Although it was late at night, in Uchiha Tokko's laboratory, the three Uzumaki ninjas were still busy without sleep or food.
"Thank you for your hard work..."
Uchiha Tokko's face was filled with a bright smile.
Any BOSS who arrives at his property late at night will feel extremely pleased to see that employees are still working hard and consciously, as long as their conscience is still intact.
"How much did you spend on the recent experiments? What stage reports have been produced?"
The experiment of the three Uzumaki ninjas came to an end, and when they took a breath of relief, Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately asked.
conscience? Yes, but not much.
You still need to pay attention to whether there are any results after throwing money into it.
"Lord Deguang, we have recently invested 30 million in the laboratory, and have made a huge breakthrough in the research on the optimal compatibility properties of the Flame Escape Chakra!"
The Uzumaki ninja said respectfully.
"Yeah!"
Uchiha Tokko immediately became energetic after hearing this, and felt that the 30 million spent was so worth it: "If Yan Dun fuses chakra with other attributes, which attribute is the most compatible? What should the ratio be?"
"Lord Deguang, maybe you have a misunderstanding..."
The first Uzumaki ninja hesitated.
"We still need a lot of work to fully understand the formation and nature of the Flame Escape Chakra. We have only made a breakthrough so far, but it is still not comprehensive enough..."
The second Uzumaki ninja said hesitantly.
"Of course, we have indeed achieved some results that are worth continuing to explore, but the funds have been almost spent at present..."
The voice of the third Uzumaki ninja became smaller and smaller.
Uchiha Tokko's face turned dark.
…
At this time, far away in Konoha.
Orochimaru emerged from a dark cave outside the village.
He walked slowly back to the village with a gloomy face, feeling very unhappy at this time.
Orochimaru is out of money.
Since Danzo's death, many secret laboratories set up by the Anbu were not discovered and sealed by the Anbu in time, and eventually fell under the control of Orochimaru.
At first, Orochimaru thought it was a piece of pie falling from the sky and just landed in his mouth. He even thought that this was the will of the Sage of Six Paths and that God was helping him explore the secrets of ninjutsu.
However, Orochimaru still underestimated the cost of maintaining the normal operation of multiple laboratories.
Especially after the roots have been completely disbanded, all the original industries of the roots have changed hands, and the village no longer has special allocations. Therefore, after losing all sources of income, it didn't take long for the secret laboratory captured by Orochimaru to fall into dire straits.
In the past, Orochimaru had also taken over some research projects from Danzo, and by the way, he mixed in some private goods to make some money during the research process, and even conducted some experiments that he was interested in in some difficult research. The path of scientific research is still relatively smooth.
It's fine this time. Once Danzo dies, his roots are gone, and the secret laboratory doesn't even have food.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru felt even more irritable!
The reason why Orochimaru left the village overnight was to deliver supplies to the secret laboratory outside the village; and the followers under his command were not strong enough to escape the inspections of the barrier class, the perception class, and the police department. Village, so I can only help with some private work of collecting and purchasing supplies. The transportation captain still has to do it personally as the boss.
What still makes me most irritated is that the secret laboratory has also run out of live experimental products.
The work of collecting living experimental subjects was originally carried out by the Root Ninja, and even if ordinary Konoha ninjas encountered the mysterious Root Ninja, they would avoid it. No one had ever tried to find out what the Root was doing; Orochi Maru basically has no control over this part of the work, so there is no stable supply.
Now we can't arrest people openly in the village!
Thinking of this, Orochimaru became even more irritable!
Then, Orochimaru kicked the stone in front of him away.
"Dong~~"
The sound of stones falling to the ground was particularly clear in the dark night.
"who!"
Orochimaru's expression suddenly changed, and he looked towards the small woods ahead on the left.
"it's me……"
Hatake Sakumo slowly walked out of the woods.
"It turns out to be Mr. Sakumo..."
Orochimaru's originally tense expression softened slightly, but he was still wary and defensive.
"It's so late, Mr. Sakumo and Yaxing came out to enjoy the night!"
Hatake Sakumo looked a little tired, his ninja uniform was stained with dust, and his feet were wearing leggings. He had a dusty appearance. At first glance, he knew that he had just returned from a distant place.
The reason why I asked this was because Orochimaru met Hatake Sakumo in the village during the day and was deliberately using words to change the topic.
