In the afternoon, when Kurenai and Uchiha Hikari returned, they saw a woman wearing an apron in the house, and their eyes suddenly turned dangerous.
"Red, it's been a long time. And, Ms. Uchiha Hikari."
Shizune greeted the two of them happily when she saw them return.
When Kurenai heard that familiar voice, she was startled for a moment and quickly tugged at the sleeve of Uchiha Hikari next to her.
"What's wrong?"
Uchiha Hikari looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"It's someone I know."
"?"
Hong looked at the Shizune in front of her, a figure that was both familiar and strange.
"Long time no see, Shizune. What are you doing at my house? Did Xiao Xian bring you back too?"
Well, that's a long story.
Shizune gave a wry smile.
The two exchanged a glance, and then Uchiha Hikari suddenly asked, "Where's Yuzuru?"
He went out, saying he was going to prepare some things.
"Shizune explained."
"Let's talk about you. What happened? Has Lady Tsunade abandoned you?"
Hong pulled Shizune to sit on the sofa. She was genuinely curious about how Yuzuru had brought Shizune back. With another woman in the house out of nowhere, shouldn't she, as the lady of the house, be more cautious?
"The thing is..."
Shizune recounted the recent events in Konoha and the events that had happened to the two of them, and Kurenai and Uchiha Hikari frowned more and more as they listened.
Kurenai was completely taken aback that the Third Hokage, once respected by everyone, had become so weak. Back then, he was known as the Shinobi Hero Danzo," but now, the Third Hokage was completely unaware of Danzo's actions, or rather, he was unable to stop Danzo's Danzo tactics.
Uchiha Hikari was utterly shocked by Fugaku's actions, and even more shocked that the Uchiha Clan in Konoha had actually been wiped out.
For a moment, Hikaru didn't know whether he was amused by Fugaku's stupidity or amused by his anger.
"So, what about Lady Tsunade? Is she alright?"
"Yes, she's resting in the house. However, Lady Tsunade has suffered a great shock and needs time."
Upon hearing this, Hong glanced at a closed room door, said nothing, and sighed softly.
" Danzo, as dark as ever."
In the Scientific Research Bureau, Orochimaru sat in front of a pile of electronic devices, chatting with Yuzuru.
"However, as for Tsunade's hemophobia, there's not much I can do right now. It's not an ordinary illness; it's more like a psychological one. If you really want to help Tsunade solve this problem, Yuzuru either have to be ruthless and destroy Konoha, or you can only slowly get her used to blood."
"Of course, I lean more towards the former. Konoha really deserves to die. It's rotten to the core and there's absolutely no point in trying to save it. What do you say, Yuzuru- kun?"
Orochimaru seems to have a peculiar obsession with destroying Konoha.
"Destroying Konoha is inevitable, but not now. On the surface, Konoha is still needed to restrain other countries."
"If it were simply a matter of dealing with the high-ranking officials and daimyo of the major villages, it would be a piece of cake for me. After all, destruction is always easier than creation, and the old system of the Shinobi World is easy to destroy. The problem is, we don't have enough manpower to take over the Shinobi World."
"As you've seen, the Land of Water has only managed to recover a portion of its population after the devastation. The Military Department currently has a total of just over eight thousand personnel. If it weren't for the electric trains and various freight trains you researched, it wouldn't even be enough to govern the Land of Water."
" The Shinobi World of the future will be much larger than the Land of Water. At that time, what we will lack most will not be powerful ninjas, but people who can manage different regions. I don't want to experience being surrounded by official duties again."
Yuzuru explained the reality: he had considered a simple and brutal solution to all the ninja villages and daimyo, but the problem was that without proper guidance and ideology, the cycle would continue.
While force is an indispensable element in changing the world, effective management is even more crucial, and this requires people—a large number of talented individuals.
"That's true. The Land of Water still doesn't have enough people. Actually, there's another way, which carries a lot of risk, but if it succeeds, it will greatly help Yuzuru- kun unify the Shinobi World in the future."
"Oh? I didn't expect our director of the Science Bureau to be thinking about politics."
Yuzuru looked at him and said with a smile.
It's just a suggestion.
Orochimaru shrugged.
"Then I'll have to listen carefully."
" Yuzuru, have you considered making Sea Capital Academy public?"
"Public?"
"Yes, let Sea Capital Academy become a special academy in the Shinobi World, open to all regardless of country or background."
"That's probably impossible. Even if it were made public, only people from the major ninja villages could enter the Sea Capital Academy. Commoners are controlled by nobles and daimyo, and they won't allow ignorant commoners to gain knowledge."
Yuzuru shook his head. It wasn't something he could do simply by wanting to impart knowledge to commoners. Once the Sea Capital Academy opened up, the first to be suppressed would definitely be the daimyo and nobles. After all, if commoners gained the ability to think, their interests would be the first to be harmed.
