Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan

by Little Merger

The trembling Hyuga Kuroto finally got the treasure that he dreamed of! How exactly will the world of Naruto be perceived with his glowing Royal Blue Tenseigan

9. 258

Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan #Chapter 258 - – 255 Female Clone - Read Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan Chapter 258 - – 255 Female Clone Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

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Looking at the deformed clones floating in the nutrition tank, Kuroto can't help but cry tears of blood.

"The genes of the Uchiha Clan are poison!" – Muttered Kuroto in helplessness. In the previous few weeks, Kuroto has been able to collect cells of more than a dozen Uchiha, including Itachi and Sasuke, of course with Shisui's help, and even asked Shinichi to send his cells, which he complied with and did.

After obtaining these cells, Kuroto again carried out several gene fusion experiments, which consumed a lot of his time, energy, and resources, finally three samples survived the fusion process and were embedded in the cultivation nutrition tank for the development.

After obtaining three samples that fused successfully, Kuroto thought that at least one of these samples will develop into a good enough clone, that Kuroto will be able to use as his Fire Nature clone, but reality taught him a cruel lesson.

All three samples developed into deformed bodies.

The first body has its body parts distorted, all facial features and limbs are misaligned as well…

The second one has developed into a fat lump of meatball with multiple limbs, eyes, mouth, and nose sprouting off from all over the body, but no bone within it whatsoever!

The third has three heads, each head with three eyes, a flat nose, and a mouth that doesn't seem to have lips at all, moreover, there are four sets of arms, but just a single leg to complement that.

Looking at the three clones that looked more horrifying than monsters, Kuroto could only sigh helplessly.

This series of experiments and clone creation cost him a lot, much more than the initial budget limit Kuroto set for creating the Fire Nature Clone, but even after tens of thousands of attempts, not even a single clone came out which Kuroto can determine as good enough.

And he can't continue to keep doing the experiments any longer as that would not only consume too many funds a lot of his time and efforts with not even a certain 0.0001% chance of success.

'Sigh, and here I thought that my and Shisui's genes are incompatible, never did I expect that my genes are completely incompatible with the entire Uchiha Clan, in fact, my and Shisui's genes turn out to be somewhat compatible based on the one clone that developed successfully even though its gender changed to that of a female!' – Kuroto sighed with emotions as his gaze shifted towards one of the large nutrition tanks at the corner of this laboratory.

This large nutrition tank obviously contains the female clone which was submerged in the green medicinal water to maintain a proper supply of necessary nutrition.

Walking towards the Clone, Kuroto mulled over the thought; whether he should use this female clone or not.

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There is no doubt that by looks of the clone the Hyuga genes are dominant, as the appearance is that of a typical Hyuga Kunoichi.

As a traditional shinobi clan, the males of the Hyuga Clan are all well-groomed and mannered individuals, while the females are mostly elegant, dignified, and somewhat soft by nature, this is the case with almost all of the Hyuga clansmen.

The Hyuga genetics are obviously very good, so the appearance of the Hyuga Clansmen are generally good, of course, Kuroto is no exception to this, as his looks rivaled Kakashi during their academy years, and has only got better ever since all his gene combinations activated.

And the Uchiha Clan is not much different either, the males are mostly sharp and domineering, and because of the passive effects of Sharingan, their eyes are generally piercing by nature, and their natural aura is cold.

Coincidently enough, the female clone in the large nutrition tank combines the good aspects of both the Uchiha and the Hyuga, it has the elegant and dignified appearance of a Hyuga Kunoichi while there is also that sharpness, coldness, and unapproachable aura of a typical Uchiha.

For this reason, the female clone exudes an extremely heroic, noble, elegant, and proud temperament.

Well, all that aside, Kuroto is still unable to figure out just what could be the reason that the clone turned into a female instead of a male, after all, the chromosome pair that defines the gender of a person should obviously be that of a male, as both him and Shisui are males, but still the clone turned into a woman.

There is a guess in his mind; however, Kuroto is not sure whether that is actually true or not, in terms of their most general relation to one another, Yin represents the female, while Yang represents the male, and since this clone still has too much yin chakra even after Kuroto washed it out, so it's possible that too much yin chakra probably caused a mutation in the gene structure of the bud and henceforth, changed its gender.

It is just a guess, and there is no solid evidence to prove whether this theory is correct or not.

And Kuroto also can't figure out what sort of impact will this female clone have in his big project.

And next is the matter of stats of this clone.

Because the sample cells use to cultivate this clone were severely damaged, so its basic stats are not very good, at least not as good as the Suijin Clone.

This also means that the difficulty of training this clone will be much higher than that of Suijin Clone.

This is the second reason why Kuroto had a certain sense of rejection towards this clone, but now that he is left with no other choice due to repeated failures so Kuroto has to go with the female clone.

The repeated failures have also made him understand that he can't touch Yin and Yang chakra Nature so early, with his current knowledge, experience, or the extent of technical means he has access to at the moment.

With that understood, Kuroto took out the female clone from the nutrition tank and placed it on the test bench.

After recording all the physical measurements, and body stats, Kuroto used Tenseigan Soul Descend and transferred his soul into the female clone body without much hesitation.

As soon as his main body's eyelids closed, the female clone lying on the test bench opened her eyes.

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At the start, Kuroto felt a bit strange, the feeling was a bit different, Kuroto ignored this feeling for now and proceeded to slowly get up from the test bench.

Took a while and Kazekage puppet's support, but he or I guess she, for now, managed to get up.

A few check-ups, body stretches, and coordinative movements later; Kuroto walked towards the mirror and observed the body, he was, of course, naked and observed all the muscle movements of this body in the mirror to get familiar with it.

By now he has also understood why did he feel slightly different, it's because of the extra weight of a pair of breasts that he was unfamiliar with up to now, and some of the other parts that are different in females compared to males.

All that aside, what surprised Kuroto was the coordinative system of this body, he did not feel any opposition while transferring his soul which was unusual, as there is slight resistance at the start. This clone seems very much capable of adapting to his soul.

But it's also not surprising at the same time, as the gender of a body has nothing to do with its adaptability to a soul, this can easily be proven from the fact that Orochimaru also once transferred his soul into a female body during the Konoha Crush Arc and even fought against Sandaime Hokage at that time, and the rest is already known.

As such, it can be concluded that the gender of a body has nothing to do with its compatibility with a soul.

Putting aside those thoughts, Kuroto continued carrying out the auditory and coordinative movements.

After he felt that basic movements were no longer a problem, Kuroto focused on his eyes.

When his soul was not transferred to this body, the pair of eyes was just a collection of cells, in simple words, they were semifinished, as was the case with Suijin Clone.

He was also surprised even after transferring his soul to this clone there was not much change in the eyes in the deactivated state, they are pretty much the same as Suijin's pair of Byakugan. This was again quite unexpected.

After all, both Uchiha and Hyuga are clans with dojutsu type Kekkei Genkai, so Kuroto expected a bit of mutation.

"Surprisingly, Uchiha genes did not have any effects on the Byakugan." – But upon thinking a little, this is also normal, after all, the ratio of Hyuga and Uchiha cells present in this clone is 99:1, and Hyuga bloodline is no weaker than Uchiha, therefore, the chances of mutation are a bit small.

Then Kuroto muttered in distress, "I don't know whether this clone body will be able to bear the burden of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?"

This is another issue, and Kuroto doesn't seem to have a solution to solve this problem yet.

"I guess I will try to create one more Fire nature Clone in the future, but before I improve my knowledge and other means to be able to do so, let's develop this clone."

Kuroto feels that he should be prepared in advance.

While developing this Clone, he is also going to improve his knowledge and other means and see if he can create one more clone.

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 507 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

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Need ideas for how to create a trial/test to select whether Uchiha Itachi is worthy of obtaining Sword of Totsuka.

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With that decision, next Kuroto wrapped some bandages over the pubic area and the pair of breasts to keep them affixed and not become a problem while carrying out intensive movements and training, and after putting over on a simple robe he found in the lab, he walked barefoot towards the detached laboratory where Uchiha Ryota was detained.

Byakugan!

In the vision of Byakugan, Kuroto found that the two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan in the eye sockets of Uchiha Ryota are already past the preliminary fusion.

And because two eyeballs are midway through the fusion process, so together they appear to be a little bloated and have an overall elliptical outline.

"Sigh, the speed of fusion is still much slower than I expected." – Shaking his head in disappointment, Kuroto left the laboratory.

At this time, Kuroto thought on his way towards the main lab, "On genetic fusion technology, Orochimaru is also an expert, maybe I should ask some knowledge and insight from him."

Gene fusion is not a new field of science, as gene fusion experiments were even carried out during the era of Nidaime Hokage's rule, after the death of Shodaime-sama, many of the Senju clansmen volunteered in the experimentations to be able to inherit Shodaime-sama's Wood Release Kekkei Genkai by fusing his cells into their body, but without exception, all of them failed.

These experiments were, of course, carried out in secrecy and the general public is not aware of this knowledge, after Nidaime-sama's death, Sandaime-sama terminated these experiments but they were still secretly carried out by Shimura Danzo.

And it was Shimura Danzo who tempted Orochimaru to start his own research about the Wood Release, Yamato is the result of these experiments.

Not only did he survive the fusion experiment, but even manage to awaken the Wood Release.

Shimura Danzo also uses Shodaime Sama's Cells which is another result of those experiments.

It must not be forgotten that Hashirama cells are countless times more terrifying than cancer cells, they can completely swallow another person's cells, so the difficulty of Hashirama Cells fusion is much-much-much higher than the Uchiha cells.

And the fact that Yamato managed to successfully fuse with the Hashirama Cells, does not only showcase his specialties but also shows Orochimaru's expertise in the field of gene fusion.

So, his guidance would only benefit Kuroto.

But as you know, Orochimaru is a snake and one should always be careful when dealing with a snake!

"But if I contact Orochimaru he would obviously ask Haku to be sent back, what should I do then?"

For the past few months, Haku has been constantly living in the underground residence.

There is a reason why Kuroto has not sent him back to Orochimaru yet, it is because Haku is not only aware of the fact that Kuroto has been trying to learn Ice Release, but is also aware that Kuroto can use some strange technique to attach his soul to others, which happened when he used Tenseigan Soul Descend to leech his soul to Haku's body to experience Ice Release in personal.

As such, once Haku returns to Orochimaru, it is difficult to guarantee that Haku will not explain what he experienced here upon being asked by Orochimaru.

With Orochimaru's cunningness, as long as Orochimaru learns that Kuroto has been trying to learn Ice Release, and is capable of transferring his soul, then it won't take him much time to put two and two together, and he will immediately realize that there is some deep connection between him and Suijin of Amatsukami.

And when that happens Orochimaru might even be able to guess the true identity of Suijin, which will give him a perfect understanding of the secret behind Amatsukami!

This is something Kuroto does not want, so he has to think of some other ways out of this situation.

Occupied by so many thoughts, Kuroto soon returned to the main lab, and after transferring back his soul to his main body, he put the female clone inside the Large Nutrition tank again, then compiled all the data of the gene fusion experiment he carried out in the past few weeks.

After doing so he returned to his home.

…

Next day.

Today it was Kuroto and Shisui's turn to keep a watch over and ensure the safety of the protagonist of the canon, as per the mission assigned to Anbu Team-11, by Sandaime-sama.

Uzumaki Naruto who is already four years old, does not like staying in the lonely home he is given, no one other than him lives in that lonesome place, as such he spends most of his time walking through the village.

But because of the rumors of the demon fox being sealed inside him, and the hatred people of Konoha harbored for Kyuubi made those people direct their hatred towards the young Naruto, as such he has always been rejected, hated, and ignored by most of the villagers.

This has made Naruto's childhood lack the love and attention that a child needs and made him always be lonely without getting any answer as to why he is treated as such.

"Sigh…!" – Standing on the tree, Shisui sighed while looking at the little Naruto walking through the streets in the cold night, Naruto's head was low, and sadness in his eyes.

Kuroto also looked at Naruto with complicated emotions.

Kuroto knows that he will never be able to understand Naruto's pain, after all, Kuroto is at least aware of who were his parents, what kind of people were they like and so many more things, even after their death, Yui has always been there for him, so he has never truly felt lonely.

But Naruto's case is completely different.

As the son of Yondaime Hokage and the princess of the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto should actually be the prince of Konoha if anything, moreover, both his parents sacrificed their lives to protect Konoha, and the fact that Kyuubi has been sealed inside him makes him the Hero of the village, yet he suffers such treatment at the hands of the villagers.

It's really inhuman to make such a young child go through such a life and suffer through such coldness and hatred from others.

In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that it is Konoha's luck that Naruto did not go dark and kept up his positive attitude to seek everyone's acknowledgment, rather than slaughtering them coldly.

Whoosh… Whoosh…

While Kuroto was busy in thoughts, two figures appeared beside Kuroto.

They are none other than Kakashi and Guy who are also dressed in their Anbu uniforms.

Kuroto glanced at the two of them and asked curiously, "What are you two doing here, it's still not the time to change the shift, did something happen!?"

Kakashi and Guy removed their mask for a while and said, "Right, something serious happened."

Kuroto and Shisui also removed their respective masks, and Shisui asked in confusion, "Something really happened?" – he was stunned, then asked, "So, um… what happened exactly?"

Kakashi spoke with a sullen face, "Amatsukami recently made their move, this time they attacked Raikage-dono and his entourage who were on their way to the location discussed by the five Kage for the upcoming Gokage Summit, in this attack, both the guards that were accompanying him suffered!"

""What!?"" – both Kuroto and Shisui were taken aback by this sudden news and exclaimed at the same time.

Immediately, both looked at each other and asked the other party with a shocked and doubtful face, ""Amatsukami… Amatsukami has been making their moves recently?""

But seeing that both of them asked the same question and both of them had the same, shocked, confused and doubtful expression, they shook their heads instinctively, ""I don't know!""

Kakashi didn't think too much about Kuroto and Shisui's behavior, and their shocked and doubtful expression, according to him, both Kuroto and Shisui were probably asking the other party if he knew this information, so not minding their exclaim, Kakashi continued, "Hokage-sama is worried that Amatsukami will conspire some plans against the Kyuubi which is sealed inside Uzumaki Naruto, so assigned more Anbu to ensure Uzumaki Naruto's safety, so from now, entire Team-11 will keep watch over him together and our shifts will be changed with other Anbu teams during the 6-hour break we will get."

Both Shisui and Kuroto nodded, and after a while of silence, Kuroto asked, "Is Raikage-dono alright?"

"Raikage is safe and sound, the target of this attack was not Raikage-dono but his two guards." – Kakashi said.

Kuroto frowned and muttered, "But why would Amatsukami attack Raikage's guards? Was there anything special about them?"

Kakashi thought a little and said, "I am not sure, one of the guards following him was the Jonin who came to Konoha with the Kumo peace delegation, while the other one was a user of Storm Release Kekkei Genkai, and he was called Rai."

Shisui's gaze flickered, "I know him!" – Shisui's words attracted the attention of the rest of the team, seeing their questioning eyes which asked for further explanation, Shisui said, "It was during the third great Shinobi War, during one of the missions, our team encountered another three-man team of Kumogakure, at that time, I fought against Rai, who was the strongest of his team, our fight did not last long, but during that brief confrontation I was unable to take the advantage, and at that time, I already had three tomoe Sharingan, so it wouldn't be wrong to say that Rai was very strong even at that time! By now, he should have already been an elite Jonin!"

Kakashi nodded, "He is indeed an elite Jonin based on the information we have, and it is still unclear as to why would Amatsukami attack these two Jonin, Rai's status is unclear, it's possible that he is already dead, but we can't know for certain as there is no corpse to identify, but we do know that the other Jonin is dead, as his corpse was found, so we are assuming that Amatsukami's target was Rai in specific, and there is a possibility that he is still alive!"

Guy muttered with a dejected face, "In the face of Amatsukami, I am afraid… that Rai…"

But before Guy could complete his sentence, Kuroto asked, "Is there any information about which member of Amatsukami attacked this Rai fellow?"

Asked by Kuroto, Kakashi took out a few documents from his shinobi bag and passed them over to Kuroto and Shisui. "According to Raikage-dono's description, the member of Amatsukami that appeared this time had a strange face and body."

Upon listening to Kakashi's words Kuroto focused his attention on the document that listed the following information:

Name: Yama

Designation: The leader of Amatsukami

Suspected Chakra Nature Code: Yin

Appearance: Unknown

Identity: Unknown

Strength: Unknown

Records of Battles: No information available

Danger Level: Unknown

Name: Suijin

Designation: Member of Amatsukami

Suspected Chakra Nature Code: Water

Appearance: Unknown

Abilities: Uses Ice Release Kekkei Genkai of Yuki Clan at an unusually high mastery level, specializes in Water Release Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Bokijutsu, etc.

Identity: Unknown member of the Yuki Clan

Strength: Strength Level of a Kage Class Shinobi

Records of Battles: Fought on equal footing with the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha

Danger Level: S

Name: Homusubi

Designation: Member of Amatsukami

Suspected Chakra Nature Code: Fire

Appearance: Unknown

Abilities: Possess Uchiha Clan's Mangekyou Sharingan, Wields Unknown Golden Fire, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, Taijutsu, etc

Identity: Unknown member of the Uchiha Clan

Strength: Strength Level of a Kage Class Shinobi

Records of Battles: Fought on equal footing against Uchiha Shisui of the Uchiha Clan, as well as against Kumogakure's A-B Combo.

Danger Level: S

Name: Unknown

Designation: Member of Amatsukami

Suspected Chakra Nature Code: Wind

Appearance: Unknown

Abilities: Possess Magnet Release,

Identity: Unknown defected shinobi from Sunagakure

Strength: Strength Level of a Kage Class Shinobi

Records of Battles: No records

Danger Level: S

Name: Unknown

Designation: Member of Amatsukami

Suspected Chakra Nature Code: Earth

Appearance: Strange similar to a plant

Abilities: Unknown

Identity: Unknown

Strength: Unknown

Records of Battles: No records

Danger Level: Unknown

Kuroto frowned as he read the detail, "Is it the last member who did it?"

Kakashi shook his head, "There is no confirmation, this ninja led away Raikage, but it is still unclear whether he is actually responsible for the disappearance of Rai, or if there was the involvement of other members of Amatsukami."

.

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Read up to Chapter - 508 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

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There are only a handful of people in the shinobi would who would dare to attack or cause trouble with the Raikage.

Kuroto is no exception to this, as even he is unwilling to cause conflict with Raikage unless absolutely necessary, so the identity of the attacker is not so hard to guess, in all likelihood, it has to be the handiwork of Akatsuki, and this guess is more than likely to be true because there is mention of this member with plant-like appearance, which has to be Zetsu without a doubt.

But Kuroto is a little puzzled as to why would Akatsuki attack and intercept Raikage and his two guards?

'Moreover, even if they did attack, why would they want to blame this upon Amatsukami? Are they worried about something? That… should probably… not be the case, right!?' – thought Kuroto but he wasn't so sure.

At this time, Shisui who has also read the information asked Kakashi, "There is too little information about the enemy here, did Raikage not fight the new suspected member of Amatsukami?"

Kakashi shook his head awkwardly, "Raikage… Raikage was actually too impatient and rashly chased after this member of Amatsukami and was deliberately led away, neither was he able to catch this member nor did he have any battle with him. So, there is not much we know about this enemy."

"But it can be determined that Amatsukami's target was probably Rai." – After a pause, Shisui continued, "Rai's life and death status are unknown, but what could be the reason that Amatsukami went after Rai, weren't their target the nine Bijuu, so why to attack a non-Jinchuriki, after all, we do know that Amatsukami does not attack any unrelated party, so why attack him? Was it just the bounty on his head or did they hope to extract any information out of him, like the probable location of the Jinchuriki, or maybe the secrets of Storm Release?"

Kakashi said, "Both are possible, the second reason is more than likely to be the case, based on the fact that Amatsukami has already kidnapped two Uchiha Shinobi, it wouldn't be wrong to judge that Amatsukami is also targeting shinobi with different Kekkei Genkai too, but we can't loosen our guards as who knows when they will start to target Bijuu..."

Guy continued, "The threat on Naruto is more eminent; if Amatsukami dares to openly attack Raikage's entourage just for Kekkei Genkai user, unlike the other times when they carried out sneak attacks, there is no telling whether they will again sneak inside Konoha and try to do steal the Kyuubi, as such Hokage-sama has added more manpower to ensure Uzumaki Naruto's safety!"

'Storm Release huh!?' – Hearing Kakashi and Guy's words, Kuroto suddenly recalled Hiruko, and thought, 'Is it possible that Akatsuki's attack on this Storm Release user is related to Hiruko?'

Kuroto is not sure, this is because it's too early for Hiruko to act, even in the original series, Hiruko started to steal Kekkei Genkai when Naruto's generation had already grown up into teenage, it was also at that time that Hiruko completed his imperfect Chimera Technique.

But Kuroto has to also take into account that there have already been too many changes in the timeline, as such, the sudden attack and disappearance of this storm Release user at the hands of Akatsuki does lead to the possibility. Since Hiruko has joined Akatsuki, so this could be the only reason.

'But how come Hiruko manage to perfect Chimera Technique so early? Is it because he joined Akatsuki and got all the help he needed to complete that technique?' – thought Kuroto.

This could be the only possible case.

After completing their shift, Team-11 separated and went to their respective homes.

Shisui and Kuroto were going in the same direction, and after Kakashi and Guy left, he asked eagerly, "Kuroto-san, what's going on? Are there other members in Amatsukami?"

"If there were other members in Amatsukami, then why would I not inform you about them in advance!?" – snorted Kuroto, and continued, "The person who attacked Raikage and his entourage is someone else pretending to be a member of Amatsukami; their goal is obviously to put the blame of their actions on our head!"

Shisui was immediately angry, "Scoundrels! Kuroto-san, let's find them!"

Kuroto glanced at Shisui and said, "Don't be in such a hurry!" Then asked after a pause, "First answer this question of mine, what is the objective of Amatsukami?"

Shisui was confused as to why would Kuroto-San ask this, but he answered nonetheless, "To solve the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village?"

Kuroto nodded, "That's not exactly correct but it is one of the objectives in the big game, so does it really matter whether someone is putting the blame of their action upon Amatsukami? Although their intentions are obviously malicious towards us, by doing so, they are actually helping us further increase the threat of Amatsukami in the eyes of everyone, so this is obviously very helpful for us!"

Shisui thought a little and said, "Right, the more threat Amatsukami poses, the more concerned the Clan and village will grow towards them, so the internal conflict will continue to get delayed as time passes."

"Exactly!" – Kuroto nodded.

"But… but these people are doing such things and using our name to put on the blame, I always feel a bit uncomfortable, are we going to let them do as they wish?"

Kuroto said casually, "I have a few things in mind that we will be doing to deal with this problem, so you don't need to worry about this too much, what we should focus on now is to ensure Uzumaki Naruto's safety, because Akatsuki will definitely target Kyuubi!"

Shisui nodded as he understands the importance of Kyuubi for Konoha, and Uzumaki Naruto who hosts the Kyuubi must be protected at all costs.

With this final understanding, Shisui bid Kuroto farewell and returned to his home.

…

Kuroto who also returned to his home pondered a little, after biting his finger and printing the hand signs, Kuroto tapped his hand on the ground and muttered, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Poof…

Followed by a puff of white smoke, an all too familiar orange cat appeared before Kuroto that… didn't… look... familiar at all!

Kuroto frowned seeing this, it's because this orange cat's orange hair was covered in some stripes, these stripes were black in color over the orange fur, making the cat unrecognizable at the first glance.

Even Kuroto was a little confused and doubtful whether this is the same greedy cat, "You are…?"

Kasai, who was suddenly summoned by Kuroto looked a bit annoyed and said, "Meow, I am dying my hairs today, so I would not be delivering any message for today."

As soon as he heard that voice, Kuroto was sure that this fake tiger is definitely the same Kasai, and asked with s smile, "You gave me a good shock Kasai, for a moment I thought that a real tiger appeared in my room, those stripes look so real on you!" – said Kuroto in a fake surprise.

"Really?" – hearing from Kuroto, the cat was suddenly joyful and happily curled on the table, "Do they really look real? I guess I didn't do anything wrong after agreeing to his offer, the tiger stripes are dyed markings, I felt that when I get these markings, I will look intimidating and mighty."

'Who fooled this stupid cat?' – Kuroto thought but did not speak it out loud, and said, "Anyway, I called you because I want you to pass on a message to Shinichi."

The cat didn't seem to have heard what Kuroto spoke as it was busy daydreaming about how mighty and ferocious it will look with the tiger stripes, "Huh, it seems that hair dye shop is pretty good, you can also visit it and get some tiger stripes in the future if you want, I am telling you, you will also look intimidating, meow!"

Punch… crack…

Kuroto beat the table to bring Kasai out of his daydream and spoke, "Did you hear what I just said? I said that I called you this time because I want you to pass on a message to Shinichi for me!"

Kasai denied immediately, "Meow, I have to go back and complete the dying of my hair, consider me unavailable until then."

As soon as the cat spoke, Kuroto immediately took out a thousand Ryo bill and put it in front of Kasai.

"How about now?" – asked Kuroto.

A tangled expression was evident on Kasai's face, it still didn't faze it, looking back and forth between the thousand Ryo bill on the table and him, Kasai, shook his head, "It… gulp… I have to dye my hair…"

'Greedy Cat!' – Before Kasai could complete that sentence, Kuroto took out another thousand Ryo Bill and placed over the previous one, "How about now, do you still have to dye your hair?"

As soon as two bills were present in front, the cat's eyes were glued to them but still shook his head, "Hahaha… don't be funny, bribing me won't get you…"

Before Kasai could complete his words, Kuroto again took out another bill of thousand Ryo and put it over the previous two, and side while gritting his teeth, "I am sorry! I didn't hear you correctly, so what were you saying?"

By now the cat already had stars shining in his eyes and saliva literally dripping from the corners of his mouth, as soon as Kuroto asked the question, the cat fiercely grabbed the three thousand Ryo, and immediately put them inside the small bag hung around the neck while patting the chest with a determined expression, "Meow, you are of course a special exception to this, what message needs to be passed on to Shinichi, give it to me, I swear in the name of Nekobaa that it will be delivered in one minute!"

…

One of the many training grounds of the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Hiiragi, who had been training for the whole day, dropped his sword on the ground and wiped off the sweat with a hand towel.

The previous encounter with Homusubi has become a shame for Hiiragi, being defeated is another thing altogether, but being treated as nothing more than trash, and yet not being able to take a single step in the face of the enemy has become a thorn in Hiiragi's heart, he has not been able to let go of that look he received from Homusubi.

"To think that I would be intimidated by just a mere glance of his, it's unforgivable!" – whenever he thinks of that scene, Hiiragi not only feels anger at Homusubi but also upon himself, but he is ashamed of himself and his weakness, 'First I lost to Hyuga Kuroto, and now this Homusubi!?'

So, to make sure that such a thing does not happen again, Hiiragi has been constantly training whenever he is on a break or holiday from his regular Konoha Military Police Duties.

The effort he has been putting in is obviously being paid off as Hiiragi feels that his strength is steadily improving.

And this has made him feel somewhat better, but he still too far from reaching Homusubi's level who can fight against Kumo's A-B brothers at the same time.

After having wiped off the sweat, just as Hiiragi was about to draw his sword that rested on the ground, an unusual spiraling whirl appeared in front of him.

Hiiragi was immediately cautious and asked, "Who are you?"

He asked this because Hiiragi saw a figure emerging out of the eye of the spiraling whirl…

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Somewhere in the Land of Earth.

Kicking the beaten and bruised-up person lying in front of them, Kakuzu said to Sasori, "If not for the requirement that Hiruko needed him alive, I really want to dig out this guy's heart!"

There are only two things that Kakuzu desires, first is wealth and the other is heart, the desire of collecting as many good hearts as possible is almost instinctive to Kakuzu, therefore whenever Kakuzu encounters a strong shinobi in a battle, he will always have the urge to dig out their hearts.

Sasori also has a bit of greed in his eyes, "This Steel Release user was stronger than I expected, and dealing with him was more troublesome, he is actually quite strong; if made into a puppet I should be able to obtain a rare masterpiece."

Even with Sasori's high standards, he has to acknowledge the strength of the Steel Release user in front of him.

The fierce battle a while ago was not much difficult for Sasori or Kakuzu, but that was only because the Steel Release user knew nothing about their abilities, and was also affected by the poison that Sasori used.

If not for that, then the battle might have been much difficult, as the opponent's extreme defense and endurance courtesy to Steel Release made him a shinobi who matched the toughness and defense of the current Raikage if not the previous one.

After injecting the drug into the unconscious ninja's bloodstream, Kakuzu carried him by the neck and started walking towards the Land of Rain while muttering, "I hope that ritual would not destroy his heart."

Sasori remained silent and walked next to Kakuzu.

…

Somewhere in the Land of Bears.

A ninja wearing torn rags was constantly running through the forest.

Boom…

Boom…

Boom…

Suddenly a series of explosions sounded around him.

The sound of the explosions soon subsided and the dust cleared.

The shinobi who was running through the explosions suddenly turned around, threw several Shuriken in the direction of the enemy, and after immediately printing the hand seals, he shouted,

"Dark Release: Judgement!"

Whiish…

Accompanied by heavy winds, the tornado of Dark Chakra shot from the hands of the ragged ninja and rushed towards the sky.

Hiruko who was standing on the artificial bird had a Glasgow grin at this moment, it was as if everything was going perfectly according to his plan.

As the tornado of Dark Chakra was rushing towards him, the artificial bird slammed its wings fiercely and flew high up into the sky, using the altitude to its advantage it easily dodged the attack.

Immediately as the tornado passed away, the artificial bird flapped its wings again and shot down countless feathers.

Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish…

The feathers collided with the earth at an extremely fast speed and were nailed to the ground as a Kunai would.

After having dodged multiple attacks for so long, the ragged ninja was panting and did not have much stamina left anymore, so when he saw another rain that covered hundreds of meters of territory in the range of the attack; he had a look of despair on his face.

Soon, several of those feathers pierced through his body, and some were stuck on him, then there was an…

EXPLOSION…!!!

BOOOOM!!!

When the smoke and dust settled and the view became clear; it could be seen that the whole forest suffered severe damage as almost all the area was burnt to crisp, implying that the explosion was large enough to destroy the forest, but strangely enough, there was no damage on the one-meter vicinity where the ragged ninja lied in a pool of his own blood, although his life and death status was unknown at the moment.

After the enemy was successfully incapacitated, Shinno who did not act throughout the battle spoke in a complimentary tone, "Using explosions and physical attacks was indeed the most effective method to deal with someone who can easily absorb ninjutsu using the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai."

Hiruko nodded, "No Kekkei Genkai is perfect, so long as one master the right method to deal with them, winning is pretty much determined!"

With those words, the bird descended on the ground, Shinno jumped of the artificial bird and determined the state that the ragged ninja was in currently.

After confirming that he was indeed alive, Shinno injected the drug into the ragged ninja's bloodstream and then threw him on top of the artificial bird. "The Dark Release Kekkei Genkai has been captured, now all we need to do is to return to Amegakure, and wait for the others to bring the Kekkei Genkai users that they were assigned to bring, but I still wonder whether it would be possible for the leader to capture Hatake Kakashi?"