"I went to the east to discuss some time with Tokumitsu-kun, and I just came back." Hatake Sakumo was unexpectedly calm and sincere, "But, where is Orochimaru-kun? He came back so late because he was on a special mission. Yet?"
Orochimaru was choked speechless by Hatake Sakumo's sincere confession.
After a long while, he whispered: "It's okay... just taking a walk..."
In the face of sincerity, disguise is almost vulnerable.
"oh."
Hatake Sakumo's expression did not change, he nodded slightly, looking towards the distance behind Orochimaru, and there seemed to be some exploration in his eyes.
Orochimaru was shocked.
"Let's go for a walk together?"
Hatake Sakumo tilted his head slightly and asked proactively.
"good……"
Orochimaru pursed his lips slightly and agreed.
The night was very deep at this time and the moonlight was beautiful.
But Orochimaru had no intention of appreciating this night view.
Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru walked slowly side by side on the path back to Konoha, neither of them speaking.
The seemingly calm Orochimaru used the corner of his eyes to pay attention to the expression on Hatake Sakumo next to him.
At this time, Hatake Sakumo narrowed his eyes slightly and curled his lips slightly, half-smiling.
Orochimaru's heart lifted again.
Just as the atmosphere was gradually solidifying, a police patrol team appeared in front.
"Sakumo-sama, good evening!"
After a brief observation, the Uchiha ninja from the police patrol team put down his guard and stepped forward to say hello.
"Oh, Orochimaru Jonin is here too."
The Uchiha ninja's greetings to the two were completely different in terms of tone and attitude.
Orochimaru also had some chest tightness and shortness of breath.
"Shiina-kun, you actually led the patrol yourself!"
The leader of the patrol was none other than Uchiha Shiina, Uchiha Tokumitsu's cousin.
"There have been a lot of wealthy businessmen coming to buy bonds recently. In order to ensure safety, some adjustments have been made to the patrol team's deployment."
Uchiha Shiina also respects Hatake Sakumo.
"Oh... thank you for your hard work."
Hatake Sakumo nodded, and then briefly chatted for a few words before bidding farewell to the patrol.
"Mr. Sakumo and Uchiha have a really good relationship." Orochimaru said with a smile: "It can be seen that Tokumitsu-kun's tribe respects you."
"The Uchiha clan is relatively straightforward."
Hatake Sakumo replied casually.
"I just mentioned bonds... Tokumitsu-kun's creativity has really stirred up the ninja world..."
Orochimaru then changed the topic and brought up the hottest topic in Konoha and even the ninja world recently.
"Yes, Tokuguang-kun's talent in financial planning is indeed extraordinary."
After hearing this, Hatake Sakumo agreed to highly praise Uchiha Tokimitsu.
Orochimaru stopped talking.
He felt that everything he had to say had been exhausted by Hatake Sakumo.
"Is Orochimaru Jonin back from the laboratory?"
Hatake Sakumo said coldly.
Orochimaru's expression suddenly turned cold.
The fingers of the hands behind his back moved slightly, as if they were about to move.
Hatake Sakumo seemed unaware and continued to walk slowly.
"Sakumo Jounin really has a lot of eyes..."
Orochimaru suddenly smiled inexplicably, and the corners of his mouth trembled.
"It's nothing. It's normal for the Jonin class to pay attention to the follow-up treatment of the roots."
Hatake Sakumo also stopped, turned around and looked at Orochimaru, who was standing still, "And the smell of blood and disinfectant on your body is too strong, which I can't ignore, and I can't ignore it."
Orochimaru's nostrils twitched slightly, but he did not retort.
He just lowered his hands behind his back.
"Konoha doesn't need darkness, let alone another Danzo."
Hatake Sakumo looked at Orochimaru calmly, his tone was very easy-going, but the content was very sharp: "Some things are indeed taboo, but let the past things disappear with the wind, and don't do it again... Otherwise, even if you are the Hokage Even adults can’t protect you.”
Orochimaru still said nothing.
"Human experimentation is a shortcut, isn't it?"
Hatake Sakumo didn't pay too much attention to Orochimaru's silence, and just smiled seemingly indifferently: "After all, it also promoted the advancement of medical ninjutsu, right?"
Orochimaru's face was still gloomy, and his vertical pupils were staring at Hatake Sakumo.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
Hatake Sakumo asked, tilting his head.
"Mr. Sakumo seems to have changed a lot since he became the Jonin squad leader..."
