I, Uchiha: Split Konoha

Chapter 7 Trading Armor for Orochimaru

Inside the Konoha front-line camp.

Orochimaru revealed his scarlet tongue, staring at the other party with an extremely perverse gaze, his eyes gleaming with excitement, as if to say that this was not enough, tell me your Uchiha information, let me see what it is. As for a threat? Heh, he never thought of that.

Threatening one of the Sannin? Aren't you afraid he'll turn around and team up with Danzo and the entire Hidden Leaf Village against the Uchiha? Nobody's stupid.

Seeing Orochimaru's interest piqued, Uchiha Yoru secretly felt fortunate. Luckily, he knew the direction of this world and had information about the future, so he wasn't afraid of being unable to deceive the other party.

"According to reliable intelligence, one of Orochimaru's Wood Release test subjects survived and even awakened a bloodline limit. He is currently with Root and is codenamed 'Kō'."

After saying all this, Uchiha Yoru was secretly pleased with himself. He didn't believe that Orochimaru, who had studied all kinds of information about Konoha, would not know the true power of Wood Release. Now that he knew that Wood Release had reappeared in the world, and had even slipped through his hands, wouldn't he be shocked?

Exchanging information he doesn't need, which he only knows, for benefits is a truly worthwhile deal. As for Yamato revealing the future of Wood Release ninjas, what does that have to do with him? Knowing the future, he naturally wants to maximize his own interests.

Sure enough, when Orochimaru heard that one of his experimental subjects had survived and even awakened Wood Release, he was immediately moved, but he suppressed his excitement in a moment and looked up at the Uchiha clansman in front of him with interest.

"Heh, it seems the Uchiha's intelligence network is not as rudimentary as I thought; they've even managed to gather information on Root."

Orochimaru was undoubtedly shocked. After all, almost all the Root ninjas were bound by the Tongue Curse Seal. Root was definitely one of the best at keeping secrets in the ninja world, yet this group of Uchiha had managed to infiltrate Root.

It's not that the Uchiha clan lacks the strength; as the most powerful clan in Konoha, their strength is absolutely unquestionable. But this is information, not actual strength.

Just as Uchiha Yoru had predicted, Orochimaru attributed everything to the Uchiha clan. After all, let alone a mere Chunin with only one tomoe, even an elite Jonin with three tomoe would be a joke.

"Hehe, Night-kun, you're quite something. Others will only know that you used your looks to get close to Anko and achieve your goal, but more people will notice another elite Uchiha team. Hehe, but they don't know that Night-kun is the Uchiha's confidant."

With a broad smile on his face, Orochimaru understood everything. The man before him, Yoru, was a trusted confidant of the Uchiha clan. Although his strength wasn't great, that was precisely why he was able to transmit intelligence so effectively.

On the surface, he was using his appearance to get close to his disciple Anko in order to achieve some purpose, but in reality, he was directly communicating with her to exchange information. He was using a feint to deceive her while secretly plotting something else. The Uchiha were really good at this, which made him quite pleased. He had really underestimated the Uchiha.

"Then let's form a team with Anko tomorrow, Yoru-kun. It'll be perfect for you two to be teammates."

Beneath Orochimaru's hoarse smile, he had already decided to get closer to the Uchiha clan to see how much unexpected information they had and how many surprises they could offer.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's arrangement, Uchiha Yoru immediately revealed a professional smile, secretly thinking that his goal had finally been achieved. As long as he could quickly get his hands on the one million that the elder had promised him, he would be one step closer to his plan.

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru. The above information was discovered by chance. It seems that even the Third Hokage was unaware of this matter. Moreover, this information was investigated under the secret orders of the Fourth Hokage."

Uchiha Yoru nodded gratefully, then immediately shifted the blame again. Anyway, the Fourth Hokage was already inside the Shinigami's stomach, so Orochimaru definitely wouldn't know. In short, it had nothing to do with him. He was just a messenger, and Orochimaru had to ensure the safety of his line of communication.

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. No wonder. This explains everything."

Although the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had only been in office for a year, he was still Hokage and naturally had to deal with power struggles. Moreover, this was the first time in Konoha's, and indeed in the history of the ninja village, that two Hokage existed simultaneously.

Normally, the former must die in battle before the latter can succeed him. There's no such thing as a successor. This raises a problem: the Third Hokage is still alive and hasn't died in battle, so naturally he needs to retain some power. This is where the Third Hokage's directly controlled Anbu comes in.

(In the anime, during the Nine-Tailed Night, someone clearly exclaimed, "It's the Third Hokage's Anbu!" From this, it can be inferred that the Fourth Hokage also had his own Anbu.)

In this way, Minato would need to cultivate his own people, but cultivation was too slow. The quicker way was to win them over, and the Uchiha clan, being disliked, was the best person to win them over.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru couldn't help but sigh. No wonder Minato and Fugaku were so close back then, and even the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Mikoto Uchiha were so close. It turns out that the young boy back then has grown into a qualified politician. He had underestimated everything.

As the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze was at the center of power, making it easier for him to gather intelligence, especially with his elusive Flying Thunder God technique.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. Minato had discovered the existence of Wood Release ninjas, but he didn't have enough power to investigate, so the Uchiha became the best candidate, which was both reasonable and logical.

If Uchiha Yoru knew Orochimaru's deduction at this moment, he would probably give a big thumbs up. Yes! That's right, just as you thought.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Uchiha clan will do everything in its power to help you become the Fifth Hokage."

At this moment, Uchiha Yoru expressed his loyalty with a respectful and fervent expression, while Orochimaru also revealed his unique, hoarse laughter.

"Hehe, Lord Ye, Hongdou is my student, and this team is personally led by me."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Yoru immediately showed excitement, bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, and shouted, "Orochimaru-sensei!"

Forget about shame or Orochimaru's future defection. The immediate interests are the most important. Besides, Orochimaru defected because of human experimentation. If we really want to hold him accountable, there are countless ninjas who support him. The law doesn't punish the masses.

Besides, he has the Uchiha clan behind him, and according to his deduction, Orochimaru will not defect for at least two years. Since he will be unable to stop him then, he can profit from it.

Stop him? Orochimaru isn't interested in the Uchiha clan now because he hasn't been through the Mangekyou Sharingan's beating yet. If he really becomes Hokage, tsk tsk, the Uchiha clan might not be wiped out, but they'll definitely become frequent visitors to Orochimaru's lab.

Therefore, he will not stop it; on the contrary, he will try to make huge profits from it, otherwise, when will he ever be able to collect enough gold coins to buy the kaleidoscope?

Orochimaru's defection time is easier to deduce. Uchiha Yoru sneered. The Fourth Hokage had just died, and the border was in turmoil. Anyone with eyes could see that as soon as the border stabilized, it would be time to elect the Fifth Hokage.

The border unrest will likely last at least a year and a half, and Orochimaru's defection is probably not solely Danzo's fault, but rather a result of politics.

Danzo, as long as he wanted to remain Hokage, didn't want Orochimaru or any young people to take over. Another reason was the Third Hokage's political interest group; even if Sarutobi didn't want this, the Sarutobi clan and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, driven by self-interest, would silently accept it.

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(End of this chapter)