Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

Karin was still immersed in the farce that had just happened and didn't come back to her senses for a long time.

She looked at Naruto and asked uncertainly, "That strange old man... what does he have to do with you?"

Naruto shook his head, walked to the window, looked in the direction where Jiraiya had disappeared, a relaxed smile on his face, and spoke in a light voice.

"I don't know... but I feel like he's an elder I can trust."

He paused, his azure eyes reflecting the myriad lights outside the window.

"Although, I only came back at this time."

Chapter 70 The Causes of the Coup

In a secluded neighborhood of Konoha Village, a figure moved silently between rooftops and dark alleys.

Uchiha Sasuke activated his Sharingan, which resembled two burning will-o'-the-wisps in the darkness.

The goal is clear: find Orochimaru.

After that brief clash during the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru transformed into a swarm of snakes and escaped, seemingly without any trouble.

But one small snake was deliberately left behind. Instead of dispersing with the swarm, it hid in an extremely discreet way and meandered deeper into the village.

No attempt to conceal it.

Knowing that they might have ill intentions, Sasuke remained completely unmoved.

They still followed.

"An invitation?"

Sasuke snorted coldly in his heart, and his figure once again disappeared into the darkness.

He had to go regarding Itachi.

The little snake eventually burrowed into an abandoned old mansion and disappeared through a crack in the collapsed foundation.

Sasuke's figure landed silently in the courtyard of the mansion, and without hesitation, he slipped into the dark underground.

What came into view was an underground facility filled with the smell of decay and pungent chemicals.

The walls were covered in rust, and huge glass culture tanks were lined up in a row. In the turbid culture medium, there were distorted shapes and failed experimental subjects that had long since lost their vital signs.

They curled up silently, as if accusing the forbidden experiments that had taken place here.

Sasuke's gaze swept over the grotesque creations, finally settling on a huge anatomical diagram hanging on the deepest wall.

That was a portrait of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, along with some incomprehensible cellular structure diagrams.

As Sasuke walked among them, he sensed a madness in those failed experimental subjects that was identical to Orochimaru's own.

This reminded him of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the equally mad scientist in Soul Society.

However, their pursuits seem to be completely different.

Deep inside the laboratory, in a relatively tidy room.

Orochimaru was sitting on a chair that resembled an operating table, seemingly having been waiting for some time.

Upon seeing Sasuke emerge from the dark passage, a sickly smile immediately appeared on his pale face.

"Hehe... I've been waiting for you for a long time, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke did not respond immediately, his gaze fixed on Orochimaru, his snake eyes gleaming strangely under the light.

"This kind of trick is boring."

"Hehe, what a smart kid, I'm growing to like you more and more."

Orochimaru's smile widened, his snake eyes flashing with undisguised fanaticism. "That's right, I sent you here specifically."

"Ever since we parted ways in the Forest of Death, I've been thinking about you day and night, Sasuke-kun."

He slowly rose from his chair and said in a nauseating tone, “Your unique and powerful strength is truly magnificent.”

"Originally, I only intended to use you as a 'vessel' for my next reincarnation..."

Orochimaru paused, then greedily scanned Sasuke's entire body with the gaze of someone admiring a work of art.

"But now, I've changed my mind."

"A mere container is not worthy of such perfect material as you."

“Sasuke, you are a ‘perfect being’ worthy of being studied. What I crave is all the secrets within you.”

Sasuke's face remained completely unmoved by Orochimaru's nonsensical ramblings.

He went straight to the point and asked about the purpose of his trip.

"You mentioned my brother earlier. Tell me, what do you know about him?"

"Hehe." Orochimaru didn't answer directly, a sly glint flashing in his snake-like eyes.

He slowly rose, circled Sasuke once, chuckled hoarsely, and asked in return, "Before answering you, I'm more curious, Sasuke-kun, why do you think Itachi wanted to massacre his clan?"

This question made Sasuke's eyes narrow instantly.

"A genius hailed as a once-in-a-century talent in the Uchiha clan, a boy who became an ANBU squad leader at the age of thirteen..."

He stopped in front of Sasuke, leaning forward slightly. "What reason could make him raise a butcher's knife and bury his own parents, his clan, and everything he cherished?"

He slowly straightened up, took a step back, spread his hands, and wore a sickly smile.

"Don't you think that's strange in itself?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed instantly.

yeah why?

To test the "capacity"?

This reason, after all he had been through, seemed weak and laughable.

Seeing Sasuke deep in thought, Orochimaru knew the time had come.

He stretched out his pale hand and pointed to the experimental equipment around him.

"Do you know where you are, Sasuke-kun?"

Orochimaru's voice was hoarse, tinged with a hint of smugness, echoing in the empty underground laboratory, "This place was once the darkest corner of Konoha."

"The remnants of an organization that willingly went deep underground to carry out all sorts of dirty tasks in order to protect the light of the 'tree trunk'."

His words pulled Sasuke out of his reverie.

"organize?"

"Hehe..." Orochimaru slowly walked to a huge glass culture tank and gently tapped the cold glass.

"For the sake of the First Hokage's legendary 'Wood Release', I conducted countless human experiments here."

He pointed to the human arm in the culture tank, which had even sprouted tender green buds, "And the one who orchestrated all of this was a man who craved power more than I did and knew better how to use darkness."

Sasuke followed his finger and felt a surge of revulsion.

"That organization is called 'Root'."

Orochimaru finally turned around, his snake-like eyes fixed on Sasuke in the dim light. "No emotions, no past, no self, existing only to draw nourishment from the dark soil for the sake of the village, this great tree."

"Its leader was the Third Hokage's best friend, and also the deepest shadow beneath his brilliance."

He paused deliberately, enjoying Sasuke's increasingly cold gaze.

"Shimura Danzo."

Sasuke was no stranger to this name.

He had heard this name more than once in his father's study, each time accompanied by his father's solemn expression and suppressed sigh.

Orochimaru's voice was filled with malicious pleasure: "He believes that the existence of the Uchiha clan threatens the Konoha he is 'protecting,' so he uses every means to suppress the Uchiha."

These words cleared the fog from Sasuke's memories.

During the Nine-Tails' rampage, the police force was deliberately diverted...

The humiliation of being forcibly relocated to the edge of the village after the war...

And then there was the unspoken anger in my father's voice when he mentioned the village's higher-ups...

"Years of injustice and oppression..."

Orochimaru's voice amplified in his ears, piecing together the fragments he had ignored.

"Given the Uchiha's deep-seated pride, do you think they will forever swallow their anger?"

"You said."

Orochimaru's voice was very low, "Could they be plotting something in the dark? Like a plan that could overthrow the village's current order?"

"For example, a..."

"coup?"

Chapter 71 Itachi, you shouldn't have let me live

"coup?"

This word connects the memories that Sasuke cannot understand.

Orochimaru was still whispering in his ear, but he couldn't hear it anymore.

The village's leadership and the Uchiha clan are two sharply opposing camps...

Sasuke's breathing became rapid; a more crucial figure had emerged at the center of this game.

Uchiha Itachi.

On one side is the Uchiha clan, who gave him life and raised him, and with whom he shares blood ties. He is the eldest son of clan leader Uchiha Fugaku, and the pride and future of the entire clan.

On the other end is the village that bestowed upon him glory and mission. He is the Hokage's direct subordinate in the Anbu, a sharp blade protecting Konoha.

A clear logical chain took shape in Sasuke's mind.

"If the clan was planning a coup, Itachi, as a member of the Uchiha clan, couldn't possibly be unaware of it."