I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Amegakure, Akatsuki's stronghold.

Kakuzu sat in a corner of the underground cavern, a stack of wanted posters spread out in front of him. His fingers traced over the portraits, calculating the bounty amounts.

Three million, five million, eight million.

He picked up a card that depicted a man with a muscular face and read, "Reward of seven million taels, dead or alive."

Kakuzu's lips twitched slightly as he folded the bounty poster and stuffed it into his pocket.

Stand up, put on a straw hat, and walk out of the cave.

Rainwater dripped down the eaves, hitting the stone slabs and splashing up tiny droplets.

He disappeared into the rain.

-

Orochimaru is in the laboratory.

He stood in front of the culture tank, behind which was a corpse, its skin pale and covered with stitches.

He picked up a pen, wrote a few lines of data in his notebook, and then put it down.

Sasori sat on the puppet platform opposite, his fingers resting on chakra threads, manipulating a newly created puppet. The puppet's arm rose, its five fingers opening and closing in sequence, the movements fluid, as if it were alive.

"Your puppet is becoming more and more like a human." Orochimaru didn't turn around.

"Not enough." Scorpion's voice came from behind the mask, muffled. "The flexibility of your joints is still lacking."

"Is it necessary to conduct live human trials?"

Scorpion's fingers paused for a moment. "It's necessary."

Orochimaru turned around, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Next time Kakuzu goes out to collect money, have him bring a few back."

Scorpion remained silent, continuing to adjust the puppet. The cave fell silent, broken only by the sound of raindrops falling, one after another, like some kind of countdown.

-

Konan walked in from outside, holding a paper umbrella. She walked up to Pain and handed him a scroll. "Kakuzu went to the Land of Fire this time, targeting seven individuals with a total bounty of approximately thirty million ryo."

Pain took the scroll but didn't open it. "Tell him not to cause trouble. The Land of Fire is now Konoha's territory, and the Fourth Hokage of Konoha is in danger."

Payne set the scroll aside and gazed at the rain outside the window. His eyes, like those of Rinnegan, were devoid of emotion. "The Five Great Nations have begun to take notice of us."

Xiao Nan was silent for a moment. "Do we need to speed things up?"

"No rush," Payne said calmly. "Wait until we have enough money and everyone is here. Now is not the time."

Xiao Nan didn't ask any more questions. She opened her paper umbrella, turned around, and walked out of the cave. Rain splashed from the edge of the umbrella, shimmering in the hazy sunlight.

-

Deep within the Akatsuki stronghold in Amegakure.

Obito sat alone in the darkness, his Sharingan slowly rotating through the holes in his mask. White Zetsu emerged from the rock wall and handed him a sealing scroll.

"From Konoha."

Obito broke the seal and unfolded the paper. The handwriting was thin and delicate, the same as Sakugo's.

"The situation in Konoha has stabilized. Kakuzu has been active in the Land of Fire recently, his target is unknown. Danzo is dead, as are Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. The Konoha leadership has been purged. Also, we need the location of Orochimaru's stronghold."

Obito glanced at the note, then held it close to the candlelight. The flame licked the paper, twisting and charring the writing until it turned to ashes. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He didn't care about Kakuzu's affairs.

Xiao needs money, and Jiao can make money; that's enough.

The high-ranking officials of Konoha have been evacuated, and Sakugo is telling him that it is safe there now.

But Orochimaru… he’s a venomous snake. Is Sakugo going to find him?

Obito opened his eyes, used Kamui to retrieve a scroll from another dimension, unfolded it, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

"The Land of Fields, the southern stronghold. He is dangerous."

There were no further instructions. Shuoge wasn't a brat who needed to be taught.

He rolled up the scroll and handed it to White Zetsu. "Send it over."

Bai Jue took it and sank into the rock wall.

Obito sat alone in the darkness, the candlelight flickering. He remembered Sakugo's eyes with their three black crescent moons, and his silhouette standing before the memorial stone.

He clenched his fist, then relaxed it.

……

……

……

A secret outpost, late at night.

Sakugo held Obito's reply close to the candle flame and burned it to ashes.

The words on the note kept replaying in his mind—"Tianguo, southern stronghold. He's dangerous." He needed to leave the village, but he couldn't reveal his true purpose.

For a ninja to leave the village without permission is tantamount to defection, so a legitimate mission must be arranged as cover.

-

The next day, he went to the Hokage's office.

Minato pushed a scroll in front of Sakugo. "There have been unidentified forces operating near the border of the Land of Rice Fields recently. The Anbu can't spare any personnel, so you'll go and investigate. Just scout, don't make contact."

Shuoge unrolled the scroll, glanced at it, folded it, and stuffed it into his pocket.

……

……

……

The Land of Fields, a dense forest in the south.

Sakugo traversed the mountains alone, without any teammates. His sword was on his back, and his ninja tool pouch contained several sealing scrolls—each filled with Sharingan eyes collected during the coup.

Orochimaru's stronghold was hidden in the mountain. The entrance was a rusty iron door with no handle, only a narrow crack through which a pale light shone.

He pushed open the iron gate and went inside.

The corridor was long, and the walls were inlaid with luminous pearls, making the passage as bright as day.

The air was thick with the smell of formaldehyde and decay, mixed together like some kind of old, lingering scent of death.

At the end of the corridor was a half-open door.

