Chapter 87: Two Master and Disciple Who Understand Each Other
As people grew older, the amount of time they slept gradually decreased.
Insufficient sleep, combined with an imbalance in qi and blood and getting out of bed too quickly in the morning, could easily lead to high blood pressure.
Accompanied by the chirping of birds in the early morning, Uchiha Ryoichi had just opened his eyes when he felt dizzy and groggy.
Too careless.
The more he thought about what he had done yesterday, the more foolish he felt.
He had actually believed that his cousin would make the right decision.
Sigh!
He got up and opened the window, breathing in the fresh air outside. His mood improved somewhat.
Too many fleas won't bite; too many debts won't cause trouble; and having too many nuclear weapons in the country won't make people afraid either.
Ryoichi rested both hands on the windowsill and continuously responded to the villagers' greetings.
"Good morning, old man!"
Hearing that familiar female voice, the irritation normally present on Ryoichi's face disappeared.
He lowered his head and looked at the red-eyed, black-haired woman standing on the street below, silently giving her a thumbs-up.
What a good teacher.
Yesterday, he had deliberately taken a detour so that he could "happen" to encounter Yūhi Kurenai.
After meeting her, he had "casually" mentioned Uchiha Ruri.
He hadn't expected her to come this early.
With that thought, Ryoichi jumped down from the window and landed steadily on the street, his knees straight and his bearing that of a master.
"Good morning, little girl."
He greeted her, then pointed his chin toward Uchiha Asuka's house, wearing a kindly smile.
"Did you come looking for Uchiha Ruri again today?"
"Yes!"
Yūhi Kurenai nodded slightly.
Thinking about Uchiha Ruri's zero score in cultural studies, she spoke softly.
"Ruri has already joined the Police Force, but I still hope he can attend the Ninja Academy for a while and study the cultural subjects."
"However, I'm not very confident that I can persuade him to attend the Ninja Academy."
"He's a very strong-willed child. It's difficult for others to persuade him to do something he doesn't want to do."
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Ryoichi snorted coldly before waving his hand arrogantly and declaring righteously,
"People should do things appropriate for their age."
"The Uchiha clan has plenty of people. We're certainly not short of manpower."
"This old man has already fired him from the Police Force."
"That Uchiha Asuka has gone too far."
"He actually had a five-year-old child working in the Police Force."
"Using his own clansman."
"Heartless."
Seeing the Uchiha elder's attitude suddenly undergo a complete 180-degree change, Yūhi Kurenai froze for a moment and muttered,
"He shouldn't be that kind of person, right?"
Uchiha Ryoichi shook his head.
"You may know a person's face, but you don't know their heart."
"Little girl, you lack experience and are easily deceived."
Even this experienced old man felt as though he had become yesterday's flower.
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered that Uchiha Asuka seemed to be single.
Although he had a girlfriend outside the village, making the relationship public wasn't easy. The key was whether the relationship could actually succeed.
Taking Pakura in would almost certainly offend Sunagakure.
That would be difficult to handle.
Someone from the village would be safer.
With that thought, he put his hands into his pockets and changed his tone.
"Oh, little Kurenai of the Yūhi clan, actually, Uchiha Asuka isn't that bad either."
"As a shinobi, he's reliable."
"As a member of the family, he's reliable."
"As a third-year student, he..."
"Hmph!"
Once this old man died of anger, there would be no elders left around him.
Seeing the old man's expression suddenly change again, Yūhi Kurenai stood there in a daze.
She quickly blinked, looked toward Uchiha Asuka's house, and said,
"Then, old man... I'll go look for Ruri now?"
"No need!"
Uchiha Ryoichi shook his head.
Then he lightly tapped the ground with his toes and leaped directly to the window of Uchiha Asuka's house.
Using his aged voice, he slowly shouted,
"Grandson, wake up and go to school! This old man says so!"
"Old man, are you serious?"
"Didn't what happened yesterday end already?"
"No. This old man is a Three-Tomoe Sharingan user, and he's narrow-minded."
"If I don't vent this anger, I won't be able to eat or sleep properly."
"..."
Hearing the commotion coming from inside the room, Yūhi Kurenai standing on the street suddenly became somewhat flustered.
She felt as though she had damaged the relationship between neighbors.
But...
Why was Uchiha Asuka's voice coming from Uchiha Ruri's room?
Uchiha Madara followed the commotion and walked out of the room.
He saw Ryoichi standing at the entrance to the courtyard, waving his arm in satisfaction as he greeted the child following behind Yūhi Kurenai.
"Boring."
