In the Sand Village, the clones are everywhere, and the Arkham game begins

Chapter 523 Orochimaru's Wisdom
"Hey……"

Tobirama Senju sighed and closed his eyes.

He wondered if it was a mistake to accept Danzo as his disciple.

If Danzo hadn't existed, would Konoha have had far less internal strife?
But if Danzo were to disappear, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi's talent alone sustain Konoha?

"My roots are in several secret bases in the Land of Fire, where I also store supplies and personnel. Furthermore, I have a secret network that can reach the upper echelons of the Land of Rain. Only I know the locations of these things, and only I can mobilize these people."

Now it wasn't just Tobirama Senju who remained silent.

You're not the Hokage, yet you possess so much power that even the Hokage don't know about and can't control. What are you hiding? Everyone knows.

Moreover, where would the money and other resources needed to build such a force come from?
Is it the income of Danzo and Shimura's family? Or is it the funding for the root branch?
The higher-ups in Konoha know these things inside and out, so it's highly unlikely they came from here.

That money certainly wasn't obtained through legitimate means.

However, no one criticized Danzo at this time.

Regardless of whether internal strife will occur at this juncture, the power that Danzo controls is indeed what Konoha desperately needs right now.

They had no choice but to accept it, even if it meant swallowing their pride.

After the fall of Konoha, Danzo's influence actually increased among the remaining members of the party.

"It's truly astonishing that Elder Danzo even has contact information for the higher-ups in Amegakure. Could it be that he's already planning to find a better place to go after the village's defeat?"

A hoarse voice came from deep within a nearby cave.

Orochimaru, dressed in a kimono and with a pale face, walked out of the cave with his disciple Mitarashi Anko in his hand. Apart from appearing somewhat weak and having a low chakra level, he seemed normal.

"Orochimaru, everything I have done from beginning to end has been for Konoha. Don't talk nonsense."

Danzo said in a cold voice.

"Hehe, I was just joking. Elder Danzo's loyalty to the village is beyond question. Tell me what has happened during this time. I haven't seen enough of what's inside Anko. Also, Tsunade, I need you to help me prepare these things to restore my chakra."

Orochimaru chuckled and gave Danzo a good scolding before taking a slip of paper from his pocket and handing it to Tsunade.

"We may not have enough of the medicinal herbs on this."

Tsunade took the note and found it contained a prescription.

With Konoha under siege and lacking the necessary equipment, concocting medicine would be extremely difficult. Apart from Tsunade, even if the ingredients were sufficient, few people would be able to produce it in a short time.

"It's alright, I'm prepared. It's not far from here. I'll just send a small team with the sealing scroll to retrieve it."

Orochimaru smiled slightly.

After Orochimaru had a better understanding of the situation, he waved to Fugaku Uchiha.

"Fugaku, there are some things I need to tell you to do. I've just been resurrected from the cursed seal and I still need to replenish my energy. Let's find a secluded place to eat and talk."

Fugaku Uchiha didn't think much of it. He simply followed Orochimaru to a place where they gathered some fruits and wild game that the Konoha ninja had found in the mountains and forests. They ate and chatted as they went.

At first, Orochimaru's topics were quite normal, just some routine personnel arrangements and appointments for members of the Uchiha clan.

In this war that led to the downfall of Konoha, all the other ninja clans grew weaker with each battle, but the Uchiha clan alone retained considerable strength.

In the more than forty years since the founding of Konoha, this was the largest war the Uchiha clan had ever experienced, and also the one with the most sacrifices and the most tragic battles. Many clan members awakened their Sharingan during the battle, and even when Konoha was destroyed, several Uchiha members still managed to awaken the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

Fugaku Uchiha was quite pleased with this, because Orochimaru clearly valued the Uchiha clan much more.

However, as the conversation progressed, Orochimaru's words caused Fugaku Uchiha's expression to change.

"Speaking of which, Elder Danzo had a way to contact the higher-ups in Amegakure, and Fugaku-kun, as the person behind the higher-ups in Kirigakure, should also have that, right?"

Orochimaru elegantly peeled open a boiled bird egg and smiled at Fugaku Uchiha.

"The Fourth Hokage is joking."

Fugaku Uchiha, with a straight face, denied it to Orochimaru.

