Chapter 8:
"The enemy this time might be connected to Orochimaru. Shin Uchiha's body is full of Sharingan implants—aside from Orochimaru, who else could pull off something like that?" said Sasuke as he sat on the rubble of a collapsed tower, recovering his chakra.
"But Orochimaru's under tight surveillance by the Leaf's shinobi. I don't think he's directly involved in this—"
Before Naruto could finish, Sasuke suddenly drew his longsword and rushed at him, deflecting a kunai that had been hurled in their direction.
"That kunai... it has a Flying Thunder God seal on it!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the kunai Sasuke had knocked away. In the next instant, a figure flashed into view at the kunai's landing spot.
"Who are you, and why did you attack us?"
Naruto, now in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, demanded. Ever since he mastered it, he rarely used Sage Mode unless he needed to track someone.
Well, it's not like he had a choice—Nine-Tails Chakra Mode just looked cooler.
"I'm Husky, from S.H.I.E.L.D."
Kind of like how people give themselves all kinds of edgy nicknames in games but wouldn't dare use them in real life.
"Actually, that was just a misunderstanding."
"I'm a teammate of Flaming Cloud Evil God. I know where he is. Want to come with me?"
Seeing that Sasuke and Naruto were starting to take him seriously, Shunhi quickly explained.
There was no way he could win in a fight—he didn't have a tailed beast, nor a Mangekyō Sharingan. His only hope was paying a bit of cash to power up. And besides, he was telling the truth—it really was a misunderstanding.
In Shunhi's mind, the plan had been simple: throw a Flying Thunder God kunai in front of Naruto and Sasuke, then make a flashy entrance while they were still stunned.
But Shunhi had always been a bit of a slacker and had never bothered to properly learn kunai throwing techniques. Back in the ninja academy, he could never hit the target—often hitting classmates instead. The worst hit was always Obito, nicknamed "Uchiha Dumbass No. 2," who suffered the most friendly fire.
Every time Shunhi practiced throwing kunai, Obito would go hide. He often said, "I'd rather die out there than get killed by one of your practice throws."
And in the end, Obito, who never got hit by Shunhi's kunai again, really did die "out there."
"Fine," Sasuke said. Maybe it was because he was worried about his daughter, or maybe he trusted his and Naruto's combined strength—either way, he didn't question much.
"But first, we need to go to Orochimaru and gather intel on Shin Uchiha. Even if there's no direct connection between them, there's definitely an indirect one."
Even with Naruto and Sasuke—two overpowered cheats—at his side, Shunhi decided it was safer to understand more about Shin Uchiha first.
After all, how do you fight a boss without reading the walkthrough first?
And as for why he was so certain there was a connection between Shin Uchiha and Orochimaru—
Ever since Shimura Danzō's death, anything related to the Sharingan had to be directly or indirectly linked to Orochimaru.
"Right. Let's head to Orochimaru's lab first."
"I'm counting on you, Sasuke," Naruto said.
Sasuke's massive purple Susano'o appeared. Shunhi stared enviously at the towering avatar. Ever since he awakened a single-tomoe Sharingan through the system, his eye had never evolved again. Without some special method, he'd never reach the Mangekyō stage in this lifetime.
"That technique earlier—that was Flying Thunder God, wasn't it?"
Standing atop Sasuke's Susano'o, Naruto asked Shunhi, who stood beside him.
"Yeah," Shunhi replied curtly. No use saying much—Uchiha types were always cold on the outside and dramatic on the inside.
Even though he had converted all of his internal nuclear energy into chakra, the back-to-back use of Flying Thunder God to track down Naruto and Sasuke had exhausted most of his reserves. Even after partial recovery, he could only manage four more uses of the technique.
"Come to think of it, Kurama didn't sense any hostility from you. So I guess that makes you a good guy, huh?"
Naruto said casually, but Shunhi wasn't listening—his attention was focused entirely on his [Granny Knock Chatroom].