He felt not the slightest emotional ripple toward these everyday farces.
Madara trembled as he made his way to the entrance of the bathroom.
He lowered his head and looked at the smooth floor before saying coldly,
"Get out."
"Okay!"
A grinning voice came from the floor in front of Madara.
Then Spiral Zetsu's voice came from outside the bathroom.
"Madara-sama, yesterday Uchiha Asuka shifted part of the blame for his failed mission onto Orochimaru."
"Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but Orochimaru didn't sleep well last night."
Uchiha Madara remained expressionless.
"Specifically, get the hell out."
Seeing Spiral Zetsu's head actually penetrate through the bathroom wall and poke inside, Uchiha Madara's expression darkened.
There was still one thing he hadn't figured out.
Why was White Zetsu, who possessed Hashirama's cells, so interested in defecation?
Could it have been inherited from Hashirama?
When had Hashirama secretly developed such a hobby?
After retracting his head from the bathroom wall, Spiral Zetsu stood there, his voice carrying a hint of regret.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi hasn't completely retired yet. He still handles the approval of some missions in Konoha."
"Yesterday, after Uchiha Asuka returned, he went to find him and handed him the scroll for the failed mission."
"After Hiruzen Sarutobi read the scroll, he asked about the reason for the failed mission as usual."
"Then Uchiha Asuka shifted half the responsibility for the failure onto himself and half onto Orochimaru."
"He said the mission failed because Orochimaru was born too late, wasn't strong enough, and his ninjutsu wasn't refined enough."
"And because he hadn't become Hokage yet."
"Otherwise, the incident involving the missing children wouldn't have happened."
"..."
Seeing that White Zetsu still hadn't gotten to the point, Uchiha Madara also lost his patience.
An excellent messenger made their superior feel exceptionally relaxed.
A foolish messenger made their superior suffer.
However...
The mention of Orochimaru's name caused his thoughts to stir slightly.
With the limited time he had remaining, he could certainly make use of him.
At this moment...
Orochimaru had once again received the information Danzō had sent yesterday, and his mood remained somewhat complicated.
He had already read the report several times.
And every time he read it, his feelings became more complicated.
The report stated:
Uchiha Asuka had shifted half the blame for the failed mission onto him.
He blamed Orochimaru for being born too late, for not being strong enough, for not having refined enough ninjutsu, and for failing to become Hokage.
Otherwise, the incident involving the missing children would never have happened.
At the time, when he saw that sentence, his heart sank.
His subconscious reaction was that he might have been exposed.
But because this information had been sent by Danzō, Orochimaru suppressed that thought.
Danzō was even more afraid of his identity being exposed than he was.
However, Orochimaru repeatedly recalled those words, and his eyes unconsciously narrowed.
Were those words trying to hint at something?
With that thought, he lowered his head and continued reading.
As Orochimaru, he was one of the few shinobi who had risen to the highest level without relying on any bloodline, kekkei genkai, or clan secret techniques.
The impression was extremely deep.
He believed that what Orochimaru-sama hated most in his life was probably all those complicated clan secret techniques, kekkei genkai, and the shinobi clan system.
But when he saw those words filled with praise, his mood became complicated once again.
He had indeed once entertained such ideas.
Developing certain ninja tools that required no foundation.
Applying certain curse seals capable of strengthening the body to ordinary people.
His experiments on Anko had failed.
If Orochimaru-sama became Hokage, then with the way he had taught Anko, he would certainly be able to greatly increase the strength of ordinary shinobi.
Moreover, Anko's talent was extremely ordinary, yet Orochimaru-sama had still managed to train her to this level.
That proved that he truly could train large numbers of ordinary shinobi.
Once the number of ordinary shinobi increased and internal competition intensified, the price of missions would naturally decrease.
At that point, ordinary villagers wouldn't be frightened away by mission fees.
They could save money for three months and then grit their teeth and come to issue a mission.
The traces left behind by the child traffickers couldn't possibly last for three months.
After reading the report once again, Orochimaru sat in his chair and quietly watched the morning light outside the window.
Although he didn't know what the other party was trying to convey through those words, he faintly felt that Uchiha Asuka must know some of his secrets.
Knowing the secret...
For the time being, he had no intention of leaving Konoha.
After a brief silence, his gaze fell upon Anko beside him.
Seeing her gloomy expression as she stared at the report, he chuckled softly.
"What do you want to say?"
"I think he's insulting me!"
Anko clenched the report tightly in her hands, her molars practically grinding themselves into powder.
For some reason, she always felt that there were five words hidden between the lines:
"Anko is an idiot!"