I, Uchiha: Split Konoha

Chapter 31 analyzes the timing of Orochimaru's defection.

"Shisui, you must believe in the Third Hokage. Orochimaru-sensei is the Third Hokage's disciple. Perhaps after we return this time, he will become the Fifth Hokage? If that's true, then all these achievements are meaningless, since Orochimaru-sensei is about to become the Fifth Hokage."

Now, Uchiha Yoru has transformed into a well-meaning, devoted Uchiha clansman who is loyal to the village's Hokage, seemingly telling Shisui that he shouldn't be so extreme.

Shisui also began to doubt himself. When did he start to doubt the village? He had actually stopped trusting the Hokage! Damn it!

A deep sense of guilt welled up in his heart, and Uchiha Shisui looked at his guiding light with gratitude, "Brother Night, thank you. I was too harsh."

Indeed, after being persuaded by Yoru, Shisui realized that he had gone to extremes and even showed a look of shame. However, Yoru secretly shook his head. When he saw Orochimaru return and find that the entire Hidden Leaf Village had not recommended the Fifth Hokage, his dissatisfaction would resurface in double measure.

Destroying Shisui's Will of Fire against the Third Hokage is never something that can be done overnight; it requires a long time, and it would be best if Shisui could witness it firsthand.

If it weren't for him, the Uchiha clan wouldn't have formed a relationship with Orochimaru now. After Orochimaru returned to the village, Shisui was still preoccupied with how to gain the Hokage's trust for his clan, so he didn't have time to worry about these things.

But things are different now. Orochimaru isn't just considered a future Hokage by the Uchiha clan; even within the village, I wouldn't say 100%, but at least 60-70% of the ninjas believe he'll be the future Hokage.

To place all hope on Orochimaru, and to present Orochimaru as a shining figure secretly bearing the burden of darkness and forging ahead in Shisui's eyes, tsk tsk.

Seeing Shisui filled with shame and even self-blame, Uchiha Yoru smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Shisui, you are still very young. It is good to have your own opinions, but you can't blindly trust anyone. You have to look at things from multiple perspectives, you know?"

"Brother Ye, you've been too narrow-minded."

This time, Shisui truly realized his mistake, and Uchiha Yoru nodded with a smile, saying, "Don't worry, we'll apply to return to the village this time. Anyway, the border is quite stable now. We can't miss Orochimaru's ceremony to become the Fifth Hokage after we get back."

In short, I'm going to make Uchiha Shisui completely believe one thing right now: that Orochimaru was summoned back to the village to take over as Hokage. Once this hope fills your mind, you'll know how beautiful your dream was and how cruel reality will be in the end.

When Shisui heard that Orochimaru was going back to take over as Hokage, he was immediately excited, unaware that a dark experience awaited him.

"Brother Ye, I will definitely witness Orochimaru-sama become the Fifth Hokage with my own eyes!"

At this moment, Shisui's eyes were filled with unwavering determination, bordering on fanaticism. He could already see the future reconciliation between the Uchiha and the Hokage lineage, and the Uchiha regaining the village's trust.

However, Uchiha Yoru frowned and pondered. After analyzing the situation in his mind, he seemed to have discovered some different circumstances, since there was only a few scattered pieces of information from Kishimoto during this period.

In the original work, there is no definite time for Orochimaru's defection, but some fragments can be used to infer a general idea.

When Orochimaru defected, the Third Hokage was in the village. Upon hearing the news, he angrily led the Anbu to capture him. From this, we can be certain that Orochimaru was either not in the village or in the vicinity, and definitely not too far away.

The second clue is a scene in the anime where Itachi Uchiha is training alone and is about to be riddled with kunai. At this moment, Orochimaru, who is secretly watching, is about to come out to rescue him.

At this time, Orochimaru was clearly not defecting and was still wearing his headband. It's unclear how old Itachi was at this point, but one thing is certain: Itachi activated his Sharingan and dodged countless kunai.

As the son of the clan head, Itachi Uchiha naturally had a special secret room for training within the clan. The fact that Orochimaru was able to come here indicates that the Uchiha clan and Orochimaru had established a connection. Otherwise, Orochimaru would not have been able to swagger into the Uchiha clan.

According to various sources in the original work, Itachi Uchiha awakened his Sharingan at the age of eight, which means that Orochimaru was a Konoha ninja before Itachi was eight years old.

"If that's the case, then it should be about two more years."

After a careful analysis, Uchiha Yoru narrowed his eyes and smiled, while Uchiha Shisui was still blaming himself.

This two years is a real timeframe. On the night of the Nine-Tails, Itachi Uchiha was five years old, but Naruto's birthday is October 10th, so Itachi would be six years old in two months. They had just met recently.

Three months have already passed this year. Itachi will be seven years old next year, which is a whole year away. The year after that, Itachi will be eight years old and will awaken his Sharingan. Orochimaru should have defected after Itachi awakened his Sharingan.

He still has about two years to exploit loopholes—no, to improve his skills.

Itachi was eight years old, five years older than the main characters, the Bronze Saints, who were just three years old at the time.

Upon thinking of this, Uchiha Yoru immediately smiled excitedly, and looking at Shisui beside him, he felt a sense of amusement.

"Shisui, when we get back, we'll witness the Fifth Hokage's ceremony in person."

Upon hearing this, Shisui nodded with a determined smile and said, "Don't worry, Brother Ye, the Uchiha clan will definitely not be absent."

In his mind, Brother Ye was Orochimaru's disciple, and would become the Hokage's direct descendant. Wasn't this the bridge between his clan and the Hokage? Naturally, he was full of confidence.

However, Uchiha Yoru didn't think that way. Instead, he was filled with a cold laugh, thinking that Orochimaru would probably be met with a hidden presence when he returned this time.

In the original work, during the Chunin Exams, there were clearly many students who were older than the Konoha 1s, such as Neji and Kabuto, who were at the bottom of the rankings.

When Orochimaru defected, the Konoha kids were three years old and might not have heard of the legend of Orochimaru. What about the kids who were a little older than them?

It's obvious that Orochimaru has been sidelined, and even the entire Hidden Leaf Village is subtly diminishing his prestige. At the very least, it's safe to say that Danzo and the Sarutobi clan are involved. Perhaps the Third Hokage didn't have this intention, but he definitely didn't stop it; instead, he chose to acquiesce. The reason is simple: it's clear from the original story that the Third Hokage already felt that Orochimaru had gone astray, as evidenced by his recommendation of the Fourth Hokage.

Or rather, it's not just Orochimaru, but the existence of the entire Sannin has been downplayed. In the original work, when the Sannin appeared, they used the legendary ninja vocabulary, which is obviously only remembered by the older generation of ninjas, and there has been a gap in the new generation.

The reason for downplaying the existence of the Sannin is clearly to consolidate the power pyramid within Konoha. If the Sannin were to intervene, the power structure would be reshuffled, and no one wants that to happen.

"Hehe, perhaps I have already deduced the truth." At this moment, Uchiha Yoru squinted and smiled, while Shisui, who was standing next to him, thought that his older brother was talking about the Fifth Hokage being elected after returning to the village.

The two men, though speaking the same sentence, were thinking completely different things, going in opposite directions.

Brothers who like it, please cast your precious votes!

(End of this chapter)