Yakushi Kabuto’s Miserable Fate

"Oh, the old man was pretty capable. He gathered a bunch of people and actually drove off Pain’s Six Paths."

After reading the intelligence report, Tsunade casually handed it to Yakushi Kabuto, who was handling documents beside her. Kabuto had originally planned to spend another month gathering intelligence on the Hyuga Clan, but he had not expected Tsunade to promote him directly to Chunin and transfer him to the Hokage’s Office as an assistant.

When Yakushi Kabuto received Tsunade’s appointment, he froze. He had not even completed Orochimaru-sama’s order before being made to help Tsunade handle paperwork. Although he had received the order beforehand, Kabuto had no interest whatsoever in dealing with documents, even if many of them contained Konoha’s secrets.

After Yakushi Kabuto became Tsunade’s assistant, only a few documents remained on the Hokage’s desk. Those were merely for show; all the remaining paperwork had been piled onto Kabuto’s desk.

"Tsunade-sama, send Intelligence Squad Three to the Rain Country battlefield, and have them deliver the Flying Thunder God Kunai to Shiranui Genma’s three-man squad while they’re at it. As for logistical supplies, we can delay them for a while. It has not even been half a month since the last delivery. If we send another shipment now, the village’s funds will become extremely tight."

After reading the report, Yakushi Kabuto came up with a plan and presented it to Tsunade.

"And there is the matter at Kikyo Castle. Today, we received another six commissions from Land of Fire nobles. They can basically all be classified as S-rank. There is also the Land of Fire Daimyo’s reprimand. Tch, what a troublesome bastard. It was clearly Danzo’s fault."

Tsunade clicked her tongue. Danzo had caused the disgraceful mess, yet she was the one getting scolded for it. It made no sense.

Noticing Tsunade’s gaze on him, Yakushi Kabuto sighed inwardly. After giving it some thought, he said, "The task of clearing out the Suna-nin within the Land of Fire can only be handed to Sarutobi Shinnosuke. However, Tsunade-sama can urge him once a day, and the mission rank can be lowered by one level. Any missions transferred to the Anbu will have their danger ratings reassessed. With the Anbu’s strength, A-rank or B-rank should be sufficient."

Yakushi Kabuto gave all his suggestions in one breath, then paused to think before continuing.

"Apply to the Daimyo for another batch of ‘enemy suppression’ funds. The front line is under too much strain. Without funding, Tsunade-sama may have to personally go stop the Suna-nin."

The solution Yakushi Kabuto proposed would bring the Finance Department at least tens of millions of ryo in funding, greatly easing Konoha’s severe budget deficit.

After considering it, Tsunade was quite satisfied with Yakushi Kabuto’s proposal. If she had handled it herself, she probably could not have come up with anything better.

"Mm, we’ll do as you say. Today’s official business is finished, so I should go train for a while."

With that, Tsunade stood and stretched. She placed the four documents she had finished on top of the stack that Yakushi Kabuto had already processed, then swiftly left the Hokage’s Office under Kabuto’s stunned gaze.

Orochimaru-sama, it isn’t that your subordinate isn’t trying his best. The Fifth Hokage is simply too lazy. The task you gave me will probably take a long time to complete.

Yakushi Kabuto let out a deep breath, then looked at the half-person-high pile of unprocessed documents on his desk and threw himself back into handling Konoha’s official affairs.

If he did not finish them today and let them pile up until tomorrow, there would definitely be even more.

The training Tsunade spoke of was not gambling or drinking. She had changed somewhat recently and truly trained every day in the forest near the Senju Compound.

Although she appeared to outsiders to be over forty, her body had regained its youth. Tsunade no longer needed the Yin Seal to preserve her appearance.

Taijutsu, Wood Release, the development of Electromagnetic Field ninjutsu, and Cursed Seal Sage Mode—Tsunade could feel that after Wood Release awakened in her body, her Cursed Seal Sage Mode had also changed. After injecting the Gene Optimization Serum, the Curse Mark Transformation altered her appearance less and less.

Tsunade’s strength was in a period of rapid growth. If she did not train properly, she would be wasting the Gene Optimization Serum Hyuga Mirai had developed for her.

As for Yakushi Kabuto, after observing him for several days and confirming that his ability to handle affairs was indeed exceptional, Tsunade handed all of Konoha’s miscellaneous matters over to him. Once Kabuto finished handling them, he would also prepare a summary for her. In some respects, Kabuto was an even better assistant than Shizune.

"Fugaku committed suicide!?"

After hearing Uchiha Mikoto’s words, Uchiha Tekka’s eyes widened slightly. Fugaku had been dead for some time already, yet they were only being told now. Were they trying to hide it from them?

The more Uchiha Tekka thought about it, the more anger rose in his heart. Thump! He slammed his palm on the table and demanded in a hostile tone, "What is this supposed to mean? Madam Mikoto, if he felt guilty toward the clansmen, shouldn’t he have worked even harder for the Uchiha Clan? I thought he would come to understand that. Yet he died so long ago and only notified us now. Did he think the clansmen would covet his Mangekyō Sharingan?"

This distrust toward the clansmen was the true source of Uchiha Tekka’s anger. He himself possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, so why would he covet Fugaku’s eyes? The reason Uchiha Itachi’s eyes had not been returned to Uchiha Mikoto was that there were too few ninja left in the clan. If an emergency arose, one of the clansmen would certainly need to receive Uchiha Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan and serve the clan.

