Uchiha's personal opinion

"All history in the world is history of the past..."

The White Snake Immortal exhaled another enormous smoke ring, "And one thing that humans, or rather all intelligent life, have in common is that the only lesson they learn from history is that intelligent beings never truly learn from their mistakes..."

"Even if humanity were to become extinct one day, newly born intelligent beings could still become the source of power for Ryuchi Cave. This is the biggest difference between Ryuchi Cave and Mount Myoboku..."

"The White Snake Immortal truly has profound insight..."

Orochimaru bowed respectfully, completely convinced.

"Not really..."

The White Snake Sage said casually, "Besides, unexpected things always happen in the ninja world, but if you look back at history, you can always find corresponding parallels..."

"I understand……"

Orochimaru bowed again.

"When you are able to transcend your current limitations and truly view things from a historical perspective, then the gates of Ryūchi Cave will open for you once more, and the immortal arts and longevity secrets of the Ryūchi Cave lineage will be imparted to you without reservation..."

The White Snake Sage offered Orochimaru an incredibly tempting bait.

"Celestial arts..."

"Immortality..."

Orochimaru's expression finally changed.

His close friend, with whom he had a complicated relationship, had subtly surpassed him in power since mastering the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, which was intolerable to Orochimaru, who was always proud and arrogant.

Now, the immortal arts lineage of Ryuchi Cave, which he had contracted with, has finally extended an olive branch to him...

"...But I seem unable to accept the Great Immortal's poisonous fangs being injected into me, thus entering Immortal Mode."

After Orochimaru calmed down, he spoke again.

"That's just the crudest method; only the most reckless and audacious fools would dare to inject venom through fangs..."

The White Snake Sage let out another enigmatic laugh: "You don't think... Sage Techniques are just the so-called Sage Mode and a few more powerful ninjutsu, do you?"

Orochimaru was speechless.

"Once your state of mind reaches the standard for cultivating the Dragon Cave Immortal Techniques, you will naturally understand. There's no use saying anything now..."

The White Snake Immortal put down his pipe and comfortably exhaled the last smoke ring: "Go back and do what you need to do. After all, even if you can't escape history, you can still live in the present..."

"...Thank you for your guidance, great immortal."

Orochimaru pondered for a long time, but still felt completely clueless.

However, the White Snake Immortal seemed to be indicating that he wanted to see the guest off, so he had no choice but to take his leave.

The flower snake that led Orochimaru to the White Snake Sage's palace in Ryuchi Cave suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gestured for Orochimaru to follow him out of the palace.

Guided by the flower snake, Orochimaru no longer ventured into the dark this time, but instead entered a small path.

"I'll leave you here..."

The flower snake stopped at the entrance to a huge underground snake cave.

"The Great Immortal has already bestowed a secret spell upon you. As long as you dispel the Reverse Spirit Spell, you can return to where you came from."

The flower snake flicked its tongue and said.

The millions of venomous snakes in the snake pit seemed very interested in Orochimaru, but dared not crawl over because of the presence of the flower snake. So, ten meters away from the man and the snake, countless venomous snakes flicked their tongues and formed a circle around him. Their green, red, and yellow eyes were all fixed on Orochimaru, whose expression remained unchanged.

"...What are they?"

Orochimaru pointed to the various venomous snakes of different sizes around him.

"...just a bunch of stupid, mindless creatures."

The flower snake seemed to say with great disdain, "Coveting power that doesn't belong to them, but lacking the ability to seize it, they can only rely on their sheer numbers to cover up their weakness and incompetence..."

Orochimaru suddenly realized that this gluttonous flower snake actually understood some profound truths.

"Since they're stupid... I guess I should be able to use them, right?"

Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and washed his face.

"Hum hum……"

The flower snake slowly twisted its body and crawled back to the snake den path it had just passed.

"That's your business~ Bringing you here is your good fortune. Now that you've been captured, it's up to you to do what you want with you... To Ryuchi Cave, you're far more valuable than these idiots. Do whatever you want with them."

"That makes things easier..."

Orochimaru's vertical pupils became increasingly eerie, and his body gradually grew snake-like scales. His feet secreted a highly corrosive mucus that corroded his pants while simultaneously closing up to form a snake tail.

As the flower snake slithered into the path, the large and small venomous snakes that had been piled up high around Orochimaru rushed towards him like an avalanche.

"The Eight-Headed Serpent Technique!"

Orochimaru's vertical pupils radiated endless killing intent and ruthlessness. After letting out a sharp shriek, his body rapidly expanded and elongated, eventually transforming into an eight-headed giant serpent. He swayed his massive body and devoured the seemingly endless swarm of venomous snakes.

"No wonder it's known as a venomous snake in human skin..."

At the entrance to the Immortal's Palace in Ryuchi Cave, the Three Goddesses floated in mid-air, commenting on a water mirror that had condensed in front of them.

"Although ninjas are physically weak, their descriptions are quite accurate..."

Princess Ichikishima commented.

"If this continues, will this fake snake become our new little sister?"

Princess Tsurugi stared intently at Orochimaru's figure in the water mirror, where he had transformed into an eight-headed serpent and was devouring everything around him. She couldn't help but lick her lips.

"The premise is that he doesn't get killed by that monster from the Uchiha clan."

Tianxin Shenji snorted coldly.

"A monster with neither past nor future..."

