Within the Land of Fire, undercurrents surged.
After Konoha's upper echelons temporarily resolved all external enemies through peaceful means, they immediately turned their attention to internal turmoil, ostensibly to track down Orochimaru's spies.
Secretly, Jiraiya personally took action to oversee the investigation of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's confidants, seeking the Anbu rumored to be constantly monitoring Uzumaki Naruto, to prevent Hiruzen's dark secrets from being exploited by others.
This information must never be leaked!
If it's those thick-skinned ones like the Kazekage, Tsuchikage, and Raikage, it would be one thing; they don't care what can be exposed as long as it benefits the village.
However, the persona of Sarutobi Hiruzen is different.
No matter how much Jiraiya pursued those Anbu who had once protected Uzumaki Naruto, he never found any trace of this person and could only temporarily label it as missing.
Inconveniently, Jiraiya discovered many of Hiruzen's dark dealings, such as secretly supporting Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo in conducting human experiments in Konoha.
These dark secrets led to the complete collapse of Hiruzen's long-standing nice-guy image, alongside a set of Anbu documents dedicated to his dark deeds.
These documents were meticulously detailed.
Strangely, this Anbu was codenamed "Orphan."
Jiraiya and Konoha's higher-ups believed that this Anbu, codenamed "Orphan," might be directly under Sarutobi Hiruzen himself and had always operated solo, without any partners.
After all, the codename is "Orphan"!
By the small river in the wilds.
Yakushi Kabuto handed a grilled fish to Uehara Naraku: "Lord Naraku, Konoha has been tracking down the Anbu who reported that night outside Uzumaki Naruto's window. It seems the little gift I left them upon leaving should soon be uncovered."
"What gift?"
"Some of the Third Hokage's dark history."
Yakushi Kabuto adjusted his glasses with a meaningful gesture and spoke softly: "I always believe that as a qualified spy, we absolutely cannot let anyone notice the presence of two people who shouldn't be there in any affair.
Otherwise, it would be easy for suspicion to fall on us, and even a hint of suspicion can brew hatred in front of those Anbu who need no evidence.
Whether it's Lord Orochimaru or Lord Naraku, they've attracted too much hatred with Konoha's downfall plan, and I can happen to plunge Konoha into greater chaos through this."
Yakushi Kabuto intended to use a series of factual evidence to certify the self-exploding figure by Naruto's window that night was indeed Sarutobi Hiruzen and an Anbu ninja.
Yakushi Kabuto did not hide his plan.
Since Konoha began investigating this affair, he would soon arrange for an Anbu, codenamed "Orphan," to defect, spreading the news that the late Sarutobi Hiruzen orchestrated the Nine-tailed Fox Chaos and was involved in the assassination of the Fourth Hokage couple.
After stating his plan, Yakushi Kabuto added a highly philosophical saying: "Since it's a performance, it must be fully executed."
"You're quite a talent!"
Uehara Naraku sighed, impressed by Yakushi Kabuto's elaborate schemes, confirming his place in history as a true puppet master in the Ninja World.
Uehara Naraku suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Does the Third Hokage truly have such a dark past?"
"Slightly more than what Lord Naraku could compile."
Yakushi Kabuto nodded and quietly said, "A Hokage controlling Konoha's power for nearly forty years could hardly be a benign elder, some people as they age, disguise stability with a facade of benevolence."
As a spy, Yakushi Kabuto knew quite a lot.
Yet, such an intelligent subordinate subtly highlighted Uehara, the mastermind, as somewhat inadequate, having plenty of intel but not as meticulous in execution as Yakushi Kabuto!
Uehara Naraku thought for a moment, finding the grilled fish in his hand had lost its flavor. Frowning, he remarked, "I'm not interested in eating it. Teacher Konan grilled fish every day in the village, and now you're doing it too!"
"Uh..."
Yakushi Kabuto's expression instantly turned awkward: "Since it's late now, how about I go to the nearby town to buy some dumplings tomorrow?"
"No need, I know a place that sells them."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, speaking softly: "I'll go find that Hoshigaki Kisame guy directly. Do your work properly, don't let me down."
"Understood."
Yakushi Kabuto bowed his head respectfully, watching a stack of cards slowly appear at Uehara Naraku's feet, then quickly disappear before him.
After a long time, Yakushi Kabuto slowly raised his head, holding the grilled fish in hand, and lamented a bit: "Lord Naraku seems somewhat naïve... those orphans in the Land of Fire, unable to fish, can only scavenge from garbage dumps!"
However, Yakushi Kabuto patted the scroll in his ninja pouch, noting that Uehara Naraku didn't take the funds meant for building the orphanage.
