I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 96 Obito's Moves and Hikaru's Plans

Erii looks delicate and frail, but she has a big appetite. Perhaps it was because of Minato's secret sauce that whetted her appetite, and she ate a whole plate of grilled meat by herself.

Uchiha Hikaru finished the remaining half plate.

When the two finished their meal and came out of the barbecue restaurant, they saw a familiar figure already waiting there.

"spring?"

"Great-Grandma."

Uchiha Izumi immediately bowed respectfully, saying, "Lord Fugaku has already learned of your return and sent me to inquire after you. Please feel free to ask if there is anything I may do for you."

"oh."

Uchiha Hikaru, of course, didn't have any specific instructions, and simply asked casually, "During my absence, did anything happen in the clan?"

Quan hesitated for a moment: "...Yes. Several members of our clan have recently gone missing."

"Missing?"

Uchiha Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"Um."

Izumi glanced at Erii discreetly, then whispered, "Ever since the last attack on the Naka River, the situation outside the village seems to have become very unstable, especially in the border region of the Land of Fire. The ninja teams sent there on missions have been attacked several times, and several people have gone missing, including several Uchiha clan members..."

Then, Quan explained in more detail:

As early as the end of last year, the Uchiha clan had reached an agreement with Konoha to send some clan members to the Ninja Academy and Jonin classes. A few of these clan members have already begun leading teams out of the village to carry out missions.

Everything was going smoothly.

Those who could be submitted by Fugaku and approved by Konoha's F3 were basically Uchiha clan members with decent strength and acceptable personalities. Even if they had minor disagreements with their teammates during the mission, it was just verbal bickering and did not cause any major trouble. Their mission completion efficiency was also acceptable.

but.

Since the Nanga River incident some time ago, these teams have been experiencing frequent accidents, as if someone is targeting the Uchiha clan who lead the teams out of the village with a targeted attack.

"So, they're starting to pull this stunt...?"

After a moment's thought, Uchiha Hikaru knew who was behind all this: "What did Fugaku say?"

"Lord Fugaku wanted to suspend all activities involving leaving the village until you returned, but some clansmen expressed their dissatisfaction... During the two days you were away, the Hokage sent someone to ask the clan head's opinion, and has already organized the Anbu to go to the border to investigate the matter. Lord Jiraiya and Shisui from the clan are among them."

"..."

Uchiha Hikaru frowned.

Obito's choice to target the Uchiha clan members who left the village surprised her a little, but she could understand it after a little thought.

After all, Obito had already faced her once and should know that she was not an opponent he could easily defeat. In addition, Danzo and Itachi, who could have been inside agents, were either in the hospital or had not yet awakened their Mangekyou Sharingan. Therefore, abandoning the original plan to exterminate the Uchiha clan and instead adopting a strategy of picking off and gradually eliminating them was a very wise choice.

Given Uchiha Hikaru's abilities, he could certainly request to intervene in this incident.

but……

"Tell Fugaku that this choice must be made by him."

"If the Uchiha clan wants to achieve a higher status, the person sitting in the position of clan leader must not be a hesitant coward. When it comes to making decisions, don't hesitate. What use are you descendants if you have to handle everything for your great-grandmother?"

Uchiha Hikaru paused for a moment: "How many clansmen are missing in total now?"

"Three."

"Oh……"

There's really no need to take action yet.

Compared to the Uchiha clan massacre crisis in the original timeline, this loss is acceptable. I've been protecting them for so long, it's time to let these younger generations hone their ability to handle incidents.

Besides, with two Kage-level figures, Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui, investigating together... there shouldn't be any problems, right?

As his thoughts drifted, Uchiha Hikaru abruptly changed the subject: "Is Tsunade still in the village?"

"Huh?"

Izumi thought for a moment before saying hesitantly, "I...I'm not quite sure. But the Hokage recently announced an arrest warrant for Danzo and transferred him to a prison near the security forces building. They said his sentence would be calculated after he was healed by medical ninjas. I heard from the clan head that this seems to be the result of Tsunade's influence."

"Understood. You can go ahead and get back to work."

Uchiha Hikaru's question about Tsunade was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

She did have something she needed Tsunade's help with—

Erii.

This seemingly innocent and harmless girl is actually a rather dangerous hybrid with an ability called "Word of Judgment." According to the dragon race's lore, it is a conceptual ability of "forced death," manifested in the form of dismemberment, and only higher-level dragon bloodlines can be immune to or resist it.

If faced with an enemy, Uchiha Hikaru was unsure whether his regenerative abilities could withstand it.

As a price for her immense power, Erii's physical condition is extremely unstable. The dragon blood within her body continuously erodes her until she loses control.

It seems there is no solution to this problem in the world of Dragon Raja.

At least not openly.

However, in the Naruto world, there are two people who could potentially defeat him—

Tsunade and Orochimaru.

Tsunade's medical ninjutsu was unparalleled in the ninja world—but that was in the past. Now, if you want her help to treat the problem of dragon blood, you have to solve her hemophobia first.

Uchiha Hikaru hasn't yet come up with a good solution to this.

As for Orochimaru...

Uchiha Hikaru had previously considered trading something with him.

As a representative figure in the technological field of the Naruto world, Orochimaru possesses many valuable items, such as a modified version of the Impure World Reincarnation, the contract scroll from Ryuchi Cave, and even the secret technique of soul reincarnation. Similarly, Uchiha Hikaru possesses some items that might attract the latter, such as demons from the Demon Slayer world and Saiyan blood.

However, such transactions are risky.

Orochimaru's methods are even more greedy and unscrupulous than Danzo Shimura's. Once he obtains a sample of a "demon," he might very well capture a group of living people to feed to the "demon" and observe their energy conversion process. As for capturing living subjects for human modification experiments, like Dr. Gero, it would be commonplace for him.

In theory, none of this has anything to do with Uchiha Hikari, since she wasn't the one who ordered it.

However, if her intervention really led Orochimaru to conduct a series of bloody experiments that did not exist in the original work, she could hardly use that excuse to justify herself.

and so……

"It's about time to find some time to test the 'Eight Thousand Spears' ability to rewrite consciousness on living people."

"Danzo's worthless life... it's time to put it to good use."

(End of this chapter)