Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

There may be some penniless ninjas who don't know where their next meal will come from, but as far as the village is concerned, Konoha has never had any financial problems since its founding.

Compared to money,

The scrolls brought by the Cloud Ninja were the real treasures.

The scroll records some of the Cloud Ninja's research results on Lightning Release techniques over the past few decades, including the obsolete version of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the training method of the Hell Thrust from the four-handed to the two-handed technique, the secrets of the Black Lightning Technique, the application techniques of the Ultrasonic Lightning Blade, and so on.

Everything looked incomplete and broken.

However, the Yunren in charge of the handover had an expression as if he had swallowed a fly and was about to savor it and write a review. This knowledge and information seemed to be either outdated or censored, but in fact, these things were treasures that money could not buy.

The obsolete version of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, although outdated, is actually the latest version that was updated from the old version. This so-called obsolete version is actually the crystallization of the wisdom of the Cloud Ninja over the past few decades.

There's also Hell Thrust, the signature technique of the Third Raikage. The Cloud Ninja only provided the training methods for the Four-Pronged Piercing Hand to the Two-Pronged Piercing Hand, without providing the training method for the One-Pronged Piercing Hand, which is known as the 'strongest spear'. It seems to have been emasculated. However, even the Cloud Ninja themselves don't have anyone who can master this strongest spear.

and,

Although the methods of practicing the Fourfold Path to the Twofold Path are not entirely the same, they are all based on the same principle. Putting in more effort to study and ponder them may lead to a deeper understanding. Compared to research work, the biggest problem may be that even if you study it thoroughly, no one else can master it.

The Book of Seals in Konoha contains so many wonderful things.

More than one person has read the Book of Seals, but so far only the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage have become famous for mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique. Look at Genma Shiranui and his friends; it takes three people working together to use the Flying Thunder God Technique. They've taken their woes to a whole new level.

Similar principles are all interconnected.

The better something is, the more difficult it is to cultivate, and therefore it is not easy to be widely used.

Of course, this did not stop Zongxian from ruthlessly cutting into the flesh of the Cloud Ninja. Even if no one could master these extremely difficult techniques, it was still valuable to discover some flaws and loopholes. Not every Konoha ninja could be crushed like the monsters of the Uchiha clan who had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.

If it weren't for the Iwa ninja's sneak attack on Kumogakure,

The Yunren were not so easily persuaded to accept these things as compensation.

"This is the amber vase? It doesn't look special." The red-haired boy stood by the sofa, craning his neck to examine the amber vase on the coffee table. It was more like a large urn than a vase, with a color between orange-yellow and orange-red. It had incantations similar to the Chinese character 'dust' on it, and white shimenawa rope wrapped around the mouth of the vase.

"It's genuine."

Zongxian reached out and touched it.

The knight did not die from the power of his bare hands, and quietly expelled the strange chakra left in the amber bottle. To be honest, the ninja tools left behind by the Sage of Six Paths were not very ethical. They were the kind that anyone could use as long as they had enough chakra.

However, after being touched by Zongxian...

From now on, this thing belongs to the Uchiha clan. Unless he actively breaks the connection, no one else can use it even if they get their hands on it.

"Amber Purification Bottle, the ninja tool of the Sage of Six Paths, what's the use of this thing?" The red-haired boy reached out and tapped the amber purification bottle, the dull sound echoing in the office.

"Want to give it a try, Scorpion?"

Zongxian asked aloud.

The red-haired boy, Scorpion, appeared to be a teenager but was actually more than ten years older than Zongxian. Hearing Zongxian's suggestion, he raised an eyebrow. "Alright! Let's try..."

Before he could finish speaking,

As Zongxian asked the question, he reached out and lifted the lid of the amber bottle. When Scorpion answered, an invisible and intangible suction force surged out of the bottle, like a pair of invisible hands pulling Scorpion into the bottle. It also shrank the already short Scorpion to the size of an insect and absorbed it cleanly and efficiently.

"Snapped!"

The lid was put on.

After waiting for about three minutes, Zongxian finally opened the lid again, shook the amber bottle, and released the scorpion.

Back in his office, Scorpion slumped onto the sofa in silence for about a minute. He raised his eyebrows, squinted at Zongxian, and said, "So this is how the Amber Vase works? Triggered by sound? How interesting! This thing... is much more interesting than I imagined."

