Uchiha Madara died very peacefully. No one in this world, except Obito, knew that Uchiha Madara had passed away.
Uchiha En only speculated that Uchiha Madara might have died at this point, but he didn't rashly try to confirm it.
Unknowingly, a month passed. During this time, the dove faction saw the initial success of the Third Squad's reforms and was interested in emulating them.
However, the dove faction's First Squad was entirely composed of Uchiha Clan members and could not recruit outsiders. The only thing they could emulate was some of the Third Squad's enforcement methods.
The hawk faction's Second Squad, on the other hand, was disdainful of the First and Third Squads' approaches, continuing to act as they pleased.
However, the Fourth Squad, directly controlled by Uchiha Fugaku's trusted aides, fully imitated the Third Squad.
After this series of operations, the villagers' dissatisfaction with the Uchiha Clan gradually decreased.
Some minor families, coveting the power of the Police Force, even began to actively approach the Uchiha Clan.
Uchiha Fugaku naturally accepted the overtures from these families. He arranged for all members of these minor families to join the Fourth Squad, which quickly surpassed Uchiha En's Third Squad in numbers.
Uchiha En didn't mind this, after all, he was the Clan Head!
Moreover, Uchiha En didn't want those minor families who came to fawn at this time. These guys were just coveting the power of the Police Force, and might even backstab the Uchiha Clan at critical moments.
While the Uchiha Clan's Police Force reforms were in full swing, Minato Namikaze received news that in recent days, Danzo's Root Ninja had frequently opened the Konoha outer Barrier, secretly entering and exiting Konoha multiple times.
Minato Namikaze still harbored some vigilance towards Danzo.
After weakening the power of the two Advisors and Danzo, Minato Namikaze still arranged for Anbu Ninja skilled in stealth to constantly monitor Danzo's actions, which led to this intelligence.
Minato Namikaze pondered for a moment, then said to his guard, Shiranui Genma, "Genma, go to the Police Force and find Uchiha En, ask him to come here."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
A few minutes later, Uchiha En arrived at the Hokage Office, and Minato Namikaze directly handed the intelligence to Uchiha En.
Uchiha En took the intelligence, quickly scanned it, and then asked, "Hokage-sama, is this all? What about the specific whereabouts of the Root Ninja? Are there any clues?"
"No, this is all for now. The Root Ninja are Elite Jonin; my people dare not get too close, so I'd like to ask you, En, to investigate Danzo's recent movements."
Uchiha En thought for a moment and then nodded, agreeing to Minato Namikaze's request.
That night, Uchiha En replaced the Anbu Ninja and arrived at the outskirts of the Root, waiting for the Root Ninja to appear.
A few hours later, Root Ninja appeared. Just as Uchiha En was about to follow them, Danzo and five other Root Ninja, whose strength was estimated to be Jonin, with one even being an Elite Jonin, walked out of the Root together.
Seeing this, Uchiha En realized he might have caught a big fish. He immediately distanced himself from Danzo and his group, activating his Minds Eye to follow them from afar.
After confirming that no one was following them, Danzo led the Root Ninja to open the Konoha outer Barrier and quietly left Konoha.
Uchiha En followed, instantly teleporting through the Konoha Barrier, closely trailing behind Danzo.
Danzo and his group moved quickly, as if they had an urgent matter.
As they walked, Uchiha En discovered that they were heading towards the Land of Rain.
Combining this with the current time, Uchiha En roughly guessed the purpose of Danzo and his group.
Danzo's trip was most likely to unite with Hanzou and ambush the Akatsuki Organization together.
It was this ambush that led to Yahiko's death, Nagato's descent into darkness, the birth of the six paths of pain, and the Akatsuki Organization becoming the largest mercenary organization in the Ninja World as depicted in the original work.
Previously, Uchiha En had asked White Zetsu to inform him if Danzo might make a move against Nagato and to help him resolve this trouble.
This time, it was a lucky coincidence that he stumbled upon it.
Soon, Danzo and his group arrived at Amegakure. Hanzou was already waiting for Danzo at the border of Amegakure.
Uchiha En dared not get too close, so he didn't hear clearly what they were discussing.
After reaching some kind of agreement, Danzo and Hanzou left together. Uchiha En hesitated for a moment but still followed them.
Uchiha En felt that instead of searching for the Akatsuki Organization, it would be better to follow these two and act at the critical moment.
Meanwhile, in a deep mountain in the Land of Rain, the three of them, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, were sitting together, listening to Nagato recount the strange things he had encountered in recent days.
It turned out that recently, a black mass would often suddenly emerge from the ground and say some inexplicable things to Nagato.
Nagato didn't pay much attention at first, as this black mass had no offensive power, so Nagato didn't tell Yahiko and Konan about it.
Just yesterday, this black mass appeared again, but this time it told Nagato a piece of news: Hanzou would make a move against them, and he should be extra careful.
Before Nagato could ask, the black mass submerged back into the ground after speaking.
Hearing bad news about his comrades, Nagato couldn't sit still. He immediately called Yahiko and Konan and explained what had happened.
Yahiko listened, then laughed dismissively, saying, "Nagato, you're overthinking it. This is probably someone deliberately trying to disturb your mind. We're about to negotiate peace with Hanzou. He, like us, is wholeheartedly for the Land of Rain. He has no reason and would not make a move against us."
Konan also chimed in, "Yahiko is right, Nagato, don't overthink it."
Hearing his two companions say this, Nagato felt much relieved, but his intuition told him that this matter was not so simple.
After Nagato and Konan left, Yahiko's expression became serious. In fact, during this time, not only Nagato, but Yahiko had also met a strange masked man.
This man's words were very inflammatory, so Yahiko had not revealed his existence to Konan and Nagato.
He hadn't expected Nagato to encounter something similar, which made Yahiko feel even more uneasy.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain, Obito and Black Zetsu met.
"How are things progressing?" Obito asked first.
"Not very smoothly. This Yahiko is too much of an obstacle. Nagato listens to him implicitly, and my words have no effect at all," Black Zetsu replied.
"Aren't Danzo and Hanzou going to team up against the Akatsuki Organization? We can use this opportunity to get rid of Yahiko."
"What about those disobedient people in the Akatsuki Organization? They can also influence Nagato," Black Zetsu asked.
"Then just kill them all! We are enough to deal with these people! And we can pin the blame on Hanzou and Konoha," Obito answered without hesitation.
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