Chapter 287: Laughing or Not?

Chapter 287: Laughing or Not?

Pain maintained his usual stoic expression, asking in a matter-of-fact tone:

"Researching new weapons to target other nations?"

Orochimaru chuckled lightly and replied:

"Haneda isn't that boring. He himself is already a weapon capable of destroying a nation."

"What he asked me to research was high-yield crops for his first Five-Year Plan, and it has already achieved significant progress."

Pain was well aware of Haneda's first Five-Year Plan: eliminating hunger in the Land of Fire.

Far away in a hidden base, Nagato, who was controlling Pain, smiled faintly.

Haneda hadn't forgotten his promise of milk and bread.

This reminded Nagato of his childhood with Yahiko and Konan, stealing food to survive.

"If only someone had been there back then..."

Nagato shook his head. His true pain wasn't caused by hunger but by the despair of his closest friend Yahiko dying on his kunai.

Continuing to control the Deva Path Pain, Nagato didn't ask Orochimaru for details about his research. Instead, he issued an order:

"You can remain by Uchiha Haneda's side to gather intelligence on Konoha. As for Akatsuki's missions, Scorpion will handle them for now."

Scorpion's face lit up with relief. Working alongside Orochimaru always carried the risk of betrayal. Operating solo felt much safer.

It was clear the leader was considering his safety by separating him from Orochimaru.

However, the word "temporarily" hinted that the leader planned to assign him a new partner later.

Scorpion glanced at Orochimaru, who seemed deep in thought, and sought Pain's permission:

"I'll go carry out the mission now, Leader."

Deva Path Pain nodded slightly, and Orochimaru also bid farewell.

Pain's attitude solidified Orochimaru's suspicion that there was a special connection between Pain and Haneda.

Pain had intentionally handed him over to Haneda under the guise of gathering intelligence on Konoha.

Yet, the two maintained a notable distance from each other.

Orochimaru planned to periodically request time off from Haneda under the name of Akatsuki, allowing him to pursue other research interests.

Compared to the tedious task of cultivating high-yield crops, he much preferred exploring the mysteries of chakra and natural energy.

...

In Nagato's secret base, a swirling vortex appeared, and a man wearing a yellow tiger-striped mask emerged—Obito.

"What are you doing here?" Konan stepped forward, standing protectively in front of Nagato as she warily eyed Obito.

Obito barely glanced at her before shifting his focus to Nagato, who was linked to the Gedo Statue.

"Orochimaru has returned. Where has he been?"

"You should discipline your subordinates. They're too undisciplined, lacking any sense of order."

Obito's tone carried an air of reprimand, clearly expressing his dissatisfaction with Nagato, the public leader of Akatsuki.

"Long ago, Nagato had already questioned Orochimaru," Konan replied on Nagato's behalf.

"Oh? What did he say?"

Obito spread his hands mockingly, his gestures full of sarcasm.

"Gone for a whole month. According to the rules of the Hidden Villages, that's enough to be considered a traitor."

Nagato finally spoke: "I assigned him as a spy in Konoha to gather intelligence on the Nine-Tails."

"For now, he's directly under the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Haneda, working as one of his researchers and assisting him."

Obito adjusted his mask as a space-time vortex swirled open behind him.

"Next time, report this kind of thing to me. We're supposed to be on the same side."

"And remind Orochimaru to act respectfully. Uchiha Haneda isn't someone to be taken lightly."

With that, Obito disappeared.

Konan looked concerned. "Nagato, you never ordered Orochimaru to gather intelligence on the Nine-Tails."

Nagato responded calmly, "Gathering intelligence on Konoha naturally includes the Nine-Tails."

"Konan, how's the preparation of the 300 million explosive tags coming along?"

...

Meanwhile, in Konoha.

Haneda and Shikaku stood in the middle of a test field.

As seeds were evenly scattered across the field by the wind, Haneda clapped his hands, and the seeds instantly took root and sprouted.

