The moonlight passes through the treetops by the Naka River river, casting mottled light and shadow on the ground.
Uchiha Jun When he walked out of the patriarch's mansion, the night breeze blew away the last trace of fatigue in his heart.
The conversation just now went more smoothly than he expected.
"Junjun, you mean... We, Uchiha Clan, really want to promote Orochimaru to the top?"
After hearing his plan, Uchiha Fugaku's expression at that time can be said to be extremely wonderful.
--Shock, anticipation, hesitation, excitement, several completely different emotions took turns on his always calm face, and finally they all turned into an almost pious light.
It was a light of hope that had been dormant for too long and was finally rekindled.
Uchiha Jun leaned against the stone wall of the outer wall, looking up at the huge face on Hokage Rock in the distance.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura.
How many years have these four old guys suppressed Uchiha Clan?
The argument that "Uchiha Clan is unstable" passed down from the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju era is like a big mountain, pressing firmly on the Uchiha Clan's head.
Konoha Police Force team?
It sounds majestic, but it's actually an offending job.
It is inevitable that the clan and territory will be marginalized.
The younger generation of elites are excluded from the core power circle, which happens every day.
"First clean up the influence of that old guy Setsuna."
Uchiha Jun's eyes looked particularly cold under the moonlight, "Isolating him makes the whole Uchiha Clan seem to be divided into hawks and doves, but in fact it is monolithic inside."
"There is only one voice for me, Uchiha Jun!"
He was mentally calculating the next steps.
When the war officially begins, lead the team to the battlefield to gain military glory.
Let both Sarutobi Hiruzen and the big names see the strategic value of the Uchiha Clan.
When Third Shinobi World War is over and Sarutobi Hiruzen abdicates, help Orochimaru up.
At that time, all the dirty things Orochimaru and Danzo did together will be pinned on Shimura Danzō alone.
Let him be a traitor and let Orochimaru rise to the top with a clear conscience.
The follow-up is that Orochimaru will become a turning point in the history of Konoha. After everything is in place, he will step down and make way for the next person, transitioning the position of Hokage to the Uchiha Clan.
"Easy to attack and defend..." Uchiha Jun repeated these four words softly, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, from the shadow at Uchiha Jun's feet, a small black snake emerged silently.
The little snake raised its head, its scarlet snake trembled slightly in the air, then opened its mouth and spit out a scroll wrapped in mucus from its throat.
Uchiha Jun raised his eyebrows.
Communication from Kakuzu.
He squatted down, picked up the wet scroll with two fingers, shook off the slime on it, and unfolded it.
There is only one line in it--
"The goods have arrived, Forest of Death."
The handwriting is sloppy and impatient, which is in line with the character of Kakuzu, an old money addict.
After all, including living expenses, this time it is a full 35 million taels, which is equivalent to one Asuma Sarutobi.
After Uchiha Jun finished reading, he flipped his wrist and the scroll was shaken into powder by chakra. The powder floated into the Naka River river and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"The efficiency is pretty good."
He patted the dust on his hands, turned around and walked in the direction of Forest of Death.
At the same time, in a secret room deep in Uchiha Clan Grounds.
The light of the oil lamp swayed gently, stretching the old shadow on the wall very long.
Uchiha Setsuna was sitting cross-legged on the tatami, with a scroll full of words spread out in front of him.
His face looked very ugly.
"Fugaku That boy... has become more and more dishonest recently."
He whispered to himself, his muddy but still sharp eyes flashing coldly under the light of the oil lamp.
"And that brat named Uchiha Jun, a Genin who just graduated less than a year ago, dared to openly oppose me at the assembly..."
Behind him, several Uchiha Clan elders with the same white hair sat in a row, their faces almost gloomy.
"Master Setsuna, Fugaku has been acting too frequently recently. He has already transferred three Jonin from our faction out of the clan guard."
"And the identity registration of that mixed-race kid, he approved it without even saying hello."
"If this continues, the weight of words spoken by us old guys will become lighter and lighter."
Elder Uchiha Setsuna was silent for a moment, and then slowly spoke, his voice hoarse and low. "The war is not over yet, Fugaku will only break his own arms if he rushes to clean the inside."
He paused, and a trace of evil flashed in his eyes. "When he goes to the battlefield and suffers a loss, he will naturally remember the value of us old guys!"
"When the time comes, let him have a good feel for who is the real backbone of the Uchiha Clan."
The oil lamp in the secret room swayed gently, illuminating the wrinkled face in the blink of an eye.
Forest of Death, a secret underground stronghold somewhere.
When Uchiha Jun walked down the spiral staircase, the smell of blood mixed with the smell of formalin in the air hit him.
His eyes swept across the stone platform in the center of the experimental area - there were several transparent sealed jars on it, with several scarlet eyeballs soaked in them.
--Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
And it's not an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Judging from the chakra remaining in the irises of the eyeballs, the original owner of these eyes was at least a Elite Jonin level Uchiha Clan.
"Tsk tsk, Kakuzu and Orochimaru are quite easy to get started with, and three pairs of Sharingan are quite a lot."
Uchiha Jun walked over, picked up one of the sealed jars, and looked at it carefully under the dim light of the wall lamp.
The quality is very high and the activity is well preserved. Obviously Kakuzu has extremely rich experience in "picking fruits" - after all, he is an old mercenary who has lived for almost seventy years.
"There are quite a lot of people here."
Uchiha Jun put down the sealed jar and turned around.
Deep inside the stronghold, two figures were seen standing in the shadows, looking at him.
A tall and strong figure, wearing black tights, with a mask on his face, and emerald green eyes glowing faintly in the darkness - Kakuzu.
The other one has a slender figure, skin as pale as paper, golden vertical pupils that are particularly eye-catching in the dim light, and a faint smile hanging on the corner of his mouth - Orochimaru.
"Jun Jun, I have finished what you asked me to do."
Orochimaru was the first to speak, with a hoarse and low voice, "... the corpses you provided are of really good quality. It would be even better if Sharingan could also be given to me for research."
Hearing this, Uchiha Jun smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry, Orochimaru, there will be bread, and there will be milk. When you study the project in the future, there will be more Uchiha Clan waiting for you to study."
'Of course, it's the pile of old urine dirt from the Uchiha Setsuna faction. If they recycle the waste, they can be considered to have lived a life worth living.'
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes narrowed slightly, seeming to taste the meaning of Uchiha Jun's words. After a moment, he chuckled and did not continue to ask.
Kakuzu stepped forward, took out a thick stack of scrolls from his arms, and placed them in front of Uchiha Jun.
"Boss, this is the experimental data report during this period - the detailed test record of Hero Water, including the response to the human body at different dilution concentrations and the impact on body functions after continued use."
"Everything has been arranged according to your instructions. Please take a look."
Uchiha Jun took the scroll and nodded with satisfaction.
Seeing this, Kakuzu added, "Also... I have sealed the few Sharingan you want, and they are all here."
"Very good."
Uchiha Jun took out a Sealing Scroll from the ninja bag and threw it directly to Kakuzu.
"This is your living expenses for this month, plus the reward for this mission - 30 million taels, for a total of 35 million taels."
Kakuzu took the scroll with both hands, pinched it lightly with his fingertips, and roughly knew the amount inside.
His emerald green eyes suddenly lit up, and then he shouted loudly with a passion that was completely inconsistent with his cold face, "The boss is awesome!"
Orochimaru on the side looked at Kakuzu's appearance, with a trace of imperceptible fear flashing in his golden vertical pupils.
During previous missions together, the strength shown by Kakuzu had already made him, one of the "Sannin", feel a little troublesome.
Especially the body that can control multiple properties of chakra at the same time, and the Lightning Style heart that is suspected to be of the same vein as Raikage.
This guy is definitely not easy to mess with!
Uchiha Jun ignored the little thought in Orochimaru's eyes and directly unfolded the scroll handed over by Kakuzu and browsed it quickly.
When Kakuzu saw this, he was still holding his hands and was idle. He immediately unlocked part of Sealing Scroll's seal and happily counted the money.
It's not that he's afraid that Uchiha Jun will fool him with counterfeit money, but since he was symbiotic with Earth Grudge Fear, counting money is one of the few entertainments that can make him feel alive.
The experimental data on the scroll are recorded in great detail, from the concentration gradient test of Hero Water, to the reactions of experimental subjects with different physiques after taking it, to the physical changes after taking it for one week, two weeks, and three weeks, everything is recorded one by one.
His eyes quickly swept over the data, and he became more and more satisfied with it.
"The data is very complete, thank you for your hard work."
Uchiha Jun closed the scroll and handed it to Orochimaru: "Take a look, too. Let's study this thing when we return to the village, and then we will provide you with funds to study other projects - 200 million."
'Your sincerity touches me, so what else can you say? Just take a look. Anyway, he is also very interested in Hero Water, which can make Jonin explode dozens of times the chakra of Kage Level!'
Orochimaru reached out and took it, his eyes quickly swept over the dense data. After a moment, a trace of extremely rare solemnity flashed in those golden snake eyes.
"This data... if it is true, then the potential of Hero Water is even more amazing than I previously estimated."
"That's why it's worthy of cooperative research." Uchiha Jun smiled, "What interests me most is - according to the test data, the effect of Hero Water does not seem to be directly related to the physical fitness of the user."
"In other words, if an ordinary Genin takes diluted Hero Water, the proportion of its chakra surge is basically the same as that of a Jonin taking the same concentration of Hero Water!"
Orochimaru heard this and was silent for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. "Your inference is consistent with the conclusion I reached. This phenomenon is very strange - if it is a normal chakra catalyzed drug, there will usually be a 'threshold effect'."
