" Clan Head Fugaku, there's no need for regret. The Uchiha Clan produces many outstanding talents; there will always be someone who Mangekyō Sharingan. When that time comes, the glory of the Uchiha will still shine in Konoha."
Although he regretted that the Uchiha Clan did not have the Mangekyō Sharingan, Orochimaru was a person with high emotional intelligence. Seeing that Uchiha Fugaku was so considerate in revealing the clan's secrets, he also praised the Uchiha Clan in return.
A glint of light flashed in his snake-like eyes; for the first time, he had developed a considerable interest in the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.
He wondered if, since the Three-Tomoe Sharingan could become the Mangekyō Sharingan, he could artificially create the Mangekyō Sharingan through experimentation.
The thought that the Mangekyō Sharingan might be born in his hands filled Orochimaru with excitement. However, that was all for the future, and thinking about it now was pointless.
Uchiha Fugaku was unaware that Orochimaru had already set his sights on their clan. Upon hearing Orochimaru's praise, he replied with an honored expression, " Lord Orochimaru, you flatter me. The Uchiha Clan will continue to strive for the prosperity of Konoha."
In Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, the Shinobi World was in such turmoil, with even Madara Uchiha appearing. In order to prevent anything from happening to the Uchiha Clan, they had to keep up with Konoha's pace.
At that moment, Orochimaru, who was at the head of the table, seemed to remember something, turned his gaze to Kōki, and asked, " Kōki, you said before that you learned from members of the Light Organization that Madara Uchiha still exists. Is there anything else about Madara Uchiha's conspiracy?"
Orochimaru isn't an idiot. Madara Uchiha has been alive since he faked his death in the early days of Konoha, hiding in the shadows. There must be some conspiracy involved.
He didn't believe that Madara Uchiha was some kind of benevolent person.
Upon hearing Orochimaru's question, the surrounding ninjas instantly tensed up, focusing their attention and listening intently to Kōki's answer.
Uchiha Fugaku also looked solemn, fearing he might glean some earth-shattering words from Kōki. He could think of the same questions Orochimaru could.
After all, even he himself didn't believe that Madara Uchiha had lived this long without any purpose.
He now only hopes that Madara Uchiha's affair will not involve the Uchiha Clan, otherwise no matter how loyal he is to Konoha, it is hard to say that the Uchiha Clan can escape unscathed from Madara's incident.
" Lord Orochimaru, the members of the Light Organization did indeed mention Madara Uchiha's purpose in hiding in the Shinobi World. They said Madara intends to bring peace to the entire Shinobi World through a powerful Genjutsu. They also told me that this powerful Genjutsu requires the power of the Tailed Beast to support it. Although I don't know if what the members of the Light Organization said is true or false, I think it wouldn't hurt to believe them this once."
After all, if we trust them, we won't suffer any loss; if we don't, our village's Tailed Beast could be in danger. Losing Tailed Beast would be a huge loss for Konoha."
When Kōki spoke of Madara's purpose, his expression turned solemn, as if he were about to cause damage to Konoha at any moment.
However, he felt quite relaxed inside.
Because he knew that there was a lot of exaggeration in what he said. Although Madara Uchiha really coveted the Tailed Beast, he definitely wouldn't make a move now, but more than ten years later.
He made it sound so serious; he was just trying to fool Orochimaru.
The purpose was to draw Konoha's attention to Madara Uchiha, whose continued existence was uncertain.
Judging from the current situation, Kōki's words have definitely had an effect.
Looking around, the surrounding ninjas were all frowning and silent, clearly engrossed in pondering Madara Uchiha's plot.
Even Orochimaru, who was at the top, was no exception, looking extremely troubled by Madara Uchiha's plan.
After what seemed like an eternity of thought, Orochimaru finally snapped out of his reverie and addressed Kōki, saying, " Kōki, the information you provided is invaluable. I will report it to Teacher Sarutobi as soon as possible. However, for now, we can only ignore Madara Uchiha's existence. Konoha's primary task is to eliminate Kirigakure and bring the Third Shinobi World War to a close. Once the situation in the Shinobi World stabilizes, we'll see what Teacher Sarutobi's thoughts are."
Orochimaru that Madara Uchiha's scheme was far from over, but Konoha simply didn't have the energy to deal with him right now. Konoha attention was entirely tied up with Kirigakure Madara Uchiha, leaving them no time to spare.
Another reason is that it's impossible to predict what kind of strength Madara Uchiha still possesses. Judging from his ability to fight against members of the Light Organization, Madara Uchiha still maintains a fighting strength of at least Kage Level.
This makes it even less likely that they would seek trouble with Madara Uchiha right now. This is because Konoha's Kage Level shinobi are all still on the battlefield; for example, Jiraiya is still negotiating surrender with Iwagakure, and Minato and Kōki are still fighting on the Kirigakure battlefield.
There simply wasn't a strong enough individual to face Madara Uchiha. Therefore, the plan to deal with Madara had to be put on hold.
Although Kōki didn't know that Konoha had so many reasons for not taking action against Madara, his original intention was not for Konoha to intervene.
He simply wanted to divert Konoha's attention and incidentally annoy Madara Uchiha. Therefore, Kōki had no objection to Orochimaru's reasoning.
"Understood, Lord Orochimaru."
Kōki nodded and told Orochimaru that he was going to carry out the mission of hunting down the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Then he turned and left the meeting room.
After Kōki left the meeting room, Orochimaru also adjourned the meeting. Because of the bombshell news Kōki brought, there was little point in continuing the meeting. It was more important to get this news to Hiruzen Sarutobi as soon as possible.
After Orochimaru announced the end of the meeting, the ninjas present all returned to their respective posts.
On their way to the Uchiha Clan's stronghold, Uchiha Homura, looking displeased, asked Uchiha Fugaku, "Clan head, why did you tell the people of Konoha about our clan's secrets? Madara has appeared; this is a perfect opportunity to change the Uchiha's current situation!"
Uchiha Fugaku, sensing the complaint in Uchiha Homura's voice, calmly replied, " Homura, our Uchiha Clan is no longer the Uchiha led by Madara Uchiha, but the Uchiha of Konoha. We cannot hide anything from Konoha. If we show even the slightest sign of non-cooperation, Konoha will not let us off the hook."
Furthermore, even if we were to surrender our entire clan to Madara, would he accept us? Remember, we betrayed him first when he asked us to leave Konoha with him. He's already being lenient by not retaliating; why would we expect his protection? Besides, we have no idea whether Madara's situation is good or bad. Therefore, given all these uncertainties, I cannot lead the Uchiha Clan into unknown dangers."
"I'm sorry, clan leader. I was just being presumptuous." Uchiha Homura looked ashamed, embarrassed by his shallow vision.
"It's alright, I know you're also doing this for the Uchiha Clan. Our focus now should be on the impact of Madara Uchiha's appearance on our clan."
Fugaku gazed into the distance with some worry. Madara Uchiha's sudden appearance had brought him immense pressure, making it hard for him to breathe.
He was genuinely afraid that Konoha would blame Madara's problems on the Uchiha Clan.