Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

Konoha has been weakened ever since. Although the total number of combat personnel seems to have remained at around 20,000, the number of high-level combat representatives such as Jonin is truly a matter of life and death. Even if you include Special Jonin, it is questionable whether there are even a thousand. To have so many killed by Shoji alone is a huge loss for Konoha!

To put it bluntly, even if a thousand ordinary genin cannon fodder died, they wouldn't be as valuable as these twenty or thirty jonin.

Even the most established village like Konoha is like this, not to mention the other four great ninja villages. Therefore, the probability of Itachi, Kurotsuchi, and Deidara encountering a "demon" is really low. Moreover, the mission intensity that Shoji gave them was almost always at the B-rank level, which is also in line with the current strength level of the three. In a hundred such missions, they might not even encounter a Jonin once. All of these arrangements are based on such conditions. If we are still worried about the safety of the three, then we might as well give up training these three as soon as possible!

Flowers grown in a greenhouse will never truly mature.

Moreover, with Itachi Uchiha, who could always remain calm and rational, serving as the temporary captain, Shoji was completely at ease. It was only after arranging all these matters that he felt truly reassured.

Shoji then focused on the two things that needed to be dealt with most at the moment: first, to recuperate and prepare for the Mangekyou Sharingan transplant surgery; and second, to work with Onoki to gradually reduce Kusagakure's room for maneuver, in accordance with Onoki's request, and with the help of Arai Kenjiro, who was still there!

As someone who had direct contact with the leader of Kusagakure Village, Ura, in the last incident, Shoji knew very well that this task required maintaining a high level of suppression and not giving the other side any room for complacency.

From that day on, upon returning to the village, Shoji immediately settled into a routine life of going back and forth between home and work. He only needed to remotely control the village, listen to necessary information reports, and then issue targeted orders. Generally speaking, he did not need to consult Onoki, as this was within his authority.

Then, during the rest of the time, Shoji devoted himself to the training of Sage Mode and to see if he could extract some of the power from his Mangekyou Sharingan and inject it into ordinary tomoe Sharingan. It is worth mentioning that Fugaku also delivered the Sharingan that Shoji needed the next day. There were a total of thirty pairs of Sharingan, mostly one-tomoe and two-tomoe Sharingan, with only five pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan!

However, this quantity is already more than enough for the company to conduct relevant experimental research.

Although Fugaku trusted Shoji, he still followed certain rules. Shoji's research had to yield some results; otherwise, simply wasting the Sharingan left behind by the clan was absolutely unacceptable. Shoji himself had a very clear understanding of this. You have to let people see some results, otherwise, not to mention Fugaku, even Shoji himself might not have the interest or confidence to continue experimenting and researching.

Time, under such meticulous and orderly arrangements, slowly passed by, and in the blink of an eye, October arrived, ushering in the golden autumn season.

Everything was being arranged in an orderly manner.

From the outside perspective, the arrangements at Kusagakure Village went very smoothly.

Internally speaking...

Although the cultivation of Sage Techniques is still stuck on the hurdle of sensing and absorbing, and it's hard to say whether the subsequent experiments will go smoothly, after nearly two months of exploration, Shoji has finally found some clues in the matter of extracting the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan into a regular Tomoe Sharingan.

'All my previous choices were wrong. After all, while eye power can be sensed, it's essentially intangible and requires a special method!'

In a hidden underground laboratory.

Shoji stared intently at the ordinary tomoe Sharingan in the nutrient solution bottle. After many previous failures, Shoji finally succeeded in injecting his eye power into the tomoe Sharingan in front of him.

Through the technique of 'transcribing the seal'!

This was a key technique that Tsukasa had initially overlooked. It was only after he had run into obstacles everywhere and was unable to extract the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan that he suddenly came up with this technique!

This is a technique that allows one to temporarily seal their eye power into their own or another person's Sharingan, and then activate it when faced with pre-set conditions. The most direct example of this in the original work is that Madara Uchiha used this technique to prepare the Izanagi technique in advance, deceived Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, and faked his death to escape!

Later, in the final moments of the battle between Itachi and Sasuke, Itachi also used this technique to inject his eye power into Sasuke's Sharingan, setting the condition that it would be activated the moment he saw Obito's Sharingan, and then use 'Amaterasu' to burn Obito!

Shoji is now using this technique to inject his eye power into the ordinary tomoe Sharingan in front of him. Upon close observation, even without activating his Mangekyou Sharingan, he can clearly sense a faint, hidden connection between this Sharingan and his own Mangekyou Sharingan.

'But is this really a special kind of fusion?'

Jiang Si placed the nutrient solution bottle on the table, his brows furrowing slightly, a hint of contemplation in his eyes. In essence, this seemed to be merely an external state, not a genuine penetration of his own eye power into this Sharingan. Whether the experimental data obtained from using the Sharingan in this state to neutralize Wood Release cells was truly reliable still required further verification!