"Are you joking? I never expected that Fugaku-kun, as Madara Uchiha's successor, would be able to secretly control a portion of Kirigakure's power, and even control a high-ranking member of Kirigakure. Although it is unexpected, it is also reasonable."

Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and rolled the tender, cooked bird egg in his hand into his mouth. His snake-like eyes, adorned with purple eyeshadow, casually examined his long, slender, and fair fingers.

He did not meet Fugaku Uchiha's gaze, because the latter had already awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan under Orochimaru's verbal provocation.

With a flawed soul, Orochimaru didn't know if he could resist the genjutsu of the Mangekyou Sharingan, but he would never risk his life to try.

"Fourth Hokage, what you're saying is very dangerous."

"Uchiha Fugaku said hoarsely, his eyes glowing even brighter with a hint of murderous intent.

Upon having his deepest secret revealed, Fugaku Uchiha immediately conceived the idea of ​​killing Orochimaru right there and then.

After all, Orochimaru has just been resurrected, and this is when he is at his weakest.

"Hehe, Fugaku-kun, no matter how dangerous it is, I don't think you would kill me at this time, right? I dare to reveal your biggest secret at this time, which means I have an absolute certainty of surviving."

Of course, let's assume you have the strength to kill me. Then how would you escape? There's the Second Hokage, Danzo, and Tsunade outside. Without the strength of the Fourth Kazekage or a candidate for Amekage, it would be very difficult to fight your way out, wouldn't it?

As Orochimaru spoke, he leisurely picked up a boiled bird egg and began to peel it slowly.

While possessing snake-like characteristics, Orochimaru also acquired some snake-like habits.

For example, they like to live in dark and damp places, and they like to eat eggs, bird eggs and small animals.

Upon hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha's red light faded, and he closed his eyes, shutting down his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Where did I slip up?

"There are no obvious flaws, but that is the biggest flaw, because you performed too perfectly, and many things were so perfect that it seemed impossible for you to do them."

So you must have someone behind you, or at the very least, the legacy of other powerful figures. But while the Uchiha clan is strong, Fugaku was also a dragon among men. Throughout the past hundred years, there was only one person in the Uchiha clan who could surpass Fugaku.

Only a powerful figure from the Warring States period could have extended his reach into Kirigakure before the Uchiha clan drove away Kaguya and the other ninja. And wouldn't it be possible for that village to have a high-ranking member whose age matched, right?

Even more coincidentally, after I became Hokage, I wondered if I could resurrect Madara using the Impure World Reincarnation technique. So I went to the base behind the village to check it out, only to be surprised to find that Madara's body, which the Second Hokage had secretly left behind, had long since disappeared.

"Fugaku-kun, tell me, when so many coincidences come together, what conclusion will I reach?"

Orochimaru chuckled.

Fugaku Uchiha immediately felt relieved.

Fortunately, his true intentions weren't exposed. Orochimaru guessed the wrong person; he only thought he had controlled Elder Yuanshi through the methods left behind by Madara.

This person was a high-ranking official in Kirigakure during the time of the First Mizukage, and had extremely high prestige within the village. For many years, he served as the deputy to the successive Mizukage. Each generation of Mizukage also needed to rely on Genji's superb political abilities to govern the village well and grasp power.

If it weren't for the fact that Master Yuan's personal strength was lacking, he had never been on the battlefield, and his combat power was not even comparable to that of an ordinary Jonin, he would definitely have aroused the fear of successive Mizukage and would not have survived to this day.

"As expected of Lord Orochimaru, no one in the village can surpass him in terms of wisdom and strategy."

Fugaku Uchiha poured himself a glass of water and said to Orochimaru in a deep voice.

His confidence returned.

"It's just that it's in the village. It's a pity. If that monster hadn't appeared in Sunagakure, the storm in the ninja world would have been stirred up by Fugaku and us."

Orochimaru sighed, while keeping an eye on Fugaku Uchiha out of the corner of his eye, his mind racing.

He is still testing.

After testing him for so long, he had a pretty good idea of ​​what Fugaku Uchiha was really capable of.

He has some ability, but not much; he's not even as good as Danzo or the Third Hokage.

However, Fugaku Uchiha's past performance, especially when facing Kirigakure, was too outstanding.

This is not something someone of Fugaku's caliber could do.

He either has other hidden cards up his sleeve, or he has a wise mentor guiding him.

