Naruto: I'm really not an evil scientist!

"We've gathered a lot of information about the Rinnegan this time. We should be able to capture them by sending out an elite task force."

If all else fails, I can make the trip myself.

"By the way, I will also participate in the research on Yahiko's body."

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent, and almost everyone's eyes turned to Hiruko.

When everyone heard that Hiruko was going to take action personally, no one thought he would fail. In everyone's opinion, if Hiruko wanted to target someone, it would be a piece of cake.

After all, one of the advantages of scientific ninjas is that they can develop comprehensive strategies for specific targets.

"Lord Hokage, please give this mission to me. I promise I'll bring Nagato back next time," Jiraiya said, taking a deep breath.

If someone else were to do it, Nagato would be certain to die, and even if he survived, he would likely become Hiruko's experimental subject.

Although Jiraiya had just been injured, he still volunteered for his disciple's sake: "Minato and I will go together!"

Minato Namikaze looked at his teacher's expectant and pleading eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then agreed.

Jiraiya patted Hiruko on the shoulder and said, "No problem, Minato and I will definitely be able to take down Nagato this time."

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward and said, "In that case, Minato and Jiraiya will take action together this time."

"Hiruko, you have other research tasks."

Hiruko said, "Then I'll leave it to the two of you."

"If Minato and Jiraiya still can't catch that guy, then I'll catch him myself."

"In that case, this task will be entrusted to you." Hiruzen Sarutobi finally made the decision.

In fact, at this time, Hiruko was only sending out a wooden clone; his main body was still conducting important research.

Now he and Minato Namikaze have a clear division of labor: Hiruko is in charge of the internal reforms and communications of Konoha, as well as cooperation with major domestic merchant guilds, while Minato Namikaze mainly handles political affairs.

The two discussed together a plan for the prosperity and development of Konoha Village.

After the completion of Konoha Amusement Park, Konoha Village has several other projects underway, such as railway construction and the planning for new residential areas.

There were even nobles and business owners who wanted to settle in Konoha Village, hoping to be allocated a suitable place.

However, Hiruko has not yet agreed to this matter.

After all, places that are too rich will have a siphon effect, and ordinary Konoha villagers can already feel this change, with some people already wanting to buy their houses.

They offered a high price, but few people were willing to sell, since selling the house meant moving away from Konoha.

Moreover, the villagers living in Konoha all hope that their children can enter the ninja academy and ninja factory and become ninjas of the new era.

Konoha is becoming more prosperous every day. Although many people praise Minato Namikaze as the great Hokage who supported Konoha after the war, Minato Namikaze and the higher-ups of Konoha know that Konoha's current prosperity is largely thanks to Hiruko.

On the other side, Obito said to Nagato with a serious expression, "You were too impulsive today."

Obito then glanced at Konan.

"What if dozens more Konoha ninjas come? And White Zetsu is almost at his limit now. If that happens, you'll be left with limited mobility to deal with so many enemies. How can that be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can't take it anymore." Bai Jue scratched his bald head and muttered, "Not having hair really makes me feel uncomfortable."

Although they couldn't understand what Obito was saying, the White Zetsu would only agree with him.

Everything Obito said was true.

Nagato ignored White Zetsu's complaints and turned to Konan, saying, "I'm sorry, I lost Yahiko's body."

When Konan heard that Yahiko's body had been lost, she was saddened, but she still comforted him, saying, "It's good that you're back. Let's not be so impulsive in the future."

“We can’t stay here any longer, Nagato. You’ve seen Konoha’s strength today—hundreds of ninjas, and there will definitely be more later. Let’s leave.”

Obito didn't really care what Nagato thought; he just wanted Nagato to listen to him.

Nagato was silent for a moment, then Konan asked, "So where are we going next?"

"If you continue to stay in the Land of Rain, Hanzo will probably come and capture you. Konoha covets your Rinnegan, do you think Hanzo wouldn't covet it too?"

Obito stood up and walked outside, saying as he went, "I've said what I needed to say. The choice is yours."

"However, given the strength Konoha displayed today, how many times do you think you can withstand it? If you want to leave, go find White Zetsu." Before he finished speaking, Obito Uchiha disappeared from the spot and quickly left.

The strength Konoha displayed today was simply too great; we must find an opportunity to severely weaken them.

However, there are too many strong people in Konoha now. Although his plan is difficult to crack, he will definitely be beaten up once he gets the chance.

So he asked White Zetsu to gather as much information about Konoha as possible.

After Obito Uchiha left, Nagato and Konan discussed the matter and ultimately decided to leave the Land of Rain.

Although this is where Yahiko's dream began, Nagato vowed that once he had fully mastered the power of the Rinnegan, he would definitely return to the Land of Rain once again.

Become a "Kami" here, avenge Yahiko, reclaim everything that belongs to Yahiko, and fulfill Yahiko's dream.

Due to various problems from the last Shinobi World War, the entire shinobi world's opinion of Konoha has been declining.

Under the wrath of countless people, Konoha's reputation has fallen to a precarious state.

Although the Konoha ninjas still defended Konoha, their numbers were ultimately too small, and they were mainly concentrated in Konoha Village.

