Uchiha's personal opinion

Orochimaru smiled insincerely and said, "Can you tell me the truth? How did you find my lab?"

As he spoke, the last words were almost spoken through gritted teeth.

"None of that matters."

Hatake Sakumo did not respond to Orochimaru's question, but simply lowered his eyelids slightly, "Since you don't believe me, why ask again?"

"You agree, right, Hokage-sama..."

Orochimaru was greatly alarmed upon hearing Sakumo Hatake's words.

"...Sakumo-kun's strength has improved a lot. It's not just his swordsmanship, but even his senses have become so sharp."

From the darkness, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, dressed in civilian clothes, slowly emerged. "He can even detect the Dark Travel Technique, truly..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, paused, then didn't continue.

As the Hokage, it's one thing to secretly eavesdrop on the conversations of his subordinates and students, but to be caught and called out is really embarrassing.

"Lord Hokage should take care of his health and smoke less..."

Sakumo Hatake spoke with concern and bowed slightly to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"is it?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, twitched his nose slightly, then a wry smile appeared on his face.

"It seems I've been in the village too long; I haven't even noticed something as small as this..."

Sakumo Hatake did not speak again.

“Orochimaru… Sakumo-kun is right.”

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, disregarded Sakumo Hatake's presence and turned to Orochimaru, saying, "Stop. Let bygones be bygones..."

Orochimaru took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Sarutobi-sensei... since you've said that, what other choice do I have but to accept it?"

"What do you think, Sakumo-kun?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, turned his gaze toward Sakumo Hatake.

"The Hokage is absolutely right."

Sakumo Hatake did not pursue the matter further. "After all, the original Root laboratory involves some unpleasant matters. It would be best if the Hokage arranged for the Anbu to handle it."

"Ugh……"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sighed, while Orochimaru lowered his head and remained silent.

"Now that you've gone to the east, does Deguang-kun have some good plan in mind?"

"I went to discuss the issue of redeeming the ninja clan bonds with Deguang-kun, and Deguang-kun gave me very practical advice."

Sakumo Hatake made no attempt to hide anything and answered the Hokage's question directly.

"...Really? That's wonderful!"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, smiled, but his heart was filled with bitterness.

It seems... there really is no chance to win Sakumo Hatake back to our side.

Sakumo Hatake has no intention of wavering on his stance.

Furthermore, the Uchiha Tokumitsu mentioned by Hatake Sakumo...

"Why Uchiha of all people..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, felt helpless but had no way to deal with it.

"Sasasa..."

The sound of footsteps echoed again from the treetops in the distance.

"Sakumo-sama, Orochimaru jounin..."

Uchiha Shiina greeted them cheerfully, then noticed the presence of a third person, "Hokage-sama!"

"...Hello, thank you for your hard work!"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, responded with a gentle smile and a slight nod.

Chapter 159 The Abnormality of the Prisoners

"Lord Tokumitsu..."

The Uzumaki ninja in charge of the laboratory work took the initiative to come to Uchiha Tokumitsu's central command tent and respectfully greeted him.

Uchiha Tokumitsu tilted his head and looked at the sky outside the door.

There was no heavy snow on a sunny day!

Why would the Uzumaki ninja, for the first time ever, come out of the lab to find me?

"...Out of money again?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment, then his expression turned rather unpleasant.

"of course not……"

The ninja bowed deeply in response.

"Does that mean the experiment has made progress?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu leaned down and asked, a glimmer of hope burning in his eyes.

"A key step in the experiment is being broken through..."

The Uzumaki ninja answered hesitantly, not daring to meet Uchiha Tokumitsu's burning gaze.

"So, what brings you here?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately lost interest.

"...The laboratory plans to add some staff."

"It's Uzumaki ninja," he said in a low voice.

"No problem, just send me the list."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said in a very magnanimous manner.

In any case, the biggest expense in the lab is the experiments themselves. Adding a few more staff members is just a matter of paying them more salaries, which is negligible compared to the high costs of maintaining the lab's operation.

"This...we don't know the name either."

"I feel a little awkward," the ninja said.

"Not a member of the Uzumaki clan? Then which department are they from?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned and asked, "Personnel transfers in other departments might be more complicated, and how did you obtain their information?"

"It's like this, Lord Deguang, perhaps you've misunderstood something..."

The Uzumaki ninja rubbed his hands together, bowed, and replied, "We don't plan to transfer Konoha ninjas to the lab, but rather Kirigakure prisoners held in the old camp of the Land of Whirlpools, preferably those few bloodline limit ninjas..."

"Oh?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu then remembered that he had captured several other Kirigakure bloodline ninjas and had left them at the old base in the Land of Whirlpools without ever having had a chance to visit them.

"What do you need those prisoners from the Hidden Mist Village for? They're hard to control!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu asked casually.

"Their role in joining the lab was... to be experimented on."

The ninja said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Is it used for human experimentation?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat speechless.

"While the meaning is correct, Lord Deguang's statement is still not rigorous enough. Our experiment is not necessarily life-threatening..."

The ninja's voice grew fainter and fainter.

"I see……"

Uchiha Tokumitsu clicked his tongue and agreed to the Uzumaki ninja's request, "I'll go take a look myself tomorrow. If they're not of much value, I'll hand them over to the lab!"

"Also... just in case, could Lord Tokukō send a squad of Uchiha ninjas to guard the laboratory? That would ensure safety."

"It's Uzumaki Ninja," the ninja said again.

"……no problem!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu glanced at him with some surprise, then agreed.

The reason he took the initiative to request the dispatch of Uchiha ninjas to the laboratory was to dispel Uchiha Tokumitsu's concerns and to express that he had no ulterior motives.

If anyone else had said these words, Uchiha Tokumitsu wouldn't have found it strange. But those selected to join the laboratory were all sealing technique experts from the Uzumaki clan. As academic ninjas who had devoted their lives to studying sealing techniques, it was quite rare for them to say such things.

Do you have any other requests?

Uchiha Tokumitsu asked casually.

He regretted it as soon as he finished speaking.

"If possible, please ask Lord Deguang to allocate some more funds to purchase some equipment!"

Upon hearing this, the ninja was overjoyed and quickly spoke up.

"...Submit the list later!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu couldn't say anything more, so he had to swallow his pride and accept it.

……

The next day, Uchiha Tokumitsu arrived at the camp of his loyal garrison in the Land of Whirlpools.

"Lord Deguang, welcome!"

Hyuga Shuhiro, the Jonin in charge of camp affairs, jogged over and bowed to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

"How are those special prisoners from Kirigakure doing now? Are they still alive?"

Without wasting words, Uchiha Tokumitsu asked as he walked into the camp.