The Third Hokage made the final judgment, and no matter how dissatisfied the major clans were, they couldn't do anything about it.
At this moment, the Third Hokage held the greatest authority, and there was no point in arguing further. Instead, they had to shift focus to compensation.
Since the decision was made by the Third Hokage, they had no choice but to respect it. However, the compensation had to be sincere enough to appease them.
After a lengthy debate, both sides reached an agreement.
Each clan received some level of compensation in resources, but the most significant concession was regarding the allocation of Anbu positions.
That's right—Anbu, the elite force directly under the Hokage's command, an extension of his power.
This move not only created a bridge between the Hokage and the clans but also allowed them to gain access to critical information in a timely manner.
Previously, Anbu recruitment had always been dictated by the Hokage's discretion. While there were a few members from different clans, they were never a dominant force within Anbu.
The Third Hokage's current decision was essentially the result of saving up these allocations for years.
However, the clans, after their initial satisfaction, quickly realized the deeper implications of the Hokage's final proposal.
He had suggested that, in order to prevent conflicts like this in the future, each clan could voluntarily send their talented members to Root.
Root, the secretive black ops division led by Danzo.
Although the Hokage framed it as a suggestion rather than a mandate, the message was clear.
Refusing to comply would undoubtedly have consequences.
The clans could only play along, knowing that refusal would result in subtle forms of suppression.
Still, they worried about the implications—sending their promising young shinobi into Root meant subjecting them to its ruthless conditioning.
For now, they set this issue aside, intending to negotiate the conditions of their clan members' treatment within Root at a later date.
This resolution, however, did not include the Uchiha Clan's grievances.
The Third Hokage had no clear solution for their situation.
After all, he couldn't just hold Danzo accountable and punish him, could he?
The Third Hokage made it clear: As long as I am in power, Danzo will remain unharmed.
At this moment, the distinction between favoritism and fairness became painfully obvious.
Still, compensation had to be given.
The Uchiha Clan was granted two highly valuable positions within Anbu.
For the Uchiha, this was a major concession.
Since the time of the Second Hokage, the Uchiha had been assigned to lead the Konoha Police Force. While this role gave them authority, it also isolated them from the village's core power structure.
No Uchiha had ever been placed in Anbu before.
Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, understood the importance of this move.
So, for now, they had to accept it.
However, resentment and unwillingness still simmered within him.
Ever since Uchiha Madara's defection, the clan had been at odds with Konoha.
Could they afford to turn against the Hokage again?
The Uchiha were already unpopular, their police force role earning them the resentment of many villagers.
If they directly opposed the Hokage, their only option would be mass defection.
But was that truly feasible?
Sigh...
---
Far from Konoha, Uchiha Kiyo remained unaware of these developments.
Since faking his death, he had been constantly changing locations, avoiding any unnecessary exposure. He had not contacted his clone in Konoha, nor did he know the state of the war.
Survival comes first.
To ensure he completely vanished from the radar of various forces, these precautions were necessary.
Emerging from a river, he found a cave and activated a concealment barrier around himself.
"Hidden."
He carefully inscribed a sealing formula on his limbs and torso, starting with his legs, followed by his abdomen, arms, and finally setting activation switches on his hands.
This was a modified version of his chakra suppression barrier—engraving the seals directly onto his body to block any chakra leakage.
The downside was that he couldn't use ninjutsu while it was active.
Well, technically, he could still manipulate chakra internally, but releasing it would nullify the barrier's effect.
After confirming the concealment was stable, he submerged underground to remove the traces of his movement before returning to the surface.
"I've been on the run long enough. This should be sufficient."
He glanced around.
"The Land of Rivers... While the war has affected it, there aren't any major battlefields here. It's relatively stable. I should find a place to settle down."
Now that he was free from Konoha, he no longer had to rush.
There was time.
"First, I need to locate a black market. I have a lot of loot to offload. During wartime, prices are high—I can make a good profit."
As he planned his next steps, Uchiha Kiyo identified a few priorities.
Without Konoha's intelligence network, he would be at a disadvantage.
In a world of shinobi, intelligence was paramount.
Even though he knew the major events of the future, he lacked details about when and where they would unfold.
Thus, his next objective was to establish his own intelligence network.
But this had to be done through trustworthy individuals.
Relying on outsiders was too dangerous, and training his own operatives would take years.
So, for now, he would have to rely on himself.
Fortunately, he had a perfect solution—his clone technique.
Instead of using clones solely for gathering intelligence, he would assume different identities, operating in the shadows while collecting information.
Before that, however, there was an important matter to handle.
Delivering messages.
To the outside world, he was already dead.
Well… almost everyone believed that.
Orochimaru, however, would likely be an exception.
His name was still recorded on the Summoning Contract, meaning Orochimaru would know he was alive.
Still, Orochimaru wasn't someone who would bother exposing him.
He would understand that Uchiha Kiyo had chosen to leave Konoha.
However, keeping Orochimaru in the dark about certain things was necessary.
For that reason, he could no longer use his summoning snake for communication.
A new method of message delivery had to be developed.
Thankfully, he already had an idea.
His clone in Konoha, while hidden, could still gather bits of information.
That alone was valuable.
To expand his intelligence network, he planned to create two additional clones—one to infiltrate Sunagakure, and another to go rogue, collecting intel from the black market.
With information from Konoha, Sunagakure, and the underground market, he would have a broad picture of the shinobi world.
Sunagakure was a crucial choice.
The disappearance of the Third Kazekage was the catalyst for the Third Great Ninja War.
Moreover, Sunagakure's Chiyo was rumored to have developed Reincarnation Ninjutsu—even if it was decades away, it was worth keeping an eye on.
Once his intelligence network was in place, the next focus was training.
Strength dictated survival.
Since refining his chakra for the first time, he had structured his growth carefully.
However, it was time for a broader summary of his development.
The enlightenment he had experienced before leaving Konoha had given him clarity—
He was a practitioner.
Or perhaps, in time, a cultivator.
His goal was to develop an entirely new cultivation system.
The Yang-Yuan Technique he had devised was just the beginning, laying the foundation for his path.
But simply nourishing his body wouldn't be enough forever.
To truly extend life, his body needed a more profound transformation.
Developing that method would be his next major task.
And finally…
He needed money.
A lot of it.
Researching the Sharingan, laboratory equipment, experimental materials—all of it was expensive.
A single set of proper instruments could cost hundreds of millions of ryo.
Orochimaru's sponsorship? Unreliable.
If he wanted to fund his own research, he needed to establish a steady income.
Alchemy, forging, and black-market deals—
The foundation of his cultivation system would require them all.
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