Chapter 196 Return to the Village
"The atmosphere in the village is filled with crying."
Uchiha Itachi followed Orochimaru back to the village. Looking at the villagers who cheered for them along the way but could not hide their sadness on their faces, he seemed to be able to clearly feel the true emotions hidden in those people.
"That's what war is like! It makes people feel pain and experience loss." Orochimaru in front heard Itachi's voice, touched his head with his hand, and answered him in a hoarse but magnetic voice.
In front of the crowd was Sarutobi Hiruzen, wearing a Hokage robe, leading a welcoming group of senior advisors.
Seeing his disciples Orochimaru and Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen's sad face finally showed a smile.
Orochimaru, Minato Namikaze, and Tsunade are regarded as heroes in the village and are very popular.
Among them, Orochimaru is the most anticipated among the ninja clans, while Namikaze Minato has a great reputation among a few ninja clans and most ordinary villagers.
As for Tsunade, even though she had not appeared in the village for a long time, after her return, she was still fanatically loved by all female ninjas and villagers.
As Itachi walked down the street, he could hear arguments almost every moment about who among the three could become Hokage, or other issues.
This fanatical atmosphere of discussion made him a little confused.
The village's top leaders seemed not to hear the discussions and allowed the fanatical atmosphere to spread.
When he returned home and saw his father who had returned from his mission to rest, he asked Fugaku the questions in his mind.
Why does the atmosphere in the village seem like they can't wait to elect a fourth Hokage?
"Because the Third Hokage can no longer suppress this wave." Although Fugaku has been out on missions, he has always been paying attention to the direction of the village. Especially after returning to the village, a lot of accumulated intelligence will be read by him.
The vision and reach of the Uchiha clan today are not limited to the Uchiha clan. The Nara clan, the Kurama clan, the Aburame clan, etc., have relatively close ties with the Uchiha clan. Therefore, the Uchiha clan will not be completely in the dark about some of the secret information of the top leaders as before.
What's more, nowadays, some information is no longer a secret.
"How could that be?" Itachi was shocked by his father's words.
One shadow can't suppress the voice of the village?
Even the young Itachi understood what this meant.
"Both the ninjas of the village and the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire have objections to the conditions of the peace talks between the Third-sama and Iwagakure.
Because of the war, the village had accumulated too many conflicts and anger. When the war was intense, all parties were still able to suppress it.
However, after Iwagakure was defeated and negotiated, it did not receive the treatment and gains that the victorious party deserved, and the country was thrown into chaos because of the war.
Many people are particularly dissatisfied with the decisions made by the Third Generation during the war and the excessive concessions made during the peace talks. "
Fugaku also explained everything he knew and analyzed to Itachi, which was rare. In the past, he always maintained a serious expression in front of Itachi, but now he smiled a little, and his tone was full of uncontrollable joy.
To the Uchiha, the Third Hokage, like the Second Hokage, was probably not very popular or loved by the Uchiha.
Especially the Third Hokage. Although he did not do anything specifically against the Uchiha clan, he allowed Danzo to use all kinds of means to target and suppress the Uchiha clan, which made his reputation in the Uchiha clan not good. Thinking that the Third Hokage would have to abdicate one day in the future, and that the Fourth Hokage would most likely be Orochimaru, who had a close relationship with the Uchiha clan and had a promise, Fugaku felt more relaxed than ever since he became the clan leader.
He had once felt desperate and tormented about the relationship between the Uchiha and the village's upper echelons. There was nothing better than the current situation.
"So, the Third-Kage can't stand the pressure and is going to abdicate?" Itachi understood the meaning of his father's words and the somewhat abnormal atmosphere in the village.
"You don't need to worry about these, you just need to follow Lu Nei-kun and learn and practice." Fugaku suddenly stopped talking, stood up, rubbed Itachi's head, which was rare, and said with expectation in his words.
Itachi heard this and nodded silently.
Next, Fugaku asked about Itachi and Kagawa's contact and communication during this period, and took the initiative to assess Itachi's homework.
The Blood Suit and the Red Fire Cannon made Fugaku's eyes light up. The former, as one of Lu Nie's signature ninjutsu, represented recognition, while the Red Fire Cannon, for Fugaku, a master of fire escape, was a kind of excitement.
……
"Huruzen, Orochimaru!"
In the underground base of the Root, under the flickering candlelight, Shimura Danzo's face was half hidden in the darkness. In front of him was a ninja wearing a black robe and a pair of sunglasses, the standard attire of the Aburame clan.
After a long silence, Danzo asked softly, "Is the existence of the Hogyoku real?"
"Yes, Orochimaru used many Iwagakure ninjas as consumable materials on the battlefield to test the power of the Hogyoku.
His subordinates, such as Hinata Lan, Akimichi Higashi, Yamanaka Yuki Aoi, etc., are ninjas with the power of the Hogyoku." Aburame Ryoma replied calmly.
"In other words, can he now use the Hougyoku stably to stimulate the potential of ninjas, or to increase the upper limit of ninjas?"
Danzo said, with a glimmer of desire in his eyes! For him, there is nothing that can enhance the strength of him and his men, which makes him care more.
How great it would be if Orochimaru had not left the Root in the first place!
"According to the information we have gathered, that is indeed the case." Aburame Ryoma nodded, "Are you going to compete with Orochimaru for it?"
What Aburame Ryoma meant by snatching was sneaking in and stealing.
Danzo obviously understood what his trusted subordinate was thinking. He shook his head and said, "No, if Orochimaru becomes the Fourth Hokage, we can't hide it. We have a better way."
Aburame Ryoma pursed his lips when he heard this. As a former companion of Orochimaru in the Root, he knew Orochimaru well, and he knew very well that it would be very difficult to get Orochimaru to hand over his research results.
That is to say, it was because the Root provided him with research funds, equipment and instruments that we were able to share part of his research results.
But the Root suffered a huge loss from that business. Orochimaru took advantage of the Root's weakness, shook off the Root, used the Root's investment in his research project, and established a technology development department.
In the eyes of Aburame Ryoma and the Root Ninjas, Orochimaru's behavior is tantamount to betrayal!
(End of this chapter)