Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

Orochimaru gave a cold laugh, then buried himself back in his experiments. For a 'mad researcher' like Orochimaru, the closer an experiment gets to the end, the more excited he becomes.

A week has passed!

Since the Third Hokage began to take this matter seriously.

The real order to investigate the missing persons cases can actually be traced back to four months ago, because it was from that time that the number of missing persons in the village began to increase, especially among ninjas, but at that time the village was still in the midst of the most intense battle with the Hidden Cloud Village.

The Third Hokage would find it difficult to spare the time and manpower to truly investigate this matter.

Until most of the frontline personnel returned.

With the friction between the ninja and the Cloud Ninja reduced in scale, the Anbu personnel no longer needed to be particularly vigilant in the northeast, which allowed the Third Hokage to spare two large squads to carry out this mission.

68. The actions of the general

Although the size of the Anbu seems to have increased several times over, the scope of its responsibilities has also expanded significantly. In particular, with the military strength of various countries remaining strong and even increasing year after year, the Anbu, as the most elite force in the village, is responsible for gathering intelligence on the specific movements of various ninja villages. The high-level spies infiltrated and placed in various ninja villages are all handled by the Anbu.

Therefore, don't be fooled by the fact that the number of members in the Dark Division has now expanded to several hundred.

In reality, the number of personnel that can be mobilized at any time is limited, and a significant portion of the members have fixed tasks to perform.

This time, the Third Hokage was able to allocate two squads totaling 50 Anbu members to carry out the search mission, which is already quite a large number.

Despite a week of intensive searching by these secret agents, they were still unable to find the true mastermind. However, based on the information they could gather, it was certain that the real culprit had not left Konoha. In other words, this guy was currently 'tethered' to Konoha Village.

Moreover, it is highly likely that there were other people cooperating and providing cover.

Although there is no concrete evidence to prove it, judging from various indications, it would be very difficult for one person to do this alone. At least the Third Hokage himself admitted that it would be impossible for him to do such a perfect cover under the full-scale search of the five great ninja villages without the help of anyone.

And the more this is the case, the more...

The more the Third Hokage feared him, the more wary he became.

This means that the person behind the scenes is either being protected by a high-ranking official in their own ninja village, or is simply impersonating a high-ranking official in the ninja village.

As a result, the heads of some key departments in the village, as long as they had left the village in the past year, were all put on Hiruzen Sarutobi's temporary blacklist, and he directly ordered his subordinate ANBU to focus on investigating the whereabouts of these people in the past year.

The final message was—there was nothing unusual!

Not only that.

In the past week.

The person behind this seemed to have seen through the helplessness of Konoha's Anbu, and arrested two more night patrolmen in succession. This blatant act of provocation made all the Anbu members involved in the incident feel indignant. Only Shoji remained unmoved. In his view, the more arrogant the behavior, the more it proved that Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, was planning to slip away.

After all, it's a truth that everyone understands—the more you do something, the more traces you might leave behind.

Moreover, this is completely different from the previous crimes.

This is blatant defiance of the rules!

With both ANBU squads on high alert, Orochimaru's actions still managed to give them some clues.

Unless Orochimaru stops immediately.

Otherwise, the Anbu would eventually find Orochimaru, as the original work already demonstrates. The question now is whether Orochimaru will complete his final experiment in Konoha and leave early, or whether the Third Hokage will lead the Anbu to forcefully block his way. In the original work, it was the latter, which was Orochimaru's only oversight.

He thought he had enough time, and even believed he could escape successfully if the door was blocked. However, he underestimated his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Although he was nearly sixty years old, his strength was enough to suppress Orochimaru at that time, even with the combined attack of the Anbu.

In the original story, the Third Hokage had a very high probability of nipping Orochimaru, an S-rank rogue ninja, in the bud. However, in the end, the Third Hokage softened his heart and faced his most valued disciple face to face.

He chose to let him go himself.

This is Orochimaru's good fortune, and Konoha's greatest misfortune.

It was one of the greatest sins committed by the Third Hokage in his old age.

After all, according to his own beliefs, whoever threatens the collective interests and righteousness of Konoha, he, as the Hokage, should destroy them at all costs. Yet he still let Orochimaru go, which is an indelible mistake.

What exactly will happen in this life is something Jiang Si has no way of knowing.

However, the only conclusion he could draw from his thoughts over the past few days was that, from the perspective of the Uchiha clan, he had better ensure Orochimaru's safe departure from Konoha. After all, his arrival had already begun to change the original plot, and no one could guarantee that Orochimaru would be able to retreat as smoothly as in the original story.

The most important point is...

Even if the probability of success is not very high.

But Shoji still intends to try to make a deal with Orochimaru.

The target was the First Hokage's Wood Release cells.

As for the items to be traded, Jiang Si had prepared them in advance, just waiting to see if Orochimaru would take the bait. Jiang Si was also prepared for the issue of his own identity; he certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to use his true identity to contact Orochimaru.

In any case, this person is a heavyweight and dangerous individual.

Therefore, while making some necessary preparations.

On a night near the end of December in Konoha year 49.

It was in the early hours of the morning.

Jiang Si leaped out of his own camp, evaded the numerous patrols, and disappeared into the night, walking along the shadowy paths of Konoha, heading straight northeast until he arrived at a flat-bottomed house.

This is the residence of Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha.

