Chapter 163: Uzumaki Kenshin Cleans Up His Act.
Uzumaki Kenshin, Naruto's second Clone.
He inherited some of Naruto's taijutsu and swordsmanship. While his strength cannot be called overwhelming, he is still capable of putting up a fight against Might Guy with the Seventh Gate opened.
After the Root was completely dismantled, thanks to his initial defection, Uzumaki Kenshin not only avoided the subsequent purge but was also granted significant authority after passing layer upon layer of scrutiny by the Anbu interrogation department.
After all, he was an "old hand" in the Root. The surviving Root Ninja who had participated under Danzo were a force not to be underestimated. The only way to stop the losses in time was to absorb them all into the Anbu.
Meanwhile, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, who had been in cahoots with Danzo, were relieved of their duties and left to live out their retirement in idleness at home.
Naruto clearly had strong opinions about their fate, but since it was Jiraiya who made the decision, Naruto could not intervene openly, and he preferred to play it safe and avoid any underhanded moves in secret.
Getting Uzumaki Kenshin embedded within the Anbu was still a very important move.
"Lord Kakashi, this is the latest intelligence regarding the Akatsuki Organization."
Wearing an animal mask, Uzumaki Kenshin stood respectfully before Kakashi Hatake and presented an intelligence scroll with both hands.
Kakashi Hatake remained as unmotivated as ever. Forced into the position like a duck being driven to the perch, he had no choice but to serve as the acting Hokage of Konoha until Tsunade could be found.
Kakashi Hatake still found it quite headache-inducing that Jiraiya had simply dumped the responsibility and run off after handling most of Konoha's affairs. After all, in terms of both seniority and strength, Kakashi Hatake was not the best candidate for acting Hokage.
However, things having reached this point, Kakashi Hatake still had to shoulder the responsibility until Tsunade or Jiraiya returned to the village.
As for the Akatsuki Organization, after the deaths of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, many classified documents that had been kept under wraps were made public. Kakashi Hatake, who originally had no qualifications to know about many things, naturally learned of the dirty secrets once held by Konoha's upper echelons.
After learning so much, the mysterious Uchiha clansman "Tian" and the mysterious mercenary organization, the Akatsuki Organization, officially entered Kakashi Hatake's field of vision.
Kakashi Hatake did possess political wisdom. It could be said that no Ninja who survived the Ninja World War was mediocre; without wisdom, one could not survive to adulthood, regardless of luck.
"Hmm, so there is still no progress regarding the intelligence on 'Tian'?"
"Not for the moment." Uzumaki Kenshin grumbled inwardly—it would be strange if something like that could be exposed right now. "It remains the same as previous intelligence; we only know that Tian is hiding in the Sound Village established by Orochimaru."
"Do not act rashly for now." Kakashi Hatakepondered for a moment. "Temporarily withdraw the Anbu Ninja monitoring the Sound Village. Konohacannot afford any losses at this time."
Kakashi Hatake's choice was not in the least bit wrong. With the Uchiha Clan massacre, the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the infighting within Danzo's Root, and a series of other events, Konoha's decline was visible to the naked eye.
Before the new generation of Ninja could grow up, what Konoha needed to do now was to maintain stability and recuperate. Avoiding provoking major enemies for the time being was the priority.
"Understood." Uzumaki Kenshin nodded to indicate he had noted Kakashi Hatake's instructions. "Regarding the defection of Sasuke..."
"I have already signed the arrest warrant and officially designated Sasuke as a Rogue Ninja. From now on, whenever the Anbu encounters Sasuke, they may act in accordance with the regulations for handling Rogue Ninja."
The reason Uzumaki Kenshin asked this was entirely due to Naruto's instructions.
Because after Sasuke defected, the whereabouts of the assets left behind by the Uchiha Clan had undoubtedly become a primary concern for Narutoand the trusted leadership of Konoha.
That was no small sum of money!
It was more than enough to support a medium-scale battle between major Ninja villages.
"Following your instructions, we spoke with the Clan Chief of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi. They are unwilling to hand over the businesses that Sasukeonce entrusted to them to manage."
"Is that so..." Kakashi Hatake felt a bit of a headache. "Since this matter cannot be resolved privately, then let's bring it out into the open at the next meeting."
Although the full name of the Anbu was the Assassination and Tactical Special Force, after several generations of evolution, in addition to their primary duties, they were also tasked with many secret communications because they were under the direct leadership of the Hokage.
Thanks to Naruto's early planning, Sasuke had not only organized the assets left behind by the Uchiha Clan but had also reluctantly handed over a large portion of those assets to the Hyuga Clan for management.
Although this was the same as confiscation, and handing them to the Hyuga Clan was nothing more than dealing with a tiger, they would still be able to reclaim a large portion in the future.
After all, it was written clearly in black and white. If the Hyuga Clan still wanted to maintain their face as Konoha's premier clan, it was impossible for them to completely deny the debt.
There would inevitably be obstacles, but it was still much better than ending up with nothing after confiscation.
Confiscating the Uchiha Clan's assets was not Kakashi Hatake's intention, but rather a long-standing rule in Konoha. After all, once they became Rogue Ninja, the assets they left behind in Konoha would naturally not be reserved for them.
More importantly, there was no one left from the Uchiha Clan in Konoha now...
"Lord Kakashi, Hiashi also revealed one more thing: a portion of the Uchiha Clan's inheritance is registered under the name of Naruto. Clearly, this was a plan Sasuke had long ago, and even..."
Uzumaki Kenshin revealed another piece of intelligence. Clearly, this was something Narutohad done proactively; he wanted to use this matter to test the new leadership of Konoha's opinion of him.
"Given the bond between Naruto and Sasuke, this is quite normal and nothing to be suspicious of." Kakashi Hatake's expression darkened. "You only need to complete the tasks I assign to you; you do not need to get overly involved in other matters!"
Clearly, this was a warning from Kakashi Hatake. He still harbored a modicum of distrust toward Uzumaki Kenshin, who originated from the Root.
This was human nature; anyone would be the same.
"Understood, Lord Kakashi."
"Hmm. Keep a close watch on all movements of the Akatsuki Organization. You may return now."
After seeing Uzumaki Kenshin leave, Kakashi Hatake finally looked at the intelligence scroll he had been holding in his hand the entire time.
The one-time Sealing Jutsu was intact, with no signs of it having been opened.
Kakashi Hatake let out a long sigh. He formed a simple hand Seal, and after breaking the Seal on the scroll, the inside was filled with dense lines of intelligence text written in code.
The more he read, the deeper Kakashi Hatake's brow furrowed.
Should the intelligence provided by Uchiha Itachi, the spy embedded within the Akatsuki Organization, be trusted?
Rubbing his forehead, Kakashi Hatake looked out the window. If the intelligence was accurate, the prosperous Konoha was about to face the flames of war...
"Tailed Beasts... are not a power that a third-rate mercenary organization like yours should possess!"
Kakashi Hatake made his decision. He opened the toad that Jiraiya had left behind for communication between the two of them, resealed the intelligence, and fed it into the communication toad's mouth.