Chapter 41: [Setting Off]
Whilst Hiruzen was lost in his thoughts back at the Hokage's Office, Sasuke sat atop the cliff where the faces of the Hokage were carved into.
He sat down and peered down, gazing at the village below him.
'Guess I won't be back for a while...'
While pondering, Sasuke saw the dossier in his hand handed to him by Hirzuen. He opened it up and scanned through its contents, though when he did so a strange look flashed across his face.
Mission Briefing: Kazuki Yoshida
Objective: Your mission is to gather intel on Kazuki Yoshida, the Deputy Minister of Treasury in the Land of Fire. Find evidence of his involvement in activities contrary to the "One Village-One Nation" concept and make a note of the people he interacts with.
If such evidence is found, your secondary objective is to discreetly eliminate Kazuki Yoshida.
Upon getting rid of Kazuki Yoshida, collect the evidence and try to make it seem as if Kazuki was in the midst of a conflict with his Konoha contact.
Add further evidence to frame this contact whether through forged evidence or other methods.
Background: Kazuki Yoshida is a prominent figure in the Land of Fire, holding the position of Deputy Minister of Treasury.
Appearance: Black hair and green eyes.
His face was adorned with a thick moustache and framed by a beard.
Looks to be in his mid-40s.
Current Intel:
Anti-Unity Stance: Kazuki Yoshida is fervently against the idea of villages governing themselves independently. He believes in a centralized authority under the Daimyo's rule.
Secret Funding: Our sources suggest that Kazuki Yoshida is involved in private funding initiatives aimed at supporting groups or individuals aligned with his anti-unity stance.
Undermining Konoha Leadership: There are indications that Yoshida might be working with someone to weaken the leadership of Konoha, possibly to pave the way for greater influence from the Daimyo.
However, Sasuke realised something strange as read on, Hiruzen previously told him that the person whom Kazuki Yoshida was in contact with was a member of the civilian council.
Initially, Sasuke simply took that for granted and didn't think there would be a reason Hiruzen would lie about it; but the fact he had to frame this contact raised an eyebrow.
'A civilian council member lacks any ability to mobilise ninjas in the village, thus they can't exactly easily eliminate Kazuki- something he is made to frame this contact for.
Very few individuals in Konoha are capable of mobilising ninjas, one would be the Hokage, the clan heads and... Danzo?'
Holding in the urge to chuckle, Sasuke read the information once more and this time was more certain that the person who Kazuki Yoshida is supporting here in Konoha should be Danzo.
'My first Anbu mission involves framing Danzo?'
The corners of his mouth twitched, betraying the amusement he felt from this discovery.
Despite the hidden objective of the mission centred around Danzo, it wasn't like he was complaining.
One didn't often get the chance to frame Danzo at the order of his boyfri-*Cough* the Hokage.
Plus he hadn't recently framed Danzo, which made him feel as though he was missing something from his life.
'My plan to eliminate him won't take place for a while, as I truly would not want to end up like my anime counterpart.
And I most definitely do not wish Danzo to be seen as some sort of martyr by the rest of the world.'
After memorising the information, a blue flame sparked to life in Sasuke's hands and incinerated the dossier.
The figure of Sasuke promptly vanished from the cliff-top as he jumped across rooftops and made his way out of the village.
However, he paused as he looked at the Uchiha compound in the distance and a new thought began to churn in his mind.
'I doubt anything is going to happen to her, but she is rather important for my future investigations into Uzushiogakure...
I guess I should make sure she's safe whilst I'm gone.
Better safe than sorry.'
As he ceased his pondering, a humanoid-shaped piece of wood emerged from beside Sasuke which soon in turn morphed to match Sasuke's appearance.
Wood Clone
This was the main wood-style Jutsu he had decided to practise over the past week, as he desired its versatility. It also wasn't like he was lacking any offensive Jutsu either so he decided to focus on the Wood Clone Jutsu.
Similar to shadow clones, the wood clone was far more durable. Like their shadow clone counterparts, these clones require a user to split their chakra in half. However, unlike shadow clones, they can relay real-time information to the caster instead of only being able to gather the information after the clone has dispersed.
