Undercurrents

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Naoki's expression changed when he heard that, but he quickly returned to normal and answered respectfully, "Everything went smoothly. The Third Hokage has already arranged for me to enter ANBU."

Naoki had only just finished the special jonin assessment, yet Orochimaru already knew about it. That surprised him somewhat. Clearly, Orochimaru had more than one spy planted inside the village.

Orochimaru set down his cup and stared sharply at Naoki. "Naoki, your recent growth has exceeded my expectations. Do you have some secret? Or has the Byakugan research produced results?"

Naoki's recent improvement was extremely obvious. People who did not understand him might think it was only the normal awakening of his bloodline. After all, he was at an age when strength rose quickly. Guy, Asuma, and the others were also improving rapidly during this period, changing almost day by day.

But Orochimaru was different. He understood Naoki very well and knew Naoki was not the sort of shinobi with exceptional natural talent. Because of that, Naoki's recent performance had drawn his suspicion.

Naoki naturally would not admit anything. He shook his head. "Research into a kekkei genkai is not something that produces results overnight. You should understand that better than I do."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes without confirming or denying anything. "Is that so..."

Orochimaru knew Naoki had participated in the research for only a few short years. In such a short time, producing results was unlikely. He had also inspected Naoki's laboratory, and it was filled only with the most basic genetic testing data. There was nothing involving live experiments.

If there had not even been live experimentation, then results were out of the question.

Of course, Orochimaru did not know that Naoki had actually conducted one live experiment, and that the subject had been Naoki himself. Naturally, there were no related experimental records.

After a moment, Orochimaru smiled. "It seems I misjudged you before. You not only have the potential to become a researcher, but also the potential to become an excellent shinobi."

"You flatter me."

As if suddenly remembering something, Orochimaru smiled again. "Recently, I met an interesting person. He asked me about you."

"Who?"

"Sasori of the Red Sand from the Hidden Sand." Staring at Naoki, Orochimaru asked each word clearly, "Have the two of you met?"

Naoki nodded openly. "We did meet once."

Obviously, during this period, Sasori and Orochimaru had joined the Akatsuki one after another. Since Orochimaru was one of Konoha's Sannin, it was only natural for Sasori to ask him about Naoki.

Naoki had anticipated this, so he did not show any surprise.

Seeing that Naoki's expression did not change, Orochimaru continued, "He seems very eager to kill you. How did you provoke him?"

Naoki believed that with Sasori's pride, he would never tell Orochimaru the details of how he had suffered a setback. So Naoki briefly described the Konoha purge operation against him, omitting only the accidental seizure of the Third Kazekage human puppet.

After finishing, Naoki smiled. "A small figure like me escaped from his hands. Maybe that made him feel embarrassed."

Hearing that, Orochimaru laughed, which was rare for him.

What Naoki did not know was that although Orochimaru and Sasori had temporarily formed a two-man team, they did not get along well.

Both of them were obsessed with immortality. One followed the path of biotechnology, the other the path of mechanical technology. Both had touched the threshold of immortality in their respective fields. One could imagine how sharp their disagreements over science would be.

After laughing for a while, Orochimaru said, "Although I did not tell him your information, he surely has other sources. Be careful. He is a very obsessive person, and I would rather not see you among the puppets in his collection."

Naoki smiled bitterly. "Being hated by someone that strong is truly not a pleasant experience."

In the Uchiha compound, when Itachi saw Shisui, he quickly went up to meet him. "Brother Shisui, did the assessment go smoothly?"

Shisui stroked Itachi's head. "Yes. Smooth enough."

"Then you are already a special jonin?" Itachi brightened, then asked, "What was the assessment like? Tell me quickly."

Shisui immediately began talking about interesting moments from the special jonin assessment.

Itachi listened seriously for a while, then suddenly asked, "Brother Shisui must have defeated every opponent easily, right?"

Shisui's face stiffened. Then he lightly shook his head. "In the final round, I lost to my opponent. But Lord Hokage felt my performance was outstanding, so in the end, he made an exception and promoted me to special jonin."

Itachi was shocked. "You lost? How... how is that possible?"

Shisui's title as the Uchiha clan's top genius had not been created by the Uchiha praising themselves behind closed doors. It was supported by real accomplishments.

Shisui already possessed jonin-level strength, and that had long been acknowledged inside the Uchiha clan. So Itachi never expected someone to defeat Shisui in this special jonin assessment.

"I did not expect to lose either." Shisui smiled helplessly and continued, "The person who defeated me is someone you know. Senior Naoki of the Hyuga clan."

Itachi was stunned. "Senior Naoki..."

Since childhood, Itachi had possessed a sensitivity far beyond ordinary people. He was good at observing and could always notice details others missed. Because of that, when they encountered Kumogakure's Two-Tails jinchuriki last time, he had keenly sensed that Naoki was not especially afraid of her.

At that moment, he had guessed that Naoki was definitely not an ordinary chunin.

Shisui said seriously, "Itachi, there are endless strong shinobi in the village. We cannot let the power of the Sharingan blind our hearts. We must always remain humble."

Itachi only half understood, but he still nodded seriously.

Shisui looked at the clansmen moving back and forth in the distance and asked in a low mood, "What do you see in them?"

Itachi observed carefully for a while, then said, "Pride."

"Yes. They are proud to have been born into the Uchiha clan." After a pause, Shisui continued in a deep voice, "But that pride has grown too heavy. So heavy that we can hardly bear it."

During his match with Naoki, Shisui had not used the Mangekyo Sharingan. He had even held back somewhat in conventional methods.

He had done so not only because he sensed the village's suspicion toward the Uchiha, but also because he clearly felt the undercurrents inside the clan.

Other villages had already learned that Konoha was badly weakened. The Uchiha clan, who lived inside the village, naturally knew as well.

The Uchiha clan had never lacked ambitious people. Previously, the village had too many strong figures, such as the Sannin, the Fourth Hokage, and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, so the Uchiha had no choice but to lie low.

Now, among the Sannin, only Jiraiya remained, and he spent most of his time outside the village. The Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki were dead. The only people in the village still capable of making the Uchiha wary were the Third Hokage, Danzo, and that group of old men. Because of that, the ambition of many inside the Uchiha clan had begun erupting beyond control.

Shisui did not have the ability to extinguish the ambition blazing inside the clan. All he could do was restrain it as best he could. That was why he chose to lose to Naoki during the selection. His goal was to make his clansmen understand that the village was full of experts, and that blind ambition would only destroy the Uchiha clan completely.

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