Fugaku took a deep breath, pursed his lips, and felt that Araki's reason was a bit clumsy, but he couldn't say anything more. After all, the other party had already brought it up, so he had to bite the bullet and answer the question clearly.
"I do know some information about the ninjas from Kumogakure. After all, I'm part of the Konoha Military Police Force, so my information network is pretty good. Those ninjas from Kumogakure aren't ambushing you; they have other targets."
"I see." Araki didn't seem very satisfied with this answer.
"Otherwise what? You think..." Fugaku tried his best to suppress his temper and said patiently, "How could you servants who have never left the village be ambushed!"
"That's why I said someone betrayed us and leaked our information!" Araki continued to harp on this topic.
"Believe me, based on my experience in the Konoha Military Police Force, you're overthinking it..." Fugaku coughed lightly to ease the awkwardness in his mood.
"Actually, not only that, but we were attacked again immediately after reaching the mission location. If I'm not mistaken, someone must have leaked information about our mission to people in other villages." Araki said seriously. He was telling the truth, but he glossed over the details and didn't explain the situation clearly. Therefore, even if Fugaku thought about today's conversation in the future, he wouldn't think that Araki was talking.
This is extremely important for Araki!
Today's conversation made it very clear that Fugaku came to him to test the waters regarding Ueki.
He doesn't know what Fugaku is thinking...
However, he could deduce in his mind that, just as he had deduced those possibilities about Fugaku, Fugaku could only think of two things about him.
First, since Fugaku was not the murderer, his investigation was aimed at finding out the possibility that he was the murderer and whether he knew any clues about the murderer.
Secondly, Fugaku is the murderer, and he thinks he knows something, so he tests me, wanting to know how much information I have in this area.
Similarly, no matter what information Araki leaks, it could bring him a lot of unnecessary trouble. Moreover, what he says now might be taken by Fugaku as an excuse or a way to change the subject. But if Fugaku realizes that what he said today was true, he will believe that Araki has no clues.
This could be seen as a prelude to his actions.
but...
This kind of thing isn't easy to succeed at; it just leaves that possibility open.
"..."
After hearing Araki's words, Fugaku became even more silent, seemingly speechless at what Araki had said.
"Why..."
After a long silence, Fugaku sighed and said, " Araki, this is probably a stress reaction from your first mission. You might encounter all sorts of risks outside the village, especially during missions, where many unexpected things can happen. These are normal things; you'll get used to it after a few more times."
"Is that so?" Araki's eyes flashed with suspicion.
"Believe me, you're overreacting." Fugaku's patience on this topic had finally run out, and he didn't want to say anything more. He wanted to ask more about Ueki, but seeing Araki's puzzled expression and continued concern about whether someone had leaked their information about their trip, he sighed helplessly, realizing that saying anything more would be pointless.
" Araki, thank you for your cooperation. That's all for today. I have other things to attend to, so I won't keep you from continuing your training."
"OK."
Araki nodded. This was exactly what he was waiting for. He really didn't like being around Fugaku. He couldn't explain why, but he just felt that this seemingly ordinary genius of the Uchiha Clan was actually not so simple.
The more time he spends with him, the more exhausted he feels.
"Oh, right."
Just as Araki was about to leave, Fugaku's voice rang out again, drawing Araki's attention back. He casually asked, "When did you and Mikoto start dating?"
"What?" Araki was taken aback.
"Oh, it's nothing." Fugaku waved his hand, seemingly unconcerned about what had just been said.
"Start what?" Araki sensed something unusual. If it were anything else, he would never have asked any further and would have turned and left. However, Fugaku's words made him feel very dangerous, so he couldn't help but press for an answer.
"I was just asking casually." Fugaku smiled faintly.
"The problem is, I don't understand what you're asking!" Araki's lips twitched violently.
"Hahaha, Araki, so you're not completely indifferent to everything after all. You actually care quite a bit about Mikoto's affairs. That's quite impressive," Fugaku said with a smile, though he didn't seem happy.
"What the hell?" Araki was speechless.
"Actually, I just wanted to ask when you two became friends. According to my memory, you didn't know each other, or rather, you weren't familiar with each other. But in the case of Ueki, you seemed to have become quite good friends." Fugaku seemed to be joking about what he had just said, but Araki knew very well that he was testing him, and definitely not joking.
From the moment you sent Mikoto to investigate me!
Perhaps, it was around that time.
Araki desperately wanted to say that, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good.
There's absolutely no need to offend Uchiha Fugaku over such a trivial matter of words.
"I'm not familiar with Mikoto. She's Kushina's good friend, and I'm Kushina's companion. Kushina asked us to go there that day, that's the truth," Araki explained.
"I was just asking, you don't need to be nervous." Fugaku waved his hand.
"Oh." Araki didn't take it to heart, but he simply didn't believe such a statement.
"It's alright, it's alright, let's go. The tea was quite good today. Let's get together again sometime!" Fugaku greeted him like an old friend.
"No problem." Araki gave the same insincere smile.
