Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 70 Uchiha Matchmaker

"Are you kidding me!"

Aokiji spoke vehemently and argued his case forcefully.

It was entirely expected that the other party would react so strongly. Elder Itachi raised his eyelids slightly and said calmly, "Don't get agitated. I'm not sending you on these two missions right away. These are two long-term missions."

Aokiji breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Oh, that's more like it."

Wait, almost? What a load of rubbish.

The other side is using a tactic of first making him despair, and then giving him hope.

Aokiji, realizing this, refused to be fooled and quickly waved his hand, his attitude resolute: "No way, no way! What kind of crappy Super S-level mission is this? One is enough to make me suffer, let alone two. You're pushing me into a fire pit!"

Elder Itachi ignored Aokiji's resistance and said in a sterner tone, "Let me finish what I have to say first."

"oh."

Aokiji sat upright and listened attentively.

Aokiji could ignore everyone else, but he still had to listen to his mentor who had taught him all his skills.

Moreover, he still owed the other party a huge debt.

This is fundamental.

Elder Itachi slowly uttered a name: "Uchiha Madara..."

Upon hearing this unique name, Aokiji was taken aback, his wide, staring eyes revealing deep astonishment.

Elder Itachi spoke slowly and deliberately: "Both of these tasks revolve around this person."

Aokiji frowned.

These two missions actually involve Madara Uchiha, no wonder they're at the Super S level.

The problem is that, in everyone's mind, isn't Madara Uchiha already dead?

What else is there about him that involves a super S-class mission?

Did Elder Itachi know that Madara Uchiha was not dead, and that's why he sent him to investigate?

But this only confused Aokiji more. Could someone of Madara Uchiha's caliber be someone that a little Karami like him could just casually touch?

Aokiji was completely bewildered, not knowing what was going on. Too lazy to think any further, he asked, "What exactly is the mission?"

"Before Madara Uchiha fought Senju Shizuma, he left Konoha for a period of time, taking with him a lot of important Uchiha data. These documents were lost somewhere after Madara's death. I hope you can find them. If possible, it would be best to investigate what Madara did during that time that led him to suddenly decide to attack Konoha for no apparent reason. That's the first thing."

That makes sense and is understandable. Aokiji nodded. "And the second thing?"

Elder Itachi paused, his voice low and deep: "I hope you find Madara Uchiha's body."

Ban's corpse?

Following the typical confusion one would feel upon hearing this, Aokiji expressed his bewilderment: "Wait a minute, isn't Madara Uchiha's body in Konoha?"

Elder Itachi sighed, "Madara Uchiha's body has been stolen."

"Stolen?"

"Originally, after Madara Uchiha died, his body was buried somewhere in Konoha. However, one day during an inspection, it was discovered that the body had been replaced with a shadow clone. Powerful ninjas have high research value, let alone a ninja of Madara Uchiha's level. It seems that someone had malicious intentions and stole his body. I need you to pay close attention to relevant intelligence in your daily work."

Aokiji narrowed his eyes slightly.

It's obvious that the reason Madara Uchiha used shadow clones to deceive everyone after his death in the original work is simply unreliable. Putting aside how long the shadow clones could last, it would be strange if they were used for experiments without being exposed.

Hashirama Senju's body was used for experiments countless times, so how could Madara Uchiha, who was on par with him, not be used for experiments, especially with his pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, the only ones left in the world?

It would be strange if Tobirama Senju didn't thoroughly investigate him.

Seeing Elder Itachi's serious expression, Aokiji really wanted to say something.

Madara Uchiha didn't die; he's alive and well, and who knows where he's waiting to awaken his Rinnegan.

He went on and on about the importance of these two tasks to the family. It was obvious the other party was going to force him to carry them out. Finally, he symbolically asked:

Do you have any other questions?

Aokiji was devastated. He didn't have to ask that question, but he still wanted to try: "Can I not go?"

Elder Itachi flatly refused: "No, unless you want to return my money right now."

Aokiji said dejectedly, "I don't understand why they would choose a piece of trash like me for such an important mission. There should be quite a few powerful Jonin in the clan."

Elder Itachi smiled and explained, "Don't underestimate yourself. First, your strength is not weak; you should already be at least a Special Jonin level. Reaching Jonin level in another two or three years shouldn't be a problem. So investigating these matters is not a problem."