The original work does not explain where Orochimaru's secret base in Konoha is located. During this period of investigation, even without mentioning that Shoji in the Anbu did not collect any very useful intelligence, even if he did, it certainly wouldn't be Shoji alone who arrived ahead of time.

This is the only residence that is publicly known.

This is the intelligence that the commander can obtain in the shortest amount of time.

The reason for choosing today is that Orochimaru made a rare appearance in the Hokage's office building today. Although it's not 100% accurate, Shoji guesses that the probability of this 'research maniac' returning to his normal residence to rest is very high.

At worst, we can just do it again.

The worst outcome is simply not meeting them. In the end, this is just an extra plan that Shoji came up with, and it won't have any impact if it fails.

At this moment, Jiang Si's attire resembled that of the main villain in the original work. He was dressed in all black with a striking fire cloud pattern engraved on his clothes, and wore a spiral mask on his face, revealing only one pupil.

Within that single pupil, a four-cornered windmill shape slowly rotates.

That's right!

Tonight, Shoji plans to impersonate Obito Uchiha to test Orochimaru. Whether he succeeds or not is irrelevant; the most important thing is to avoid revealing his true identity.

69. Orochimaru and General

A deep, dim, and quiet atmosphere.

It must be said that after Orochimaru's personality changed drastically, he not only became cold and indifferent in his dealings with others, but even his residence would inexplicably give off a chilling aura to outsiders once they stepped in.

Moreover, in such a large building.

In this pitch-black night, not a single light was lit.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that no one lived there at all, but Shoji was certain that Orochimaru would definitely return to his residence today, unless he left again in the short time that followed, which was something Shoji couldn't catch. If that happened, it would mean that Shoji's infiltration mission today had been fruitless.

In fact, when Shoji infiltrated Orochimaru's residence, the faint traces of residual aura that could be detected proved that Orochimaru must have left this space not long ago. However, even after Shoji circled the entire residence, he still could not find even a trace of Orochimaru, nor could he sense any chakra fluctuations.

This made the general suspicious.

'Could it be that this guy really left again later? Returned to his secret base, or somewhere else?'

Si stepped outside Orochimaru's study, a thoughtful look in his exposed pupils, and his brows furrowed slightly at that moment.

If that's the case, then Jiang Si really needs to adjust his plans and temporarily retreat from here.

Just as Shoji was about to leave after searching the area again without finding anything, he suddenly noticed a very subtle design in the rockery in the courtyard opposite Orochimaru's bedroom. Most people would hardly notice it, but to Shoji, this subtle sense of incongruity made his eyes narrow and his Sharingan, which he subconsciously activated, focus on the spot.

This clearly detected a trace of chakra fluctuation.

'Is that how it is?'

as far as the eye can see.

A unique scene unfolded before my eyes.

Ling Jiangsi's lips curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

He approached quietly, and after groping around on it for a while with his right hand, he found a cleverly protruding spot and gently twisted it.

"Crack!"

As a deep yet crisp sound rang out.

The artificial hill rotates slowly.

A deep and dark cave entrance was revealed directly.

A chilling wind emanated from within.

After pausing for three seconds, a sharp glint flashed in Jiang Si's eyes before he leaped down.

As it fell straight to the bottom.

A narrow passage came into view under the dim light on both sides.

Orochimaru built a secret base on the ground floor of his own residence. It seems that this is also an area where Orochimaru conducts various experiments and research. Judging from the scale and configuration, as well as the materials casually placed on both sides, it looks very much like the experimental site where Hiruzen Sarutobi and his Anbu blocked the door at the end of the original work. It's just unclear whether it is that one.

As Jiang Si stepped deeper into the inner area, he silently pondered in his heart.

Just as they were about to reach the end of the passage, a subtle fluctuation of chakra suddenly appeared. The moment Jiang Si sensed it, he paused, then a faint smile appeared on his face. His voice, deliberately lowered and becoming deep and resonant, said, "Since you've already discovered my arrival, why don't you just show yourself? Is this your way of welcoming me, Orochimaru?"

As Shoji turned to the side, he looked at the small, shadowy spot recessed to the left of the passage. The crimson and jet-black Sharingan eyes that shone through the single pupil were so cold and sinister at that moment.

"Heh, Sharingan, are you from the Uchiha clan? Or are you someone who stole the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit?"

at the same time.

Suddenly, a tall, slender figure appeared in the shadows.

Those eerie pupils, pale skin, and hoarse voice belonged to none other than Orochimaru, the target of Shoji's mission and the owner of this house. This legendary Sannin was not at all surprised that he had been discovered, able to sneak into his house so quietly that he was only detected by Shoji using a special mechanism.

This is sufficient to prove the identity of the person who came.

Especially the Sharingan that shines out from the pupil.

Beneath Orochimaru's seemingly relaxed exterior, his heart was already completely taut.

"Hmph, who I am is not important. What's important is what my purpose is in coming here, isn't it, Orochimaru!"

Jiang Si sneered, and the next moment, the Sharingan in his pupils changed rapidly, the three tomoe spinning at high speed. Then, in Orochimaru's suddenly contracted pupils, the tomoe that condensed directly manifested as a four-cornered windmill shape.

"The Mangekyou Sharingan!?"

Orochimaru cried out in shock.

In the next instant, he abruptly lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with Shoji in less than 0.5 seconds. As a disciple of the Third Hokage and a renowned ninja in the ninja world during the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru knew very well how terrifying the Mangekyou Sharingan was, as it was the supreme secret technique of the Uchiha clan!