Orochimaru smiled "ho ho" and stretched out his long tongue to wash his face.
His originally gloomy expression suddenly became calm, and the corner of his mouth turned into a smile.
"Tokuguang-kun once said that the butt determines the head."
The corners of Hatake Sakumo's mouth also twitched, "I'm still me, but I'm just not the same person anymore. There's nothing special about that."
"You must be worthy of Tokumitsu... It seems that the alliance between Mr. Sakumo and the Uchiha clan is stronger than others imagine."
Orochimaru's fingers began to move slightly again.
Hatake Sakumo didn't seem to notice Orochimaru's little movements, he just stared at Orochimaru's snake eyes calmly.
After a while, Orochimaru spoke again: "Okay...can you tell me how you found out?"
Orochimaru's expression finally relaxed completely.
"Maybe you don't feel it, but Orochimaru Jonin..."
Hatake Sakumo sighed, "Didn't anyone tell you that your aura is becoming less and less like a normal living person?"
"Furthermore, the smell of blood and disinfectant on your body... Not to mention the Inuzuka clan, any normal Konoha ninja would be able to sense that something is wrong..."
Hatake Sakumo shook his head and sighed, while Orochimaru remained silent.
"Yeah?"
Orochimaru still had an inexplicable smile on his lips. He raised his right hand and sniffed his sleeve, then pulled the collar and sniffed it too.
"Sorry, Sakumo Jounin, I really didn't smell anything."
Orochimaru smiled hypocritically and said, "Can you tell the truth? How did you find my laboratory!"
As he spoke, the last words were almost spoken through gritted teeth.
"None of that matters."
Hatake Sakumo did not respond to Orochimaru's rhetorical question, but lowered his eyelids slightly, "Since you don't believe it, why bother asking again?"
"You think so? Hokage-sama..."
As soon as Hatake Sakumo said this, Orochimaru was shocked.
"...Sakumo-kun's strength has greatly improved. Not only his sword skills, but also his perception has become so sharp."
In the darkness, the third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in casual clothes, slowly walked out, "You can even detect the dark arts, it's really..."
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen paused and did not continue.
As a Hokage, it was okay to eavesdrop on the conversation between his subordinates and his disciples, but it was a bit embarrassing to be found out and called out.
"Hokage-sama, you still have to take care of your health and smoke less..."
Hatake Sakumo spoke with concern and bowed slightly to the Sandaime Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Yeah?"
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen's nose moved slightly, and then his face showed a trace of a wry smile.
"It seems that I stayed in the village for too long and didn't even notice such small things..."
Hatake Sakumo said no more.
"Orochimaru...Sakumo-kun is right."
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen also did not estimate the existence of Hatake Sakumo, turned to Orochimaru and said: "Stop it, let the past be forgotten..."
Orochimaru took a deep breath and calmed himself down as much as possible, "Sarutobi-sensei... you have said so, is there anything else I can do besides accepting it?"
"Sakumo-kun, what do you think?"
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen cast his eyes on Hatake Sakumo.
"What Hokage-sama said is absolutely true."
Hatake Sakumo had no intention of continuing to pursue the matter, "After all, the Hara Nebu Laboratory involves bad things, I'd better ask the Hokage to arrange for the Anbu to deal with it."
"well……"
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, Orochimaru lowered his head and said nothing.
"Since you went to the east, does Tokuguang-kun have any good ideas?"
"I went to discuss with Tokumitsu-kun about the redemption of Ninja bonds, and Tokumitsu-kun gave very practical suggestions."
Hatake Sakumo didn't mean to hide it at all, and answered the Hokage's question bluntly.
"...Really? That's great!"
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled, but he was very bitter inside.
It seems that... there is indeed no chance to win Hatake Sakumo back to his camp again.
Hatake Sakumo no longer had any intention of swaying in his position.
Moreover, Uchiha Tokimitsu mentioned by Hatake Sakumo...
"Why is it Uchiha..."
The third generation Sarutobi Hiruzen felt helpless but had no idea what to do.
"Sashasha..."
From the treetops in the distance, the sound of walking in the forest could be heard again.
"Sakumo-sama, Orochimaru jounin..."
Uchiha Shiina greeted cheerfully, and then noticed the presence of the third person, "Hokage-sama!"
"...Hello, thank you for your hard work!"
The Sandaime Sarutobi Hiruzen had a gentle smile on his face and nodded slightly in response.
(End of chapter)