'Though this is going to mean I'm performing this mission with half of my chakra, I still doubt this will pose any harm to me.
This half of my chakra I have left is already magnitudes greater than the chakra I had before my induction mission.
And there aren't any threats for the current my in the ninja world for now, though considering all those anomalies I still can't entirely be certain.'
Sasuke gave the clones a set of instructions, mainly centred around making sure Karin wasn't targeted by a certain someone.
*Cough* Danzo *Cough*
After finishing this up, Sasuke quickly left the village and made his way towards the capital of the Land of Fire and he let his thoughts wander as he embarked on this rather uneventful journey.
Sasuke had another goal in mind for this mission. He had just realised that all organisations have one thing that they require.
Money
Unlike other groups, a secret organisation must have a source of income independent from themselves and in the Naruto world there is only one group of people who can fund such a group.
The nobles.
Sasuke wanted to not only search Kazuki but also other Land Of Fire nobles and ministers for any possible link with a secret organisation.
This will at least help him see if the Hand Of God is still an active group- which wouldn't exactly be good news for him...
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Meanwhile, elsewhere.
An underground cavern, illuminated by a single source of light which was sat upon the centre of the space. Several strange silhouettes circled the light source.
One of these figures spoke out, "Leader. Why have you called us here again? Time is money, and I don't have patience for pointless gatherings."
The one who was called 'leader' briefly glanced at the person who questioned him before he answered.
"This is regarding our plan. As you have recalled we had initiated this plan early in response to an... unknown variable.
We now know where most Jinchuuriki are thanks to Sasori and will thus begin their extraction.
Deidara and Sasori, you two are to collect the Ichibi.
Kakuzu and Hidan, you will be in charge of collecting the Niibi.
Itachi and Kisame, I believe you two will be fine with collecting the Sanbi.
Konan and I shall handle the Yonbi and Gobi."
After he had finished assigning everyone a task, the place descended into a brief silence.
"Leader. Clarify this 'variable' you speak of. You failed to enlighten us on the details in the last meeting. And I for one find it rather irritating to be kept in the dark."
Another figure scoffed as he spoke out, this individual was hunched over and possessed some sort of tail extending from him.
"As you wish, Sasori.
You all must surely remember our former comrade, Orochimaru.
It has come to my knowledge that he has come into possession of some peculiar knowledge and now poses a considerable threat to us.
Though he may not be able to directly harm us, I'd rather initiate the plan to not give him time to study this knowledge."
His words caught the attention of everyone in the room, especially a certain individual in the corner whose eyes locked onto the leader the moment he spoke about Orochimaru and how he had come into contact with some strange knowledge.
As this person stared at the leader, he began to voice out his questions.
"Leader. Can you tell us what exactly this information is?
Surely, you would know considering you have so suddenly advanced the plans of the organisation.
What is this knowledge Orochimaru had gained that makes him such a threat?"
"Astute as always... Itachi.
The knowledge Orochimaru has recently come into contact with is associated with the tales of legend and centred around... Godhood.
From what I have gathered regarding his personality, it is all but certain that the moment he succeeds he will begin to seek even greater strength.
And what else could give him greater strength than the Bijuu?"
His words echoed in the ears of all the people gathered there, as the underground space soon descended into a deafening silence.
What he didn't mention was that on the off chance, Orochimaru succeeds in his attempt to use this knowledge to further himself.
Orochimaru would most certainly attempt to seize his Rinnegan.
'However, Orochimaru's chance to obtain my Rinnegan remains an impossibility, no matter how he uses this new knowledge he has acquired.
But Madara seems wary of this possibility...'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Perma_Frost
Perma_Frost patreon.com/Perma_Frost
I have called the Biju by their Japanese names because I'm just feeling a bit lazy.
One tails= Ichibi
Two tails= Niibi
etc.
It is just much easier to write.
Though if everyone struggles to understand which Biju is associated with each name, I'll just use their English names.
BTW tomorrow is a Sunday so there most likely won't be a chapter. The next chapter might only be released on Monday evening.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
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