Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Hozuki Mangetsu immediately agreed.

Tsunade's words implied that he was not an unrelated party and that he might need to gather information from her. Naturally, the confidentiality agreement would no longer be in effect. As for whether Tsunade was just talking nonsense... well, he didn't believe that Lady Tsunade would lie. Besides, even if he was lied to, so what?

Even a minister wouldn't punish him for this!

In the next two minutes,

Hozuki Mangetsu explained the whole story in a very straightforward manner, almost as if he were showing Tsunade his own memories.

Rewind a little bit,

In the Sumilu Mountains, just as Ringo Ameyuri, who was going all out, was about to wipe out the monsters, the strange birds, snakes, and dogs gathered together and merged into one, transforming into a giant monster with a single horn, two wings, four legs, two tails, and a pale white body that looked like it was wearing a thick suit of armor.

There are three of these giant monsters after they have merged.

One of them was killed by Ringo Yuuyu's final lightning strike, while the second was killed by Uchiha Chihaya's all-out wind blade attack.

The third monster, however, saw that things were not going well and chose to run away. Moreover, it fled in the direction of Hyakkaō Street. Fearing that letting the monster escape would cause great damage to Hyakkaō Street, the group immediately split up. Kakashi stayed behind to take care of Ringo Ameyuri and Uchiha Chihaya, who were over-exhausted of chakra.

Meanwhile, Hozuki Mangetsu, along with Uchiha Itachi and Kimimaro, tracked the monster down, only to have Tsunade defeat it with a single punch.

"...The Twelve Guardian Ninja...Kazuma?"

Tsunade frowned.

She initially thought this matter was related to Hiruko, but Hiruko's name never appeared in Hozuki Mangetsu's explanation. Instead, it was a minor character named Kazuma, whom she had never heard of, who attacked Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure and kidnapped ninjas with bloodline limits... What audacity!

but,

All of this seems to have nothing to do with Hiruko.

If she hadn't seen that distorted, obviously unnatural monster with her own eyes, she would have doubted whether she was just imagining things.

"No, something's not right. There's something wrong with Ma... There's definitely something wrong here." Tsunade muttered to herself, trying to find the truth behind it all, but the information she had was not enough to form a solid conclusion. Too many possibilities were surfacing in her mind, and she couldn't possibly find the truth!

"Lady Tsunade, where did you encounter this Kazuma before?"

Hozuki Mangetsu asked cautiously.

"I'd never heard of the name Kazuma before you mentioned it. I've heard of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, but Kazuma... this is the first time I've heard of that name." Tsunade glanced at Hozuki Mangetsu and said with a stern expression, "However, I have indeed seen that kind of monster elsewhere. I'm not lying to you. As far as I know, this monster has nothing to do with that Kazuma... Based on what you said before, you should still go back to the mountains to investigate, right?"

"Yes, Kakashi and the others are still waiting for us in the mountains."

"Alright, I'll go with you too."

"Huh? This~~"

Is there a problem?

"Alright then!"

Hozuki Mangetsu readily accepts good advice.

Anyway, judging from Tsunade's appearance, it seems that she really is related to their mission. Besides... if Tsunade insists on acting with them, he can't refuse! He can't exactly knock her out, can he? And to be honest, he might not even be able to beat her. Even if he could, if he actually hit Tsunade, there would be endless trouble waiting for him.

Therefore,

From the moment he opened his mouth, there was no room for him to refuse.

"Go and clean up first; that corpse is important evidence." Tsunade took over the command without any hesitation.

"Itachi, Kimimaro, hurry up!"

Vice Minister Hozuki followed suit and used the power he called authority.

The two young men had no choice but to obey orders and deal with the huge corpse... To be honest, such a large thing couldn't possibly fit into the sealing scroll without being divided up, since the space in the sealing scroll was limited.

The monster's arrival and defeat both happened so suddenly.

The fleeing townspeople had not yet received the news and were still running desperately away from Baihuawang Street. As for those who stayed behind, or those who hadn't run fast enough, cheers immediately erupted after they saw the monster being defeated. However, no one dared to approach the dead monster's corpse to observe it.

Besides,

Silent One was guarding the monster's corpse.

Tsunade sensed the killing intent and rushed away, but Shizune couldn't follow. She guarded the monster's corpse to prevent anyone from getting close. As an excellent medical ninja, she could see at a glance the various twisted marks on the monster's body. This was definitely not a normal creature.

God knows what unknown dangers might be hidden in the corpse.

until--

Itachi Uchiha and Kimimaro arrived.

Jingyin also knew these two guys.

Tsunade, who suffers from hemophobia, has long been unable to perform surgery. All treatments requiring bloodshed are performed by Shizune. When treating Hozuki Mangetsu, Uchiha Itachi, and Kimimaro, all the surgeries were performed by Shizune.

"Itachi, Kimimaro, you guys?"

"Lady Tsunade sent us to deal with this."

Itachi Uchiha silenced all the problems with Shizune with a simple explanation.

Then Shizune, carrying her pink pet pig, hurriedly found Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, this is..."

"Jingyin, hurry up and get ready, we're going into the mountains."

"Huh? Huh!!!"

The silence was startling.