Orochimaru quickly ruled out the latter possibility, because he couldn't find that wise man, nor did he think any wise man would get involved in the Uchiha clan's mess.

Soon, with a keen interest, he uncovered some clues, but he was unable to integrate and summarize them.

Because he was too busy.

Only when half of his soul remained in the curse mark on Hongdou's body was he able to calm down and continue to think about the things he hadn't been able to figure out before. By peeling back the layers, he was able to deduce this seemingly impossible, yet all-encompassing "truth".

Fugaku Uchiha looked at Orochimaru with a mixture of admiration and relief.

He thought he had always kept it well hidden, and even if there were some changes in his behavior, people would only think it was the effect of opening the kaleidoscope. He didn't expect that he was still too high-profile.

However, asking an Uchiha to keep a low profile is worse than killing him. Fugaku Uchiha has already tried his best to restrain himself, and under normal circumstances, no one would be able to see the problem.

Unfortunately, he ran into Orochimaru, a character whose intellect ranks among the top in the Naruto world, and his flaws were seen through.

Fortunately, not everything was seen through.

Orochimaru, after observing the seemingly forced composure on Fugaku's face and his body language, swallowed the bird egg whole.

He hadn't seen through everything; he had only grasped part of the surface.

“I know that the Fourth Hokage never does anything for nothing. I wonder what you want to do? Leave the communication with the Amegakure leadership to Elder Danzo. He is capable of handling this matter. The relationship between the Uchiha and Kirigakure leadership should not be exposed now. It is better to keep it hidden. What do you think?”

Fugaku Uchiha looked at Orochimaru with a serious expression on his face, which seemed to be born without the ability to smile.

The latter also put away his smile and solemnly said, word by word:

"I want the Sharingan and Madara Uchiha!"

Fugaku Uchiha paused involuntarily as he was carrying the water.

"The Sharingan won't be leaked, but as the Fourth Hokage, and with my permission as the clan head, I can lend you a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan from the clan's reserves. As for Madara..."

Fugaku Uchiha lowered his head, feeling somewhat hesitant.

He didn't really want Madara to reappear; he preferred to be the initiator of the Infinite Tsukuyomi himself.

"I can assure you that Madara resurrected through Edo Tensei can be stably controlled. Last year, the Second Hokage and I spent a lot of effort trying to raise the power ceiling of resurrected ninjas. Although none of them succeeded, we did change the hand seals for Edo Tensei. This not only improved our control over the resurrected individuals but also ensured that they could not reverse the Edo Tensei using the old methods."

Orochimaru looked at Fugaku Uchiha and continued:
"The First Hokage has been sealed away and cannot be recalled through the Impure World Reincarnation. We need a new powerhouse who transcends the category of Kage, and who is even stronger than the resurrected First Hokage. Madara Uchiha, who was on par with the First Hokage back then, is the best choice."

If he could regain his peak fighting strength, he might not be inferior to the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure. Even if he couldn't defeat him, with Nagato added to the mix, they should be absolutely certain of victory.

Based on the strength demonstrated by Shimizu's shadow clone, ordinary Kage-level ninjas are no different from other ordinary ninjas in his hands, unable to withstand many attacks. Even the fully-formed Nine-Tails and the reanimated Hashirama are far from being his match.

Perhaps only if the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha were to truly return to their prime would they have the power to contend with him.

Fugaku Uchiha pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.

If I can completely control the body reborn through the Impure World Reincarnation, that would be good.

Moreover, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure was indeed terrifyingly strong.

Even if he could use the backup plan left by Madara to steal Nagato's Rinnegan and Gedo Mazo, he wouldn't have much of a chance of winning.

We must resurrect Madara Uchiha using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

However, how can we get Madara to unleash his full potential?
If it's an elite White Zetsu, it shouldn't be a problem. Even if it's not, it's still better than the Wind God and Thunder God, and it can restore most of Madara's strength.

But how can I bring up the existence of White Zetsu in a reasonable way?

"In addition, those strange white humanoids that Fugaku-kun has can also be taken out. They are full of vitality but have no soul. They should be enough to restore Madara Uchiha's power as material for the Impure World Reincarnation."

Orochimaru smiled slightly, but his words sent a chill down Fugaku's spine once again.

(End of this chapter)