Princess Tsurugi's eyes regained their clarity: "Why do Kaguya-sama's descendants always produce such inexplicable monsters..."

Chapter 285 The Ninja Clan Knows No Borders

After meeting with the envoys from Iwagakure and Kumogakure at Midway Island, Uchiha Tokumitsu hurriedly returned to Fubo Castle to arrange various affairs in the Land of Water before preparing to return to Konoha.

After Kirigakure became a puppet of the shogunate, the Land of Water, which willingly offered the title of Kanpaku, also could not escape the control of the shogunate.

A large number of Shogunate ninjas were transferred north to take over the defenses of various locations in the Land of Water. Kirigakure ninjas were also transferred to join the garrison and mixed in, so as to cultivate camaraderie between the two sides and achieve actual control.

Kirigakure Village also follows the old principles of mysticism, while the coastal areas of the Land of Water implement a policy of isolation. Except for fishermen and civilian ships in the inland sea, all ocean-going merchant ships are uniformly requisitioned by the shogunate through "redemption". Foreign trade and communication are entrusted to the United Company.

As for the shogunate's ironclad fleet, it also formed patrol formations to carry out a maritime blockade. Any ships on the sea that did not belong to the shogunate were indiscriminately destroyed on the spot.

This time, the shareholders of the joint venture, namely the Uchiha clan and their affiliated ninja clans, made a fortune.

Is there any business in this world more profitable than controlling a large country?

It can be foreseen that the future development momentum and prospects of the Uchiha clan and its affiliated ninja clans are absolutely immeasurable!

The reason why Uchiha Tokumitsu was in such a hurry to return to the village was twofold: first, because of a letter from his father, Uchiha Nakagen; and second, because he needed to go back to deal with the discontent within the village that was "not concerned about scarcity but about inequality."

In his father Uchiha Nakagen's letter, he mentioned that Elder Setsuna seemed to have some health problems, and that the elder also seemed to have some things to explain to Uchiha Tokumitsu in person.

Uchiha Tokumitsu naturally wouldn't overlook the significance of the letter.

Moreover, Elder Setsuna was also the guide in this life, and his support for Uchiha Tokumitsu at the beginning of his rise was very significant.

On his way back to Konoha, Uchiha Tokumitsu pondered another question.

This refers to the current hot topic in Konoha: the so-called "ninja clans without borders."

Naturally, as with other major topics of discussion in Konoha in the past, the Konoha ninjas had mixed opinions on this viewpoint.

Those who support and believe that "ninjas have no borders" is a legitimate and reasonable group are naturally members of the ninja clan, and moreover, they have gained real benefits during the expansion of the shogunate.

Those who opposed the idea were mainly commoner ninjas from Konoha and ninjas from various small ninja clans.

The most troublesome aspect also stems from this point—most of the members of Hatake Sakumo's Reform Society are commoner ninjas or from small ninja clans.

Therefore, this was also seen by Uchiha Tokumitsu as a major event that could shake the alliance between the two sides.

In Uchiha Tokumitsu's memory, Hatake Sakumo was a relatively easily influenced person, and also a person who, although pure, was actually a "Konoha supremacist" by nature.

Therefore, in fact, Sakumo Hatake could be influenced by others and unknowingly change his own stance.

Just like how Uchiha Tokumitsu used various means to pull Hatake Sakumo to the opposite side of the Hokage faction, thereby making him his ally.

But human nature is inherently inclined to want both.

There are some things that Uchiha Tokumitsu can do himself, but that doesn't mean he's willing to see others imitate him.

In particular, this will also affect the Uchiha clan's rear.

"Lord Tokumitsu..."

A servant ninja swiftly approached Uchiha Tokumitsu and handed him a piece of intelligence with both hands.

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually opened the package, glanced at it briefly, and then stopped in his tracks.

Although the accompanying ninja army was puzzled, they immediately stopped advancing and quickly deployed a perimeter.

"...Mimura Yomaki!"

The intelligence report mentioned an incident that occurred a few hours earlier—Mimura Yomaki demanded at a regular session of the House of Representatives that the Mobile Force, led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Sakumo Hatake, be abolished!

The mobile unit is not only composed of Jonin from the Uchiha clan, but also symbolizes the alliance between Hatake Sakumo and the Uchiha clan!

What's particularly intriguing is that Sakumo Hatake didn't immediately refuse, but hesitated for a long time before choosing to put the matter aside for later discussion!

Veins bulged on Uchiha Tokumitsu's forehead.

In addition, Mimura Yoru also put forward a series of proposals to reduce the number of ninja troops, demanding that one-tenth of the current standing ninja troops in Konoha be reduced within one year, and striving to reduce the number of standing ninja troops to one-fifth of the current number within three years!

Disbanding the standing ninja army... this is tantamount to taking away Uchiha Tokumitsu's life! It's also undermining the Uchiha clan!

Uchiha Tokumitsu began to wonder if his lenient treatment of the former Hokage's faction had led those with ulterior motives to indulge in unrealistic fantasies.

Especially Mimura Yoru!

Uchiha Tokumitsu always regarded him as Hatake Sakumo's right-hand man and took good care of him. Even when dividing the spoils after defeating the Hokage faction, he entrusted the Konoha mission center to him because he considered him one of his own!

Unexpectedly, he's the one who started stabbing us in the back!