I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

Orochimaru looked surprised: "Is Pain also hunting Danzo? Danzo is really unlucky. But Menma, you misunderstand me. Pain is too busy killing me to give him any information."

"That would be best."

Naruto snorted coldly, glanced at the cynical viper, and said indifferently, "Tell me the purpose of your visit. You wouldn't have come to visit me, the leader of a small ninja village, without a reason."

"I came here for Danzo's Mangekyou Sharingan. I want to trade this Sharingan with Menma."

Orochimaru explained his purpose and glanced at Shisui, whose expression was unusually grim.

Naruto frowned, sat down on the stone bench, and said, "I have returned Danzo's eyes to their rightful owner. If you want to take the Mangekyou Sharingan, you might as well fight Shisui. His strength is almost the same as Itachi Uchiha's."

Chapter 212 Trading

Orochimaru's expression changed slightly when Itachi Uchiha was mentioned.

Before fighting Uchiha Itachi, he never imagined that he, who had once controlled the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki with genjutsu, would suffer such a great loss in terms of genjutsu. If he hadn't made preparations in advance, he really would have died at Uchiha Itachi's hands.

This matter had been a secret all along, but unexpectedly, it was found out by Menma Uzumaki.

At this moment, Shisui spoke expressionlessly: "Lord Menma is right. You can try to ambush me, but if you want to attack Uzushio Village, you should think twice about your strength."

Orochimaru, an expert in Sichuan opera, changed his expression very quickly: "I was just joking. I'm not that interested in the Sharingan. I just came to pay my respects to my deceased friend. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have left Konoha. I had to come here to confirm whether he was really dead."

Naruto glanced at Orochimaru, then gestured for Shisui to step back, and said, "Stop your clumsy acting and get down to business. When Pain and I were chasing Danzo, how much of Danzo's legacy did you receive?"

"Not much, just a few laboratories and some real estate."

Orochimaru didn't want to discuss these matters and casually brushed it off, then said in a serious tone, "Boss Menma, I've come here today to handle a major matter and seek cooperation."

"What big event?" Naruto said dismissively, "Is it an invasion of Kumogakure and Iwagakure, or a siege of Akatsuki? It can't be a counterattack on Konoha, can it? I remember you and Jiraiya were quite close."

"It has nothing to do with that idiot..."

A hint of nostalgia flashed in Orochimaru's eyes, and he said, "I've come to invite you to hunt Sunagakure. Sunagakure is so weak, it shouldn't occupy such a large territory."

“I have no interest in Sunagakure, and Uzushio Village can’t digest such a large territory. Maintaining the existing territory of the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Waves is enough for me.”

Naruto gently shook his head, rejecting Orochimaru's plan to hunt down the country; he had no intention of swallowing a whale whole.

Orochimaru did not give up and continued to try to persuade Naruto: "As far as I know, Kirigakure should be within Menma's territory. If we launch a war in the name of Kirigakure, taking over the Land of Wind shouldn't be too difficult."

Naruto looked at Orochimaru expressionlessly: "I'm not a warmonger who starts wars at will. Starting a new round of the Ninja World War won't do Uzumaki Village any good. If you want to take action against Sunagakure, don't drag me into it."

"Since Chief Mianma is not interested, I will not force him."

After a moment's thought, Orochimaru continued, "However, please do not spread our conversation, Menma. After I take control of Sunagakure, I will secretly assist Menma in dealing with the Akatsuki."

Naruto said meaningfully, "Are you so sure that the Akatsuki are my enemies?"

Orochimaru nodded: "The Akatsuki's plan is to collect the Tailed Beasts, and Menma, the leader, is a Jinchuriki. There is an irreconcilable conflict between you and the Akatsuki."

"Knowing too much is not a good thing..."

Naruto paused for a moment, then said, "I can leave your control of Sunagakure's actions as fine, but I need the technology related to the Cursed Seal. Don't try to fob me off this time."

"Why is Leader Mianma so obsessed with the curse seal? You've already mastered immortal techniques."

Orochimaru had always been puzzled. He studied the Cursed Seal because he couldn't cultivate Sage Mode, while Naruto, who had already mastered Sage Mode, still sought out Orochimaru for the Cursed Seal technique.

"Compared to the stagnant Sage Techniques of Ryuchi Cave, I have more faith in the future of Cursed Seal Techniques. Doesn't Orochimaru-senpai want to create Sage Techniques that belong to ninjas?"

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru's eyes lit up. Creating Sage Mode suitable for humans was one of his ambitions.

After a moment of contemplation, Orochimaru said, "Does Boss Menma want to research the cursed seal technology together? If you could provide some of the cell tissue, I believe it would speed up the research."