Shuoge pushed open the door and entered a spacious laboratory. Culture tanks were arranged against the wall, and various specimens were submerged behind glass walls—humans, animals, and some things that were unidentifiable.

Orochimaru stood in front of the lab table, his back to him, holding a test tube filled with a pale green liquid.

"Sakugo-kun." Orochimaru didn't turn around. "A rare guest."

Orochimaru's voice was calm, seemingly unsurprised by Sakugo's arrival, or perhaps he had already realized that Sakugo was not a Konoha ninja like Jiraiya.

The boundaries of the scale in Shuoge's heart are very blurry.

Shuoge stood at the door, knife behind his back, hands hanging at his sides.

"Let's make a deal."

Orochimaru turned around, his golden eyes shining like two lamps in the pale light. A faint smile played on his lips. "What do you need?"

"The Uchiha Clan's Bloodline Limit Research - The Eternal Kaleidoscope".

Orochimaru tilted his head and put the test tube back on the shelf.

"The eternal Mangekyou Sharingan...an interesting research topic." He smiled, a brief smile, like light reflecting off a blade.

"Then, please begin. Show your value."

Before he finished speaking, he made his move.

There were no hand seals, and no warning.

A snake darted out from Orochimaru's sleeve, moving so fast that it tore through the air, and bared its fangs to bite at Sakugo's face.

Shuoge dodged to the side, drew his sword, and severed the snake's body.

The snake, broken in two, lay on the ground, still writhing.

Orochimaru vanished from his spot and reappeared beside Sakugo. His hand reached towards Sakugo's eyes, his fingers spread wide, his nails sharp as knives.

Shuoge did not retreat; he slashed upwards with his sword, aiming for Orochimaru's wrist.

Orochimaru withdrew his hand, took a step back, and finished the hand seal with his other hand.

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands. Countless venomous snakes surged from Orochimaru's sleeves, covering the sky and blocking all of Sakugo's escape routes.

Sakugo's Sharingan captured the trajectory of every snake, but his blade was faster.

The blade drew a circle in front of him, the snake's head flew up, the snake's body landed, and it writhed all over the ground.

But a snake circled behind him and bit the back of his neck.

"You want to implant a cursed seal?"

"I don't need that kind of thing."

Shuoge did not turn around. He drew a kunai from his waist with his left hand and pierced the snake's head with a backhand.

Orochimaru gave him no chance to catch his breath.

He clasped his hands together, summoning Rashomon—no, he wasn't summoning Rashomon, he was summoning something smaller.

A coffin rose from the ground, the lid opened, and inside was a humanoid puppet—not the scorpion kind, but an experimental subject created by Orochimaru himself.

"The prototype of Impure World Reincarnation?" Sakugo recognized the monster in front of him at a glance.

The puppet rushed out, fast and powerful, its fist slamming into Shuoge's chest.

Shuoge parried with the blade, but was knocked back two steps.

The Mangekyou Sharingan was activated. Three black crescent moons slowly rotated in the red pupils, staring at the puppet's shadow.

Shuoge slashed out with his sword, the blade grazing the ground but not touching the puppet's body.

But a line of blood appeared on the puppet's chest, running from its shoulder down to its waist. Its movements stopped, its body split in two, and it collapsed to the ground, its parts scattered everywhere.

Orochimaru stopped.

He stood there, looking into Shuoge's eyes, the three black crescent moons reflected in his golden pupils. His smile deepened.

"The Mangekyou Sharingan... How interesting."

Shuoge sheathed his sword; there was no blood on the blade.

"Can we proceed with the transaction now?"

Orochimaru tilted his head. "Of course."

He took a scroll from the drawer and threw it over.

Shuoge caught it but didn't open it.

"This is the basic theory about Sharingan transplantation." Orochimaru leaned against the lab table, hands in his pockets. "As a greeting gift. Next time, bring more Sharingan. I want them alive."

— He would rather have someone who has awakened the Sharingan than someone who has the Sharingan.

"No living ones." Shogo stuffed the scroll into his pocket. "Dead ones, three tomoe, five in total."

Orochimaru tilted his head. "Deal."

Shuoge turned around and walked towards the door.

"I hope to see results when we meet next time."

"Experiments are something like this—" Orochimaru's voice came from behind.

"I'm not discussing this with you."

Shuoge walked out of the laboratory, and the iron door slowly closed behind him.

The mist from the dense forest surged in, engulfing his figure.

---

Back in Konoha, Sakugo handed the mission report to Minato. "There is indeed suspicious activity on the border of the Land of Rice Fields, but no clear target has been identified. Continued surveillance is recommended."

Minato took the report without asking any further questions. "Thank you for your hard work."

Shuoge nodded, turned and walked out of the office. He returned home, took out the scroll Orochimaru had given him from his pocket, and unrolled it.

The paper was covered with writing—the anatomical structure of the Sharingan, the chakra flow path, and the key steps of the transplant surgery.

He looked at it for a long time, then closed it and locked it deep inside the drawer.

That's not enough. These are just theories.

He needs real technology, data from live experiments, and Orochimaru to personally oversee the procedures.

But now is not the time.

He needs more Sharingan, more leverage, and more trust.

He sat in the darkness, gazing at the moon outside the window. His Mangekyou Sharingan activated silently, three black crescent moons slowly rotating within his pupils.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again, and they turned black again.