Chapter 29 : Projects

Obito returned to the Uzumaki residence in the Senju domain and greeted Hinata who was returning from Naruto's room which she went to see.

He entered the room where Naruto was still unconscious with Yuko, the other women of the clan but also Teuchi and Ayame who were taking care of him.

Obito stared at them without saying anything for a few seconds as his eyes became moist from emotion.

He thought of their painful childhood where no one was there for them and he was alone to take care of his brother and console him in the face of insults and beatings from others. 

He looked at his clone in the room and told him he was going to take over. The clone looked at Naruto calmly before getting up and leaving.

Where had he gone? Studying the clan's high-level Fuinjutsu and Juinjutsu techniques with the other 9 clones who were already doing it all the time.

 At no point since the beginning has Obito stopped training or learning. Right now, in Tobirama's small laboratory hidden in the waterfalls of the Valley of the End, another of his clones was studying edo tensei only.

Obito's clones were made one at a time, to have half of his massive chakra reserve (He has slightly more chakra than Sanbi at the moment) and an extremely long battery life. He then waited for his strength to return to 100% to create a second clone with half his total chakra and so on.

 Each of his clones had half his chakra, they had about the same amount of chakra as Matatabi the two-tailed beast.

This was the most effective and versatile way to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu for someone with a vast chakra reserve.

 He stood there next to his brother and started reading, another volume of the Nidaime's diaries and about an hour later while he was completely alone with Naruto, the door opened and to his surprise it was Tsunade who entered with Jiraiya.

 "I understand your surprise kid but before you say anything out of anger, I just want to remind you that she's the best medical ninja in the shinobi world. She can take care of Naruto..." Jiraiya said to Obito who coldly looked at Tsunade.

 "I don't care, I don't have time for this kind of thing. If she can do something then great…" he responded disinterestedly to Tsunade who examined Naruto closely for minutes.

To her surprise, physically Naruto was in exceptional shape but it was his mind that was elsewhere even if his body showed no trace of any after-effects of his injury.

According to her, they simply had to wait for him to wake up on his own and Jiraiya thanked her for that because Naruto was extremely important to him. She saw Obito in his corner reading the diary and came closer...

 Tsunade: Kid, thank you for everything...thank you for taking care of my clan's domain, I saw the incense and offerings for them. You showed much more consideration for them than-(interrupted)

 Obito: Don't play that with me, Tsunade Senju. I don't like you and you don't need the sympathy of a genius of such a young generation. We don't have to be close, I don't want that and neither of us needs that. Want to help ? Redeem yourself ? Make yourself useful, Itachi Uchiha suffers from a serious illness and Yakumo Kurama, a very powerful young Kunoichi suffers from a fairly weak constitution. The village is sorely lacking in high-level Kunoichi and this girl's potential is prodigious. Take care of their cases, prove your worth, treat but above all train people so that the village never depends on just one medical genius who can desert at any time.

 "You never disappoint me, kid. (looks at Tsunade) He's right, you need to think about training more people in the future, Shizune has been your disciple and she's doing wonders" Jiraiya said solemnly.

 "(sighs) That's right but it's not an easy art, medical Jutsus require great mastery of chakra. I can train future doctors but not just anyone, if you have any suggestions…" Tsunade responded calmly while waiting.

 "Hinata Hyûga is the one with the greatest potential in the medical field, her Byakugan is an incredible asset for observing through matter and chakra, her surgical potential is frightening and she has excellent ability to manipulate her chakra" Obito proposed calmly.

 "A Hyûga ! Now that you mention it, their eyes really have excellent potential in medicine. She's the girl who helped me take care of and bring the others back, she seems shy but also talented indeed." Tsunade said appreciatively.

 Jiraiya: Do you have any other of your comrades in mind ?

 "Karin Uzumaki, my comrade and member of my clan. We have been training our chakra manipulation every day for years and her level would shock you, she works hard and learns quickly. If you have other techniques to learn besides medicine then she will surprise you with her thirst for knowledge.

Finally, there is Sakura Haruno the Kunoichi member of team 7 where my brother and Sasuke were. According to Kakashi, she has great ease in manipulating her chakra, he suspects her of suffering from a feeling of inferiority because of the level of her teammates so if a Ninja of your level gives her a chance then even I am convinced that she will give everything she has to learn and progress."

 Tsunade: That will help me, thank you very much.

 "These are just a few individuals with high potential, but they're far from the most important. The overall level of the village's medical staff should increase, the medical ninjas shouldn't settle for a level to stagnate like this.

Take advantage of each of your interventions to teach them even more, but above all, you must attract their interest in pursuing research and new skills." Obito said with his arms crossed.

 Tsunade:…

 "Do you have any idea on a method for this?" Jiraiya asked with a mixture of confidence and mischief. He knew the child was horribly intelligent and would take advantage of his ideas for the good of the village.

 "The solution is simple, they need higher ranks like other shinobis. The existence of ranks naturally attracts the interest of those who want to reach new social heights in their community, they'll thirst for new skills to evolve." Obito said as Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at him in silence.

 Tsunade: I know I already told you kid but...I really feel like I'm dealing with my great-uncle the Nidaime. You really are a lot like him in your manners and your ingenuity.