Genius refers to this kind of person.

After just one experience, I figured out how the amber water bottle worked.

"Interesting? What's so interesting about it?"

“There are many. The mechanism that uses sound to trigger the mechanism is very interesting. I don’t understand how it works. Also, after I entered this can, I found that my consciousness and physical abilities were greatly suppressed. It’s a very sophisticated sealing technique. By the way, how much chakra did you feed this can?”

Scorpion is a puppeteer.

Humanoid puppets are his main research area, but in addition, various wonderful mechanisms and props also arouse his interest. The amber bottle is one such example. Its completely unfathomable mystery is fascinating, and he can't help but wonder what would happen if he applied the special mechanism on the amber bottle to his puppet.

"Chakra? I don't have any!"

Zongxian gently stroked the amber vase.

This thing is completely different from the Banana Leaf Fan. The Banana Leaf Fan is a huge consumer of chakra; it can't be used without enough chakra. But the Amber Purification Bottle is different. Zongxian didn't give the Amber Purification Bottle any chakra just now; the energy source for the sealing technique is something else.

"This is a genuine treasure."

Zongxian's lips curled up, and he smiled happily.

The amber bottle gave him a big surprise. He originally thought that this thing, like the banana leaf fan, was a huge consumer of chakra, and he only brought it back to study the sealing techniques inside. He never expected it to give him such an unexpected surprise.

"No chakra was injected?"

Scorpion paused for a moment.

He immediately leaned forward, his face almost touching the amber bottle, eager to see through its secrets. It was illogical that such a powerful sealing technique could be maintained without chakra. Could it be that this large can had some unknown source of power?

"This thing... the Cloud Ninja used it to seal the Tailed Beast, right? To suppress a Tailed Beast, even an extremely sophisticated sealing technique would require a considerable amount of chakra..." Sasori muttered to himself, his brows furrowed, lost in deep confusion.

"Knock knock!!"

Zongxian tapped the coffee table with his fingers.

"Scorpion, just look, why are you holding a knife?"

"I want to see what this amber bottle is made of. It doesn't look like metal, but it's not wood either, and the texture isn't exactly the same as pottery... What are you waiting for me for? There's not a single scratch on it." Under Zongxian's gaze, Scorpion casually put away the curved sword that had sprung from his arm.

He tried to scrape the amber bottle with a curved knife, but nothing came off.

The amber vase looks like a jar and isn't as pretty as its name suggests, but its quality is top-notch, and it's sturdy and durable.

"If you scratch it, you'll have to stay here and work for me for the rest of your life to pay off my debts!"

"Ha! You're saying you'll actually let me go in the future?"

Scorpion snorted disdainfully.

He never expected things to turn out this way. After being defeated and subdued by Uchiha Sogen, he thought his life was over. But Uchiha Sogen unexpectedly gave him the option to live!

Of course, if one is just going to live a muddled life like a slave, then it's better to die.

Uchiha Sogen offered him a condition that left him speechless: to study a special corpse cultured using the First Hokage's Wood Release cells. Upon seeing the pale corpse, which, despite being dead, still contained immense life force, he found himself unable to control his tongue.

He agreed to Uchiha Sogen's conditions.

They followed Uchiha Sogen to the Konoha army's camp in the Land of Hot Springs.

it's here,

He began a new research project.

At first, he considered stealing the special corpse and running away, but he quickly dismissed the idea because he was no match for Uchiha Sogen. He tried to sneak away three times but was caught by Uchiha Sogen each time and was severely tortured with genjutsu.

After the pain subsides,

Having suffered unbearable torment at the hands of Zongxian time and again, Scorpion finally understood that since there was no chance to escape now, he should focus on studying the corpse that contained vigorous life force. Perhaps he could use this opportunity to modify its 'regeneration core' once again. Only after his own strength had increased would it be time to leave.

In any case, Uchiha Sogen didn't mistreat him.

Instead of driving him to work tirelessly like a slave, he was given private space and a limited range of activities. Whenever he had any research requests, Uchiha Sogen would try his best to meet them, and all kinds of experimental materials would be delivered to him as quickly as possible.

to be frank,

If it weren't for the fact that he was always bothered by his status as a prisoner,

Working under Uchiha Munegen is a good option. Here, he doesn't have to travel all over the country searching for materials. He can just say what he wants and someone will bring it to him quickly... It's practically a researcher's paradise.

