Konoha Notes

Chapter 148 Planning
"That's the general situation. Kirigakure needs reinforcements, and it will probably be difficult to recall Uchiha Shisui until the situation in Kirigakure becomes clear."

After returning to the village, Shuji explained the situation to Tsunade.

His intelligence, derived from a godlike perspective, could only serve as a reference for his reasoning. When making a formal report, he still had to strictly analyze the events based on what he had seen with his own eyes and what actually happened.

Tsunade rested one elbow on the table, her palm supporting her cheek, while unconsciously twirling a pen between the fingers of her other hand.

She was in a pretty good mood. Shuji was back, Shisui was alright, Danzo was temporarily imprisoned, and the Uchiha clan was responding positively to their school positions.

Now that I've heard the whole story, my good mood has vanished instantly.

“Every time you go out, you always bring me bad news when you come back.”

"I will inform the old man and ask him to mobilize reinforcements."

"This will delay the matter of getting Shisui to cooperate with Fugaku again."

Princess Senju was a little annoyed: "This ninja world is never peaceful."

Shuji had a different opinion. He had heard about the Uchiha's reaction after returning to the village: "Bringing Shisui back was just a backup plan as Fugaku wasn't proactive enough. Given the current situation, we can force Fugaku to do it."

Tsunade waved her hand: "Go and talk to Fugaku."

Shuji nodded, then took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch and placed it on Tsunade's desk.

"This requires Lady Tsunade to arrange and handle."

"What is this? Didn't we just finish the mission report? Did you write another one?"

Tsunade picked up the scroll with a puzzled look, untied the ribbon, and unfolded the scroll.

However, when her gaze fell upon the dense array of data, icons, and annotations, her expression instantly turned somber.

“On the way back to the village, Orochimaru approached me,” Shuji explained calmly. “After a brief exchange, he gave this to me, claiming it was a ‘small gift to show his sincerity.’”

Shuji was self-aware. He might be a decent fighter and had some basic ninjutsu skills, but when it came to technologies like biological cells, he was completely outmatched.

Cooperating with Orochimaru? Even disregarding his experimental style, in such a collaboration, would Orochimaru provide the technology, and he be responsible for providing his body to be studied?

The question is, is there any basis of trust between him and Orochimaru? It's unclear how much Shuji himself would gain from cooperating under these circumstances, but Orochimaru would definitely be the one who truly benefits.

Therefore, after checking that there were no curse marks or anything like that left on it except for saliva, Shuji made a decision.

Giving this scroll to Tsunade, and letting her or the village experts judge its value, might actually yield more useful information.

Tsunade scanned the data line by line, and after a long while, she took a deep breath and rolled the scroll up again.

"This is part of the data from the first large-scale Wood Release cell transplantation experiment."

Shuji immediately recalled that Senju Momoka had once said that the initial volunteers were "us".

Therefore, the data above all comes from the Senju clan...

He then realized that since this was an early, publicly conducted experiment in the village, the village should theoretically have archives of this data.
So, what Orochimaru gave to Shuji was something he could find on his own?
"It's no use?"

Tsunade shook her head: "No, there are many details here that are not recorded or are vaguely recorded in the village archives."

"In addition, there are some speculations and annotations that Orochimaru himself added later."

She looked at Xiu Si: "What did he say to you?"

"He expressed his desire to collaborate with me on research into interstitial cells," Shuji replied truthfully.

With Shuji's current strength, he doesn't need to hide these things. He can tell the truth even to the Third Hokage, let alone to Tsunade.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade felt a sense of relief.

Fortunately, the one who possesses this power is Shuji now. If it were any other young clansman with deep affection for the Senju who encountered Orochimaru and obtained this scroll, and who, out of curiosity about the data, investigated it and learned the details—for example, that it was experimental data collected from a large number of their own people with the support of the village—they would likely have immediately wavered and ultimately been manipulated by Orochimaru.

"Research on grandfather cells began as early as the time of Tobirama."

Shuji wasn't surprised by this. Otherwise, given Hashirama Senju's abilities, obtaining cells while he was alive would have been difficult, and collecting cells from his body after his death would have been even more problematic.

Tsunade is still alive.

Of course, most importantly, given the activity of Hashirama's cells, once they lose the restraint of Hashirama Senju himself, can he really leave behind something worthy of being called a corpse after his death?
“If you really need this knowledge to better control your power, I can make those sealed documents available to you.”

"Those things might offer you some different perspectives and inspirations."
-
After being rescued by Obito Uchiha, Kakuzu immediately looked at Zetsu.

"Is this the final payment from the Hidden Mist Society?"

A strange smile appeared on the white half of his face: "Of course, Lord Mizukage is very generous."

As long as the final payment is received, that's fine. As for the so-called betrayal, Kakuzu doesn't really care that much. After many years, he has long recognized the true nature of this ninja world: only money is the eternal truth.

However, Kakuzu felt he had something to say to the people at the gold exchange.

Have you done any investigation? You'd just accept a reward of ten million taels of silver? Did you do any preliminary work? Did you verify the employer's background? Shouldn't such an unreliable employer be blacklisted?

With three hearts missing, Kakuzu felt a void and thought he should dig something up to fill it.

"Kakuzu, where are you going?" Zetsu in black asked.

"The request from Kirigakure is complete. I have other things to do."

"What will happen next in Kirigakure..."

Kakuzu interrupted him, saying, "Then wait for the leader's order before informing me. But next time, if it's another opponent of this caliber, the agreed-upon reward won't be nearly enough!"

Then, he looked at the reserve member who called himself "Afei" and said, "Once you officially join the organization, if you are my partner, I can allow you to make one... three mistakes."

Obito grinned foolishly: "Oh dear, Kakuzu-senpai is so kind... Wait a minute, Kakuzu-senpai, what do you mean by allowing me to make three mistakes?"

What are the consequences of making too many mistakes?

Instead of answering, he asked, "How much is your bounty on the black markets of various countries?"

"Huh? I don't think I have a bounty on my head..."

Kakuzu turned away in disappointment and left on his own.

"Hey! Kakuzu-senpai, you haven't..."

"It's alright, you won't be punished."

Kakuzu answered without turning his head.

After Kakuzu left, Obito put away his flamboyant manner and resumed using Madara Uchiha's voice.

"The people of Kirigakure have degenerated to the point of being unusable; relying on them will never lead to any progress."

Zetsu suggested, "Let's continue hiring wandering ninjas, or rogue ninjas."

"We can't keep using the organization's members and showing too much power, or we'll make Akatsuki notice us too early."

"As for hiring..." Obito pondered, "that's one way. After all, the Hidden Mist ninjas have already proven their incompetence."

"Perhaps, I could directly issue hiring requests under the identity of the Mizukage to attract some truly capable outlaws."

He pondered for a moment: "However, that old fellow Yuan Shi mentioned before that the Daimyo of the Land of Water seems to have some reservations about the flow of funds to Kirigakure... Perhaps we should also consider the Daimyo's side later... Let Kirigakure raise funds first."

(End of this chapter)