If this happened elsewhere, it would probably be considered a trivial matter, considering how many innocent civilians were killed by ninjas during the Ninja Wars.

Those people were completely incapable of causing any real harm to Konoha.

However, the harm caused by public opinion should not be underestimated, and the Konoha leadership will absolutely not sit idly by and allow this situation to continue to spread.

Of course, this wasn't entirely without its advantages.

The biggest benefit for Konoha due to public opinion is...

Chapter 148 Lin is so good!

This will help prevent the conflict with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire from escalating further.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire has always liked to play the art of balancing things out. Previously, due to some issues, a group of people almost caused a world war, but he managed to smooth things over in the end.

Those nobles had suffered greatly because of this, and Konoha's reputation had plummeted in recent years, which made the daimyo feel that this was an opportunity to readjust the power dynamics among the various factions.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire can finally feel a little more at ease; perhaps this is a good thing.

However, we cannot leave these problems unresolved; we must find a way to deal with them, otherwise, countless ordinary people at the bottom of society will starve to death.

Let me think about it carefully, and see what other ways there are to solve these problems.

In fact, the best way to change Konoha's reputation is simply to spend money, to spend a lot of money.

However, Hiruko scratched his head. Now that he had finally managed to build Konoha into a semblance of its former size, Konoha itself had a large workload, not to mention various expenses and subsidies.

Especially the previous protracted war, which suddenly placed a heavy burden on Konoha, making it like a small beast carrying a heavy load.

The second person that comes to mind is Danzo.

Although Danzo did indeed do his best for Konoha, his reputation was extremely bad.

During this period, the other four major ninja villages were busy digesting the gains made during the Fourth Shinobi World War and had no intention of taking any initiative; at most, they were just remaining vigilant.

He seems to have lost his way. If he can't even see the changes of the times, then he can only say that they deserve what they have done.

As for Nagato's situation, there's no need to elaborate. After defeating Jiraiya and the others, things should calm down for a while.

So the most important things now are, firstly, to clear Konoha's name, and secondly, to prepare for Nagato's next challenge.

Given Nagato's personality, he might very well send out some powerful S-rank rogue ninja to deal with Konoha next time. Konoha will have to be prepared to unite against him.

In fact, the quickest way to clear Konoha's name is to have Konoha's second-in-command, Danzo, kidnapped by another country on trumped-up charges or imprisoned for a long time for some reason.

In any case, the Land of Fire and Konoha are mutually supportive, and Konoha's strength has made a crucial contribution to the Land of Fire.

If important figures in Konoha were to suffer such disrespectful treatment, it would easily stir up patriotism among the common people of the Land of Fire.

In this way, coupled with the influence of online trolls, it would be easy to cover up some of Konoha's previous problems.

This is indeed an excellent method, but the problem is that no one dares to do it.

The advantages of Konoha's strength are obvious; no one dares to bully Konoha easily. However, the disadvantages also occasionally emerge.

Just like now, even when Hiruko wanted to frame Danzo, no major power or ninja village was willing to take on this hot potato, unless they were tired of living.

If they were to detain Konoha's second-in-command, they might get a brutal beating from the enraged Konoha ninja.

Even if other major powers hated Danzo, they would never do such a thing; it was completely playing with the life and death of their own people.

The peace order issued by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had some effect. The various countries were keeping each other in check, and for the time being, there was no good way to find someone to take the blame.

We need to reconsider this further.

Hiruko stretched and finished his research for the day.

He disconnected the wires and pipes monitoring the experimental subject's status before turning to Orochimaru and asking, "So? Any results?"

Orochimaru replied, "There might be a little, but we'll have to study the data we just checked."

Hiruko felt that Orochimaru was just brushing him off, so he said, "Orochimaru, your research has actually stalled, hasn't it?"

Orochimaru's lips twitched slightly before he said, "Such a novel creature doesn't look like an ordinary species at all. It's inevitable that our research will hit a bottleneck."

"However, I've made significant breakthroughs in other areas, such as the art of reincarnation. How about it, Hiruko, are you interested?"

“Yes,” Hiru responded.

"If that were really possible, we could change bodies at will and live for a long time."

"but……"

Hiruko changed the subject: "After thinking about it carefully, I have absolutely no interest in it. My body is the most suitable for me, and there is no need to change it."

"Wait, could you please give me some information?" Hiruko added.

"Orochimaru, is this reincarnation technique you're using the unfinished one from last time?" Hiruko continued to ask.

"That's right, it has now been perfected, and when combined with the Cursed Seal Technique, the effect is excellent," Orochimaru explained.

"Could we make the soul split into two parts during reincarnation, just like the shadow clone? That way, I could control two bodies," Hiruko pondered.

"I'll go back and study the Spirit Transformation Technique; there should be a corresponding principle behind it." Hiruko's words made Orochimaru's eyes light up.

Then Hiruko spoke up again, saying, "Orochimaru, you have a major misconception about the Reincarnation Technique, which is that you must be reincarnated into someone else's body."

Why not clone your own body? That way, you wouldn't even need to fuse with it.