I just returned to Konoha and found that all my clan members were gone.

"Itachi, are those rumors out there true?"

Tiandao took a step forward and looked at Itachi. From his expression, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking at the moment.

"Those are just rumors."

Itachi did not avoid Tendou's gaze, but his pupils had changed into Sharingan.

"Heh, a spy from Konoha? He's willing to kill a member of the clan just to infiltrate Akatsuki. I don't know how such a ridiculous idea could be published in a newspaper."

Kakuzu was talking about news in newspapers outside, and everyone in Akatsuki knew it, but this reason was obviously hard to believe, not to mention that there was no substantial evidence.

"That's not necessarily true. Uchiha is capable of anything."

Scorpion, who had dealt with the Uchiha before, whispered.

"Humph, I don't agree to recruit Uchiha Ye Lan either. I still remember the grudge we had last time."

Hidan said menacingly while carrying his scythe.

"Uchiha, tsk, Itachi, according to the intelligence, your brother seems to be staying with Ye Lan, what do you think?"

Deidara also chimed in.

Seeing that the majority of voices were against it, Tiandao had to give up this plan for the time being. Capturing Itachi based on rumors would inevitably cause opinions among others. Besides, Itachi had helped the organization in the matter of the Three-Tails.

Afterwards, Tendou disbanded Akatsuki's group. They had just captured the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki a while ago, and they would need a few more people to seal it in the next two days.

It is said that the information about the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki was provided by Hydrangea who was participating in the Chunin Exam. Akatsuki, who had no intention of taking action, ordered her capture after learning that Fu was just a ninja from Takigakure. She is now being detained.

...

"The pursuers behind us have been dealt with."

Ye Lan in front suddenly said.

Sasuke didn't expect to get rid of the pursuers so quickly. In some ways, the Impure World Reincarnation is really a practical ninjutsu. He didn't even see the other party's figure, and didn't know who was chasing him.

"Don't worry, there's no one you know. Except for the Sand Village, they are all a group of Konoha ninjas you haven't greeted before."

Ye Lan saw through Sasuke's inner thoughts and said directly that at that time Sasuke chose to follow him, but he still had feelings for several people in Konoha.

Sasuke's thoughts were seen through, so he lowered his head and stopped talking. He didn't regret it, but he was indeed not used to the feeling of being in opposition to Konoha for a while.

"Huh, Sasuke, what do you think Konoha is?"

Ye Lan thought about it and decided to talk to Sasuke. His future choices might affect Sasuke, and there were some things about being away from Uchiha. Even if Sasuke left him for this, he would not have any complaints. He just wanted to make it clear in advance.

Sasuke was a little confused. He didn't understand why Ye Lan asked this question.

Ye Lan didn't expect him to answer and continued.

"Hokage, Jonin, Chunin, Genin, and below that there are Anbu, Special Jonin, Jonin Squad Leader, Hokage Advisor, and so on. Konoha as a village has its own hierarchy. The higher you are, the more power you have. This power often controls the life and death of those below you."

Sasuke remembered what Ibiki taught him when he took part in the Chunin Exam for the first time. He said that a ninja could not refuse a mission based on its difficulty. Even if it was a mission that meant death, once the village assigned you an assignment, you had to carry it out.

From this perspective, the upper echelons do decide the life and death of lower-level ninjas.

Ye Lan was also a victim of this system at the time. When he was ten years old and still a Chunin, he participated in an S-level mission. Including Itachi, he actually carried out such a mission given to him by Konoha.

Without giving Sasuke much room to think, Ye Lan continued.

"And the so-called fair promotion is just a nice word. Unless you are stronger than most people, you will not be promoted directly. I don't mean to belittle anyone by saying this. Take your class for example. Apart from Shikamaru and the other family ninjas, how many of your civilian classmates have you made friends with?"

"Sakura? The others' words are too weak."

Sasuke tentatively stated the reason.

"Except for Sakura, her situation is somewhat special, then what about the others? Why are they weak?"

"No talent? Not working hard enough?"

