I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 195 Changes in the Uchiha Clan

Several months later.

The changes in Otogakure are not significant.

Compared to when Uchiha Hikaru left last time, there was only half a street, two rows of houses, and about ten new faces... presumably all talents Orochimaru had "brought in" from elsewhere. Among them, a few figures looked somewhat familiar—

Kidomaru, Jirobo, Tayuya...

That's right, they were all the future "Sound Four".

However, at this time, they were still a group of children around ten years old, and their bodies had not yet been marked with curse marks. Their strength was barely considered that of "elite genin," and there was nothing worth paying attention to.

Uchiha Hikaru glanced around briefly and then found the cave behind the village.

This is another world altogether.

Various advanced experimental equipment, blood analyzers, and centrifuges were neatly arranged, along with rows of old-fashioned wooden bookshelves crammed full of all sorts of books. If you ignored the rough rocks around it and the stalactites hanging from the ceiling, it didn't look too different from the advanced laboratories in Dragon Ball or the Dragon Raja world.

Orochimaru himself was not here.

But there was a blonde woman in a white lab coat and black-rimmed glasses, arranging books there.

"...Yakushi Nonou?"

"Um?"

The blonde woman looked over at the sound, revealing a gentle and refined face with a scholarly air.

Judging from her appearance alone, it would be hard to imagine that her true identity is actually a seasoned spy who has traveled to many countries.

"Who are you?"

Yakushi Nonou also noticed Uchiha Hikaru, pushed up her glasses, and looked puzzled: "Are you a kid from the village? What are you doing here? This is Lord Orochimaru's laboratory, not a place for you to play hide-and-seek. Get out of here..."

"Hey, Hikari-neechan? You're back!"

Before Nono could finish speaking...

A surprised voice came from the side.

Uchiha Hikaru turned her head and saw a little girl with red hair rush over and hug her waist. Kimimaro and Jugo followed behind.

Kimimaro seemed to want to hug Karin like she did, but couldn't because of her personality and gender. A blush appeared on her fair face.

"It's Karin."

Uchiha Hikaru ruffled the little girl's hair, then glanced at Nonou, feigning ignorance, and asked, "And who is this?"

"Oh, she's a pharmacist who recently fled from the Land of Hot Water. Orochimaru-sensei kept her here... She used to be a doctor and is very knowledgeable in medicine and pharmacology, so Lord Orochimaru allowed her to stay in the lab to help out."

Karin responded crisply, then started winking and pulling Uchiha Hikaru towards the inner side of the laboratory.

After the two arrived at another room.

The little girl pulled out a stack of envelopes from her bosom and handed them over, her expression becoming serious: "Sister Hikaru, Orochimaru-sensei asked me to give these to you."

"Let me see..."

Uchiha Hikaru tore open the top envelope and quickly scanned the contents.

The contents of the letter were not complicated.

It was mainly Orochimaru giving a brief report on his recent work.

There are three points worth noting.

First, Orochimaru has developed a special medicine that can suppress the demons' cannibalistic tendencies, mitigate the harmful effects of sunlight to some extent, and preserve the "Blood Demon Art" through research on Nezuko's blood, Tamayo's research materials, and the bodies of Daki and her brother. It has already been successfully tested on Daki and Gyutaro.

Hmm... this is good news for Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps.

Looks like I can take some time to go to the Demon Slayer world and turn Nezuko back to normal.

Incidentally, after the successful drug trial, Daki and her brother were released from Orochimaru's control and transformed from experimental subjects into research assistants, helping him with his research on demon cells. This result was slightly unexpected by Uchiha Hikaru, but as long as it didn't cause any trouble, she didn't care.

Second, Orochimaru improved the "inhibitor" against the dragon's blood erosion, but due to the lack of test subjects, the actual effect on humans is still uncertain.

"...Let's hand it over to Genjiro later and try it on those demons first."

third……

It's about Yakushi Nonou and her son.

Orochimaru was unaware that Danzo had been controlled by "Eight Thousand Spears," so in the letter he explained in detail the process of Nono's arrival and pointed out that he wanted to use her to find out Danzo and the secrets of the Akatsuki organization.

