Uchiha's personal opinion

"I am deeply grateful for your kindness, my lord! I will repay your honor with all the passion of the rest of my life!"

The director of the vortex research immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude.

"Go back...you should get some rest too."

Uchiha Tokumitsu waved for the head of the Uzumaki Research Institute to leave.

Nowadays, the Uzumaki clan and the Uchiha clan are practically inseparable. Their relationship is even closer than that of some affiliated ninja clans. Some members of the two clans of marriageable age have even entered into romantic relationships. Therefore, Uchiha Tokumitsu doesn't mind letting the Uzumaki clan members benefit from some of these relationships.

Moreover, Uchiha Tokumitsu understood the principle that "to take, one must first give."

Although the research on Sage Chakra has not made any optimistic progress, Uchiha Tokumitsu was inspired by it and came up with a brand new idea.

That is to try to use fire release to fuse more tailed beast chakra in order to obtain the ultimate chakra attribute; and the strongest of the tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails, is inside the Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki!

Chapter 331 The Toad's Trail

In the forest region between the western part of the Land of Frost and the Land of Waterfall, a team of counter-terrorism ninjas, led by Captain Uchiha Yatsushiro, carefully conducts a search.

The Hyuga ninja, his eyes wide with disbelief, scanned the surroundings. The Aburame ninja's insects searched every possible crevice, while the Inuzuka ninja's dogs sniffed out any unusual smells in the air. With the combined efforts of the three strongest reconnaissance ninja clans in Konoha, there was virtually no chance of any ninja escaping.

However, their search did not go smoothly.

"Captain Yashiro, how accurate is our intelligence?"

A young Uchiha Chunin in the group, relying on his clan affiliation, complained to Captain Uchiha Yatsuho: "We've been wandering around this area for days..."

Uchiha Hachimoku glared at him but didn't say anything.

"Why don't we just close the case like this? I don't see anything wrong with it..."

The Uchiha Chunin spoke for his teammates.

"Shut up!"

Before he could finish speaking, Uchiha Yatsuho interrupted his junior's complaints with a low, angry shout.

"The intelligence has already located Jiraiya's whereabouts, how can we just give up like this!"

The Eighth Hokage of Uchiha angrily rebuked, "Searching is much simpler than fighting on the battlefield. If you can't even handle this, then hurry back to the village, get married, and have children! Don't come out here and embarrass the clan!"

"You should know that when I fought under Lord Deguang, the conditions were even worse than they are now!"

"During the Second Shinobi World War, I fought under Lord Tokumitsu from the Land of Grass all the way to the Land of Rivers, and I never heard a single member of my clan complain about the hardships or fatigue. How come you've become so pretentious in your generation?!"

"And you bunch of guys! You're the worst group of subordinates I've ever managed!"

The young Uchiha Chunin was scolded in front of everyone, his face turning red with anger, while the other anti-terrorism ninjas were also scolded and made to look down.

"If I hadn't been injured on the battlefield in the Land of Rain, I wouldn't have had to leave the Red Guard, and I wouldn't be in this situation where I have to take care of you little brats!"

"How can someone so weak be a good ninja! You should be ashamed!"

"Seriously! Both the family and the village are getting worse with each generation!"

The Eighth Hokage of Uchiha continued to expand the scope of his map-based attacks, leaving a group of subordinates looking ashamed and dejected. Three subordinates who were using their respective bloodline abilities or clan secret techniques to scout ahead pretended to be completely focused, not daring to turn around and see their companions making fools of themselves.

However, although Uchiha Hachimoku made such complaints, it was actually just to relieve his own irritability.

In addition to the squad he led, the counter-terrorism forces deployed a total of ten squads, comprising over a thousand ninjas, to conduct a thorough search of the area. The reason for this was that Uchiha Hachidai had inadvertently discovered traces of Jiraiya's frequent appearances in a small town on the border.

As for how he discovered it... it's actually quite funny—the Eighth Hokage of Uchiha had a condition different from that of ordinary clan members called "the disease of a lonely man," and he always liked to spend his vacations indulging in pleasures. It was while resting in a small border town that he learned from a singing girl in a tavern that Jiraiya had visited the place many times.

Although the source of this information was somewhat unorthodox, Uchiha Yatsushiro still faithfully reported it to his superiors and also got reimbursed for his trip to the tavern. However, the search conducted under Uchiha Shiina's command did not find any trace of Jiraiya or the Greninja of Mount Myōboku.

Therefore, many of his colleagues in the counter-terrorism unit began to whisper among themselves, believing that Uchiha Hachidai had simply picked up some random, irrelevant intelligence to submit as a report in order to reimburse his expenses for sleeping with prostitutes, which put Uchiha Hachidai under a lot of pressure.

If it weren't for the benefits he received from Lord Tokuko when he returned to the village not long ago, which improved Uchiha Hachimoku's mindset, he would have already been furious and started a fight with his colleagues, given his usual personality.

"Silence!"

Suddenly, the Hyuga ninja at the front of the group made a tactical hand signal indicating "anomaly detected," and the ninjas in the squad immediately went into silence.

"What was discovered?"

