Chapter – 598 Troubled Kuroto

'Not before taking the position of Konoha's Hokage…?' Tsukihi's face under the Homusubi mask frowned.

Although these days she has mainly focused her attention on improving the Chimera Jutsu and tries not to distract herself from any other problem, this doesn't mean she is completely ignorant of Danzo's recent movements… after all, Naomi had made sure to deliver all the intelligence she finds to Tsukihi, so most of Danzo's actions are in Tsukihi's watch.

It's just that Tsukihi hasn't yet confirmed whether Danzo plans to use a Coup d'état in order to force himself to take the position of Konoha's Hokage, or whether he wants to use political means to initiate the populace's distrust in Sandaime Hokage and make Sarutobi Hiruzen resign from his position.

Judging from common sense, Danzo is unlikely to launch a Coup d'état against Sandaime Hokage because in that case, Sandaime has a clear-cut advantage against him. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime are present in the village, and Danzo's men won't be able to rival the high-end combat power of the two Sannin… Moreover, if Danzo uses force, other Shinobi Clans won't sit by on the sidelines, and most, if not all will choose to support Sandaime Hokage.

Therefore, the only means left that Danzo could use in his favour are political manoeuvring and gaining the support of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

After pondering a little over this, Homusubi warned Orochimaru, "I don't care what plans you and Danzo are making… but I want to let you know that Amatsukami has received a commission to save the Jinchuriki of Kyuubi and the heiress of the Hyuga Clan… and since they are both in your hands so their safety must be ensured… otherwise, Amatsukami will be left with no choice but to intervene and bring them back to Konoha… am I clear?"

To complete all the improvements in the Chimera Jutsu as soon as possible, Homusubi has maintained a cooperative relationship with Orochimaru and chose not to rescue Naruto and Hinata despite being aware of where they are… Of course, this is also to see if Naruto can really learn Senjutsu, but more of it is because Homusubi doesn't want to have a conflict with Orochimaru at this point in time. After all, conflict with him will affect the development of the Chimera Jutsu.

Naturally, this doesn't mean that she was willing to let Orochimaru do whatever he wants with the two of them, Hinata aside, the Jinchuriki of Kyuubi, Uzumaki Naruto is much more important, and his safety cannot be compromised at any cost.

Orochimaru said with a smile, "Don't worry… I don't find them interesting enough to do anything to them… in fact, they are now important chips that Danzo plans to use while seizing the position of Konoha's Hokage…"

'As I expected… Danzo really plans to enact a drama of rescuing Naruto and Hinata from Orochimaru's hands to curry the favour of the Hyuga Clan as well as other Shinobi Clans…' thought Homusubi upon understanding the context behind Orochimaru's words.

Reaching this conclusion, Homusubi no longer wasted any time while engaging in conversation, and after quickly finishing her part of today's work, she immediately left the laboratory.

After changing back into the main body, Kuroto made his way back towards the village while pondering over his next plan.

Obviously, as Homusubi worked with Danzo and Orochimaru, she didn't stop her other plans, so during this time she also made sure to continue to visit the Ancor Vantian several times in order to check up on Karin and Gaara's progress and also to check the status of the Fujin Clone.

Following the Blood Transfusion, Kuroto has confirmed several times and reached the conclusion that the Fujin Clone is currently stable and the disintegration of the cells has halted temporarily.

Although this is not a permanent solution, this is still quite satisfactory for the time being, and for this reason, Kuroto finalized that he will be using the Fujin Clone for the Wind Chakra Nature during the absorption ritual.

It's just that a problem has arisen because of this, the strength of the Fujin Clone is quite high when compared to the Tsukihi Clone (without the eternal Mangekyou Sharingan), and Suijin Clone, therefore, Kuroto needs to increase the strength of both these clones in order to reach a balanced state.

Of course, this is not an imminent problem for Kuroto, and he can continue to train the Suijin Clone and Tsukihi Clone in the future… what's imminent for Kuroto at this point in time is to start the planning for the next Clone since the development of Fujin Clone has also been completed.

