After the transplantation operation was completed, Kuroto discussed his guess with Shisui and Itachi.
Upon listening to Kuroto’s guess, Itachi asked doubtfully, “If Kuroto-san’s guess is correct, it means that Hokage-sama not only knows about Akatsuki’s plans, but he also has a rough understanding of the time Akatsuki will attack. Such a piece of secret information, how can Hokage-sama know about it?”
Shisui also said, “Did Hokage-sama also plant a spy in the Akatsuki Organization?”
The reason for using the word, ‘also’ has only one meaning, that being the identity of Uchiha Shinichi.
Shisui by now is more than certain that Uchiha Shinichi is a spy Kuroto-san has planted within the Akatsuki Organization. After all, all those pieces of intelligence that Kuroto-san knows have to come from somewhere, right?
And Shinichi once gave them information about Shinno and Ancor Vantian, although, Uchiha Tsukihi never explicitly stated that Shinichi is a spy and that was only a one-time thing, Shisui had some other thoughts.
Then there’s also the fact that Shinichi did not cause too much damage to the tri-Alliance at the Summit war and coupled with a few other theories, Shisui is certain that Shinichi is a spy, after all, Kuroto never talked about Shinichi as a threat, this can only mean that Uchiha Shinichi is a spy, otherwise, how else did he survive against Kuroto-san back when he defected?
Kuroto did not point out Shisui’s ‘also’ and Itachi did not comment on it either, the two of them consciously ignored it, then Kuroto said, “Unlikely, Akatsuki had suffered a serious loss not long ago, their base Amegakure was completely destroyed, and their leader Nagato almost died. Now they would definitely be very careful, so infiltrating into Akatsuki as a spy would be very difficult in my opinion, much less be aware of their plan of action.”
Even Shinichi who has already become a trusty member of the Akatsuki does not have the opportunity to pass back any piece of information, so how can Sandaime manage to make his spy not only infiltrate the Akatsuki Organization but also pass back the intelligence in such a sensitive period?
After pondering a little, Itachi said, “Which means Hokage-sama must have some external means to get intelligence on Akatsuki’s movements.”
Kuroto nodded slightly, “I suspect the same. Most likely, there is some other organization that is collaborating with the Akatsuki, and Sandaime-sama has either managed to make someone infiltrate that other organization or, he has managed to sway some of the members of the second organization to side with him, and this spy, or this someone is the source of intelligence.”
The second organization can be any other shinobi village, or some other organization, or perhaps some individuals, Kuroto isn’t sure as to who exactly are they, but this possibility is the most reasonable.
Shisui asked, “If that’s the case, what should we do? If Akatsuki were to attack Konoha, it would cause serious losses to the village.”
Kuroto nodded, took out the training plan Itachi sent him about 2 months ago, and said, “I am giving the two of you a new mission. Visit all these places marked on the attached map and search them thoroughly.”
Shisui took the pages that Kuroto handed to him, and was taken aback.
He obviously knew what these pages are, these pages are part of the training plan Itachi created to improve his strength as per Kuroto’s instructions. But what’s strange is that everything related to actually improving strength, including Taijutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Genjutsu, Dojutsu et cetera has been crossed out, leaving only the part that recorded the locations of places that had some connection with the Uchiha Clan at some point in time before the establishment of Konoha.
Itachi also looked, and was surprised, “Kuroto-san, are you serious about this?”
Kuroto nodded, and explained, “While researching about my own Kusanagi Sword, I happened to learn about two artifacts that once existed in the Shinobi World. One of the two artifacts is called Sword of Totsuka, a variant of the Kusanagi Sword that is capable of sealing the targets it pierces through inside a Genjutsu-like ‘world of drunken dreams’ for all eternity. I used various means to search for it, but couldn’t really find it, but there was a clue I managed to obtain, and it pointed toward the Uchiha Clan. So, if my guess is correct then this sword is very likely to be hidden somewhere in the Uchiha Clan. And perhaps only an Uchiha can find this sword.”
Itachi was stunned and remembered various past instances in a flash, “No wonder you mentioned the ‘Sword of Totsuka’ and ‘Yata Mirror’ several times to me. I did some personal research on these two artifacts, but there wasn’t much I could find about them.”
Kuroto nodded and said, “If we want to deal with the masked Uchiha who now has access to Kamui in both eyes, then we would definitely need this Sword. And the two of you are the only ones who can find this Sword, it doesn’t really matter who among the two of you find it, but one of you must find this sword at all cost, it is very very important, at least I think, it is.”
Shisui said with a worried tone, “But what about the Village?”
“For now, ‘Sword of Totsuka’ might be our only method to deal with the masked Uchiha, I am not sure if anything else is going to work. After all, Tsukihi has already once killed him, but he did not die because he used Izanagi, and there is no telling how many times he can keep using Izanagi as we don’t know how many disposables three tomoe Sharingan he has.