Hiruko firstly nodded then said with a confident expression, "I don't think there is anything to worry about it, the leader has the eyes of Rikudo Sennin, obviously Hatake Kakashi who only has a Sharingan would be no match to the leader, so obtaining the Sharingan shouldn't be much difficult, what I am more concerned about is Steel Release user, both Sasori, and Kakuzu are not the type to allow a good corpse to get away so easily. And then there is also some worry about the Swift Release user; if that person wants to escape; then stopping him is not so easy, unless you have the same level of speed then catching up to him is likely impossible for both Uchiha Shinchi and Biwa Juzo."

Shinno thought about it a little and said, "I don't think that will be an issue, as Uchiha Shinichi and Biwa Juzo's duo undoubtedly has the best teamwork out of all the duos, moreover, Uchiha Shinichi also has the Mangekyou Sharingan so he should be able to figure out something together with Juzo who can use Silent Killing."

Hiruko also thought about what Shinno said and then nodded, "I suppose that is true."

At this time, Shinno asked, "If all goes according to the plan then when are you sure to start the ritual?"

Hiruko said, "There will be a celestial phenomenon at the end of next month, and if all the Kekkei Genkai are successfully gathered, then I will try to complete the ritual ceremony during that celestial phenomenon."

Shinno's eyes flickered when he heard this, but masking it soon enough and not letting his thoughts be seen by Hiruko, he said with a smile, "I am really looking forward to seeing how things will change after this."

…

One of the Uchiha Training Grounds

The strange arrival of the person immediately made Hiiragi realize that the person in front of his not ordinary.

He immediately activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, and vowed to himself, 'I will not let the same thing that happened the previous time repeat again!'

The figure emerged out of the spiraling whirl and looked at Uchiha Hiiragi was had already raised his sword, activated his Sharingan, and stood in a battle-ready pose, then he cast a deep look at the pair of Sharingan spinning in his eye sockets, and chuckled, "You have a nice look in your eyes."

Looking at the black robe with golden patterns and the orange spiral mask that the other person wore, Hiiragi asked coldly, "Are you also a member of Amatsukami?"

Neither did the masked person denied nor did he agree.

"Where is Homusubi, where is he!?" – with a roar, Hiiragi dashed towards the masked person, and shouted, "Answer my question!"

In Hiiragi's heart, Amatsukami is indeed a very strong organization, But Homusubi is the only person he is truly afraid of; as for other members of Amatsukami? Hiiragi is not scared of them.

The masked man chuckled, "Why the hurry? Why do you want to know where Homusubi is so ardently!?"

Hiiragi's eyes become colder, "If you are here to play games, then you can die for all I care!" – finishing this sentence he immediately reached next to the masked and waved his sword with all his strength!

Wouch…

Accompanied by the sound of whistling wind, Hiiragi's sword traversed a perfect arc and slashed towards the masked man's throat.

But suddenly something that Hiiragi didn't anticipate happened, his attack that was supposed to have been too fast for the other party to be able to react, the attack that was meant to cleave off the enemy's neck of his torso in just one strike, that very same attack did not even give Hiiragi any feedback that he cut through the flesh of the enemy.

What happened was strange, the sword and him, both passed right through the enemy without even making momentary contact with the enemy, it was as if he passed right through a projection, it was as if what stood before his was not a person but a projection.

"Huh…?" – Hiiragi was confused.

Coming to a stop, Hiiragi turned back and glanced at the place where the masked-man or maybe some kind of projection stood?

At this time, Hiiragi had a puzzled look, and the three tomoe in his Sharingan were spinning, he was trying to see if what stood before him was some kind of Genjutsu.

While Hiiragi stood there in a stupor, the masked man also turned around and slowly walked towards him.

Looking at the approaching masked-man, and that similar indifferent and cold aura oozing off of him, Hiiragi instinctively trembled, and muttered, "Why am I feeling like this?... Why…? Am I…? A am I afraid of him? No… I am… not… I am not afraid of him!"

But no matter how much Hiiragi tried to reassure himself, his hand that carried the sword was shaking!

Hiiragi still gritted his teeth and raised his sword hand and waved fiercely, once… twice… thrice… fourth… fifth… again… again… and again… and again, and again, and again… and again… but no result, every time the sword passed right through the masked man's body, it was as if he is not even present here, yet he was there, laughing coldly!

"W-what are you? Are you even a person or some kind of ghost???" – shouted Hiiragi in hysteria.

"Perhaps I am the death itself." – masked-man muttered to no one.

At this point, Hiiragi has already started to back away, the sword in his hand dropped heavily to the ground, he turned around and wanted to run away but is that even possible?

The masked man grabbed Hiiragi's collar which did not allow Hiiragi to take even a single step and dragged him inside the spiraling whirl regardless of all the resistance Hiiragi tried to put.

Amidst the sound of Hiiragi's exclamation, shouts, and begging to let him go, his figure was distorted and disappeared into the spiraling whirl.

After the disappearance of Hiiragi, the masked man looked at the four faces carved on the Hokage Mountain at the other end of the village and then disappeared in a similar whirl, leaving the place to the strange silence where only the sound of cicadas echoed.

…

Hyuga Kuroto's home.

Poof…

With a cloud of white smoke, Kasai appeared before Kuroto and passed on a scroll to him.

Kuroto took the scroll and passed a thousand Ryo bills to the greedy cat. While the cat happily took the money and went away; Kuroto started reading the content written in the scroll, and after reading a bit, Kuroto's eyes narrowed as he muttered, "Sure enough I was right."

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On the scroll sent by Shinichi, he briefly mentioned the recent task that was assigned to him and Biwa Juzo, the task was to capture a Swift Release Kekkei Genkai user in the land of Whirlpool.

"Firstly, Storm Release, and now Swift Release…?"

Putting down the scroll from his hand, Kuroto's expression gradually became a solemn one.

If hearing the news of the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai user disappearing led Kuroto to guess, but now that he received the brief summary of the task that Shinichi was assigned with clearly answers his doubts. Kuroto can surely conclude that this is being done under Hiruko's directives.

'It seems that Hiruko has indeed completed his imperfect Chimera Technique.'

The reason why Kuroto was not in a hurry to obtain the Chimera Technique was that he believed that it would take Hiruko at least a decade or more to be able to complete his imperfect Chimera Technique.

Kuroto didn't really expect that Hiruko who has joined Akatsuki would complete 'his' Chimera Technique so early, this was beyond Kuroto's calculations and planning, and now that things have gone a little off-track Kuroto is caught off guard.

'Since Hiruko has already targeted Storm Release and Swift release, then he must have also been eyeing other Kekkei Genkai.' – After a pause, Kuroto continued his thought, 'With Akatsuki Organization assisting him in his plans of capturing the Kekkei Genkai users he has been targeting, it would be impossible for the targets to escape his palms, it's also possible that he has already succeeded in gathering all of them.' – As Kuroto though this, a sudden sense of crisis emerged in his heart.

Kuroto has to brainstorm a method to get his hands on that imperfect Chimera Technique, otherwise, it would be very very very difficult to obtain the information on the Chimera technique once Hiruko completes his Kekkei Genkai Stealing/Absorption Plan.

It must not be forgotten that in the original series, Hiruko's strength took a massive boost even after he fell short of success and failed to merge the last Kekkei Genkai, which was Sharingan, so even with his Kekkei Genkai Absorption Plan unsuccessful, he and his bird alone were easily able to overpower the combined might of the Konoha-11, and Kakashi.

And if Hiruko managed to complete his Kekkei Genkai Absorption Plan, then there is no telling just how high will his strength evolve.

When that happens, it would be very difficult to extract out the secrets of the Chimera technique from the hands of Hiruko, as such, Kuroto must do what he can to get his hands on the Chimera Technique which is the most crucial step for his Project Godhood!

So, after making up his mind, Kuroto again wrote a message on a scroll that will be sent to Shinichi, the content of the scroll was an order for Shinichi to pay close attention to Hiruko's every move and keep Kuroto notified.

Now Kuroto is obviously very anxious about which Kekkei Genkai Hiruko is targeting, whether they are the same as in the Original Series or is there some degree of deviation? Sas he succeeded in obtaining all of them, and lastly, when and where will the ritual to absorb the Kekkei Genkai take place, will it be the very same Mount Shumisen or some other place?

…

Next Day.

As soon as Kuroto and Shisui met for their regular duty to keep a watch over Uzumaki Naruto, Kuroto noticed that Shisui had a sullen face.

Curious, Kuroto asked, "What's wrong, did something happen in the Clan?"

Shisui spoke with a resentful tone, "Kuroto-san do you remember Uchiha Hiiragi?"

"Uchiha Hiiragi? Wasn't he one of the challenges that the Uchiha Clan sent?" – Kuroto answered, as he recalled Uchiha Hiiragi.

And not long ago, when Kuroto disguised himself as Homusubi, it was Hiiragi who he encountered, as such Kuroto does remember, Uchiha Hiiragi.

Shisui nodded and said, "Yes him, he disappeared last night, only his sword was found in one of the clan training grounds, so everyone suspects that it is again the work of Amatsukami."

Kuroto frowned when he heard this.

In the past, if a clan member was not seen for a night or two, then it was not that big of a deal, but now the situation is completely different.

Whether the village, the Uchiha, or other clans, they are all on very high alert under the threat of Amatsukami.

And the fact that Uchiha Hiiragi was not seen for an entire night, he did not even come for his assigned duties, as such there was only one conclusion, the shameless and bastards of Amatsukami have again acted against the Uchiha Clan, and this time they kidnapped Uchiha Hiiragi.

The reason why Kuroto frowned was another reason, it wasn't difficult for him to relate the disappearance of Uchiha Hiiragi with Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Plan, but what surprised him was this change.

In the original series, Hatake Kakashi was Hiruko's target, and Kakashi was also marked with the puppet Curse of Hiruko.

As such, Kuroto initially thought Hiruko's target will be Kakashi, but it appears that's no longer the case, but when Kuroto thinks about it, it does seem reasonable.

In the original series, Hiruko was not part of the Akatsuki, so he was obviously unwilling to deal with the Uchiha Clan, so Hatake Kakashi, who was a non-Uchiha, and yet had the Sharingan became his target because stealing Sharingan from Hatake Kakashi would have been much hassle-free when compared to the other Uchiha Shinobi.

But here the circumstances are different, Hiruko has joined Akatsuki, he is obviously not afraid of some Uchiha Clan, so he would obviously target a full-fledged Uchiha and try to obtain the complete Sharingan Kekkei Genkai, as such, Uchiha Hiiragi became the unlucky prey.

Or is it that the person who came to kidnap Hiiragi intentionally did not target Kakashi?

Kuroto thought, 'Someone was able to sneak into the village and also kidnap Uchiha Hiiragi without alerting anyone? Even in the Akatsuki, only Obito should be able to accomplish such a thing.'

And if Obito was indeed the attacker, then the chances of Hiiragi's escape were obviously zero without any question!

Regardless of all that, Kuroto can now be sure that the Kekkei Genkai that Hiruko is targeting are pretty much the same as they were in the original series, with Storm Release, Swift Release, and Sharingan confirmed, the other two Kekkei Genkai will obviously be Dark Release and Steel Release.

…

Hozuki Castle, the scene of 2nd Gokage Summit.

"A bounty-nin organization like Amatsukami composed of missing-nin appeared in the shinobi world precisely because of the incompetence of you all, so obviously you all should be responsible for this!" – Roared Yondaime Raikage as he smashed his fist on the wooden table in front of him.

Ay's current was past the level of tolerance, and his roars continued to be echoed the walls of this prisoner castle.

The previous attack not only caused the Yondaime Raikage to lose two of his powerful Jonin ninjas but also lose Kumogakure's face and his own prestige as a Kage of one of the five great Shinobi Villages.

With his violent temper, it is obvious that he is very furious at Amatsukami, but unfortunately, there is no method for him to vent his anger on the bastards of Amatsukami, as such the Kages of other villages became his targets, because Amatsukami comprises of missing-nin from their villages.

Sandaime Tsuchikage Onoki snorted softly, he had a look of disdain towards the Yondaime Raikage who couldn't even control his temper.

Onoki's snort obviously didn't go unnoticed by the Raikage, turning his head towards the Tsuchikage, Ay glared at him and spoke, "I have yet to completely settle accounts with Iwagakure about the assassination of Watanabe, I suspect that your Iwagakure is connected with Amatsukami, and you are secretly supporting them, otherwise, why would Amatsukami take Iwa's issued mission and assassinate our head ninja in Konoha?"

Listening to Raikage's accusation, everyone's eyes turned towards the Tsuchikage.

Tsuchikage was unperturbed, "What Amatsukami? We Iwagakure have never even heard of them until now! Even if Kumogakure wants to frame us to cover up your incompetence, you have to first bring a shred of solid evidence to prove your conjecture, otherwise, your accusations are nothing but complaints. Come on Raikage, do you any evidence?"

The already furious Raikage was more furious, and blue Lightning Chakra Cloak subconsciously appeared over him, it was extremely violent and threatening.

Tsuchikage was also not afraid, he floated in the air, eyes stern, dazzling white light started to emerge in between his hands as if he was ready to start whenever the Raikage wants.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure are old enemies, Sandaime Raikage died because of Iwagakure's betrayal, and almost ten thousand Iwa shinobi dies in the hands of Sandaime Raikage so the parties will obviously not settle such hatred so easily.

As such, it has not even been full five minutes since the Gokage Summit commenced and Tsuchikage and Raikage were already pointing blades *metaphorically* at each other's throats.

With Raikage and Tsuchikage ready to go at it, everyone in the room got up and raised their guards.

"Cough-cough…!" – At this time, Shimura Danzo who did not speak from the beginning stood up, drew everyone's attention towards him with a cough, and said, "Everyone, I proposed to hold the 2nd Gokage Summit so that we can peacefully sit down and discuss how to efficiently deal with these emerging bounty-nin and mercenary organizations like Amatsukami and Akatsuki, so let's let go of our previous hatred for a while and commence an effective…"

As Shimura Danzo was speaking, Raikage suddenly interrupted him midway, "Who do you think you are? Why has Hokage not come to the summit, and instead chose to send one of his subordinates to the Summit?"

Asked by Raikage, everyone's attention also shifted towards Shimura Danzo, waiting for his answer.

However, Shimura Danzo was silent, as if a cat got his tongue… nothing he could say would amount to anything, why? Because he is not the Hokage!

.

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Shimura Danzo expected to be able to represent Konoha in the Gokage Summit and hoped to convince the other four Kages to form a joint coalition with Konohagakure as the head of the Coalition to fight against the threat of Amatsukami and Akatsuki and gain huge prestige for him by doing so, to replace Hiruzen as the Hokage of the village in the future.

However, Raikage's cold words that did not have even an ounce of respect or patience made him suddenly realize that he, Shimura Danzo may be the consultant elder of Konoha, leader of the Root division of the Anbu department, he may be the second-most powerful political authority in his village, but here, at the scene of a Gokage summit, for the Shinobi world, he is nothing but a subordinate of Hokage.

At this moment, Danzo hoped from the bottom of his heart that he was the one wearing the Hokage Hat and the Hokage Robe, he bore the title of Konoha's Hokage, could speak for Konoha!

The deeply rooted ambition of becoming the Hokage was burning in his heart.

Sighing lightly, he suppressed all kinds of thoughts and said with a firm voice, "If Raikage-dono and Tsuchikage-dono want this Gokage Summit to become a ridiculous farce, and the name of the five great shinobi villages become a laughing stock for everyone, then please continue with your petty conflicts, I have nothing more to say."

Raikage also knows the purpose for which this Gokage Summit was organized, and also understands the consequences of behaving in an unrestrained manner in front of the Kage and representatives of all the other great villages, so he suppressed his anger and deactivated the Lightning Chakra Cloak.

Tsuchikage Onoki also did not continue anymore, and slowly descended back to his seat, but his face had a slight unsightly expression.

Followed by Raikage and Tsuchikage, the others also sat down one-by-one.

At this time, Raikage picked up a file and scattered documents before the other four representatives, "Look at these documents for yourself, Amatsukami and Akatsuki Organization is filled with missing-nin and Kekkei Genkai users from your villages!"

Kazekage Rasa picked up the file and frowned after reading the content recorded in it, "This is impossible, even in my village; apart from me, no other shinobi has mastered Magnet Release, let alone someone who has mastered Magnet Release and defected."

Tsuchikage sneered coldly, "This Magnet Release user of Amatsukami might as well be the missing Sandaime Kazekage-dono." – After having read the document, Onoki is again full of confidence as neither Amatsukami nor Akatsuki have any member who was a shinobi of Iwagakure.

As such, he can freely taunt others.

Kazekage Rasa spoke with murderous intent, "Tsuchikage-dono, I hope you understand the meaning of your words."

Elder Chiyo, who accompanied Kazekage Rasa to the Gokage Summit said, "It has already been confirmed that Sandaime Kazekage-sama has been assassinated by the missing-nin Sasori, who fell to the wrong path and chose to join the Akatsuki, so please be mindful of your words Tsuchikage-dono."

In fact, Suna's leaders have long suspected that their previous Kazekage who has gone missing has somehow died, otherwise, they would not choose the next Kage.

However, they were still unwilling to release this news to the public for the sake of reputation.

But in the previous fierce battle that Suna had with the members of Akatsuki just a few months ago, Sasori personally confessed to having killed the Sandaime Kazekage, as such, it is no longer possible to hide this, so Chiyo decided to announce this news on behalf of Sunagakure.

Karatachi Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage of Kirigakure, and the Jinchuriki of Sanbi; read through the documents, and spoke after a long silence, "There are no Ice Release users in Kirigakure now, the Ice Release user of Amatsukami probably left Kirigakure even before I became the Mizukage as I have never heard of any shinobi of the Yuki Clan have such strength that he can go toe to toe with Sandaime Hokage.

As for Biwa Juzo of Akatsuki, he also left Kirigakure before I became the Mizukage."

Raikage said with a dissatisfied tone, "All you lot are doing is shirking responsibility!"

At this time, Shimura Danzo said, "Regardless of who these shinobi are, or whatever their past affiliations are, what we cannot deny is the threat they pose to the world of shinobi and the five great powers. More so, when Amatsukami has openly announced that they will start targeting the nine Bijuu, so instead of our petty conflicts, we must focus on how to eradicate these organizations as soon as possible!"

Targeting Bijuu is definitely hitting the sensitive nerves of all the major shinobi villages.

The first one to agree was obviously the Raikage, who deeply understood the threat of Amatsukami, "I agree!"

The young Mizukage himself is a Jinchuriki, so he also agreed without much hesitation, "Seconded!"

After a bit of thinking, Kazekage also nodded, "I also agree!"

Seeing that the overall direction has been set, Tsuchikage also nodded, "I have no objection."

Now that all five villages have unanimously agreed to deal with these emerging organizations, the four Kage and Shimura Danzo discussed the specific matters including the encirclement and suppression of these organizations.

However, it has not been very long since the second great shinobi war ended, so the distrust between the various shinobi villages is too deep.

Neither of the shinobi villages has been pushed to their bottom line, nor was there any declaration of a war against the entire shinobi world, as was the case in the Original Series, so Shimura Danzo's proposal to establish a joint crusade was immediately rejected by the Kage of various villages.

Danzo was obviously angry but he was also helpless, so all he could say was, "Someday, you will all regret this decision you made today!"

The four Kage looked at each other, but neither of them commented anything.

In the end, the result of the 2nd Gokage Summit resulted in a joint agreement that the five great powers will each be responsible for the encirclement and suppression of the activities of these emerging organizations within their own countries, and will also share any and all intelligence involving Amatsukami and Akatsuki.

…

Outside Hozuki Castle.

The masked-man quietly stood on a tree, supporting his back on the tree stem, and looking at the distant island where the Hozuki Castle is located.

At this moment, Zetsu's figure emerged from the tree trunk and said, "The 2nd Gokage Summit seems to have been concluded."

"That was fast…?" – masked-man muttered in surprise, then immediately asked, "What did they talk about?"

Zetsu spoke, "There are too many sensor-nin all around the Hozuki Castle, moreover there was also something that was constantly absorbing chakra, I was unable to figure what that was but regardless, I was unable to get too close to the meeting room, as such I am unaware of what topics they discussed."

The masked man nodded and asked again, "How long until they start returning to their respective villages?"

Zetsu said, "They have already started the return journey, the fastest Raikage is no longer in Hozuki Castle."

The masked man nodded and was silent for a while.

It is undoubtedly the best choice to intercept one of these Kage and intercept them on their returning journey.

He did not consider Raikage and Tsuchikage, because both of them are not easy to be captured, therefore, masked men thought of the current Kazekage and Mizukage.

As for Shimura Danzo?

Masked Man didn't even bother to think about him.

Keeping the ambitious as he is will only stimulate Konoha's internal strife and induce more infighting, by not being under control, Shimura Danzo would do more damage to Konoha than when controlled.

Now that he was left with only two targets, the Masked man asked, "Who are the guards following the Kazekage?"

Zetsu replied, "The Puppet master Chiyo, and the commander of Sunagakure Anbu department, Pakura of the Scorch Release."

"Dealing with three Kage Class individuals will be a bit troublesome, especially Pakura with her Scorch Release!" – Shaking his head, the masked man asked again, "Who are the guards of Mizukage?"

The Kazekage has already made several attempts to eliminate Pakura, the threat to his reign. But every time something comes up and Rasa is left with no choice but to postpone Pakura's elimination into the future.

The first time was because of the urgent request by the Miko of the Land of Demon, Rasa was left with no choice but to temporarily give up his thoughts and sent Pakura to the Land of Demon to assist Miko-sama in her conquest to save the world by sealing the demon Moryo.

For the second time, when Rasa had already planned out the cleaning arrangements of Pakura and was about to implement them, he was again left with no choice but to put them on hold as the Ryuumyaku was suddenly stolen.

For the third time, not long ago, he has just made up his mind to clean up Pakura, but it just so happened that the Sasori crusade force that Suna had just formed encountered several members of Akatsuki, and in those consecutive fights, Sunagakure suffered a heavy number of casualties, again leaving Rasa with no other choice but to put away the thought of cleaning up Pakura for the time being.

Therefore, Pakura, who should have died as a part of the negotiation between two nations, and to ensure the reign of the Kazekage not only did not die but became the current Anbu Commander of Sunagakure, and the Kazekage Rasa who has been trying to clean her up for so long might have never thought that the only reason he is alive and not became a prey to the masked man's planning is because of the presence of Pakura of the Scorch Release as his guard!

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'Are you finally going to make a move on Kirigakure?' – thought Zetsu with a strange smile.

While Uchiha Madara was still alive, he secretly began to attach strings to Kirigakure, as such many of the high-ranking shinobi of Kirigakure became a puppet in Madara's hands without them even realizing it.

This is also the reason why Uchiha Madara was able to kidnap Nohara Rin under the guise of this being Kirigakure's doing, sealed Sanbi inside her, and also branded her with the Forbidden Individual Curse Tag, leaving her with no other choice but to kill herself at the hands of Kakashi so that Kirigakure's plan doesn't come to fruition.

Aside from all the planning hidden behind Nohara Rin's 'death,' there were two reasons why Madara selected Kirigakure to control from the shadows.

The first reason was their war potential. Kirigakure's overall strength was second only to Konoha because of all the Shinobi clans with strong Kekkei Genkai living in the Land of Water, which included, Yuki Clan with Ice Release, Kaguya Clan with Corpse Bone Vein, Terumi Clan with Lava Release and Boil Release, Hoshigake Clan, Karatachi Clan, Hozuki Clan, and so on.

The second reason is the location of Kirigakure. The Land of Water is located at the edge of the mainland, with the only mode of transportation to the continent being through the sea, so the flow of information outside was very limited.

And Madara's control over Kirigakure is also one of the many reasons for Kirigakure's instability and internal conflicts.

Madara's death and the rise of Karatachi Yagura to the position of the Yondaime Mizukage has gradually started to change Kirigakure for the better, the policies advocated by the new Mizukage have started to calm the internal strife within the Land of Water and there are signs that Kirigakure would soon rise.

So if the Yondaime Mizukage is allowed to continue his rule over Kirigakure, then all the efforts Uchiha Madara put to control Kirigakure from the shadows would amount to nothing, as such Zetsu also wants the masked man to again take control of Kirigakure.

"The guards following Mizukage are two elite Anbu!" – said Zetsu.

The masked thought a little and said, "In that case, we will take control of Mizukage, inform Nagato and Konan to meet me in the Land of Water, and there we will ambush Mizukage, effectively controlling over the entire Kirigakure from the shadows."

Karatachi Yagura is indeed strong, with his own strength he managed to reach a degree of consensus with the Sanbi sealed inside him, as such his strength is obviously nothing to scoff at.

Although the masked man is sure that he can easily deal with the Mizukage very easily because of his Mangekyou Sharingan and Wood Release, having Pain and Konan will only make it much easier to take control of Mizukage.

Zetsu said as he submerged into the ground "Alright, I will inform Nagato and Konan to meet you in the Land of Water in about two weeks from today."

The masked man also disappeared into the spiraling whirl, closely following the soon-to-be puppet Mizukage.

…

A week later, Hyuga Kuroto's home.

Poof…

With a poof of white smoke, the tiger-striped orange cat appeared before Kuroto.

As soon as the cat appeared before she asked for One thousand Ryo as usual and after Kuroto gave the thousand Ryo bill, the cat passed a scroll to Kuroto and left into a poof of white smoke.

Kuroto unfolded the scroll and read the information on it, and muttered, "At the end of next month, there is going to be a celestial phenomenon which would lead to the occurrence of Aurora lights, and Hiruko plans to use that opportunity to complete the ritual?"

Kuroto deduced this based on the intelligence that Shinichi sent him.

"Currently it is the second week of this month, which means that the ritual will take place about six weeks from now?"

When Kuroto thought of the fact that six weeks from now Hiruko will be performing the ritual to absorb the five Kekkei Genkai, the sense of urgency in Kuroto's mind increased.

This is because he wants to go to the scene and personally observe the entire ceremony in full detail.

But the problem is that the entire Akatsuki will also be present there since Pain had arranged the members of Akatsuki to help gather the Kekkei Genkai therefore it is obvious that they will ensure his safety during the ritual process, so it is obvious that Kuroto can't be present there so openly.

"How should I sneak there?" – as Kuroto thought of this issue, he suddenly got an idea.

…

A month later.

In this period of a month, Kuroto put a lot of his time to train the Female Fire Nature Clone, although the time he spent training this clone has been very short, its effects were still very visible.

It is probably because of the fact that Kuroto already has experience of cultivating the clones so he did not face any active problems.

However, there are some passive problems, one of which is the Chakra Natures of this Clone body, because of the Shisui's genes present in the clone, the chakra natures of this clone body are Fire, Lightning, and Yin.

Fire Release and Yin Release are obviously the primary Chakra Natures, while Lightning Release is the secondary Chakra nature.

And as far as Kuroto knows, there doesn't seem to be any Kekkei Genkai in the shinobi world that is a fusion of Fire Release and Lightning Release.

The only thing that even comes close to being a possibility of being a fusion of Fire Release and Lightning release is Uchiha Sasuke's Blaze Release, but Kuroto knows that Blaze Release developed by Uchiha Sasuke is Amaterasu molded into different forms under the control of Sasuke's Kagutsuchi.

As such, there is really no Kekkei Genkai with Fire and Lightning being its elementary Chakra Natures.

Therefore, if Kuroto wants to attain his objective of cultivating this female clone up to the standards for being used in the ritual, then Kuroto has to develop an all-new Kekkei Genkai that has never appeared in the Shinobi World before.

This is obviously not an easy task, but he has no other choice but to do so.

After completing a day of training, Kuroto came to his laboratory.

Looking at Uchiha Ryota on the test bench, his eyes grew colder.

Right now, the two pairs of eyeballs in each eyesocket have started to return into a normal shape, but they are far from being merged completely as there are still two pupils clearly visible in each eye socket, this indicated that the two pairs have yet to integrate successfully.

And here lies the problem, it has already been almost two months since the fusion process started, but it is still far from being completed, and this is making Kuroto very annoyed.

Considering his plans, Kuroto decided that he can't take it anymore and said coldly, "Stop pretending to be unconscious Uchiha Ryota, I have not injected any drug inside of you for the past month, and the fact that you are conscious is not hidden from my eyes."

It was a few days ago, that Kuroto decided to stop injecting the drugs into Ryota's body so that the speed of fusion of the two pairs increases, and it is obvious that Ryota's consciousness was restored because of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan Fusion.

Initially, Kuroto did not point it out because, there is no threat from Ryota anymore, his whole body is sealed from inside and out as such he can't even blink his eyes without alerting Kuroto. And because there is a need for a host whose will would guide the fusion of two Mangekyou Pairs, so Kuroto chose to remain silent and let Ryota do the work that he is 'supposed' to do!

After all, that's all he is useful for anyways.

But Ryota who was detained, tortured, and almost killed by Kuroto has yet not learned the lesson, let alone speeding up the fusion of two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan, he even put his effort to deliberately slow down the already slow fusion process, which has only increased Kuroto's dilemma, greatly annoying him!

Exposed by Kuroto, Ryota grinned weakly and flapped his lips speaking something but no voice came out. Although Ryota couldn't perfectly control his muscles to grin or speak, Kuroto noticed that it was a mocking grin and also understood what he was trying to speak because of his training in lip reading.

"Sure enough, I can't hide from you, but what is with your voice…? Why does it… why do you sound like a woman?"

Kuroto didn't bother to answer Ryota's question about why his voice sounds like a woman, and asked instead, "Why are you trying to prevent the fusion of two Mangekyou Sharingan into Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan?"

Ryota again flapped his lips, "Why? Because it's fun! Annoying is fun! Without my will to be a guide to the fusion process to the two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan, you will never get the completely integrated Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan!"

Kuroto frowned, "Don't waste your meaningless effort, first and foremost, the two pairs will integrate regardless of what you try! All your futile attempts to stop the process will slow it down and nothing more, so your efforts are worthless in the end.

And you seem to be confused about some things, you are not the only Uchiha, there is Hideki in one of my other secret labs, then there is Shisui, moreover, your attempts to annoy me will only increase your suffering before your inevitable death, are you so hell-bent on suffering more?"

But it seemed that Ryota didn't care. "You can try whatever you want, but as long as these eyeballs are in my eyesockets I am going to do everything to stop their integration!"

Kuroto was silent for a moment and then asked curiously, "Since you chose to communicate with me, it means that you still have something that you want from me, right? Come on tell me, what is it that you want?"

When asked by Kuroto; Ryota suddenly went silent and finally spoke, "I want to have a final fight with you; using all the power that an Uchiha can have, that is with the power of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan!"

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Kuroto was slightly surprised upon learning what Ryota wants from him, and immediately arched his lips in a grin, "Given the state you are in, and after understanding what I put you through, do you still think that you have the qualifications to put such terms before me?"