Sure enough, these scum deserve to die!
"That's true, but then again, the common people aren't of any help to Yuzuru- kun's future plans, are they? If Sea Capital Academy can brainwash those young students sent by the ninja villages... no, it should be said that Sea Capital Academy's new ideas and knowledge can correct their old ideas."
"In this way, when they graduate and return to their ninja villages, wouldn't they be like a spark igniting a flame? When Yuzuru- kun unifies the Shinobi World, those people won't be too resistant; on the contrary, seeing the ninja villages' deplorable state again might even turn them into Yuzuru- kun's allies."
"The people of the Land of Water are certainly not enough to manage the Shinobi World, but when the number of students graduating from the Sea Capital Academy is large enough, the old system will become even more shaky."
After listening to Orochimaru's suggestion, Yuzuru suddenly felt that this method might not be a bad idea after all.
A single spark can start a prairie fire. Sea Capital Academy was a spark that shattered the old system. Orochimaru's methods undoubtedly ushered in an "era of awakening" for the Shinobi World.
Moreover, Naruto Sasuke are almost six years old. With Asura's unique charisma... wow, there's really potential!
Yuzuru's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"However, there is still a problem. That is, Yuzuru- kun wants to rebuild the new Sea Capital Academy. After all, if the outside world finds out about the current situation of the Land of Water, the Fourth Shinobi World War will probably break out immediately. Those daimyo are not willing to see a country without a daimyo become more prosperous than theirs, as that would cause a large-scale rebellion. They cannot give up power, so they can only deal with the Land of Water."
Orochimaru reminded him.
After listening to Orochimaru's words, Yuzuru understood the implications.
"Been taught a lesson."
Yuzuru nodded at Orochimaru.
"Alright, enough chit-chat. I don't have anything planned for today. Do you mind if I go see Tsunade?"
Orochimaru asked with a smile.
"Of course, let's go together."
Yuzuru nodded.
The two left the Science Bureau together and headed towards Yuzuru's house.
"I'm back."
After returning home, Yuzuru looked at the three people in her house.
Orochimaru, standing nearby, also greeted them.
" Lord Orochimaru?"
Shizune was utterly shocked when she saw Orochimaru.
She never expected that Orochimaru would be with Yuzuru.
"It's on Shizune. Long time no see."
Orochimaru licked his lips, a familiar gesture that made Shizune even more certain that this was indeed the real Orochimaru.
"Where's the teacher? Is he still inside?"
Yuzuru looked at the still-closed door and asked a question.
"Um."
Shizune nodded.
" Orochimaru and I will go check on things. We'll leave the cooking to you."
Yuzuru looked at the three women and said with a smile.
"Um."
Afterwards, he and Orochimaru went to Tsunade's room.
"How embarrassing, Tsunade."
Orochimaru sighed inwardly when he saw Tsunade's changed demeanor, which had lost its usual arrogance, but he still showed no mercy in his words.
In his memory, Tsunade had almost never shown such a vulnerable side. That Princess Tsunade, in both talent and birth, was unmatched; the proud, blonde princess was the image Tsunade should have been. But now...
Heh, Konoha, they never disappoint when it comes to being disappointing.
Orochimaru?
Tsunade heard a familiar voice and looked up at Orochimaru.
"Laugh if you want to."
Instead of throwing punches as usual, Tsunade simply said something.
"Haha, as an old friend, I can only say I'm very sorry about your situation, but not surprised."
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade and said.
" Konoha is rotten to the core, and it's no longer the Konoha you remember. Besides, Konoha's very existence was a mistake."
"I thought that as your disciple, Yuzuru- kun, you should have seen through things much earlier. I didn't expect you to be even more deeply entangled than that idiot Jiraiya."
Tsunade looked up at Yuzuru and said, "If he hadn't stolen the Nine-Tails and taken Minato and the others away, would Konoha have become like this?"
Orochimaru's signature wicked smile appeared on his face.
"But the Minato family, and those who left Konoha, are living very well here, better than ever before. On the contrary, the Uchiha Clan was suddenly wiped out."
" Konoha was founded by the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan working together, but now, both of these clans are gone. Don't you find that interesting?"
"Besides, if Yuzuru- kun hadn't shown up back then, do you think Minato and his wife would still be alive?"
" With the Root hiding and not taking action, Anbu overwhelmed, the Uchiha Clan is being suppressed. In the end, how can they suppress the Nine-Tails with just the Third Hokage and Minato and his wife? With Obito Uchiha has just given birth and is seriously injured? With Kushina, who is being held back by Minato? Or with the old man? Danzo? Or with the Hokage's assistance?"
"Stop deceiving yourself. Yuzuru- kun only took away the veil of light that concealed Konoha's darkness. The Konoha that followed was the real Konoha."
"Besides, if you really hated Yuzuru, would you have come to Sea Capital with him?"