What do you mean by going into the mountains?

"Hurry up, I'll explain it to you on the way. Now, let's get ready."

[Chapter 303. The Gates of Konoha Open for You]

North of Konoha Village, beyond the high walls, lies a boundless sea of ​​trees. Deep beneath this sea of ​​trees lies a vast underground space, not a natural cave, but a base carved out by human hands.

The flickering lights dispelled the darkness.

but--

Yet it still couldn't conceal the cold and gloomy atmosphere.

"Please follow me, Lord Orochimaru is in the laboratory." The boy turned around, his moon-white patterned haori fluttering gently, his long ponytail trailing behind him to his waist. His slender figure appeared somewhat frail, but the guests following behind could see that the boy's seemingly thin body contained a considerable amount of chakra.

"Honestly, Haku, don't hang out with that madman Orochimaru anymore. Come with me! With your personality, Konoha is more suitable for you than following Orochimaru to do evil. If you don't like the life of fighting and killing, you can go to Konoha Hospital or Yakushi Hospital to become a doctor."

"You're joking. It was Lord Orochimaru who gave me a reason to live."

The boy named Bai smiled sweetly.

In an instant,

The dark room shines.

"Tsk!"

The guest clicked his tongue in annoyance, muttering curses under his breath about Orochimaru's good luck. He'd lost Kimimaro, but gained Haku... The Mist Ninja's luck was truly down! He took a deep breath and said again:

"It's alright, Haku. The gates of Konoha are open to you. You're welcome to come anytime you wish."

At this moment—

They had already arrived at the laboratory in the base.

"Hey! Sogen-kun, I heard you! Stealing my man on my turf, that's incredibly shameless!" Orochimaru, who was standing in front of the lab table reviewing documents, looked up at Haku and... Uchiha Sogen, who had just walked in.

"Stop talking nonsense. Didn't we fail? If you want to complain, wait until I succeed."

Orochimaru rolled his eyes and couldn't help but chuckle.

What kind of twisted logic is this?

No, this makes no sense at all; it's just sophistry. Orochimaru sneered twice: "Sōgen-kun, it's only because I'm not confident I can beat you that I've already killed you."

"More nonsense. If you could beat me, Konoha would have been yours long ago." Zongxian's attitude was very bad, and he spoke quite rudely. "Alright, I didn't call you here to chat. Have you heard anything from the Akatsuki lately?"

"Everything is as usual. Three days ago, Pain used the Illusionary Body Technique to convene a meeting. There were no special orders. Kakuzu and Hidan, those two zombies, are active in the Land of Rivers, but their exact location is unknown. My main body and that noisy brat Deidara are currently in the Land of Waterfalls. I can't tell you their exact location. As for Pain... he should still be staying in Amegakure!"

Orochimaru betrayed Akatsuki's information without any hesitation.

Anyway, it's not like it's the first time they've done this.

Furthermore,

From the very beginning, he joined Akatsuki with impure motives. Betraying Akatsuki's information would not give him any psychological burden. As for the constraint of operating in pairs... even Kakuzu, that old devil, could not keep an eye on him all the time, let alone Deidara, this tender young man.

He acknowledged that Deidara was quite skilled.

He certainly has the qualifications to join the Akatsuki organization.

But a ninja's skills aren't all about fighting and killing. With Deidara's experience and abilities, he simply wasn't capable of keeping an eye on Orochimaru's underhanded antics. For example, right now, his shadow clone has appeared in this base, which is less than 30 kilometers away from Konoha Village, and Deidara, who is currently working with his main body, is completely unaware of it.

If you were to ask how Sogen and Orochimaru came to cross paths,

The answer to this question is actually quite simple.

Back when the great war broke out between Konoha and Kumogakure, Sogen had already made a deal with Orochimaru using his intelligence advantage, obtaining the Bashōsen, one of the Six Paths Ninja Tools. With that experience, it was only natural that a second deal would follow.

Zongxian wanted to obtain the Six Paths Ninja Tools from Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was also very interested in some of the information and certain items that Sogen had presented.

As for whether there would be any problems with having dealings with a rogue ninja, Zongxian didn't think it was a problem. His cooperation with Orochimaru was entirely based on self-interest. As long as the self-interest was gone, he would not hesitate to swing his sword and cut off Orochimaru's head, although he might not be able to kill the old snake.

Anyway,

And so, the Hokage of Konoha and the S-rank rogue ninja secretly began a limited collaboration.

"Not even a sound?"

"What? What happened in Konoha?"

"You do not know?"

"Oh! So, something really interesting happened!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

Judging from this, we need to find an opportunity to give those spies left in Konoha a good talking-to, or if that doesn't work, we should replace them with a new batch of capable ones.

"It seems your intelligence network isn't that comprehensive, Orochimaru! You didn't even know such a big thing had happened... But it's understandable, strictly speaking, the incident hasn't affected Konoha yet. Kazuma and others, formerly members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, attacked Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure respectively two months ago, kidnapping ninjas with bloodline limits. We're still unsure what they're up to, but it's definitely not good for Konoha... You don't have a single clue here?"

"The Twelve Guardian Ninja, Kazuma... I know him, but there's really no movement from within the organization."