 "Just do what you have to do, I'm not interested in your compliments..." He said coldly to Tsunade whose forehead was decorated with a vein, she prepared to leave with Jiraiya but Obito held the hokage back to speak to him privately.

He spoke about the future of the root and asked Jiraiya not to dissolve it but to transform the Root.

 "According to Kakashi-san, the masked guy will start moving in exactly 8 years and Konoha will be in his sights. The root is needed by the village but not as a cult cell under the authority of a devious man like Danzo. All Anbu must be the root of Konoha and under the command of a man whose loyalty to Konoha surpasses common sense itself..." Obito said.

 Jiraiya: Itachi...

 "Exactly but that's not all, he'll be completely under your authority like the rest of the Anbu unlike what happened between Sandaime and Danzo. Itachi will be your shadow, a sort of shadow hokage who'll take care of certain tasks and you of others even if he will always have to answer to you."

 Jiraiya: What you're proposing isn't simple, kid.

 "It is, it's just people making things complicated for themselves. Godaime, no one can bear responsibility for a village and everything that goes with it. I spent enough time with the Sandaime to see just how much of a burden the task was taking on him, and it's a mistake that should've been corrected from the start.

The hokage should have loyal and powerful ninjas to assist him. Where you will be the trunk of the tree that is the village, these shinobis in the shadows will be the roots under your command and Itachi."

 Jiraiya: If I understand correctly, Itachi will lead a group of formidable elite Jonin-level shinobi who themselves will lead the Anbu. Each of them will represent a root of Konoha and including Itachi, will all of them be loyal to me? Do you think this is possible? Finding strong Jonins in the village won't be too difficult to form the roots but the loyalty factor is not a guarantee.

 "It's not difficult, you just have to select ninjas who will grow up under your reign as hokage and who will work with you regularly. Taking veterans from the anbu or ancient root may be risky, but ninjas in full training offer a greater chance of loyalty. Also, I never said they would have a Jonin level. When I said they should be powerful, I meant kage level, no less. "

 Jiraiya: What is this madness...? Several Kage-rank ninjas ?

 "It's achievable, we have eight years to carry out this project which will monstrously multiply the overall power of the village and will facilitate the management of the various threats that will arrive with Sasuke and our masked friend. Give me a full year of observation, a year to observe the most talented shinobi of my generation and their abilities to draw up a training plan. You'll judge the possibility of this project when I show you the plans and if you judge that it is unfeasible then I will give it up." Obito said with a look filled with confidence that gave Jiraiya himself chills.

 "Obito, why so much determination for the village ?" Jiraiya asked Obito who looked at the unconscious Naruto.

 "Some bastard put my brother in this state so I'm pissed and determined to make them pay for it. Furthermore, an enemy confident enough to face the entire ninja world has declared war on us in eight years and that's something I take very seriously, a war needs preparations." Obito said looking into his eyes.

 "I'm going to take the time to think about your plans. For now, you should rest. Good night, kid..." Jiraiya said and as he left, Obito held him again.

 "Godaime, I advise you to become stronger. I know you are a legendary Ninja but I leave you to wonder how powerful you are compared to your predecessors. If our project works and in 6, 7 or 8 years we have several Kage rank ninjas under your command then imagine what level you must reach in relation to them. We're never too old or strong enough to learn again or push our skills to new levels." Obito told him and Jiraiya admitted to himself that he was right, he would have to become much stronger to effectively defend this village. He thanked him before leaving as Obito moved closer to his brother.

 "I'll do what is necessary so that we are ready to annihilate those who put you in this state, brother. What happened is totally my fault, I should have been there to protect you...it's my fault...my fault..." Obito said sadly as he sat down next to his brother and his eyes must have been watering because of his guilt.

Of course, he wasn't responsible for what happened, but for Obito he was. Naruto is the dearest being to him, his twin brother and he was always there to protect him until he lost an eye and unbeknownst to him, he had an overprotective syndrome for his brother since childhood because of all this abuse.

 (Right now)

 Naruto found himself in a strange place, strange but not unfamiliar because it was Teuchi's new restaurant where he was eating with his brother.

However , the place seemed brighter and while he was wondering what was going on, he heard laughter in front of him.

Knowing with relief that he was no longer alone, Naruto walked towards the noises to see two men from behind who seemed to be eating while chatting in a good mood and there, shock took hold of him when he recognized the one of the two men and it was Hashirama Senju, the first hokage.

 "Ah, you're finally here ! Come, sit with us Naruto..." Hashirama said turning to look at him smiling just like the other man dressed in white.

 "It's good to finally meet you Naruto, we have a lot to talk about..." the other man who was actually Asura said smiling and Naruto for some reason didn't feel like he was deal with strangers, he felt like he had known them as long as he had known his twin brother .

 They made a seat for him and he sat down between them where a large bowl of ramen awaited him, a silly smile appeared on Naruto's face upon seeing this...

 "This bowl is gigantic !! Miso Chashu with pork, my favorite dish…" he said happily.

 Hashirama: It's also my favorite dish, we have a lot in common.

 They started eating with him and introduced themselves to him to start talking with him at length.

Sasuke for his part, after losing consciousness upon awakening his mangekyo, found himself in an area of ​​his consciousness where he met Madara but also Indra.