章節 32: Chapter 32 - Orochimaru's Desertion

Hearing Yusuke's question, Itachi shook his head, showing that he had never heard of it.

(A special note from the author - there are trains in the world of Naruto!!!")

"A heavy uncontrolled trolley rushes along the rails, on the way of its movement there are five people tied to the rails. Fortunately, you can switch the switch and then the trolley will go along the siding, unfortunately, there is one person on the siding, also tied to the rails. So, Itachi, what are you going to do, pull down the lever and trade the life of one person for the lives of these five?"

Yusuke slowly recounted the famous "Trolley Car Dilemma" from his past life. Is it possible to sacrifice one person to save others? The answer to this ethical question is not at all simple.

Itachi thought for over a minute before answering, "I would lower the lever!"

Yuusuke nodded, not at all surprised at the answer and continued: "Here's another situation, there are five people in the hospital, one has a damaged liver, another has lungs, the third has a heart, the fourth has a liver, and finally the last one has a stomach, if the damaged organs are replaced, they can survive . And now, a healthy person appears on the threshold, would you kill him, in order to save these five people?

Itachi shook his head, "No!" - but giving the answer, Itachi looked at Yusuke, who looked at him with a smirk, Itachi seemed to understand something, but he could not catch the key point.

"Sensei, your questions have confused me even more," Itachi's gaze became confused.

"Life cannot be evaluated by simple arguments, numbers, and no one has the right to take someone else's life for the sake of saving others. The conflict between a village and a clan does not have to result in the sacrifice of one for the benefit of the other, just because the village is large and the clan is small. The clan may be right and the village may be wrong and vice versa. If the village's strategy against the Uchiha was wrong from the start, should we compromise?"

Faced with Yusuke's question, Itachi became confused and after a moment of silence, rhetorically asked, "Shisui said that clan-based thinking is narrow thinking! If all the clans of Konoha are selfish and stop thinking about the village, then what will happen to the village?

Hearing Itachi's words, Yusuke chuckled, "The clan's so-called narrow viewpoint is just Shisui's point of view, which is based on the arguments and calculations of his own thinking. If clanship is narrow thinking in the eyes of a village, isn't being one of the five great villages the same for the entire shinobi world?

If one day, sacrificing Hidden Leaf Village can save the other four great villages, will you do it? I am sure that you are a smart child and will be able to understand what exactly you have to protect! Take a good look at your position, and let it be one where you don't have to let down the people who care about you!

Itachi, I'm not asking you to choose between the village and the clan, I'm just asking you to think rationally and not take it for granted that the clan has to make sacrifices for the sake of the village just because the village is superior to the clan!" Yusuke patted Itachi on the shoulder after saying all that was needed and walked away. Leaving the boy alone with his thoughts. It was necessary, in life we often have to make a choice and the scales do not always tip in the direction of what we like.

Yuusuke didn't see Itachi for the next few days. By this time, all of Yuusuke's students had a good foundation and their training no longer had to be under his guidance as it was in the beginning, so they no longer trained together.

Yusuke directed Kabuto's powers towards science, allowing him to spend his days developing various techniques. Kabuto really liked it and sometimes Yuusuke had to force him outside to get some rest. As for Izumi, she was inspired by the fight between Yuusuke and Shisui and decided to take the path of a swordsman. Every day, she spent hours perfecting her wooden sword strikes, Yuusuke naturally helped her, although he could not teach her his fire style due to understandable reasons, he was not limited in teaching her kenjutsu.

"Brother, how are you? Have my skills improved a lot?" Izumi asked while looking at Yusuke after showing off everything she had learned lately.

"Not bad, your kenjutsu is already half a step below Jonin level!" Yusuke replied.

"Uh, why only half a step?" Izumi was unhappy.

"Hmm, girl, it's not good to try to fly without even learning how to run!" Yuusuke shook his head and laughed.

At that moment, Itachi appeared at the training ground and approached them. Looking at Itachi's clear, determined look, Yuusuke realized that he had decided everything for himself.

"Sensei, I've thought about everything you said that day!" Itachi looked at Yuusuke and said seriously.

"And what have you decided?" Yuusuke asked.

"I will train and become strong enough to change both the clan and the village! And if I lack the talent to do so, I will do my best to protect the clan and the people important to me!" Itachi answered with a firm voice.

When he finished speaking, Itachi's eyes turned to Izumi, who was standing to the side. Itachi looked at her for the first time with such a vague look, she lowered her head, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"As expected of my student! Itachi, I believe you can do it!" Yusuke also felt a huge sense of relief at that moment.

Knowing much more about this world, having knowledge of the innermost thoughts of Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others, Yuusuke was well aware that the so-called Will of Fire - nindo - of the First Hokage, was already either dead or corrupted. Therefore, Yusuke could not understand Itachi's train of thought. Although he wanted to talk to the other party about the village and the clan, there was no way to do so before.

Now that he managed to get him to give up the dangerous idea of sacrificing his family for the sake of the village, Yusuke could finally relax a bit. Although he clearly understood that this was far from the end, Obito would find other ways, just like Danzo.

After allowing Itachi to continue his sword training with Izumi, Yusuke returned to his lab. This lab was specifically requested by Yusuke and Uchiha Fugaku and built in Uchiha lands, especially for him and Kabuto.