No way, Akatsuki Organization is like a vicious dog chasing behind him to the point that Kuroto can't let down his guard for even a moment… Nagato's rapid increase in strength has posed too much pressure on Kuroto, and Kuroto has no idea when will Nagato make his move, so he has to do everything possible in order to speed up his project of Godhood.

To do so, naturally, the development of all the clones is very important… and since Kuroto already has three clones ready, the fourth clone has become the object of his attention.

Now the only Chakra Natures left for Kuroto to use are Earth Chakra Nature, Lightning Chakra Nature, and finally the Yang Chakra Nature.

Without a doubt, Yang Chakra Nature Clone is the most difficult because there are too many technical difficulties involved in it as such Kuroto thinks that Yang Clone should be created at last… So, the options left for him to choose are Earth Chakra Nature and the Lightning Chakra Nature.

Of these two Chakra Natures, Lightning Chakra Nature is the most unstable, so the difficulty of creating the Lightning Chakra clone is only second to the Yang Chakra Clone. Compared to Lightning Chakra Clone, creating Earth Chakra Nature Clone will be relatively easier. And using the principle of doing easy things first and difficult things later, the only option left for Kuroto to choose is the Clone of the Earth Chakra Nature.

"Earth Chakra Nature Clone it is…" muttered Kuroto in the decision.

Now that the Earth Chakra Nature Clone has been decided, the next issue is, "Whose Cells should I use to create the Earth Chakra Nature Clone?"

Based on Kuroto's knowledge, there are two Kekkei Genkai that he can choose from…

First is Lava Release, a Kekkei Genkai which is the result of the fusion of Earth Chakra and Fire Chakra Nature.

What's unique about Lava Release is that it is a Kekkei Genkai with several variants that vary with the users, and each user has their own unique method of using the Lava Release Kekkei Genkai.

Roshi, the current Jinchuriki of Yonbi uses molten rock in solid and liquid form, Terumi Mei, the current Anbu Commander of Kirigakure, uses acidic mud, Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of Sandaime Tsuchikage Onoki uses corrosive quicklime and Volcanic Ash, while Dodai, the attendant of the Yondaime Raikage uses Vulcanised Rubber form of Lava Release.

So, it is a very good Kekkei Genkai and Kuroto will have all these options in his hands if he chooses the Lava Release… Moreover, there are also quite a lot of users of Lava Release so obtaining the cells of the user of Lava Release wouldn't be that big of a deal either.

Obtaining Terumi Mei's cells would be easiest because she works under Yagura, and even Kurotsuchi's cells can be obtained with relative ease as she is just a child at this point, both of them have good potential as both of them became the Kage of their respective villages in the cannon, but even if that's the case, Kuroto is a little hesitant in using either of their cells the reason being that both of them are females.

Because both of them are females, so there is a good chance that the gender of the Earth Clone will also turn into a female which is not what Kuroto wants.

While Roshi is already an old man so his cells wouldn't have that vitality, and as for Dodai? His feats are not impressive enough, so he was rejected at first thought…

With all four options having one or the other problem, Kuroto is not sure which one of them should he use… and thought of the second Kekkei Genkai.

The second Kekkei Genkai that came to Kuroto's mind is the Explosion Release. Explosion Release is the result of the fusion of Earth Chakra Nature and Lightning Chakra Nature and it allows users to create explosions.

There are two users of Explosion Release that come to Kuroto's mind, Deidara and Gari and both of them have their unique method of using this Kekkei Genkai. Deidara uses Explosion Release through his art, while Gari releases explosions from his hands.

Both of them are good options and Kuroto can use either of their cells, without any worry of old age or gender alteration… but in regards to Explosion Release, Kuroto is not quite sure because mastering Kekkei Genkai is just a step in his plan for the Earth Nature Clone…

According to his plans for the Earth Nature Clone, Kuroto is aiming for Dust Release, so he is not certain if he should choose Explosion Release which has almost nothing to do with Dust Release.

Dust Release, the result of the fusion of Earth, Fire, and Wind Chakra Natures is the only known Kekkei Tota in the Shinobi World. It is a very powerful and dangerous ability as it is capable of disintegrating anything that comes in contact with it at a molecular level.

