Drag the Three Sannin into It

Orochimaru grew interested when he heard Uchiha Yato's words.

"What scheme have you come up with this time, kid? Go on, let me hear it."

He truly had to be a little cautious around Uchiha Yato.

After all, this was someone who could casually go to the bathroom and wipe out one of his experimental bases.

Uchiha Yato said, "There's already one person standing before you who possesses the same bloodline as the First Hokage."

Naturally, Uchiha Yato was referring to himself. He belonged to Hashirama Senju's branch of the family.

Uchiha Yato continued, "But wouldn't his granddaughter be an even closer candidate?"

Orochimaru's gaze shifted slightly at those words.

The Three Sannin had an excellent relationship now. There had once been some estrangement between them because of Tsunade.

But now that Tsunade's hemophobia had been cured and she had returned to their friendship, their bond was not something that could be explained in just a few words.

Just as Orochimaru was lost in thought, Uchiha Yato's next sentence nearly made him turn hostile.

"Jiraiya happens to know Sage Mode. Haven't the two most important test subjects already been gathered?"

Orochimaru paused before saying, "You really dare to set your sights high. You've gone straight after the two of them."

Seeing Orochimaru's changing expression, Uchiha Yato could not help feeling amused.

Oh, come on. Look at how nervous you are. If you saw what you were like in the original story, you'd laugh yourself to death.

Uchiha Yato did not intend to keep teasing Orochimaru and said, "Why do you always think test subjects have to be dead people?"

"I think you've spent too much time with our Hokage's advisor. Other than becoming cold-blooded, it hasn't done you any good."

"If that's your attitude toward experimentation, then I think our cooperation ends here."

Hearing Uchiha Yato's words, Orochimaru understood that Uchiha Yato had deliberately been toying with him just now.

He had merely wanted to see Orochimaru's attitude toward the other two. Still, the result seemed satisfactory. At the very least, Uchiha's words had implicitly told him—

I'm very satisfied with your response. Otherwise, I wouldn't cooperate with you.

Uchiha Yato said, "I'm not asking for them to die, nor am I saying we should do anything to their bodies."

"Let me sum it up for you. What you need right now is to understand Wood Release."

"Tsunade possesses Hashirama Senju's direct bloodline. If she can awaken Wood Release, it can verify whether it is related to Senju genes."

"Jiraiya has mastered Sage Mode. If he can awaken Wood Release, it can verify Sage Mode's influence on Wood Release."

"Don't you think these two points are worth researching and developing?"

Orochimaru still asked in confusion, "Then what does that have to do with making them test subjects?"

"You can't guarantee that they'll definitely awaken Wood Release either."

Uchiha Yato continued, "That's exactly why it needs to be researched. Otherwise, if everyone could awaken Wood Release with power equal to Hashirama Senju's, then Hashirama Senju would never have become a legend in the ninja world."

Uchiha Yato's words sounded reasonable.

But they only sounded reasonable, because getting those two to cooperate in Wood Release experiments would be rather difficult.

Tsunade would be easier to persuade, but Jiraiya would be much harder.

Uchiha Yato saw Orochimaru's concerns and added, "Tsunade is so competitive. Just provoke her a little, and she'll come."

"Jiraiya is basically a bonus that comes with Tsunade. Wouldn't he be even easier?"

Orochimaru was actually still worried that if Tsunade and Jiraiya learned about these experiments, they would become estranged from him.

Uchiha Yato was truly speechless toward Orochimaru at this point. Such a thoroughly villainous figure in the original story was actually becoming so hesitant over something like this.

"Just don't tell Tsunade that you're conducting human experiments. Say you want to research Wood Release."

"As long as it stays within the scope of medicine, Tsunade will strongly support it."

As he said this, Uchiha Yato looked at Orochimaru with an undisguised expression as if he were looking at an idiot. For Orochimaru, that was no small blow.

Orochimaru replied, "If that's the case, then I understand."

Then his tone shifted.

