The Golden Finger's Mutation

"It wasn't just a grudge... Hokage, you should ask Jiraiya. He seems to have been the teacher of that Rinnegan-wielding ninja."

Uchiha Shūichi said calmly. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the pipe in the Third Hokage's hand tremble. A hint of astonishment appeared on his face.

"Jiraiya... He's connected to that Rinnegan-wielding ninja?!"

"Yeah. It seems he taught that ninja ninjutsu for a while back then, and the other one called him teacher."

The Third Hokage tightened his grip on the pipe. His eyes gave nothing away. Just then, Uchiha Shūichi continued:

"Oh, right. The Rinnegan-wielding ninja also has a grudge against Root. It seems the organization he founded was once destroyed by Root."

"What!? Root fought the Rinnegan-wielding ninja too?!"

The Third Hokage felt a surge of anger. How had he not known any of this? What had the people under him been hiding from him, their Hokage?

Jiraiya was his student, and Shimura Danzō was his longtime comrade. So both of them had met the Rinnegan-wielding ninja, yet neither had reported it to him!

What were these people trying to do? They really didn't take the village chief seriously anymore! In the end, he was the last one to learn anything about the Rinnegan-wielding ninja... How was he supposed to run Konoha Village with these traitors around?

A storm was already raging in the Third Hokage's heart, but his face remained as genial as ever, betraying none of his negative emotions. He tapped his pipe and spoke calmly:

"All right, Jonin Shūichi. You've worked hard this time. Go back and get some rest."

"Understood, Hokage."

Uchiha Shūichi slowly opened the door and left. After he was gone, the Third Hokage's genial expression gradually faded, replaced by a faint, indescribable gloom. With a sharp crack, the pipe he had once treasured now bore a web of fine fractures.

Seeing the cracks in his pipe, the Third Hokage finally came to his senses. He took a deep breath and pressed lightly on the desk. A few Anbu appeared in the room with a rustle.

"Bring Jiraiya and Shimura Danzō here. Go now. I want to see them immediately!"

"Yes, Hokage!"

The Anbu vanished in an instant. The Third Hokage let out a helpless sigh. He had been about to take another puff, but when he saw the cracks in his pipe, he silently tossed the whole thing onto the desk.

Uchiha Shūichi didn't know what happened afterward in the Hokage Office, but he could guess. Whatever kind of person the Third Hokage was, he was surely furious by now.

But so what? The Third Hokage couldn't do anything about Shimura Danzō, nor could he punish Jiraiya. At most, he could chew them both out.

After getting scolded, they would carry on as before. They still wouldn't report things to the Third Hokage.

In the end, even Jiraiya, who seemed relatively easygoing, had his own ideals and goals. He couldn't possibly consider himself nothing more than the Third Hokage's subordinate.

Those were the Third Hokage's problems to worry about. They had little to do with Uchiha Shūichi.

Come to think of it, he'd gained something from this operation: he had used Kotoamatsukami to control Konan, planting the most secure spy beside Nagato.

On top of that, the Akatsuki Organization's Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been exposed, making it harder for them to gather the Tailed Beasts in the future. Uchiha Shūichi had done all this in the hope of delaying Kaguya Otsutsuki's appearance.

At the very least, he needed to find out what his Golden Finger was before he could decide how to deal with the Otsutsuki Clan.

Speaking of the Golden Finger, even now, that blurry Light Orb still hadn't fully taken shape. But he could just make out what looked like a White Space shaped like a box.

Based on the timing, it might take another three years before he could truly see the Golden Finger in its entirety. Now that he no longer had to worry about the Night of the Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Shūichi was confident he could wait until it appeared.

"But... am I imagining it? There seems to be someone sitting on the ground in that space."

Uchiha Shūichi was a little surprised. As the Light Orb grew clearer, he could see that there really was a figure in the space, sitting motionless with legs crossed. There seemed to be a rod-shaped object resting on the figure's knees.

Unfortunately, the image was too blurry. No matter how intently he focused, he couldn't make it out clearly. After a while, Uchiha Shūichi had no choice but to give up.

"Anyway, it's only about three years. I'll be able to see clearly then... Hopefully, the person in that space will be easy to talk to."

This was something entirely beyond his control, and it troubled Uchiha Shūichi. But there wasn't much else he could do.

He didn't even know what this so-called Golden Finger was, or whether it really was a Golden Finger at all. Naturally, he couldn't control how things would unfold.

"For now... all I can do is wait."

Night slowly fell. As Uchiha Shūichi sank into sleep, he seemed to drift into a strange space.

It was a pure white space, roughly the size of a small plaza. At the center of the plaza, a faintly glowing sphere slowly revolved.

Beneath the glowing sphere sat a figure with legs crossed. The light behind it cast a long shadow.

"Is this... the space inside my Golden Finger? How did I suddenly end up here?"

Uchiha Shūichi looked a little nervous as he turned his gaze toward the seated figure. But the next second, the corner of his mouth twitched.

From a distance, the figure seemed imposing. But on closer inspection, it was nothing more than a shriveled corpse.

Perhaps because of the unusual environment in this space, the body hadn't truly decayed. Instead, it had dried into a mummy-like husk. On closer inspection, streaks of black blood could still be seen around its facial orifices.

Moreover, Uchiha Shūichi could tell that the body before him was nothing more than a corpse. Compared with an ordinary dead body, there was little difference.

Powerful people who had reached a certain level were completely different from ordinary people, even in death.

The Otsutsuki in the world of Naruto, for example, still possessed powerful Chakra even after death. Their bodies could remain undecayed for thousands of years.

This body had dried out without leaving behind even the slightest trace of energy. That could only mean that, before becoming a corpse, its owner hadn't been especially powerful.