Naruto: Climbing Ranks to Rule the Ninja World! - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Naraku’s Growing Momentum

As time went by, Shihouin Naraku’s influence in Anbu expanded rapidly. He personally asked Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen for funds to improve the treatment of Anbu members. With the addition of upgrades and maintenance of various equipment, it can be said that Anbu has been completely transformed.

As a result, Shihouin Naraku was able to gain a foothold in Anbu in a very short period of time and developed his own power.

As the deputy captain of Anbu, Naraku does not need to go out as frequently as other members. He will only lead the team to complete very important and dangerous tasks personally.

The reason why he was so busy in the beginning after joining Anbu was mainly because Naraku was getting familiar with Anbu’s working methods and getting to know his subordinates. Once things were on track, time was not so tight.

After Anbu’s matter came to an end, Naraku turned his attention to the medical department. After all, he also served as the deputy director of the medical department.

……

“Sir Naraku, this is the detailed information of the Medical Emergency Team in recent period.”

“Elders Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu have already begun arranging for people to enter the Konoha Hospital. Currently, they are only occupying the administrative department, but the two elders have already shown signs of winning over medical ninjas.”

“In the emergency department, Yajo Aoki initially wanted to take over the medical funds, but he failed and was blocked by his subordinates.”

“I thought that Bacheng Qing would continue to test him, but I didn’t expect him to shift his focus to the medical laboratory. I thought that Bacheng Qing should have helpers in the laboratory, but I haven’t found out who it is yet!”

Shihouin Naraku finished reading the information in his hand. He was very satisfied with his subordinates’ work and a smile appeared on his face.

“You’re doing great, keep it up.”

“Yes! Sir!”

“Over at the laboratory…”

“Just continue your investigation in secret and don’t make it public for now.”

“yes!”

After the confidant reported his work, he turned and left, and then other people appeared in front of Naraku.

The one who came to find Naraku was Inuzuka Tsumugi of the Inuzuka clan, and she was also the mother of Inuzuka Kiba, one of the Twelve Ninja Warriors of Konoha.

Inuzuka Tsumugi is the class leader of the animal taming and rehabilitation class in the medical department.

Just by listening to the name, you can tell what this institution does, so the class leader of this class has always been a ninja from the Inuzuka clan without exception.

After all, this family is good at dealing with ninja beasts.

This class is also the one with the lowest presence in the medical department and is even more low-key than the corpse handling class.

So Inuzuka Tsume didn’t have much work to report, and she left soon.

The third person who appeared in Naraku’s office was——

Yakushi Kabuto!

Leader of the corpse disposal squad!

In the original plot, at this time, Yakushi Kabuto is following Orochimaru’s orders, hiding in the Konoha Medical Department while learning medical ninjutsu and helping Orochimaru gather intelligence.

In order not to attract attention, he deliberately suppressed his own strength and failed the Chūnin exam seven times in a row.

But Naraku didn’t care what Orochimaru’s plan was. He directly brought Yakushi Kabuto to himself and began to train him. Up to now, Yakushi Kabuto has become the Jōnin of Konoha Village and is also in charge of the corpse disposal team.

Yakushi Kabuto also brought a lot of rewards to Naraku. Not only did he work diligently under Naraku and made contributions to the development of the medical emergency team, but most importantly, Naraku got a lot of information about Shimura Danzō from him.

……

“Naraku is adult!”

Yakushi Kabuto stood respectfully in front of Naraku and handed over the documents with both hands.

Naraku looked at the information in his hand and then asked directly.

“Yajiro Ao is looking for you!”

“yes!”

Yakushi Kabuto didn’t think he could hide it and admitted it directly.

The person that Yashiro Ao went to the medical laboratory to find was indeed him.

Naraku did not continue to inquire. It was normal for Yashiro Ao to find Yakushi Kabuto, because Kabuto himself was a triple agent, with Shihouin Naraku, Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru standing behind him.

Glancing at Yakushi Kabuto, Naraku asked casually, “Has Orochimaru contacted you recently?”

“We just contacted each other a day ago and only exchanged experimental data.”

Naraku knew that Orochimaru had already started his plan for the collapse of Konoha at this time, but he just didn’t know how much Yakushi Kabuto knew now.

