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Inside the Leaf Village Frontline Camp.
Orochimaru revealed his blood-red tongue, eyeing the other party with an extremely perverted look, his eyes filled with excitement as if to say, 'This isn't enough. Tell me the intelligence of the Uchiha Clan and let me see what it is. As for threats? Ha, he had never considered them.
Threatening a Sannin? Don't you fear he will turn around and collaborate with Danzo and the entire Leaf Village to target the Uchiha Clan? No one is a fool.
Seeing Orochimaru's interest piqued, Uchiha Clan Night felt secretly relieved. Fortunately, he knew the direction of this world. With the future intelligence in hand, he wasn't afraid of failing to deceive the other party.
"According to reliable intelligence, one of Orochimaru-sama's Wood Release experimental subjects managed to survive and awakened a bloodline limit. He is currently in Root, codenamed 'Agent Alpha.'"
After saying all this, Uchiha Clan Night felt secretly pleased. He didn't believe that Orochimaru, who had studied all the Leaf Village's data, could be unaware of the true power of Wood Release. Now, learning that Wood Release had reappeared and was in the hands of someone who had slipped through his fingers, wouldn't he be shocked?
Trading a piece of information he didn't use, just knowing it, for benefits was a profitable deal. As for revealing the future of the Wood Release ninja, Yamanaka, what did it have to do with him? Knowing the future, he naturally wanted to maximize his own benefits.
Sure enough, when Orochimaru heard that one of his former experimental subjects had survived and awakened Wood Release, his expression changed. However, he quickly suppressed the excitement in his heart and looked at the Uchiha Clan member before him with interest.
"Ha, it seems the Uchiha Clan's intelligence is not as rudimentary as I imagined. You even managed to gather information on Root."
Orochimaru was genuinely shocked. Root's ninjas were almost all branded with the Tongue Seal. In terms of keeping secrets, Root was undoubtedly one of the best in the ninja world. Yet, the Uchiha Clan had managed to infiltrate Root.
It wasn't that the Uchiha Clan lacked the ability. As the first noble family of the Leaf Village, their strength was unquestionable. But this was intelligence, not strength.
Sure enough, as Uchiha Clan Night had predicted, Orochimaru attributed everything to the Uchiha Clan. After all, a mere Chunin with one Sharingan tomoe was nothing, let alone an elite Jonin with three tomoe.
"Ha, Night, you are quite impressive. Others only know that you use your appearance to get close to Anko to achieve your goals, while more people notice the other elite Uchiha Clan squad. Ha, but they don't know that Night is the heart of the Uchiha Clan."
At this moment, Orochimaru's smile was full of understanding. Night was the heart of the Uchiha Clan, though his strength was not great, it was precisely because of this that he could better transmit intelligence.
On the surface, he used his appearance to get close to his disciple Anko to achieve certain goals, but in reality, he was directly passing intelligence to him. This was a clever move, and the Uchiha Clan had truly excelled, even making him somewhat pleased. He had indeed underestimated the Uchiha Clan.
"So, Night, you will form a team with Anko tomorrow. It will be perfect for you to be teammates with Anko."
With a hoarse smile, Orochimaru had already decided to get closer to the Uchiha Clan to see how much unexpected intelligence they had and how many surprises they could bring him.
Hearing Orochimaru's arrangement, Uchiha Clan Night immediately showed a professional smile, secretly feeling relieved. Finally, he had achieved his goal. As long as he could quickly get the one million ryō promised by the elders, he would be one step closer to his plan.
"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama. This intelligence was discovered by chance. It seems even the Third Hokage is unaware, and this information was investigated under the Fourth Hokage's secret orders."
Uchiha Clan Night nodded gratefully and immediately shifted the blame. The Fourth Hokage was already in the belly of the Shinigami, so Orochimaru couldn't verify it. Anyway, it had nothing to do with him; he was just passing on the intelligence. You must ensure the safety of this line.
Hearing this, Orochimaru's expression changed. Ah, that's why. Now everything made sense.
Minato Namikaze had been the Fourth Hokage for only a year, but he was still the Hokage and naturally had to deal with power struggles. This was the first time in the history of the Leaf Village and the ninja world that two Hokages existed simultaneously.
Usually, the predecessor would die in battle before the successor took office. But now, the Third Hokage was still alive, not having died in battle, so he naturally retained some power. This was the Third Hokage's direct command of the ANBU.
(In the anime, during the Nine-Tails' attack, someone clearly shouted, 'It's the Third Hokage's ANBU,' indicating that the Fourth Hokage also had his own ANBU.)
Thus, Minato needed to cultivate his own people. But cultivating was too slow, so a faster method was to recruit, and the Uchiha Clan, who were not favored, were the best candidates for recruitment.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru couldn't help but sigh. No wonder Minato and Fugaku were so close, and even the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Uchiha Mikoto were so close. It turned out that the young boy had grown into a competent politician, and everything was due to his underestimation.
As the Fourth Hokage, Minato, being at the center of power, naturally had easier access to intelligence, especially with the unpredictable Flying Thunder God technique.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Minato had discovered the existence of the Wood Release ninja and, lacking the power to investigate, the Uchiha Clan became the best choice, which made perfect sense.
If Uchiha Clan Night knew Orochimaru's deductions, he would probably give a big thumbs up. Yes, that's exactly right.
"Orochimaru-sama, the Uchiha Clan will do everything to help you become the Fifth Hokage."
At this moment, Uchiha Clan Night expressed his loyalty with a respectful and passionate face, and Orochimaru also let out his unique hoarse laugh.
"Ha, Night, Anko is my student, and this team is personally led by me."
Hearing this, Uchiha Clan Night immediately showed an excited look, bowing deeply and shouting, "Teacher Orochimaru."
Forget about face and the fact that Orochimaru would defect in the future. The current benefits were the most important. Besides, Orochimaru defected due to human experimentation, and if a true reckoning were to happen, the number of ninjas supporting Orochimaru would be countless, making it impossible to punish them all.
Moreover, he had the entire Uchiha Clan behind him. According to his calculations, Orochimaru would defect in two years at the earliest. By then, if he couldn't stop it, he would benefit from it.
Stopping it? Orochimaru was not interested in the Uchiha Clan now, but that was before he had suffered the Mangekyou Sharingan. If he really became Hokage, the Uchiha Clan might not be exterminated, but they would definitely become regular visitors to Orochimaru's laboratory.
So he wouldn't stop it; instead, he would seek immense benefits. Otherwise, how long would it take to gather enough gold to buy a Mangekyou Sharingan?
And Orochimaru's defection could be easily predicted. Uchiha Clan Night sneered. As soon as the Fourth Hokage died, the borders became unstable. Any discerning person knew that once the borders stabilized, it would be time to elect the Fifth Hokage.
The instability of the borders would last at least a year or two, and Orochimaru's defection was not just Danzo's fault but a result of politics.
As long as Danzo wanted to become Hokage, he wouldn't want a young man like Orochimaru to take office. On the other hand, the political interests of the Third Hokage's faction, even if Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want it, his clan and families like Ino-Shika-Cho would silently accept it for their own interests.
(End of Chapter)