After all, the First Hokage's Wood Release cell activity factor was too strong. If he was not careful, he could be swallowed up by a single cell. He could not afford to be careless or relaxed in the slightest!

'We should observe more closely and extract as much ocular power as possible to infuse into these Sharingan. We'll see how things develop later!'

Jiang Si took a deep breath, his eyes flashing slightly as he murmured something in a low voice.

The most important issue at present is to successfully advance his eyes to the level of the Eternal Eye. In the past two months, his body has fully recovered. After multiple sensing and verifications, Jiang Si can further confirm that his transplantation of Fugaku's Mangekyou Sharingan does indeed have a high probability of evolving his eyes. That original call from the depths of his soul cannot be faked!

The most basic transplant surgery preparations are almost complete.

The selection of personnel for the transplant surgery was also decided in advance!

The surgery was scheduled for the last day of this month. In the coming period, Shoji would need to ensure that there were no other external influences and then extract as much of the remaining power of his Mangekyou Sharingan as possible!

Since I'm going to get a new eye transplant anyway, as long as I don't completely blind myself, there's no problem at all. In addition, to ensure that I can focus on my eye transplant in the next few days, I have arranged and handled all my external affairs in advance.

However, sometimes things really do go against human plans.

Unexpected events always happen at just the right time.

"Lord General!"

While Shoji was focused on further extracting his pupil power.

The familiar voice of Kabuto Yakushi could be heard coming from the doorway of the laboratory.

Shoji paused slightly, a look of surprise on his face. He knew that Kabuto Yakushi was a very cautious and meticulous person. Although he hadn't given any special instructions, under normal circumstances, once he entered this laboratory, Kabuto would never bother him. Even if he encountered problems during his experiments, he would always wait until Shoji finished his experiments before asking him questions.

Today, however, he came directly outside his own laboratory, contrary to his usual behavior.

It is foreseeable that this is something very important.

And it's almost certainly related to the village.

During this period, Kabuto Yakushi not only served as his experimental assistant but also acted as his secretary. He would receive, transmit, and process documents from the Jonin class that required his review, unless they involved highly confidential information. This was also a form of training and testing for Kabuto Yakushi!

If I could really become the Tsuchikage someday.

Kabuto Yakushi has a high probability, and is very qualified and capable, of becoming a Kage-exclusive advisor similar to the father-son duo of Nara Shikaku and Nara Shikamaru in the original work.

Thinking about this.

Shoji rose from his seat, opened the door, and looked at Yakushi Kabuto, who stood respectfully outside the door, asking, "You've come to see me at this hour, it seems something important has happened in the village, hasn't it?"

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage. This is an order personally delivered by Lord Tsuchikage's direct subordinates. Lord Tsuchikage wants you to go to his office immediately!"

Kabuto nodded slightly and replied.

Did they say what it was about?

"I heard it's related to Kusagakure!"

Kabuto then replied softly.

Shoji's brows furrowed slightly, but then relaxed, revealing a look of understanding. It could be said that when he began to arrange matters related to Kusagakure two or three months ago, Shoji had anticipated that one day, the leader of Ura would definitely lose his patience. However, his initial thought was that either he should fiercely resist from the beginning, or he should pretend to be dead and wait until the ninja world was in turmoil again and Iwagakure was involved in a new round of war before taking action. Both options had their advantages and disadvantages.

The former option allows them to seize the initiative while Iwagakure's preparations are just beginning. If the strategy is chosen correctly, the worst outcome could be that Iwagakure pays a more severe price. The best outcome might be that they can force Iwagakure to be wary and not dare to act rashly. The downside is that it is difficult to get external assistance. One wrong move and it could lead to collapse!

The latter is unlikely to be overthrown. If the Fourth Shinobi World War breaks out again, the leader of the Ura clan can easily turn the tide with the help of external forces. However, the drawback is that if too much time passes, the tentacles of Iwagakure will penetrate into every corner of Kusagakure, bribing and dividing these Kusagakure ninja.

Even if we wait until the Fourth Shinobi World War breaks out.

It's questionable how many Grass Ninja can still be commanded by Uryu. To be even more pessimistic, it's very possible that Grass Village will become history and be completely merged into Iwagakure before that time even arrives!

The entire Land of Grass will also be annexed by the Land of Earth.

This is by no means an exaggeration, but is supported by historical precedent. In any case, both options were the best possible solutions for the Hidden Grass Village. The only thing they did not expect was that these solutions would not be implemented at the beginning, nor would they be implemented when an opportunity arose.

Instead, they chose to cause trouble at a time that was most awkward for their Grass Village.

'Has this Pulu chieftain lost his mind? Or did he get his head caught in a door?'

Si Baishi shook his head with amusement, thinking to himself, "I can't figure this out."

"Okay, I'll go there first. All the problems in the lab are now in your hands. The focus of the second phase of the experiment should be on cell activity factors. Ensuring that cell activity is maintained for a long time is the most important thing. Remember this and don't get it wrong!"

