Chapter 140: Plans to Create a Third Clone (A bit late today due to some matters)
"Lord Jiraiya, don't you think all of this is going too smoothly..."
Asuma Sarutobi followed behind Jiraiya, deeply suspicious of their unimpeded progress. Knowing Danzo Shimura's character, he felt a chill down his spine, faintly sensing it was a trap.
"The situation in Root is indeed unexpected, but since we've come this far, even if it's a mountain of blades or a sea of fire ahead, we must push through!"
Jiraiya was the type of person who was meticulous despite his rough exterior; his command abilities were excellent, and his judgment of situations was unique. He had long noticed the strangeness in this.
But as Jiraiya and the others ventured deeper, the oddity within Root became increasingly apparent. Aside from the Root Ninjas who had secretly defected, the rest seemed to have vanished into thin air, failing to appear and stop them.
Even when there were some, it was only a few stragglers, and most of their attacks were directed at the defected Root Ninjas, as if they didn't even care about Jiraiya's group.
However, once Jiraiya ran into Danzo Shimura, who was accompanied by four or five Root Ninjas, all the strange circumstances no longer mattered.
"Danzo! Where have you hidden Naruto!"
Jiraiya let out a great roar and took several lunging steps, intending to rush forward and demand Naruto's whereabouts from Danzo Shimura, but he was blocked by Aburame Torune stepping in front of Danzo.
"A Ninja from the Aburame clan?"
Jiraiya was somewhat surprised. Looking at Aburame Torune's exposed purple palm, he sensed an inexplicable feeling of danger, as if those hands were a beast waiting to devour its prey.
"Lord Jiraiya, I deeply admire everything you have done for Konoha, but if you wish to harm Lord Danzo, you will have to step over my corpse!"
With that, a swarm of nano-sized insects crawled out from Aburame Torune's clothes in droves. The sky-blotting shadow they formed consisted of at least a hundred million insects.
Furthermore, these insects carried a lethal poison for which there was essentially no antidote; if one's body made even the slightest contact, they would die from the poison within moments.
"Leave him to me! You all go stop Danzo Shimurafrom escaping!"
Jiraiya was decisive. He planned to personally deal with the exceptionally troublesome Aburame Torune. As for Danzo Shimura's group, while it would be difficult for Asuma Sarutobi and the others to kill them, stalling for time would be no problem at all.
Danzo Shimura was also suffering in silence; he could only leave Aburame Torune behind and flee with his few remaining loyal subordinates. Aburame Torune's partner, Fu Yamanaka, had long since died.
Fu Yamanaka's death was unexpected yet foreseeable for Danzo Shimura. He understood this was part of Naruto's plan—not only to make Danzoexperience the pain of betrayal but also to make him pay for his own paranoia.
Clearly, Naruto's plan was being executed perfectly. Danzo Shimura was now filled with regret; if only...
But there are no 'ifs' in this world. Having lost one of his trusted generals, Danzo Shimura could only take his remaining strength and flee dejectedly.
...
"The feeling of death is really unpleasant. Don't give me this kind of mission next time!"
Naruto's other Clone, Uzumaki Tsunetachi, was recreated by Naruto. As soon as he appeared, he expressed dissatisfaction with the task Naruto had assigned him.
"Since you possess most of my abilities, isn't it only right for you to do the more dangerous missions?" Naruto chuckled. "Besides, Uzumaki Kenshin can't handle things like tampering with someone's brain."
"That guy Kenshin inherited the main body's Taijutsu and Kenjutsu; of course he can't do this." Uzumaki Tsunetachi said with some pride. "If it weren't for me, Danzo wouldn't have actually grown suspicious of Fu Yamanaka and Aburame Torune."
"Hmph! That was thanks to the main body's Mangekyo Sharingan. You're talking as if it were your own ability!" Uzumaki Kenshin said with some dissatisfaction. "After those two were imprisoned by Danzo Shimura, I was the one who dealt with those thick-headed Root Ninjas one by one!"
"Enough!" Naruto had a bit of a headache from his two Clones' bickering. "I know you have some opinions about the imbalance of your respective abilities, but this was allocated long ago, and you should both know the reasons."
Naruto naturally had his considerations for setting the Clones' strengths differently. He intended for the Clone Uzumaki Kenshin to take over Root; if his abilities were too prominent, it would easily arouse the Fifth Hokage's suspicion.
As for Uzumaki Tsunetachi, he was to replace Naruto's original identity to confuse others in Konoha, providing cover for the Naruto main body's secret actions.
However, Naruto already planned to activate a third Clone after the Danzo Shimura matter was settled. This involved removing the Mangekyo Sharingan ability from Uzumaki Tsunetachi; otherwise, it would be easy to reveal a weakness in public.
As for the abilities of the third Clone, Naruto had already decided. Besides granting it the Mangekyo Sharingan, he would also bestow upon it all the techniques he had learned from the Uchiha Clan.
In this way, to outsiders, Naruto's third Clonewould appear to be a complete Uchiha, which would make it easier for Naruto to approach Uchiha Sasuke.
"main body, is your third Clone already in preparation?" Uzumaki Tsunetachi rubbed his eye sockets after finishing his spat with Uzumaki Kenshin. "It's really a bit hard to adjust without the Mangekyo Sharingan's power."
"Don't you still have the Flying Thunder God?!" Uzumaki Kenshin just couldn't get along with Uzumaki Tsunetachi. "What more could you want? Why don't you just become the main bodyinstead!"
"You two... I feel like creating you was a mistake!" Naruto's head throbbed. "You didn't inherit a single bit of my personality, but you've certainly learned the art of being sharp-tongued!"
It was unclear whether there was an issue with the Clone technique Naruto created by combining the Little Nine-Tails' Secret Technique and the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, or if Yin-Yang Release Chakra itself possessed the power to turn the mundane into the miraculous. In short, although Naruto's two Clones shared consciousness with the main body, their personalities were vastly different.
"I'm giving you each a mission now." Naruto felt it was better to send the two of them out on tasks. "Kenshin, go assist Jiraiya in pursuing Danzo. Tsunetachi, go place the collected evidence. You can handle the rest yourselves."
In any case, the consciousness of these two Clones was connected to Naruto's main body; Naruto was clearly aware of their thoughts, feelings, sights, and sounds. As long as the main body's primary consciousness was not harmed or rendered dormant, Naruto wasn't worried at all about the two Clones usurping him.
After all, with the case of the Nine-Tails' primary consciousness and the Little Nine-Tails as a precedent, Naruto would absolutely not let himself repeat the same mistake.
"Jiraiya needs to move a bit faster; I still have to go back and keep an eye on things at Orochimaru's place!" Naruto was somewhat anxious. After all, there was neither a Clone nor the main bodypresent at Orochimaru's. If Orochimaru did something behind his back, it would be bad.
However, Naruto was overthinking it. Orochimaru's mind was currently entirely focused on the defected Uchiha Sasuke. Even if he wanted to make a move, it would only be after he had completely taken over Uchiha Sasuke's body.
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