After everyone had left, Danzō finally looked at Hiruzen with smug satisfaction and said: "Hiruzen, you have finally realized the importance of the Root. Tell me, what do you need me to help you with?"
Hiruzen bit down on his smoking pipe again, exhaling clouds of smoke as he said: "Privately contact Uchiha Itachi and see what intelligence he has over there that we can make use of."
"What?" Danzō immediately exploded. "Contact that evil Uchiha?"
"He has already betrayed the village and is completely untrustworthy—he must be eliminated!"
"Any of his intelligence is definitely fake!"
Hiruzen tapped the smoking pipe against the table, not even lifting his head, and replied: "Previously Minato said he saw two Uchiha Itachi, so one of them must have been an impostor."
"That must have been a shadow clone!" Danzō shot back without hesitation.
"Why can't it be the Transformation Technique?"
"Susanoo cannot be transformed!"
"Previously, the Anbu ninjas already reported that that Uchiha Yasuo's whole family had disappeared. Maybe he just didn't die, and even awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Then both should die! Evil Uchiha—none of them can be spared!"
The two of them went back and forth, each sentence faster than the last, their voices rising higher and higher, and in the end they were just a step away from shouting at the top of their lungs.
In the end, Hiruzen was helpless and could only take out his trump card once more.
He slammed the table heavily and shouted: "Danzō, I am the Hokage!"
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
Danzō once again stormed out of the Hokage Building in a huff, but after he returned to the Root, he pondered for a moment and still summoned a ninja, instructing him to secretly make contact with Uchiha Itachi.
After all, whether Uchiha Itachi was a rogue ninja or not—he actually knew better than anyone.
For intelligence, Itachi, this internal mole, really was the most useful option.
As for whether to throw him away after using him—that would depend on whether this piece of toilet paper still had any waste-recycling value in the future!
...
Amegakure.
Uchiha Yasuo woke up after a good night's sleep. After getting up comfortably and washing up simply, he stood up and went out to eat breakfast.
He descended from the tall tower, put on the black-with-red-clouds robe that Konan had previously prepared for him, and strolled leisurely down the street.
Seeing this outfit on him, the citizens and merchants of the Land of Rain all greeted him with warm smiles.
Obviously, the Akatsuki organization's clothing was not anything secret to the locals. However, the Akatsuki organization had done a very good job with its mass base, and no one had ever leaked information to the outside.
He casually found a noodle shop and ate a bowl of noodles. Although it was not as tasty as the hand-made Ichiraku Ramen, the flavor was still not bad.
After he finished eating, he strolled lazily along the street.
This Land of Rain was governed very well by the Akatsuki organization. The people were far removed from the threat of war, and the smiles on their faces had increased.
If one were to say among the various countries which country had no bandits within its borders, without a doubt, it would definitely be the Land of Rain.
Even the Five Great Nations could not achieve this.
Ninjas only went to suppress bandits when they received missions and would never take the initiative to maintain public order.
Because that would be overstepping their authority.
Maintaining public order was the nobles' right; it was not a place for the ninja villages to meddle in.
Otherwise, just relying on the military strength of the various villages—sending a few jōnin to lead teams to sweep through once—what bandits could possibly remain within the national borders?
Only in a place like the Land of Rain, one feared that even the daimyō had first been made to experience some pain and then gotten taken out by the Akatsuki organization.
And another factor that caused disorder in public security, the bounty stations, also had no sense of presence at all here in the Land of Rain.
Right now, Kakuzu had not come yet, so the bounty stations could still exist. Once Kakuzu came, the people at the bounty stations would be able to starve to death!
Feeling this governance model that was completely different from that of Konohagakure, Uchiha Yasuo did not care in the slightest.
This was something Nagato cared about; he did not care at all.
He was just wandering around everywhere. Just as he turned into a secluded alley, the ground ahead suddenly writhed, and Zetsu once again burrowed out from there.
"Tsk, what do you want this time?" Yasuo asked, his face full of impatience.
Black Zetsu's face was solemn as he said very seriously: "After talking with you previously, I only then realized a serious problem."