Under the stimulation of Wood Release chakra, vast fields of golden rice appeared in the blink of an eye, swaying gently in the breeze.

Haneda then used Wind Release to condense air into blades, cutting the rice cleanly in large swathes.

The wind blades transformed into small tornadoes, gathering the harvested rice and depositing it neatly into nearby large bags.

Shikaku stood to the side, observing with a wide smile on his face:

"Well done, Hokage-sama! At this rate, within a week we'll have enough seeds to distribute across the entire nation!"

Shikaku, however, didn't forget to add some motivation:

"You've got to work hard, though. Come next spring, the entire country will be counting on you!"

"It's easy for you to say."

Haneda propped his chin on his hand, breathing heavily.

Ever since Orochimaru left, Shikaku had been pushing him to use Wood Release to produce enough seeds for the entire nation.

In the past, Haneda had always been the one pushing Shikaku to handle administrative tasks.

Now, the roles were reversed!

Seeing Haneda so exhausted yet still being pestered, Shikaku laughed quietly to himself.

"Evil by nature, that Nara Shikaku... One day, I'll make sure your son ends up stuck in an office too!" Haneda thought bitterly.

At that moment, Kakashi approached, holding popsicles.

Each popsicle had two sticks, red and blue, joined together.

Kakashi broke one in half and handed a portion to Haneda.

"Alright, take it easy for a bit. There's still time before next spring. No need to rush."

"Here."

Haneda accepted the popsicle, taking a bite. The cool sensation spread across his taste buds, soothing much of his fatigue.

The two sat in front of the test field, quietly eating their popsicles.

Shikaku glanced at Haneda, then at Kakashi, feeling like a third wheel...

"Ahem... Kakashi, where's mine? You didn't only bring one, did you?"

Kakashi glanced at Shikaku and replied nonchalantly:

"Oh, whoops. Forgot. I thought you'd be stuck in the office scribbling away."

"Didn't expect you to abandon your mountain of work just to check on the Hokage. Next time, maybe."

Not only did Shikaku get nothing, but he was also ridiculed by Kakashi.

The smile vanished from Shikaku's face as he began to miss Choza.

If Choza were here, he'd definitely bring snacks to share.

Seeing Shikaku no longer laughing, Haneda chuckled softly.

He delivered one final jab:

"Shikaku, in another week the seeds will be fully prepared."

"You'd better work hard. Come next spring, the entire country will be counting on you!"

Hearing the familiar words, Shikaku forced a bitter smile.

But the thought of Haneda having to endure another few days of this brought him unexpected satisfaction.

After all, only the inherently evil Hokage-sama could produce enough seeds for the nation!

For now, he had the privilege of supervising Haneda's hard work!

Suddenly, two figures appeared in a flash, arriving beside Haneda.

It was Itachi and Shisui, who had come to report before their break officially ended.

"Hokage-sama," they greeted respectfully.

Haneda glanced at Shikaku, who had started laughing again, and smiled.

"Itachi, Shisui, you've come at just the right time."

"See those seeds over there? And that field?"

"I'm giving you an important task: scatter the seeds, then use Wood Release to accelerate their growth."

"This is both a mission and training, a perfect way to improve your control over Wood Release."

Itachi and Shisui exchanged a glance, thinking how thoughtful Haneda-uncle (or Haneda-sama) was.

He knew they had only recently awakened Wood Release and weren't fully in control of it, so he had already prepared a training plan for them.

Shikaku gritted his teeth as he looked at Haneda.

Haneda had just promised to keep working for at least a week, but now, within a day, he'd outsourced the task?!

And when did Itachi and Shisui learn Wood Release? How come he knew nothing about it?

Having dumped the task on Itachi and Shisui, Haneda instantly relaxed.

Grabbing Kakashi by the hand, he whispered,

"Let's go, Kakashi. Let's check on Naruto and the others at the ninja academy."

"Mm."

Watching the two leave, Shikaku felt like the biggest fool of all.