Months passed and while Shiki perfected his plan to rob the Hyuga clan, the Hokage faction began pushing for a new JInchuuriki to be brought to Konoha.
In a tactful, politically correct way of course.
Directly saying they wanted to get rid of the aging Mito and replace her with a young, pliable substitute would definitely not go over well with anyone.
But that was not all.
An initiative spearheaded by good ole Danzo, the Darkness of Shinobi, was being used to seduce members of the Senju into rather grim fates.
More specifically, in light of the coming war, experiments to reproduce the First Hokage's legendary Wood Release were being proposed.
And while Hashirama's direct family in Mito and Tsunade were against it, especially since it would necessitate the desecration of the man's body, there were plenty of Senju, including strong active Jonin that supported the idea.
After all, in the eyes of the old timers, it was a chance for the declining Senju clan to reclaim their past glory and, in the eyes of the current young and strong Jonin of the clan, it was an opportunity to acquire legendary power that would propel them straight to the top.
Meanwhile, despite spending a lot of time investigating the hyuga clan and planning his infiltration in great detail, Shiki did not neglect his task of looking into the Hokage Faction's dirty laundry.
Honestly, with his particular set of skill, both in sensory and stealth, the boy's efforts were predictably very successful.
Though what he found was not pleasing enough in some ways despite being a total jackpot in others.
*
Now, in the safety of the Uzumaki mansion, Shiki and Mito discussed the evolving situation.
"The next Jinchuuriki for the Nine Tails is on her way to Konoha, she's about your age and thorough my clone has been preparing her in Uzushio and I will continue to teach her here for a time, I want you to look out for her." The redhead spoke.
"Of course, Mito-sama." Shiki accepted the directive with pleasure.
'This should still be Kushina right?' He thought to himself.
At the end of the day however, it did not really matter.
"How are things in the Senju after the Wood Release Experiment Proposal?" The boy inquired.
Mito scoffed with clear disdain.
"It's looking like the Senju are about to go through a round of culling before the war even starts. And it is all being done in such an above board manner that the Hokage Faction is beyond reproach." The Uzumaki matriarch explained.
"Are they really that stupid? It's obvious that the current Senju clan lacks the numbers for this kind of risk taking." Shiki commented.
"There are always idiots believing they are the chosen ones. Toka is doing a good enough job getting most of the clan to see reason, but there will likely still be a significant number of volunteers." Mito responded.
"And the Uchiha?" The boy further inquired.
"Their relationship with the Hokage Faction is strained, even antagonistic, messing with them ahead of the war is actually harder so everything is going well enough." The redhead replied.
"Naori has started to make her move and basically took over the clan's Neutral Faction and is already winning over the Doves as well since many idolize for her past achievements in protecting the peace and stability of the Uchiha." She added.
"How are things on your end?" Mito then asked.
"Excellent in some ways but they could be better in others." Shiki responded.
The Uzumaki matriarch merely looked at him in curiosity, her silence bidding the boy to continue.
"I found plenty of stuff but there is a problem." He said.
"Other than Danzo, it'll be nearly impossible to pin truly heinous crimes on the Hokage and his advisors." Shiki revealed.
"Elaborate." Mito requested.
The boy nodded.
"The Hokage along with Utahane Koharu and Mitokado Homura only played the role of facilitators for the big stuff, this made covering their tracks much easier. The only thing I can actually tie to them is embezzlement." He explained.
"While there is certainly more dirty business it is not so much criminal as it is underhanded. The blowback to the Hokage would still be somewhat significant however since it all happened on his watch." Shiki concluded.
"This however, is not enough to shake his current prestige in the village." Mito interjected and the boy agreed with her assessment.
"You found enough to bury the brat Danzo though, right?" The Uzumaki matriarch inquired.
Shiki smiled.
"Several times over." He claimed.
*
Days had passed since Mito's discussion with Shiki and she still found it hard to believe how much dirt the boy had managed to get on Danzo.
True to his title as the Darkness of Shinobi, the man got saddled with pretty much all of the darkest, dirtiest secrets of Konoha and the Hokage faction.
That was also the purpose Hiruzen had for him.
Even now, Shiki still found new interesting things everyday, pulling his attention away from his plans regarding the Hyuga clan.
Namely, there were three particular matters that caught the boy's attention:
The status of a certain someone's corpse, currently very well preserved in a Root base;
Unsanctioned experiments with the ubiquitous Harshirama Cells, long before the current official proposal was even made;
And finally, an individual "recruited" young by the Root from the ranks of one of Konoha's smaller clans, an individual kept under heavy seals in a secure facility owing to their rather frightening and uncontrollable power.
Besides this however, there was an additional smaller matter.
Danzo had dealings with a fellow by the name of Amagiri Gensui, a rather important fellow in the current hierarchy of Yumegakure, the resting place of the sealed monster known as the Three Heads.
Shiki was immensely interested in the creature but also in some of Yumegakure's Hidden Jutsu.
Their only appearance in the original series as far as the boy was aware of, was in a game and, speaking of game sourced individuals, Shiki was able to discover the precise location of the sealed Uchiha Hikari or Uchiha Nanashi as she was better known.
The last two matters however, were things he planned on taking care of after the coming Second Great War.
Still, with the Hokage faction targeting Mito with a hastened selection of the next Jinchuuriki, perhaps some retaliation was in order.
Namely, taking out Danzo and dismantling his Root ahead of the war was a possibility worthy of some consideration and Shiki decided to inform his mistress as such.
*
"Hmm . . ." The Uzumaki matriarch was deep in thought.
There were both pros and cons to going after Danzo now and she was having a hard time deciding which side outweighed the other.
"On one hand, we might be able to force the Monkey to start doing his own dirty work for a change, providing a chance to target him while eliminating one of his major supporters." Mito started.
"On the other hand, we can be sure Danzo would neatly hang himself along with his fellows if we just give him enough rope so keeping him around to trip up his allies might be more beneficial." She suggested.
But listening to the Uzumaki matriarch gave Shiki a new idea of his own.
"There might be a third option though it largely depends on how far the Third Hokage is willing to protect Shimura Danzo."
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
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