[Granny Knock Chatroom]
Uchiha Shunhi: Itachi, I'm with Naruto and Sasuke now. We're heading to Orochimaru to gather intel on Shin Uchiha. You and Sarada hold out a bit longer, and try to find where they're keeping the Sharingan-copying tech. Once Shin Uchiha fights Naruto and Sasuke, we'll seize the chance to grab it.
Uchiha Itachi: Understood.
Uchiha Shunhi: One more thing. My codename is "Husky." Don't forget it.
Uchiha Itachi: Is my codename "Flaming Cloud Evil God," then?
Uchiha Shunhi: That's right. You're now part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Avengers Initiative—codename Flaming Cloud Evil God.
Uchiha Itachi: Can you tell me a bit more about the organization?
Uchiha Shunhi: Since you're a S.H.I.E.L.D. member, I can give you a general idea. S.H.I.E.L.D. has two divisions—the Avengers and the Justice League. I'm currently the deputy director. As for the director, Nick Fury, he's been missing for a long time.
Uchiha Itachi: Can you tell me who else is in S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Uchiha Shunhi: You'll find out when the time is right.
Uchiha Itachi has left the chatroom.
"Your dad and Naruto are almost here."
Seeing that the kids surrounding Shin Uchiha hadn't done anything except encircle him, Sarada began to feel bolder. She even dared to walk up and observe his Sharingan at close range.
"How do you know that?"
Hearing Itachi—who had been silent until now—speak, Sarada flinched in surprise, then asked him.
"The deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D. told me. He's with Naruto and Sasuke."
Itachi casually dropped the information about Shunhi, hoping Sarada would pass it on to her father and Naruto.
Itachi didn't know that Shunhi had the ability to monitor his thoughts and actions at any time.
"Flaming Cloud Evil God, is the deputy director stronger than you?"
Sarada moved back to Itachi's side. Since her father and the Seventh Hokage were on the way, a battle was definitely imminent. It was safer staying near Flaming Cloud Evil God.
She could've escaped, but chose not to—for her own safety. Sarada was slowly starting to trust Itachi.
"I don't know how strong the deputy director really is, but he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He's a mysterious figure. As the deputy of an organization that includes both the Avengers and the Justice League, his power must be considerable."
Itachi genuinely found Shunhi to be an enigma.
After all, anyone who lived through the Nine-Tails Incident, the Uchiha Massacre, and the Fourth Great Ninja War couldn't be ordinary.
As a child, Itachi had heard of "Uchiha Dumbass No. 1," and had even secretly observed him out of curiosity. From what he saw, Shunhi had absolutely no talent as a ninja. And yet, that very same man survived everything and might now even pose a threat to world peace.
Itachi couldn't help but think that Shunhi had been pretending to be talentless all along—just to lower everyone's guard.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced Itachi became that there was something off about Shunhi.
First off, no truly "ordinary" person existed in the Uchiha clan. Even the dumbest Uchiha could at least make it to Genin.
Second, not even he—Itachi—had survived to the end, yet this so-called "ordinary" Uchiha did. That alone was suspicious.
And then there was his connection to Uchiha Obito. One nearly destroyed the ninja world—nicknamed Uchiha Dumbass No. 2.
The other lived to the very end—known as Uchiha Dumbass No. 1.
From any angle, Itachi felt Shunhi was the true final boss of the ninja world. Obito was just a fool manipulated by him.
Even Madara and the Ōtsutsuki were probably pawns in his plan, used to distract others while he carried out his schemes in the shadows.
At that thought, Itachi found Shunhi downright terrifying. The guy had been laying plans for decades—possibly even manipulating their ancestor Madara all along.
Watching Itachi's thoughts scroll across his [Clone Tool Management Log], Shunhi felt nothing but secondhand embarrassment.
Panic? No way. He'd worked hard building up Naruto's favorability rating—it was finally about to pay off. He'd just conjure a clone to act as Nick Fury and pin everything on him. Then pretend he was moved by Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, and bam—instant redemption.
If even Orochimaru could be redeemed, why couldn't he?