"Oh? Danzo has successfully joined Akatsuki?"

"Looks like this old man is still somewhat useful..."

Uchiha Hikaru read through the other letters as well.

There's not much to say about these; they're all budget lists for subsequent experimental projects, as well as topics Orochimaru wanted her to deliver to Dr. Brief for academic exchange.

Uchiha Hikaru casually put these things away, and then took out several boxes filled with gold and silver treasures from the sealing scroll and placed them on the inside of the laboratory.

"I obtained these things from elsewhere. When Orochimaru returns, have him dispose of them and use them as funding for the next phase of research."

"..."

Karin, her face tense, stared at the mountain of treasure for a long time before cautiously asking:

"Hikari-neechan, you...you didn't kill all the daimyo of the five great nations, did you? Otherwise, how could you have so much money..."

"what?"

Uchiha Hikaru chuckled: "Kids, stop talking about fighting and killing all the time. How could I do something so cruel... Anyway, remember to tell Orochimaru that I'll be back in a few days."

"oh."

Karin nodded, indicating that she had remembered.

Uchiha Hikaru then left the laboratory, took out the "Shangri-La" watch-like device from his pocket, put it on his wrist, and tried to activate it.

A massive teleportation array appeared.

Uchiha Hikaru's figure disappeared from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was already thousands of miles away in Konoha Village, near the Naka River, which belonged to the Uchiha clan's territory.

"really……"

"Teigu can be used normally in other worlds as well."

Having confirmed this, Uchiha Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief.

She originally wanted to see if she could use the "Book of the World," but considering that the book might have a capacity limit, it would be a waste to use it in the Naruto world, which she was relatively familiar with and whose territory was relatively small. Therefore, she decided not to use it for now and wait until she went to the One Piece world.

"Let's go check on Fugaku and the others first, then take another look at Naruto, and snap a few photos to let Minato know they're safe..."

……

That evening.

At Fugaku's residence, Uchiha Hikaru met with a group of high-ranking members of the clan, including himself.

Shisui, Itachi, Izumi, and other "outstanding junior representatives" are also prominently listed.

After Fugaku recounted the recent situation within the clan, Shisui stepped forward and piled a large stack of bound books filled with dense writing on the coffee table in front of Uchiha Hikaru.

"?"

Uchiha Hikaru was slightly taken aback: "What is this?"

"Great-Grandma, have you forgotten? This is the homework you left us last time."

"During this time, Itachi, Izumi, and I have finished reading the books you left us last time. These are our reading notes, each book has no less than 2 words, and we wrote 4 words for Itachi's book..."

This other stack is our "Uchiha Clan's Five-Year Development Plan," which includes items that we've discussed repeatedly... Please take a look.

"..."

Uchiha Hikaru remembered.

When she returned from the Dragon Clan world last time, she did bring back a batch of books for Shisui and the others, and even bestowed upon Shisui the title of "librarian." Her intention was to supplement the Uchiha clan's cultural literacy and teach them to think critically. At least, to prevent them from using their not-so-bright brains to come up with brilliant plans such as "killing all the clan members to avoid annihilation."

Now it seems...

The aura emanating from Shisui and the others is indeed somewhat different.

To say that "a person with a wealth of knowledge naturally exudes elegance" might be a bit of an exaggeration, but compared to those naive and clueless young men with innocent and foolish eyes from a few months ago, they are indeed completely different people.

The only problem is...

(So ​​I'm supposed to grade their homework too?)

Uchiha Hikaru scratched his head and looked at Fugaku: "Fugaku..."

Before she could finish speaking...

Fugaku Uchiha said with a look of shame, "Grandma, I've roughly read through what Shisui and the others wrote... It's a bit profound, and I didn't understand it very well. However, there are a few things related to the economy in the 'Development Plan,' and we're already trying to implement them, but because of the short time frame, we haven't seen any clear results yet."

"Oh?"

Uchiha Hikaru opened the "planning document" and, at Shisui's prompting, glanced through a few pages.

"A flower show, a food festival?"

"Did you guys figure this out?"