Naruto ignored Orochimaru's ulterior motives and shook his head: "Don't even think about it. I won't provide experimental materials, but I can offer you an idea regarding the Cursed Seal technology."

"Remember the White Zetsu corpse I gave you? By fusing its cells with Jugo's cells, we might be able to clone a ninja who is naturally adapted to Sage Mode."

Orochimaru nodded; Naruto's idea was indeed good.

Currently, the mortality rate of the Heavenly Curse Seal and the Earthly Curse Seal is extremely high. Only Kimimaro underwent the transplant of the Earthly Curse Seal, while others can only receive the ordinary version of the curse seal, and their strength can only be improved from genin to chunin at most.

Although there is no shortage of test subjects willing to become stronger in war-torn areas, the preparations before transplanting the cursed seal are too complicated.

If the curse seal is transplanted from the cellular level, the research and development time can be greatly reduced, and one day it may be possible to artificially create immortals.

However, how did the other party know that the source of the cursed seal was Jugo? Could it be that their Otogakure was infiltrated by Uzushio Village? Who is the traitor?

Without further thought, Orochimaru took out a scroll containing the techniques of the Cursed Seal and tossed it to Naruto.

He wasn't worried about the cursed seal technology leaking out; on the contrary, the spread of the technology could expand the experimental subjects and reduce the number of times he had to conduct experiments himself. After glancing at Naruto's black fox mask, Orochimaru burrowed into the ground and quickly left the range of his senses.

Naruto took the scroll containing the cursed seal technique, glanced at it, and put it into his backpack.

He wasn't particularly affected by Orochimaru's gaze. Through his interactions and battles with important figures in the ninja world, his true identity had already been largely guessed. After all, the Nine-Tails' chakra was too conspicuous to be fooled.

He had long since outgrown the stage of needing to disguise his identity; wearing a mask was merely to conceal his handsome, youthful face.

Compared to most of the strong ninjas in the world, he was far too young. Even though nearly three years had passed since the Uchiha Clan Massacre, he was still very young and lacked the majesty expected of a Kage.

However, even though the Hokage of Konoha has changed from the Third Hokage to Jiraiya, is Orochimaru still preparing to launch the Konoha Collapse Plan?

Recalling the details of the Konoha Collapse Plan, Naruto could only sigh that Orochimaru truly loved Konoha too much. Even as a hunted S-rank rogue ninja, he still cared about the future development of Konoha, and even went so far as to kill his own teacher and the Fourth Kazekage.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Naruto looked towards the Land of Fire.

As the ninja village that occupies the purification zone of the ninja world, Konoha is undoubtedly the center of the entire ninja world, and its every move affects the situation of the entire ninja world.

After returning to Uzushio Village, in addition to developing the village, it's time to shift the focus of external affairs to Konoha.

Chapter 213 Change of Identity

Three months have passed since Jiraiya became the Fifth Hokage.

With the combined efforts of Jiraiya and Tsunade, the villagers gradually adapted to the leadership of the Fifth Hokage, since the Fifth Hokage almost continued all the ruling policies of the Third Hokage.

Apart from the reinstatement of the security forces, there were few changes in other departments.

The reason for reinstating the security forces is simple: as the Hokage, Jiraiya needed to use them to cultivate his own elite troops in order to strengthen his influence.

Although the Hokage is the leader of a village, the village is a combination of various interest groups. The Hokage is merely the leader of the strongest faction, and any reforms he wants to implement will inevitably affect the interests of many parties.

Jiraiya didn't want to get involved in these complicated matters; he just wanted to be a warrior fighting on the front lines.

However, Tsunade, who was in charge of internal affairs, did not think so. She believed that they needed to control a force of their own in order to carry out sweeping reforms within Konoha.

Rubbing her aching shoulders, Tsunade looked out the window at the lush foliage, trying to relieve the fatigue from work.

He then looked at Jiraiya, who had been caught by Shizune, and said with a helpless expression, "Hey Jiraiya, you're the Fifth Hokage of the village, can't you put a little effort into your work? Where have you been all day?"

Jiraiya scratched his head and said, "Tsunade, you owe far too much money. I'm working hard to write a book to pay off your debts."

Tsunade looked somewhat embarrassed and quickly changed the subject: "Jiraiya, I think it's necessary to explain to you the situation within the village and the challenges we're about to face..."

In short, after Tsunade became an assistant, the advisors Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado basically stepped down to the second line.

The only remaining powerful forces in the village are the Ino-Shika-Cho, Hyuga, and Sarutobi clans. Among them, the Ino-Shika-Cho clan has clearly expressed its support for the current Hokage, and the previous Hokage have also relied on the assistance of the three clans.

