Mad Snake and the Fifth Hokage

After Nine-Tails Chakra had strengthened his body, traveling was nowhere near as exhausting as he had imagined.

Uchiha Yuan had originally thought he might even be late, but when he reached the vicinity of Fire Temple, he was a full two hours early.

Only when fifteen minutes remained until the agreed time did Uchiha Yuan approach Lin Yue Pavilion.

Although his teacher Orochimaru was obsessed with research, he was exceptionally precise when it came to time. He disliked making others wait, and he disliked waiting for others as well.

Of course, those were Orochimaru's habits when he was still in Konoha Hidden Village. Once he fled Konoha in the future, Uchiha Yuan had no idea what he would become.

With fifteen minutes to spare, Orochimaru was indeed nowhere to be seen in Lin Yue Pavilion. Instead, three young women chatting softly with bright smiles visibly perked up upon seeing Uchiha Yuan.

"Yuan, as expected, you're the last one from our Orochimaru Squad to arrive."

Uchiha Yuan spread his hands. The gentle girl who had taken the initiative to speak to him was a few years older than him and was named Kurama Shion.

She was a member of the renowned Kurama Clan, known throughout Konoha Hidden Village for its Genjutsu Bloodline, and a former student of Orochimaru Squad.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Orochimaru had temporarily served as their jonin instructor.

"Hey, you're actually still alive!"

The blunt and carefree one was Mitaraishi Anko. She was the youngest of the four, yet because she had earned Orochimaru's greatest favor, she was eccentric and arrogant in both word and deed.

Uchiha Yuan smiled and exchanged a few words with Kurama Shion, then waved at Mitaraishi Anko as a greeting.

"Yuan-kun, you actually arrived later than I did. That's far too much."

The last to speak to Uchiha Yuan was Hyuga Ryo, a branch-family ninja of the Hyuga Clan.

Though she usually appeared as gentle and quiet as Kurama Shion, Uchiha Yuan knew that if this fair-eyed, black-haired girl were cut open, she could provide the Ninja World with oil for centuries.

Sure enough, while the other two were not paying attention, Hyuga Ryo walked over in small steps and tugged at Uchiha Yuan's sleeve.

"Yuan-kun, do you have a moment? There are some things I've always wanted to tell you."

Uchiha Yuan was surprised, but then nodded.

During his time out gathering medicinal herbs, he was supposedly unaware of what had happened in Konoha Hidden Village. This was the perfect chance to ask Hyuga Ryo about it, so he would not accidentally expose himself later.

"Yuan-kun, after you left the village, I happened to see ninja wearing animal masks come to your home and take your grandmother out of the village."

"I don't know what they intended to do, but after the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox rampaged through the village all night, I went to take another look out of curiosity and unexpectedly found that your grandmother had returned to the village."

Hyuga Ryo lowered her voice, seemingly afraid that the others would hear. Uchiha Yuan, however, was utterly shocked.

First of all, his grandmother had long since passed away, and he had no direct blood relatives within the Uchiha Clan.

The grandmother Ling mentioned was Uchiha Obito's grandmother. To play the latter properly, Uchiha Yuan had deliberately gone to the old woman's home to care for her.

Clearly, Hyuga Ryo had mistaken him for someone else.

But ninja wearing animal masks were ANBU. Why had ANBU taken away Obito's "grandmother"?

And why had Hyuga Ryo specifically told him about this? Could this little girl have noticed his actions in the shadows?

Just as Uchiha Yuan was confused and shocked, Hyuga Ryo narrowed her sparkling eyes and added.

"Orochimaru-sensei specifically told me to tell Yuan-kun these things."

Uchiha Yuan stiffened as though struck by lightning. His thoughts raced, and he urgently grabbed Hyuga Ryo's arm.

"What happened with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox? And was that grandmother connected to it? Ling, you'd better explain this clearly."

"I'll explain the rest to Yuan-kun myself."

From the shadow outlined by the sunlight overhead, Orochimaru silently emerged.

As always, he was deathly pale, and an inhumanly cold aura emanated from his entire body.

Just as I thought. This Mad Snake arrived long ago and has been hiding in the dark, observing us.

As for ANBU taking away Obito's grandmother, whom he had been caring for—

That had most likely been at Orochimaru's instruction as well.

Those were not ANBU at all, but Root under Danzo's command.

Orochimaru had clearly misunderstood something and wanted to use Obito's grandmother to make him awaken the Sharingan!

The instant this thought arose, Uchiha Yuan felt a chill run down his spine.

Orochimaru had chosen the place where he gathered herbs. As long as he calculated the timing correctly, he could easily order Root's people to kill Obito's grandmother right in front of him.

After suffering such mental trauma, he might very well awaken the Sharingan on the spot.

Uchiha Yuan did not believe Orochimaru had done this out of kindness.

Though Orochimaru at this point had not yet become crazily obsessed with Uchiha bodies, he had most likely already developed an extremely intense interest in Kekkei Genkai.

Setting aside the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan, Hyuga Clan, and Kurama Clan—Orochimaru Squad encompassed three of Konoha's four great Kekkei Genkai clans.

Kurama Shion and Hyuga Ryo's Kekkei Genkai were progressing through their development normally. How could he overlook him, an Uchiha?

Mad Snake!

While cursing furiously in his heart, Uchiha Yuan looked blankly at the smiling Orochimaru.

"Sensei, what exactly is going on with what Ling said? Could something major have happened in the village these past few days?"

Before Orochimaru could explain, Mitaraishi Anko jumped out and exclaimed excitedly.

"Uchiha Yuan, you got it right this time! The Uchiha Clan controlled the Nine-Tails and nearly destroyed Konoha!"

Uchiha Yuan raised a brow. His junior sister's words were clearly not trustworthy.

"Anko, you can eat whatever you want, but you cannot say whatever you want. The Nine-Tails incident was indeed related to the Sharingan, but it might not have had anything to do with the Uchiha Clan within the village. Yuan-kun, there's no need for you to worry."

"Exactly! The Nine-Tails had such huge Three-Tomoe Sharingan eyes, so it definitely wasn't Uchiha Yuan who did it. He hasn't even awakened his Sharingan yet."

Mitaraishi Anko made a face at Uchiha Yuan and stuck out her tongue before happily running off to admire the scenery.

After her interruption, the previously invisible tension eased considerably.

Orochimaru wore a helpless expression. He had raised Anko like his own daughter, and it seemed he had raised her wrong.

Uchiha Yuan looked at Orochimaru. He always felt that his teacher's personality was somewhat fractured.

"Very well, Yuan-kun. Don't listen to Anko's nonsense. This is what happened."

As Orochimaru recounted the events without the slightest emotion, Uchiha Yuan began to "learn" about Nine-Tails Night.

In truth, Uchiha Yuan knew more than Orochimaru did. He had even taken the chance to loot the home of the culprit, Obito.

However, Orochimaru's account was remarkably detailed. It seemed that he had been in Konoha Hidden Village at the time and had witnessed the entire process.

Uchiha Yuan was not surprised that Orochimaru had not stepped forward to contribute to resolving the Nine-Tails Attack.

At this point in time, his teacher's outlook was completely different from that of other ninja.

"The Fourth Hokage and the previous Jinchuriki were killed by the Nine-Tails... So, Sensei! Are you going to become the Fifth Hokage?"

Uchiha Yuan felt that Orochimaru was in a fairly good mood, so only after he had finished speaking did he dare to ask such an impertinent question.