Former Haunts

Chapter 47: Former Haunts

A few days later.

Tobi suddenly spoke to Kagami.

"Next, I'm going into Konoha to take care of a few things. Are you coming with me?"

"Take care of a few things? What things?"

"You don't need to know. If you don't come with me, we'll have to operate separately for quite some time, so don't get yourself killed. Even if you do come with me, we'll still have to split up once we're inside Konoha. We only need to meet once a day."

"Konoha? What about the missions from the leader? If I enter Konoha too, I won't be able to handle many missions."

"Don't worry about that. I've already informed them. We won't receive any missions for the next six months."

"Then I'll come with you. It'll be nice to go back and take a look."

Tobi was somewhat surprised. He had originally thought that after everything Kagami had experienced in Konoha, he wouldn't be willing to return there with him.

"All right. Take this."

The Sharingan beneath Tobi's mask activated, and a vortex appeared. A conical hat emerged from it, and Tobi handed it to Kagami.

"You only defected recently, so plenty of people in Konoha can recognize you. Put this on. It'll make things easier."

Kagami took the hat and placed it on his head. Several strips of cloth hung around its edges, easily hiding his face.

"Let's go."

"Mm."

A vortex appeared and sucked Tobi and Kagami inside.

The Uchiha district.

A girl who looked to be in her early teens stood beside the river, eating dango. A lovely beauty mark adorned the corner of her eye, and she had an extremely cute appearance.

"I've been seeing less and less of Itachi lately."

Her name was Uchiha Izumi. She and Itachi were classmates and close friends—or perhaps lovers. Neither had ever said so outright, but they clearly had feelings for each other.

After finishing her dango, Izumi stood up and turned to head home. She had come here only to see whether she might run into Itachi.

"Ah, what a strange child."

However, the moment she turned around, Izumi saw a child dressed in a black robe patterned with red clouds and wearing a conical hat that concealed his face.

The Akatsuki of this era was nowhere near as famous as it would become in the future. Most people who saw an Akatsuki Robe would not recognize it, merely thinking it was a somewhat unusual outfit.

Seeing the person standing motionless, Izumi found it strange and walked over to ask him.

"What's wrong? Have you run into some trouble?"

Kagami was not short, and he seemed to have matured early. At the moment, he looked to be a little over ten years old. Of course, even so, he still looked like a child to Izumi.

Kagami's eyes shifted slightly as he looked at Uchiha Izumi beside him. He had not expected that after parting from Tobi, the first person in Konoha to greet him would be a little girl.

"I'm fine."

Kagami answered coldly. He had not recognized who she was and merely assumed she was an ordinary member of the Uchiha.

Izumi smiled faintly.

"Is that so? That's good."

Then Izumi asked curiously, "But why are you covering your face?"

As she spoke, Izumi slowly leaned closer, wanting to see Kagami's face.

Kagami said nothing. Beneath the hat, his black pupils rapidly turned crimson. He could not let himself be discovered. If the girl in front of him continued moving closer, he would have to act!

But Izumi suddenly stopped. Her smile remained as bright as ever, as though she had just remembered something.

"Never mind. Still, be careful when walking around in a conical hat."

Kagami was slightly stunned. His eyes returned to black, and he replied flatly, "Mm."

After that, Kagami walked forward and slowly disappeared from Izumi's sight.

Only after Kagami vanished did Izumi's smile disappear as well. The shock in her eyes could no longer be concealed.

Just now, Izumi had felt that if she continued approaching, she would die! She really would die!!

At that moment, the child she had thought was merely a child had reminded her of the terrifying eye of the Nine-Tails from several years ago. That feeling could not have been mistaken! This person definitely possessed the Sharingan, and his Eye Power was terrifying!

Izumi herself possessed the Three Tomoe Sharingan, but that child's Sharingan was definitely stronger than hers!

No, she had to tell Itachi about this.

A child with such terrifying Eye Power had suddenly appeared. Izumi felt that this matter was certainly not simple.

Izumi chose to tell Itachi rather than anyone else because, in her eyes, Itachi was an absolute genius—the person she trusted most.

Much later, Kagami, dressed in an Akatsuki Robe, arrived at the training ground where he and Shisui had often spent time together. It was also the place where he had eventually buried Shisui.

Looking at the gravestone he had erected for Shisui, Kagami could not help feeling distressed.

Everything had changed. The once-famous Body Flicker Shisui was gone, while Kagami, once a genius of the Uchiha, had defected from the village and become a member of the Akatsuki.

"Will you blame me, Brother Shisui?"

Kagami asked the gravestone, but received no answer for a long, long time.

After a very long while, he let out a soft chuckle.

"Hmph."

No one knew what he was feeling. Kagami then used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from the area.

The Ninja Academy.

On the training field, Sasuke decisively defeated Naruto with taijutsu.

Naruto shouted, deeply unwilling to accept it.

"That was a fluke! Let's do it again. I'll definitely beat you this time."

"This is already the third time, isn't it, idiot?"

"Damn it! I'll definitely beat you next time."

"You'll never beat me."

On the roof of a tall building in the distance, Kagami silently watched the scene at the Ninja Academy and smiled faintly. It's nice. They haven't changed at all. If possible, I hope they can keep living happily like this forever.

On the street, Kakashi walked along with his head lowered, reading a book. Suddenly, however, he seemed to sense something and abruptly looked up at the roof of a nearby building. There was nothing there.

"Was it just my imagination?"

In the afternoon, Izumi hurriedly found Itachi and told him everything that had happened.

Itachi was somewhat agitated.

"You said it was a child?"

Izumi answered honestly, "Mm. He looked to be around ten, but he was wearing a conical hat that covered his face, so I don't know who he was."

"Could it be him?"

Itachi strongly suspected that the person was Kagami.

Then Itachi warned Izumi, "If you run into him again, don't approach him, understand? And don't tell anyone about this besides me."

"Oh, all right."

Itachi knew very well that Kagami was now a Rogue Ninja. Since he had returned to the village, he naturally did not want to be discovered. Avoiding contact with others as much as possible was the best option.

Itachi also had no intention of approaching Kagami. His current identity was that of an Anbu member, making him extremely sensitive. Approaching Kagami recklessly could easily expose Kagami's presence.

Kagami knew this as well. Thus, Itachi and Kagami tacitly understood each other, and neither approached the other.

Although both of them knew that the other might be in the Uchiha district, they pretended not to know.

Take care, everyone, and remember to eat properly.

Emmmm, I don't know what to say today. How about asking for some votes and comments?

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