Resolving the threat of this masked Uchiha would at least put us in a better situation.
So, don’t worry about the safety of the village, Hokage-sama has his own plans, and he would do his all to protect the village.”
Rather than wasting time and effort on weakening the enemy, Kuroto prefers to focus on improving himself. As long as he is strong enough, no one would be a threat.
Because Kuroto has both, direction and plan, so as long as he is given enough time, Kuroto has confidence in reaching the top of the Shinobi World. Once he reaches the top, no one can threaten him and he calmly deals with everything with just a few flicks of his fingers.
So, aside from their enmity, Akatsuki and Amatsukami are also in a race. A race to ascend, Whether Project Godhood is completed earlier, or Project Tsuki no Me is completed earlier will determine everything.
Whether Kuroto achieves Kekkei Mora earlier, or Nagato/Obito/Madara becomes the Jinchuriki of Juubi earlier will determine everything.
If Kuroto achieves Kekkei Mora earlier, then all the problems this shinobi world is facing will not be problems anymore, but if Akatsuki were to revive Juubi earlier and any one of Nagato/Obito/Madara becomes the Jinchuriki of Juubi, first, then Kaguya would come back to life, and Kuroto would have no choice but to face Kaguya, and obviously, Kuroto would die in that situation, because he would be no different from a slightly stronger cannon fodder as the current Kuroto is far from reaching the level Sasuke and Naruto after they received Rikudo Sennin’s Chakra.
Therefore, other than preventing the revival of Juubi, Kuroto doesn’t care about what actions Akatsuki is taking, and he is not very interested in wasting his energy on every action that Akatsuki takes.
While Shisui and Itachi were thinking a few things, a ninja crow flew in and landed on Kuroto’s shoulder.
Taking out the letter from the crow’s stomach, Kuroto opened it, and after taking a look, he immediately said to both Itachi and Shisui, “Pakura seems to have already arrived in the village.”
“Already?” Itachi and Shisui were surprised.
Kuroto was no less surprised than Itachi and Shisui, and said, “It can only mean that the threat of Akatsuki is reaching closer. And since Pakura has already arrived in Konoha it also means that Sandaime-sama’s plan is proceeding smoothly. The two of you need not worry about it and focus your attention on finding Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror.”
Itachi nodded and Shisui nodded with a serious expression, “Leave it to us Kuroto-san.”
Kuroto nodded then the three separated, Itachi and Shisui left for the Uchiha Clan in order to prepare for the mission, while Kuroto returned back to his home.
Of course, he did not forget to instruct the two of them to leave behind Shadow/ Crow Clones, because, given the state of emergency, they wouldn’t be allowed to leave, especially Shisui, his combat power is indispensable for whatever Sandaime-sama is planning, that is why he wouldn’t be allowed to leave, no matter how important mission.
This is the reason why Shisui has been staying in the village for so long and has not performed any Anbu mission, his presence alone is very important for the village’s safety.
So, if the two want to leave for finding the two artifacts, then obviously they will have to leave behind Shadow/Crow Clone so that they act as replacements.
…
After arriving at his home, Kuroto took out the storage scroll that he prepared 2 months ago.
The objective is very clear, Kuroto plans to sell this scroll to Shimura Danzo for a good price. Given his current economic situation, Kuroto is in some serious need of funds, after all, the creation of Wind Nature Clone, along with the Kazekage Clone that is being cultivated has again consumed a lot of his funds, so by selling this scroll to Shimura Danzo, Kuroto is shooting two birds with one stone.
After preparing the disguise, and leaving a Shadow Clone again in the Village, Kuroto quietly sneaked out of Konoha.
…
In a mountainous forest outside Konoha.
A figure can be seen walking step by step through the forest.
The figure is dressed in a midnight Black Cloak with a complex golden pattern made of up gold thread, the symbol of Wind Chakra Nature on the chest, and five Chakra Natures at the back surrounding the Yin-Yang symbol, along with a wind patterned mask to cover the face.
He is slowly walking towards a hidden cave in the distance.
Whoosh Whoosh
At this time, two figures dressed in Konoha Anbu disguise appeared in front and behind the figure, and immediately launched an attack on him from both front and back.
At the same time, a third Anbu sitting on top of a tree at a distance away was ready to throw Shuriken and kill him should the figure jump upwards.
However, before the two tonto could reach closer to the figure, both the blades stopped midway, and not just the blades, even the bodies of the two Anbu stopped as they were entangled by Iron Sand that completely imprisoned the two Anbu.
The figure did not care about the attack from the two Anbu, he turned in the direction of the third Anbu who has changed his tactics and was about to fire a Lightning Jutsu at him, but stopped midway upon listening to the words of the figure, “Tell Shimura Danzo that Amatsukami wishes to make a deal with him.”