Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 154: A New Member is Coming Soon (Third Update!)

As Hinata Hyuga succeeded as the head of the main clan and received the obeisance of many branch clan ninjas, Naraku Uehara, hiding in a small cave, sneezed loudly.

"I've offended so many people lately..."

Uehara Naraku wrapped his black ninja outfit tighter around himself and sighed in a low voice, "I've harvested a crop of Konoha's leeks. I'll have to be more discreet in the future. I can't stand being scolded every day."

Uehara Naraku's guess was correct; someone was indeed criticizing him.

The Land of Fire, Tanba Street.

Jiraiya and Naruto finally found Tsunade and told her about the Konoha Rebellion, Hiruzen Sarutobi's death, and invited her to become the Fifth Hokage.

Tsunade's attention quickly shifted to the murderer who killed Hiruzen Sarutobi. She abruptly crushed her sake cup: "Wait... the guy who conspired with Orochimaru to create the Konoha Rebellion and killed the old man was Uehara Naraku, wasn't he?"

She remembers that name vividly!

Over the years, whenever Tsunade lost everything, she would miss the Rain Ninja boy who gave her money. How much fun they had back then!

Unexpectedly, when I heard that name again, that somewhat shy brat had become an accomplice of Orochimaru in creating the Konoha Rebellion!

Tsunade slammed her fist on the table, her teeth clenched: "I should have killed him back then! No wonder I kept winning when I gambled with him; fate was reminding me then that I should have killed that brat!"

Judging from Jiraiya's words, the little guy named Uehara Naraku is growing at an astonishing rate; he's already capable of fighting Jiraiya, who is at the level of the Sannin.

If she had killed Uehara Naraku back then, Konoha might not have suffered such great losses now, and Hiruzen Sarutobi might not have lost his life.

"Well…"

Jiraiya sighed and explained to Uehara Naraku, "Actually, he had no choice! After all, that little guy was instructed by Hanzo..."

This is not a suitable occasion to go into detail.

It wasn't until the two of them were alone that Jiraiya told Tsunade about the sordid affairs of the two old men, Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Enraged, the blonde female ninja punched Jiraiya, sending him flying: "Konoha is a mess right now, and you want me to be the Fifth Hokage?"

"There is no one more suitable than you."

Jiraiya sighed softly, rubbed his chest, and explained in a deep voice, "Even if I were to become Hokage, Konoha would still be in danger of falling apart... Tsunade, you are the only one who is suitable."

Because Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First and Second Hokage, and a renowned medical ninja in the entire ninja world, she is highly respected. Apart from being a little unconventional, she is undoubtedly the most suitable person to become Hokage.

"OK!"

Tsunade suddenly rolled two dice and chuckled, "If you lose to me, I'll grant your request!"

"..."

She never responded to her.

Tsunade frowned, crushed the two dice into crumbs, and muttered unhappily, "Not even as brave as that brat Uehara Naraku... What a pity for a gambling buddy, we'll be enemies when we meet again!"

Don't overthink it.

Jiraiya interrupted Tsunade, saying in a deep voice, "If nothing unexpected happens, you two will never see each other again!"

Uehara Naraku was unaware that Tsunade and Jiraiya were discussing him.

As Uehara Naraku was hiding in a small cave lamenting the hardships of life, his ring received a communication notification. Nagato sent him an alert: "Kaguya Kimimaro and Haku are back. Konan wants to talk to you. She seems very angry right now, and I can't stop her."

"Lord Nagato, I am in a cave."

Uehara Naraku stroked the ring on his hand, channeled chakra into it, and whispered, "The signal here isn't very good. Will the chakra be able to transmit over?"

However, Nagato soon stopped responding.

After a while, Konan's voice, barely containing her rage, came from the ring: "Naraku, where are you now? Get back to the village immediately!"

"Teacher, I still have some things to take care of..."

"Stop spouting those useless platitudes. You've grown bolder as you've gotten older, daring to team up with Orochimaru to assassinate the Third Hokage of Konoha!"

Konan completely ignored his explanation. Even from a great distance, Uehara Naraku could imagine that Konan's expression must be very cold, as if she didn't care about anything.

