"Advisor Koharu, is there no such possibility?" Jiraiya suddenly said. "That someone is deliberately sowing discord between the old man and Uchiha Keizumi? That someone is deliberately framing Uchiha Keizumi?"
In any case, Uchiha Sasuke, the suspected Child of Prophecy, had to be protected first.
If he were taken into the Root base and interrogated by Root—
Jiraiya felt that once Uchiha Sasuke walked out again—the boy would probably be completely ruined!
"Absolutely impossible."
Utatane Koharu said coldly: "Who in the village does not know of Uchiha Keizumi's many deeds? With such knowledge of him, who in the village could frame him?"
Although somewhat displeased, Utatane Koharu still said: "After all… with that brat of Absolute Justice and his abilities, he could easily drag out anyone trying to frame him."
Mm…
It did seem to make a bit of sense.
A sudden flash of insight crossed Jiraiya's mind, and he raised another possibility: "What if it was from another village?!"
Jiraiya took a deep breath: "It hasn't been long since the end of the Third Shinobi World War!"
Utatane Koharu was taken aback.
"Another village…"
She stiffly retorted a few words: "What skill would shinobi from another village have to infiltrate the Sarutobi compound? That place is supposed to be one of the most heavily guarded in Konoha—after all, as the Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen needs to live there after his work is done."
But when she got to this point, she did not continue speaking.
Both Utatane Koharu and Jiraiya fell into silence.
From just a few short lines of sharp exchange, the same thought arose in both their minds—perhaps someone was cooperating with an outside village, an inside–outside collusion!
And that person must be very familiar with the Sarutobi clan, perhaps even a clansman of the Sarutobi themselves.
Because only then could such a thing be done!
Utatane Koharu fell silent.
Just as Jiraiya let out a quiet sigh of relief, he faintly sensed a strange, ominous premonition. When he couldn't help but follow that premonition and looked up—
Jiraiya's pupils contracted.
[—Boom!!!]
A deafening explosion resounded, rolling clouds of smoke billowing outward in all directions.
From within the rising haze came Tsunade's voice.
"If that brat isn't around for a single day, some old hag jumps out to make trouble."
Tsunade's cold gaze fixed on Utatane Koharu.
"Let them go."
She spoke.
...
At the same time.
Outside Konohagakure.
A black ninja cat rushed out of the village, sprinting madly in one direction without pause, even when it was panting to exhaustion.
It felt like all four of its legs were about to snap from running, but still it grit its teeth and forced itself on, until the whole cat was dizzy, its ears ringing, its vision darkening…
At last, it caught sight of a familiar figure not far ahead.
"—Meow!!!"
The black ninja cat no longer had the strength to utter human speech, only mustering all its remaining power to cry out a shrill, desperate cat's call, which made an orange ninja cat ahead bristle in alarm.
And it made the figures in front of that orange ninja cat halt as well.
"Keizumi-sama, that's one of my grandkits!" Tachibana Jirō turned his head and at once recognized the black ninja cat that was about to collapse from exhaustion.
At this moment, a Police Force jōnin quickly circled back.
He carefully picked up the ninja cat.
"Kei… Keizumi-sama… Tachibana Jirō-sama…" The black ninja cat didn't know how long it took before it finally caught its breath. Panting heavily, its throat parched, it rasped in hoarse human speech: "Those Root shinobi inside the village… they…"
"Whew! They captured Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Neji. They also tried to attack Uchiha Izumi and Mitarashi Anko. Root took action against the believers of Absolute Justice while Keizumi-sama and Tachibana Jirō-sama were away!"
"And also…"
"And also we ninja cats… have been targeted by the Root shinobi. Eight or nine ninja cats have already been seized, the rest either hiding or, like me, trying to run here to report to you."
The black ninja cat's words were earth-shattering.
Tachibana Jirō's feline face froze in shock.
"How dare she?!" This incredulous outburst of Tachibana Jirō clearly pointed at Utatane Koharu.
He had always known that old woman couldn't stand Lord Keizumi.
But in the past, even when angered by Keizumi, she chose to swallow it, her face dark, at most tossing out a few sarcastic words. How was it that this time she had hardened her stance?
"Meow! Keizumi-sama, I'll head back!"