Ryota, "Whether I am qualified or not, you should know this even better than I do, but it does not matter, what I spoke to you is what I want, my death is inevitable even I know that, even if you don't kill me, I don't have much longer to live and this fact can't be changed, and the same is the case with my brother, so fighting you using the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, for which you made us suffer so much is what I want, I want to experience the epitome of power that an Uchiha can have!"

This time Kuroto was silent.

The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan indeed represents the epitome of power that an Uchiha can have from the Yin part of Rikudo Sennin's power.

It is also the embodiment of the peak spiritual power from the lineage of Rikudo Sennin.

Therefore, Ryota's desire to experience this power before his inevitable death is not so strange, if one thinks about it.

And to be honest, Kuroto would rather have Ryota complete the fusion of the two pairs because that would yield the best Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan pair at the current time.

Besides, now that the fusion process has started, Ryota's will has already merged with the eyes so Ryota's will is important for the fusion.

Kuroto knows this very well because he has also awakened the Tenseigan.

While Kuroto was busy thinking, Ryota continued flapping his lips, "You said that you noticed me gaining consciousness, yet why did you not do anything about it? Was it because you knew that I am powerless to do anything? Or is it because there are some differences when I am the host or when someone else is the host? I don't care what are those differences, what I care about is what I want, so either you agree to what I want, or you can keep waiting!"

Kuroto said, "Do you really think that you will be able to defeat me with the power of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan? Because if you do? Then I am sorry to have to tell you that, it wouldn't make any difference, you will lose, miserably at that!"

Ryota said, "I don't care, you said that Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan represents the epitome of power that an Uchiha can ever have, I refuse to die without experiencing this power, regardless of the result, whether I win or lose, I must!"

"There is no whether you lose or win. You will lose, and you can't change that result!" – Kuroto continued after the pause, "And how am I supposed to trust you that you will not use this opportunity to destroy your eyes!?"

Ryota said, "You do not need to pretend, I already know that you have planted a curse tag in my heart, it prevents me from killing myself and also prevents me from destroying these eyes!"

Kuroto was a little surprised that Ryota was able to perceive the cursed tag, but when he thought about it, it didn't seem strange, "Oh? You noticed?"

Ryota continued. "Obviously! Since there is already a cursed tag placed in my heart, so obviously I can't destroy the eyes, so you have no reason to be worried about."

Kuroto thought a little, and after weighing it a little, he finally nodded, "Alright then, since you are so hell-bent on suffering another defeat, I will just let you experience it."

…

One week later, Somewhere in the Land of Tea.

Uchiha Ryota finally tore off the anti-bacterial covering that was wrapped over his eyes, and finally opened his eyes. At this time, an extremely complex scarlet and black pattern appeared in his eye sockets, which comprised of a five-pointed star, as well as several tomoe shapes within the Mangekyou copy wheel.

After adapting to the change in light, Ryota muttered with emotion, "So this is… this is what Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan feels like?"

Not far away stood Kuroto, he was calmly observing Uchiha Ryota who has torn off the anti-bacterial cloth and revealed the pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

At this time, Ryota's eyes landed on Kuroto.

Ryota spoke, "Can I ask you a few questions?"

Kuroto nodded, "Ask."

Ryota spoke, "Who was the person I killed back when I tried escaping from the prison cell I was locked in? It wasn't a shadow clone, it was you, right? Then how are you still alive?"

Kuroto indifferently answered, "True, that was not a shadow clone, but it was a clone created from my genes."

"Is that so?" – Muttered Ryota and then asked again, "And why did your voice sound like that of a woman that time, was it also because…"

Before Ryota could complete his sentence, Kuroto nodded, "Yes, that was also a clone of mine."

Ryota nodded… he didn't really care about all this.

He carefully observed the pair of Byakugan in Kuroto's eye sockets, and asked, "One more question… how come you, a Hyuga have such power and so many weird techniques? As far as it is known, Byakugan does not grant its user access to such abilities, then how are you…?"

Kuroto was silent for a while, and then said, "If the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan can evolve into Mangekyou Sharingan and Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, then why can Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan not evolve into a higher form of Dojutsu, after all, both Sharingan and Byakugan are branches of the same tree?"

Ryota nodded, "Huh? – then asked with a frown, "But what do you mean by Branches of the same tree?"

Kuroto shook his head indifferently, "You don't need to care about that, enough questions already we can start whenever you are ready."

Ryota no longer asked anything and rushed towards Kuroto as he spoke with a grin, "It's fine even if you don't want to answer, let me once experience the true power of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, I don't believe that the Uchiha Clan is any inferior to the Hyuga Clan!"

As he rushed towards Kuroto, the golden phantom started to emerge out of his body.

Ryota obviously did not start any tentative attacks, he already understands just how monstrous Hyuga Kuroto's strength is, so no need to start with simple attacks, as such he directly used the Chakra and activated the Susanoo.

Huala…

Layer after layer stagged over the Susanoo, and within a few moments; the huge Golden Susanoo appeared on the battlefield.

The shape of the Susanoo was not much different, but its size was considerably larger than the one Ryota used previously, reaching up to an astonishing titanic size.

Even a single of its movement produced large wind pressures.

Even Kuroto was a bit surprised as he stared at the humongous Susanoo in front of him.

Uchiha Ryota stood in the diamond cavity of the Full Body Susanoo as an additional cloak of Golden Flames covered the humongous body of the Susanoo.

Even Kuroto had to take this fight a bit seriously…

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To be honest, Kuroto doesn't really know what the true limits of Susanoo can be.

The Full-Body Susanoo used by Uchiha Madara in the Fourth Great Shinobi War was more than capable of cutting mountains with just pure wind pressure generated by waving his swords.

While the Susanoo used by Rikudo Sennin was as big as the Juubi itself, so there is no telling on what exactly is the limit of Susanoo.

The reason Kuroto agreed to this request of Ryota is also related to one of his interests, as Kuroto is really interested in seeing the full extent of the power of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan that Ryota, (the original owner of the dojutsu) can display.

Collecting this data is obviously important and can be used as a point of reference.

From the size, Ryota's Full Body Susanoo can be compared to the like of the one displayed by Madara and Indra, but Kuroto still believes that maintaining such a high chakra-consuming Susanoo would be extremely burdensome for Ryota.

After all, Ryota does not have the exaggerated Chakra level of the two sons of Rikudo Sennin, and there is also a probability that Okuninoshi is no longer accessible to him so meeting Chakra requirements is extremely difficult for him.

However, despite all this, there is still a sense of heavy oppression oozing off of the Susanoo's body and Kuroto can be sure that even the likes of Kage Class shinobi would have trouble bearing such heavy pressure.

At this time, Ryota spoke, "Hyuga Kuroto, I feel that I am omnipotent and almighty now, come! For I am going to enjoy this last battle of mine, If you defeat the current me, then I wouldn't feel wronged even after everything that you put me and my brother through!!!"

Whoosh…

In an instant, the cyan-blue chakra flames wrapped around Kuroto's whole body, as his eyes changed from Byakugan to Tenseigan.

Looking at those cyan eyes, Ryota instinctively felt the power they seem to contain, and he can't help but shudder upon realizing this.

Taking a deep breath, Ryota calmed himself and asked Kuroto, "Those are your evolved eyes?"

Kuroto did not bother to answer, he just raised his hand gently.

Instantly, one after another, truth-seeking balls appeared behind Kuroto's back and their number reached a total of five.

Staring at those black orbs, Ryota was reminded of just how much of a cheat they are, and he can't help but remember that final technique that Hyuga Kuroto used which completely decimated his Susanoo.

'I have to be the one to make the first move!' – thought Ryota.

Instantly, Ryota's Susanoo flew up high into the sky and the four long swords made out of Golden Flames appeared lengthened.

Immediately afterward, he started the flurry of attacks with the four swords at the same time, waving them with such might that each sword left hundreds of meters of a gully on the ground.

Compared with the huge figure of the Susanoo, Kuroto's figure was akin to an ant.

But that very same ant-like figure was not at all scared by the incoming sword strikes and in fact, had a total indifferent look on his face when met with the four swords.

Suddenly his figure disappeared from his position, and passed through the small gaps between the four swords like a high-speed cyan streamer, rushing towards the Susanoo.

Boom…

The four giant chakra swords that failed to cut Kuroto; slashed the mountain below into several pieces, and splashed the entire battlefield with hot golden flames, encasing everything into a sea of flames that even melted the ground.

But completely unaffected by this attack, Kuroto who was rushing towards the Susanoo increased his speed as he simultaneously controlled the Truth-Seeking Ball and injected Tenseigan Chakra into them.

Kuroto doesn't want to have a very long and dragged-out battle with Ryota, so he opted to directly use the strongest technique in his arsenal to deal with Ryota in the shortest amount of time possible.

The advantage of Truth-Seeking Ball is obvious, and Kuroto plans to perfectly utilize this advantage in this battle.

Ryota also noticed the chakra fluctuations emitting out of Kuroto and understood that he has to do something to block Kuroto, he waved the chakra swords, slashing towards Kuroto, with the intent to cut him as soon as he can, but he was unable to do so!

The reason is also very simple, this is only the second time Ryota is using Mangekyou Sharingan or Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, coupled with how fast Kuroto is dodging all those attacks, it is obvious that Ryota can't keep up with that speed even with the heightened insight and visual acuity.

As Kuroto was about to approach the Susanoo, suddenly a hundred-meter-long sword made up of Golden Chakra appeared in Kuroto's hands, and that very instant, the speed of Kuroto accelerated three times to his previous speed.

Ryota was obviously unable to react to the sudden increase in Kuroto's speed, however, he still tried to clutch Kuroto's figure into a handgrip with two of Susanoo's hands.

But that was obviously useless as before the arms could approach him, Kuroto waved a hundred meters long Golden Sword.

Slash…

The Golden Chakra Sword easily cut through both the arms, as if the entire defense of Susanoo amounted to nothing!

Ryota was obviously shocked, "How…!?"

He didn't even have any words to express his shocked state.

Even after he had overestimated the power that the Sword contained, Ryota couldn't believe that with a single swipe a pair of arms encased with Susanoo's armor, further strengthen by his Yaoyorozu will be cleaved off as if they were nothing!

"Is the difference so big?" – Ryota.

"Hmm, seems like I will have to add more orbs to cut the chest part in just one slash!" -Kuroto

At this time, the two hands that were cut off separated from the Susanoo and fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Kuroto whose speed was slowed a bit, swayed from left to right, as two more Truth-Seeking Balls appeared on his left hand, which Kuroto merged into the Golden Sword.

Suddenly, the extremely strong Golden Sword became sharper, and dazzling that for a moment Ryota had to cover his eyes as he couldn't directly look at the Golden Sword…

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The sudden dazzling light that illuminated the sky with a golden glow prompted Ryota to raise his only hand to cover his eyes.

At this time, the two hands that have fallen on the ground exploded further splashing flames everywhere.

The sound of the explosion was obviously very loud, and it still lingered within Ryota's ear.

After forcefully adapting to the golden bright light Ryota suddenly realized that the Golden Sword that Kuroto carried was longer than before and it had already penetrated the chest part of the Susanoo armor.

Two cleaved off hands and the chest pierced by the sword reminded Ryota of that night, and he was instantly angrier when he saw this!

After getting the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan (the epitome of power that an Uchiha can have ) Ryota knows that he stands at the pinnacle of the Uchiha Clan, at the same level of Uchiha Madara, and yet he is so helpless in the face of Hyuga Kuroto, even if he knows that his defeat is inevitable, he doesn't want to be so helpless!

"Ahhhhhh...!!!!!"

With a roar, Ryota urged 'his' Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan with all his power such that bloody veins became apparent on the white sclera, but he didn't care and continued putting more and more and more and more… chakra, squeezing out every bit and fragment, his body started to suddenly age, yet he did not care…

What he cared now was to not die miserably!

Followed by Ryota's roar, and the instantaneous burst of chakra, the golden flams that were encasing the Susanoo armor with a protective cloak sizzled and grew violent, raging uncontrollably.

It grew and its form changed, the empty spots from where the arm was cleaved off were now covered with the golden flames that took the shapes of two giant hands of the Susanoo armor.

And it seems that Ryota was not finished with this, his roar continued, and the Golden Flames even covered the empty interior of the Susanoo armor.

Now the giant Susanoo was a Golden Flame giant, and when Kuroto saw such a change, his face sank.

Although not as strong as Uchiha Sasuke's Indra Susanoo, this Susanoo was only a step or two away from reaching such high power, all that Ryota lacked to be able to match that level of power was the amount of Chakra!

But Kuroto knew that even if this Susanoo is not as exaggeratedly strong as Uchiha Sasuke's Indra Susanoo, he still can't be careless with it.

This is because he is more than familiar with the characteristics of the Golden Flame. Kuroto has already done experiments with this Golden Flame and understands this very well that aside from being very hot and violent, the Golden Flames which is actually a special ability of Ryota's Mangekyou Sharingan (aside from the two dojutsu abilities) these Golden Flames seems to be able to burn the Charka itself.

Which is to say, once pure Chakra comes in contact with these Golden Flames, these flames violently react and engulf that source itself.

As a result, the Chakra source will be instantly consumed, which is extremely dangerous!

Not wanting to take the risk of getting touched by those flames, Kuroto instantly dispelled the Golden Sword, then collected all the Truth-Seeking balls in his right hand, to which he further injected the Tenseigan Chakra and then shouted, "Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

Instantly, an extremely violent silver storm spewed out of Kuroto's hand.

The raging winds of the violent silver hurricane filled the interior of Ryota's Susanoo, in just a short time and blew away the Golden Flames.

"But… tch, damn it!"

Even Ryota who was standing in the diamond cavity on the forehead of the Susanoo was blown away by the hurricane and its wings were ridden with holes at this moment.

Boom…

The huge Susanoo that could no longer stay in the sky lost control and fell on the sea past the mountain cliff.

As the huge body of Susanoo fell into the sea, it set off a huge wave, and the wave swept past the mountainous coast.

Fortunately, enough, there was no house near the coast.

The reason why Kuroto chose the Land of Tea as a battlefield because he knows that the Land of Tea is pretty isolated and the chances of people of shinobi interfering with the fight will be extremely less, so Kuroto would not have to worry about being discovered by anyone.

Gurgle… Gurgle…

With the Susanoo falling into the sea, the water poured into the hole, and soon enough the entire Susanoo was seemingly submerged into the sea.

Even the golden flames that were again lit because of Ryota's chakra, although did not extinguish, were still weakened.

On Kuroto's side, because of the Tenseigan, his vision was not at all hindered by all the rising steam that was starting to cover the battlefield along with the dust, and smoke.

Seeing that the Susanoo was starting to submerge into the water, Kuroto stopped the Silver Tornado and again drew his right hand as the Gold Sword reemerged in his hand.

And without even waiting for a second to pass, Kuroto waved the sword.

Whoosh…

The Bright Golden Chakra Sword, drew a shining arc, leaving a conspicuous halo wherever it passed and cut-off everything in its path with ease.

And soon it ran across the head of Ryota's Susanoo, and without even the slightest of effort, the sword easily cut-off that head.

Now Kuroto used Rein Wheel Pull to pull out Uchiha Ryota from the broken Susanoo, and smashed him on the other side of the shore.

Boom…

With a muffled noise, Ryota, who was thrown by Kuroto smashed violently on the side of the shore.

Cough-cough… Cough-cough… Cough-cough…!

Ryota was coughing violently, at this point it was getting hard for him to breathe, his cells have deteriorated very badly and it is very hard for him to even stay alive for a few more minutes.

Staring at Kuroto who had an indifferent look, as if nothing went beyond his expectation during the entire battle, Ryota chuckled, "You… are a monster… you know that? And just what kind of ninjutsu do you use, all of them… all of them…!"

Kuroto did not answer Ryota's question, although he still had that indifferent look, he was actually panting for breath, after all, using Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion simultaneously with such power is also a bit difficult for him, so obviously he was also a bit drained in this battle.

After all, he went as far as to use seven Truth-Seeking Orbs in both the techniques, so obviously there is some exhaustion!

Ryota didn't really expect any answer from Kuroto at this point, but he went on to say, "You know, I was able to notice that…"

Kuroto did not care what Ryota wanted to say, so he continued ignoring Ryota's words, and as soon as he recovered his breath, he immediately crouched down and took out the pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan from Ryota's eye sockets.

Ryota obviously did not resist, he knew that this was inevitable, moreover, he was unable to stop Kuroto, both because of the other person's strength, his own weakness, and tiredness, but most of all, because of that curse tag buried in his heart.

After losing his eyes, Ryota kept asking, "Tell me, why did I lose? Was it just because you were too strong?"

Kuroto put the pair of Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan inside a small nutrition tank, deactivated the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, and then spoke, "I have nothing to speak, even before the battle started I repeatedly told you that you have no chance of winning, yet you wanted to experience the painful defeat, and that's what you are getting."

Ryota nodded, then again said, "You are right! But that is not the answer to my question."

Kuroto sighed and spoke, "Unfortunately, this is shinobi world, a world where even the dead are unable to keep the secrets buried, as such I am not going to speak anything that I do not want to."

Ryota sighed, "Maybe you are right?"

Kuroto looked at the tears mixed with blood coming out of Ryota's hollow eye sockets, he sighed and after groaning a little, Kuroto spoke, "Although I won't be telling you anything about my powers, what I can tell you is that the strength you displayed in this battle even with that half mutilated body of yours, I can most definitely say that your overall strength has far surpassed the level of a Kage, in fact, you have reached the level of a Super Kage, although you are not as strong as Uchiha Madara, and Shodaime-Sama, you are still one of the strongest shinobi to have lived in the shinobi world.

The defensive power of your Susanoo and those Golden Flames makes you extremely strong, and I can guarantee that very few people in the shinobi world, whether dead or alive ever reached your level.

Unfortunately for you, no one will ever come to know of your strength."

"So, you are telling me that it's not that I am too weak or powerless, but that you are too strong?" – with a wry smile, Ryota asked again, "Can you tell me your purpose for doing all this? With your strength, let alone Konoha, you can control the entire Shinobi world, no one will ever be your opponent, so why go through all this trouble? Why make me and my brother go through such a horrible experience? Why do you want Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan? You have no use for those eyes. Why go to such lengths for things that are completely meaningless to you?"

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Hearing Ryota's earnest questions, Kuroto was silent for a while, then said, "I promised Shisui that I would not let Uchiha Clan fade away, I don't really care if you believe what I am saying is true or not, but part of the reasons I did all this has something to do with saving the Uchiha Clan."

Ryota was taken aback, and after understanding some things he seemed a little lost.

Kuroto said, "Uchiha Clan's plans of Coup d'état are destined to fail, the chief combatants that your clan hopes to rely on during the rebellion are strictly opposed to the idea of Coup, be that Shisui or Itachi, and even if by some miracle your clan succeeds in starting the rebellion, it will completely destroy Konoha and the other villages will not let miss such a chance, thus the entire shinobi continent will be engulfed into the flames of war causing too much destruction and death, and I am really not interested in such a thing becoming a reality…"

Ryota said in a deep voice, "As long as the entire Uchiha Clan is united, nobody in the entire shinobi world will ever be able to harm the Uchiha Clan!"

"Maybe, you are right." – Kuroto nodded, then said, "But the reality is not as you hope, the entire Uchiha Clan does not support your cause, there are people who secretly oppose the Coup, and the radicals of your clan are pushing them; putting pressure on them that they must support the clan, so inevitably what you people are doing is actually more damage to your clan."

Ryota was silent for a while then said, "So what do you expect the Uchiha Clan should do?"

Kuroto said, "To be honest, I don't know, but I do know that Coup is not the way, perhaps a change?"

Ryota frowned, "Change? What kind of change?"

"I… I don't know, to be honest, I'll figure out these things because I promised Shisui to not let the Uchiha Clan be destroyed, and that's what I will do."

The reasons for the destruction of the Uchiha Clan are many, there is Danzo inside the village then there is Obito outside, so Kuroto has no perfect method to solve this issue for now, but maybe he will have one in the future.

After a long silence, Ryota said with a bitter tone, "I hope so."

Speaking so, Ryota lifted his hand which held a Kunai, and directly pierced his heart, ending his life here.

For a few seconds, Kuroto kept his silence and after noticing that all signs of life disappeared, Kuroto murmured, "There is one more thing that I have not told you, although Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan is the highest level of dojutsu that an Uchiha can have with just his Yin chakra, it is still not the end as there are other higher forms of dojutsu that Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan can evolve into if the right conditions are met."

…

Two days later, inside a cave in the Land of Rain.

Poof…

As the white smoke cleared, the tiger-striped Kasai appeared before Uchiha Shinichi.

Looking at the familiar cat that was now wounded and wrapped up in bandages, Shinichi frowned, "Hey, how come you got all these injuries?"

As soon as Shinichi asked, the cat started to cry waterfall tears and said, "Uwaaahhhh, tiger-stripes don't work every time, they were unable to fool the hound dogs…. and… and…"

Shinichi sighed, "Alright-alright, first stop wiping away your snot on my clothes, second, you are pretty stupid for trying to fool a hound dog… "

"But… but… you said that if I were to have tiger markings, I would look very intimidating…"

"I was just joking buddy, getting some marking doesn't change the fact that you are still a cat."

"Then what do you think I should do?"

"Firstly, you should give me the scrolls sent by him, and as for the second you should take a holiday to recover."

As soon as Shinichi said this, the cat extended his paws and asked, "Meow, if you say so, then give me two thousand Ryo for the scroll!"

Shinichi's eyes widened as soon as the cat asked the money, "Why have you raised the price? And how much are you charging from him?"

Kasai said in the most natural tone, "I wanted to settle for three thousand Ryo, but he didn't agree, finally we reached an agreement at two thousand Ryo. Here I am doing the work while injured so obviously the fees will be doubled, meow!"

"If I did not know any better, I would have certainly thought that all your injuries are your new rip-off schemes, greedy cat!"

As soon as Shinichi said this, all the hair on the cat stood up and sweat started to come out, "Ahahahaha… w-what are you talking about? I… I… I am surprised that you know such humor… anyway, give me the bills fast, I have to go, m… my wounds have suddenly started to ache!"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw the sudden change in the behavior of the cat.

The two thousand Ryo bills he had in his hands were stopped midway.

But the greedy cat realized that Shinichi seems to have noticed something and suddenly snatched the two bills, threw the scroll towards Shinichi, and disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Sigh, this Fu*ing greedy cat!" – muttered Shinichi helplessly.

Shinichi shook his head and unlocked the scroll with the specific hand seals preselected by them, and after he unfolded the scroll sent to him by the Kuroto, and just as he read the contents of the scroll, Shinichi can't help but frown, "Why in the hell is he asking for this?"

The scroll sent by Kuroto recorded only one sentence, 'Go to the border of Land of Fire and Land of Rain, meet the person sent by me and take that person to the ritual ceremony hosted by Hiruko.'

"Is he out of his mind? Why in the hell would he want such a thing, has he finally gone insane? Or does he think that the ritual ceremony will be a firework show that anyone can watch if they want to?"

No matter how much he thinks, Shinichi can't understand why Kuroto would order such a thing.

This is because Akatsuki is an organization that even he as a member of the organization, has to be very vigilant about, and Kuroto should know this better than him, so why in the hell would he suddenly ask for such a thing?

As far as Shinichi knows, Kuroto is the kind of person who has always preferred to work in secrecy, so then why this sudden outrageous move which can destroy everything they have done to infiltrate Akatsuki?

Is that ritual so important?

No matter what Shinichi thought about this absurd order, Shinichi still decided to put his trust in Kuroto and decided to go to the location marked in the map he received with the scroll.

Shinichi would obviously measure out if the person sent by Kuroto is up to the task, and then decide if he will bring him to the ritual site, but if the person is not up to the task, then Shinichi would obviously not bring an incompetent person with him to a site that would be filled with the main Akatsuki members!

…

Three days later.

With intervals of travel and rest for the past three days, Shinichi finally arrived at the location marked in the map sent by Kuroto.

This is the border of Land of Fire and Land of Rain, when one looks around the place is filled with lush green vegetation and dense forests along with the continuous rain from the dark rain clouds.

As soon as he traveled a little more, the rain stopped and the sky cleared, Shinichi took off his rain gear which consisted of a raincoat and the Bamboo Hat while slandering inwardly, 'The Land of Rain is really an unsuitable place for people to live comfortably!'

Shinichi has always felt that the gloomy rain of the Land of Rain is really depressing, it is as if the country itself is crying for the people of the land of rain, and Shinichi really hates staying in the Land of Rain!

While Shinichi was getting over his depressed mood, he suddenly looked towards the distance and noticed a figure of a person slowly walking towards him.

A while later, the figure finally stood opposite Shinichi.

Looking at the person standing before him, Shinichi had a thoughtful look.

The other party is a girl, her age is around fifteen to sixteen years old from what Shinichi can judge, but what highlights about her is her unusually beautiful yet cold appearance, indifferently noble temperament, and distinguished aura.

By looks, she is a fair-skinned girl with sharp eyes, long flowing black hair that reached down to her lower back, and were currently tied in a ponytail, she wore a short white kimono with long sleeve, the white kimono had black flower prints with a black obi tied over, coupled with black full-length stockings, white bandages wrapped from the ankle up to the knees, a pair of black shinobi sandals, and a long Katana strapped around her waist.

Shinichi was sure that he has never seen her in his life, but he didn't know why he faintly felt that the Kunoichi standing in front of him was familiar, as if he had known her a long time ago.

'Weird, why do I feel that I know who she is when this is clearly the first time, I am seeing her?'

Shinichi stopped thinking and questioned, "So, who are you and what are you doing here?"

The Kunoichi replied calmly. "I am the person you are supposed to take to the place of the ritual."

Shinichi said coldly, "And why should I trust you?"

The Kunoichi was not at all affected by Shinichi's cold tone, and calmly replied, "You don't need to trust me, all you need to do is to follow Kuroto-sama's instruction."

The fact that the other party mentioned Hyuga Kuroto's name, reduced Shinichi's suspicions, and he immediately asked, "And what is your name? And why does he want you to be present during the Hiruko's ritual?"

"My name…? I am… I am Uchiha Tsukihi." – after a pause, Tsukihi continued, "As for why Kuroto-sama wanted me to observe Hiruko's ritual ceremony, it is because he is very interested in that experiment."

"Uchiha Tsukihi!?" – Shinichi didn't seem to hear Tsukihi's next words as soon as he heard the name 'Uchiha Tsukihi,' Shinichi instantly activated his Sharingan and said coldly, "Care to repeat your name again?"

"Uchiha Tsukihi." – Tsukihi stated as a matter of fact.

"Are you sure you want to lie to me? I am also an Uchiha, and the last time I checked, I don't seem to know you, so who are you?" – Shinichi said coldly as he suddenly raised his hand and held Tsukihi by the neck, raising her above the ground, and spoke, "I suggest that you use the next ten seconds very carefully, because if I am not satisfied with what you have to say in your defense, then you will be dead!"

The Kunoichi who was held by the neck did not panic as expected, nor did she speak anything in her defense, and just when Shinichi was about to put strength in his arm to break off her neck, her onyx black pupils changed into scarlet ones with three tomoe spinning in them.

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Looking at the girl's eyes that were genuine Sharingan, Shinichi's face had an unexpected surprised look.

After he had joined Akatsuki, 'Uchiha Madara' once mentioned many secrets of Sharingan to him, including the possibility of transplantation of Sharingan.

From a medical point of view, the transplantation of Sharingan is not an impossibility.

And Hatake Kakashi's transplanted Sharingan that he got as a gift from the dead Uchiha Obito is one such example that even a fledgling medical-nin Nohara Rin was capable of doing, even alone in the harsh battlefield without any proper tools.

But successful transplantation is not the end of it, because obtaining a Sharingan might even be easier compared to being able to use that Sharingan.

Without the blood of the Uchiha Clan, even if someone has transplanted Sharingan, he will never be able to showcase the true potential of Sharingan, and instead of becoming a powerful boost, the Sharingan will, in fact, become a major restriction on the user which will greatly hamper the growth of the bearer and also restrict the extent of what he is truly capable of.

Hatake Kakashi is again the best example.

However, the Kunoichi in front of him doesn't seem to be burdened by the Sharingan in the slightest, which means that she is truly a descendant of the Uchiha Clan.

Understanding this, Shinichi loosened his grip but still did not released her, and asked, "Okay, I agree that you are an Uchiha, but if you are one, then why have I never seen you in the Clan? From your appearance and age, you are probably a little older than Uchiha Shisui, and yet I have never seen you? Moreover, you have the three tomoe Sharingan, you can not be an unknown!"

Tsukihi said, "Since Kuroto-sama sent me here, so he obviously trusts my background, so I don't believe that there is any need for you to doubt my identity, besides, there is a rule of the organization that I believe you should have been familiar with, 'only the leader is allowed to know the identity and background of all the members, the members need not care, question, or try to find things unrelated to them, this is because…"

""…because the less you know the lesser you will worry, the less you know the lesser danger you will be in, the less you know the lesser the chances of your identity being revealed, the less you know the lesser you will reveal when caught by the enemy…"" Shinichi repeated with Tsukihi.

With this Shinichi let go of Uchiha Tsukihi, "Alright, I suppose that you are right."

The Kunoichi 'Uchiha Tsukihi' is obviously 'Hyuga Kuroto' controlling the Fire Nature Clone using the Tenseigan Soul Descend.

Kuroto really couldn't let go of the opportunity to observe, Hiruko's attempt to absorb various Kekkei Genkai, after all, this matter is related to Kuroto's big plan to achieve Kekkei Mora in the future, as such he needs as much knowledge and test results on the working of Chimera Technique. Because Kuroto doesn't believe that he will get a second chance.

For this reason, he took the risk of using this Fire nature Clone, and try to get to the site of the ritual with the help of Shinichi.

Shinichi groaned for a while, then suddenly his figure disappeared, at the very same moment, eight Shuriken were shot towards Uchiha Tsukihi.

Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish…

Uchiha Tsukihi instantly drew out the long Katana sheathed at her waist, injected her chakra into the Katana, and lightly swung it with flowing graceful movements, and instantly re-sheathed the Katana.

Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding… Ding…

A moment later all of the Shurikens coming towards her were cut into two pieces and fell on the ground.

At this time, Shinichi suddenly appeared before Tsukihi and shouted,

'Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!'

Uchiha Tsukihi also printed the hand seals and shouted, 'Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!'

Boom…!

Two huge fireballs, each spouted out of Shinichi and Tsukihi collided together, setting off a deafening roar and a loud explosion, setting the whole forest ablaze.

Amidst the smoke and dust, Shinichi's figure flashed and appeared in front of Tsukihi, his sword was in his hands and a fight of Kenjutsu began between the two Uchiha Shinobi.

Shinichi didn't seem to be using all his strength and Tsukihi seemed to be very calm during the entire battle.

Understanding that he wouldn't be able to take advantage of using Kenjutsu, Shinichi's figure again disappeared, and then several Kunai tied with explosive tag cut through the cover of smoke and directly shot towards Tsukihi.

Uchiha Tsukihi's face remained unchanged, and the three tomoe spinning in her Sharingan were spinning rapidly, and instantly she took out the Katana and swung it fiercely, sending waves of air pressure along the trajectory.

