"Honored customer, please count your money..."
A middle-aged man with a fearful expression carefully handed two large chests of money to Uchiha Nagi.
And for good reason. This person was clearly a madman, having killed the Hokage's son and then brought the body here to the black market to exchange for cash.
Every country had bounties on the heads of high-ranking officials from other ninja villages, such as the Hokage himself. But no one ever actually acted on them, because doing so would mean being hunted by the entire Land of Fire.
The Hokage's son was likely no different. To kill the son of a village's Kage—it would be strange if they didn't hate you to death. The entire village's ninja force was probably out searching for the killer right now.
The black market had its own methods for verifying authenticity. After Uchiha Nagi handed over Asuma's body, they used a mysterious summoning scroll, took a bit of Asuma's blood, some hair, a fingernail, a small piece of skin and flesh, and even drew a tiny bit of bone marrow...
Then, using a summoning jutsu, they sent it to an unknown location. After a while, it seemed the identity was confirmed, and two chests of money were sent back via another summoning jutsu.
After collecting the money, Uchiha Nagi left the stinking place with great satisfaction. He didn't know why black markets always seemed to be set up next to latrines. To cover the smell of rotting corpses?
It didn't make sense. You could just put them in a storage scroll, or use various sealing jutsu for preservation. There were plenty of ways to mask the smell. In the ninja world, scent was often a key factor in tracking and finding enemies.
Countless enemies had developed countermeasures against the keen noses of the Inuzuka clan, various scent-masking drugs that could fool even a dog's nose, let alone a human's.
But Uchiha Nagi didn't care. As long as he got the money, that was all that mattered. He left with a heart full of joy. As for what would happen without Asuma, how Kurenai's child would be born in the Boruto timeline? That had nothing to do with him.
Perhaps without this ill-fated romance, Kurenai's future life would be happier.
Worst case scenario, he'd just have to work a little harder to fix the timeline and father the child in Asuma's place...
It seemed his great battle had drawn the attention of all of Konoha's Anbu. Kimimaro had successfully reached the Land of Iron without sending any distress signals. Uchiha Nagi now planned to go and meet up with him.
During his fight with Gai, he had suddenly remembered something called the Seven Heavens Breathing Method. It seemed to be comparable to the Eight Gates.
In the original story, its user had fought against Rock Lee, who had opened the Fourth Gate. Unfortunately, the user was seriously injured, so the true value of this breathing method was never demonstrated. But as a breathing technique for taijutsu, its value was likely very high.
However, the Seven Heavens Breathing Method was in the Land of Wind. He would deal with that later. Biting off more than he could chew was a bad idea, and he had already learned too many things.
"I have plenty of taijutsu techniques, but my physical strength needs to be improved. Otherwise, I can't use Destructive Death or the Eight Gates. No, wait, I can't open the Eight Gates at all..."
Uchiha Nagi felt a wave of helplessness. The Eight Gates was a very special technique; it wasn't something you could open just by being physically strong. Otherwise, Tsunade, with the powerful body of the Senju clan, her massive chakra reserves, and being a medical ninja, could have opened them with ease.
But in reality, Tsunade, the medical ninja who understood the human body best, had never opened a single gate. Because—
To open the eight gates at will, one had to train to the absolute limit in their daily life, pushing their body past every ounce of exhaustion, breaking through their physical locks.
There was a scene where Gai was training with Rock Lee. They had both passed out, but their bodies were still moving forward subconsciously...
Regardless of whether one's body was strong or weak, to open the gates at will, one had to undergo Gai's kind of masochistic training to succeed.
Uchiha Nagi felt helpless against this extremely self-torturous technique. He knew too many things and was destined to not be able to focus solely on the Eight Gates. He could only practice opening the first three or four gates, and that would be enough.
Destructive Death and the Breathing Styles were more suitable for him. As long as his physical strength reached Tsunade's level, he could use them...
Uchiha Nagi looked in the direction of the Land of Lightning. Before returning to the Demon Slayer world, he might need a more efficient body-strengthening technique...
"Asuma is dead... I see. You are all dismissed. Let me be alone for a moment..."
The Third Hokage waved his hand wearily. The thing he had feared had finally happened. His eldest son had died young, leaving behind a child. His younger son, Asuma, had always been willful. He had finally matured a bit after returning from his time with the daimyo, only to meet with a sudden, tragic end.
After Kakashi and the others had left, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly burst into tears, slumping into his chair in despair. To lose a child in one's old age was not something anyone could easily accept, especially when it was his last son.
"Hiruzen, those four are definitely suspicious! Let me take them to Root for interrogation! Why else would that Uchiha Nagi kill no one but Asuma? And that Kurenai Yuhi is also suspicious. She was captured for a day and a night, and nothing happened to her..."
From a dark corner, the King of Scapegoats, Danzo, slowly emerged. He had known as soon as the two Anbu squads were dispatched to follow Asuma after Kurenai was captured.
He had many spies planted in the Anbu, and Root itself was already monitoring Konoha...
On the surface, he was expressing outrage for his dear friend, but inwardly, Danzo was ecstatic. Let's see if you, you old bastard, will finally retire after taking such a big hit.