"Secondly, you are a rather... cautious person, which makes you more suitable for this kind of investigation mission and less likely to make mistakes. The average Uchiha member is rather impulsive and often has a tendency to be too eager to achieve results, which can easily alert the enemy."

"Third, your current work situation is more suited to this kind of covert mission."

Aokiji: ? ? ?

"When ninjas go out on missions, they need to report to the personnel department and work in groups of four. The purpose of this is not only to improve mission efficiency, but also to keep an eye on each other to prevent them from doing anything out of line and causing losses to the village."

Elder Itachi gave him a meaningful look, his unspoken message being that Aokiji should slack off during regular missions and instead complete the tasks assigned by the clan.

Aokiji had neither a Jonin leading a team nor any teammates, making him perfectly suited for this kind of mission while traveling.

Aokiji feigned ignorance and asked, "Is it really necessary to do something like this secretly?"

"This is a secret of our clan, and I don't want outsiders to know, especially the higher-ups in Konoha. They're always prejudiced against us. If they knew we were looking for Madara Uchiha's body, they would definitely subconsciously think we're plotting something in secret." Elder Itachi said in a deep voice, "From a moral and logical standpoint, there's nothing wrong with us looking for the body of our own clansman, but Madara Uchiha is too special."

"special."

"You've probably heard of the Mangekyou Sharingan at least a little bit, right?"

Aokiji nodded in agreement.

Even if he wasn't a time traveler, Aokiji had at least heard of this thing.

In this era, information about the Mangekyou Sharingan is not as scarce as it is in the future. Some Jonin within the clan often talk about their aspirations to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he would naturally hear a few words about it occasionally.

Aokiji said calmly, "If nothing unexpected happens, Madara Uchiha's eyes are those legendary Mangekyou Sharingan, right?"

Elder Itachi said in a deep voice, "As one's eye power increases, the number of tomoe in the Sharingan will increase accordingly, up to a maximum of three tomoe, which is the understanding of most people. In fact, above the three tomoe, there is a higher level of Sharingan called the Mangekyou Sharingan. Those who obtain these eyes will invariably gain immense power, which is why the Uchiha clan has been able to stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world for so many years. But..."

Elder Itachi paused here, and Aokiji, playing along, continued: "But?"

Elder Itachi replied with a sigh, "Gaining this power often comes with huge side effects. Perhaps it's because these eyes are too powerful, even the gods are afraid of them, so they cast a curse on these eyes."

Aokiji paused for a moment, then asked, "A curse?"

"Yes, the more you use the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, the more you lose your sight."

Aokiji feigned surprise: "I never imagined the Mangekyou Sharingan had such a secret."

"However, the special thing about Madara's eyes is that they never lose their sight."

"You won't go blind."

"His eyes are the only Mangekyou Sharingan in Uchiha history that will never go blind. The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

Aokiji murmured, "The eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

"Speaking of which, the birth of these eyes seems quite accidental. I'm afraid it will be difficult to create a pair of kaleidoscopes like this again in the future."

Aokiji agreed with this point; Indra's chakra and his two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan were not easy to obtain.

"Usually, using our eyes would cause significant side effects, but as fellow members of our race, using the Sharingan wouldn't cause us much of a side effect."

At this point, Elder Itachi gave Aokiji a meaningful look: "Do you understand what I mean?"

Aokiji nodded slightly: "In other words, if I find Madara's body, perhaps I can reproduce Madara's power and lead the Uchiha clan back to its peak, right?"

Elder Itachi slowly replied, "Yes."

His conversation with Aokiji about the Mangekyou Sharingan wasn't impromptu; it was done with a specific purpose in mind.

Clearly, his request for Aokiji to find the Uchiha's corpse was just a pretext.

After all, he's alive and well now, and right next to Aokiji...

When he wanted to use Aokiji to find Madara Uchiha's body, he deliberately left some clues along the way.

At the same time, he would also take advantage of the time when Aokiji was away in Konoha on a mission to find a way to guide him to the location where Tsunade was on a mission, thus bringing the two, who had little connection to each other, together.

Madara Uchiha realized that the two of them staying in Konoha would never spark any romance, so he had to take action.

Although he doesn't understand love and has never been in a relationship, he is a bachelor who was born into a single life.

but!

I may not have eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run.

(End of this chapter)