Uchiha Hachiro bowed and approached the Hyuga ninja who was scrutinizing him closely with his Byakugan, asking in a low voice.

"...Confirming."

The veins around the Hyuga ninja's eyes bulged, and his Byakugan eyes were wide open to the extreme.

Uchiha Hachimoku nodded dismissively.

In fact, this situation has occurred many times during the search process. However, it is because the ninja frogs of Mount Myōboku look similar to ordinary frogs in the ninja world. Although the Hyuga ninja accompanying the team has a long field of vision, he cannot distinguish whether the frogs he sees have chakra. Therefore, after going through a lot of trouble, he often finds that what he has captured is just an ordinary forest frog.

After experiencing multiple cycles of excitement and disappointment, Uchiha Hachimoku's emotions became much more stable, and he was no longer so easily impulsive.

"Five kilometers ahead..."

The Hyuga ninja suddenly whispered, "There's a cave in the valley, and around the entrance there are more than ten frogs of different species..."

"Can't be confirmed as a regular Greninja?"

The Eighth Hokage of Uchiha asked.

"Yes……"

The Hyuga ninja nodded.

Uchiha Yatsushiro immediately signaled to the Aburame ninja and Inuzuka ninja to begin their reconnaissance.

Although the Hyuga ninja's report was rather conservative, based on their report of "different species of frogs gathering together," Uchiha Yatsuho gained some confidence.

Even if it wasn't the Akatsuki's main base, it would at least be one of the strongholds of the Greninja of Mount Myōboku in the ninja world...

Uchiha Hachimoku licked his lips, somewhat excited.

Perhaps the time has come to wash away the stigma of fraudulently obtaining funding...

Under the command of the Eighth Hokage Uchiha, the Yamanaka clan ninjas quickly connected with the two scouts using a mental jutsu. A ninja specializing in sealing techniques awkwardly activated a chakra shielding barrier, and the team steadily advanced under the whispered guidance of the Byakugan ninja.

"Confirmed to be Greninja!"

After receiving reports from two scout ninjas approaching, the mountain ninja immediately reported in a low voice.

"Tell them to lie in wait! Don't alert them!"

Uchiha Hachimoku's breathing became slightly heavier.

"Captain, should we notify the other detachments?"

The communications ninja carrying the radio hesitated for a long time before finally mustering up the courage to ask a question.

"...Can you determine the coordinates?"

Uchiha Hachimoku hesitated for a moment, then turned to Asahita and asked the ninja.

"We can only determine the general location, but guiding other detachments to within support range shouldn't be a problem..."

The Hyuga ninja took out a map, examined it for a moment, scratched his head, and said embarrassedly.

Due to the limitations of map accuracy, he could only provide a rough, approximate range.

This was exactly the effect that the Eighth Hokage Uchiha wanted.

"Contact other detachments!"

Uchiha Hachiho instructed the Hyuga ninja to inform the communications ninja of the coordinates, then added, "Make sure they sneak over here discreetly!"

After all, the credit is readily available, and not informing colleagues would raise suspicions of hoarding the merits; but if the credit is accurately reported, a significant portion of the victory after wiping out these ninja frogs will be shared!

Uchiha Hachimoku was hoping to redeem himself with this victory and apply to be transferred back to the village's police department!

Taking out a square pendant with an embedded photo from his pocket, Uchiha Hachimoku carefully examined the lovely person in the photo, his heart filled with warmth.

"Wait for me... my dear Yuki!"

Although he was a prodigal son, the Eighth Hokage of Uchiha still had someone he loved, who was also a member of the Uchiha clan. This was the reason why the other clan members envied, were jealous of, and hated him.

"Captain, we've notified four detachments, and they're on their way..."

After sending the telegram and receiving the reply, the communications ninja reported to Uchiha Hachimoku.

"very good!"

Uchiha Hachimoku gave his usual compliment and then fell silent.

"Captain, at what distance are we preparing to launch our attack?"

A young Chunin from the same clan, who had just been reprimanded by the Eighth Hokage of Uchiha, came over and asked.

"...Wait for the itinerary information from each detachment, and do not act rashly!"

After much hesitation, the Eighth Hokage Uchiha uttered words that shocked his subordinates.

"……this?"

The subordinates looked at each other in bewilderment.

Their captain, the former member of the Red Guard, a Konoha Jonin, and the proud three-tomoe—Uchiha Yatsuho—was never one to be modest!

Did the sun rise in the west?

The mountain ninja subconsciously looked up at the sky.

Nothing seems amiss!

How did she change her personality so suddenly?

"No questioning, execute immediately!"

Uchiha Hachimoku cursed viciously.

The mountain ninja immediately and obediently notified his two companions who were lying in ambush, and the others returned to their hiding positions.

"call……"

Uchiha Hachiro touched the pendant hidden in his Jonin vest again, let out a soft breath, and felt a little calmer.

For some reason, just as he was about to give the order to launch the attack, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and palpitations, and his eyes also felt hot. After hesitating for a long time, he unusually canceled the order to attack.

"It's weird..."

After entering a state of infiltration and waiting for friendly forces to arrive, Uchiha Yatsuho felt the strange sensations in his body gradually fade away, but he couldn't understand why.

……