Like Jinsuke, Fugaku was unwilling to give up.
But unlike that hot-headed kid, he knew some questions couldn't be asked outright.
Orochimaru gave Fugaku a deep look but didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "At this moment, would Shisui regaining his sight be a good thing for the Uchiha—and for the village?"
Fugaku froze. Blinded by greed for merit and power, he suddenly realized he had been too eager.
Glory, prestige, influence… In this war, the Uchiha had gained more than enough. Compared to these gains, the losses in the Police Force seemed almost meaningless.
If Shisui hadn't gone blind from using the Mangekyou Sharingan, it would have been hard to convince anyone that the Uchiha weren't behind all of this.
That's why, before the war, Fugaku agreed to Orochimaru's request to let the Uchiha suffer heavy losses to clear suspicion from the Nine-Tails incident.
But Kumogakure retreated faster than expected, and after two major battles, with someone like Orochimaru handling healing, the Uchiha Police Force didn't take as much damage as they thought.
Fugaku had assumed that at this point, Orochimaru wouldn't deliberately cause more casualties. He didn't expect the missing losses to be made up by Shisui himself.
Thinking of this, Fugaku's voice grew a bit strained. "Shisui… he knows about the deal between us?"
"Yes. But you don't have to worry about him leaking it. Shisui agreed to sacrifice himself."
Orochimaru nodded. "I agree with him. The meaning behind the Mangekyou Sharingan is worth far more than the lives of other Uchiha."
"Orochimaru-sama, is there really no way to fix Shisui's eyes?"
Fugaku was silent for a moment before asking again.
After learning about Shisui's choice, he didn't give up on the idea. In fact, he wanted the answer even more.
But this time, it wasn't about adding another Mangekyou user to the clan—it was for Shisui himself.
"I didn't lie in the medical room. The body-strengthening surgery isn't mature yet. It's too dangerous for Shisui right now."
Orochimaru glanced at Fugaku. Seeing the clear disappointment in his eyes, his tone shifted. "But if we keep trying, maybe we'll find a better method."
"But earlier… didn't you reject Jinsuke's proposal? And if Jinsuke dies…"
Fugaku stopped mid-sentence. He knew the consequences of Orochimaru running human experiments and causing a Chunin's death.
It wasn't easy for the village to finally have a high-ranking official who didn't hate the Uchiha. Even for the clan's benefit, Fugaku didn't want Orochimaru pushed into betraying the village.
"Yes, the surgery is risky for Jinsuke too—maybe even riskier. But…"
Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips with a playful grin. "I don't only know one type of surgery."
Fugaku's eyes widened slightly. Things had taken a turn, and hope returned.
"The downgraded body-strengthening surgery only has thirty percent of the original effect, but the risk is much lower."
Orochimaru's lips curled with a trace of disdain, clearly displeased with this method. "Of course, it's cheap compared to the real thing, but it still helps improve my surgical experience."
"Then… why didn't you say so earlier, Orochimaru-sama?"
Fugaku felt both surprised and confused, with a hint of blame.
"Because I know better than you what happens if someone dies from a human experiment on a Chunin. The moment it happens, someone like Danzo will smear me."
Orochimaru gave Fugaku a sideways look full of clear contempt.
It was as if he was saying, "Jinsuke's reckless, and you're no better."
Fugaku flushed slightly and tried to keep a straight face, but then Orochimaru continued,
"Right now, everyone from the Hokage's advisors to regular ninjas knows the surgery is risky—and that someone might die. In this situation, as long as the surgery doesn't fail, no one can use it against me."
Some things can't be hidden.
Call it surgery or call it human experiments—it's the same thing with different names. The real question is whether someone wants to twist it.
Since it can't be avoided, Orochimaru had to prepare early.
He needed the villagers to see that doing human experiments wasn't the stain on his name—killing a fellow ninja by failing the surgery was.
For most people, that would be hard. For Orochimaru, it was easy.
Because in Konohagakure, he was never just an ordinary ninja.
With Orochimaru's reputation, whether someone knew him well or only met him once, if they heard he was doing human experiments, they'd be surprised for a moment, then accept it—even without clear proof.
Ruining his image? Impossible. If the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, suddenly acted like a cold-blooded schemer, that would be shocking.
It's like finding Tsunade in a gambling den or Jiraiya in a women's bathhouse—no one would be surprised to find Orochimaru by a hospital bed, holding a bloody scalpel with a creepy smile. They'd think, "Figures."
Orochimaru was born looking like a villain.
As for punishment, Orochimaru didn't care.
The threat of war made Konohagakure tolerate a lot of evil. If even someone like Danzo could take root—and the intel unit could mess with people's memories and minds freely—
As long as Orochimaru stayed one of the Sannin, one of the village's strongest, and didn't kill comrades with failed surgeries, then just doing human experiments was nothing.
Hatake Sakumo's fate didn't apply to Orochimaru.
A good man who would give up the village's interests for his comrades is someone people can dare to provoke, but a cruel man who goes as far as human experiments is someone everyone keeps their distance from.
Of course, someone like Orochimaru, just like Danzo, would never be chosen as Hokage.
But to him, that didn't matter.
Fugaku couldn't follow Orochimaru's train of thought, but he faintly sensed the special and free position Orochimaru held in Konoha. It was both surprising and enviable. "Since Orochimaru-sama has thought it through so carefully, then… when should we arrange the surgery?"
"We'll talk about it after we return to the village."
Orochimaru glanced at Fugaku and stressed, "Although this surgery isn't as effective as the original, it's still enough to greatly boost a jonin's strength. The price, however, is not cheap."
"I understand."
Fugaku nodded. "For each jonin, the Uchiha clan will pay ten million ryo as the fee."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. The price was higher than he expected. He had thought at most he could ask for seven or eight million.
It seemed the Uchiha clan's resources really couldn't be underestimated.
With both the surgery and the price settled, Fugaku wanted to return and continue handling the ninja army's affairs, so he asked, "Orochimaru-sama, is there anything else?"
"There is something… no, forget it." Orochimaru frowned, then changed his words. "There's nothing here that concerns you anymore."
After Fugaku left in confusion, Orochimaru looked into the empty air and asked, "Why stop me? Wouldn't it be perfect to let Fugaku do the genjutsu experiment?"
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