Naruto: Linked to Kaguya, Corrupting the Ninja World

Yugao Uzuki stood at her doorstep.

An X-shaped seal was pasted on the gate, and the lock had been replaced with a new one.

After she was declared a rogue ninja, all of her property had been confiscated. Even the house she originally lived in had been taken away.

She ripped off the seals and slashed the lock clean through with her sword.

Yugao stepped into the courtyard.

Suddenly, the air around her shifted unnaturally. Her instincts flared—she drew her sword and struck out sharply.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Blood gushed out. With two loud thuds, two figures collapsed onto the ground.

Without even glancing back, Yugao walked into the house and picked up some cleaning tools.

After thoroughly cleaning every room, she returned to the courtyard.

The two bodies that had fallen earlier were already gone—someone had clearly come to take them away.

Only a few patches of fresh crimson bloodstains remained on the ground.

Yugao snickered coldly, then took a bucket to draw water and washed the ground clean.

Inside a certain room belonging to the Hyuga Clan, Hizashi sat cross-legged on the floor, adopting a respectful posture. Facing him were three elderly men with white hair.

These three elders were senior members of the Hyuga family. Normally, unless it involved matters crucial to the survival of the clan, they wouldn't interfere in its governance, leaving all decisions to the current clan head.

However, currently, Hiashi was absent and Hinata was still underage. There was no one within the clan capable of making crucial decisions, so the three elders had no choice but to step in.

[To be honest, lately I've been using Ye Guo Reading for novel updates and source switching—it even offers multiple voice options. You can access it at .yeguoyuedu on both Android and iOS.]

After returning from the Senju estate, Hizashi promptly sought an audience with these three elders and relayed what Tsunade had said to them.

Hizashi lowered his gaze humbly, silently waiting for the three elders to speak after their deliberation.

After a long pause, one of the elders finally sighed heavily: "It seems many people might already believe the Hyuga Clan has aligned itself with Tsunade..."

"She deliberately approached Hizashi..." another elder added.

"Hizashi, do as you wish," ultimately came the deep voice of the central elder.

Hizashi understood their meaning and rose to leave.

Late into the night, Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka, both known for being family-oriented men, didn't go home but instead remained at Shikaku Nara's house to drink.

Shikaku Nara smiled bitterly inwardly.

The Ino–Shika–Cho trio had always shared a strong bond. He already knew exactly what his two close friends were waiting for.

"Shikaku, don't play dumb. What should we do?" Finally, Choza couldn't hold himself back and spoke first.

"Nothing at all. If the Third Hokage wins, everything stays the same. But if Lady Tsunade takes power, we'll have to lay low and keep quiet." Shikaku replied calmly.

"But..." Choza hesitated.

"Everyone already knows we're loyal supporters of the Third Hokage. If we suddenly switch sides and join Lady Tsunade's camp, can we really earn respect?"

After wavering for quite some time, Inoichi voiced his concerns.

"If Lady Tsunade emerges victorious, would she target those clans like ours who didn't support her for elimination?"

"It all depends on whether this gathering ends up being nothing more than a simple funeral..." Shikaku murmured cryptically.

Other clans held similar internal discussions and eventually arrived at nearly identical conclusions.

Let's see how things play out.

The next day,

Naruto Uzumaki returned to the Ninja Academy.

Still, practically no one dared to approach him.

Clan-born students continued to show him the same cold attitude as before.

The commoner students, however, felt conflicted.

Though they didn't have the adults' complicated worries, the kids were surprisingly mature and felt torn inside.

They worried Naruto might hold a grudge, but also feared coming off as insincere if they approached him now.

Leaning his head on his hand, Naruto's thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Why wasn't life turning out anything like he imagined?

Apart from the discussions concerning Naruto's background,

another rumor continued to spread secretly among civilians in Konoha Village.

No one knew its origin or who first voiced it.

More and more people began whispering amongst themselves, claiming the Third Hokage had actually died long ago, and was currently an imposter—which explained why numerous decisions over the past decade had apparently harmed Konoha.

Eating melon seeds contentedly, the crowd soaked up the rumors greedily.

Some particularly anxious souls couldn't help wondering—was Konoha on the brink of ruin?

Outside Konoha Village, deep within a dense forest,

a one-eyed old man with bandages wrapped around his head leaned on a cane, accompanied by two subordinates.

After some time, a pale-skinned man with long hair like that of a serpent appeared in their line of sight.

Orochimaru, his gaze curious, looked at Danzo Shimura—the man who had arranged the meeting—licking his lips while flashing an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"If this is about something trivial wasting my time..."

Lately, Orochimaru's mood had been particularly bad.

Ever since Itachi Uchiha joined Akatsuki, Orochimaru had grown increasingly restless, eventually making a move against Itachi in an attempt to seize his body.

Never did he expect that Itachi wouldn't even need his Susano'o—he defeated Orochimaru using only [Tsukuyomi] from his left eye.

Defeated so easily by someone younger, Orochimaru suffered a serious blow to his ego, leaving the organization immediately.

Now, he was even being hunted by fellow Akatsuki members.

Danzo Shimura's face curled into a strange smile. "Orochimaru, I've discovered the secret to immortality."

"Oh?" Orochimaru feigned disdain, clearly unconvinced.

"Additionally," Danzo added mysteriously with a half-smile, "there's an old friend here who wants to see you."

A shush-shush sound came from the trees—Orochimaru turned to follow Danzo's gaze, his face hardening instantly. "What? Are you planning to capture me?"

Jiraiya stepped out from deeper in the woods.

Danzo slowly shook his head. "No. We want to explore the mysteries of eternal life together with you."

Orochimaru raised his eyebrows slightly, glancing between the two with confusion, though inside he sneered bitterly. Who would've thought Jiraiya—the champion of justice himself—would end up working with both Danzo… and me?

Expressionless, Jiraiya pulled out a sealing scroll and unfurled it, summoning two White Zetsu onto the ground.

Danzo Shimura walked over and placed the White Zetsu Corpse in front of Orochimaru, introducing, "This thing has actually lived for over a thousand years. If you can unlock the secrets within his body, you could..."

Before he could finish speaking, Orochimaru couldn't help but ask, "Where did you find him?"

Immediately, a surprised expression appeared on his face. "You're saying he's lived for a thousand years?"

His voice was laced with doubt.

White Zetsu, of course, he recognized.

But the idea that White Zetsu had lived for a thousand years—there was no way he'd believe that.

Putting aside whether it was possible or not, assuming it were true, someone who'd lived for a thousand years should have reached an unimaginable level of strength just from [Extract Chakra] every single day.

Yet in the Akatsuki Organization, this Zetsu never displayed any power comparable to that of a top-tier expert.

Moreover, that guy was always being ordered around and treated like nothing more than a support unit for gathering intel.

Orochimaru kept his expression neutral, carefully weighing the implications.

Jiraiya found Orochimaru's reaction strange. "Orochimaru, does that mean you've met him before?" he asked.

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