The Hyuga clan adheres to neutrality and never asks for important positions, which is reassuring.

Currently, the only remaining threats to Konoha Village are the remnants of Root and the Jonin of the Sarutobi clan, who are deeply entrenched in important departments such as the Anbu. The latter, in particular, have become one of the biggest contributors to the reforms.

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya looked troubled. He could send out the Anbu to wipe out the remnants of Root, but he was somewhat helpless when facing the Jonin of the Sarutobi clan who held key positions.

Although he and Tsunade launched a coup, the Third Hokage voluntarily relinquished the position of Hokage.

After minimizing internal strife within Konoha, they had to confront the powerful and uncontrollable Sarutobi clan. Even while the Third Hokage was alive, they couldn't openly take action against the Sarutobi clan.

The most crucial factor in all of this is the attitude of the Third Hokage.

With a soft sigh, Jiraiya understood the predicament Minato faced back then. Although he had effectively placed his teacher under house arrest, Minato was, after all, the Third Hokage, and his influence on Konoha was far too great.

"I understand. I'll visit the old man in a few days..."

Tsunade nodded slightly, then took out the letters from Amegakure and Uzushio Village and handed them to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya opened the letter and glanced at it briefly to get a general idea of ​​its contents. It contained some blessings for him after he became Hokage, and also a request to strengthen cooperation and communication between the two sides.

Upon reading the text, Jiraiya remarked with some emotion, "I never imagined that the rule behind Amegakure was actually achieved by my three disciples whom I took in in the Land of Rain. It's truly unexpected."

Tsunade frowned and said, "Jiraiya, you're not really planning to support them, are you?"

Jiraiya shook his head: "Of course not. As the Hokage, I naturally have to protect the interests of Konoha. Besides being my disciples, they are also the leaders of Amegakure, and they are considering the interests of Amegakure as well."

"That's good……"

Tsunade relaxed her brow and then asked, "By the way, how is the pursuit of the Root remnants going? Those diehards who are loyal to Danzo have even appeared near the Daimyo's castle, which may threaten the Daimyo's safety."

Jiraiya seemed to remember something and said, "Tsunade, could we use this opportunity to control the Daimyo... As far as I know, Uzushio Village is already directly responsible to the people."

"Take it one step at a time. The ninja clans in the village won't agree to us taking action against the nobles."

Tsunade seemed hesitant about taking action against the daimyo. On the one hand, the daimyo's rule in the Land of Fire was deeply entrenched, and on the other hand, the current daimyo had ties to the Senju clan, making it difficult to use violence to threaten him.

Jiraiya nodded; he didn't actually have much talent for governing a ninja village.

We still have to rely on Tsunade, who has a wealth of experience. All she can do is try her best to maintain a relatively fair environment and prevent similar incidents to the Cloud Village delegation and the Uchiha Night from happening again.

After discussing the situation at Root, Tsunade then mentioned the external pressures facing Konoha.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure are Konoha's archenemies, having fought large-scale wars with Konoha in every Shinobi World War. Fortunately, the rise of Amegakure and Uzushiogakure has helped Konoha share some of the pressure. Sunagakure, on the other hand, is an ally that has signed an alliance agreement.

Judging from the current situation, Konoha doesn't need to worry about external pressure in the short term, but that may not be the case in the long run.

A defense plan must be developed, a larger response force must be formed, and vigilance must be maintained against attacks from other countries.

After hearing these plans, Jiraiya fell into deep thought. Although the countries had gained valuable time to develop after the war between Konoha and Kumogakure, they were all preparing for future wars. The ninja world would never be completely peaceful.

Silently leaving the Hokage Building, Jiraiya gradually began to understand some of the Third Hokage's actions.

The Third Hokage's compromise with Kumogakure objectively prevented the war from continuing and tacitly approved Danzo's attack on the Uchiha, thus preventing the village from falling into internal strife. However, this also sowed the seeds of suspicion among the various ninja clans.

After all, it was the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, the old ninja clans, that were always suppressed, while the Sarutobi clan had never been suppressed.

Such differential treatment inevitably caused resentment among the major ninja villages, to the point that when they launched their coup, not a single ninja clan stood up to explicitly oppose it.

However, compared to these concerns, Jiraiya was more worried about whether he would become as indecisive as the Third Hokage.

Using the Will of Fire to weaken other forces in the village for personal gain would violate the principle of protecting one's comrades as Hokage.

After letting out a deep sigh, Jiraiya took out a piece of paper from his pocket and tore it to pieces.

The note originated from a ninja spy hiding in the village, and it contained Orochimaru's contact information. Orochimaru deliberately sent someone to deliver it.