The air pressure waves cut through the Kunai, yet they did not cut the Kunai, but Tsukihi seemed to be satisfied with this and instantly her figure disappeared from her position.

Tuk… Tuk… Tuk… Tuk…

As Tsukihi disappeared from her position, kunai tied with explosive tags were nailed at the tree trunk behind her.

However, the expected explosion did not occur because without any exception all of the explosive tags were cut into two pieces.

Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish… Whiiish…

At this moment, another onslaught of shuriken arrived towards the new position Tsukihi was at, and Tsukihi who had already sheathed the Katana did not draw it out this time but put her hand inside her kimono sleeves and the next moment she threw out eight Shurikens, four from each of her hand.

And the next moment a clash of Uchiha Shurikenjutsu started between Uchiha Shinichi and Uchiha Tsukihi.

Amidst the Shurikenjutsu battle, while the shurikens were flying off everywhere, hitting each other, changing their trajectories, and then again hitting the other shuriken, deflecting them… and so on…

Shinichi suddenly looked at Tsukihi's eyes.

The moment line of sight of the two matched, Tsukihi felt an instantaneous sluggishness but soon lost effect.

At this time, the Shurikenjutsu battle also came to an end, and Tsukihi had already redrawn her Katana.

But Shinichi did not attack anymore and instead stood in silence, then said, "Well, that wasn't bad."

Seeing that Tsukihi still had her Katana drawn out, he felt that she might be angry for the unexpected attack, so he went on to explain, "Hey, calm down alright. The members of Akatsuki are without exception all monsters, if you don't have any strength to even be able to protect yourself, even I won't be able to protect you assuming the worst-case scenario, so I needed to judge whether you have what it takes to be present there."

Tsukihi nodded as she re-sheathed the Katana, indicating that she did not mind.

She was obviously very clear about Shinichi's purpose for doing this, ordinary people can't get involved with Akatsuki, unless one has the appropriate strength, it is best to stay away from Akatsuki, so this assessment be Shinichi was very reasonable.

"Let's go, I have been away from Amegakure for a few days already, if I stay away for too long, there are chances that they will start to get suspicious." – Shinichi said while putting on the bamboo hat, and his raincoat as he started walking in the direction of the site of the ritual.

Tsukihi nodded without speaking any nonsense and walked next to him after putting on the bamboo hat and raincoat offered to her by Shinichi.

While on their way, Shinichi questioned, "He must have informed you on the basic details of Akatsuki's internal situations, right?"

Tsukihi nodded, "Yes, I have a rough understanding of the members of the Akatsuki organization."

Shinichi nodded and spoke after a bit of deliberation, "I can't guarantee about the others, but you don't need to worry about my partner, Biwa Juzo, so long as you don't offend him, he won't be nosy about your matters. But you have to pay special attention to people like Sasori, Kakuzu, and Hiruko, they are all crazier than the others, and since you are not a so-called 'formal member' of the organization, there is a possibility that they will target you, one for your body, other for your heart, and the last for taking what you have."

Hearing how Shinichi said the last sentence, Tsukihi couldn't help but blush and think, 'What are they, a bunch of perverts?'

Shinichi didn't seem to have noticed Tsukihi's thoughts' and continued, "Then there is also that masked-man, who claims to be 'Uchiha Madara,' he is the most dangerous in the entire organization, he is the one you will have to be most careful against." – Pausing here, Shinichi said with a solemn expression, "If he attacks you, then even I don't have the confidence to be able to save you!"

Tsukihi glanced at Shinichi and said, "So that masked-man who claims himself to be 'Uchiha Madara' doesn't show up often in the organization, right?"

Shinichi was surprised, "I am rather surprised that you know this, did he tell you this too? Well doesn't matter, I guess. And you are right, he does not show up in front of other members of the organization. As far as I know, except for Pain, Konan, Zetsu, and me, nobody else is aware of his existence in the Akatsuki."

Tsukihi said, "By the way, you can just tell them that I am your spy in Konoha if you say, then I don't think that anyone will choose to attack me, don't you think?"

"That is a good idea, I suppose." – Shinichi nodded and asked with a puzzled expression, "But I am unable to figure out just why is he interested in Hiruko's ritual? With his strength, why does he care about such crappy things?"

Even if defected, Shinichi is still an Uchiha by genes, and obviously disdains for such pathetic means that Hiruko is using.

In Shinichi's opinion, a shinobi born with Kekkei Genkai is inherently superior to someone not born with a Kekkei Genkai, and this bloody ritual that Hiruko is going to do disgusts Shinichi very much because Shinichi believes that no matter how much Hiruko tries, he would never be able to catch up or surpass those he is stealing these Kekkei Genkai from.

Tsukihi had nothing to explain, this matter is about perception, and she is not interested in changing Shinichi's beliefs, so she just said, "Kuroto-sama has his own plans, and I am only responsible for observing and reporting to him, as for other things, neither do I care about them, nor do I need to know, and the same goes with you too."

"Sigh, I suppose that's true!" – Shinichi sighed and did not speak about it anymore.

And the journey continued, soon the two entered into the territory of the Land of Rain.

By now the sky was already covered with gloomy clouds, and a light drizzle started to fall, the intensity of raindrops falling kept increasing as the two went deeper into the Land of Rain.

A few days later, both of them entered Amegakure, and Shinichi led Tsukihi to the recently built temporary base of Akatsuki.

As soon as the two entered the temporary base, they met a member of the Akatsuki Organization wearing a traditional Akatsuki high-neck turtle black cloak with red cloud prints.

Tsukihi recognized this person, he was Shinno, the mysterious doctor and the secret leader of Sky ninjas.

But Tsukihi's gaze did not stay on Shinno for any longer than a second and landed on the woman walking behind Shinno.

The woman was very beautiful with a pair of breathtaking eyes.

Seeing that woman, Tsukihi can't help but think, 'Hmm…? Why do I feel familiar with this woman, have I seen her before?"

Tsukihi felt that she knows who this woman is but can't remember, where has she seen this woman?

And while Tsukihi was looking at the woman behind Shinno, the woman standing behind Shinno was also looking at Uchiha Shinichi and Tsukihi with interest, her eyes gleaming with an indescribable look…

.

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At this time, Shinno asked Shinichi, "She is?"

Shinichi obviously knew that he must introduce Tsukihi to the other members of Akatsuki, otherwise it would be impossible to bring her to the ritual site.

Shinichi said, "She is a subordinate and informant of mine, who has been staying in Konohagakure as my spy to pass on the critical information that I need."

Shinno nodded as he looked at the supposed spy, Uchiha Tsukihi. Shinichi's explanation wasn't strange, and Shinno did not doubt those words, for Akatsuki to function properly there is an obvious need for spies infiltrated in the major shinobi villages, moreover, even after defection, Shinichi has shown that he is deeply informed of the events taking place in Konohagakure and Land of Fire. This can only be achieved when he has some spies responding to him.

But Shinno was really surprised by the appearance of 'Uchiha Tsukihi.' Although Shinno has seen many beauties throughout his life as a Shinobi, the Kunoichi standing behind Shinichi seem to have a very eye-catching appearance, as such even Shinno can't help but take extra glances at her.

Not caring about Shinno's looks, Shinichi glanced at the Kunoichi standing behind Shinno and asked, "And who is she? Why have I never seen her before?"

Shinno turned his gaze towards Shinichi and said with a smile, "Oh, she? She is my newly recruited assistant, to help me in the experiments and tests."

As soon as he heard Shinno mention the 'tests' and 'experiments,' Shinichi can't help but frown.

A few months ago, Shinichi happened to have observed one of Shinno and Hiruko's experiments, out of curiosity he decided to see just what they were doing, it was at the time when Hiruko's Chimera Technique was far from being perfect, and the bloody experiments were still ongoing. After he watched one of the experiments, even Shinichi who has been long accustomed to seeing life and death was grossed out and disgusted.

Therefore, when Shinno mentioned 'experiments' and 'tests,' Shinichi felt his stomach-churning, he was feeling sick of remembering that sight.

Controlling himself to get rid of nausea, Shinichi looked at Tsukihi and nodded.

Both Shinichi and Shinno don't have any deep friendship so after just a casual greeting, Shinichi did not say anything more, walked forward, directly bypassed Shinno and his 'assistant', and moved towards the inner parts of the temporary secret base.

Tsukihi followed Shinichi, and as she went past Shinno's 'assistant' the other party smiled towards her and asked politely, "What is your name?"

Tsukihi was surprised, stopped for a moment to take a close look at the other party, and politely said, "I am Uchiha Tsukihi, how about you lady?"

The woman licked her lips and said with a soft giggle, "Uchiha-san can call me Oto Yumie."

Tsukihi nodded and then walked past Yumie, following Shinichi.

After both Shinichi and Tsukihi were far away from Shinno and Yumie, Shinichi whispered, "That person Shinno is Hiruko's partner, so I think he is at least worthy of attention if you are looking for Hiruko's ritual."

Tsukihi nodded and asked, "Have you never seen that woman named 'Oto Yumie'?"

Shinichi nodded, "Yes, this is the first time I have seen her." – After a pause, Shinichi asked, "To be honest I don't really care about who Shinno brings as his assistant and whatnot, the only reason I even asked who she was because I felt strong malice and greed directed towards me, and she was also looking at us strangely, so I just wanted to confirm if I have ever known her or did something to offend her, but I couldn't remember her, it would be best to stay vigilant against her."

Tsukihi nodded, as she understands that Uchiha Shinichi also has an extraordinary level of perception, so she attached great importance to Shinichi's judgment, but as she took a few steps she halted momentarily as she suddenly realized something.

It's because she suddenly realized why she felt that the woman with the name 'Oto Yumie' seemed inexplicably familiar to her, after all, that woman is none other than Orochimaru!

And it seems that Orochimaru has replaced his body using the 'Kinjutsu: Living Corpse Reincarnation.'

In the original story, this appearance of Orochimaru was only briefly shown during the Konoha Crush Arc, when Orochimaru fought against Sandaime during the Chunin Exams finals, so Kuroto couldn't recognize this appearance of Orochimaru instantly.

'No wonder she was looking at Shinichi with greed and malice, it appears that Orochimaru/Yumie is still after Shinichi's Mangekyou Sharingan!

And now that I think about it, as soon as I introduced myself as 'Uchiha Tsukihi' Yumie licked her lips, it appears that now I am also Orochimaru's target, doesn't matter I guess.'

It really didn't matter.

But what surprised Tsukihi was the fact that Orochimaru actually came here, it's not hard for one to guess that the only reason Orochimaru is here the same as Kuroto, to observe Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual.

Orochimaru may disdain Hiruko, he still maintains a degree of attention and interest towards Hiruko's Chimera Technique.

As for how Orochimaru got Shinno's help? Is there even a reason to ask this?

Orochimaru and Shinno have colluded with each other more than a few times even before either of them joined Akatsuki, so it isn't surprising that Shinno was willing to help Orochimaru sneak here.

After realizing that 'Oto Yumie' is none other than Orochimaru, Tsukihi decided to not think about her for now, and instead observed the so-called temporary base of Akatsuki.

After walking for a few minutes, Tsukihi who silently followed Shinichi arrived near the rest area and met Shinichi's partner Biwa Juzo.

Even Biwa Juzo wasn't much surprised when he learned the identity of the Kunoichi following Shinichi, because all the official members have some subordinates that they use for their information network.

Besides, Juzo doesn't care about what Shinichi does so long as Shinichi does not betray Akatsuki.

Time passed day-by-day, and soon it was the day when Hiruko will be holding his ritual ceremony.

These past few days, Tsukihi spent in the Amegakure, and she was obviously not worried about her absence being noticed in Konoha, this is because Shisui was constantly maintaining a Shadow Clone that acted up to cover up his absence.

…

Day of the Ritual.

The location chosen by Hiruko for the ritual was not in Amegakure or the Land of Rain where the base camp of Akatsuki Organization is located but on a high mountain in a neighboring country, the Land of Earth.

Following Shinichi and Biwa Juzo, Tsukihi also came to this mountain.

The other duo of Akatsuki, which included the Sasori-Kakuzu duo, Shinno-Oto Yumie each chose a different route to arrive at the decided location.

As everyone gathered at the mountain in the Land of Earth, Tsukihi swept her gaze across everyone, and thought, 'Except for Pain, Konan, Obito, and Zetsu, all the members of Akatsuki are here, and, even Obito and Zetsu may be nearby, but they are probably not showing up here.'

After thinking so, Tsukihi's gaze turned towards the high platform on top of the mountain.

At this time, on the top of the mountain platform, a five to six dozens of large mirrors were placed, these mirrors were placed at different angles and they seem to be gathering all the light from the sky and reflecting all the light at one point on the center of the platform.

At the very center of the platform, Hiruko sat quietly.

His face seemed to be calm, but everyone can notice that he was trying to suppress the madness and excitement in his heart. This was clearly evident from his trembling hands.

As Tsukihi was taking a view of the ritual site, suddenly the previously clear sky darkened.

Dark Clouds gathered out of thin air, covering the sky, and crepuscular rays of light fell on the ritual platform, along with the light drizzle falling from the sky.

The appearance of the rain clouds was so abrupt that Tsukihi can't help but think of only one possibility that might be a possible cause, 'Is this Rain Tiger at Will Technique!?'

Sure enough, a few minutes after the rain started, a person with orange hair, with so many black piercings across his nose and ears, wearing the traditional Akatsuki Organization Cloak, and an Amegakure forehead protector with a long horizontal scratch descended down to the top of the platform.

'Tendo Pain!'

Following him was a Kunoichi with short straight blue hair tied in a small bun, with a liberated piercing, an origami flower over the bun, wearing the traditional Akatsuki Cloak, and a pair of paper wings behind her back.

'Konan!'

Uchiha Tsukihi stared at the ripple patterns eyes in the eye sockets of Tendo Pain and thought, 'So that's Rinnegan? The strongest of the three great dojutsu.'

While Tsukihi was looking at Pain and Konan, Pain's indifferent gaze swept over all the shinobi gathered at the platform, stayed on Tsukihi for a moment then turned towards Hiruko who sat at the center of the platform and said, "There is no one other than Akatsuki members present here, you can start any time you are ready."

Hiruko nodded, and immediately looked up at the sky, he was waiting for something, and just as Pain deactivated Rain Tiger at Will Technique, the sky again became clear.

While Hiruko started the final preparation, Tsukihi thought, 'Even Pain and Konan are here? Does Akatsuki attaches so much importance to Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual?'

With doubts in her heart, Tsukihi swept her gaze to other places, trying to find Obito and Zetsu's figure, and at this moment her gaze met with Oto Yumie's gaze…

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The two guys, pretending to be girls, looked at each other, both had an awkward expression for a while, then both of them turned away without showing any unnatural trace.

Kuroto cursed, 'Tch, Orochimaru really is so courageous. Is he really not afraid to be seen through by Akatsuki? Or does he think that he won't die no matter what happens?'

Orochimaru smirked, 'Tsk-tsk, another Uchiha? If I can't take over Uchiha Shinichi's body, then this Uchiha Tsukihi is also not a bad option provided she is good enough.'

Both of them have momentary thoughts which were soon put away as their attention turned towards the center of the platform where Hiruko stood.

…

On a high cliff covered with some vegetation.

The masked-man sat on the edge of the cliff, with one of his legs hanging.

Zetsu stood on the side, "Most of them said that they don't care about Hiruko's ritual, but now that the ritual is taking place, all of them are present here, most of all I am Surprised that Uchiha Shinichi is also present here."

The masked man said, "If Hiruko's ritual really succeeds, it will probably change the pattern of the shinobi world, no one can remain indifferent, and completely ignore such a thing."

"Yes!" – Zetsu nodded, "Even the self-proclaimed God, Nagato is also here in person."

The masked man glanced in the distance, and said, "If not for the threat of Amatsukami, I would not have encouraged Nagato to support Hiruko's experiments."

Zetsu turned to look at the masked man and asked, "Are you worried that Hiruko might get out of hands?"

The masked man was silent for a while, then said, "If Hiruko truly manages to successfully absorb all the five Kekkei Genkai that he has selected, then no one would be able to predict how strong will he become."

Zetsu said, "With the presence of Nagato, we don't really need to worry, regardless of how strong Hiruko may become, in the end, he will remain a pawn."

The masked man did not reply but turned to look at the two Kunoichi, one standing next to Uchiha Shinichi and the other next to Shinno, and asked, "Have you checked the identities of those two?"

"The woman next to Uchiha Shinichi is named 'Uchiha Tsukihi.' According to Shinichi, she is his spy who has been lurking in Konohagakure. While the woman next to Shinno is called Oto Yumie, a newly recruited assistant under him, but I was unable to find out if their identities are truly what they claim."

"Uchiha Tsukihi…?" – With a frown, the masked man muttered with a thoughtful expression, "Was there someone with this name in the Uchiha clan?"

The masked man is different from Shinichi, at the time of his 'death' he was a chunin similar to Hyuga Kuroto, and his status in the Uchiha Clan was also very low, similar to Hyuga Kuroto, therefore, he was oblivious to many of the internal matters of the Uchiha Clan, so he can't really figure out who Uchiha Tsukihi was?

As such the masked man has some doubts about 'Uchiha Tsukihi.' He cannot, like Uchiha Shinichi, assert that there is no 'Uchiha Tsukihi' within the Uchiha Clan.

After all, it is very common for many clans to keep the existence of certain individuals a secret, keep them hidden in the dark since birth or early childhood, and train them secretly.

…

Back to the platform.

Hiruko showed a twisted expression on his face while looking at the sky, his expression was a mix of expectation, joy, madness, anxiety, nervousness, and so on.

At this time, the Sun hanging high in the sky was obscured by another celestial body, and the original bright and clear sky dimmed as if it was the time of dusk.

While everyone was looking at the changes brought by the Solar Eclipse, some brilliant spots of light flashed across the dark sky.

Hiruko exclaimed in excitement, "Finally, it's about time!"

As soon as the green Aurora light lashed across the sky, Hiruko started printing the hand seals and then pressed his palm on the ground.

Boom… shake… shake…

Instantly, five cross-shaped structures rose up from the five vertices of the five-pointed star that lied on the pentagon platform. On each metal cross, a shinobi in a half-dead state was crucified.

'These five are the unlucky shinobi targeted by Hiruko?' – thought Tsukihi as she swept her gaze across the five people, finally, her gaze landed on Uchiha Hiiragi, and she sighed softly.

Unlike Uchiha Tsukihi, who had a somewhat complicated look, Yumie on the other hand had a look full of expectations.

At this time, the intensity and brightness of aurora lights became stronger and stronger, and they seemed to represent a green curtain of light!

This green curtain of light covered the entire sky, intertwined across the edges, giving the sky a dreamy and awe-inspiring look.

As the brightness and intensity of the curtain grew, sparkling particles and rays of light sprinkled from the sky and fell on the five-pointed star platform on top of the mountain.

The huge mirrors, each with a height of more than ten meters, concentrated the rays of green aurora lights in one direction, which illuminated Hiruko standing at the center of the five-pointed star formation.

The moment, aurora light gathered at Hiruko, everyone present at the site could clearly feel an intensive rise in Hiruko's chakra reaction.

Even both Uchiha Tsukihi and Shinichi had long since activated their Sharingan, trying to capture all the changes taking place in Hiruko's body.

Sasori who was no longer hiding in his 'Hiruko' puppet also had a solemn look.

Kakuzu took a step back, his instincts were telling him to take a defensive posture because something was coming…

Shinno's was intently looking at everything, and even Yumie had a look mixed with traces of anticipation as well as some unknown fear.

Tendo Pain was still had his indifferent look, but Konan had a frowned expression.

The intensity and brightness of the green aurora lights became more and more dazzling to the extent that they seemed to carry life within them and would burn anything they touch.

The lights seemed to be alive, jumping, flashing, and moving around Hiruko's body, the glittering green particles were falling from the sky like a steady and slow rain.

Uchiha Tsukihi muttered, "Such strong chakra reaction, and such a beautiful sight? If not for what was about to happen soon, this sight was akin to a fairy tale."

Tsukihi was really surprised, with the help of Celestial Phenomenon, the intensity of chakra fluctuations coming from Hiruko has reached a terrifying point.

And what surprised her more was the fact that Hiruko's small body was able to withstand such a terrifying chakra pressure without showing any signs of pain!

While Tsukihi was surprised, Hiruko did not stop and began to print the hand seals to start the next phase of his Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual.

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While Tsukihi was surprised, Hiruko did not stop and began to print the hand seals.

Finally completing the hand seals, Hiruko shouted, "Chimera Technique!"

With the crazy shout of Hiruko, the indigo-colored semi-solid gluey-leechy substance gushed out of the pentagram-shaped surface and rushed to swallow the five half-dead crucified ninjas.

This gluey substance was like an extension of Hiruko's body, it spread all over the five-pointed star formation, and seem to be acting as per Hiruko's orders swallowing the five ninjas that were crucified on the torture cross.

""""" Ahhhhhhhh...!!!""""""

At the moment when the gluey substance started swallowing the five ninjas with different Kekkei Genkai, these ninjas who were half-dead and unconscious let out a terrible cry of pain that seemed to shake their soul.

They put up an instinctive struggle but all they got was despair.

Their bodies also turned indigo-colored and soon began to melt bit-by-bit, their pupils disappeared, and only white sclera could be seen in their eyes, foam overflowing from their mouths, a lifeless look on their faces.

Hiruko opened both his arms and laughed frantically, "Cry all you want, feel the despair in your heart, then be swallowed by me to become a truly great being… a perfect shinobi!"

Looking at Hiruko, whose current state was nothing different from a monster, and the five shinobi melting and slowly integrating into Hiruko, Uchiha Tsukihi had a serious look on her face and muttered, "This approach is too… too forced!"

After the initial shock, there was only thought left in Tsukihi's mind.

In her view, the fusion method that Hiruko is using is really rough, unscrupulous, and forced.

'Is he not afraid of the hidden dangers he will have to face in the future by using such a forceful method? No… rather than worrying about the future what he should think about is whether he will be able to survive the complete fusion, the matter of the future comes afterward…' – Thought Tsukihi with a doubtful expression.

Tsukihi believes that Hiruko is not an idiot, at least he doesn't look like one, after all, he managed to develop the Chimera Technique, but the approach he is using right now is no different from suicide, which is utterly stupid. As such aside from shock, there are also some expectations to see if Hiruko has some follow-up plans to ensure his success.

With the bodies of the five shinobi completely melted, their chakra was steadily absorbed by the gluey substance.

Tsukihi thought, 'How will he deal with the souls of those five shinobi?'

The same thought lingered in the minds of Tendo Pain, Oto Yumie a.k.a. Orochimaru, Sasori, and Kakuzu.

Ningendo Pain of the Pein Rikudo grants the user the ability to forcefully read the minds of any target by extracting their soul. As such, it wouldn't be wrong to say that Pain is one of the few people familiar souls.

Even Orochimaru who has developed Fushi Tensei, and is probably working on Edo Tensei also has a very high degree of understanding of souls.

Then there is Sasori, who has recently turned himself into a puppet, which is impossible to do without having some knowledge of souls, so he has also touched the realm of souls.

And finally, there is Kakuzu, because of his secret technique 'Earth Grudge Fear,' every time he steals other's hearts, he has to have some way to reduce the influence of their souls on the chakra nature, as such, Kakuzu must also have some degree of understanding of Soul.

Shinno must also have some understanding of the souls because he is working on making Reibi.

As for Konan, and Shinichi, their understanding of Souls is worse compared to the rest, but neither of the two was ignorant.

And Konan being a sensor class, and Shinichi with the help of his Mangekyou Sharingan was able to notice that the Chakra absorbed by the gluey substance was not ordinary.

As such everyone had a frown and thought the same thing, 'Is he directly going to absorb that chakra?'

Just as various speculations appeared in the minds of everyone present, Hiruko directly controlled the gluey substance and sucked in the five chakra groups.

'He is really taking the reckless approach!' – Tsukihi was shocked, she always thought that each generation of Raikage is the second most reckless shinobi in this world but it appears that even Hiruko is not far behind.

Unlike Tsukihi's shocked expression, the others did not show many emotions, Oto Yumie even smirked,

Nobody here seemed to understand the true danger of completely absorbing other people's souls, even if they can see the essence of chakra that Hiruko was absorbing.

Tsukihi felt a bit of pity for Hiruko.

In her view, although, Hiruko might succeed even with his reckless approach, and there is even hope for him to become incredibly strong.

But he is also giving birth to hidden dangers that will show up sooner or later.

He does not have the Rinnegan, so it is impossible for him to absorb souls in a true sense, as such he will definitely suffer.

Orochimaru is the best example, the souls absorbed by Orochimaru using Fushi Tensei did not disappear, instead, they were sleeping like a cocoon in the depths of Orochimaru's soul, so not only is there a hidden danger of other's soul taking over but even the shape and signature of one's own soul will change, which is exactly what happened with Orochimaru, making him especially vulnerable to Genjutsu.

It is not guaranteed that the same will happen with Hiruko curtesy to the Sharingan but he won't be out of complete danger.

And as Tsukihi expected, the negative effects of absorbing five souls at once immediately became apparent.

"Ahhhhh...!"

His maniacal laughter ceased, and he clutched his head with both of his hands, hissing and suffering from severe pain, looking from his distorted expression it seemed as if something scary was raging in his mind.

At the same time, Hiruko's body also started to fall apart, pieces of his hands and legs separated, distorted. Tissues started to fall off of his body.

But the body parts that fell off were all caught by the gluey substance and put back little-by-little, repairing his body, stopping him from dying.

Now the success or failure of the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual became a battle of collapse and repair.

Hiruko was obviously not able to withstand both physical pain and pain coming from deep in his soul, as such his current appearance was no longer the same, and was changed into a blob of flesh, bones, organs, vessels, and fluids, but because of the existence of the gluey leech, no matter how much his body collapsed or suffered it was constantly reassembled back.

But the pain is also insufferable, and definitely not something that people can bear.

Except for Konan who had her cold expression back, and Shinichi who had a look of disgust, everyone else's faces had a clear look of shock, even Tendo Pain's indifferent expression had slight waves.

At this time, the flashing curtain of green aurora in the sky started to dim.

As the curtain of aurora started to dim, the light rays and light particles falling from the sky also started to dim.

It was clear that the aurora was about to disappear, and as such everyone was clear, if the ritual is not completed before the disappearance of the aurora, then this Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual will be a failure.

And seeing that the aurora was about to disappear, everyone could only think that Hiruko would fail, but then something shocking happened.

At the moment just before the disappearance of the aurora, Hiruko's shouts abruptly stopped.

The blob of flesh contracted into a spherical core.

Immediately afterward, the gluey-leechy substance spread on the floor began to merge into the Spherical core which was Hiruko's body.

As the gluey substance merged with Hiruko's body, the violent chakra reaction also gradually stabilized.

Then with an exploding sound, the core expanded and turned into Hiruko.

'He was able to survive?' – Tsukihi was stunned, then thought, 'No, Hiruko is just an ordinary shinobi with no special traits, how could he survive the collapse and disintegration of his body? He must have used some other technique, besides the Chimera Technique. A technique which can repair his body, and increase its strength to be able to bear the pressure of Chimera Technique!'

After completing the ritual, Hiruko stood up on the ritual platform, he did not have any clothes on his body at this moment so he stood naked, but he was not bothered in the slightest, and his eyes fell on Uchiha Tsukihi and Oto Yumie…

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Standing at the center of the five-pointed star formation, Hiruko breathed heavily, his chest undulating up and down, and steam coming out from his body.

Tsukihi observed intently and noticed that Hiruko's figure seemed much stronger than before.

He was no longer short, but was back to his normal body size, with a slender and fit body, perfect for a rejuvenated young man.

From just one glance, people could see that his body was brimming with power.

Aside from the chiseled muscles that of a shinobi, his skin also seemed unnaturally tender and delicate, so much so that his skin did not have the rosy look that a human has, but rather it was as white as chalk and pale as that of a corpse, like that of a Vampire.

"Huff… huff…"

After catching his breath, Hiruko picked up the simple piece of white lab gown and put it on.

Although he looked physically exhausted, the expression on his face said the opposite, as it had clear signs of euphoria, ecstasy, intoxication, bliss, and joy.

All the thoughts that he has kept hidden within his heart for the past two decades were now out in the open, he no longer cared about maintaining his humble attitude, there was no false expression on his face, at this moment he was his truest self.

Under Hiruko's aggressive gaze, Tsukihi's heart 'thumped' for a moment.

Undoubtedly, Hiruko who has 'successfully' completed the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual, now eagerly wants to test his own strength.

And among the people present here at the moment, most of them are official members of Akatsuki, with the only exception being Uchiha Tsukihi and Oto Yumie.

And Hiruko would obviously not attack the other members of Akatsuki in the presence of Tendo Pain, so Uchiha Tsukihi, and Oto Yumie became the natural target for him to test out his newly achieved strength.

And naturally, Tsukihi wasn't the only one who realized Hiruko's thought.

The members of Akatsuki who were watching the ritual, consciously jumped backward, leaving only four people on the site, that being Hiruko, Uchiha Tsukihi, Oto Yumie, and Uchiha Shinichi who was a little hesitant to leave Tsukihi behind.

Unlike Shinno, who had a natural smile on his face, and did not care about the safety of Oto Yumie at all, Shinichi glanced at Tsukihi with a worried expression.

Tsukihi smiled gently and bowed towards Shinichi, "Do not worry Shinichi-sama, I shall not disappoint you."

Shinichi questioned, "Are you sure? You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Tsukihi shook her head and said, "I am. If I back away here then that would be a stain on the reputation of Shinichi-sama, and I would rather die than let that happen."

Shinichi sighed and said, "Very well, but know this, I will take action if I deem necessary, and you are not allowed to get killed or injured here." – Leaving this sentence, Shinichi also jumped out of the platform, and similar to other members of Akatsuki, he paid close attention to the three individuals.

It wasn't just Hiruko who was eager to test out his newly gained strength, but even the other members of Akatsuki were very interested to know just how strong Hiruko has become after 'successfully' completing the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual.

Tsukihi was surprisingly calm at this moment, when she glanced at Yumie, she wasn't surprised to find that Yumie was the same as her, there was no trace of fear in either one's eyes.

"Hahahahaha…." – Hiruko laughed wildly seeing the calmness of the two.

Tsukihi's Sharingan was already activated and her hand was on the hilt of her Katana, ready to be drawn out at any moment.

Yumie tilted her neck to the side, contrary to her leisure expression she also seemed fully ready for the upcoming battle, as her hands were inside the kimono sleeves she was wearing.

Hiruko suddenly stopped laughing, and said, "At this time, in the face of the person standing before you, both of you should not have shown any other emotion aside fear, if you did, then maybe things would have turned out much better for both of you."

Tsukihi did not reply, but slandered Hiruko in her heart, 'Hiruko, you are being too arrogant for your own good!'

Yumie on the other hand giggled, and said in a sultry tone, "In that case why don't Hiruko-sama show us ladies what true fear is? I believe it would be worth an experience."

Tsukihi immediately blushed, 'Just what is Orochimaru even saying!?'

Both Yumie and Hiruko glared at each other, one with a fierce expression and the other with a mocking one.

