CHAPTER 218

The list Uchiha Kai handed to Imai Kenta wasn't long—but its implications were staggering.

It detailed the supplies required for a series of human experiments and estimated numbers of test subjects involved. No names were recorded. Neither the experimenters nor the victims were identified. Even the notes were mechanically printed, devoid of handwriting or personal signatures.

It was unmistakably Orochimaru's work—precise, impersonal, and utterly discardable.

"He really did it..." Kai murmured, watching the smoldering remains of the underground lab. "He destroyed everything... as if it meant nothing."

Uchiha Kito, who had been following from a distance, twitched at the sight. "If it were me, I'd never erase a lab this cleanly."

But Orochimaru had done just that—decisive and clinical. And in truth, he had every reason to be. The experiments he was conducting... they crossed every ethical line.

If the details of these experiments surfaced—especially their ties to the legacy of the First Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi's regime could face collapse.

Kai sighed. It was nearly a failure.

'There's no way we can ask the Yamanaka clan to probe my memories... Not unless we want everything exposed. And Minato… he'd never approve of what I'm doing. Our cooperation has to stay in the shadows.'

"Whatever," Kai muttered. "Let's just watch how Orochimaru moves. This operation was only ever meant to be a catalyst—a foreshadowing of bigger things."

He stepped out of the forest, catching the chakra signatures of Uchiha Fugaku and several others nearby. He paid them little mind at first.

"And Kenta Imai..." Kai thought, "Let's see if he'll finally acknowledge who he really is. Senju clan blood…"

To Kai, the Senju were almost mythical. He had never met anyone bearing the Senju name—not even Lady Tsunade. Their social difference was too great. In fact, the entire clan had faded from public view, due either to war, politics, or quiet eradication.

"But that guy…" Kai narrowed his eyes, thinking of Kenta. "He doesn't resemble Senju Hashirama at all. If anything, he's more like Tobirama—cold, precise, dangerous."

While Imai Kenta possessed massive chakra reserves and sharp taijutsu, it was his speed and tactical mind that unsettled Kai. If he ever learned the Flying Thunder God Technique…

Kai shivered at the thought.

Before long, he reached Fugaku.

"How did it go?" the Uchiha patriarch asked. "I sensed a powerful chakra earlier. Did you confront Orochimaru?"

"No," Kai replied flatly. "Kenta fought him. Orochimaru was as ruthless as ever. I found evidence... but he destroyed the lab, tried to take me down with it."

Fugaku frowned. "He's cautious, I'll give him that."

He didn't ask whether Kai was injured. He trusted him—and suspected Kai hadn't even used his Mangekyō Sharingan in the fight.

And if Kai had used it? Orochimaru would likely be dead.

Fugaku didn't realize how slippery Orochimaru truly was.

"He's studying something connected to the First Hokage," Kai said, his tone dry.

Fugaku's Sharingan sharpened, and his face twisted—not with fear, but with grim anticipation.

"Hashirama Senju…" he muttered. "Then this is about Wood Release."

He wasn't wrong. From the perspective of Konoha's leadership, recreating Mokuton—the power that tamed the Tailed Beasts and built Konoha—was a priority. Bloodline or not, ethics be damned.

Kai scowled. "This kind of thing wouldn't happen without approval from the top."

Fugaku's expression darkened. "And they wonder why our clan doesn't trust them."

Kai remembered a passage from Kakashi Gaiden—where the Third Hokage showed Kakashi the research into Hashirama's cells. Sarutobi claimed he had shut it down, blaming Danzo for continuing it in secret.

What a convenient scapegoat.

"Would Danzo really exhume Hashirama's corpse without Hiruzen's knowledge?" Kai muttered.

To bloodline clans like the Uchiha, it was a clear violation of boundaries. Today it was Hashirama's remains. Tomorrow, who would they dissect? The Uchiha?

Fugaku's jaw clenched. "The Sharingan once stood equal to Mokuton. If they dare study us like that…"

He didn't finish. He didn't need to.

"Don't be so obvious," Kai warned. "The evidence is gone. Are you suggesting I let the Yamanaka comb through my mind for fragments? Shall we expose our alliance with the Fourth Hokage?"

Fugaku shook his head. "Of course not. That would jeopardize everything. And it would expose your Mangekyō."

"But Orochimaru doesn't know how cautious we have to be," Kai added, "so maybe… we can use this."

Kai and Fugaku exchanged a look. Neither had said it outright, but the idea was mutual:

Use Orochimaru. Let him take the fall. Push the Third Hokage's administration into a defensive position. Undermine their moral standing.

In the manga, Sarutobi had allowed Orochimaru to escape. He didn't act until it was politically convenient. Then he publicly condemned Orochimaru—just in time to preserve his own legacy.

The plan worked. After Minato's death, Sarutobi reestablished power, while quietly permitting Danzo to continue collecting bloodline kekkei genkai—eventually leading to the Uchiha Massacre.

By the time Orochimaru returned to attack the Chūnin Exams, no clan came to Hiruzen's aid. They had long since lost faith.

"This matter needs to be leveraged carefully," Kai said. "We should inform the Fourth Hokage soon. He'll be more interested in this than anyone."

Fugaku nodded. "And within the clan... reforms are slowly taking root. Your restructuring of the Military Police has opened new perspectives. More of our clan are interacting with outsiders. They're starting to understand how narrow we'd become."

"Good. The Third Hokage's era was built on identity politics," Kai said. "He isolated everyone—except himself and his loyalists."

Fugaku chuckled. "That's why he became Hokage… and I remained just a clan head."

There was no resentment in his voice. Only realism.

But he did wonder—who was Kai, really?

A boy this young, with insight like this… it was unnatural.

Was he being influenced by some forbidden technique? Or was he simply born with an uncommon clarity?

Fugaku dismissed the suspicion. Kai had grown up in the clan like any other. And despite everything, he still had humanity. Unlike true manipulators, he hadn't lost that.

And that, Fugaku thought, was Kai Uchiha's most dangerous—and precious—trait.