The Conspiracy Begins (Fifth Watch)

"Orochimaru-sensei, is this mission really normal?" Uchiha Chiba asked, his gaze heavy as he looked at the mission scroll before him, Minazuki Kokona standing by his side.

Orochimaru was also somewhat suspicious.

He spoke, "We just signed a peace treaty with Sunagakure, and now a mission to gather intelligence on the Land of Wind has appeared... There is something fishy here... It could be a trap. However, I am still puzzled; this mission was specifically assigned to you by the Council of Elders... I must go investigate. Chiba, do not go to the Land of Wind. Stay in the village until I find out more..."

Following this, Orochimaru pushed open the door and walked out of the Anbu building.

"At this point in time, Konoha has only just signed the treaty with Sunagakure for less than half a year. It shouldn't be Danzo... So who could it be?" Uchiha Chiba rubbed his chin.

Beside him, Minazuki Kokona simply watched the mission scroll in silence.

One had to realize that in such a sensitive period, if Konoha and Sunagakure were to discover spies from either side, this hard-won peace would instantly collapse. Although Danzo Shimura was a corrupt dictator, in the original story, he remained loyal to the village. It was unlikely he would issue such a mission at this time.

However, Chiba could never have imagined that a massive conspiracy against him was quietly unfolding.

While waiting for Orochimaru, Uchiha Chiba received a letter.

Inside the Anbu building, he pointed to himself and looked at the young ninja standing before him. "For me?"

"Yes, Chiba-sama. This is a letter your clansman entrusted me to deliver." The young ninja nodded and then hurried away. Not everyone was Uchiha Chiba, possessing the fifty million ryo given by Hanzo the Salamander or the thirty million or so scavenged from the slave market... They were ordinary people who also had to survive.

My clansman? The Uchiha?

According to the memories of his predecessor, he was merely an orphan whose parents had both passed away. Even going to the battlefield had been a desperate move; if not for the predecessor's innate talent, he would have died long ago on the Amegakure battlefield.

He opened the letter.

The content was exactly as Chiba had expected: it was essentially telling him to return to the Uchiha Clan, stating that as a ninja of the family, he should have a sense of clan loyalty, and so on.

"Kokona, tomorrow, come with me to the Uchiha compound," Uchiha Chiba said casually. To him, it was just a trip back; he held no emotional attachment to the place. Come to think of it, Obito should be born by now, right?

Minazuki Kokona nodded. She sat to the side, condensing her chakra over and over again. This scene made Uchiha Chiba suddenly realize that he hadn't trained in a long time. Ever since he killed the few Twelve Root Members sent by Danzo, his chakra level had remained stagnant at the Kage Level, and the power of the Blood Pact had not improved either... Even with ten parts of blood, he couldn't cut through iron sand.

"Kokona, let's train together from now on..."

"Mm..."

Uchiha compound. Inside a cave.

Several Uchiha elders were gathered around a red pool, chatting.

"If the intelligence is correct, the lost technique of our Uchiha Clan has actually reappeared, and it has been obtained by a genius of our clan..." one white-haired elder, Uchiha Kazu, spoke slowly.

A much younger-looking elder beside him, Uchiha Ijichi, laughed and said, "So you old fossils want to do something to their child again? Isn't stealing the elder positions enough? You want to keep their child under the Uchiha's control? Use him as a tool just like you used them?"

Although he was smiling, the faint, flickering Kage Level chakra radiating from Uchiha Ijichi told everyone that this was no joke.

A middle-aged man with bandages wrapped around his arm, Uchiha Ao, glanced at Uchiha Ijichi and sighed. "Rest assured, Ijichi. As the deputy clan leader, I can guarantee that such a situation will absolutely not occur. Besides, Getsugen is only holding the elder position for him until the child grows up. Don't be so hot-headed."

It would have been better if he hadn't spoken.

The moment Uchiha Ao spoke, it instantly ignited Uchiha Ijichi's fury. He stood up, pointed at Uchiha Ao's nose, and cursed, "You old fossil! It took you thirty or forty years of cultivation just to step into the threshold of the Kage Level. If the position hadn't been passed down directly to the descendants, would you even be able to hold this deputy position? You lot took advantage of me being away on a mission in another country to secretly strip my eldest brother of his elder position, and now you're using such a pathetic excuse that even a child wouldn't believe to lie to me? And you! Uchiha Getsugen! You're even worse!"

Uchiha Ao frowned. He was dull-witted; he had trained since childhood, and even though he now had grandchildren, he had only just barely entered the Kage Level threshold, making his reputation within the Uchiha Clan lower than that of other Kage Level figures. This was the one thing he hated to mention, and now that Uchiha Ijichi had brought it out into the open, his face turned gloomy.

The other person being scolded, Uchiha Getsugen, merely smiled. "Brother Ijichi, don't be angry. Words are meant for communication. Furthermore, we are here today to study the 'Blood Pact' on that child~ As for the elder position... when he returns home, I will naturally return it to him."

Uchiha Getsugen sneered inwardly.

He had already done his intelligence work over the past few months.

That Uchiha Chiba had not even a shred of belonging to the clan, let alone any desire to return home. On top of that, he had intentionally dragged his feet for days, written such a fake letter, and specifically avoided having an Uchiha clansman deliver it, choosing an unknown ninja instead. Anyone who received such a "gift" that showed no respect would be angry, wouldn't they? Not to mention this was Uchiha Chiba, who had the record of severing an arm of the Third Kazekage!

He wouldn't come back!

"Go to hell! That's my nephew. If I don't protect him, who will? In any case, I agree to inheriting the complete version of the forbidden Blood Pact recorded in the clan history, but if any of you dare to lay a finger on my nephew, don't blame me... When the time comes, even the clan leader won't be able to save you lot. A mere three Kage Level figures, two of whom are only entry-level... Hmph." Uchiha Ijichi snorted coldly and left the cave.

A long time passed.

Only Uchiha Ao, Uchiha Getsugen, and Uchiha Kazu remained in the cave.

"Uchiha Chiba... we must keep him under our control... The Senju Clan is already on the verge of extinction after the death of Senju Tobirama; the next step is very likely us..." Uchiha Ao closed his eyes, seemingly still angry.

"However... as far as I know, this forbidden Blood Pact was left behind by a powerhouse of our Uchiha Clan during the Warring States period... That powerhouse and an Uchiha woman were driven into a desperate situation..." Before Uchiha Kazu could finish his sentence, the next second—

Uchiha Getsugen let out a cold snort.

"I don't want to hear any stories. I have things to attend to, so I'm leaving." Uchiha Getsugen narrowed his eyes. He had just received a chakra transmission from his subordinate: that puppet child had actually dared to accept the letter!

Following this, Uchiha Ao shook his head and also left.

"Sigh... sigh..." Uchiha Kazu shook his head.