"Fugaku’s eyes have already been transplanted, haven’t they?"

Uchiha Mikoto shook her head and spoke slowly. "That was indeed the original plan. Fugaku wanted me to transplant his eyes and atone for him through service to the clan. But after Mirai-kun studied the Uchiha Clan’s Sharingan, he seemed to have mastered a new method of opening the eyes. He allowed me to awaken my own Mangekyō."

As she spoke, Uchiha Mikoto’s eyes changed into the pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan beneath Uchiha Tekka’s gaze.

One more Mangekyō in the clan should have been a good thing, but Uchiha Tekka felt deeply irritated. Uchiha Fugaku’s family had become far too estranged from the Uchiha Clan.

"Tekka-kun, I only want to serve the Uchiha Clan now. As for Fugaku’s eyes, leave them for Tekka-kun to handle."

Uchiha Mikoto took out a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan and handed them to Uchiha Tekka. The God Tree genes within Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto had already been extracted by Hyuga Mirai, so naturally, he had no interest in those eyes.

"…You should join the Military Police Force from now on. What happened with Uchiha Itachi has nothing to do with you or Sasuke. Once Sasuke grows up, if he does not have the potential to awaken the Mangekyō, these two pairs of Mangekyō will be kept for him."

Uchiha Tekka spoke. The Saudi Federation treated the Uchiha Clan well, but they had too few ninja worth presenting, and what they contributed was completely disproportionate to what they received. Now that Uchiha Mikoto had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan was finally worthy of its current status within the Saudi Federation.

Otherwise, with only a little over twenty ninja, they held a high-level position in the federation and controlled the Military Police Force that covered the entire federation. This made Uchiha Tekka work with utmost seriousness every day, terrified of failing the trust placed in him.

Before Uchiha Mikoto left, Uchiha Tekka hesitated for a moment before asking, "Has Hyuga truly mastered the secret to awakening the Mangekyō?"

"Yes. He said a lot… but I did not really understand it. Still, he said at the time that he was very confident he could help me awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. It was just that afterward, things got a little…"

Uchiha Mikoto did not mention those somewhat awkward events afterward. She was still a widow, and it was not important anyway. Saying it aloud would only cause misunderstandings.

"I understand."

Uchiha Tekka nodded, then had Inabi take Uchiha Mikoto to complete the formalities. He himself pondered in secret. When a suitable opportunity arose, he would visit Hyuga.

Uchiha Tekka had already held favorable feelings toward Hyuga Mirai for saving several hundred members of their clan. Now that he knew about Rōran joining the federation and Hyuga Mirai’s ability to evolve a Three-Tomoe Sharingan into a Mangekyō, Uchiha Tekka wanted even more to strengthen the relationship between them.

After Pakura responded that Rōran would join as one, the federation arranged a residence for Hyuga Mirai near the training grounds by the border. It was quiet and convenient. Although Hyuga Mirai had not yet been assigned any position, his residence and treatment had been prepared entirely according to the standards for higher-ups.

Whether in terms of strength or influence, Hyuga Mirai deserved such treatment, and no one else had any objections, especially after learning about the Uzumaki Company.

After Hyuga Mirai publicly joined them, he promised that the Uzumaki Company would design an electrical grid for the Saudi Federation’s cities and build a large power station outside the cities, enough to guarantee electricity for 1.5 million people across the federation’s cities.

Such naked benefits caused the favorability of some neutral higher-ups in the federation toward Hyuga Mirai to soar. Thus, the federation’s higher-ups were all discussing what position they should give Hyuga Mirai.

Hyuga Mirai knew very well what the federation’s higher-ups were discussing, but his attention was currently focused elsewhere.

"So this is how the Reanimation Jutsu works. The Creation Rebirth Technique combined with the Reverse Summoning Technique? There are some differences. It is more like the Yin Release Summoning Technique, capable of summoning the souls of those who died long ago back from the Pure Land. It just consumes too much Chakra."

After reading the Forbidden Technique scroll Sasori had brought him, Hyuga Mirai could not help admiring Grandma Chiyo’s ingenuity.

When restoring and creating the deceased’s physical body, it used the Chakra remaining within the target’s cells to summon the soul back from the Pure Land with an improved Summoning Technique.

Although Hyuga Mirai did not fully understand the precise principles of Rinne Rebirth, in his view, the Reanimation Jutsu was already the strongest resurrection ninjutsu humanity could possibly develop.

It simply consumed too much. Even a Five Kage-level ninja might exhaust all their Chakra and die using this Forbidden Technique, and they had to be a Five Kage-level ninja proficient in both Yang Release and summoning.

"This stupid son is driving me mad."

At that moment, Uzumaki Kushina stormed in from outside. While teaching Naruto how to use Nine-Tails Chakra just now, her foolish son had once again defected, saying he wanted to find Aunt Ayaka. Even though she had been the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki for longer.

Hyuga Mirai glanced at Uzumaki Kushina before looking away. However, based on his experience, even if he ignored Kushina, she would still be unable to resist coming over to complain to him.

This clearly had nothing to do with him.

Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Naruto lived next door to Hyuga Mirai and Uzumaki Ayaka, making them neighbors. Uzumaki Ayaka also liked tempting Uzumaki Naruto into betraying Kushina with new ninjutsu, so the two often bickered and argued.

It was just that Kushina lost far more often than she won.