Chapter 120: The Various Faces of Konoha

Apart from Danzo, several other ninjas in the crowd had their eyes on Byakuya.

After observing for a while, the Uchiha guards who were maintaining order recognized Byakuya's figure and couldn't help but grit their teeth.

They remembered the humiliation they had endured a few months ago.

The young man before them had captured all of them alive in just a few rounds and then had brutally humiliated the Uchiha clan by demanding a ransom.

Since returning to their clan, they had been eager to exact revenge and erase that shame.

However, it seemed that their chance for revenge was slim now, as Byakuya appeared as a member of Amegakure exchange team, and Hokage would not allow them to make trouble proactively.

With the strength of the younger generation of the Uchiha clan, sending more people would only lead to more humiliation.

Shisui also recognized Byakuya and noticed the dissatisfaction of the clan members towards Byakuya. Unlike his clansmen, Shisui did not feel any anger over being captured by Byakuya. It is because he simply considered it a matter of lacking strength.

His clansmen were too narrow-minded, always focusing on individual grievances rather than the welfare of the clan.

Moreover, the exchange team came with the intention of peace, and he could not disrupt that.

Byakuya's visit to the village was worth pondering. He had directly expressed his desire for Shisui and the Uchiha clan to join Amegakure, which indicated that this visit was not merely about cooperation.

Since the Fourth Hokage came into power, the relationship between the clan and the village had improved considerably.

If this state of affairs continued, the Uchiha might soon integrate into the village, and there was even a possibility of becoming Hokage in the future. Although Byakuya's experience and strength were superior to his, he was still no match for the Fourth Hokage.

With that thought, Shisui looked at the Fourth Hokage and Yahiko in the group before finally focusing on Itachi beside him.

After months of interaction, Shisui confirmed that Itachi shared his views and was a like-minded clansman. Despite his young age, he could think from the village's perspective, though he was not very adept at expressing his inner feelings, often keeping things to himself.

If Itachi could become a bit more optimistic, he would surely become the first Uchiha Hokage in the future.

Itachi looked at Shisui with some confusion, following his gaze to Amegakure exchange team. He didn't know the specific identities of these individuals but could tell that the village was treating this exchange with great importance.

He began to consider how he would handle the Rain ninjas if he were Hokage.

In contrast to Shisui's confident outlook for the future, Kakashi's feelings were more complex. He recognized Byakuya and Konan and knew in advance that they had become high-ranking members of Amegakure.

While their identities were similar the last time they met, there had been significant changes since then.

What troubled Kakashi the most was that all of Byakuya's companions were still alive, while Rin and Obito had sacrificed their lives, leaving him unable to protect his comrades—a burden he could never reconcile.

At this moment, Asuma Sarutobi, noticing Kakashi's expression, asked with curiosity, "Kakashi, do you know the people from the Amegakure exchange team?"

Kakashi nodded lightly, "I was saved by them during a mission in the Land of Grass. Some of them are also students of Jiraiya-sama."

"Ah, so they're Jiraiya-sama's disciples. No wonder Amegakure was the first to come. I suspected that things weren't that simple as there must have been some private agreements made. That old man…"

Asuma grumbled, his tone filled with dissatisfaction towards the higher-ups.

Kakashi didn't respond to Asuma's grumbling. Despite Asuma being the son of the Third Hokage with commendable character and strength, he always seemed to harbor a strange animosity towards the higher-ups, viewing them as duplicitous.

Yet, the highest leader Konoha ever had was Asuma's own father, the Third Hokage.

Might Guy, however, didn't engage in such indirect discussions. He asked straightforwardly, "Kakashi, you've been watching that black-haired ninja closely. How strong is he?"

After some thought, Kakashi replied, "His strength is exceptional. Although I haven't seen him go all out yet, he's definitely an elite among jōnin."

Guy's interest was piqued by Kakashi's words. Filled with excitement, he looked at Byakuya in the distance and said, "A ninja recognized by even Kakashi, I really want to fight him."

"You should focus on becoming a jōnin first…" Kakashi didn't think Guy stood a chance against Byakuya.

Even though Guy's father had displayed strength comparable to a Hokage on the battlefield, time was needed for growth, and Byakuya was already far ahead.

---

After the welcoming ceremony, the exchange team was settled into a residence.

This residence, nestled by the mountains and water, would serve as Amegakure exchange team's base for the next half month.

New to Konoha, Byakuya stayed diligently within the residence and did not venture out. Well, Konoha was not like Amegakure.

Here, experts were numerous, and powerful shinobi were commonplace. If Konoha decided to take action against the Amegakure exchange team, Byakuya could only attempt to escape with Konan, as his ability to handle opponents of similar strength was limited against multiple enemies.

However, apart from life-threatening situations, it was unlikely that Konoha's major factions would unite against the Amegakure team.

Otherwise, the ninja world would still be under the rule of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and the four great ninja villages wouldn't have been able to stir up any trouble.

Yahiko and Konan were somewhat surprised by Byakuya's behavior.

In the past, Byakuya would have sneaked out to scout, but this time he stayed put in the residence, not even discussing the situation with them.

However, it was understandable. Byakuya's main body was still in the village, and a shadow clone's endurance was limited. It was more practical to be concerned about whether Byakuya might take action against other villages while they were absent.

They recalled Byakuya's previous desire to attack the Land of Grass to expand the Akatsuki's influence.

Byakuya might be preparing to take action against Amegakure now, and they hoped that by the time they returned, everything would still be manageable.

Byakuya seemed to guess Yahiko and Konan's thoughts and rolled his eyes with a look of disdain.

Byakuya was the kind of person who would act decisively even against small countries. His shadow clone was currently busy working with Nagato to create the Six Paths of Pain. Besides, with the ninja villages era upon them, no one really played the game of territorial expansion anymore.

The real plan was to industrialize Land of Rain and treat the Land of Grass as a market for dumping goods.

The collaboration and exchange with Konoha were precisely for this purpose—making money and significantly expanding Amegakure's influence. That was more than enough.

If Amegakure were to truly annex the Land of Grass, it would only serve to shift the internal conflicts of other ninja villages, which would be a rather noble act in itself.

Byakuya's future plans involved quietly developing, igniting internal conflicts within the five great ninja villages, and then causing division among them to bring them into the Akatsuki.

To achieve these goals, he had no qualms about being a behind-the-scenes manipulator or even becoming the dark force akin to Black Zetsu.