So, Dust Release is undoubtedly a very good option, and mastering this Kekkei Tota will make the strength of the Earth Chakra Nature Clone very high.

Now if mastering the Dust Release is the goal, naturally, Onoki's cells should be the first choice, and speaking from a certain perspective his cells are the best option, because without a doubt, at this point in time, the current Tsuchikage Onoki is the strongest representative of the Earth Chakra Nature… But using his cells has the very same problem as using Madara's or Roshi's cells, Onoki is quite old so his cells wouldn't have that vitality, as such Kuroto is a little hesitant in using Onoki's cells.

But Kuroto is not worried in this regard, because Dust Release is somewhat different in this regard and has its own advantage.

The thing about Dust Release is that both Nidaime Tsuchikage and Sandaime Tsuchikage mastered it, while neither Onoki's son Kitsuchi nor his granddaughter Kurotsuchi's has shown any signs of mastering Dust Release, which means Dust Release is a Kekkei Tota that can be learned and doesn't necessarily need to be inherited genetically…

So, there is a solid chance that Kuroto can learn Dust Release even if he chooses not to use Onoki's cells for creating the Earth Chakra Nature Clone.

One more thing that Kuroto thinks is very important to learn Dust Release is mastering Lava Release… Although he doesn't have any solid proof about this, he still thinks that mastery over Lava Release will make learning Dust Release relatively easy as Onoki can also use Lava Release…

'What to do…?' thought Kuroto with a troubled expression…

As he was thinking as to whose cells should he use for the Earth Chakra Nature Clone, suddenly he had an idea, and the bulb lit up, "Wait…! Why don't I try to do that?"

With that, Kuroto had a plan in mind, "Yes, that's it…! I know what to do!" and quickly made his way home.

…

Upon returning home, Kuroto quickly noticed an extra plant with several bamboo presents on the lawn that wasn't supposed to be there… and the strange thing is, this plant was outside the range of the perception barrier covering his house…

With a frowned expression, and his Byakugan activated, Kuroto looked at the plant and quickly realized that one of the bamboo grasses contained a piece of parchment inside it.

Curious, Kuroto took out that piece of parchment and took a look only to find that it was a map of the Land of Fire, and a particular position was marked red.

After remembering that position, Kuroto quickly destroyed the map and smiled slightly, 'Contact from Akatsuki, huh? It's only been a few days and Obito is already asking for information. It seems he is quite impatient…'

As for how this piece of parchment made its way inside that bamboo grass?

This isn't such a big mystery; it was naturally the work of White Zetsu or probably his Clones.

Since Kuroto is acting as Obito's spy, so he has also given the key of Konoha's perception barrier to Obito, as such, it wasn't surprising that Zetsu or his Clones were able to get through without alerting anyone.

The reason why Kuroto went as far as to give the key of the perception barrier to Obito is also quite simple… With Obito's strength, and he's mean, he can easily obtain this information after capturing any Anbu… doing so would be a piece of cake for him, so to make sure that Obito doesn't lay his hands on any Anbu Kuroto directly told this information to Obito.

Of course, this wasn't the only reason, telling this information to Obito had one more advantage, it made Obito think that he is in the dominant position as Kuroto has already betrayed Konoha, and Obito can always use this information to pressurize Kuroto.

Anyway, now that he has a location that he needs to go to, Kuroto quickly sneaked out of the Konoha Village and made his way towards a dense forest which is the location that was marked on the map.

After discovering that no one was present in the immediate vicinity and only a clone of White Zetsu was hidden several hundred meters away, Kuroto shook his head with a chuckle, then dropped the scroll on one of the trees and quickly left the forest.

A long time after Kuroto had disappeared, the clone of White Zetsu that was hidden far away made his way out of the ground, and after picking up the scroll he sank back into the ground.

At the same time, a similar scene happened a few miles away, where instead of Hyuga Kuroto, Uchiha Itachi––upon receiving the call came to deliver his findings.

Similar to Kuroto, Itachi too did not find anyone in the immediate vicinity, so all he did was drop the scroll that he brought with him and then quickly left the forest.

After Itachi disappeared, the scroll was then picked up by another clone of White Zetsu who also sank back into the ground.

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