"You'll be coming to help when the time comes, right? After all, your bloodline is rather special as well."

Uchiha Yato answered with ease.

"Of course. As long as it doesn't cost me my life, I can accept it."

Uchiha Yato still thought highly of Orochimaru as a person, setting aside certain objective factors.

Whether in the original story or in what he had done now, Orochimaru's actions were worth examining, and he was quite decent in his dealings with others.

If Orochimaru had been a member of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Yato would have wanted to tell him about the Mangekyo Sharingan. Still, there was a chance that Uchiha Yato would lay his cards on the table with Orochimaru later.

After all, given the system's nature, once this upgrade was complete, there would likely be more and more places that required emotion coins.

If he could use Orochimaru's methods to evolve his own Mangekyo Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, or even the Rinnegan, then Uchiha Yato could save quite a few emotion coins.

Those saved emotion coins would then be turned into all sorts of items and "shared" with the entire ninja world.

As for how those test subjects would participate in the experiments, that was no longer something Uchiha Yato needed to consider.

The best part of cooperating with Orochimaru was that Orochimaru had his own considerations and did not need much guidance from him.

Life afterward remained fairly peaceful.

Nothing more than a few minor incidents happened.

For example, Danzo Shimura was sanctioned, and his home was blown up seven or eight times by bounty ninja.

If Uchiha Yato had understood civil engineering better, he would have wanted to start a company next door to Danzo Shimura's house.

After all, the repair fees each time were no small fortune.

Some of the Sand Shinobi studied under Tsunade. There were more or less a few minor conflicts during that time, but none of them were serious.

Our Hokage's advisor later clashed with the Sand Shinobi again, over nothing more than the interests of the two villages.

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not conveniently play the villain, so Danzo Shimura had to do it instead.

Thus, the spies planted by the various ninja villages and the Sand Shinobi spread Danzo Shimura's fine reputation throughout the ninja world.

These matters did not cease until the Sand Shinobi exchange group's final event.

Within the Sand Shinobi exchange group.

Chiyo said to Rasa, "For the final three days, we will have a sparring match with Konoha's jonin."

"Our current plan is three against three, over three rounds."

"This will be a contest of strength. You need to stay fully focused."

Hearing why Chiyo had summoned him, Rasa became somewhat excited.

Ever since before he arrived, he had hoped to have a proper, satisfying match against formidable ninja like Uchiha Yato.

Meanwhile, things were different on the other side.

Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Konoha's senior leadership, "The Sand Shinobi exchange group will leave Konoha in three days."

"Before they leave, they wish to have a sparring match with us."

"There are currently three available slots. I hope capable jonin will actively volunteer to participate."

After Hiruzen Sarutobi presented the matter, the major ninja clans remained relatively rational, while some civilian jonin began entertaining thoughts of their own.

After all, this was an opportunity to make an appearance before the Hokage's leadership. If they could seize it, it would more or less benefit their future careers.

But the ninja clans were all very clear-headed. Matters brought up in such a major meeting had basically already been discussed beforehand.

It was nothing more than going through the motions and seeking their approval on the surface.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had actually already decided on the candidates.

Sending out the three Sannin would simply be bullying the other side, yet he also wanted to display Konoha's prestige.

Uchiha Yato was one of his candidates. Setting aside how much of a brat the boy was, his strength was plain for all to see.

He could also use the Sand Shinobi to see whether they could force a few more trump cards out of the boy. If any conflict arose, it would be the Uchiha Clan's problem, not his.

The other candidate was the Hyuga Clan's main family heir—Hyuga Hiashi.

It would be a good opportunity to showcase some younger talent and, by extension, demonstrate Konoha's level of bloodline limits.

The final candidate would be decided based on the Sand Shinobi.

If Chiyo truly took the field, then Sakumo Hatake could fight her. Hopefully, the two sides could turn hostility into friendship.

Just as everyone was united in preparing for the competition, Uchiha Yato was once again getting ready to stir up trouble.