Finally, Hiruko raised his hand to print the hand seals…

"Swift Release: Shadowless Flight!"

Whoosh…

Instantly Hiruko disappeared from his position.

'So fast?' – Tsukihi exclaimed inwardly, and her body instinctively drew out the Katana strapped at her waist.

Ding…

"Steel Release: Impervious Armor!"

She barely held the flat part of the Katana in front of her to block the straight punch coming from Hiruko's black fist. At the moment when Hiruko's punch collided with the Katana, a loud metal collision sound rang throughout the mountain.

Tsukihi used her other hand to slash at the opponent with a Kunai, but Hiruko was no longer in front of her.

"Steel Release… Swift Release…" – these two words immediately flashed in Tsukihi's mind, and she was surprised that Hiruko was able to switch between two Kekkei Genkai seamlessly after just having completed the ritual.

Ding… Ding…

While Tsukihi started analyzing, another series of metal collision sound rang out from the other side of the battleground.

Because Hiruko possesses two extremely strong Kekkei Genkai that enhance his Taijutsu abilities, so even Yumie (secretly Orochimaru) one of the strongest shinobi alive was also suppressed (it's also because Orochimaru did not intend to reveal all his abilities here) by Hiruko for a moment.

It's just that Hiruko is not as experienced as Yumie, as such even though Hiruko managed to suppress Yumie, he was unable to inflict any serious damage.

"Heh…" – Tsukihi grinned and ran forward.

With the addition of Tsukihi, the battle turned from 1 vs 1, between Hiruko and Yumie, to 2 vs 1, with Tsukihi and Yumie, on one side, and Hiruko on the other.

Tsukihi and Yumie worked in a surprising tacit understanding and were easily able to not only fight back on the even grounds but even suppressed Hiruko from time to time in the physical warfare, which included, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Bokijutsu, etc.

Hiruko's lack of combat experience and lack of combat awareness compared to 'Tsukihi' and 'Yumie,' was clearly apparent in this battle.

And this is also a normal thing, Hiruko has been focusing his attention on the research and development of the Chimera Technique, as such he lacks experience compared to the Sensei-disciple pair who have experienced so many battles.

Moreover, Hiruko has just obtained new forms of power, so in terms of application, he obviously lacks the necessary familiarity, as such there are obvious shortcomings.

And neither of the two 'Kunoichi' he is fighting against is ordinary, with one of them being an inflamed Sannin, and the other one having the only Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan currently existing in the Shinobi World, so it is obvious that he is in a slight disadvantage.

After all, unless it is too big of a difference in strength, experience also plays a very important role in a battle.

And combat experience is not something one can gain in just one or two days or steal from others, it is pure hard work that requires one to pour sweat and blood, and gained by overcoming test and trials of countless life and death battles.

But Kuroto knows that so long as strength is high, overcoming the lack of experience is not that much of a problem.

…

On a high cliff covered with vegetation.

Zetsu said mockingly, "He can't even deal with just two subordinates of the official members of the organization? It seems that all this Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual was just a waste of time!"

However, the masked man who has been observing everything up to now stood up and said with a serious tone, "No. Although Hiruko's performance is not as good as my initial expectations, that is more of a lack of time he has had with his new powers, what I am more surprised about is the strength displayed by the two women, neither of them can be considered ordinary or weak."

…

Among the other spectators watching the battle.

Sasori looked at Shinno and said with a ridicule expression, "Your assistant seems much better than you."

Shinno just shrugged helplessly, he didn't really care about Sasori's opinions.

Biwa Juzo on the other side said to Shinichi, "The Uchiha Shinobi are really extremely strong in terms of physical warfare, and looking at her movements, with precise actions, simple, neat, and flawless form, she seems to be a better Kenjutsu master than even you Shinichi, and as a Kenjutsu master I have to admire her."

Shinichi nodded with a solemn look, "I knew for a fact that she was strong, but I am rather surprised that she has grown up to this extent since the last time I saw her, it appears that I can't laze around or I will be overtaken by her."

…

Back to the battle.

Hiruko's anger started to rise as he was gradually being overwhelmed by the two women. Suddenly he leaped back, quickly printed the hand seals, and shouted, "Why don't you two just die already!?" "Storm Release: Thunder Cloud Inner Wave!"

Instantly a thick ring of black thunderclouds and electricity appeared around Hiruko.

Tsukihi instantly put back the Katana in the sheath, and printed the hand seals, "Fire Release: Fireball Technique!"

Yumie was able to realize the Jutsu that Tsukihi was using and also completed the hand seals at almost the same instant, "Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"

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The timing of Yumie's Earth Jutsu was impeccable and it trapped Hiruko in a muddy river just an instant before, Tsukihi's Fire Jutsu was about to hit him.

Hiruko chuckled in disdain at the pathetic attempt of the two ladies, he immediately stretched out his hand towards the huge fireball coming towards him. "Dark Release: Inhaling Maw!"

Following Hiruko's action, the huge fireball coming towards him was immediately sucked into his hand in a spiraling whirl.

Hiruko did exactly the same with the Earth Flow River below his feet and absorbed the chakra.

With the suction of Chakra, the Earth Flow River lost its effects, making Hiruko free.

After regaining his movement, Hiruko said with a chuckle, "Both of you have a very delicious chakra!"

Tsukihi thought to herself, 'He really can freely use all the Kekkei Genkai he has absorbed, and Dark Release make most of the ordinary ninjutsu useless against him, killing him without the use of Susanoo would be very difficult, unfortunately, I can't reveal my Susanoo here, else it would put both this clone and Shinichi in a danger.'

Yumie's face also had a thoughtful look.

Yumie (or Orochimaru) is a type of Shinobi who is an expert in almost all forms of combat, be that taijutsu or Kenjutsu, ninjutsu or Fuinjutsu, Kinjutsu or Juinjutsu, so although her combat effectiveness is not that restricted, she still doesn't have a very good way of dealing with Hiruko without giving off her true identity, and she would obviously not do something foolish like revealing her true identity in front of entire Akatsuki.

As such the methods she can use to deal with Hiruko are quite limited.

Moreover, Hiruko is almost immune to most of the Ninjutsu as well as Physical Warfare type attacks courtesy to the five Kekkei Genkai he has selected, as such even with her experience, Yumie doesn't have a very good way to fight Hiruko.

Thinking so, Yumie turned to look at Uchiha Tsukihi, she has been paying close attention to Tsukihi throughout the battle, and she was highly surprised to find that similar to her, Tsukihi has also been calm and collected from beginning to end. Which is unexpected according to her.

In Yumie's opinion, she, a Sannin, with experience of thousands of battles, deep knowledge of many Kinjutsu, along with various means to be able to make it out alive even in the worst-case scenario is calm in the face of a monster like Hiruko is understandable.

But Tsukihi, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old Kunoichi with just three tomoe Sharingan, facing a monster like Hiruko, who can literally use five different types of Kekkei Genkai to deal with all kinds of situations, is still calm and not afraid is not a simple matter.

Even Yumie (Orochimaru), the temporary teammate of Tsukihi can't help but respect such mental fortitude, but sigh at the same time, 'The Uchiha Clan's arrogance doesn't put anyone in their eyes.'

Crackling… ZZZzzzzzz...

At this moment, Hiruko waved his hand, the storm clouds that were covered the top of the mountain suddenly sent outbursts of electric discharge.

As lightning started to rage the mountain, Hiruko who was shrouded in lightning spoke, "That's the end of the warm-up, now let's get serious and take this fight up a notch!"

And immediately Hiruko disappeared from his position.

With the movement of Hiruko, the lightning also raged all over the platform, and for a moment it seemed as if the entire ritual platform became a pool of dazzling blue lightning.

Wherever it fell, the rock pieces vaporized.

Tsukihi with her Sharingan noticed Hiruko's running trajectory, and without any hesitation, she drew out her Katana and threw it along the predicted trajectory.

Whiiish…

The Katana flew out and went towards Hiruko, although Hiruko managed to avoid the Katana, all the lightning covering him hit the Katana's metallic blade which is a conductor.

Tsukihi did not waste that opportunity and immediately shot out several Kunai.

The ends of Kunai were tied with thin metal wire, and with the assistance of her Sharingan, Tsukihi shot the Kunai in such a direction, which greatly limited Hiruko's movements because of the metal wire.

But Tsukihi did not stop there and subsequently shot Kunai tied with large strings of Explosive Tags, the targets were Hiruko's eyes, throat, both axilla, then, ribs, Achilles' heel of the body.

All the Kunai were shot in the blink of an eye, and with such precise actions that even the Akatsuki members were all amazed.

Even Hiruko was caught off guard for a moment as his body was entangled by the metal wires.

Just when Hiruko was about to get rid of the metal wires that restricted his movements, he suddenly noticed the next set of Kunai tied with a series of explosive tags also wrapping around him.

And from the sound made by Explosive Tags, they were about to explode any movement.

"Steel Release: Impervious Armor!"

With Hiruko's angry shout, his body hardened and darkened.

Break… Break…

With his solidified body, Hiruko easily broke free of the metal wires that bound him.

But before he can celebrate, two rubbery pale white arms suddenly stretched out of nowhere and bound Hiruko.

And because the two arms were rubbery, which means they could stretch and shrink like rubber, so even if Hiruko tried to break free of them, he was unable to.

Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom…

At this time, the Explosive Tags also exploded, which led to a series of violent explosions that shook the entire mountain, covering the entire platform in fire dust, and smoke.

Yumie immediately retracted her arms, then printed the hand seals to cast a simple Wind Style Jutsu to blow away the cover of dust and smoke.

And just as the cover of dust and smoke cleared, the figure of Hiruko, who was the center of the explosion was immediately revealed, from the first look, Hiruko doesn't seem to have suffered any injury.

But Hiruko's face was gloomy, he stood at his position for a few seconds while Tsukihi and Yumie took deep breaths.

The atmosphere was extremely quiet, but both the Kunoichi knew that this was just a silence before the storm.

And as the drop of sweat that slid down her face dropped on the floor, Hiruko's figure disappeared and instantly appeared in front of Yumie.

Yumie, who was already prepared for the coming attack was about to leap back, but just for an instant before she could do so, the eyes of Yumie and Hiruko crossed, and immediately Yumie stopped dead in her position, her dead bent down as if she was unconscious.

'Genjutsu!?' – Tsukihi was startled, and only then did she notice the scarlet pupils with three black tomoe spinning in Shinichi's eyes.

Yumie's (Orochimaru's) biggest weakness is Genjutsu, even in the original story, Orochimaru suffered because of the Sharingan's Genjutsu, but at that time his opponent was Uchiha Itachi, who had Mangekyou Sharingan.

And who Uchiha Itachi is must not be forgotten.

So even if Orochimaru was subdued by Itachi, it cannot be said that Orochimaru's Genjutsu resistance is so poor that he would be affected so easily.

And the fact that the Genjutsu cast by Hiruko can affect Orochimaru must mean that the pair of Sharingan in his eye sockets is unusually strong, although not to the level of Mangekyou Sharingan, the ocular power is still very high.

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'Is it possible that the Sharingan in his eye sockets has evolved to Mangekyou Sharingan?' – Tsukihi temporarily had this thought, and her attention was again on the pattern in Hiruko's eyes.

However, this thought was soon dispelled as the pattern of Sharingan in Hiruko's eyes was that of a simple Sharingan, that is the three tomoe state.

Tsukihi thought, 'No, he does not have the Mangekyou Sharingan.'

With Hiruko's character, if he had Mangekyou Sharingan, he would have definitely shown it out in the open without any concealment by now. Hiruko wouldn't be as cautious as Tsukihi. As such, Tsukihi can conclude without a doubt that Hiruko does not have the Mangekyou Sharingan.

'But its surprising that even with just a base Sharingan Hiruko is able to put Orochimaru in Genjutsu'

This was surprising, after all, who is Yumie?

A Sannin!

Even if Genjutsu is her weakness, it wouldn't be to the point that amateurs such as Hiruko, who have just gotten a pair of Sharingan will be able to affect.

Yet it's happening here!

'How come his Visual Prowess is so high?' – Doubts were flooding Tsukihi's mind.

Despite the many doubts in her heart, Tsukihi knew that now was not the time to delve into them, so putting away her thoughts, she brought out shuriken from her sleeves and threw them towards Hiruko.

Whiiish… Whiish… Whiish… Whiish

Accompanied by the sharp sound of cutting through the wind, each spinning Shuriken gleaming with cold light went towards Hiruko at different speeds and angles.

Hiruko with his Sharingan was obviously able to see the trajectories of the incoming Shuriken.

The corners of his lips arched, he did not even feel the need to rely on Swift Release, his body swayed from one position to another, and he managed to dodge each of the Shuriken with minimal movements.

"Is that the best you can do?" – Hiruko said in a mocking tone.

Ding… Ding…

But before he can be too happy, Hiruko heard the sound of a metal collision coming from behind him.

The spectators were able to see that the Shuriken thrown by Uchiha Tsukihi collided with each other after they went past Hiruko.

After multiple collisions, from one Shuriken to another, the trajectories of the Shuriken's changed, two shurikens shot backward, while a third one accelerated in the direction of Yumie, who was under the effect of Genjutsu.

As soon as he realized that something was wrong, Hiruko turned his head and noticed the two Shuriken coming towards him.

But the Kinetic Energy of the two Shuriken coming towards him was obviously decreased because of the multiple collision, as such speed was slower and because Hiruko could use Steel Release, he did not panic, and as soon as his arms darkened, he immediately raised his hands and caught the two Shuriken between his finger.

After successfully catching the two shurikens, Hiruko turned and shot both of them towards Tsukihi, "How about you try to dodge these!"

Tsukihi smiled and threw two more Shuriken.

One of the Shurikens thrown by Tsukihi collided with one of the incoming Shurikens thrown by Hiruko.

The other Shuriken thrown by Tsukihi missed the Shuriken thrown by Hiruko by an inch, and went towards Hiruko, while the shuriken thrown by Hiruko was coming towards Tsukihi.

Hiruko chuckled and raised his arm to catch the incoming Shuriken.

While Tsukihi seemed to have a look of horror, as it was already too late to block the incoming Shuriken.

Hiruko knew that his attack succeeded, and he was feeling excited.

But just as the Shuriken thrown by Hiruko touched Tsukihi, Tsukihi's body exploded into a cloud of white smoke, while the Shuriken that was coming towards Hiruko turned into Tsukihi.

Hiruko face changed immediately, he instantly activated the Swift Release and was about to flicker away, when suddenly the ground under Hiruko's feet turned into a swamp, effectively restricting his movements.

At the same time, a pair of bandages trapped Hiruko's hand, restricting his hand movements.

Hiruko struggled to break free, and he actually did, but the moment he broke free of the bandages was the exact moment when Tsukihi pierced her Kunai in the chest of Hiruko.

The Kunai plunged into Hiruko's chest, and cut effectively cut through the muscles but just at the moment when it was about to puncture the heart, a loud metal clashing sound echoed.

Undoubtedly Hiruko managed to use Steel Release to surround his heart in a protective covering and instantly kicked the bitch in the stomach sending her flying away.

BOOOooooommmMMMM!!!

The moment Hiruko kicked the bitch in the stomach, her body exploded creating another loud explosion that shook the mountain.

Cough! Cough…!

Soon the dust and smoke cleared to reveal a damaged-up mountain top, Hiruko's figure stood in the middle with a pretty beat-up state, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, and clothes burned to cinders.

Cough…! Cough!

Next, Yumie's figure was revealed, with a line of blood dripping along her thighs from the point where a Shuriken pierced her.

But there was no figure of Tsukihi.

Just when everyone wondered where she is, the Katana lying on the ground turned into Tsukihi.

Wiping away the blood from the corners of his mouth, Hiruko observed everything.

Looking at the wound on Yumie's thighs, and all the things that happened in the few last seconds, Hiruko understood what happened.

Realizing that he was played by Uchiha Tsukihi, Hiruko roared in anger, "Damn it, you… you…!"

A very similar feeling sprouted in the heart of Yumie (Orochimaru).

The fact that she was put in a Genjutsu by someone like Hiruko was unacceptable and touching the wound on her thigh, looking at the red blood Yumie felt more terrible.

What's more unacceptable was for her, a Sannin to be saved a mere young Kunoichi, even if she is from the Uchiha Clan.

A sense of shame that was never felt before grew in her heart.

"Sharingan…" – was what Yumie, muttered as she looked at Hiruko's eyes and then at Tsukihi's eyes, and this is the moment when the obsession gain to Sharingan took birth.

"Alright, that's enough already…"

Just as Hiruko was about to continue his attack, Tendo Pain's indifferent voice came.

Hiruko was not done, how can he not return the shame he suffered by being played around by Uchiha Tsukihi, and he retorted to Pain's command, "I will finish them soon enough!"

Tendo Pain glared at Hiruko, and his tone became colder, "Don't make me repeat myself, I have seen your performance more than enough, there is no need to continue anymore, it is only wasting everyone's time."

To be honest, Pain was a little disappointed with the performance shown by Hiruko, even after successfully completing the ritual.

Pain can see that Hiruko's strength has greatly improved, but the fact that Hiruko couldn't even hold his own against two young Kunoichi greatly disappointed him.

Sasori added with a lightly mocking tone, "It appears that Pain expected too much from you!"

The other members of Akatsuki either sneered, showed disdain, or were disappointed.

Although the performance of the two Kunoichi was indeed a bit unexpected, Hiruko was still too pathetic in their opinion.

Hiruko wanted to retort, but understanding that what Pain said was indeed true, he really was unable to suppress both of them, so he didn't know what to say anymore.

Seeing the disdain and contempt directed towards him, Hiruko felt unprecedentedly aggrieved.

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Different from aggrieved Hiruko who stood at the center of the platform.

Tsukihi had a thoughtful expression as she was wondering the cause of the increase in Visual Prowess of the Sharingan that Hiruko has in his eye sockets.

Because the plan she is working on is based on Hiruko's 'Chimera Technique,' therefore, Tsukihi was able to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual that took place here not long ago.

In Tsukihi's opinion, if done correctly, and perfectly, Chimera Technique is an incredibly wonderful technique that is capable of turning coal into a diamond.

But the Chimera Technique used by Hiruko was imperfect, at least, from her standards.

First and foremost, Hiruko did not select Kekkei Genkai based on their Nature Chakra elements, he selected Kekkei Genkai that he believed were most useful to make a perfect ninja.

But even if we analyze the Kekkei Genkai he selected, there is Storm Release with Lightning and Water Chakra Nature, Steel Release with Earth Release Chakra, Swift Release with Wind Chakra Nature, and Uchiha Clan with Fire Chakra Nature.

Because of his narrow vision, Hiruko did not even consider the five basic Chakra Nature at the time of detailing and laying out the Ritual, much less the Yin and Yang Chakra Nature.

Yin and Yang are the most critical Chakra nature to reach perfect fusion.

Because of his ignorance, Hiruko ignored what's more important, and no matter how much he trains or masters the Kekkei Genkai, Hiruko would never be able to reach the level of Kekkei Mora.

But at the same time, Hiruko can't help but think of a good coincidence.

And the five people that Hiruko obtained as targets, Uchiha Hiiragi also had the Sharingan, as such Hiruko managed to obtain Yin Chakra and the Swift Release user happened to have a part Uzumaki descent, so Hiruko managed to obtain some amount of Yang Chakra, as such overall, Hiruko did get obtain the all seven-chakra nature, but because of the difference in their strength and potency, a perfect balance has not been achieved.

But at the same time, because there are all the chakra natures, so they have complemented each other, which not only made it possible for Hiruko to survive and but also improved the five Kekkei Genkai he has, and for the very same reason, the Visual Prowess of the Sharingan he obtained increased.

Tsukihi thought, 'Will the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual conducted by Hiruko be considered a success or a failure?'

From Tsukihi's standards, this ritual is indeed a failure, yet Hiruko managed to survive, at the same time managed to absorb the five Kekkei Genkai.

Whatever may be the reason for the imperfectness, from the very beginning, Hiruko's goal was to absorb the five Kekkei Genkai which he managed to complete, as such the ritual was indeed be considered a success from Hiruko's standards.

After again sorting out her thought, Tsukihi took one last look at Hiruko and Yumie, then left the platform.

After the fight just now, Tsukihi understands that Hiruko's base strength has become very strong, once Hiruko completes the adaption period, masters the use of the five Kekkei Genkai in conjunction with each other and gains battle experience, he will become truly monstrous and defeating him in a one-to-one fight will become close to impossible for most of the people in the Shinobi World.

Even within Akatsuki, his strength would be among the top five individuals, which is a big thing considering the kind of people that are part of Akatsuki.

Seeing that Tsukihi successfully completed the battle, Shinichi just nodded to Tsukihi, and with the ritual completed, there was no longer any need to stay at this mountain anymore.

Even the members of Akatsuki rarely gather together, with the objective complete, they separated in different directions and started leaving the mountain towards the directions where their next commissions point at.

But before leaving, the members of Akatsuki carefully examined Uchiha Tsukihi and Oto Yumie, even Tendo Pain the frontal leader of Akatsuki was no exception to this.

The performance of Uchiha Tsukihi, and Oto Yumie in the previous battle against Hiruko made them shine quite a lot.

While everyone was observing Uchiha Tsukihi, and Oto Yumie, Oto Yumie who was following Shinno also finally glanced at Uchiha Tsukihi with undisguised greed hidden in her eyes.

Shinichi said with a sullen face, "Be careful on the way, that woman seems to be eyeing you!"

Tsukihi nodded, then said, "Kuroto-sama needs Hiruko's 'Chimera Technique' you better start thinking about how you can obtain it and send it to him."

Shinichi sighed, "But I don't have any deep friendship with Hiruko, in fact, I find him to be very disgusting."

Tsukihi smirked, "You don't necessarily have to go to Hiruko, his partner Shinno is also there, I am willing to bet that Shinno must have obtained Chimera Technique."

Even before joining Akatsuki, Shinno who has been traveling across Shinobi World has stolen countless techniques from many shinobi villages and individuals, in the hopes of reviving the Land of Sky, and ruling the entire Shinobi World.

So how can he, who dreams of ruling over the entire Shinobi world ignore such useful techniques like the Chimera Technique?

Even Orochimaru dared to promise Kuroto Chimera Technique in exchange for an equivalent thing, so how will he obtain Chimera Technique now that he has left Akatsuki?

Shinno is his source of obtaining the Chimera Technique!

Shinichi spoke helplessly, "But I have no deep friendship with Shinno either."

Tsukihi sighed, "It would just be a deal, why is there any need for friendship?" – After a pause, Tsukihi continued, "You directly ask Shinno what does he wants in exchange for giving you the scroll recording the Chimera Technique, and see if you can fulfill it; if you can fulfill then good, but if you can't, then inform Kuroto-sama, he will naturally try to find a way."

Shinichi considered a little and then nodded, "Alright, I will see what I can do."

Tsukihi nodded.

At this time, Shinichi asked, "Hiruko's Chimera Technique can be used to absorb other's Kekkei Genkai, I wonder what Kuroto wants to do with it? He is already so strong with those Dojutsu of his, and he is still after such a disgusting technique."

'If only you knew just how deep this accursed Shinobi world is!' – Tsukihi thought inwardly, and said, "You don't need to worry over such things. Besides, because of your 15 years of servitude, you have to complete anything that Kuroto-sama says, so get to it."

Shinichi was surprised when Tsukihi spoke '15 years of servitude' and he can't help but look at Tsukihi with a deep look. "Just who are you Uchiha Tsukihi?"

Tsukihi smirked, "You will find out soon enough."

Shinichi considered Tsukihi's words, then suddenly looked at Tsukihi with a frowned expression and spoke, "Uchiha Tsukihi, talking to you, why do I feel like I am talking to Hyuga Kuroto? He isn't teaching you any weird things, right?"

Tsukihi blushed, "DON'T BE STUPID!"

"Seeing your reaction my doubts are only deepened." – Shinichi said with a smirk.

Tsukihi's face darkened, "I am too lazy to entertain you, I am leaving, make sure to be more alert from now on, okay, bye!" – After leaving that sentence, Tsukihi's directly ran forward.

Shinichi shouted from behind, "Hey if you are after him, then I suggest you give up, you don't really have a chance, or should I say that your competitor is at a great advantage."

Tsukihi's feet suddenly slipped and she fell to the ground as soon as she heard Shinichi's words, "This GUY!"

Shinichi smirked looking at the glare he was getting, "Hey I was just kidding! But all things aside, are you sure you don't need me to escort you? If you somehow die halfway, it's none of my business!"

Tsukihi cursed, "Who needs your escort, you bastard!"

"Hahahaha..." – Shinichi's laughter echoed, "Are you sure!?"

Tsukihi sighed, she no longer paid attention to Shinichi's idiocy and disappeared using the Body Flicker Technique.

With Tsukihi gone, Shinichi also disappeared using the Body Flicker Technique and arrived next to Biwa Juzo, who was patiently sitting on a cliff.

Juzo questioned, "Are you done?"

Shinichi nodded.

Juzo said, "In that case let's go, we already have our next assignment ready."

Shinichi nodded, and both of them moved to hunt down their next target.

…

On Uchiha Tsukihi's side.

After moving all the way from Land of Earth to Land of Grass, Tsukihi was finally at the border of the Land of Fire and Land of Grass.

Tsukihi obviously did not drop her vigilance.

While passing through a forest, Tsukihi suddenly stopped and said with a sigh, "You know, I have been wondering for a while now, but how long are you going to follow me?"

At this moment, the figure of Oto Yumie came out from behind another tree, and spoke with a giggle, "Ara ara, Uchiha-san is unexpectedly sharp…"

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Yumie observed Tsukihi with an aggressive gaze, the corner of her lips arched as she muttered to herself, "Perfect body proportions, extraordinary beauty, and temperament, coupled with excellent chakra, with an energetic and lively breath, and the most important of all, a fascinating pair of Sharingan, it's a pity that she doesn't have Mangekyou Sharingan, but it does not matter, I will make do with her for now, it seems that this time my luck is pretty good."

From her words, Yumie doesn't seem to be looking at a person, but more like a piece of art, a carefully carved out piece of art with very high value.

Tsukihi sighed, she didn't know what to feel about being praised for her beauty by 'Orochimaru' of all, and it didn't really make it much better when the opposite was looking at her like she is a helpless prey only waiting to be slaughtered.

Tsukihi's face turned cold and she said mockingly, "I am rather embarrassed by being praised by you. But I guess I should appreciate it nonetheless. All things aside, you have followed me all the way here, you don't expect me to believe that it was only to admire my beauty, right?"

Yumie ignored Tsukihi's cold words and said while licking her lips as her gaze fixed on Tsukihi's onyx eyes, "Although I don't want to admit it, Uchiha Bloodline is really fascinating."

That gaze of Orochimaru confirmed that he was really eyeing this clone body.

Orochimaru's obsession with Sharingan will really make him suffer more and more.

But Tsukihi can't do anything about it.

Even in the original story, Orochimaru repeatedly suffered in his quest to obtain Sharingan, be that at the hands of Itachi or Sasuke.

Even here, he has already started to suffer in his quest to obtain Sharingan.

And Tsukihi can easily conclude that perhaps his suffering here will be more than what he went through in the original story.

Why?

Because here Orochimaru seems to be more obsessed with Sharingan, his obsession has also birthed relatively early.

Especially after losing to Hiruko, a non-Uchiha who Orochimaru can step upon whenever he intended.

Honestly, Kuroto can't help but feel pity for his Sensei.

"Give up, no matter what methods you use, no matter how much planning you use, you will never be able to obtain Sharingan, it will always end up in a failure." – That's was all that Tsukihi could say.

Her expression was indifferent, and her tone flat, as if she was stating an obvious fact.

But Tsukihi's tone angered Yumie, she glared at Tsukihi and her tone savage, "An ignorant girl sheltered by her clan, now that you dared to betray, it's about time you experience the wickedness and cruelty of this accursed Shinobi World!"

And instantly, Yumie's right hand stretched out at lightning speed.

The stretched-out hand turned into a poisonous snake and immediately wrapped around Tsukihi's body, tightly restricting her body.

At the same time, two snakes appeared out of the ground, tightly wrapping both of Tsukihi's legs., as a result restricting all her movements.

Seeing that the attack succeeded, Yumie smiled in glee, and her neck stretched out moving towards Tsukihi's neck, "Uchiha Tsukihi, I will be taking over your body!"

Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw…

Just as Yumie's mouth was close to Tsukihi's neck, Tsukihi's body suddenly split into hundreds of black crows, hovering in the air.

The entire forest was covered with hundreds of crows.

Yumie's face changed and she retracted her head and hands.

The crows again gathered together in mid-air, revealing Tsukihi's upper body, three black tomoe spinning in the scarlet wheel of her eyes, looking at Yumie with pity.

Yumie muttered, "Crow Clone Technique?"

Crow Clone Technique is a derived Clone technique from the Shadow Clone Technique. Compared with the Shadow Clone Technique, Crow Clone Technique has lesser Chakra requirements and is reusable even after the clone is dispersed.

This is because, in the Crow Clone Technique, a user projects their chakra towards a dozen crows. Since it uses a medium so the chakra requirement is lesser, and even after the clone is defeated, the crows can repeatedly regather together to reform the clone.

As such, this technique is not only extremely mysterious but also very useful.

The reason why the Crow Clone Technique is very rare because it requires a very complex level of coordination between the user and the Summon, as well as extremely fine Chakra Control.

So, although extremely useful, Crow Clone Technique is also very difficult to use.

While floating in mid-air, Tsukihi spoke, "I have long said that your attempts will always be useless, if you do not want to suffer in the future, it would be best that you give up in Sharingan."

Yumie's face was embarrassed, "When did you notice? When did you use the 'Crow Clone Technique'?"

Tsukihi said, "Is there even a need to notice? Your greed is completely visible from your eyes. Whether me or Shinichi-sama, both of us were able to see through your intentions very clearly the moment we met, in fact, but I am curious, what made you think that you will be able to capture me if you find me alone? Do you really think that I am just some helpless little girl?"

Yumie was silent for a while, then said in a gloomy tone, "Uchiha Tsukihi, I will remember you!"

Faced with this humiliating experience, Yumie will obviously retaliate sooner or later.

Tsukihi didn't care about Yumie's gloomy tone, and said lightly, "I am afraid that I can't promise the same."

Leaving that sentence, Tsukihi's body again split into hundreds of crows, which began to disperse little-by-little.

Yumie can only helplessly look at the dispersing crown with a bitter look.

…

On Uchiha Tsukihi's side.

After receiving the information from the Crow Clone, Tsukihi, who stood on the canopy of a tree smiled slightly and immediately disappeared from her position.

Running all the way in the direction of Konohagakure.

Tsukihi obviously knew Yumie's (or Orochimaru's) intentions, therefore, it wasn't surprising that Orochimaru was led away by a Crow Clone.

If she chose, Tsukihi could have actually fought with Yumie, but doing so would have been dangerous and could have revealed information about her other identity or about the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, so direct confrontation was a big no-no.

For that very reason, Tsukihi also did not use Genjutsu.

After a few days of travel, Tsukihi finally returned to Konoha.

After sneaking into the secret laboratory, the soul was transferred back to the main body, along with summing up all the gains.