After Yuusuke and Orochimaru developed the Seal of Two Opposites together, they were only able to complete the Yin part of it. The working principle of the printing of the two opposites of the Yin part was simple, with the help of Hashirama's cells, which can be considered as carriers of the powerful Yang chakra, they suppressed the powerful Yin chakra and stabilized them with the help of the seal.

Now, when Yuusuke wanted to refine the Yang part of the Two Opposites Seal to be able to seal the Yang chakra of the tailed beasts, he faced a big problem because he did not know where to get the ultimate Yin chakra that would be as good as Hashirama's cells.

"If Hashirama cells represent the limit of the Yang chakra, what material would represent the limit of the Yin chakra? Cells... Madara? But how can I get them? Yuusuke had no idea where he could find the material representing the highest form of Yin chakra.

After various experiments with Kabuto, he never managed to find a suitable solution. Although some seals had been developed, they had not reached a level sufficient to seal the tailed beast level Yang chakra.

Another two months passed, and while Yuusuke was busy developing a new seal, another important event happened in Konoha - Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sannin, deserted from the village!

However, because in this life, Orochimaru met Yuusuke, who inspired him to many ideas, his power was significantly greater than in the original. Due to this, not only was he not hurt by the Third Hokage's attack, but he was also able to seriously injure Jiraiya in the process of escaping.

After recovering from his wounds, Jiraiya, against the wishes of the Third Hokage, left the village in search of Orochimaru, hoping to bring him back to the village.

At this moment, all three Legendary Sannin left the village, and the era of the Three Legendary Sannin officially ended! Soon after, Konoha's top leadership received an invitation from the allied Hidden Sand Village.

The Hokage's residence is the Hokage's office.

Yusuke stood in front of the Third Hokage's desk along with the other Jonin listening to the contents of the upcoming mission.

"The Hidden Sand Village has invited us to take part in the Chunin Exams. As allies, we are obligated to send several teams to this examination as our good will and to maintain friendly relations between the two villages. However, most importantly, we need to show the strength of the Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf! This is of the utmost importance!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a stern voice looking at Yuusuke and Shirakumo Hayama.

Shirakumo Hayama is a very quiet, calm and collected person, able to carefully assess situations and strategize them for this which makes him a good leader. He also has a great sense of duty towards the Hidden Leaf Village and his subordinates, whom he would rather protect than consider sacrifice.

In the original story, Hayama proved himself to be an undeniably skilled ninja. He is very skilled in the use of kenjutsu, which he uses in conjunction with Wind Release to create sharp blades of wind that are capable of various tasks. They can be used directly to attack your opponents for heavy damage, or they can be used to hit them. This technique can also be used to counter incoming projectiles. Hayama is also proficient with the Body Flicker Technique, in which he uses leaves to mask his movements.

"I asked for the selection of six good genin to form two squads. I want you two to lead these teams and help them do well in the Hidden Sand exam. Hayama, Yusuke, you are both among the best shinobi among Jonin, so you can also train them and give them the necessary instructions during this test. Hope you come back with great results!" - when Sarutobi Hiruzen finished, Yusuke and Hayama saluted and promised to complete the task.

Originally, the Third Hokage wanted to send Yuusuke and Kakashi on this mission to show their strength and become a deterrent to the rest of the villages. Now that all three Sanin had left Konoha, she was in a vulnerable position, so something had to be done.

Unfortunately, Kakashi's father, the White Fang of Konoha, had a bad reputation in Hidden Sand Village, and sending Kakashi there was inappropriate. Therefore, it was decided to replace him with Shirakumo Hayama.

"Hokage-sama, can we see who will be taking the exam this time?" - Yusuke knew about this mission in advance. Because his student Itachi was also chosen as one of the genin to take the Chunin Exams. But what Yusuke didn't expect was that he would lead these youngsters.

The Third Hokage nodded to his assistant, who quickly left and soon returned with six genin.

Yusuke looked and recognized almost everyone. As expected from a carefully selected elite, almost all of them are elite among the genin. In addition to Itachi, there were Hayate Gekko, Uzuki Yugao, Mizuki and Mitarashi Anko, and a girl slightly older than Itachi from the Kurama clan, Kurama Kyōka.

Other than Itachi, among the remaining genin, Mizuki and Kyōka were considered the weakest, but everyone else was strong.

All the genin with the exception of Anko had worried faces. As for Anko, her face was blank and her eyes lifeless.

Due to Orochimaru's betrayal, the girl was no longer as cheerful as before. After Orochimaru defected, Anko was detained. After several rounds of interrogation, it was determined that she was not involved with Orochimaru during his horrific experiments, and she gained her freedom. But it still hit Anko hard and she still hasn't fully recovered.

Looking at the six genin lined up, the Third Hokage slowly told Yusuke and Hayama, "They are all strong genin, choose three people for your team and start preparing for the exam."

After the Third Hokage finished speaking, he left the rest to Yusuke and the others.

Hayama looked at the six children and said to Yusuke, "These children seem to admire you a lot. You'd better choose first so they don't complain about me later."

Since Yusuke had great fame in Konoha, also a reputation as a brilliant shinobi. Except for Anko who kept her head down, the rest of the genin looked at Yuusuke with admiration in their eyes.

Yusuke smiled, "Well then, I won't be modest, Hayama-san!"