It is worth mentioning that Kabuto Yakushi truly has an extraordinary talent for experimentation and research. He can learn many things almost instantly. Often, with just a slight touch from Shoji, Kabuto can apply what he has learned to other situations. The first phase of the experiment, which originally required at least three or four months, was completed in just over a month, achieving Shoji's expected goal.

Now we've entered the second phase of the experiment, which is also the final stage.

At this pace, Kabuto Yakushi could potentially participate in the Sharingan and Wood Release cell adaptation experiments that he values ​​most in just over six months. Of course, even if his abilities meet the requirements, he would still need to put his trust in the researchers more rigorously, since this experiment would greatly influence the future fate of Shoji and even the Uchiha clan!

"Yes, Lord General, I understand. Please rest assured!"

Yakushi Kabuto, with a respectful expression, bowed his head and replied.

"Yes, also remember to come home regularly. Don't let it happen again like last time when you stayed in the lab for several days in a row. Otherwise, Nono-san will think you've disappeared again!"

Just as the general was about to leave.

As if remembering something, he spoke to Kabuto Yakushi in a half-serious, half-joking tone.

Of course, Nono wouldn't suspect that. When ninjas go on missions, it's common for them to go for several days, or even ten days or half a month, without any news. As a veteran intelligence agent, Nono knew this very well. This was how Shoji expressed his concern.

Kabuto Yakushi understood this as well, and nodded with a smile, replying, "Yes, Lord Shoji!"

"Ok!"

The matter in Kusagakure Village isn't a big deal.

It's not small, though.

As long as there is no external interference, given the current size of Iwagakure, even if it forcibly swallowed the entire Kusagakure, it would only suffer a slight indigestion at most, and in reality, it would not have a significant impact.

The reason is simple: life in the Grass Village is not as good as imagined. In this world, apart from the Five Great Nations, the small ninja villages sandwiched between these great nations have always had a very difficult life!

Many ninjas from small ninja villages don't have much sense of national dignity or village pride. Based on this, if Iwagakure uses the right methods, it's easy for them to divide and win over a portion of the forces in Kusagakure.

Then they brutally executed those die-hards, achieving the merger goal in one fell swoop. However, such a method was too crude and ugly, and it was easy to leave some aftereffects. From his own perspective, Shoji was quite resistant to such a method.

He personally felt that it would take more time to gradually divide the forces within Kusagakure, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water. In three or four years at most, he could gradually win over the hearts of the vast majority of the people in Kusagakure. By then, a small number of die-hards would no longer be able to cause any major disturbances.

This group of people can be dealt with easily and without any aftereffects.

"However, it still depends on whether Kusagakure cooperates or not. That leader, Uryu, doesn't seem like a smart person at all. If all else fails, we'll really have to resort to forceful and swift measures to annex the entire Kusagakure. The aftermath can be dealt with later. Anyway, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages!"

As Shoji sped toward the Tsuchikage's office building, he secretly pondered the different measures his village should take in response to the various situations that would arise in Kusagakure. Of course, aside from these considerations, he also had to wait and see what the Tsuchikage himself would do.

After all, older people can sometimes be unexpectedly stubborn and inflexible.

Thinking of his Tsuchikage's occasional stubbornness, Shoji couldn't help but smile slightly.

When Shoji arrived at the Tsuchikage's office, Onoki was floating in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window behind the desk, his hands behind his back, gazing at the magnificent architectural complex of his own ninja village.

"Sandaime-sama!"

"Oh, Shoji, you've arrived! You probably already know why I called you here, right?"

Upon hearing Jiang Si's words.

Onoki slowly turned around, returned to his seat, looked at Shoji in the seat in front of him, and said in a very casual tone.

While annexing Kusagakure is indeed one of Iwagakure's most important tasks at present, it is still just Kusagakure, and Onoki doesn't take it too seriously. This Tsuchikage, who has experienced all the storms of the ninja world, wouldn't consider Kusagakure a mere trifle. In his eyes, it's already a piece of 'fat meat' right in front of his village. The only difference is how to swallow it. At most, he just needs to be careful not to choke on it.

"Yes, it's about the unrest in Kusagakure, right? But I haven't learned the specifics yet."

Jiang Si nodded and said.

"Hmph, it's just a few overconfident idiots among that group. As for the specific information, Ogata has already compiled it, it's on the table, you can take a look!"

Onoki chuckled dismissively, then pointed to the scroll that was already spread out on the table. After Si bowed slightly in acknowledgment, he stepped forward, picked up the scroll, and quickly scanned it.

379. The Ultimate Secret of Kusagakure

Although the information contained in the scroll was very broad, it didn't contain much accurate information that had truly penetrated into the inner workings of the village. The only certainty was that there had been unusual personnel coming and going in and out of Kusagakure recently. However, this was understandable, as Kusagakure was still a fairly large ninja village. Even though the majority of the reason Kusagakure had a certain degree of autonomy before this was due to the confrontation between Konoha and Iwagakure, its own strength and foundation should not be underestimated!