The scroll was black and cold to the touch.
The seal was secured with a strange purple liquid that emitted a faint, fishy smell.
Not a snake's smell, but rather a kind of... scent of decaying life.
Kaze took the scroll, his fingertips touching the seal.
The moment he did, the purple liquid wriggled and receded like a living thing, revealing the sealing talisman engraved with snake patterns underneath.
"You may leave."
"Yes."
Uchiha Roy bowed and exited the room, gently closing the door.
Only Kaze was left in the room.
He unrolled the scroll.
The handwriting on it was twisted and bizarre, as if written not with a pen, but carved by some creature's fangs dipped in venom:
[Lord Godaime Hokage, Konoha's drastic change is surprising.]
[Sweeping away the old era overnight, with thunderous methods, quite reminiscent of Lord Tobirama's style back then.]
[But you and I both know, power is just the beginning.]
[What truly changes the world is knowledge, is... the exploration of the essence of life.]
[I have what you want: research data on Bijū, on Kekkei Genkai, on the essence of Ninjutsu.]
[Also a large amount of intelligence, and personnel infiltrated into various villages.]
...
The content was simple. First, Orochimaru stated his advantages, and later, he expressed his hope to cooperate with Kaze.
Kaze slowly rolled up the scroll.
The candlelight in the room flickered, casting interlacing light and shadow on his face.
"Funds, venue, experimental subjects..."
Kaze repeated these three words in a low voice.
Kaze was still quite interested in Orochimaru.
This scientific big shot could single-handedly drive the technological development of the entire ninja world.
However, the first two of Orochimaru's conditions were easy to discuss.
What Konoha lacked least now was money. The wealth confiscated from purging the four major clans was enough to support large-scale research for several years.
But experimental subjects...
The "experimental subjects" in Orochimaru's mouth weren't lab mice.
They were living people.
Kaze was a madman, yes, but he wasn't a pervert.
"It seems I have to draw a line for him."
Kaze muttered to himself.
He could tolerate Orochimaru researching forbidden techniques, could tolerate him using enemies' corpses for experiments, could even tolerate him using missing-nin, using criminals...
But Konoha's civilians, Konoha's ninjas, absolutely could not become experimental subjects.
This was the bottom line of being human.
"Knock knock."
The knock on the door sounded again, very urgent this time.
"Come in."
Kaze retracted his thoughts and spoke deeply.
"Lord Kaze, urgent intelligence from the border patrol team—traces of Sunagakure ninjas found within the Land of Fire."
Uchiha Nagasawa pushed the door open and entered, his face grave.
"Sunagakure?"
"Number? Location?"
Kaze lifted his eyelids.
"At least three squads, more than twelve people."
"Location is at the southwest border of the Land of Fire, about two hundred kilometers from Konoha."
"They seem to be... scouting terrain, drawing maps."
Nagasawa handed over an intelligence scroll.
Kaze unrolled the scroll.
On it was a hand-drawn sketch by the border patrol team, marking the approximate area where Sunagakure ninjas appeared.
There were also a few lines of text description beside it:
[... The opponent acts covertly, adept at using puppets for camouflage. Discovered about thirty kilometers deep into the Land of Fire. No conflict occurred; the opponent retreated immediately upon detection.]
[The leader is suspected to be SunagakureJōnin Baki. Those accompanying have characteristics of puppet masters, speculated to be subordinates of Chiyo or Ebizo.]
Kaze threw the scroll back on the table.
"Sunagakure..."
He remembered that in the original work, after the death of the Yondaime Kazekage Rasa, Sunagakure indeed had friction with Konoha.
But that was after Orochimaru united with Rasa to launch the Konoha Crush Plan.
Now Rasa was still alive, so Sunagakure shouldn't actively provoke unless...
"That guy Rasa wants to test Konoha's reality."
"Thinking Konoha has internal strife and there is an opportunity to exploit."
Kaze sneered.
"Should we send people to expel them?"
Seeing his Clan Head's calm performance, Uchiha Nagasawa also calmed down.
"No."
"Let them continue scouting."
Kaze stood up and walked to the map on the wall.
"What?"
Uchiha Nagasawa was stunned.
"Since they want to look, let them look enough."
"Order the border patrol team to deliberately reveal a few flaws, such as weak points in the defensive barrier, such as blind spots in patrol routes."
Kaze's finger slid across the map.
"You want to... lure them deeper?"
Nagasawa quickly understood.
"Correct."
"Wait until they penetrate deep into the hinterland, thinking they have grasped Konoha's reality..."
Kaze turned around, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes.
Internal problems in Konoha couldn't be hidden.
Just when he was worrying about finding a suitable chicken... Sunagakure delivered itself to the door.
Kaze didn't finish speaking, but Nagasawa already understood.
"Yes, I'll go prepare right away."
After speaking, Uchiha Nagasawa immediately went to act.
"Sunagakure?"
"Perhaps, it's a nice resource point."
Kaze looked at the ninja world map, and the kunai in his hand landed on the location marked Sunagakure.
Three days later?
Two figures, one large and one small, shuttled through the dense forest.
"Teacher, what are we going to do?"
Uzumaki Naruto, who had become Kaze's disciple, no longer went to the Ninja Academy.
The resources within the Uchiha were enough to teach Naruto well.
Plus with Kaze present.
The Kyūbi inside Naruto's body had been very quiet recently.
So, Naruto could now proficiently master his own Chakra.
Naruto wasn't some loser striking back.
But a Chosen One with heaven-defying talent, and also possessing the cheat Kyūbi.
This time out, Kaze also brought Naruto along.
"To meet someone."
Kaze responded lightly.
Soon... the two came to a stream.
"Godaime, truly punctual."
"So, your answer..."
Orochimaru, sitting by the stream, stood up and looked at Kaze.
With just this one glance, every cell in Orochimaru's body suddenly became terrified.
Just with this one glance, Orochimaru understood why Uchiha Kaze could complete Konoha's power transfer overnight.
"Orochimaru, I can resolve your status as a missing-nin, and at the same time establish the Konoha Research Department for you. You will be the head."
"But, I also need to place some restrictions on you."
Kaze said, throwing a scroll to Orochimaru.
Catching the scroll, Orochimaru opened it immediately.
After reading it, Orochimaru's expression became strange.
Restrictions?!
[Konoha provides venue, funds, resources]
[Experimental subject restriction: cannot be Konoha civilians or loyal ninjas]
[Konoha will provide all assistance; Orochimaru has the final say in everything in the Research Department]
[Research results cannot be traded with other villages]
...
The content on the scroll, where were the restrictions?
Most of it was Orochimaru taking advantage!
"Lord Hokage..."
"Can you give me a forehead protector?"
Orochimaru put away the scroll and walked in front of Kaze.
He used his actions to show his attitude.
"Welcome home, Head of the Konoha Research Department."
Kaze took off his own forehead protector and placed it in Orochimaru's hand.