“Starting today, cut off all contact with Orochimaru. Do not send him any more data from the medical lab.”

“yes!”

Naraku knew that although Yakushi Kabuto agreed verbally, he would definitely still exchange information with Orochimaru in secret. However, he only said this to avoid the possibility that this relationship would be exposed in the future, which would be bad for Naraku himself.

The Konoha Medical Laboratory was established by Naraku himself, mainly for the purpose of developing various new medical ninjutsu. It is also the place where Konoha medical ninjas conduct experiments.

Orochimaru had always been very optimistic about Naraku, but unfortunately he did not take him with him when he defected.

So when he learned that Naraku had established a medical laboratory, Orochimaru immediately became interested.

With the help of Yakushi Kabuto, he learned about most of the medical ninjutsu and other achievements developed and improved in the laboratory.

Of course, if that were all, Naraku would have killed Yakushi Kabuto long ago. In exchange, Orochimaru’s knowledge and achievements would have been fed back to Naraku through Yakushi Kabuto.

This kind of secret exchange can also be considered a tacit understanding.

Both Naraku and Orochimaru benefited from this, but neither would admit it.

However, this line has now been cut off by Naraku himself. One reason is that the Konoha collapse plan is about to happen, and the other is that with the promotion system, he no longer has to worry about improving his strength, and there is no need to play with fire with Orochimaru.

……

“You young people have so many ideas that an old man like me can hardly keep up.”

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the document that Shihouin Naraku handed him and read it with amusement.

“Splitting up the medical emergency squad?”

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the document and his face became serious. After roughly understanding it, he closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said hesitantly: “It’s a bit sudden. The medical emergency team is very important right now. In this case…”

“It’s not that sudden. The medical emergency team should have been split up a long time ago.”

“Now the emergency team not only has to manage Konoha Hospital, laboratories and many other medical institutions, but also is responsible for the medical affairs of the entire Konoha Village ninja. The entire organization is too bloated.”

Naraku spread his hands and stated his reasons.

In fact, the medical emergency team should have been split up after it developed in great strides, but Naraku was the director at the time, and he would not have the time to weaken his own power.

It’s different now. Splitting the medical emergency team is a good thing for him.

“First, we need to build a new sanatorium to serve the daimyo, nobles, and wealthy merchants of various countries, so that they don’t always complain about being unhappy in the same place as the common people. This can also avoid potential safety hazards…”

“The location of the medical laboratory also needs to be relocated. The current location is complicated with people, so a more secret and quiet place would be more suitable…”

“Many ninjas are not suitable for treatment in open hospitals due to their identities and other reasons. Safety and confidentiality are equally important…”

“The medical ninja training institution set up by Teacher Tsunade also needs to be improved. There are still too few medical ninjas in the village…”

Shihouin Naraku talked incessantly about his plan, and by the end, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s eyes were wide open, not knowing how to react.

“You said it very well, let’s do as you said.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen came back to his senses, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Naraku finally finished speaking, and immediately agreed.

He might not know as much as Naraku about professional matters, but after being the Hokage for decades, he could still see how much benefit it would bring to Konoha Village if the medical emergency squad was improved according to Naraku’s plan.

Of course, if the plan described in the document is actually completed, Naraku’s prestige in Konoha Village will definitely rise to a higher level.

“Tsunade found a good student.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen was still somewhat proud, after all, Shihouin Naraku was also a talent in the Hokage department.

“But this is troublesome. Naraku now fully meets the requirements of Hokage.”

Strength, qualifications, prestige and connections, Shihouin Naraku has all of them!

Sarutobi Hiruzen himself didn’t think that when he first took office, he had the conditions that Naraku has now.

But in this case, Sarutobi Hiruzen was secretly worried. If Naraku really became Hokage, would there be anyone who could check and balance him?

This idea came about because Sarutobi Hiruzen sensed a threat from Shihouin Naraku!

Even if Naraku was not Tsunade’s student, a junior of the Hokage, secret suppression had already occurred.

Hatake Sakumo’s rising momentum was so terrifying that Shimura Danzō suppressed him and forced him to commit suicide. Did Sarutobi Hiruzen really not know?

Perhaps it is possible that Hatake Sakumo was also a threat to the Third Hokage at that time!