted to create a perfect body—one that would let him live forever, a body of immense strength!

After witnessing several wars and the deaths of countless friends and loved ones, he had felt how fragile life was. So he wanted to survive. He wanted to live forever.

Strength!

That was the most important factor in being able to live forever.

Orochimaru could feel the limits imposed by his body, preventing him from advancing any further. That was why he had set his sights on Kekkei Genkai—every kind of Kekkei Genkai—hoping to find the perfect body best suited to him!

"Ugh... Aaargh..."

But the experiment had failed again. The subject's body convulsed, letting out a bloodcurdling scream, before abruptly falling silent and dying.

The test subject he had worked so hard to acquire couldn't withstand the power he had bestowed and had died on the spot.

"Useless!"

All Orochimaru could do was curse.

Still, he didn't lose his reason and destroy this "work." Even failures had value. They could help him avoid running into the same problem next time.

Taking off his gloves, Orochimaru looked through his research notes, trying to confirm the cause of the failure.

After living underground for so long without sunlight, his skin had turned exceptionally pale. With his bloodshot eyes, Orochimaru looked just like a vampire.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's hand stopped.

"An intruder?"

Orochimaru looked surprised.

Someone had triggered one of the sensory traps he'd set up. The research he was conducting wasn't allowed in Konoha, so the lab was well hidden. In Konoha, only Danzo and the Root members he had placed under a Cursed Seal knew about it.

This area was concealed on Konoha's maps. Neither the Anbu nor the Uchiha Police Force would come here. Even if Konoha were invaded by an enemy, it would be hard to find this place.

Besides, he had set up plenty of traps himself. The one that had been triggered was a sensory trap. It was in a room in one of his own subsidiary bases, where research data was normally stored. Others weren't allowed in there, but someone had triggered the trap.

Unless Root was turning against him, there was no way they would go in and set off the trap. That meant it could only be an outsider!

"Has Konoha been invaded?"

"Or does Danzo have other plans?"

Orochimaru's expression shifted. He dismissed the first possibility at once and frowned as he considered the second.

After all, he wasn't exactly an honest man. He had been wary of Danzo for a long time. The sensory trap was part of his precautions, and he had already planned an escape route. He could flee at any moment.

But he still didn't know what was going on. So Orochimaru formed a Shadow Clone and sent it to identify whoever had triggered the sensory trap. Meanwhile, he began packing, ready to flee at any time. He was prepared to abandon everyone else in the research lab rather than take them with him. He didn't yet have the power to overthrow Konoha, and he had no intention of openly turning against it. Staying alive came first—that was the rule Orochimaru followed above all others.

After all, Orochimaru had been ready to flee ever since he began conducting human experiments. Still, he felt that if someone had truly discovered those experiments, they wouldn't have triggered this sensory trap. Was someone testing him?

Orochimaru's Shadow Clone raced through the dim tunnel and left the research base. It reached a nearby subsidiary base under his exclusive control...

There, in front of the records room, stood a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds and a Swirl One-Eyed Mask, staring straight at him.

"Uchiha Madara?"

Seeing Uchiha Gin's appearance, Orochimaru stopped dead. His expression turned uncertain, and at last he couldn't help asking to test the waters.

After all, information that was hard for the Uchiha to obtain was easy for Orochimaru, a prized student of the Third Hokage and the actual deputy controller of Root, to get his hands on.

Orochimaru knew what the man who attacked Konoha and controlled the Nine-Tails had looked like. What convinced him most was the blood-red eye visible through the mask's opening: the Sharingan!

Orochimaru thought quickly, wondering why someone like this had appeared in front of him...

But before he could say anything more, he saw Uchiha Gin take off his mask.

"Uchiha Gin?!"

Orochimaru looked shocked. He recognized Uchiha Gin as well.

After all, he was a member of Root, and targeting the Uchiha was one of his main assignments.

Orochimaru had studied files on the Uchiha's senior members, including information about Uchiha Gin, the only descendant of the Uchiha Clan's Great Elder. Memorizing intelligence was basic for a ninja.

That was even more true for a genius ninja like Orochimaru, who had an exceptional memory.

Orochimaru's Shadow Clone tensed at once, ready to dispel itself and inform its original of what had happened.

He suspected the Uchiha Police Force had discovered his lab. If anyone in Konoha learned about it, he'd be in trouble.

Orochimaru thought Danzo had watched the Uchiha for too long, driving them to desperation and making them target him. That was what had exposed the research base. Orochimaru didn't have time to curse Danzo now. He decided that running was his best option.

"Don't be afraid. The Uchiha Police Force hasn't found out about your human experiments."

Under the Sharingan's gaze, Orochimaru's nervousness was obvious. Uchiha Gin spoke up immediately.

"Whoosh!"

As soon as he said that, Orochimaru shot toward Uchiha Gin like a ghost.

What Orochimaru feared most was Konoha finding out about his human experiments. Now that Uchiha Gin had said only he knew about them, Orochimaru immediately thought of killing him. He had no interest in hearing anything else from Uchiha Gin. He went straight for the kill.

Orochimaru moved so quickly that he appeared in front of Uchiha Gin in the blink of an eye. He thrust a Kunai straight at him.

"Clang!"

The Kunai struck the silver Susanoo skeleton, leaving a faint mark, but it couldn't break through and harm Uchiha Gin.

Orochimaru was stunned by the sight of the figure that had appeared around Uchiha Gin. But the instincts honed through countless battles made him change his movements at once, preparing to slip underground and attack Uchiha Gin from below.

But the moment he moved, his body froze.

"Gold Binding Jutsu!"

Orochimaru was surprised that he had fallen for a genjutsu.

But he hadn't yet undergone Living Corpse Reincarnation, so his soul was still intact and his resistance to genjutsu was high. He broke free of the low-level illusion at once.

"Didn't you consider that I might be a Shadow Clone?"

Orochimaru had been about to continue his attack when Uchiha Gin's words made him freeze.

His expression darkened, his eyes filled with killing intent, but in the end, he managed to suppress it.

"What do you want?"

Orochimaru asked bluntly.

He didn't believe Uchiha Gin had come to see him for any good reason.

Since he knew about the human experiments, was he planning to use Orochimaru against Danzo or Konoha?

But Uchiha Gin's next words made Orochimaru's eyes widen instantly, leaving him momentarily dazed.

"Are you interested in becoming the Fifth Hokage?"

"Huh? Me?"