Watching Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual may have been a new experience, an eye-opener.

But for Kuroto it was extremely important observation data, which he would use to further lay out his plans.

As such, sneaking there was not a waste of effort.

Poof…

While Kuroto was drawing out several of his hypothesis, the one-eyed wiper suddenly appeared on his shoulder.

Kuroto raised an eye-brow at the sudden arrival of the one-eyed wiper.

Taking out the scroll from the mouth of the wiper, Kuroto read the content and sighed, "He really doesn't intend to give up, does he?"

The content of the scroll was very simple, Orochimaru wants Kuroto to help him to carefully investigate the details of an Uchiha Kunoichi going by the name of 'Uchiha Tsukihi.'

With the way the content on the scroll was written, it was clearly evident that Orochimaru is pretty eager to get his hands on 'Uchiha Tsukihi.'

"But I suppose that if he gave up so easily, he won't be Orochimaru!"

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"Well, whatever, it works best for me I guess." – Kuroto muttered.

The failure of being able to create an acceptable clone with his standards has taught Kuroto that he is still not sufficiently knowledgeable.

So, at this moment, Kuroto is in need dire need of the latest technology and research related to cell fusion, and this is something that only Orochimaru can give him. But Kuroto also knows that he doesn't have anything worth exchanging that Kuroto doesn't mind giving away.

After all, most things that would interest Orochimaru as exchange are either related to his own secrets or the secrets of Amatsukami, which are not what Kuroto is willing to exchange.

So, what Kuroto can offer in exchange is the information that Orochimaru wants in exchange for obtaining the research theories, experimental results, and related material.

And selling this information would also be most cost-effective.

And now that Orochimaru has expressed his need for information on 'Uchiha Tsukihi,' so Kuroto obviously plans to exploit this need to his advantage.

After the cleansing operation organized by the village, Kuroto is sure that not many of the spies left by Orochimaru are at a high level to provide him with the information on Uchiha Tsukihi.

So, no matter how much Orochimaru tries to search and investigate for information on Uchiha Tsukihi, there is nothing he would be able to obtain from any of his other sources.

As such, if Orochimaru wants to investigate 'Uchiha Tsukihi' as soon as possible, Kuroto who is a high-level member of the Anbu Black Ops is his only option. And if he is really adamant about obtaining information about Uchiha Tsukihi, then he must agree to Kuroto's side of the deal.

As such, after again reading the content on the scroll sent by Orochimaru, Kuroto took out another scroll and wrote, 'I understand Orochimaru-sama, I will try my hardest to investigate all the information on this Uchiha Tsukihi, but I have my own condition, I want all your research, theories, speculations, results, etc. on Cell Fusion.'

And after writing this message, Kuroto put the scroll inside the mouth of the one-eyed viper and sent him away.

With that out of the way, Kuroto put away the unnecessary thoughts and focused on summarizing what he learned from observing Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual.

First and foremost, Hiruko's reckless approach is an obvious no-no for Kuroto, Hiruko's finally 'success' according to Kuroto has a very big fluke factor to it which is not something Kuroto is willing to bet on.

Second, for the ritual to go perfect, the chakra of the five nature should be in perfect balance, and Yin and Yang nature should be used for guiding the entire ritual. Only in this way a perfect balance and harmony will be achieved and the ritual would be successful.

Third and most important of all, the core, that is the main body should be in an optimum state throughout the ritual.

This point has also been ignored by Hiruko during his ritual. He dared to directly swallow the other five ninjas, which is not exactly wrong, but the problem is that his forced approach caused the core, which is his own body to continuously disintegrate, repair, and reorganize, as a result greatly weakened his core as there would be countless tears within the core, leaving many hidden dangers buried inside him waiting to be unleashed in the future.

Precisely why Kuroto dared to assert Shinichi that there would be many dangers hiding within Hiruko's body.

After summarizing the lessons, Kuroto also thought of the Celestial phenomenon that Hiruko used.

One of the many reasons why Hiruko managed to complete his ritual was the celestial phenomenon of Solar Eclipse and the appearance of Aurora.

This also gave Kuroto the idea to put some of his attention on several other phenomenons' that can play a passive role in the ritual and ultimately help him in his plans, of course, Celestial Phenomenon's being one of them.

After all, The Fruit of the God Tree that Otsutsuki Kaguya ate also contained the energy of the planet, so the power of nature, that is the Natural Energy, will also play a deep role in the final ritual.

Lastly, there was the matter of some kind of Iryo Ninjutsu, which Kuroto cares about very much.

It was clearly evident that Hiruko shouldn't have survived that ritual, yet he did. Surviving such a level of cellular degradation shouldn't have been possible even with the help of leech.

As such Kuroto speculates that it was all thanks to some king of Iryo Ninjutsu, which seems to be the most reasonable explanation.

As for how Hiruko managed to learn Iryo Ninjutsu, there are two possible sources.

First is obviously Shinno. With his deep knowledge of Medical Science and Iryo Ninjutsu, it is likely that Shinno taught Hiruko some kind of technique that helped Hiruko survive the final disintegration.

The second source could be Senju Tsunade herself.

'Is it possible that Hiruko learned Iryo Ninjutsu from Senju Tsunade before he chose to defect?' – Kuroto thought, as he can't be sure about it.

Hiruko did have a very good friendship with the three Sannin, as such, it wouldn't be surprising if Senju Tsunade taught Hiruko a thing or two about Iryo Ninjutsu.

"Well, regardless of all that, one thing I can conclude is that learning Iryo Ninjutsu seems indispensable to ensure the full proof success of the ritual, and I guess I should see if I learn it because it is always best to have multiple options. Ryuumyaku does heal me, but you never know when Iryo Ninjutsu will come in handy." – After a pause, Kuroto continued, "It's just that after Senju Tsunade left, the development of Iryo Ninjutsu has basically stagnated in Konoha, most of the techniques and that are used currently were developed during the second great shinobi war… will these backward techniques really come in handy?"

In the shinobi world, technological advances generally fall into a stagnated growth period unless there is a genius to promote their advancement.

And in the case of Iryo Ninjutsu, Senju Tsunade is an unmatched genius who could have played the role of developing Iryo ninjutsu, but she left Konohagakure, therefore, there wasn't much development.

This is the reason why the entire Konohagakure was helpless, unable to treat Kakashi and Rock Lee, and needed Senju Tsunade to treat them.

As soon as Senju Tsunade returned things changed.

'But I don't know how long will it take for her to return this time. Aside from Naruto's talk-no-Jutsu, I am not even sure if anything would convince her to come back… may be Izanami? But I don't even know how to use Izanami… moreover, I am obviously not going to sacrifice an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan just to bring her back!'

Such a dilemma!

Sighing slightly, Kuroto checked over everything and left the secret laboratory.

Carefully walking through the forest, Kuroto looked at the scenery around.

"Huh… "

At this time, beautiful snowflakes were falling, covering the entire forest in a soft cover of snow, and seeing this scene, Kuroto can't help but sigh slightly.

How long has it been since he has witnessed this scene?

Remembering some of his past experience Kuroto muttered, "Another year has passed away…"

.

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As Kuroto expected, in just one night, the entire Konohagakure was covered in a thick layer of snow.

The swirling cold wind and the pure white look gave the village an unreal atmosphere.

Peaceful, and tranquil yet dreamy, and unreal at the same time.

Standing at the open window, Kuroto felt refreshed looking at the picturesque scene before him.

After getting fresh, Kuroto dressed in his Anbu gear and left his house through the window.

Kuroto appeared on a tree outside Uzumaki Naruto's house, as it was almost time to continue their shift to watch over Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuriki of Kyuubi.

By the time Kuroto arrived the other three members of the team – 11 were also here.

Seeing Kuroto arrive, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, and Might Guy greeted him and had small usual discussions.

Kuroto originally intended to use the 'Uchiha Tsukihi' clone while doing his Anbu duties.

After all, soul adaption is very important, the longer his soul stays inside the clone body, the better it would be.

But, if he were to use the Tsukihi clone while performing his Anbu duties, then he would obviously need to use Transformation Technique, and there is a possibility that Shisui and Kakashi would be able to see through that transformation.

And if while performing the secret task the transformation technique is revealed, then it would be very difficult for Kuroto to explain, Kuroto might still be able to handle Shisui, but Kuroto doesn't have any explanation for Kakashi.

And if discovered, it would put Uchiha Clan in a more passive situation.

So, unless absolutely necessary, Kuroto would obviously choose to perform the task in his main body.

Amidst their casual discussions, Kuroto looked towards the gate of Uzumaki Naruto's house and said, "Such heavy snow has covered the entire village and the surroundings, shouldn't this kid obediently stay at home, at least today?"

Kakashi said helplessly, "All things aside, today is also the day when the admissions for the academy starts and considering the dream he has, Uzumaki Naruto will obviously not be going to stay at home, although we all know that he hasn't reached the age where he can be admitted to the academy yet."

Team-11 has been watching over Uzumaki Naruto from the shadows for quite some time, as such, they now perfectly understand Naruto's hyperactive temperament. The little kid wouldn't stop for even a moment, all day wandering all over the village. Even the Anbu members keeping a watch over have to be in constant movement as he would never stay at a place for more than a few minutes.

At this time, another Anbu member arrived where the four of them stood.

All four of Team-11 frowned.

The Anbu member did not speak anything, just passed a scroll to Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi took the scroll, unfolded it, and after reading through the information on the scroll, Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Hokage-sama ordered this?"

The Anbu member simply nodded, "Yes."

Kakashi nodded and after folding back the scroll, he turned towards the other three members of team-11 and said, "We have been ordered to complete a task."

Shisui who was wearing his Cat Anbu uniform asked, "But captain what about protecting the target?"

"I suppose we have to split up for today, Hokage-sama has given his permission, I and Monkey will be in the group – A, and we will perform this task, while Cat and Eagle will be in group – B, protecting the target. Make sure to be on a high vigilance." – said Kakashi.

Eagle and Cat glanced at each other, then nodded. ""Alright, if that's what Hokage-sama's order is.""

Eagle and Cat did not ask the content of the mission as it is in Shinobi code to never reveal the content of the mission to anyone who is not performing the mission, more so with the Anbu missions, and both Eagle and Cat know that after completing the mission, their captain, Dog will obviously reveal the detail so there was no further questioning.

With that, the captain of Team – 11 and Monkey did not speak anything more and disappeared along with the other Anbu member.

With Kakashi and Guy gone, Shisui immediately asked, "Kuroto-san, where have you been these few days?"

When Kuroto went to the Land of Rain to observe Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual, Kuroto made sure that Shisui kept up his cover.

At the time of going, Kuroto did not inform Shisui where he was going, so now that he is back, Shisui is obviously curious.

Kuroto groaned a little, and said, "I went to investigate the whereabouts of Uchiha Hiiragi."

Shisui was surprised, and asked eagerly, "Investigate the cause of Hiiragi's disappearance? So, did you find anything?"

Kuroto nodded, "Yes, I found him, but he is already dead." – Then continued after a short pause, "He was kidnapped by Akatsuki and died in their hands, even his Sharingan, or maybe I should say, the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai was taken away."

Shisui sighed in disappointment.

The Uchiha Clan has already assumed that it would be impossible to save Uchiha Hiiragi just like the case with Uchiha Ryota and Uchiha Hideki, so Shisui was not much surprised by the news revealed by Kuroto about the death of Uchiha Hiiragi, but he still frowned about the latter part, "What do you mean by his Kekkei Genkai was stolen, is something like that even possible?"

When asked this, Kuroto briefly mentioned Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual.

Although Hiruko is not that well known within the village because of his mediocre talent, and not many achievements in his life as a Konoha Shinobi, and considering the generation, he was born in, Shisui was still very much aware of who Hiruko is because of being an Anbu.

And now that Kuroto mentioned Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual, Shisui can't help but be shocked, being able to steal stealing other people's Kekkei Genkai is almost unheard of, and the fact that Hiruko has created a Kinjutsu which he used to absorb other people's Kekkei Genkai, and not just one, two or three, but five Kekkei Genkai at once! All he could mutter was, "This… how is this even possible?"

Kuroto spoke, "Remember Shisui if you happen to encounter Hiruko in the future, do not take him lightly or the previous person he is known to be. Now his strength has reached a terrifying level, and will only improve as he gets used to using all the five Kekkei Genkai's, so dealing with him would become extremely difficult even for me if I am not careful against him."

Shisui nodded seriously and immediately said, "Then we must notify the village as soon as possible!"

Kuroto nodded solemnly, "I have passed the news to Sandaime-sama by an anonymous name." – Kuroto paused, then continued, "As for whether Sandaime-sama takes this information seriously is up to him, and I don't have any control ov-…"

"Wow, it's so snowy!" – However, Before Kuroto could finish his words, the door of Uzumaki Naruto's house suddenly opened, and Naruto, with a piece of unfinished bread in his mouth, excitedly rushed out of his house.

Kuroto and Shisui looked at Uzumaki Naruto, then turned towards each other and sighed, both understood that they will now be roaming all over the village until Uzumaki Naruto goes to the academy, and then come back to his home.

…

Sometime after the Academy part where Uzumaki Naruto only got cold eyes and not the opporutinity to take the admissions.

…

The first snowfall of every year is always very heavy, as such a whole lot of snow is collected, so the sight of many children playing within the snow is a normal thing. Their games obviously included various activities like making snowmen and snowball fights, etc.

In short, they are having quite a lot of fun.

Being a child himself, Uzumaki Naruto obviously wanted to play with them too, but he was unscrupulously chased away by the children as if he was some kind of wild beast.

The children feared him, even the adults openly ostracised him for containing the beast that devastated Konoha a few years ago.

Uzumaki Naruto, who is an orphan, with nobody to provide for him, with no understanding of what parental love feels like and no idea of why he is treated as such, Naruto could only sit on the swing alone in the snow-covered playground.

His small figure, sad and filled with loneliness, had so many questions, yet no one to answer them.

Even if he has already seen such a scene countless time, Shisui still can't help but speak, "Even as a child he has to go through such devastating experience, being blamed for the Kyuubi's attack, hated for housing the demon fox, and treated as the person responsible for the death of Yondaime-sama, when he should instead be treated as a hero… it's really painful to even watch. Kuroto-san, can we not do something to help him?"

Kuroto sighed and shook his head.

They already have too much on their plates. Uzumaki Naruto's situation cannot be solved in this way, because, if Naruto is touched in any way, then that would be hitting the nerves of many people at the same time.

So, they don't have the power to help Naruto currently.

The reason why Uzumaki Naruto is hated is also very simple.

Since people don't understand the circumstances behind Naruto's birth, so they don't hide away their hatred towards him, very few are willing to let go of their hatred towards Kyuubi and acknowledge Uzumaki Naruto for being the hero he is. But those are very few and cannot do anything to change his situation.

Since no one is willing to take responsibility for him, Naruto naturally becomes the scapegoat.

There are very few methods to solve Naruto's situation. Unless the circumstances behind his birth are revealed, or he wins over the heart of everyone, his situation will not change.

Kuroto might be able to do so for Naruto in the future, but currently, he doesn't have the necessary political power to do so.

While Kuroto and Shisui had saddened faces looking at Naruto, suddenly they heard some noises from the other end of the road.

"If you are really a Hyuga then show us your Byakugan!"

"But if you're not gonna, don't look at us!"

"Yeah, your eyes are creepy!"

"I bet you are some kind of monster, aren't you?"

"Yeah, the Byakugan monster!"

"""Hahahaha"""

Several children were making fun of a little girl, making her lower her head in sadness, as tears flowed f=down her cheek, she suddenly crouched down and started crying.

Shisui looked over with a frown, "Kuroto-san, isn't she the eldest lady of the Hyuga Clan?"

Kuroto nodded, "Yes."

Shisui asked worriedly, "Shouldn't we do something about those three?"

Kuroto shook his head, "Firstly, it's a matter among children so they must resolve it themselves, moreover, as the supposed next head of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hinata must overcome these things by herself, and even if she can't, we can't intervene in such childish things, let this matter be resolved the hero of the day."

Shisui was confused, "Hero of the day? By that you don't mean, Uzumaki Naruto, do you?"

Kuroto did not answer, just watched the happening with a bit of interest.

…

"Hey, cut it out!" – shouted Naruto

"Who are you?"

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am the future Hokage!" – said Naruto with a determined expression.

.

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"I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am the future Hokage!" – said Naruto with a determined expression.

"Oh, the future Hokage, huh?" – Bully – 1.

"C'mon, what are you, stupid?" – Bully – 2.

"I'll show you guys!" – Naruto said as he printed the hand seal for the Clone Technique (How did he even know the hand seals for the Clone Jutsu at this point in time is a mystery even for Translator-kun.).

Poof… Poof…

With two consecutive poofs of white smoke, two more Uzumaki Naruto appeared

"Come at me, bring it~!" – Clone 1 said.

"Datebayo~" – Clone – 2 said.

But looking at the two Clones, the three bullies were not only not intimidated but burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"""Hahahahahaha!"""

Even Naruto's eyes turned into saucers and he seemed to be a bit embarrassed.

This is because the two Uzumaki Naruto clones that appeared were too small, not even reaching the height of Naruto's shoes.

While Naruto's eyes returned back to his usual self, as he started looking up.

One of the bullies had already rushed towards Naruto and punched him in the nose.

Bang…

Blood gushed out of Naruto's nose, knocking him out unconscious on the snow.

"Hahaha, I took him down with one punch, future Hokage right! You think you are so cool wearing this ugly red scarf?" – taunted the leader of the three bullies, as he took off the red scarf Naruto was wearing and started destroying it.

While the three bullies were ridiculing Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata, Shisui who was watching this scene was at a loss at what to do, especially at the mention of 'Demon Fox.'

Frowning at the scene, Shisui looked at Kuroto.

Kuroto just said, "Don't worry."

Shisui said, "But-…"

But before Shisui could continue, Kuroto smiled and stopped him midway, "Keep watching!"

At this time, the timid Hinata mustered up some courage and ran towards Naruto. She squatted next to Naruto, wiped off the snow from Naruto's clothes, and asked, "Ano… are you… are you okay?"

Naruto just shook his head and didn't say anything more.

The three bullies continued teasing, """Byakugan monster, Demon Fox... hahahaha."""

Suddenly another child walked over, his hands in the pocket of his jacket giving off a casual and indifferent vibe.

Looking at the scene that was happening before him, he said, "Hey, you three, do you only bully weaklings and girls?"

The three bullies suddenly stopped laughing and eyed the third child. Looking at the kid who had his hands inside his jacket, he wore a black turtleneck t-shirk, black pants, black jacket over it with the iconic red and white fan-shaped symbol printed on his clothes.

And his face had a bored-up look.

The three bullies asked, "And who are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke!" – reported the kid with a slightly colder tone.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto who buried his head in the snow, then turned towards Hinata who was squatting next to Naruto.

Sasuke frowned when he noticed her eyes.

Sasuke then said to the three bullies, "I am different from those two, I am an Uchiha!"

The leader of the bullies threw away the red scarf, and said, "What Uchiha? We are three and you are just one!"

The children are obviously ignorantly right. They don't have any deep understanding of how a fight between shinobi works, nor do they have any deep understanding of any great shinobi village.

For this reason, they dared to speak so rudely to Uchiha Sasuke, and bullied Hyuga Hinata.

Sasuke snorted, he stepped forward and grabbed the leader of the bullies by the collar, and at the same time tripped one of the other two who rushed towards Sasuke.

Then Sasuke used his other hand to catch the incoming fist of the third bully, and said with a grin, "I will make you remember this; I AM DIFFERENT FROM YOU LOT, I AM AN UCHIHA!"

The bullies were suddenly shocked and gulped in nervousness.

Sasuke obviously did not go easy on them and started to beat the hell out of the three.

A few seconds later, Sasuke cleaned the non-existent dust from his hands, and said, "I am sure you guys will remember what I said, now scram!"

"Y-yes… Yes!" – The three bullies repeatedly nodded one-after-another and ran away immediately.

Shisui smiled seeing the three bullies running away after being taught a lesson by Sasuke.

At this time, Sasuke with his hands again in his pocket approached Hyuga Hinata.

Coming closer to Hinata, Sasuke questioned, "You are from the Hyuga clan, right?"

The dazed Hinata weakly nodded, "Ah yes, thank you very much for your help!"

Naruto who also sat-up turned his head to the side and whispered, "Thank you…"

"Thank you?" – Sasuke muttered as his lips curled, "Heh, both of you couldn't even solve just three guys, aren't you shameful? I heard that Hyuga Clan is also in the same league as the Uchiha Clan, but you are so weak?"

Hinata was taken aback by Sasuke's words, she suddenly lowered her head and instinctively replied, "I… I am sorry!"

Sasuke shook his head without any care, "It seems that rumors are true, the Hyuga Clan is indeed declining, unlike the Uchiha Clan."

Leaving this sentence, Sasuke turned and around and started walking away without even as much as a glance at Naruto from beginning to end.

…

On Kuroto's side.

Shisui said with a bitter face, "This Sasuke…!"

Kuroto shook his head with a smile, "He is only a kid, don't worry too much about it."

Shisui sighed. Not because of what Sasuke said, but because of why Sasuke said so.

Children tend to repeat what they hear, and this is no strange with the children of the major shinobi clans.

So, the fact that Sasuke said so, implies that he has been hearing such rumors from somewhere.

And that somewhere is obviously the Uchiha Clan.

Kuroto also understands the recent atmosphere of the Uchiha Clan.

The senior members of the Clan are aware of the troubles that the clan is facing, and they understand that a little carelessness might also lead to the doom of the clan.

The relationship between the clan and village has started to improve because of the pressure from Amatsukami. But this does not mean that the two sides are willing to trust each other.

So, the relationship is at a junction where even small mistakes can turn back the situation.

And that's the point, most of the Uchiha who are not senior members, are not aware of these things too deeply.

All they understand is that the Uchiha Clan is the strongest currently.

There is Uchiha Shinichi outside, Uchiha Shisui inside, and Homusubi part of the Amatsukami.

All three are Uchiha who have awakened the legendary Mangekyou Sharingan and are thus invincible.

Even if Shinichi has defected from the village, even if Homusubi is the enemy of the village and clan, he is after all an Uchiha, as such he represents the might that an Uchiha can have.

Kuroto asked, "Are your clan members still gathering at the Naka Shrine to discuss the matter of Coup?"

Shisui shook his head, "No, the continuous disappearance of Hideki, Ryota and Hiiragi has put Patriarch on an edge, he has been unable to establish any contact with Shinichi, and with Homusubi being a threat, Patriarch can't put his attention on the coup anymore, so there are no more discussions of Coup."

Kuroto nodded, "Right. Even the village would not dare to eliminate the Uchiha Clan in such a situation. The threat posed by Amatsukami and Akatsuki is too much and has put the advisory elder on edge. So long as we keep up the pressure, a solution will present itself before us. Moreover, I am sure that there will be another major event in the village very soon."

Hiruko who has only recently completed the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual will obviously not able to bear remaining silent.

Even in the original story, Hiruko who had not even completed the ritual dared to declare war on the five great villages at the same time.

This action alone shows that he is unwilling to remain on the sidelines for too long.

Now that his strength has reached off the charts, he would obviously not remain silent.

And Hiruko's first target will obviously be Konohagakure.

Shisui obviously understood what Kuroto was saying, "Kuroto-san, do you mean Hiruko?"

.

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Recalling the previous fight that he had with Hiruko, Kuroto can't help but speak, "Without a doubt, Hiruko will not leave Konoha out of trouble for too long, now that he has completed his Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual."

Hiruko hopes to destroy the order of the entire shinobi world, so it's obvious that he will start with the strongest shinobi village.

Even if Obito can manage to hold back Hiruko for a while, Hiruko won't be restrained for too long, and in that case, Obito will obviously make sure that Hiruko's first target is Konoha.

This is not very difficult to guess.

When Shisui heard this, he was a bit worried, because if what Kuroto said is true, then anyone other than him won't be able to defeat Hiruko within current Konoha, and Kuroto can't afford to reveal his strength in front of the whole village, as that would give away his other identity of 'Yama!'

…

A few hours passed by shortly.

The snow-covered Konoha, bathed in the cold moonlight looked more and more dream-like. The white snow reflected the moonlight, giving the snow an unreal glow, making the night much brighter than usual.

At this time, Kuroto stood in one of the many streets, with his hands in the pocket of his short Kimono, he was leaning against the wall of the entrance of this particular alley.

After a while of waiting, Uzumaki Naruto walked into the alley with a downcast look, the whole person was a little absent, he didn't even bother dusting of the snow that gathered over his head and clothes.

With the arrival of Naruto, Kuroto raised his hands and said, "Yo!"

Hearing the sudden sound, Naruto raised his head to look at the person who spoke, then lowered back his head with a saddened expression, and continued walking away.

Kuroto whose hand was still raised felt a little awkward.

No one had ever bothered to actively greet Naruto, so Naruto subconsciously thought that this person wasn't talking to him but speaking to someone else, as such Naruto ignored him.

Seeing Naruto walking away while ignoring him, Kuroto sighed, "This kid!"

Shaking his head helplessly, Kuroto ran forward and shouted, "Hey kid, stop I am talking to you!"

Naruto's ears perked up, he turned his head to look at the person, then glanced around himself, when he noticed that there was no one else on the street other than him and this person, Naruto pointed at himself and asked in a confused manner, "Ano, Onii-san, were you talking to me just now?"

Kuroto nodded, "Who else do you see here besides the two of us?"

Naruto noticed Kuroto's eyes, and suddenly remembered that they were very similar to the ones that the girl had, realizing, Naruto said, "Ne-ne Onii-san, your eyes are exactly, exactly the same as the eyes of that girl I met today!"

Kuroto nodded and patiently explained, "You are right, these eyes are called Byakugan, and Byakugan is a Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga Clan, every one of the Hyuga Clan has similar eyes like mine."

Naruto tilted his head and muttered, "Byakugan? Kekkei Genkai? Ano, what's a Kekkei Genkai?"

Kuroto shook his head, "You will learn that in the future, anyway, I am here for another purpose."

Naruto was confused and asked, "Another purpose?"

Kuroto nodded and spoke, "Well that girl you helped today is sort of like a distant sister to me, and since you helped her out, I appreciate what you did for her, and am therefore here to say thank you. To repay the favor, I decided to treat you to some food, how about it? Would you like to eat some ramen?"

Naruto's eyes suddenly sparkled, his whole demeanor changed instantly and he became extremely excited, "What? What? Onii-san, are you really going to treat me to ramen? Datebayo!"

Kuroto nodded, then patted Naruto's head, and spoke with a smile, "Mhm, come on, I'll treat you to some ramen." – After doing so he started walking towards the direction of Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

When Kuroto's hand approached Naruto's head, Naruto instinctively clutched his eyes, but when he felt the sensation on his head, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

And when that sensation went away, Naruto turned to look at the back of the Onii-san, touched his head for a moment, then excitedly followed the person.

When the two arrived at the Ichiraku Ramen, they noticed that the shop was empty, with only the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen, Teuchi-san was leisurely sitting at the counter.

Seeing the two customers walk in, Teuchi got up, but noticing the identity of the two people, Teuchi raised an eyebrow.

Kuroto spoke, "How are you Teuchi-san? It's been a while since I have come to eat ramen."

Teuchi nodded with an amiable smile, "Indeed it has been, how have you been Kuroto? Well come on in, we can have the pleasantries later, first let's get you something to eat. And I also see that you have brought someone along with you."

Kuroto nodded, "Well, Uzumaki Naruto-Kun did a good thing today, so I decided that he must be rewarded for helping out the girl who was being bullied, and I figured that Ramen would be the best way, so here we are."

Teuchi was surprised and not so at the same time, after all, he knows whose son Naruto is, and he couldn't agree more with Kuroto's words. "Certainly-certainly, a good deed must always be rewarded, so Naruto, tell me what would you like to eat?"

Naruto observed the Hyuga Onii-san's discussion with Teuchi, and when Teuchi asked Naruto what he would like to eat, Naruto glanced at the menu with a tangled expression, after hesitating a little, Naruto turned towards Kuroto and asked, "Onii-san, can I… can I order anything?"

Kuroto folded his arms over his chest in a deep-thinking posture.

Naruto was a bit nervous.

Finally, Kuroto nodded with a grin, "Alright, you can order whatever you want, but there is a condition."

Naruto hurriedly questioned, "What… what condition?"

Kuroto said, "The condition is that you must finish all the things that you order!"

Naruto hurriedly nodded, and cheered, "Yahoo… In that case, one pork cutlet, chicken cutlet, fish cutlet, and… and…"

Immediately Naruto ordered a series of bowls of ramen.

And soon enough, Teuchi-san presented several bowls of ramen for Naruto.

Looking at the five bowls of ramen, each one larger than Naruto's head, Kuroto can't help but shake his head slightly.

After presenting Naruto's order, Teuchi-san turned towards Kuroto and asked, "And what for you Kuroto?"

Kuroto just shook his head, "Nothing for me Teuchi-san, my fiance should have cooked a meal at home, so it's best that I don't eat outside."

Teuchi nodded in understanding and got busy with some other things.

With that out of the way, Kuroto watched Naruto happily eat up the different bowls of ramen, and even he was dumbfounded at the speed he was eating at, 'He really is her child, through and through!"

Although Kuroto didn't have much of an interaction with Uzumaki Kushina, however, because he knew her identity, Kuroto still saw her many times, most of the time at Ichiraku Ramen.

The reason why Kuroto never tried to have any interaction with Uzumaki Kushina, because Kuroto didn't want to attach himself to her, if there is friendship then there would be an attachment, and then guilt.

The reason for such behavior was not something foolish like preserving the timeline or anything, but it was for his own safety, Kuroto had no confidence in being able to help out the Yondaime couple, as such, it was better to stay away from both of them so that he at least doesn't feel guilty about their death.

But now Kuroto has confidence.

And because Naruto has been unfairly treated by the villagers, Kuroto obviously wants to use this opportunity to win over Naruto.

For Naruto, who is still a kid, rejected and shunned by the whole village, and not even understanding the reason why he is going through this, the whole village obviously hates him.

And if someone were to appear at this time, and he doesn't hate Naruto, only gives a little bit of care and love he would be able to gain unparalleled importance in Naruto's heart.

Umino Iruka is a clear example of this.

Unlike Uchiha Sasuke, who didn't hesitate to turn his face on the whole village, he didn't even hesitate to turn against Hatake Kakashi, the person who taught him without any reservation.

Naruto is the kind of person who will always remember you in his heart.

As such it wouldn't be wrong to say that if feelings are an investment, then Naruto at the moment is a potential stock with the cheapest investment requirement and the best future returns.

And Kuroto who understands this would obviously not hesitate to invest in such prospective stock.

While Kuroto was considering all these things, Naruto had already finished eating.

"Burrrppppp…!!!" – a loud burp escaped Naruto's breaking Kuroto out of his thoughts.

Seeing the empty bowls, Kuroto was surprised, "Finished already?"

Naruto nodded happily, "Thank you so much for the hospitality!"