"You never know what will happen in the future! I never imagined that you and I would be able to sit in the same room peacefully." Zongxian said with a smile. In his initial imagination, if he met with the people of [Akatsuki], it would definitely be a fight to the death!

but,

Strictly speaking, Sasori hasn't joined the Akatsuki organization yet!

Scorpion shrugged and did not refute.

The future is indeed full of countless possibilities, but that doesn't stop him from continuing to strengthen himself. After all, rather than passively waiting for that vague possibility, it's better to try to create the ideal future he envisions with his own hands.

This is a common trait among true scientific researchers, including Orochimaru. They are unwilling to submit to so-called fate, but instead try to take their destiny into their own hands. Defying life and death is their clear form of resistance against fate!

"Could I have some time to study this jar?"

Scorpion pointed to the amber bottle and asked.

"Not for now. Don't forget your primary task. I hope to see the research results as soon as possible. I can't lend you the amber vase for now. We'll talk about it when you have some research results on that." Zong Xian refused decisively.

He actually didn't mind Scorpion studying the amber vase.

Zongxian himself is quite interested in the amber vase. Even if he were to lend it to Scorpion for research, he would have to wait until Scorpion had played with it enough first. Otherwise, if Scorpion were to break the amber vase, wouldn't that be a huge loss? Of course, this possibility is unlikely. Ultimately, Zongxian himself doesn't want to lend it out for the time being.

"You're stingy. Oh well, just don't forget what you said in the future." Sasori patted the amber bottle with some regret. If he could figure out the power source of the amber bottle, he might be able to create a super puppet comparable to Susanoo!

Fortunately, Uchiha Sogen didn't leave anything out.

He will still have the opportunity to study this ninja tool left behind by the Sage of Six Paths in more depth in the future.

Speaking of which, the Sage of Six Paths seems to have quite a few ninja tools!

If he had known how amazing these ninja tools were, he should have tried to get his hands on them when he went to the Land of Lightning... The story of the Sage of Six Paths creating the world is widely circulated in the ninja world. Although the versions vary from place to place, the fact that the Hidden Cloud Village possesses the Six Paths tools is not a secret.

He had never taken the so-called Six Paths Ninja Tools to heart before, but instead focused on the research and development of human puppets, trying every means to collect those valuable corpses.

"I've made things clear. As long as your research on that meets my requirements, I'll lend you the Amber Purification Bottle without any problem. Besides the Amber Purification Bottle, I have many other good things in my possession: Samehada, one of the Seven Ninja Swords of Kirigakure; the Bashō Fan, also one of the Six Paths Ninja Tools; and the Flame Fan, the symbol of our Uchiha clan!"

In order to make the donkey, Scorpion, work harder,

Zongxian could be said to have hung the fattest grass in front of Scorpion, just waiting for Scorpion to break the production team's stone mill!

[Chapter 236. Learning the Flying Thunder God Technique]

Time flew by, and just before the first month of the lunar calendar, at the end of December, the expeditionary army finally returned to Konoha with generous compensation from the Cloud Ninja. On that day, a very enthusiastic welcoming ceremony was held under the auspices of the Fifth Hokage, and the entire village celebrated the victory and the end of the war.

The glory of victory over the countless corpses beneath it was no longer a topic of conversation. No one dared to speak of how many had died in the battles against the Mist Ninja and the Cloud Ninja. Having survived three Shinobi World Wars, the villagers of Konoha had long since developed resilience. After providing ample compensation and subsidies, the families of the deceased quietly accepted the tragic outcome, silently mourning their husbands, sons, and fathers who were buried as heroes at the cemetery.

This festive atmosphere lasted until the first month of the lunar calendar, reaching a peak during the New Year's Day celebrations.

It wasn't until the Ninja Academy's winter break ended and the students returned to school that the villagers' work returned to normal, and the lively atmosphere gradually dissipated. However, the various departments of Konoha Village were busier than ever before, and the profound impact of Konoha's great victory on the ninja world was still unfolding.

The alliance with Kirigakure opened up maritime trade routes between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. The prosperity of commerce also benefited Konoha. A large number of high-paying missions piled up in the mission hall of the Hokage Building. The defeat of Kumogakure also led many small countries in the north to transfer some of the missions that were originally given to Kumogakure to Konoha.