"Teacher Orochimaru, is this mission really normal?" Uchiha Chiba asked, his gaze grave as he stood with Minazuki Kokona and looked at the mission in front of him.
Orochimaru was also a little puzzled.
He said, "We just signed a peace treaty with Sunagakure, and now there's a mission to gather information about the Land of Wind... Something's fishy. It could be a trap. Still, I'm a little confused. The Council of Elders specifically assigned this mission to you... I need to look into it. Chiba, don't go to the Land of Wind. Stay in the village until I find out what's going on..."
Then
Orochimaru pushed open the door
and walked out of the Anbu building.
"At this point in time, it hasn't even been six months since Konoha signed a treaty with Sunagakure. It couldn't be Danzo... So who is it?" Uchiha Chiba rubbed his chin.
Beside him, Minazuki Kokona quietly stared at the mission scroll.
At such a sensitive time, if Konoha and Sunagakure discovered each other's spies, this hard-won peace could collapse in an instant. Shimura Danzō was a corrupt dictator, but in the original story, he was still loyal to the village. It seemed unlikely that he would issue a mission like this at this point...
However, Chiba couldn't have imagined that a massive conspiracy against him was already quietly unfolding...
While waiting for Orochimaru
Uchiha Chiba received a letter.
At that moment, inside the Anbu building
"For me?" Uchiha Chiba pointed at himself and looked at the young ninja standing before him.
"Yes, Lord Chiba. One of your clan members asked me to deliver this letter." The young ninja nodded, then hurried off. Not everyone was Uchiha Chiba, with fifty million ryo from Hanzo the Salamander and another thirty million or so picked up from the slave market... They were ordinary people, and they had to make a living, too...
My clan members?
The Uchiha?
According to his memories of the original owner, he was just an orphan whose parents had both died. He'd only gone to the battlefield because he had no choice. If the original owner hadn't been exceptionally talented, he would have died on the battlefield in Amegakure long ago.
He opened the letter.
As Chiba had expected, it basically said that he should return to the Uchiha Clan Compound, and that as a ninja of the clan, he ought to have a sense of loyalty to his family and so on...
"Kokona, come with me to the Uchiha Clan Compound tomorrow," Uchiha Chiba said casually. For him, it was just a trip back. He had no emotional ties there. Come to think of it, Obito should have been born around this time...
Minazuki Kokona nodded. Sitting nearby, she gathered chakra again and again. Watching her, Uchiha Chiba suddenly realized that he hadn't trained in a long time. Ever since he'd killed the Twelve Root Members sent by Danzo, his chakra level had remained stuck at Kage Level, and the power of his Blood Pact hadn't improved either... Even with all his blood, he still couldn't cut through Iron Sand...
"For now, Kokona, train with me..."
"Mm..."
The Uchiha Clan Compound
Inside a cave
Several Uchiha elders stood around a red pool, discussing something.
"If the intelligence is correct, then a lost technique of our Uchiha Clan has resurfaced—and one of our clan's prodigies has obtained it..." An elderly clan member with graying hair, Uchiha Kazu, spoke slowly.
Beside him, a considerably younger-looking elder, Uchiha Ijichi, laughed and said, "So what are you old fossils planning to do to those two's child this time? Taking the elder's position wasn't enough—you want to keep their child under your control in the Uchiha Clan, too? Keep using him as a tool, just like them?"
Though he was laughing, the faint Kage Level chakra radiating from Uchiha Ijichi made it clear to everyone that he wasn't joking.
A middle-aged man with bandages wrapped around his arm, Uchiha Ao, glanced at Uchiha Ijichi and sighed. "Don't worry, Ijichi. As deputy clan head, I can guarantee that nothing like that will happen. Besides, Getsugen is only holding the elder's position for the child until he grows up. Don't get so angry."
It would have been better if he'd said nothing.
The moment Uchiha Ao spoke, he ignited Uchiha Ijichi's fury. Ijichi shot to his feet, pointed at Uchiha Ao's nose, and cursed, "You old fool! You've cultivated for thirty or forty years and only just reached the threshold of Kage Level. If the position hadn't passed directly to your heir, do you think you'd have become deputy clan head? You lot took my elder brother's position while I was away on a mission in another country, and now you're trying to fool me with an excuse that wouldn't even fool a child? And you! Uchiha Getsugen! You're even worse!"
Uchiha Ao frowned. He was dull-witted by nature, and despite training since childhood, he'd only just reached the threshold of Kage Level—even though he already had grandchildren. His reputation in the Uchiha Clan was even worse than that of other Kage Level ninjas. It was the last thing he wanted to discuss, and now Uchiha Ijichi had dragged it out into the open. His face darkened at once.
The other man who'd been insulted, Uchiha Getsugen, only smiled. "Brother Ijichi, don't get angry. Words are meant to be spoken. Besides, we're here today to study the 'Blood Pact' in that child. As for the elder's position... Once he comes home, I'll naturally give it back to him."
Uchiha Getsugen sneered inwardly.
He'd already done his intelligence work over the past few months.
That Uchiha Chiba had not the slightest sense of belonging to the clan, let alone any intention of coming home. On top of that, Getsugen had deliberately taken his time writing the letter a few days ago, made it sound as phony as possible, and made sure no Uchiha delivered it, choosing an unknown ninja instead. Anyone would be angry after receiving such a "grand gesture" that showed so little regard for them—especially Uchiha Chiba, who had cut off one of the Third Kazekage's arms!
He wouldn't come back!
"Don't give me that crap! He's my nephew. If I don't protect him, who will? Anyway, I agree to letting him inherit the complete version of the forbidden Blood Pact recorded in the clan's historical records. But if any of you dare lay a hand on my nephew, you'll answer to me... The clan head won't be able to protect you then. You're only three Kage Level ninjas, and two of you have barely reached the threshold... Hmph." Uchiha Ijichi snorted and left the cave.
After a long while
Only Uchiha Ao, Uchiha Getsugen, and Uchiha Kazu remained in the cave...
"Uchiha Chiba... We have to bring him under our control... The Senju Clan is already on the verge of extinction after Senju Tobirama's death. We could be next..." Uchiha Ao closed his eyes, seemingly still angry.
"But... as far as I know, the forbidden Blood Pact was left behind by a powerful member of our Uchiha Clan during the Warring States Period... That powerful figure and a female Uchiha were driven into a desperate situation..." Before Uchiha Kazu could finish speaking, the next moment—
Uchiha Getsugen snorted.
"I don't want to hear some story. I have something to take care of, so I'm leaving." Uchiha Getsugen narrowed his eyes. He had just received a chakra message from one of his subordinates: that tool's child had actually dared to accept the letter!
Then
Uchiha Ao shook his head and left as well.
"Alas... alas..." Uchiha Kazu shook his head.
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