Then Naruto suddenly laughed a bit embarrassed and spoke, "Onii-san, onii-san… actually… you see, actually, the one who saved your sister today was not me, but someone named Uchiha Sasuke… so…"

Kuroto thought, 'This kid didn't speak so before eating the ramen.' – And asked curiously, "Oh? Then that Uchiha Sasuke should very strong, right?"

Naruto nodded quickly while dangling his legs, "Yeah, yeah, he is very strong, I have never seen someone so strong, he was able to single-handily knock down all the three bullies, very-very strong, datebayo!"

Kuroto's lips arched in a smirk, and he deliberately spoke, "Oh, it turned out that the benefactor of my sister is this Uchiha Sasuke, then I must thank him."

Hearing Kuroto's words, Naruto lowered his head apologetically and said, "I am sorry."

"It's okay." – Kuroto said with a smile and ruffled Naruto's hair. "You at least tried to help her, sometimes our intentions are also very important, you have a pure heart and you tried your best, that's what's important, and that's why I treated you, so don't be sad, cheer up."

Naruto didn't speak anything.

Then Kuroto stood up and said, "Alright Naruto-kun, I'll be going home now, you should also go to your home and rest." – Speaking so, Kuroto placed the money on the counter, walked out of the Ramen shop, and started walking towards his home.

Naruto didn't speak anything for a while, he still sat at his position with his head down.

Teuchi collected the money as well as the empty bowls, and spoke to Naruto, "Naruto, go for it!"

Naruto raised his head and looking at Teuchi-san's encouraging smile, he also grinned and ran out of the shop.

Hurriedly chasing out of the shop, Naruto shouted, "Ne, Onii-san, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

Kuroto did not stop in his tracks, but he still answered Naruto's question without turning back, "My name is Hyuga Kuroto."

Naruto nodded, and shouted again, "Kuroto-nii-san, I am Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Don't forget it, datebayo!"

Kuroto waved his hand and said, "Sure thing."

Naruto grinned and again shouted, "Kuroto-nii-san, are we… are we friends?"

Being asked this, Kuroto suddenly stopped, turned back to glance at Naruto, and asked with a curious expression, "Do you want to be friends with me?"

Naruto immediately replied, "OF COURSE! If… if you don't mind."

Kuroto took a long dramatic pause to think it over.

Naruto was obviously very nervous seeing Kuroto's expression.

Just when Naruto thought that he isn't going to agree, Kuroto said, "Alright, then we are friends"

After leaving that sentence, Kuroto didn't wait for Naruto to react, turned back, and walked away.

Although Kuroto wants to win over Naruto, he still can't show his eagerness, otherwise, it will attract Sandaime-sama and Shimura Danzo's attention.

So even if he wants to invest emotions into the most potential Uzumaki Naruto stock, Kuroto still has to maintain a moderate distance and be mindful of his approach.

If not for the fact that Naruto helped Hinata today, and Kuroto, as a Hyuga had a legitimate excuse to approach Naruto, Kuroto wouldn't have chosen to make contact with Naruto.

After walking through the long street, Kuroto suddenly frowned and glanced at an alley at the left corner.

After gazing in the direction of the dark alley for a while, Kuroto faintly said, "Come out."

Prompted by Kuroto's words, a person walked out of the shadows and said in a respectfully mocking tone, "Senpai is really worthy of being the person most valued by Orochimaru-sama, even with the Byakugan deactivated, senpai easily perceived me, the perception is really outstanding."

Kuroto looked at the person, and his expression condensed.

The figure who walked out of the shadows had onyx-eyes, and ash-grey hair tied in a small ponytail, his most consistent feature are his black-rimmed circular glasses. He wore a black cloak that covered most of his body.

And Kuroto was definitely surprised seeing him here.

Because this person was none other than Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's right-hand-man. But the current Kabuto is much younger, probably about twelve or thirteen years old, so he looks much immature compared to how he looked during the chunin exams in the original series.

After observing Kabuto for a while Kuroto spoke coldly, "Orochimaru-sama sent you?"

Kabuto nodded, "Yes!"

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Kabuto adjusted his round-rimmed glasses with his index finger and revealed a sly smile, "Kuroto-Senpai, Orochimaru-sama asked me to tell you that he has more than just one way to acquire the information that he wants, so you have to be a little prudent."

Kuroto pondered about Kabuto's words, and then spoke, "You are Yakushi Kabuto, right?"

Kabuto was a little surprised that Hyuga Kuroto was able to directly figure out his identity in a matter of seconds, but he soon calmed himself, he reasoned this information to Hyuga Kuroto's identity being an Anbu and spoke, "I did not expect that Kuroto-senpai to recognize small-timers like me, I suppose I should be flattered."

'Small-timers? Yeah right! If Kabuto is a small-timer then Kuroto can't help but wonder what sort of monstrosities are big-timers?' – Thought Kuroto while shaking his head.

He really did not care about Kabuto's sly tone and spoke as if he was talking to himself, "Since you dared to appear in the village so openly and even approached me, it can only mean that Orochimaru-sama and Shimura Danzo have begun to cooperate again, which means that the other source of information that Orochimaru-sama spoke is through Shimura Danzo's Root sub-unit, right?"

By now Kabuto was no longer so calm, and spoke with a sullen look, "Sigh, senpai really is as Orochimaru-sama described."

Kuroto casually spoke, "It's not that difficult to guess, given that I know your background."

As Kuroto said, Shimura Danzo is aware of Yakushi Kabuto's existence. After all, Shimura Danzo pit Yakushi Nono, and Kabuto against each other in the hopes that both of them would kill each other.

Although Kuroto is not much aware of what happened to Kabuto in this time-and-space, and whether his story is the same, or different, it's not important.

What's important is that Kabuto dared to show himself in Konoha, so there is only one explanation to this, and that is the undeniable fact that Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo have re-established their once cooperative relationship.

Because if that wasn't the case, and if Kabuto dared to appear in Konoha so openly, then he would have inevitably been chased by Shimura Danzo's subordinates.

With this conclusion, Kuroto can't help but wonder.

Orochimaru agreed to cooperate with Shimura Danzo, this is something Kuroto can understand.

After all, Orochimaru is crazily infatuated with Sharingan, so it's no wonder that he would agree to work with Shimura Danzo who is one of the individuals who can help him get Sharingan.

But the fact that Shimura Danzo, who so crazily tried to eliminate all of Orochimaru's former subordinates a few years ago also chose to cooperate with Orochimaru again? This was strange, and Kuroto couldn't understand why Danzo would do so?

Of course, Kuroto did not know the impact that the actions of Amatsukami have had on Shimura Danzo, coupled with the fear of the Akatsuki Organization, unable to do anything to the Uchiha Clan because of lack of both types of powers, and finally the humiliation he experienced at the Gokage Summit, and BAM, Shimura Danzo no longer cared about his petty conflict with Orochimaru and reestablished their cooperative relationship.

By now, Kabuto suppressed the shock on his face and said with a forced smile, "So now you know the other source. And I don't think that I need to remind Kuroto-senpai about the power of the Root sub-division, as an Anbu you know this better than me. With the help of Root, it wouldn't take much time for Shimura Danzo to acquire information on Uchiha Tsukihi."

"Really? Let's just wait and see." – said Kuroto in a confident tone.

There are two reasons for Kuroto's confidence.

First is that other than him, no one is aware of who exactly is Uchiha Tsukihi, so no matter how much Shimura Danzo searches; he would never find any information on Uchiha Tsukihi.

The second reason is that the fearsome Root subdivision is no longer as strong as it used to be, and Kuroto credits, Shimura Danzo's own stupidity, and Uchiha Shinichi's viciousness for this.

Therefore, Kuroto is confident that Orochimaru would find nothing about Uchiha Tsukihi.

Kabuto narrowed his eyes upon seeing Kuroto's confidence.

Kabuto has heard from the mouth of Orochimaru-sama that Hyuga Kuroto is not so easy to deal with, but it is only now, after personally meeting with him, Kabuto has come to realize dealing with Hyuga Kuroto is even more difficult than he had initially assumed.

Kabuto would obviously not let off so easily, so after pondering a little, he suddenly said with his sly smile, "Yes, there is one thing I forgot to mention to Kuroto-senpai, I have already sent Yuki Haku back to Orochimaru-sama's laboratory."

As soon as Kabuto's word fell, Kuroto narrowed his eyes, and an intense murderous aura was released by him.

This news really caught him by surprise.

But when he thought that the place where Kuroto made Haku stay was actually the laboratory left to him by Orochimaru, it was no surprise that Haku was found and sent away by Kabuto.

Kuroto sighed, 'I was a bit careless!'

For a while now, Kuroto has been so busy with various things, that he actually forgot about Haku's matter, Kuroto believed that Haku was in his own hands, therefore, Kuroto relaxed and let down his guard. Didn't expect that Kabuto would suddenly come and take away Haku from that secret residence.

Clearly annoyed at his carelessness, Kuroto recalled the entire process of learning Ice Release from Haku.

When he was learning Ice Release, Kuroto is sure that other than Water Release, he did not use any other Chakra Nature, and he was unsuccessful in using Ice Release in front of Haku, so in this regard, Kuroto doesn't have to worry too much for the time being.

However, what Kuroto is worried about is the fact that he used Tenseigan Soul Descend to leech his soul to Haku for a short time, and urged Haku to use Ice Release at that time.

It stands to reason that Haku should not have any understanding of what actually happened at that moment, because Haku was and is still a kid.

But there is still a hidden danger now, and Kuroto has to consider an option to solve this hidden danger.

While Kuroto was busy thinking, Kabuto no longer had his sly smile, at this moment he seemed to be shivering, and his back was filled with cold sweat because of being the direct target of Kuroto's killing intent.

He subconsciously took a few steps back and tried his best to maintain his sly look, as he said, "If… If Kuroto-senpai can investi… investigate and collect the information Orochimaru-sama wants, then Orochimaru-sama doesn't mind sharing the information that Kuroto-senpai needs, but I want to remind Kuroto senpai that his actions must be faster. If Shimura Danzo gets a step ahead, then you might not be able to get anything out of it."

Leaving this sentence, Kabuto did not wait for Kuroto's reply and left immediately in panic, no way, as a trained spy, Kabuto is sensitive to threats, and he could feel that if he were to stay here any more and he would be killed without any resistance.

Although Kabuto may have tried to hide it, Kuroto can obviously see his panicked state.

Not caring about whatever Kabuto said Kuroto muttered thoughtfully, "Shimura Danzo and Orochimaru have started to cooperate again, what do these two guys want to do?"

Unable to figure out a suitable reason, Kuroto shook his head and started walking towards his home.

As soon as Kuroto reached home, Yui who was wearing a cooking Apron over her normal clothes welcomed Kuroto, and also said, "Kuroto-Kun, we have a guest waiting at home."

"A guest? Who?" – questioned Kuroto as he noticed a pair of Shinobi sandals that were a bit smaller, and neatly kept near the shoe drawer.

Yui whispered lightly, "He is from the Uchiha Clan, the eldest son of the current Patriarch of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Itachi. He came by in the evening, said that there are some things he wants to talk about with you and has been waiting since."

'Uchiha Itachi? What's going on? Am I going to meet all the future-big shots in one day?' thought Kuroto in wonder but this didn't stop his reaction, he nodded towards Yui, changed his sleepers, then walked inside.

In the living room, Itachi sat while sipping on some green tea.

His whole demeanor gave off a refined and sophisticated vibe.

Seeing Kuroto arrive, Itachi respectfully got up and greeted Kuroto.

Kuroto nodded, and asked, "Uchiha Itachi, this is our third meeting if I remember correctly, right?"

Itachi nodded, and said, "Yes, Kuroto-san, I am also here to apologize for my Otouto's rude behavior towards the heiress of the Hyuga Clan."

Kuroto glanced at Itachi, he was a little speechless, "You came here because of this?"

Itachi nodded, and said, "Well actually, I don't have a personal interaction with other members of the Hyuga Clan, so I came here, if necessary, I can go to the mansion of the Hyuga patriarch and apologize to Hinata-san for my Otouto's rudeness."

Kuroto sighed, "Did Shisui told you about this?"

Itachi shook his head, and explained, "It was Sasuke himself, when he came back home today, he told me about the events of today, I have reprimanded him, and I hope that the Hyuga Clan and Hinata-san can forgive my Otouto for his ignorance."

As far as Itachi knows, Hyuga Hinata is the heiress of the Hyuga Clan, and if nothing unexpected happens, she will become the next Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan.

And Sasuke's arrogant behavior might affect the relationship between the Hyuga Clan and Uchiha Clan.

And considering that there are not many allies of the Uchiha Clan, and the fact that Uchiha Clan is facing threat from all sides, Itachi naturally does not want such a small matter to affect the relations of the two clans.

Kuroto said, "Don't worry, I will ask Yui to forward your apology to Hinata-san, so you don't have to worry about it."

Itachi nodded with a relieved look, "Thank you Kuroto-san."

With that out of the way, both of them had some casual discussions, when Kuroto asked, "So, this should not be the only reason who personally came to my house, right?"

Itachi nodded and after a while of silence, he said, "Kuroto-san, not long ago, I received the recruitment into the Anbu Black Ops, should I accept it?"

Kuroto was surprised, and asked with a smile, "Are you sure you should ask me such an important thing?"

Itachi nodded seriously, and said, "I asked Shisui-san's opinion, but he did not have any right answer with him, so he told me to ask you."

Kuroto raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

Itachi nodded.

Kuroto was silent for a while, and after serious consideration, he spoke, "If you ask me, I personally recommend that you do not join the Anbu department. You are the heir of the Uchiha Clan, so your identity is extremely sensitive.

More so with your personality. So once you join Anbu, you will be trapped in a whirlpool between village and clan, and inevitably fall into a dilemma. In the end, it would be very difficult for you to be part of either, without being distrusted by the other."

Itachi thought a little and said, "But the act of recruiting me to Anbu by Hokage-sama displays his trust in me. If I reject it, will it lead to…"

Kuroto interrupted Itachi midway, and spoke, "Was it Sandaime-sama's personal recruitment, or was it under the directive of Shimura Danzo? You have to think clearly."

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"You have to get your priorities straight, whether you join Anbu Black Ops, whether you join the Root Subdivision, or whether you join Konoha Military Police Force, these are all just some means to fulfill one goal, and you have to understand what is that one goal, what do you want to be able to do with either of these identities?" – asked Kuroto.

After hearing Kuroto's words, Itachi fell into deep thought.

Compared to Original Story, in this verse, even if he had to go through most of those traumatizing experiences from early childhood, Itachi here is a bit less darkened. This is because Itachi's genin teammates were not killed by Obito, and the reason he awakened the Sharingan was also not under the stimulation of someone's death.

Although Itachi awakened his Sharingan a bit earlier compared to the original story, the emotional impact it had on him was not as severe as it had in the original story.

Moreover, Obito's attention was directed towards Shinichi, thus there has been no interaction between Itachi, and Obito so far.

And the news of him awakening the Sharingan at such a young age was also not known to many so Itachi was not subjected to so much pressure.

So compared to the original story, Itachi here is a bit more cheerful.

Kuroto is not very sure whether Itachi's strength is the same or different, but it doesn't really matter, because who are we talking about here?

Uchiha Itachi, this name alone speaks everything.

Looking at Itachi's tangled expression, Kuroto sighed.

Members of the Uchiha Clan are always the extreme type.

Be that Madara, Obito, Shisui, Shinichi, and now Itachi.

Perhaps the term 'moderate' doesn't match with the roots of the Uchiha Clansmen.

After a while of thinking, Itachi seemed to have finally reached some kind of determination, and said sincerely, "Kuroto-san, I… I want to protect my family, my clan, and the village I have grown up in."

Now it was Kuroto's turn to be silent because, from the way Itachi has spoken, it seems as if he wants to join Amatsukami.

In this regard, Kuroto doesn't really have any reason to refuse.

Because Kuroto himself has wanted to recruit Itachi into Amatsukami.

With Itachi's extraordinary talent, it is only a matter of time when he grows into an extremely strong shinobi, so the addition of Itachi will greatly strengthen Amatsukakmi, and also free Kuroto and Shisui with many things.

But of course, Kuroto isn't going to make this so easy for Itachi, so after a while of thinking, Kuroto shook his head and said, "Currently you are not strong enough to get involved in such matters."

Itachi was a bit disappointed, "I am sorry, I was a bit reckless."

There are not many opportunities when you can talk to Itachi in such a way so after smiling a little, Kuroto returned to his serious look and said, "Itachi, you don't need to be discouraged. Since you want to join Amatsukami, then I am going to arrange a test for you, if you are able to pass that test, then I will reconsider your request."

"An assessment?" – Itachi perked up, and he nodded with a smile, "Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity Kuroto-san, I will do my best to not disappoint your expectations."

Kuroto nodded and casually said, "You should understand that with the kind of work Amatsukami has been doing, not just anyone can enter our organization, a minimum level of strength is necessary otherwise rather than help, you might even become a burden, which is something we can't afford to have."

Itachi nodded, "I will make sure to keep that in mind."

With that out of the way, the relationship between Kuroto and Itachi improved quite a bit, and using this opportunity, Kuroto decided to ask Itachi a question that he has wanted to know for a while now. "Itachi, have you ever heard or seen any information about Sword of Totsuka, and Yata Mirror?"

Itachi thought a little then shook his head, "I am sorry, but this is the first time I have ever heard about either of the two terms."

Kuroto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, 'So Itachi of this period was unaware of those two artifacts, is it possible that he learned about them on the night of the Uchiha Massacre, or probably after that? Or maybe my other guess?"

Kuroto has been searching for any possible clues about the two artifacts, Sword of Totsuka, and Yata Mirror for a while now, but unfortunately, he hasn't found anything worth yet.

So Kuroto's search has been fruitless.

There was also a time when Kuroto started to think that Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror might just be exclusive Techniques of Itachi's Susanoo.

But after Kuroto personally used Susanoo, he understood that that's not the case.

And the fact that Orochimaru and Zetsu are aware of what these two artifacts are, solidifies this conclusion.

When he thought of Kuroto even created an absurd theory that doesn't sound too absurd if you think about it.

In the original story, Uzumaki Naruto, the reincarnation of Otsutsuki Asura had the protection of Kyuubi, as well as the protection of Konohagakure with him, so his safety in a way, was assured.

The reason is that, even if Kyuubi did not accept Naruto at the time, he would still protect Naruto, because if Naruto dies then he dies as well. So Naruto's safety was not that big of an issue, and he was allowed to grow up safely.

But that was not the case with Sasuke, the reincarnation of Otsutsuki Indra. With the massacre of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi was the only person alive who was protecting Sasuke. But compared to Kyuubi, and the entire Konoha, Itachi was obviously much weaker, not to mention his terminal illness. So overall Sasuke's safety was not assured.

Perhaps, for this reason, Rikudo Sennin somehow guided Itachi to obtain these two artifacts, making Itachi's Susanoo almost invincible, to ensure that Sasuke can safely grow up.

After all, the whereabouts of Sword of Totsuka, and Yata Mirror may have been secrets for ordinary Shinobi, but for Rikudo Sennin, who has been watching over the Shinobi World for centuries, they are no secret at all.

Although the chances of this theory being correct are too low, if it is correct then finding Sword of Totsuka, and Yata Mirror might in fact be more difficult now.

Because Kuroto is not going to let the Uchiha Clan be destroyed, so protection will remain for the reincarnation of Otsutsuki Indra, so Rikudo Sennin has no reason to guide Itachi.

As for the reason why Rikudo Sennin wants to ensure the safety of Naruto and Sasuke?

There are two reasons, first is that Rikudo Sennin is possibly worried about the threat of the Otsutsuki Clan, which obviously includes his mother.

The second reason is that he, himself is a father, as simple as that.

And to be perfectly honest, Kuroto doesn't really care if he does not get those two artifacts, what he is worried about is that those two artifacts must not fall into the hands of the enemy, because of they did, then trouble will be too much, as there is really no explanation of the extent of the abilities that those two artifacts have.

As such, Kuroto really cares about the possible locations of those two artifacts.

'Sigh… it seems that it will take some time.' – Sighing slightly, Kuroto shook his head, and went onto continue his discussion with Itachi, about several other matters.

…

Next Day

According to the map given to him by Kuroto, Itachi came to the location marked on the map.

The location is an extremely dense forest, outside Konoha.

And Itachi obviously came alone.

Keeping a close watch of his surrounding, Itachi glanced towards the sun and thought, 'Kuroto-san hasn't arrived yet? I don't know who will assess me, will it be Kuroto-san? Or Shisui-san? Or maybe some other member of Amatsukami?'

While Itachi was considering many things, the person calmly walked towards him from the other end of the forest.

The alert Itachi was immediately ready for battle, but he was still patient enough to observe the person, he noticed that the person who walked over had the Homusubi specific mask, and cloak.

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Itachi noticed the person walking towards him dressed as Homusubi, and he was surprised a little but this surprise did not affect Itachi's reaction and he immediately active his Sharingan.

As his black eyes turned scarlet with three black tomoe spinning inside, Itachi tried to see through the guise of this person.

But as he observed, Itachi frowned because he was unable to see past the guise of the opposite person, not to mention seeing through the guise, even determining the opposite party's gender was difficult for him, for a moment the person dressed as Homusubi seemed a woman but at the very next moment the person appeared to be a male, giving off an inexplicable sense of mystery.

Facing this person, Itachi did not drop his guard even if he seemed to be a member of Amatsukami, and asked cautiously, "You are?"

The party did not care about Itachi's cautious tone, but asked indifferently, "You are Uchiha Itachi?"

Itachi nodded without relaxing his guard.

The recent disappearance of Uchiha Hiiragi has again realized the people of Konoha that the danger that the Uchiha Shinobi are in. Just imagine, if an elite shinobi who has already awakened the three tomoe Sharingan, and has years of experience disappear overnight without leaving even a single clue, then that is a big reason for worry and fear.

It just implies that even if you are an elite Jonin, you are not safe.

Therefore, Itachi is especially careful, considering the importance of his identity, and the impact his disappearance can cause.

It not for his trust in Kuroto-san, and Shisui-san's judgment Itachi would have definitely not come to such an isolated and dense part of the forest, more so without informing anyone in the clan or the village.

But even if Itachi trusts Kuroto-san, it does not mean that the person standing in front of him would be trusted by him just because he/she 'seems' to be a member of Amatsukami.

He or maybe she? Whatever, the gender of this person is, said, "Uchiha Itachi, you can call me 'Ho' for now. I will be your proctor during your assessment until we know whether your recruitment is confirmed. If you are recruited into the organization, then you will be in my subdivision, and you will bear the title of Homusubi."

This person 'Ho' was obviously Hyuga Kuroto controlling the 'Uchiha Tsukihi' clone.

Fighting is one of the best methods for soul adaption, and Itachi is a very good sparring partner, so Kuroto would obviously not let this opportunity go to waste.

Itachi considered the words of 'Ho' a little and then said, "Doesn't the organization already have a Homusubi?"

Because Itachi was still not sure about the other parties' identity, as such Itachi arranged his words to not give out Shisui's name.

"What makes you think that there can only be one 'Homusubi'?" – After a pause, 'Ho' continued, "Uchiha Shisui is 'Homusubi' but Homusubi is not Uchiha Shisui."

Seeing that 'Ho' mentioned Shisui's name, Itachi relaxed his guard a little, but only a little, and asked doubtfully, "If that is the case, then how many Homusubi are there in the organization?"

'Ho' shrugged, "If you count on the basis of the minimum qualification, then there are two 'Homusubi' in the organization as of yet, as for the future, perhaps there will be a third, a fourth, a fifth… and so on, in short, there is no limit, as long as the candidate meets the minimum requirements, he is eligible to be a candidate to bear the title of Homusubi."

Itachi was surprised, and then asked curiously, "And what is the minimum standard requirement?"

'Ho' laughed a little and said, "The minimum requirement is to have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"WHAT!!???" – Even if it was calm and collected Itachi, he couldn't help but exclaim in shock upon learning the minimum standard. "Must have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan to bear the title of Homusubi?"

As far as Itachi knows, currently, there are only three people who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, one is Shisui, the second is Shinichi, and the third is probably this person standing before him. And that's what's more shocking, the ocular power Mangekyou Sharingan represents the peak level of what an Uchiha can awaken, and once an Uchiha does awaken Mangekyou Sharingan he will become the focus of all attention as he is considered a great threat. And Itachi is more clear about this than anyone else.

Never in his dream would Itachi have thought that to become a full-fledged member of Amatsukami, he must have Mangekyou Sharingan, and this surprise was clearly evident on his face.

Seeing Itachi's surprised loo, 'Ho' asked in a confused tone, "What's so strange about this?"

Itachi scowled, "Are you mocking me?"

The top-level ocular power that an Uchiha Shinobi can have is the bare minimum standard that a 'Homusubi' must have, if that's not a joke, then what is?

This is pure bullshit, something that Itachi is completely unwilling to accept!

Seeing Itachi's unbelievable look, 'Ho' sighed, and then, deactivated the seals around the eye part of the mask, with the eyes now clearly visible, 'Ho' activated the Sharingan, which soon turned into something different, it was the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan!

Looking at the eye pattern, Itachi wasn't much surprised, as he probably expected the other party to have it, but was curious about something and asked, "Your Mangekyou Sharingan is different from Shisui-san's?"

'Ho' nodded, and explained, "Yes, what I have is called the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it's a higher level of ocular power compared to ordinary Mangekyou Sharingan that Uchiha Shisui possesses, so you see, I am the leader of 'Homusubi' sub-division."

As 'Ho' spoke, suddenly the basic ribcage Susanoo appeared around 'Ho.'

Looking at the golden-orange Susanoo ribcage, Itachi muttered, "So it really was you who helped clear rumors about Shisui-san being 'Homusubi'?" – muttered Itachi.

'Ho' nodded as the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan was deactivated, and the basic Susanoo disappeared.

Itachi asked at this moment, "But you mentioned the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan? I have never heard of this? And you also mentioned it to be a higher level of ocular power?"

'Ho' said, "Yes, but now is not the time to discuss this, just know that Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan is a higher level of ocular power that an Uchiha can have, you will learn about all these things in the future, for now, focus on the matter at hand. To become a member of Amatsukami, you must have Mangekyou Sharingan."

Itachi was a little frustrated and asked, "Is it really that difficult to join Amatsukami as a formal member?"

'Ho' nodded, "It's difficult indeed. Having a Mangekyou Sharingan is just a threshold. If you are not a shinobi who stands at peak level combat power, that is, at the level of a Kage, or better yet, higher than a Kage, then you would be a burden to the organization. And you clearly haven't reached that level yet. But now you might be wondering why are you here then? So to answer your question, it's potential. You have potential Uchiha Itachi, and therefore, you will undergo training. Once you fulfilled the minimum standard. You will become a full-fledged member of Amatsukami."

After hearing Ho's words, Itachi eased a little.

Given the reputation of Amatsukami, it doesn't sound so strange if he thinks about it. And Itachi was able to accept the minimum standard requirement that he must have.

And looking at the person standing in front of him, many of Itachi's doubts were also cleared. Prior to this, Itachi really wondered who was the 'Homusubi' who fought Shisui at the eastern peak of Tojinbo Mountain Range.

After all, many people including his father Uchiha Fugaku had witnessed the scene of two Susanoo clashed against one another at that time, so Itachi always wondered just who is the other individual in Amatsukami who also possesses Mangekyou Sharingan.

Now that there was 'Ho' in front of him Itachi did not need to wonder anymore.

Well putting all his thoughts aside, Itachi glanced at the opposite person and said, "In that case, I am grateful Ho-san, in order to save the Uchiha Clan and protect the village, I will work my hardest to not be a burden."

'Ho' nodded and said, "You have talent no doubt about it, now let's see how much of your talent come to fruition."

With those words, both Itachi and 'Ho' took their respective battle stance.

…

Konoha Cemetery

Hatake Kakashi stared at the memorial monument in front of him, and spoke, "Minato-sensei, our team-11 is responsible for ensuring the safety of your child. I assure you that I will protect him at all cost, let him follow your footsteps to become a shinobi you can be proud of."

There are few things that interest Hatake Kakashi, so in his free time, he would generally come to the Konoha Cemetery to have some idle talks with his friends Obito and Rin, as well as his Jonin Sensei, Namikaze Minato.

Sometimes, Kakashi can even spend his entire day here in a dazed state.

When he is here, Kakashi's vigilance is a bit less, and sometimes he is unable to notice the other person who comes to the Konoha Cemetery similar to him.

And that person is none other than the masked man, who was watching him even now, but Kakashi did not notice this.

When the masked man who was silently watching Hatake Kakashi, heard Kakashi's words, he narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Is team-11 responsible for protecting Uzumaki Naruto now? This is a good opportunity!'

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In an underground laboratory in the Land of Sound. Orochimaru leaned on a chair, observing Haku with a sharp gaze.

After a long while of silence, Orochimaru smiled softly and spoke, "Haku, welcome back."

Although Orochimaru's smile creeps out most people who see him for the first time, Haku was very used to it, and spoke in a slightly guilty tone, "I am sorry, I worried you Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru nodded and asked casually, "How was your experience staying in Konoha?"

Haku thought a little and said, "Well, Kuroto-sama was very caring of me."

"Was he?" – Orochimaru muttered, and then asked curiously, "What did you do while you stayed in Konoha?"

Haku recalled all the things and then spoke, "There is not much I did there, Kuroto-sama asked me to perform Water Release and Ice Release Techniques, then he also taught me several Water Ninjutsu, as well as taijutsu, and then… that's it."

Orochimaru frowned, "Just this?"

Haku thought more and spoke, "By the way, Kuroto-sama also extracted some of my cells, and… and he also brought a pet rabbit for me…"

"Oh?" – Orochimaru muttered, 'Huh, no wonder Kuroto-Kun asked for cell fusion research from me, it turns out that he has also started conducting human experiments.'

With what Haku said, coupled with his information exchange with Kuroto, Orochimaru understood that Kuroto has also started to conduct Human Experimentations.

It's just that Orochimaru lacks the intelligence about the field that Kuroto is going after, so he can't accurately judge the directions of Kuroto's experiments.

But that did not matter so much, because these experiments must be related to the Hyuga Clan's genetics, after all those were what Kuroto was studying before Orochimaru left Konoha.

'Kuroto-Kun abandoned the laboratory I left him, it must mean that he has opened up a secret laboratory somewhere else. It seems that Kuroto-Kun doesn't want his research to be known by others, heh heh heh, as long as I find his secret laboratory, perhaps I might be able to find something interesting.' – Thinking of this, Orochimaru no longer cared about Haku and told him, "Okay, you can go now, your room is still the same as before so you can continue to use it."

"Yes." – Haku responded with a courteous bow and went out.

Just before Haku responded, he had actually suddenly remembered the strange technique that Kuroto used on him, but because Haku didn't really understand it in detail and coupled with the fact Orochimaru didn't seem to be interested to listen to him anymore, so Haku did not speak anything further about the matter that he, himself didn't really understand.

After Haku went outside, Kabuto came inside the laboratory, "Orochimaru-sama, there is news from Shinno."

"What did the message say?" – asked Orochimaru with an eager gaze.

Kabuto pushed his glasses as he spoke, "Shinno said that the collaboration will have to wait for about a month, currently, he is involved in something, but you needn't worry, he will approach you when the opportunity is right."