"The higher the user's own chakra base, the lower the improvement rate, but Hero Water seems to break this law."
He paused, and a light flashed in his eyes. "This means... Hero Water's reaction mechanism may not act on the human body's own chakra refining system, but directly act on some lower-level energy transformation path."
Uchiha Jun snapped his fingers, "What a coincidence, I thought so too."
He took out another scroll from his ninja tool bag - it was the research ideas he had worked out through staying up late during this period, and it recorded his speculations and experimental directions in this direction in densely packed text.
"I believe that the principle of action of Hero Water is essentially an 'energy catalysis' rather than a 'chakra catalysis'."
Uchiha Jun unfolded the scroll, pointed to a derivation formula circled in red pen and said, "You showed me the results of processing the Seven-Tails organization before. I compared the set of data provided by Kakuzu and found an interesting correspondence."
"The energy fluctuation frequency of Hero Water and the fluctuation frequency of Tailed Beast Chakra show a highly similar structure under a specific dilution ratio."
Orochimaru's eyes fell on those data and formulas, and his pupils shrank slightly.
"You mean...Hero Water and Tailed Beast Chakra may come from the same source?"
"This is just one of the possibilities." Uchiha Jun closed the note, "But if it is true, then our research direction can take a big step forward."
'To be precise, it is related to Ten-Tails God Tree. Judging from the current data, this Hero Water is probably related to the extremely tiny remains of a certain God Tree.'
Of course, the latter sentence Uchiha Jun was not spoken.
Orochimaru was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a deep laugh, "Interesting... I never thought that such a little Takigakure could hide such a secret."
"It's a pity that Takigakure people don't have the ability to solve this secret." Uchiha Jun shrugged, "So, isn't it our turn now?"
The two looked at each other, understanding each other tacitly.
Kakuzu stood aside, watching these two guys discussing professional terms that he didn't understand at all, feeling like an outsider.
But it doesn't matter, as long as the boss is happy.
Anyway, his mission has been completed and the money has been obtained.
The next step is to wait for Uchiha Jun to give out the second phase experimental plan, and then he can return to the village.
Gee, this kind of life where you can get money without running around is really nice.
"Kakuzu." Uchiha Jun suddenly turned to look at him.
"Here!"
"I have already decided on the experimental plan for the second phase."
Uchiha Jun handed a new scroll jointly developed by himself and Orochimaru to Kakuzu: "After you go back, continue to promote the experiment according to this plan. The focus of data collection is... how to transform the short-term burst effect of Hero Water into a long-lasting and gentle way to increase the total amount of chakra in the ninja's body."
Kakuzu took the scroll and nodded solemnly. "Understood."
"Also, how is the construction progress over there at Takigakure?"
Kakuzu heard this, with a look of embarrassment on his face. "Boss, although the main body of the base has been completed, the supporting facilities are still under construction. Although the experimental environment has been supported by the boss's financial support, the subsequent R&D investment and village development..."
He paused and continued, "The most important thing is that Land of Waterfalls's famous name, his attitude towards Takigakure is average, and the allocation is not high, resulting in Takigakure's fiscal revenue being greatly reduced."
Uchiha Jun raised his eyebrows. "Damn, is there still such a thing?"
After thinking about it, Uchiha Jun directly took out another Sealing Scroll worth three hundred million taels of silver from the ninja bag and threw it to Kakuzu.
Anyway, if you have no money, you can just use your Danzo ID card to buy it for zero yuan. There is no need to search.
"This is the second phase of funds, you can use it first."
Kakuzu Holding the thick stack of banknotes in both hands, he was stunned.
Three hundred million taels!
He only has so much savings in his life!
This Kakuzu belongs to Pixiu. He can only save it if he cannot get in or out.
"Boss... this..."
"Stop talking nonsense, take it."
Uchiha Jun waved his hand, "As for Land of Waterfalls, I'll take care of it. I'll have a 'friendly negotiation' with him."
Kakuzu heard this and was so excited that his whole body was trembling. "Boss... you are really... you are really..."
"Okay, okay, let's go quickly." Uchiha Jun waved his hand, "Remember to send me the experimental data regularly."
"Yes! I'm resigning!"
Kakuzu held the banknote, his eyes filled with ecstasy, turned around and left the stronghold quickly.
Orochimaru looked at the back of Kakuzu as he left, a playful light flashed in his golden vertical pupils. "Chunjun, you are really generous to your collaborators."
"Generosity can make people work hard, but fear cannot bring loyalty."
Uchiha Jun turned to look at Orochimaru and smiled slightly, "Don't worry, I have always been fair to my collaborators. As long as you do things well, I will never treat you badly."
Orochimaru chuckled lightly and did not answer.
But in the depths of those golden snake eyes, a strange light flashed.