Taking a deep breath, Tachibana Jirō turned his feline face with solemn seriousness toward Uchiha Keizumi and said: "That old woman dared lay her hands on so many of my kits and grandkits—between us now lies an irreconcilable hatred. If any of my kits and grandkits are harmed, she must pay the price!"
Tachibana Jirō knew Uchiha Keizumi was leaving the village to hunt Orochimaru.
In such a situation, he could not allow other matters to distract Keizumi.
Just then, Tachibana Jirō suddenly noticed Keizumi toss something his way.
He leapt up quickly and caught it in his mouth.
"Meow? A scroll?!" Tachibana Jirō mumbled indistinctly with the object between his teeth.
"A Summoning Scroll," Uchiha Keizumi said flatly. "It can summon a raven."
"A raven?"
At first Tachibana Jirō did not react, but a second later he jolted in shock. He instantly realized that so-called "raven" was in fact Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan—an eye that possessed the power of Kotoamatsukami!
Keizumi had actually entrusted Uchiha Shisui's eye to him.
That meant Keizumi had already tacitly allowed him to use this eye to stir up a great commotion in Konohagakure.
Of course, Tachibana Jirō hoped he would never need to use it.
Because he remembered Keizumi telling him that Uchiha Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, once used, might take years, even over ten years, even decades before it could be used again.
"I understand, meow!"
Tachibana Jirō opened his mouth, pawing repeatedly at the scroll with his plump limbs, trying to strap it onto his back.
"Do you need the three of us to follow back with him?" a Police Force jōnin could not help asking.
He felt that, with such a major incident happening in the village, Uchiha Keizumi sending only one ninja cat back seemed somewhat unreliable.
Especially since, in their eyes, Tachibana Jirō was just a fat old cat, always putting on senpai airs and lecturing juniors.
"No need."
Uchiha Keizumi watched as Tachibana Jirō, without hesitation, turned and sprinted madly off, racing in the direction of Konohagakure.
He said: "He is more reliable than anyone."
"Never underestimate him."
…
Land of Rain.
Akatsuki.
'Heh… again that very special ninjutsu. It should be only through that eye of his that he can use such a jutsu.' Orochimaru glanced left and right, looking at the illusory figures on either side.
He rubbed the ring on his finger and chose to be the first to speak: "So what is this meeting meant to discuss? If there's nothing urgent, may I take my leave first?"
"It concerns Uchiha Keizumi of Konohagakure," the Deva Path Pain's projection spoke slowly, the name he uttered making Orochimaru raise an eyebrow.
He clearly remembered how the new spy he had managed with such effort to plant in Konohagakure had been caught by Uchiha Keizumi.
That brat and he simply could not get along in even half a sentence.
"Oh?" Orochimaru let out a sinister smile. "Could it be he has already realized Akatsuki exists? After all, what he believes in is Absolute Justice. In his eyes, we must all be unforgivable villains he longs to cut into pieces."
Konan's projection cut in coldly, interrupting Orochimaru: "He not only knows of our existence, he has even come to the Land of Rain, and even got entangled with one of Akatsuki's newcomers."
At this, Konan's gaze flickered indistinctly toward Uchiha Obito not far away.
But with the projection blurred, Obito did not realize she was looking at him.
Obito was already grinding his teeth over the information Konan had spoken.
'Biwa Jūzō! It must be him!!!'
That bastard, after being attacked once by him, hadn't backed off, but instead stubbornly returned to the Land of Rain. Which meant it was him who had nearly exposed his identity!
However…
Uchiha Obito frowned tightly, because he hadn't expected Uchiha Keizumi to have come to the Land of Rain as well.
Wait…
That couldn't be right!
Several White Zetsu clones still lingering near Konohagakure had passed on intelligence just two days ago—that Uchiha Keizumi was still in the village.
Then this Uchiha Keizumi Konan mentioned in the Land of Rain, what was going on?
A clone?
Then the question arose: was the Uchiha Keizumi in the Land of Rain a shadow clone? Or was the Uchiha Keizumi in the Land of Fire a shadow clone?
Obito suddenly felt an urge to leave the Land of Rain for a while.
Uchiha Keizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan had left him with considerable psychological scars.
The strange ability had left Black Zetsu still not recovered.
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