He'd been clinging to the Hokage position for so many years, refusing to step down. Danzo had cursed the Third Hokage countless times behind his back, wishing for his early demise. Regrettably, the Third was incredibly resilient...
"Enough, Danzo. Kakashi and his team are not the problem. The fathers of both Kakashi and Gai died for Konoha. Their roots are clean. There's absolutely no problem with them..."
The Third Hokage's meaning was clear. Their fathers died for the village. If you go after their sons, what will the rest of the village think? If you die for the village and can't even protect your own son, who will be willing to sacrifice their life for Konoha in the future?
As for Anko, she was Orochimaru's student. Although Orochimaru had defected, he hadn't done anything outrageous to Konoha over the years. In fact, he had secretly cooperated with Danzo, so everyone turned a blind eye.
Hiruzen Sarutobi just treated him like his other two students who had run away from home. So, naturally, he couldn't harm his grand-student, Anko. Kakashi was also his grand-student...
"Then, there shouldn't be a problem with Root taking that Kurenai Yuhi in for questioning, right? For her to be with a rogue ninja for a day and a night and come out unscathed is definitely suspicious. Uchiha Nagi might have even placed a suggestion on her with his Mangekyo Sharingan. We need to check her immediately," Danzo said.
The Third Hokage hesitated for a moment, not speaking. He silently took out his pipe, lit it, and began to smoke. Danzo smiled with satisfaction. He knew this meant agreement.
After leaving the office, Danzo wore a look of pure delight. His decision to conceal the information that Uchiha Nagi possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan had finally paid off. He had managed to get one over on the Third Hokage, costing him a son. It was worth it.
"Hypocritical old fox. Hmph."
Danzo walked away, muttering curses. He had a reason for calling the Third Hokage a hypocrite. Hiruzen Sarutobi, at this moment, harbored an immense hatred for Kurenai Yuhi for causing his son's death, but he didn't dare say it out loud, instead using Danzo's hand to do his dirty work.
But Danzo didn't care. He had taken the blame so many times over the years, one more or less didn't matter. Besides, Kurenai Yuhi was an orphan, not a member of any major or minor ninja clan. So what if she was wrongly arrested? Who would stand up for her?
In Konoha's Sealing Corps building, Kurenai Yuhi and Anko Mitarashi were both present. Kurenai was there to have the sealing jutsu on her body removed.
Anko, on the other hand...
Uchiha Nagi had placed a Flying Thunder God formula on her behind. It was the Level Two version, which was how he had been able to track them so stealthily and then teleport behind her at the last moment to give her that second slap...
The Level Two Flying Thunder God formula couldn't be removed by half-measures, much like the curse mark Orochimaru had left on Anko's neck.
But this thing wasn't without its weaknesses. You just had to fight fire with fire.
The Sealing Corps placed another layer of sealing jutsu directly over the Level Two formula, locking it away. It was just like how Kakashi had sealed the curse mark on Sasuke's neck. This way, the next time Uchiha Nagi encountered Anko, he wouldn't be able to sense the formula and teleport behind her.
"Stop! Who are you? What do you think you're doing?"
Hearing a commotion outside, Anko quickly pulled up her pants and opened the door to see what was happening.
She saw several people wearing masks, emanating a cold, sinister aura, about to take Kurenai away.
"By order of Lord Hokage, Kurenai Yuhi is suspected of colluding with the enemy. We are taking her in for questioning. If there are no problems, she will naturally be released."
The few male ninja from the Sealing Corps, upon hearing it was the Hokage's order, immediately fell silent. They no longer dared to try and win favor with Kurenai.
Anko, however, pushed past them and stepped forward. "If it's a routine interrogation, we will report to the Anbu ourselves. You don't need to come and arrest her. If it's an order from the Hokage, please show us the arrest warrant."
"That's right! Show us the arrest warrant! You can't take Kurenai without a document!" one of the male ninja reacted, standing righteously in front of Kurenai.
"Yeah, yeah! Where's the written order? Show it to us!"
When the Anbu arrested one of their own ninja, to prevent spies from harming their own people, they needed an arrest warrant signed by the Hokage. Without the relevant document, one could refuse the order. Of course, in special circumstances, they could act without a document...
"This is a verbal order from Lord Hokage. Are you planning to defy it?"
The few Root ninja were very aggressive, looking like they were ready to use force. The few male ninja who admired Kurenai hesitated again.
Anko quietly pulled one of the men aside and whispered a few words to him. The man nodded, quietly stepped back, and left to get help.
"Hmph. We wouldn't dare defy an order. But who knows if it's really from the Hokage? Maybe it's an order from Danzo," Anko said. Ordinary people wouldn't know, but Anko was well aware that Konoha had a hidden department: Root.
"Don't make things difficult for everyone. I'll go with you," Kurenai sighed and stepped forward. She didn't want to cause trouble for her friends.
"Hmph. Good that you know the consequences of defiance."
Two of them walked up and placed a pair of chakra-sealing handcuffs on Kurenai.
Just then, a lazy voice came from behind them:
"Which Anbu squad are you from? I was in the Anbu for so many years, how come I've never seen you before..."
"Kakashi!"
"Kakashi!"