"That is that that guy Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo will not easily let me rescue Mother."
"So, I now have to revise my plan and also take those two brothers into consideration."
"So, Yasuo, tell me, where are they hiding now?"
"Hmph!" Uchiha Yasuo snorted coldly. "Why should I tell you? What benefit do I get?"
"I promise you I will help you destroy Konohagakure!"
"Tch!" Uchiha Yasuo curled his lip and let out a cold laugh. "That is the price you pay for having me keep your plan secret. You cannot sell the same goods twice!"
"…Then what do you want?"
"What do I want?" Uchiha Yasuo raised his head toward the sky, looking at those endlessly weeping gloomy clouds, just like his own heart at this moment.
His eyes were hollow, and his voice was filled with confusion.
"What do I want?"
"I don't even know what I want!"
After a long silence, he finally said slowly: "I want revenge!"
"But revenge cannot be delegated to others. I have to do it myself, and I can accomplish it. I don't need you."
"But revenge also requires strength. I can provide you with all kinds of forbidden techniques, secret techniques…" Black Zetsu only spoke half the sentence, but when he remembered Uchiha Yasuo's Mangekyō Sharingan, he stopped talking.
"Ah, right!" Yasuo suddenly clapped his fists together, remembering abruptly. "I want to resurrect my parents! I want to resurrect the entire Uchiha Clan!"
"So, Zetsu, the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique can bring people back to life."
"You are going to resurrect Uchiha Madara in the future anyway. Reviving a few more along the way shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"It is not as easy as you make it sound!" Black Zetsu's black face almost turned white from anger. "The Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique requires first using Yin Release to summon the soul of the dead back from the underworld, and then using Yang Release to supply a massive amount of life force, thereby reviving them."
"Using this technique consumes the user's life force!"
"If the people being revived have just died and their bodies are not yet cold, then naturally one can revive them in large numbers."
"But if they have already been dead for a long time and their life force has long since dissipated, then the life force needed to supplement them becomes extremely large."
"You want to resurrect the entire Uchiha Clan—just draining Nagato dry would not be enough to achieve that goal!"
"If there is no Nagato, isn't there still Obito?" Yasuo glared, speaking fiercely. "Squeeze him a few more times, and won't you have everything you need?"
"They are all just your tools. Don't tell me you cannot bear to use them!"
"Even adding Obito is still not enough!" Black Zetsu was also angry. "Do you think resurrection is like cheap cabbage? You can just do it whenever you want?"
"Hmph!" Yasuo actually knew in his heart that this matter was unreliable. After grumbling twice, he lowered his demands. "Then just resurrect my parents and my younger brother. That should be enough, right?"
"I brought all my family members' remains out with me. There is no need to use White Zetsu as vessels for the resurrection!"
"Mm… your parents and younger brother were all ordinary people, so the consumption is indeed not high." Black Zetsu lowered his head, frowned, and thought carefully. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally nodded and agreed.
"All right. Deal. After the Ten Tails is revived, when resurrecting Madara, I will revive your parents and younger brother along with him."
"That's too long. Right after Konohagakure is destroyed, I want to see them resurrected!"
"That is impossible! Nagato and Obito are still useful!"
"What does that have to do with me? Don't think I don't know—once Madara is resurrected, you will initiate the plan to release Ōtsutsuki Kaguya!"
"I have changed the plan! Before dealing with those two beasts Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura, I will not begin the rescue operation!"
"Hmph, you had better not play any tricks! Otherwise be careful I ruin your good work!"
"You are the only one who knows the hidden location of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and the others. I will not violate the agreement!"
"It had better be that way."
After quarreling for a while, the two finally reached an agreement.
After Konohagakure is destroyed, they will first join forces to "persuade" Nagato to resurrect Yasuo's younger brother.
He was an ordinary child, so the consumption would not be high, and the lost life force would be supplemented to Nagato by Yasuo's ocular power.
As compensation, Yasuo would tell Black Zetsu the location of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, allowing Black Zetsu to go silence him.
When Uchiha Madara is resurrected, Yasuo's parents would be revived along with him.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---