"Me and worry?" – Orochimaru spoke with a sullen look, but soon licked his lips and spoke with a smile, "Shinno, is he going to start his plans of creating the Reibi too?"

With Hyuga Kuroto's successful example, many of Orochimaru's preconceptions have changed. So now Orochimaru fully understands that as long as Shinno is able to find a large enough chakra source, creating an artificial Bijuu, which is the Reibi in Shinno's words is very much plausible.

Although the stability is still a bit questionable, the probability of success clearly outweighs the chances of failure.

As such, Orochimaru also has some expectations.

If Shinno's Reibi project also results in a success, then maybe Orochimaru will also think of creating an artificial Bijuu.

Thinking of the future prospects, Orochimaru muttered, "I suppose I can wait another month or so."

Kabuto nodded and then asked respectfully, "Orochimaru-sama, what are you going to do with Yuki Haku?"

Kabuto was obviously worried that Yuki Haku has been brainwashed by Hyuga Kuroto making Haku a spy of Hyuga Kuroto, so maybe they would have to dispose of him.

After all, finding Yuki Haku was too easy, as long as you know the location of that laboratory, anyone can find Haku.

Orochimaru groaned a little and then said, "Monitor Haku's physical, mental and spiritual state, then I will plant the Cursed Seal to him."

Cursed Seals of Heaven and Earth are the latest Kinjutsu that Orochimaru has developed. The idea comes from Jugo's special ability to absorb Nature Chakra, Orochimaru was obviously interested in this special ability, and after careful research and countless experiments, Orochimaru finally combined that ability with some of the techniques of Ryuchi Cave and developed several Cursed Seals including, the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Earth, Forest, and Sea.

After developing these Cursed Seal, Orochimaru has so many fantastic ideas and began many new kinds of research.

One of his attempts incorporate his own chakra and part of his soul with the Cursed Seal and inject that incorporated part into others using the Cursed Seals.

Once this project succeeds, all the ninjas carrying the Cursed Seal will become Orochimaru's respawn points.

And as long as even a single one of those respawn points is alive in the Shinobi World, then Orochimaru can come back to life, even if his entire body is destroyed, he will no longer have to fear death for the time being.

…

Back to Itachi's ongoing training session.

Ding… Ding…

A series of metal collision sounds can be heard resounding in the dense forest.

Ho's body was fast, extremely fast, and the Katana carried by Ho danced just as Ho's intentions and anything within the range of the Katana's limit was not spared.

Itachi was constantly pressured by Ho, and even after relying on the three tomoe Sharingan, it was very difficult for him to keep up with Ho.

But this type of training was also working very well, as Itachi was constantly adapting to the pressure by the virtue of his intelligence, tricks, and techniques that led Ho sometimes by surprise, giving Itachi enough opportunity to take short breathers in the midst of the battle.

After barely dodging Katana's strike again, Itachi leaped on top of Katana's blade and shoved his feet hard in an attempt to kick Ho's face.

The moment that Ho took to retreat backward to avoid the sweep, Itachi also leaped backward, distancing himself from Ho.

Huff… Huff… Huff…

Itachi gasped heavily, this type of drawn-out battle is not what he is used to, so Itachi must think up countermeasures because the difference in their skills and strength levels have started to become more and more apparent as the battle has progressed.

Itachi could clearly feel that even though the opponent follows generally Uchiha techniques, he does not solely rely on them, in fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the opponents fighting style are completely different from any Uchiha shinobi Itachi has ever faced.

And strangely enough, there were occasional moves that reminded Itachi of Hyuga-style combat methods and understanding this, Itachi can't help but think, 'Was Ho trained by Kuroto-san personally?'

Regardless, he can't continue with this rhythm.

Based on whatever he has deduced up to now, Itachi started to formulate a strategy.

At this time, Ho said, "I seriously hope that this isn't your best Uchiha Itachi, because if it is then I have to say that I am much disappointed."

Itachi did not speak a word, and he was watching Ho calmly, and after wiping away the traces of sweat, Itachi was ready to go at it again.

Since he didn't actually know the content of the assessment, so Itachi was extra prepared, so there was no problem of lack of tools.

With both of them again ready to start the next round, a solemn atmosphere covered the forest.

At this time both of them performed the Body Flicker Technique.

Whoosh… Whoosh…

And an extremely high-speed battle broke out between the two.

Other than the two after images flashing, metal clashing, fire raging, could be seen.

Ding… Ding… Ding…

After a few seconds of high-speed combat, Ho managed to gain the upper hand, Ho kicked Itachi in the chest, sending him crashing to the tree behind, then instantly flashed and appeared before Itachi, pinning him to the other tree, with the Katana's blade stopping just a few short centimeters away and said, "I suppose that's my win, Uchiha Itachi."

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Under the Homusubi mask, Ho's lips arched in s smirk.

Defeating Itachi is not a difficult task for Ho, but Ho still feels a certain sense of accomplishment that is difficult to understand, after all, the person Ho defeated is the Uchiha Itachi, the very same Uchiha Itachi who was undefeated in the entire Naruto series.

While Ho was feeling a certain sense of accomplishment that inflated Ho's ego, a certain change happened that suddenly caught Ho by surprise, and Ho's smile froze halfway, "This…?"

Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw…

Almost at the same moment that Ho noticed, Itachi who was pinned to the tree trunk by Ho broke into many crows and scattered all over the battlefield.

"Crow Clone Technique!?" – exclaimed Ho.

And as soon as countless crows scattered over the battlefield, Ho noticed from the corner of her viewing range that so many metal wires have suddenly appeared all over the battlefield.

Looking at the Kunai and Shuriken that were shot towards her, Ho understood that she has fallen into the traps set up by Itachi.

With just one look, Ho was able to judge that retreat was not an option now.

Looking at the Shuriken and Kunai that were about to impale on her, Ho had a bitter smile and can't help but think, 'Sigh, why am I not surprised by this development? And is this what they call instant Karma?'

This was the last thought of Ho as the rain of shuriken and Kunai impaled on Ho. Severing her left arm and as well as several injuries all over.

As the Shuriken and Kunai approached Ho-san, Itachi who was hiding somewhere else can't help but have sweat flow down his temple in expectation and nervousness.

But seeing the Shuriken and Kunai actually impaling Ho, Itachi was shocked.

Ho possesses Mangekyou Sharingan, so blocking this rain of Shuriken and Kunai shouldn't have been any problem to Ho.

Itachi did not expect that not only did Ho not use Susanoo to block, but Ho also did not even try to dodge, and Itachi instantly knew that something was wrong.

His guess was only confirmed when the body that was impaled by many shuriken and Kunai, including the left hand that lied on the ground broke into countless Crows.

Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw… Caw…

Itachi was obviously surprised, "This… this… is Crow Clone Technique!"

But Itachi did not have the time to be shocked as the crows that flew out of the Crow Clone of Ho, started a battle with the crows that flew out of Itachi's Crow Clone Technique, and Itachi was more surprised to see that the number of Crows kept increasing and increasing covering the entire daylight sky, they even surrounded him obscuring his field of vision.

No matter how much Itachi tried to eliminate these crows, the previous ones disappeared in a poof of white smoke but at the very same instant, more crows appeared.

"No, this is not just Crow Clone Technique!?" muttered Itachi while killing the crows that were continuously attacking him.

"You are right Uchiha Itachi, this is not just Crow Clone Technique, this is a combination technique of the Crow Clone Technique and Scattering Thousand Crows Technique!"

Just as he heard this sudden bewitching voice next to his left ear; all the crows that surrounded him and obscured the sky disappeared, and Itachi was also frozen on his spot.

He couldn't move, because if he did, his entire body would be mutilated into many pieces.

"It's my loss." – Itachi said while lowering his head in defeat.

Itachi is still a kid, and it took all his skills and experience to confront Ho up to here, so he didn't have any more energy left, and as soon as the metal wires were removed by Ho Itachi collapsed to the ground.

Looking at Itachi's disappointed face, Ho said, "No need to beat yourself over it, you were able to defeat my Crow Clone, you are already very good, and you will only get better after your training is completed." Ho's words were of course a bit sentimental.

Compared to Itachi, when Kuroto was at this age, Kuroto wasn't even able to confront a chunin on an equal ground much less confronting such strong individuals like Homusubi.

So Itachi's potential is very-very-very high; as long as he doesn't go through what he did in the original Naruto story, and that's obviously not going to happen because the path Itachi has chosen here is different.

After resting for a while, Itachi said, "Ho-san, you are also a member of the Uchiha Clan, aren't you? But if that's the case, why do I feel like I have never seen you within the clan?"

Based on the combat style of Ho, Itachi has figured this out.

Ho said, "You don't need to worry about this detail for now."

Itachi was silent and nodded after thinking a little.

Ho said again, "Alright, today's assessment ends here, I needed to have some understanding of your abilities to formulate plans for your formal training, we will begin your official training from tomorrow, make sure to come here tomorrow around the same time, the location of your training area will keep changing as we can't stay in a location for more than once, so make sure to follow up on the information I will be sending you."

Itachi nodded, "Thank you very much Ho-san."

'Ho' nodded and said, "I am sure that you understand this already, but you have to make sure that not even a single soul discovers where you are going or coming from, not even Shisui for that matter, otherwise you will directly be disqualified, make sure to always keep that in mind.

Also, make sure to always be on guard against Shimura Danzo, and Orochimaru, there is a high possibility that either of them might target you, understand?"

'Danzo-sama and Orochimaru-san?' Itachi thought about Ho's words a little, and then immediately nodded, "I understand."

After explaining a few more key points to Itachi, both of them separated, while Itachi returned to the village, Ho went on to do whatever things that a member of Amatsukami has to do.

Along the return journey, Itachi analyzed the battle he had with Ho, and the measures he can take the next time, and before he knew it Itachi had already returned home.

Entering his home, Sasuke greeted him, "Nii-san, where did you go today?"

Itachi said with a gentle smile, "I went out to train Sasuke."

Itachi's cheek inflated in a cute pout, "You are so cunning nii-san, you always sneak away to train alone or with Shisui-nii-san, you don't take me with you, humph!"

Itachi shook his head helplessly and started to remove his shinobi sandals.

Sasuke put both of his hands on Itachi's back and said with a complaining look, "It's so boring to play around with those kids, they are not even half as good as I am, ne-ne, nii-san, the next time you go out to train will you take me with you?"

Itachi who has already removed his Shinobi sandals beckoned Sasuke to come closer to him.

Sasuke was joyful and quickly moved his head a little closer.

As Sasuke's head approached for a possible hug, Itachi flicked Sasuke's forehead and said, "Not now Sasuke, maybe some other time."

After that, Itachi got up and walked towards the inner courtyard, his face thoughtful as before, as if he was deeply considering some things, while Sasuke pouted as he rubbed his forehead.

…

And one month passed.

In this one month, Itachi had to follow intensive training, nothing he wasn't already used to, the most benefit Itachi had was in his Taijutsu, even if he can perfectly replicate most Taijutsu styles because of his Sharingan, practicing them and understanding them at a deeper level still makes up a large difference. So, Itachi's Taijutsu progressed most with his regular training and confrontations with Ho.

The speed at which Itachi was growing was so fast that even Kuroto was highly surprised, but when he thought that the person she thinking about is Uchiha Itachi, then there was nothing more to think about.

In addition to training Itachi, Kuroto was also vigilant against the possible chaos that Hiruku might cause.

But to Kuroto's surprise, there were no movements from Hiruko's side, as if he doesn't plan to attack Konoha or any other shinobi villages at all, and this was a cause of both confusion and worry for Kuroto.

Shaking his head helplessly, Kuroto who has just finished his Anbu duties for the day was returning to his home.

It was another calm and peaceful night, a bit too peaceful, and a bit chilly.

The sun had long set, and the moon was over the head, the street lights had already lit, illuminating the streets.

Casually walking on the street, Kuroto thought, 'Either Nagato managed to tone down Hiruko, or there is something wrong with Hiruko's state, and the Kekkei Genkai's he has absorbed, or maybe Obito is planning something, otherwise it is difficult to imagine that Hiruko will be silent for so long.'

But Kuroto is going to bet on the last possible scenario.

Because Kuroto intuitively feels that something big is about to happen, and Hiruko will definitely be part of that something big, otherwise it is practically impossible to stop him for so long.

Walking to his home, Kuroto noticed an Anbu shinobi along with two children waiting at the gate of his house.

Kuroto frowned, more so when he noticed who the two children are.

Walking closer to the house, Kuroto asked, "Huh… Shion-chan, you… what are you doing in Konoha?"

As soon as Shion was Kuroto, she immediately rushed towards him while crying, "Kuroto-oniichan… please… please save… my Oka-san!"

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Kuroto caught the crying Shion, he was shocked by the sudden development.

But before he could do something there were some things he needed to confirm. So Kuroto looked towards the Anbu member with an inquiring gaze.

The Anbu who escorted Shion said, "We found her and the guard entering the Land of Fire, upon checking their identity we found two scrolls, one was addressed to Hokage-sama, and the other was addressed to you, sir. The girl was ardent that she needed your help so Hokage-sama ordered to bring her here."

Kuroto nodded and asked, "Where is the scroll that was addressed to me?"

Anbu replied, "It is with the girl."

Kuroto nodded while rubbing the back of Shion's head to calm her down and ease the sudden burst of her emotions.

At this time, the Anbu ninja spoke, "If there's nothing more than I will take my leave, sir."

After the Anbu disappeared with a Body Flicker, Kuroto carried Shion and looked at the second kid who was quietly standing at the side.

The second kid was a little older than Shion, probably around the same age as Itachi, and he also had a reliable aura similar to Itachi.

He was carrying a longbow, a quiver on his back which probably held a dozen arrows, and a sword strapped on the left side of his waist.

His clothing was also very dirty and torn, his glasses cracked affecting his vision but there was unspeakable perseverance in his eyes, which did not go unnoticed by Kuroto.

"Follow me." – Kuroto said while carrying Shion, and walking into his house.

After leading the two into his house, Kuroto handed both of them two cups of hot tea to warm them up and then asked, "Shion-chan, what exactly happened? Don't be worried, speak slowly."

The status of Miko is already explained, and since Sandaime-sama directly ordered the Anbu member to escort Shion to his house, coupled with the fact that the first reaction Shion had as soon as she saw Kuroto greatly worried him, as such, Kuroto must understand some things before taking any action.

Kuroto doesn't think that there is anything that could threaten Miko-sama enough that she felt such a crisis and had to resort to sending away her daughter to Konoha.

After all, even if she feels that the enemy is difficult to fight against, all she has to do is keep the barrier of the Miko's palace activated and then wait for the reinforcements from the other great shinobi villages.

Even someone as strong as Moryo can't breach that barrier, so it is hard to believe that...

Before Shion could speak, her attendant and bodyguard whose name is 'Taruho' said, "It was Yomi and his cultists, they have again appeared and launched a Coup in the Land of Demons."

Kuroto was taken aback, and said, "This is impossible, their leader Yomi is dead, I killed him myself!"

Taruho shook his head, "At first we also thought the same, even Miruko-sama thought the same, so our vigilance was down. There were no prior signs of any of their movements. But suddenly out of the blue they appeared and hit the entire Land of Demons, much critically than ever."

Kuroto said, "That shouldn't be possible, Yomi is dead, and I can be sure of that, is it possible that a new leader has emerged from somewhere?"

Yomi was personally killed by Kuroto so it was impossible that he suddenly appeared out of nowhere unless Yomi had the ability to come back from death, which Yomi doesn't.

And Kuroto can only think that it shouldn't be Yomi, so the only likely possibility is that it is someone else.

Taruho said, "While we were on the run, we once saw him from the distance, Yomi is… he is really alive!"

At this time Shion nodded and said, "Yes, I saw too, that bad guy didn't die."

"How could it be possible?" – Kuroto clearly remembered severing Yomi's head, even all his chakra signs had disappeared so how could Yomi be alive?

'Maybe it is some kind of transformation technique that someone else is using to take on Yomi's appearance… otherwise, him being alive doesn't make any sense.'

Thinking so, Kuroto asked Taruho, "What exactly happened, start from the beginning!"

Although Taruho is very young, his thoughts are still extremely clear, and he immediately explained the ins and out of the entire situation as per his own knowledge and understanding.

It turns out that about a month ago, Miko-sama had a future telling. She did not disclose the content of the prediction to anyone, but she immediately ordered 20 guards including Taruho to escort Shion to Konohagakure as soon as possible.

It was only a few days after the team set off from the temple of Miko towards the Land of Fire, a large-scale Coup broke out in the Land of Demon.

Even the escort team was attacked by the cultists, and many of the guards escorting Shion to the Land of Fire had to act as diversions and sacrifice themselves in order to ensure the safety of Shion.

Of the initial 20 guards, only Taruho managed to survive and safely brought Shion to the Land of Fire where they were escorted to Konohagakure under the protection of an Anbu team they happened to encounter midway.

Kuroto had a thoughtful expression, and he did remember his last meeting with Miko-sama.

Thinking so, Kuroto asked, "So it was few days prior to the rebellion that Miko-sama ordered you to escort Shion to Konoha?"

Taruho nodded, "Yes."

Shion spoke, "Kuroto-oniichan, Oka-san can predict things that haven't happened yet."

Taruho also nodded, "Yes, Miroku-sama can indeed predict things so this arrangement is probably based on her prediction."

Kuroto nodded, he obviously knew of this ability of Miko-sama, but Kuroto does not care about Miko-sama's predictions, what he cares about is the arrangements that she has made.

Why send Shion to Konoha? More precisely why send her to him?

Even the scroll sent by Miko-sama does not state anything other than a line of text which says, 'Do not come to the Land of Demons, and please protect my daughter Shion.'

After much deliberation, Kuroto felt that he needs to look into this matter a little deeper, despite Miko-sama's warning.

If Miko-sama saw her own death, and there was no way to save herself then it was obvious that she would be unable to protect Shion, and since Kuroto and Miko-sama share a relationship akin to sensei-student, so it does seem reasonable of her to entrust Shion to him with such an important task of protecting her daughter.

Therefore, it is understandable that Miko-sama sent Shion to Konoha.

But one thing is still very doubtful, 'Even if Yomi is not dead, he shouldn't have been able to amass such a level of power that would cause chaos in the entire Land of demons in such a short period of time, after all, last time I clearly eliminated his entire cult… unless…' – Kuroto suddenly stopped and his eyes widened in realization, 'Unless, he is backed up by some organization… such as… such as the AKATSUKI!'

This makes more sense, and Hiruko is most definitely involved here!

'But if Akatsuki has intervened, then I am afraid… Oh no!'

Miko-sama's Fuinjutsu is extremely strong, true. She can even be regarded as the most proficient Fuinjutsu master currently alive, but that's the thing, Miko-sama is only good at Fuinjutsu, she is not a combatant like other shinobi.

As such, if Akatsuki somehow managed to make their way past the enchantment barrier then it would be impossible for just her and the ordinary soldiers to stop Akatsuki members.

Thinking of this, Kuroto looked at Shion with a guilty expression.

Now even if he understands that there is no more possibility to save Miko-sama, and even if Miko-sama has instructed him to not come to the Land of Demons, Kuroto must go to the Land of Demons and confirm the situation.

Thinking so, Kuroto asked Yui to take care of Shion and Taruho and went to his study room.

Coming to his room, Kuroto sent a small scroll to Shinichi with the help of Kasai.

The scroll regarded few questions that Kuroto needed the answer to.

If Akatsuki is really involved with the riots of Land of Demons, then Shinichi should have received some news.

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Kuroto did not have to wait much as Shinichi's response came soon enough.

Kuroto opened the scroll and read, 'The missions we all are performing are different, so I do not have much information about the ongoing events in the Land of Demons.

However, there was indeed a person by the name of Yomi among Shinno and Hiruko's subordinates, but because he didn't seem of any value I did not bother inquiring any information about him.'

Looking at the message, Kuroto shook his head helplessly.

During his time in Akatsuki, Shinichi has always tried to keep an eye on the movements of Pain and Obito, as well as other main members of the organization, and has also reported quite a lot of information to Kuroto that he finds to be useful or worthy of attention.

But for inconspicuous and disposable subordinates like Yomi who have no importance, and don't even have the strength of a Jonin, Shinichi never bothered to care about them.

And Shinichi would obviously not bother to waste his and Kuroto's time by giving out information about people he doesn't even care about.

Well, there's nothing that can be done about it, this is Shinichi's nature, moreover being a spy in an organization like Akatsuki is also not easy, if he is discovered then there would be consequences..

Anyway, from the information he received from Shinichi, many of the doubts in Kuroto's heart were cleared.

Yomi is Shinno's and Hiruko's subordinate, which means that he was somehow saved or probably revived by either of them.

This means that the riots in the Land of Demons do involve Akatsuki, but one thing that Kuroto is glad about is that the riots probably only include Shinno and Hiruko, not the entire Akatsuki.

And the fact that Yomi can entice Hiruko and Shinno to help him in this chaos is probably through Moryo the demon who was sealed by Miko-sama.

This is the best explanation since Shinno has been creating an artificial Bijuu called, Reibi.

One of the biggest hurdles in creating an artificial Bijuu is to obtain a good enough source of chakra, and Moryo is obviously a good chakra source if you ignore the dark chakra he has.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Shinno to be tempted, moreover, Moryo's dark Chakra somehow works better for him because his Reibi project was based on dark emotions.

And Hiruko is Shinno's teammate, since Shinno helped him in his Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual, it won't be strange if Hiruko does the same for Shinno. There is also the fact that Hiruko needs to gain combat experience, so Hiruko also probably participated in this action.

And there was one more thing that became clear to Kuroto, Yomi was able to survive despite having his head beheaded must mean that he has mastered some sort of special healing or regenerative technique, and it is that very same special technique that Hiruko used during his Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual, which allowed him to survive even the disintegration and cell collapse. Anything else doesn't make much sense.

With these things clear now comes the pressing matter, "Should I heed to Miko-sama's instruction and not go to the Land of Demons, or should I go to the Land of Demons, despite Miko-sama's clear warning?"

Thinking of the debt he owes to Miko-sama, Kuroto did not need to think this more than once.

"I must go to Land of Demons, and I must go there as soon as possible!"

Before receiving clear news of Miko-sama's death, Kuroto could not sit back with peace of mind, as such he must go to the Land of Demons.

If it's possible to save Miko-sama then save her, but if she is already dead, then she must be avenged at least.

After making up his mind, Kuroto made all the preparations, told Yui to take care of Shion and Taruho in his absence, and rushed towards Shisui's home in the Uchiha Clan territory.

Shisui who was eating his meal was taken aback by Kuroto's sudden appearance in front of him, and almost choked on his food, unable to breathe, Shisui beat his chest a little and immediately drank plenty of water to swallow down the food, and spoke after taking some deep breaths, "Kuroto-san, you almost killed me just now!"

Kuroto did not care about Shisui's complaint as he did not have time for that, he just passed a scroll to Shisui and looked at Shisui with a serious gaze.

Shisui realized the seriousness of Kuroto and asked, "Kuroto-san, what happened?"

Kuroto did not speak much and stated simply, "I am going to the Land of Demons, I will leave the village affairs with you!"

Shisui was shocked and asked, "Wait what? Did I hear correctly? You are going to the Land of Demons? But why?"

Kuroto said, "Yes you heard me correctly. This matter is very important and requires my attention, although there is no news yet, Miko-sama's life is in danger, and the Land of Demons is probably in chaos. This news will most likely spread to the other villages soon enough and their respective forces will intervene but that will still take too long, this matter also involves Moryo and we can't be careless when dealing with the Ghost Army consisting of hundreds of thousands of stone soldiers."

The spies of various villages are obviously planted in all the countries, so it won't be strange if the surrounding countries become aware of the events that are happening in the Land of Demons.

Shisui asked, "Should I… Should I come with you?"

Kuroto shook his head, "No, you stay in Konoha, the village lacks high-level combat personnel to deal with emergencies, moreover, I am not even exactly sure of the exact situation that the Land of Demons is facing, there are also chances that Akatsuki might target Konoha, so if both of us are absent at the same time then situation will only worsen."

Shisui said, "I understand."

After instructing Shisui, Kuroto came to Sandaime-sama's office.

…

"Hyuga Kuroto, I was wondering how long will it take for you to come." – Sandaime said as he put down the document and looked at Hyuga Kuroto.

Kuroto kneeled in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen and said, "Please forgive me for making you wait Sandaime-sama."

Sandaime nodded and spoke, "So what did the daughter of Miko of the Land of Demon had to say?"

Kuroto did not speak much, just took out a scroll and passed it Hokage-sama.

Hiruzen took the scroll and read the information recorded in it, as he was reading the content written in the scroll, his gaze hardened and his brows twisted in a deep frown, he has already read the information from the scroll sent by Miko to him, but this here only makes the situation worse.

"So that's your conclusion about the events happening in the Land of Demons?" – asked Sandaime.

Kuroto nodded, "Yes Hokage-sama!"

"Alright, and what do you plan to do now?" – asked Sandaime.

"Since the life and death of Miko-sama is unknown so the investigation must be carried out, and I would like to volunteer myself to go to the Land of Demons!" – said Kuroto after taking a deep breath.

Sandaime was surprised and asked, "And why do you want to volunteer? Moreover what relationship do you have with Miko? As soon as her daughter came to Konoha, she was ardent to meet you, why is that the case?"

Kuroto knew that there are some things that he can't hide forever and this is one of those moments when he has to reveal some of his secrets, "It was during Team-11's first mission that was at the Land of Demons, back then after our mission was completed and I was recovering from my injuries at the temple of Miko-sama, I asked for her guidance, to teach me Fuinjutsu as I wanted to master it, and because Miko-sama was grateful to our team for helping her out in sealing Moryo, so she agreed to accept me as a student, and helped me build up a strong foundation which helped me to learn high-level Fuinjutsu. So Miko-sama is also my Sensei, and I will have to make sure that I save her, and if saving her is no longer an option then her death should at least be avenged"

Sandaime considered Kuroto's words, and now he also understood how Hyuga Kuroto suddenly developed a high talent in Fuinjutsu that even rivaled and surpassed Yondaime Hokage.

Of course, talent and hard work are necessary but without a solid foundation reaching such a level is not easy. Miko's Fuinjutsu proficiency is indeed famous, and receiving her guidance does make it possible.

At the same time, Sandaime also looked at Hyuga Kuroto in a new light. To receive the guidance of Miko of the Land of Demons is not a joke, in terms of status alone she is no inferior to the Daimyo of a country, and the fact that Hyuga Kuroto is a disciple of such a person makes his background more difficult to be touched politically.

"Moreover, it was team-11's responsibility to eliminate Yomi and his cult, but it appears that we clearly failed, so if something were to happen to Miko-sama, then the responsibility will fall on Konoha's shoulder, as such we have to be hasty and make sure that we try our best to salvage the situation if possible."

Sandaime nodded with a serious expression.

In a situation where several missing ninjas of Konoha are causing chaos throughout the Shinobi world, the last thing Konoha needs is the blame for the death of Miko of the Land of Demons.

"Sigh, you are right. But I am afraid that I won't be able to spare any manpower to follow you." – Sandaime said helplessly.

"I am aware of the troubles that Konoha is facing, and I don't request any reinforcements, the situation of the Land of Demons is not clear enough so it would be best that we hold back a little and let someone do some investigation and then resolve the matter using that piece of intelligence." Kuroto obviously knew this, and frankly, he doesn't really want anyone to come with him because that would not only slow him down but also be a burden.

Sandaime groaned a little, 'It is not hard to judge that Hyuga Kuroto has grown quite strong in the past years, the kid is probably the strongest in the Hyuga Clan, even surpassing the level of Hizashi and Hiashi, which means that he is already an S-Class shinobi, so he should be safe unless he encounters a siege from members of Amatsukami or Akatsuki, right?'

Kuroto did not interrupt Sandaime while he was in thought, because he was confident that Sandaime would agree to his request.

After a little deliberation, Sandaime nodded, "Alright, you are tasked with the investigation of the events of Land of Demons, your priority will be to save Miko if possible, otherwise eliminate the person responsible for her death. While you are gone, I will arrange a temporary member to the Team-11 in your place to ensure the protection of Uzumaki Naruto."

"Thank you very much Hokage-sama." – Kuroto said, and got up to leave.

As Kuroto was about to open the gate, Sandaime suddenly said, "Hyuga Kuroto, I hope that you wouldn't disappoint me, unlike Orochimaru."

Kuroto's steps came to a sudden halt as he was really surprised by the sudden words, he didn't look back, but asked lightly, "What brought this on Sandaime-sama?"

Sandaime shook his head, and said, "Nothing, I just felt that the mistake I made in not being a proper guide to Orochimaru should not be repeated, you have proven yourself to be an excellent shinobi, and I hope that you will not lose yourself in the pursuit of power.

The desire to be strong is not wrong, zealous in learning things and acquiring knowledge is not wrong either, there is nothing wrong with treading untraveled paths, but what one must always be careful is not to lose oneself for the sake of his pursuits. Otherwise, those pursuits are not worth it.

The world we live in is cruel, and without a doubt, if one is not strong enough then he won't be able to survive, but that's no reason to give up everything for the sake of some perfunctory power. I hope you will keep these words in mind."

Kuroto turned around, deeply bowed towards Sandaime, and said, "I will always keep your words in my heart."

"I hope you do." – Sandaime nodded and signaled him to depart.

Kuroto nodded and without wasting any more time he left the Hokage building and went out of the village secretly. After coming to an isolated place and repeatedly verifying that he wasn't being followed, Kuroto activated the Tenseigan Chakra Mode and flew towards the Land of Demons.

Kuroto's speed with the Tenseigan Chakra Mode was extremely fast and it only took him four days of day and night travel to arrive at the Land of Demons.

When Kuroto sneaked into the village where the temple of Miko was located, he was surprised to find that the temple as a whole was intact, and it seemed as if there no cruel or offensive battle took place here, but unfortunately, that was not the case with the rest of the country that Kuroto passed through on his way here, as it was razed by the Ghost Army, countless corpses lied across various parts of the country, and several villages burned up.

And although there was no damage to this particular village, there was a heavy bloody stench still lingering here, moreover, there was also no enchantment barrier protecting the temple from outside intruders.

Using his Byakugan, Kuroto looked into the distant temple and found that the guards of the temple were also different from the ones he remembered, as they all wore white cloaks with some symbols that symbolized Yomi's cult.

Kuroto's face sank as he saw this.

Honestly, Kuroto didn't really care about what happened to the rest of the Land of Demons and its people, but Miko-sama herself is very important, and Kuroto really hoped that Miko-sama was still alive, but the chances of such a thing happening are already too low…

Seeing that there was not much hope left for Miko-sama, Kuroto did not rush to enter Miko's temple, what awaits him inside is a battle and it would be better to go there in his optimum condition, so Kuroto hid, and focused on recovering his chakra.

Considering that in addition to Yomi, there will also be Hiruko with his five Kekkei Genkai, and Shinno who might have already become a Jinchuriki by now, Kuroto has to be extra prepared.

As the sun began to set, the night took over the sky, and Kuroto got ready to sneak into the temple.

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Read up to Chapter - 539 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: /Milta_translations

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