Hearing Sasuke's answer, Ye Lan smiled. Even Sasuke would not think about it more deeply.

"Are you really not working hard enough? Or are you not even qualified to work hard? To put it bluntly, the leader of the team is just unwilling to teach."

Ye Lan's words awakened Sasuke. In an instant, Sasuke's heart beat faster, and he seemed to want to grasp something but couldn't find it.

"In this world, apart from the Bloodstain Family, ordinary escape techniques can shine if they are practiced to the extreme. Look at the previous high-level officials of Konoha, few of them have Bloodstains. Why can they sit in this position?"

"Strong enough to help Konoha rise? No, they can't do that. All they can do is teach the so-called will of fire and let you, who know nothing, go to die one by one."

"Teach ninjutsu? If I teach you, should I teach others? With this base, there will always be ninjas with outstanding talents. When their strength improves, should I give them a jonin title? If they are obedient, it's fine, but what if they are not?"

"Look at the so-called fair promotion. A Chunin is just a matter of a word from the higher-ups. A Jonin can be promoted as long as he is not particularly incompetent with a recommendation from someone with power."

Ye Lan peeled off the internal situation of Konoha bit by bit. He always felt that he could not truly integrate into Konoha in the village. It was this pathological system that made it unacceptable for someone who had received a formal education system.

"Didn't many of you laugh at Naruto's ideal of becoming Hokage?"

Seeing Sasuke's somewhat confused expression, Ye Lan decided to tell him one more thing.

"I'm telling you, there's a good chance Naruto will become Hokage!"

"Don't look at me like that. Naruto was able to become Hokage. We can't deny his efforts, but we must not ignore his background."

Ye Lan said, ignoring Sasuke's questioning look.

"You probably know that Naruto is the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but what you don't know is that Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

"How is that possible? If he is the son of the Fourth Hokage, then what Naruto experienced as a child..."

Sasuke's voice gradually became quieter as he thought about the attitudes of other villages towards the Jinchūriki and what the Konoha high-ranking officials would think at the time.

"Have you figured it out? Why did the son of the Hokage become like this? Because Naruto never treated him as a human being from the beginning. He has always treated him as a weapon. Naruto said that when he was a child, there were only two adults who treated him well. One was Ichiraku who ran a ramen restaurant, and the other was Sarutobi Hiruzen."

Sasuke felt like he had never used his brain cells like this in his life, and he was almost exhausted. It turned out that everyone was secretly working on something that he couldn't see, and he couldn't just look at the surface of things.

"Looking back at the elections of previous Hokages, the first Hokage was Hashirama Senju, the second was Tobirama Senju, and the third was Sarutobi Hiruzen. Tobirama Senju personally designated his apprentice. The fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was born a commoner, but his teacher Jiraiya was also a disciple of Sarutobi Hiruzen, and he also married the then Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina. Not to mention the fifth Hokage, at that time the choice was between Tsunade and Jiraiya."

So the so-called fair competition was actually decided at the beginning, and Naruto's identity is indeed very likely to make him Hokage.

Sasuke's heart was in turmoil. After being assigned to a team, he discovered that something was wrong with Naruto during his first mission in the Land of Waves. His exaggerated chakra and strange autonomy made him look like a non-human, not to mention his status as the son of the Hokage.

"Power makes people lose themselves. The Uchiha clan was no exception. Shisui's ideals could not stop the desires of others. The demise of the Uchiha clan was a script written by the Konoha high-level officials from the beginning."

Hearing Ye Lan's sigh, Sasuke pondered and finally spoke.

"So that's why you said the Uchiha clan left Konoha?"

"That's right. We can't stay in Konoha any longer. It's not just because of the Konoha high-level officials who are hostile to us, but also because of the system. I think this kind of rule will only lead to tragedy, unless..."

Sasuke perked up and wanted to hear what Ye Lan would say next, but Ye Lan stopped talking at this moment.

I didn't expect that the backup plan I had left would be used so soon. Ye Lan had already sensed a mark he had left behind, not far from here.