And this is precisely when she is at her angrier.

"teacher…"

Uehara Naraku lowered his head, sighed, and told a little lie: "If I hadn't assassinated the Third Hokage, I wouldn't have been able to meet Shimura Danzo, who was behind the chaos of the Chunin Exams. I met Shimura Danzo just now and killed him."

In Konoha, Shimura Danzo is defined as missing.

Uehara Naraku can fabricate whatever he wants.

Upon hearing these words, the other side of the ring fell silent. Clearly, both Nagato and Konan were somewhat shocked by the news.

Konan's voice sounded much calmer. She whispered, "Naraku, come back first! It's too dangerous for you outside right now. Although Konoha is currently in trouble and doesn't have time to hunt you down, they won't let the murderer who killed the Hokage go easily once they recover."

"Teacher, but I've encountered a problem here."

Uehara Naraku explained in a deep voice, "Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame failed in their attempt to seize the Nine-Tails from Konoha, and Akatsuki's information may have been leaked in Konoha..."

Konan heard the heaviness in Uehara Naraku's words and whispered to comfort her disciple, "It's impossible for an organization to hide behind the scenes forever. Besides, we'll handle Akatsuki's affairs. What you need to do now is return to the Land of Rain immediately."

"Minami, Uehara has grown up."

After Nagato reassured Konan on the other side, he said, "Don't worry, Uehara. You can do whatever you want. The Six Paths of Pain is your support. If you encounter danger, summon the Six Paths of Pain immediately. I will prepare sufficient chakra within Pain's body."

"Nagato, don't spoil him too much."

After Konan coldly rebuked Nagato, her voice suddenly turned somewhat icy: "I heard that Kakashi Hatake of Konoha gave you a few books?"

Naraku Uehara: "..."

Why does that guy Bai talk so much?

Is this something that can be reported to Xiaonan?

"Please be sure to abide by the three ninja prohibitions."

After giving a cold warning, Konan continued, "Remember to be careful who you befriend in the future. That Kakashi Hatake who tried to corrupt you, I won't let him get away with it when we go to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails."

Naraku Uehara: "..."

What else could he possibly say?

Of course, we should let Kakashi Hatake have his own good luck!

"Okay, I've got it."

After nodding seriously, Uehara Naraku softly promised, "I've found a kid who's perfect for being an intern. I'll bring him back in a few days once I find him."

"Be careful and stay safe."

After giving a word of advice, Nagato suddenly spoke in a low voice, "Uehara, thank you for helping me find my clansmen."

After saying this, Nagato severed the connection of chakra.

On the high tower in Amegakure, Konan frowned, her face as cold as ice, and looked at Nagato with some displeasure: "I still have a lot to tell him..."

Nagato shook his head and whispered, "Uehara is at an age where he's going through puberty. If you talk too much, he'll become rebellious."

Seeing Konan's somewhat suspicious look, Nagato continued to explain, "Actually, Uehara's willingness to take the initiative to do some things is also a form of training for him. At least we don't have to worry about the future of Amegakure and Akatsuki."

After pondering for a while, Konan suddenly raised her head and said, "Then let's wait for Naraku to return and make him the leader of Amegakure to govern the entire Amegakure and the Land of Rain, so that he won't always be away from us."

"..."

Nagato no longer wanted to communicate with Konan.

Konan always wanted to keep Uehara Naraku close to her like a child, afraid that something might happen to him. But how can a man know how difficult life is if he doesn't go out and experience some hardships? How can he know that home is the warmest harbor?

Of course, Nagato wouldn't actually put Uehara Naraku in danger.

After Konan left, Nagato immediately had Pain use the Illusionary Body Technique to issue an order for Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha to go and assist Naraku Uehara in completing a task to recruit new members, but in reality, to protect Naraku Uehara's safety.

This is absolutely outrageous.

Unfortunately, this order could not be refused.

A few days later.

Uehara Naraku then saw Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha standing beside him, the three of them huddled in the small cave, staring at each other.

Itachi Uchiha immediately tried to extract information: "Are the new members we recruited from Konoha ninja? Is it that Konoha rogue ninja codenamed 'Orphan'?"

