Chapter 25 (Patreon)

Roy noticed Kaorui’s embarrassment, but after glancing at her once, his attention quickly returned to Kushina.

Leaning against her shoulder, he quietly watched as she soothed the two crying infants back to sleep.

After that day, Kaorui also began following Kushina’s training regimen.

Naturally, the intensity of her training was far lower, but even so, she could clearly feel her body beginning to change.

Only then did she realise that the Uzumaki clan’s constitution did not merely grow stronger with age. By repeatedly pushing their bodies to the limit, they could accelerate that development considerably.

Had the clan discovered this method earlier and replaced their former moderate training with such intense conditioning, would the other villages have dared to attack the Land of Whirlpools so casually?

Unfortunately, reality offered no second chances.

The Land of Whirlpools had already become a thing of the past.

Perhaps the Uzumaki clan had ultimately fallen because of their own complacency.

They possessed unmatched fūinjutsu, extraordinary vitality, and the backing of a powerful ally like Konoha. Because of that, they had lacked any true sense of danger.

By the time the invasion came, they were woefully unprepared and barely managed to mount an effective resistance.

Two and a half months had passed since Kaorui had last been bitten.

With proper meals every day, sufficient nutrition, and the stimulation provided by intense physical training, the life force she had lost was finally restored.

Her vitality had even improved beyond its previous level.

Karin and Naruto, whom Kaorui had also been nursing, seemed noticeably healthier and more energetic as well.

On this particular day, Kushina was teaching Kaorui fūinjutsu.

Although both women belonged to the Uzumaki clan, Kaorui had been born into a common family and had never possessed many advanced sealing scrolls.

In truth, throughout the shinobi world, both ninjutsu and fūinjutsu were tightly controlled by the hidden villages.

Shinobi without a clan inheritance generally had to make significant contributions before they could exchange for more advanced techniques.

Kushina, however, was now the sole inheritor of the Uzumaki clan’s complete legacy.

She could teach its techniques to whomever she wished.

Kaorui treasured this opportunity and studied with exceptional diligence.

At around ten in the morning, Uchiha Mikoto arrived for her usual visit with the infant Sasuke in her arms.

During their conversation, she casually mentioned that members of the Konoha Military Police Force had seen Danzō leaving the village with several subordinates.

The Konoha Military Police Force had been established by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and was staffed almost entirely by members of the Uchiha clan.

His decision had served two purposes.

On the surface, entrusting the village’s security to the Uchiha demonstrated how highly Konoha valued them.

The message was simple: the protection of the village had been placed in their hands, so no one could claim that Konoha did not regard the Uchiha as one of its own.

At the same time, the police force was responsible for handling countless disputes between villagers.

Even if its members enforced the law impartially, one side would inevitably leave dissatisfied.

Over time, the Uchiha would gradually lose the goodwill of the public, making it difficult for any highly popular clan member to emerge as a serious candidate for Hokage.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi became the Third Hokage, however, the village leadership’s treatment of the police force slowly changed.

Whether intentionally or not, Hiruzen and Danzō seemed to understand only the second purpose behind Tobirama’s decision.

They allowed the Uchiha to offend the villagers through their law-enforcement duties, steadily eroding the clan’s public support and making it easier to suppress and control them.

Yet they never considered offering the Uchiha any goodwill in return.

They used the stick repeatedly without ever presenting the carrot.

As a result, the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha clan became increasingly strained.

Of course, not all the blame lay with Hiruzen and Danzō.

The Uchiha themselves had serious problems as well.

The Sharingan was an exceptionally powerful kekkei genkai. Once awakened, an Uchiha could often defeat several shinobi of the same rank.

That strength naturally fostered pride within the clan.

Even when members of the Military Police Force enforced the law fairly, their habit of looking down on everyone around them made it difficult for even the people they helped to feel grateful.

When confronted with misunderstandings from the villagers, most Uchiha could not be bothered to explain themselves.