"Not just me, but also Izumi and the others."

Shisui spoke eloquently: "After several heated discussions, Izumi and I unanimously agreed that the current conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha Village is caused by both historical and contemporary factors. One important reason is that there is little communication between the two sides, and there are stereotypes about each other."

To resolve this conflict, we must find a way to break down the barriers between different clans and create a platform for everyone to communicate and discuss... So we found the Yamanaka clan and held a flower exhibition with them; we also partnered with the owners of Ichiraku Ramen and Yakiniku Q to hold a food festival. We're also currently preparing to hold a "Ninja Beast Intelligence Competition" with the Inuzuka clan, aiming to show everyone the true Uchiha...”

After a pause, Shisui explained further: "This is also to establish a solid foundation among the Uchiha clan. Only when the majority of Konoha villagers acknowledge the existence of the Uchiha can we have a brighter future, instead of being confined by the narrow-mindedness of our clan and ultimately bringing about our own destruction."

"Um……"

As Uchiha Hikaru listened, a look of surprise gradually appeared on his face.

Honestly...

Shizuku's performance was somewhat unexpected.

It could also be said that the original Uchiha clan's thinking was too rigid.

People like Fugaku focused their attention on the police force and the secret service, desperately trying to climb the ranks, but they didn't realize that this path had been blocked since the time of Tobirama Senju.

—To be precise, Tobirama Senju actually left a way out for the Uchiha clan, as evidenced by his taking Kagami Uchiha as his disciple.

If things had proceeded normally, Uchiha Kagami would at least have become an elder like Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, giving the Uchiha clan some influence among the higher-ups. Unfortunately, a series of unforeseen events led to Danzo, who harbored hatred towards the Uchiha, coming to power, and then the Nine-Tails incident triggered by Obito, causing the relationship between the two sides to become increasingly tense.

And now...

Zhi Shui, however, saw another path: the mass line.

As long as you can establish good relationships with the various ninja clans in Konoha and the common people there, even if you don't become Hokage, you can still earn a place in Konoha.

At the very least, it can at least minimize the chances of the clan being wiped out.

It seems...

Reading more books is always beneficial.

"That's right."

Uchiha Hikaru picked up Shisui's "planning book", glanced through a few pages, put it down, and smiled faintly.

"I have no objection, do it your way."

"I am already a remnant of the old era. The future of the Uchiha clan will ultimately be in your hands. Try whatever you want to do. It doesn't matter if you fail. After all, young people should take risks. There is always a first time for everything."

"..."

Although Uchiha Hikaru's status as "great-grandmother" is already unshakable.

However, seeing her use that youthful face of a teenage girl to utter the words "remnants of the old era," Shisui, Fugaku, and the others exchanged bewildered glances, feeling a little strange.

"Um, Grandma, you flatter me. You're actually still very young..."

"……Oh."

Uchiha Hikaru remained noncommittal.

Hmm... she said to let Shisui do it herself, mainly because she didn't want to grade their homework...

After all, the "2-word" book review was just something she said casually. She hadn't even thought that Shisui and the others could actually write that much. If she were to read through all those reviews page by page, it would probably take a whole day and night...

"By the way, I have a few martial arts manuals here, which I obtained from elsewhere... I've glanced through them and they seem pretty good. You can take them and practice."

As he spoke, Uchiha Hikaru placed several boxing manuals on the coffee table.

These things were given to her by Najenda after she conquered the Imperial Capital; they came from the Imperial Fist Temple in the world of Akame ga Kill!.

—Although the Imperial Fist Temple only exists as a background element in the original story of Akame ga Kill!, as an ancient temple with a history of thousands of years, they have made considerable achievements in physical training. The strongest "Four Demon Rakshasa" of each generation can almost always contend with Teigu users through their physical skills.

For Uchiha Hikaru himself, these fist techniques had limited use.

However, it was very useful for people like Fugaku.

"Great-Grandma, so your journey this time was also to help us collect these secret techniques..."

"..."

Facing the deeply moved Fugaku and the others.

Uchiha Hikaru sighed, giving up on explaining: "Whatever you say goes."

(End of this chapter)