These past few days, that Konoha rogue ninja known as the Orphan has been causing quite a stir. Even Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki have heard about him, and many people in the ninja world are paying attention to this matter.

"no."

Uehara Naraku shook his head and explained softly, "But it's pretty much the same. The ninja we recruited this time was also an orphan who lost both his parents when he was young..."

And you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, are the murderer who made him an orphan!

Itachi Uchiha nodded, pondering in his mind who to recruit. After all, the Akatsuki organization always prioritized strength, and there were very few people in Konoha who met the requirements.

"Could it be Mr. Guy? Or Mr. Kakashi?"

There were quite a few orphans in Konoha, and Itachi Uchiha immediately thought of these two, since only these two were strong enough to meet Akatsuki's standards.

This is not a good sign.

If it were Might Guy, that would be fine, but if Kakashi Hatake were to betray Konoha, it would be a fatal blow to the village.

Unfortunately, Uehara Naraku kept it a secret and refused to reveal the news, which made Uchiha Itachi feel uneasy.

Don't worry.

Uehara Naraku chuckled, "Itachi-san, if you have any conflicts with the new member, I'll help you."

Thank you.

Itachi Uchiha began to think again.

If this rogue ninja poses a significant threat to Konoha, then we should use the pretext of conflict to kill him!

Uehara Naraku quietly activated his Destiny skill, a smirk playing on his lips: "Alright, let's go to the Valley of the End! We'll wait for our new member there!"

Valley of the End.

Everything is unfolding as expected.

When Uehara Naraku, Uchiha Itachi, and Hoshigaki Kisame arrived at the Valley of the End, the valley was still very peaceful. The huge statues of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama stood in the Valley of the End, looking majestic.

Upon arriving here, Uehara Naraku already had 500 gold coins in his account. It seems that starting in the Land of Fire or Konoha is the right way to begin!

"What's the point of us coming to the Valley of the End?"

"Because this is where old friends parted ways!"

Uehara Naraku pointed to a figure rushing towards him in the distance, still chasing after him, and chuckled, "See that? That's our new member."

The person fleeing ahead was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

The person chasing him was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

History was forced onto its predetermined track by him. Not long after Tsunade returned to Konoha to succeed as the Fifth Hokage, the Sound Four appeared one night and took away Sasuke Uchiha. A group of Konoha genin chased after them.

The Sound Four are engaged in a fierce battle with the Konoha genin to cover Sasuke's escape, while Naruto Uzumaki catches up with Sasuke under the cover of his friends.

Inside the Valley of the End, a drama unfolds of former teammates breaking up.

As Itachi Uchiha watched the two boys fighting below the Valley of the End, his expression suddenly turned grim. It was not a good thing for either his younger brother Sasuke Uchiha or the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha to be captured by the Akatsuki!

"How is it?"

Uehara Naraku looked down at Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, who were locked in fierce combat on the lake, and chuckled, "Itachi-san, you choose! Should we take your brother, or the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha?"

Kisame Hoshigaki grinned and offered a different opinion: "Oh? Little intern, did the leader give some special orders? Can't we take both kids with us?"

"sure."

Uehara Naraku laughed heartily: "This way, your team can also complete the mission of capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

Uehara Naraku and Kisame Hoshigaki were acting in concert, which disturbed Uchiha Itachi's peace of mind. He felt that he was facing the biggest test since joining the Akatsuki organization.

Itachi Uchiha gritted his teeth, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot. He said in a deep voice, "Sasuke Uchiha is too weak, and he also harbors a deep-seated hatred for me..."

"Then kill him."

Uehara Naraku gave Uchiha Itachi a half-smile and continued softly, "Kisame-senpai, killing Sasuke and capturing Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki... you shouldn't have any problem with that, right?"

"I'd love to."

Kisame Hoshigaki shouldered his Samehada sword, laughing heartily and convincingly: "This brat wasn't very respectful to Itachi-sensei before, so I'll use his head to avenge him!"

Uchiha Itachi: "..."

Damn it, do you need to bother me with your shark-faced face?

Are Uehara Naraku and Kisame Hoshigaki trying to force him to his death on the spot?

(End of this chapter)