Instead, they responded with even greater arrogance.

That pride only accelerated the deterioration of their relationship with the village.

In the end, had either the Uchiha clan or Konoha’s leadership behaved reasonably, the conflict should never have escalated to the point of the clan’s eventual destruction.

Konoha had been dealt an excellent hand and somehow managed to play it in the worst possible way.

“Wasn’t Danzō supposed to be confined to the village?”

Kushina’s expression darkened.

“If he left so openly, then the Third Hokage must have given him permission.”

Kushina had already lost much of her faith in Hiruzen.

Now, whatever hope remained disappeared completely.

Whenever Danzō was involved, Hiruzen became so indecisive that he hardly resembled a Hokage at all.

Roy, however, saw Danzō’s departure as an opportunity.

While Danzō remained in the village, Roy had been extremely cautious when spreading information about his crimes.

He had feared that Danzō might notice something unusual and trace it back to Kushina.

Although Kushina had both Roy and the Nine-Tails supporting her, she was not yet powerful enough to disregard every scheme and conspiracy directed against her.

Now that Danzō had left Konoha, Roy could finally act with fewer restraints.

Previously, he had only made a move while Kushina and Mikoto were out shopping.

Using his spiritual power, he had quietly implanted memories of several crimes committed by Danzō into the minds of selected villagers.

Naturally, Danzō would never be able to identify the source of the rumours.

From the very beginning, numerous supposed insiders had started discussing the same stories at nearly the same time.

There had been no clear chain of one person telling ten others, followed by those ten spreading it to a hundred.

Without a starting point, there was nothing to trace.

Now that Danzō had left Konoha, even if some Root shinobi remained behind, their surveillance of the village would inevitably weaken.

“Mikoto, when you return, tell Fugaku that I want to speak with him.”

Mikoto was briefly taken aback.

She did not understand why Kushina had suddenly asked to meet her husband when they had merely been enjoying a pleasant conversation about their children.

Moreover, judging from Kushina’s expression, she clearly intended for the meeting to be private and hidden from outsiders.

Mikoto was the wife of the Uchiha clan head, not some naive housewife.

She immediately connected Kushina’s request to the news of Danzō leaving the village.

An astonishingly bold possibility began taking shape in her mind.

“I understand,” Mikoto replied. “I’ll tell him when I return.”

---

After leaving Konoha, Danzō did not travel directly to the Fire Daimyō’s residence to discuss the village’s military funding.

Instead, he took a detour and entered a hidden underground base, where he met with the missing-nin Orochimaru.

“Orochimaru, where is the item I requested?”

Orochimaru turned without answering and led him deeper into the laboratory.

He stopped before a container on one of the workbenches and gestured toward the specimen inside.

“The experimental results remain unstable.”

“What is the success rate?”

“Less than ten percent.”

Danzō’s expression darkened.

“So much time has passed, yet you have made no progress at all?”

Orochimaru paid no attention to his cold stare.

“I currently have neither sufficient funds nor materials. The experiments cannot continue without them, so how exactly do you expect me to make progress?”

He turned toward Danzō with a faint smile.

“Danzō-sama, provide me with the necessary funding and research materials, and I guarantee that you will obtain what you desire within two years.”

“Two years?”

Danzō nearly coughed up blood.

At the rate Orochimaru consumed money, two years of funding would be enough to completely drain the wealth of a medium-sized shinobi clan.

For years, Danzō had been cutting expenses wherever possible to support Orochimaru’s research.

He had not even spared the meagre funds allocated to the Konoha Orphanage.

At the same time, Root shinobi had disguised themselves as bandits and raiders, ambushing wealthy merchants travelling along remote roads.

Even with those methods, Danzō had only barely managed to provide the enormous amount of money Orochimaru required.

And now Orochimaru had casually demanded another two years of funding.

Did he truly believe money was so easy to obtain?