Yakushi Kabuto couldn't help but sigh: "Compared to Lord Orochimaru, it seems Lord Naraku is purer!"
Within the silent forest.
Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi were moving toward Konoha.
They had heard the news of the commotion at the Chunin Examination in the Land of Fire and learned of Sarutobi Hiruzen's death, but Uchiha Itachi didn't know about Danzo's demise.
So Uchiha Itachi plans to return to Konoha to warn Danzo, and also wants to see if his brother Uchiha Sasuke is safe and sound.
While passing by a small roadside shop, Hoshigaki Kisame saw a young man sitting on the shop's steps, wolfing down food with a dumpling awkwardly hanging from his mouth.
"Mr. Itachi."
Hoshigaki Kisame grinned, looking at the young man with a light laugh: "Doesn't that down-and-out guy look a lot like our organization's intern…"
"Indeed, he does."
Uchiha Itachi raised his head and looked closely for a while, his expression suddenly didn't look too good: "Hmm? Isn't that Uehara Naraku? What's he doing here?"
This seems quite unexpected.
It's said that this guy just assassinated the Third Hokage of Konoha, and even used the name of the Ninja Demigod, Hanzo of the Salamander, to force Konoha to sign an alliance agreement acknowledging Hanzo as the Amekage.
Konoha truly is no good.
The real agreement is known only to The Hidden Rain Village and Konoha Village.
If the news gets out, and if Salamander Hanzo really was still alive, he'd probably twist off Uehara Naraku's head for signing that agreement.
Swish!
A bamboo skewer stabbed into the ground near Hoshigaki Kisame's foot.
Uehara Naraku, with a dark expression, looked at Hoshigaki Kisame and stretched out his palm: "Senior Kisame, Mr. Itachi, I'm a little short on cash lately, could you lend me some money?"
"Honestly, I don't dare to lend it."
Hoshigaki Kisame quickly shook his head, not caring about the fact he was Uehara Naraku's spy, and explained in a low voice: "If something happens to you, and Teacher Konan asks about it, I can't bear that responsibility."
Hoshigaki Kisame grinned and continued: "I've heard that one of the Konoha Sannin, Tsunade, has been very active in the Land of Fire lately, I can't afford to have my money go down the drain..."
"..."
Uehara Naraku muttered "coward" under his breath and turned to look at Uchiha Itachi. If Uchiha Itachi weren't here, he'd surely roast Kisame some shark fin to try.
Yet in private, Hoshigaki Kisame would treat Uehara Naraku with exceptional respect, perfectly portraying the life of a spy.
However, upon meeting in public, this bastard Kisame always liked to mess with his mind, pretending they weren't familiar with each other.
Uchiha Itachi directly avoided the trivial matter of borrowing money and instead asked, "Uehara, why are you still here and haven't returned to The Hidden Rain Village?"
"I don't have travel money!"
Uehara Naraku said with a slight smile on his lips.
What's with this travel money excuse!
After a moment of silence, Uchiha Itachi unbuttoned his collar, took out his wallet, and awkwardly changed the subject: "You mentioned borrowing money earlier, how much do you need?"
"One million ryō?"
Uehara Naraku said a huge number upfront and continued, "Next time, I can allocate an additional 1.5 million ryō for your activities."
"I don't have that much."
Uchiha Itachi took out a stack of money and handed it to Uehara Naraku: "I only have a hundred thousand ryō, don't tell Teacher Konan it was me who lent it to you."
"I understand."
Uehara Naraku readily accepted the money: "So, do you have any instructions from Lord Pain? Is there any way I can assist you two?"
"No wonder the organization's treasurer sure is easy to talk to after getting the money!"
Hoshigaki Kisame looked meaningfully at Uchiha Itachi and laughed softly: "Heh heh heh heh... We want to take advantage of the chaos in Konoha to investigate Konoha's Nine-tailed Jinchuriki and see if we can capture him."
"This task does seem simple..."
Uehara Naraku glanced at the two of them and lowered his voice: "The entire Konoha is a mess right now, if you expose the presence of Akatsuki and can't bring back the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki, doesn't that mean you no longer have any value?"
"..."
Uchiha Itachi's gaze shifted slightly and he sighed: "This is the leader's order, we can only give it our all to accomplish it."
"Akatsuki won't tolerate incompetence."
Uehara Naraku blinked and softly said, "If you fail, the organization will probably bring in a new candidate intern, but don't worry, that person's strength is much weaker than yours."
Uehara Naraku smiled and continued: "If Mr. Itachi wants, you can kill the new member anytime, and I believe the people in the organization won't blame you."
"Thank you."
Uchiha Itachi nodded.