After leaving the teahouse, Araki did not return to the forest to train, but instead thought of something more important.
Spiritual practice is something that must be done every day, not something that can be accomplished overnight. It requires continuous effort day after day to constantly improve one's physical fitness.
Araki had previously believed that there were no shortcuts to this kind of spiritual practice.
However, some time ago, he took a shortcut, which was to obtain Hashirama Cells from Orochimaru's laboratory.
The enhancement that Hashirama Cells brought to him was obvious, resulting in a significant increase in his strength. This led him to believe, for a period of time, that his strength had increased dramatically, making him feel capable of defeating Orochimaru.
But...
After his missions outside the country, he gradually realized that this was not enough.
In his battle with the Nine-Tails, he did manage to suppress Nine-Tails briefly, but he knew very well that if the Nine-Tails continued to struggle wildly and fight him head-on without regard for anything else, then even if the Wood Release: Hotei Technique could control the Nine-Tails Nine-Tails would still be very likely to break free.
This is a very strong idea!
Araki understood this as well.
At that time, green Chakra surged within his body, but it was consumed at an extremely terrifying rate.
In fact, just maintaining that level of Ninjutsu already consumes an enormous amount of Chakra, let alone suppressing the Nine-Tails, the strongest of the Nine Tailed Beasts, on top of that.
Fortunately, the Nine-Tails was shocked at the time and did not struggle too violently.
But...
This kind of thing...
It's most effective the first time!
If there were another chance in the future, after the Nine-Tails ' observation of him during this period, and its determination to break free of Nine-Tails restraints, it might be able to sense his bluster and weakness.
Once it's discovered...
It's not that easy.
Araki knew his actual situation all too well. His own Chakra couldn't fully support the powerful Wood Release. His greatest reliance was on green Chakra. However, the problem was that green Chakra could only provide limited quality; it was more about quantity. It could increase his endurance, but it couldn't increase his strength.
"We need to think of other solutions."
Araki pinched his chin. He understood from Orochimaru that the latter possessed only a small portion of Hashirama Cells, with the majority still preserved in Konoha.
As for the specific location where the Hashirama Cells were preserved, he didn't get it from Orochimaru's mouth and left it as it was, thinking he'd talk about it later when the opportunity arose.
Looking at it now...
Things were developing much faster than Araki had anticipated.
He didn't know when the Nine-Tails would go berserk again, and he had to be prepared. Otherwise, even if he managed to avoid such danger, Kushina might be finished.
This is different from Mikoto's situation because he hasn't been overly involved in Mikoto's life. Even if there are some changes, they shouldn't be too significant. Besides, with Fugaku still around, he doesn't think Mikoto will encounter any unsolvable problems prematurely.
However, Kushina is different. The relationship between Kushina and Minato has changed from extensive interaction to that of companions, and the closeness between them is completely different from that in the original history.
Therefore, Kushina's fate has already changed because of his arrival.
"Then... let's go to the lab!"
A resolute glint flashed in Araki's eyes. He had already made up his mind, because the invasion of Sunagakure ninjas had provided him with a lot of inspiration.
Poison isn't necessarily only for use on enemies!
If he could use it, it might very well help him obtain Hashirama Cells. He believed that once he absorbed the Hashirama Cells from the village, his strength would experience a qualitative leap.
in addition...
Araki also had a thought that he had hardly ever considered, but which was buried deep in his mind: besides the village, there was another place that contained a large number of Hashirama Cells!
Araki returned to Orochimaru's laboratory in a specific manner. It was still desolate with no branches intertwined and no trace of anyone having been there, which relieved his anxiety.
Araki used his Wood Clone Technique to control numerous clones, conducting a thorough sweep and search of Orochimaru's laboratory. His main objective was to check for money and medicine, in preparation for beginning poison research.
Tsunade-sensei's poison notes with him for many years, but he hasn't made any major breakthroughs in poisons. This is simply because he hasn't devoted all his energy to concocting poisons. This is not only due to financial pressure, but also because he allocates more time to cultivation.
Now...
He decided to develop all the poisons available here.
This way, when used in the future, the blame can be pinned on Sunagakure, since even the Third knew that Sunagakure ninjas dared to launch a sneak attack on Konoha.
Once you have a criminal record, you can use it to your advantage!
Chapter 47 Chunin Ninja Exams
Before we knew it, three months had passed.
During this period, Araki and his group took on many more ninja missions, but the vast majority of them were D-Rank Mission, with very few C-Rank Mission. However, they did not have any missions that required them to go out again.
It's unclear whether this is related to the incident in Sunagakure, but the specific follow-up is unknown.
Jiraiya-sensei never mentioned the matter again, only saying that the Third would investigate, and they never inquired further afterward, as if the matter had simply faded away.
Minato was already very dissatisfied with this matter, and he had wanted to confront the Third Hokage several times, but he ultimately held back and did not actually do so.
After experiencing these things, Minato gradually realized that he needed to possess certain abilities to have a certain degree of influence.
They don't have the strength yet, so they can only silently endure it.