Two months passed quickly.
Sora's work at the Konoha Defense Force had proven remarkably fulfilling. She simply delegated everything to her subordinates while the money flowed steadily into her pocket—a truly wonderful arrangement.
Although the income wasn't as high as during the first week, it had stabilized since then. She earned hundreds of thousands of ryō daily, and on lucky days, more than a million. Over the two months—sixty days in total—Sora had collected more than 50 million ryō just from bail money alone.
This showed just how wealthy the Uchiha clan truly was.
Sora had also noticed that sometimes Uchiha Fugaku deliberately sent clan members to be imprisoned, then immediately paid their bail. Sometimes the bail money arrived even before the person had been sent to jail.
Sora naturally understood Uchiha Fugaku's intentions. He wanted stability; she wanted money. The two had formed an unspoken understanding.
During the past two months, Sora had recruited 20 ordinary ninjas to the Defense Force, though five or six had quit midway. They claimed they were leaving voluntarily because they feared retaliation from the Uchiha clan.
But now Sora needed people more than ever. Because of the high pay and benefits offered by the Konoha Defense Force—and because Uchiha ninjas now hid whenever they saw Defense Force patrols—becoming a member of the Defense Force had become something of an honor.
People were now trying desperately to join the Konoha Defense Force, but positions were limited.
As for Uchiha Shisui, his plan to help his clansmen had ended after only a few days.
While he was away from the Konoha Defense Force helping his people, Sora had established many new rules within the organization. These weren't Konoha's rules, but internal regulations for the Defense Force itself.
At the same time, Sora had unilaterally appointed team captains—all of whom were Root ninjas.
When Uchiha Shisui questioned her about this, Sora's answer left him speechless.
"I couldn't even find you," she had said. "How could I possibly make rules with your input? For the continued operation of the Konoha Defense Force, since the Vice-Captain was absent, I had no choice but to establish regulations on my own."
Since that day, Uchiha Shisui had remained at the Konoha Defense Force headquarters daily, never leaving, fearing that Sora would implement more problematic policies in his absence.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru had spent another two months as a homebody, unable to leave his base. If Sora hadn't known he was conducting research, she might have thought he had disappeared entirely.
And Namikaze Minato was working diligently to build his own power base. He was now making changes to ANBU, promoting his own people to serve as captains and planning to select candidates from among these promoted captains to serve as division leaders and deputies.
Danzo had been quiet during this period, mainly because there was no role for him to play at present. On Namikaze Minato's side, Sarutobi Hiruzen was helping him, so Danzo couldn't undermine Minato even if he wanted to. And with Sora targeting the Uchiha clan, all Danzo could do was monitor their activities.
The Konoha Defense Force was now running smoothly, with Sora having the final say in all matters.
Sora was also preparing to visit Ryūchi Cave to practice senjutsu.
After finishing work that evening, she called Kakashi, who had just returned from a mission, and they went home together.
At the dinner table, Sora said to Uzumaki Kushina and Kakashi, "Kushina, Kakashi, I need to leave for a while."
Uzumaki Kushina asked with confusion, "Did you accept some mission?"
Sora shook her head. "No, I plan to go to Ryūchi Cave to learn Sage Mode."
Uzumaki Kushina tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered. "Oh! Sora, you mentioned this before."
Sora nodded. "Yes. Now that the Konoha Defense Force is running smoothly, and other necessary tasks are almost complete, I want to use this time to visit Ryūchi Cave and learn senjutsu. And regarding the Konoha Defense Force, Kakashi, I want you to oversee it while I'm gone."
Upon hearing Sora's words, Kakashi accidentally inhaled the food in his mouth and began coughing violently.
Sora and Uzumaki Kushina simultaneously reached out and slapped Kakashi on the back.
"Puff!"
The food stuck in Kakashi's windpipe flew out.
But Kakashi felt as if half his life force had been knocked away, a burning pain spreading across his back.
There were definitely two handprints on his back now—absolutely! He would have been better off coughing it out on his own!
After calming down, Kakashi hesitated. "Sensei, I know how to fight, but I don't know anything about administration. How can I possibly oversee the Konoha Defense Force?"
Sora smiled. "It's precisely because you don't know these things that I'm giving you this opportunity to learn. If you only know how to fight but can't navigate politics, you'll only ever be used as a weapon, and others will try to take advantage of you."
She leaned forward. "You can survive without schemes, but you can't survive without understanding how to protect yourself politically. Look at my deputy captain, Uchiha Shisui. He was too straightforward before and had no political sense. I crushed him easily, and he couldn't do anything against me. At the same time, the Uchiha clan behind him couldn't challenge me either."
"My strength is indeed one reason they fear me, but more importantly, they have to consider the consequences if they try to deal with me. They fear my methods even more than my power."
"After being suppressed like this for two months, Uchiha Shisui has been forced to grow considerably. Now you can use him to practice and train your own political skills."
Kakashi still looked worried. "Sensei, what if I mess up?"
Sora replied indifferently, "If you mess up, you mess up. At worst, I'll abandon the Konoha Defense Force. It was originally just a tool to target the Uchiha clan. We can find different ways to continue applying pressure if necessary."
Kakashi's lips twitched. His teacher was truly carefree—willing to discard the most prestigious department in Konoha without a second thought.
Sora continued, "As long as you manage the Konoha Defense Force according to my methods, there won't be any major problems. I'll take responsibility for anything that goes wrong, so you can proceed with confidence."
With that assurance, Kakashi agreed. "I understand. I'll do my best, Sensei."
Uzumaki Kushina asked, "Sora, how long will you be at Ryūchi Cave?"
Sora thought for a moment before replying, "I'm not entirely sure. It depends on how quickly I progress with Sage Mode training. It might take a few months."
Uzumaki Kushina sighed. "Oh, we have to be separated for so long again. Sora, you have to work hard! It would be best if you could leave today and come back tomorrow!"
Sora showed a helpless smile. "It can't happen that quickly. I can only promise to return as soon as possible. Anyway, I've finished eating. I need to inform Lord Orochimaru about my journey to Ryūchi Cave. I'll be going now."
With that, Sora left home and headed toward Orochimaru's base.
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