Chương 168: Anko.

'Are the Zetsu clones that Orochimaru used in the show really so great in potential that every Kage was revived at full power?'

'Or does it have to do with some other secret and the Zetsu clones were just a convenient sacrifice?'

'Was it to do with Natural Energy?'

'Did Kabuto and Orochimaru use the Sage mode of the Ruchi Cave to perfect the soul vessels?'

'But what does Sage Mode have to do with Soul Vessels?'

'Hmm…'

'I should ask Tsunade to learn Sage Mode next to let her perfect the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.'

'If we can get to it before Madara gets the perfect jutsu or a perfect sacrifice, then Hashirama can body Madara and sealing him up along with Black Zetsu will be much easier.' Haruto stepped out of the shower and dried himself up before wearing fresh clothes.

"Oink!" As he stepped outside, he found Tonton resting by the door making him bend and pick her up.

"Aww… did Shizune-nee-san leave you alone and go to work at the hospital? I'll keep you company then… don't you worry." Haruto ate some breakfast and since Jiraiya was busy keeping Tsunade company, Haruto finally had some breathing room. So Haruto created two clones. One went towards his home to finally begin experimenting with the Hashirama Fish, and the other he left in the Senju compound to learn the new jutsu that he had been attempting to make from before Danzo was dethroned.

After that, accompanied by Tonton, Haruto went to the R&D Department. As soon as Haruto arrived there, he found himself faced with a gift from Inoichi. A letter was placed on his desk.

"Dear Haruto, If you're reading this then that means the clone jutsu you handed over to our clan has been taught to a few clans members. As such, we would like to extend you an invitation to complete the rest of the research required for this project in our clan compounds for secrecy reasons. Regards, Inoichi." Phew… If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Cool." Haruto nodded to himself.

"Now all that remains is to create the first computers connected to each other by the internet… and then proceed to researching the method to manufacture more computers by making pure silicon through Edward's alchemy." Haruto quickly left the R&D Department and walked up to the same Yamanaka clan compound that he had visited earlier with Tsunade. The guards blocked his entry for a few seconds until he told them that he was here on Inoichi's request.

As soon as he entered, he was taken to the clan meeting room much like he had been when he was with Tsunade before Inoichi came to greet him personally for the day.

"Good morning Haruto-kun. We'll have to wait for a few minutes since the other person who will be assisting you has yet to arrive."

"Assisting me?" Haruto asked with confusion, he hadn't asked for a helper as far as he remembered, so what was up with this? Inoichi simply smiled at Haruto and said nothing. It was only after Haruto read Inoichi's mind while the maid served tea that he realised what was up.

'So they're planning to understand the tech in as much detail as possible so that they can replicate it on their own once enough time passes so as to not piss off Tsunade…'

'How did Tsunade know they'd do this so soon though?'

'Well… whatever… it looks like they're planning to do this after two years… I'll simply read the clone's minds that they'll add to the computers to learn the Yamanaka clan's secret jutsu and toss them out first.' Haruto took a sip of his tea.

'Now we wait for the assistant.'

Itachi frowned.

'It has been quite a few days since Orochimaru went away with that strange plant man.'

'Why has he not returned yet?' Itachi looked from the edges of the Uchiha property, staring at Sasuke going to school with his 'brother' and felt a pang of regret in his heart for not being the person who was holding his hand. But then he quickly calmed himself and moved away.

'I need to search for Orochimaru before it's too late and Father get's wind of my presence in Konoha.'

'He's not abandoned me… has he?'

'No… Orochimaru has no reason to leave me alone and go somewhere… something must've happened to him for not contacting me after so long…'

'Is it time to activate his backup plan that he told me to use in case he died?' Itachi searched throughout the village, up and down, east and west, but failed to find Orochimaru anywhere in any sort of disguise. He'd even searched the Naka shrine, where the Uchiha held their meetings, but found nothing.

'Did he leave the village?' Itachi wondered.

'Wait… there's still that place I haven't checked out. The Valley of the End.' Itachi only had to search a little before he found Orochimaru's corpse being devoured by the little critters of the forest near the base of the Madara statue. However, Itachi's heart was still calm even after he identified the corpse as Orochimaru. He simply cast a fireball jutsu, which hit its stationary and dead target, and burnt Orochimaru's corpse before moving towards the village.

After a while of tailing the various ANBU in the village, and nearly getting caught a few times since he had gotten rid of most of his chakra to pass off as a normal civilian, Itachi came across an eighteen year old girl living a normal life eating dango. Anko was still under watch since she had the cursed seal from Orochimaru and the Third Hokage, although had publicly stated that she wouldn't cause any harm, didn't trust the seal that Orochimaru had left behind and had people constantly following her.

'It's for the greater good of the village.' Itachi rationalised. Itachi however felt slightly jealous of the girl eating dango in such a carefree manner since he hadn't eaten any dango in a while after he'd begun following Orochimaru. But when he thought about his other self enjoying dango with Sasuke, he felt slightly relieved.

'But it'll be risky to kidnap her in front of all the ANBU… I need to find a time when they're not monitoring her before I make my move on her…' Itachi followed Anko through the village as she collected more and more sweets from various stalls and became increasingly hungry. It was only after about half an hour of him patrolling her through the morning that Anko suddenly dropped the bags of food she was holding before she shouted out loud.

"I forgot about work! Damn it!" Itachi then followed Anko while he swore he heard some of the ANBU laugh at her plight as she finally reached the Yamanaka clan. Itachi quickly noticed that the ANBU didn't enter clan compounds, making his heart beat speed up.

'This…'

'This might be my only opportunity to kidnap Anko…'

'Then I can resurrect Orochimaru and we can leave the village with him.' Itachi quietly infiltrated the Yamanaka clan compounds without any issues and followed Anko as she was taken to the clan meeting room. He didn't follow into the room so he didn't know what was being discussed there, but soon after, Anko and another young boy were taken by the clan head, Inoichi, towards another building within the clan compounds. Inoichi left shortly afterwards, leaving Anko and the child alone.

'Now!!!'

'There's no better time to act than now!'