This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 68 Uchiha Mansion

"This will be your residence from now on."

Outside a Japanese-style mansion, Orochimaru addressed the crowd.

Ryuji stood in front of the gate, looking around the mansion and the surrounding environment, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

This is a secluded place far from the center of Konoha. It is surrounded by trees, and there is a stream not far away. You can hear the birdsong and the sound of flowing water coming from the forest as soon as you enter the gate, which makes you feel peaceful.

Ryuji just felt something was strange.

He was certain that this was his first time in Konoha, and his first time in such an environment, yet he kept having a sense of déjà vu, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Are you satisfied with this place, Ayaki-kun?"

Just then, Orochimaru's question rang out beside him.

Long Er looked up and saw that he was squinting with a faint smile on his face, showing no sign that the two of them had almost gotten into a fight not long ago.

"Yes, I'm very satisfied."

Suppressing his unease, Ryuji nodded and said, "Please convey my thanks to the Hokage."

"This is what Konoha should do," Orochimaru said modestly, then his expression turned serious. "Regarding the academic exchange, someone will come tomorrow to take you to the hospital and the Ninja Academy for your internships. Please make the personnel assignments today. Also, there are several places in Konoha where outsiders are not allowed to enter at will, so please respect our rules."

"That's natural."

"Well then, you have all come from afar and must be exhausted. I won't disturb your rest any longer. If you need anything, you can come and find me directly."

After saying that, Orochimaru disappeared into white smoke with a "bang".

Ryuji withdrew his gaze and continued to survey the mansion.

That feeling of déjà vu kept puzzling him and bothering him.

He carefully searched his memories and finally found clues in his past life memories.

—Uchiha Mansion.

This is the place where they lived after being suspected by Konoha and driven here following the Nine-Tails' rampage.

When Ryuji saw the same mansion in a comic book page from his past life, he finally realized, "So this is the place. There's no Uchiha clan crest here, so I didn't recognize it at first."

"Captain, is there a problem?"

Karura saw that Ryuji was standing in front of the door for a long time without moving, so she went up to ask him.

I just remembered something interesting.

Long Er's lips curled into a wicked smile, and he then ordered, "After entering the mansion, search every inch of the ground carefully. If you find anything suspicious, deal with it. Then disinfect the entire yard, making sure there are no insects or anything like that left."

This place is close to the settlement of the Aburame clan, and the entire forest in the vicinity is under the surveillance of the Aburame.

Although it was unclear whether this was intentional or unintentional on the part of Konoha's higher-ups, it was always wise to be cautious. Ryuji didn't want their every move in the residence to be monitored.

……

The Hokage's office.

"How did the test go?"

Sarutobi sat behind his desk, a pipe dangling from his mouth.

Koharu and Menyan stood on either side, their eyes fixed intently on Orochimaru in front of the desk.

"Just as Shikaku analyzed, he is a very assertive person."

Orochimaru licked his lips with his long tongue and laughed, "I only released a little bit of killing intent, and that brat immediately released his killing intent to confront me, as if he wasn't worried about the consequences of doing so in someone else's village."

"But someone who can so quickly overpower Shikaku in negotiations must know the consequences of doing so."

"He knows that Konoha won't intervene, so he's fearless."

Xiaochun and Menyan each presented their ideas, one on the left and one on the right.

Sarutobi wholeheartedly agreed with this.

The conflict between Orochimaru and Ryuji was orchestrated by Orochimaru. His aim was to give the people of Sunagakure a warning and make them behave themselves during their time in Konoha, so they wouldn't cause trouble.

At the same time, there was also an intention to test what kind of person Ryuji was.

After all, Sarutobi couldn't possibly be indifferent to the feats of single-handedly facing ten elite ninjas, killing nine of them, and having the remaining one escape; scaring away an army of tens of thousands with three cannon shots; and defeating Minato's squad by himself.

The results of the probe were the same as Shikaku's analysis: he had a very tough attitude towards Konoha, was a hawk, and was also very intelligent.

He's a tough guy!

Sarutobi took a deep drag of his cigarette, looking quite troubled, and slowly exhaled, saying, "Give the order that no one is allowed to cause them any trouble. In these turbulent times, Konoha doesn't have the energy to deal with trivial matters."

"Yes."

After receiving the order, the ANBU guards waiting at the door vanished in an instant.

Sarutobi sighed and took out a small scroll from the drawer, saying, "This is a letter Danzo just sent. His plan to make Iwagakure withdraw from the Allied Forces has failed."

"...Is that so? Even that man failed."

After a long silence, Men Yan said with some emotion.

Among the six members of the Second Hokage's elite guard squad, Danzo was the most cunning. Even he failed, and they all realized how difficult the situation was.

"Danzo made a mistake in this matter, which was to underestimate Onoki's ambition." Sarutobi shook out the extinguished tobacco leaves, then took out a pipe from the drawer and filled it with tobacco leaves as he spoke. "He took advantage of Onoki's fear of Kumogakure while also invoking the banner of Sunagakure to intimidate others. This made Onoki worry that the war would eventually turn into a battle between Sunagakure and Konoha against Kumogakure and Kusagakure."

"If the war really develops to this point, it will undoubtedly be a great victory for Konoha and Sunagakure," Orochimaru said.

"That's right."

Sarutobi nodded, put the pipe filled with tobacco leaves into his mouth, lit it, took a good drag, and continued, "Our Konoha is the strongest in the ninja world, but our consistently low-key style makes us less intimidating. But that's all we are intimidating."

"Is Onoki worried that after the combined forces of Konoha and Sunagakure defeat Kumogakure and Kusagakure, they might also wipe out Iwagakure?"

"That's exactly right."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room fell silent.

Danzo was worried that Iwagakure, led by Onoki, would not withdraw from the coalition, so he tried to use Iwagakure's name as a pretext, but ended up shooting himself in the foot.

"Prepare for war. Danzo's message says that because Amegakure withdrew, Iwagakure and Kumogakure have both made compromises. It won't be long before war breaks out."

……

Konoha Village.

The residence of the Sand Village Mission.

In a spacious Japanese-style room, Karura and her brother were reporting the search findings to Ryuji.

"The entire mansion, with its more than three hundred rooms, has been searched inch by inch, but no hidden compartments or suspicious items were found."

"A lot of insects were indeed found in many remote areas."

Long Er nodded slightly and instructed, "Have the puppeteers make insecticides for the insects. Whether these insects are creatures that have wandered in from the forest or insects that the Aburame clan deliberately left here to monitor us, kill them all. Don't spare the vegetation in the yard either."

Furthermore, the insects of the Aburame clan are highly adaptable, requiring the insecticide to be replaced every week.

"Yes."

I'd like to recommend a friend's new book, "Why is Your Favorability Level Full?", by Tianming Youyicun, the author of the book about the bald-headed demon king. If you like his works, you can check it out; just search for the title or the author's name.

Also, thank you to Xiaoming, Ruofengruofei, Huangfushenwu, and Jimo de Bafei for their generous donations. Thank you very much.

I haven't been feeling well these past few days, so please forgive me if my writing isn't good.

The main problem is that the funerals on the street are too noisy. It's been going on for eight or nine days now. They finish at 12 o'clock every day and start again at 5 or 6 o'clock. I can't concentrate on writing at all.

I'm now working day and night, and my mental state is terrible. Sometimes when I'm typing, I even get stuck on vocabulary and have to search on Baidu for ages. It's quite frustrating.

(End of this chapter)