My clan was exterminated when I was three years old, and you want me to beat Uchiha Itachi? Chapter 133

After a bit of inquiry, you learned that in recent days, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been continuously dispatching Anbu to fill the void left by the loss of Root, strictly guarding against spy ninjas sent by various villages, and even against ninjas and residents of the Hidden Leaf Village itself.

However, paper cannot ultimately conceal fire. The events that transpired on what should have been the night of the Uchiha clan’s extermination still spread like wildfire, and due to the village’s ban, they were even grotesquely distorted into various versions.

Coupled with the Hidden Leaf’s well-established education system, which deeply ingrained the idea that Hiruzen Sarutobi was the strongest Hokage, such an incident could not possibly have been carried out by living people. As the rumors spread, they naturally transformed into the bizarre and outlandish version that now circulated…

And the “ghost of Madara Uchiha” these people spoke of was, in fact, yourself.

Incidentally, you also took a look at the current situation of the Uchiha clan.

Overall, they were doing quite well:

Although there was still a subtle division between the hawkish faction led by the Great Elder and the dovish faction composed of supporters of the former clan head’s family, the doves had lost their backbone. Coupled with their inherently soft and easily compromising nature, many doves had become centrists, essentially losing their voice within the clan.

The Great Elder, on the other hand, cleverly leveraged the rumors prevalent in the Hidden Leaf Village, applying the brakes in time. While controlling the extremely radical individuals who wanted to storm the Hokage Building, he engaged in negotiations with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Due to Danzo’s insanity and the complete annihilation of Root’s core, and with many Root members also being Anbu members, the Hidden Leaf’s intelligence agencies were largely paralyzed.

Ultimately, Hiruzen Sarutobi compromised, granting the Uchiha clan the same treatment as the Hyuga clan and reinstating the Uchiha Clan Police Force’s enforcement authority in exchange.

This restored the Uchiha clan’s status to what it was when the Hidden Leaf Village was first established.

In addition, the Great Elder also dispatched some less radical hawk-faction clan members, mixed with a small number of dove-faction clan members, to join Hidden Leaf institutions such as the Intelligence Department and the Interrogation Department…

This move would help the Uchiha regain control of the Hidden Leaf while gradually mending the previously divided two factions within the clan.

At the same time, you also made time to visit Granny Yukina and Uchiha Setsuna.

Granny Yukina’s emotions were stable; she seemed to have witnessed enough life, old age, sickness, and death that she was extremely calm about your disappearance. She continued to enjoy her twilight years, chatting and laughing with her old sisters as usual.

You looked at the small photo box in the wardrobe, which contained various items from your childhood.

After some hesitation, you ultimately decided not to place the note that read “All well, don’t worry” inside…

You felt that sometimes, deception was a good thing. If you had left a note, it would only give Granny Yukina a wish that could never be fulfilled. It was better for her to forget…

As for Uchiha Setsuna, he still lived leisurely in the bamboo forest, constantly honing the Uchiha-style swordsmanship with his aging body, and silently guarding the clan from the shadows with his clouded eyes.

“Farewell, never to meet again!”

[Day 20]

Bad news came from the Hidden Leaf Hospital: Danzo, who had recovered some of his sanity, had now gone completely mad.

When he was discovered, he was wearing a clown mask from who knows where, submerged in the sewage pool on the hospital’s lowest floor.

No one could figure out how Danzo, without limbs, managed to crawl from the top floor of the hospital to the first floor, and then submerge himself in the pool to drink his fill…

Meanwhile, having just finished processing a mountain of piled-up documents, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his pipe to relax a bit, only to look up and find a note mysteriously appearing on the wall opposite him.

On it were the three large characters “Konohamaru.” On the back of the note, you had thoughtfully drawn many lines that looked like a map but were actually nothing at all.

Enough to keep Hiruzen Sarutobi thoroughly entertained for a while…

Weren’t you the ghost of Madara Uchiha? This time, you might as well completely solidify the ghost’s existence!

[Day 21]

You sold the specialty medicinal herbs from the Land of Hot Water, making a profit from the price difference, and then purchased quite a few specialty medicinal herbs from the Hidden Leaf Village.

After leaving the village, you painlessly disposed of the hired guard ninjas and stored them along with the corpses collected from the Ninja Fighting Arena in a sealing scroll.

Alone, you drove a carriage, loaded with sealing scrolls, towards the Land of Waves.

Items requiring storage in sealing scrolls were undoubtedly valuable, and you were alone, making this an excellent fishing method.

[Day 22]

In just one day, more than ten rogue ninjas attempting to rob you took the bait.

The majority of these were rogue ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village. It seemed that the title “Bloody Mist” was indeed well-deserved; so many ninjas were forced to live like this, with no choice but to defect.

You accepted all comers, leaving no one alive, thoroughly replenishing your inventory.

You had no choice but to hand over the extra scrolls that couldn’t fit to Boss Black Cat.

This caused Boss Black Cat to occasionally complain to you that if you kept stuffing things in, there would be no room left in his home within the ninja cat clan. The ninja cat clan’s base in space was already not large.

At that point, you would have to pay a large space usage fee to the ninja cat clan…

You could only comfort Boss Black Cat while searching for Zabuza’s whereabouts.

Unfortunately, you found nothing.

The original story in your memory was also very vague about the time Zabuza failed in his assassination attempt on the Mizukage and defected.

However, based on Zabuza’s appearance when he found Haku, and the fact that Haku seemed a few years older than Naruto when they encountered Team 7, you deduced that the two had probably already met by this time…

[Day 23]

You arrived at the docks. After some inquiries, you discovered that Gato Company’s ferry business was the largest, even achieving a monopoly. Of the thousands of ships docked, seven to eight hundred bore the Gato Company logo.

It seemed that sea transport was indeed profitable. In a few years, Gato, an obscure merchant on this remote island nation, would become the richest man renowned throughout the ninja world!

You chartered a small cargo ship and found that although the price was a bit higher than other companies, it came with a security detail of one Chunin and two samurai.

This was something other companies did not offer.

This place was in the middle of nowhere, and it was right next to the chaotic Hidden Mist Village, making the situation quite turbulent.

In such a place, being able to combine hired guards with boat rental services, one had to admit Gato’s business acumen was good.

Even many of the transportation regulations formulated by Gato Company in conjunction with the Land of Waves at this port were well-reasoned, preventing maritime accidents. Of course, they also squeezed the survival space of competitors.

Before long, you arrived in the Land of Waves, an island isolated overseas, by cargo ship.

Looking at the bustling dock, as a newcomer merchant, you inquired about the “Great Naruto Bridge” to a stevedore who was unloading goods beside you.

However, the other party looked at you with a bewildered expression.

You were relieved to confirm that the conflict between Gato and the residents of the Land of Waves had not yet fully erupted. Otherwise, you would have had to prioritize the greater good and sacrifice the bridge master…