Kusagakure's Pirated Life

"Kakashi's gone quiet again."

After a few words had silenced Kakashi and left him rattled, Youhu turned to Itachi. "Senior Itachi, why don't we talk? Tell me what's troubling you. Maybe I can help."

Youhu genuinely wanted to give Itachi some guidance.

He felt that Itachi was lost and needed a levelheaded Uchiha like him to lead the way, so he could avoid going astray and becoming the Senju Clan's greatest asset.

Itachi thought about his life so far, then recalled Youhu's impressive performance over the past few days and gave a slight nod.

He'd originally planned to discuss his future with Obito. Having Youhu offer him guidance was a good thing, too. Maybe he could find a way to save his clan and the village through Youhu.

"Brother Youhu, I want to know how to save the clan."

Youhu blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Didn't I tell you last time? Just take out Fugaku Clan Head and make me Guard Captain. Then the clan will never again be in danger of being wiped out."

"..."

Itachi suddenly felt that asking Obito for help wasn't so hard to accept after all.

Why was Youhu so hostile toward his father? If he wanted to become Clan Head, he could run for the position at a clan meeting. What was with asking him to kill his own father?

Watching Itachi walk away alone, leaving only his back in view, Youhu felt that he was being treated unfairly.

He'd sincerely offered Itachi advice on how to save the clan, but Itachi kept ignoring him. It was making him lose face.

Only by destroying the Uchiha Clan with his own hands could Itachi save the Uchiha. Youhu hadn't made that up—that was what Uchiha Itachi had personally done in the Original Timeline.

And never mind how many people died on Clan Annihilation Night. At least the Uchiha and the village no longer had any disputes or conflict.

All they had to do now was kill Fugaku. That would spare so many clansmen from sacrificing themselves, yet Itachi still refused.

Clearly, Itachi didn't have the Will of Fire in his heart. He was an enemy of the village and the Lord Third. Since Itachi was an enemy, Youhu would treat him like one.

After adding Itachi's name to the little notebook in his mind, Youhu headed deeper into the forest, using patrol duty as an excuse to leave for a while.

He'd been out for nearly a day and still hadn't reported to Obito. They were about to head to Obito's place, so he should at least notify his host.

Once he found a deserted spot, Youhu took out a scroll and summoned White Zetsu Afu.

Afu appeared lying on his side, a Ninja World Encyclopedia in his hands. He only got up after realizing he'd been summoned.

"You're reading?" Youhu found it amusing that Afu was reading a book.

Afu nodded. "I found these books interesting while cleaning the Study Room for Lord Youhu, so I thought I'd take a look."

"Lord Youhu, why did you summon me this time?"

"Afu, go deliver a message to Brother Obito. Tell him Kakashi has figured out that our base is in Grass Country, and we're heading there now..."

"Never mind. Wait a moment."

Youhu thought it over and decided that giving the message verbally wasn't reliable enough. He took out some paper and a pen and quickly wrote a letter.

"Another letter?"

White Zetsu Afu was taken aback. He felt that his life had grown much bleaker.

He'd been assigned to stay by Youhu's side to monitor his every move and see whether he would betray Lord Obito and the Moon Eye Plan.

But after arriving at Youhu's side, he'd become a summoned-beast servant in Youhu's household.

Cleaning the house every day was one thing, but the moment he finally got a break, he was sent off to deliver a letter to Lord Obito.

Did Youhu have any idea how far away Lord Obito was? Even with his Mayfly Technique, Afu would still have to travel underground for several hours.

The next afternoon.

After nearly two days of travel, Kakashi Squad arrived in Grass Country.

Unlike the Land of Fire, which was covered in forests, Grass Country had a vast plain. A great ninja village had once arisen there, one that had nearly ruled the entire Ninja World.

But that was all in the past. Grass Country was now a small nation, and Kusagakure was just an ordinary ninja village.

Watching a Grass Ninja use Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique to teach a bandit a lesson in the distance, Youhu couldn't help saying,

"Captain Kakashi, isn't that our Uchiha Clan's signature jutsu, Great Fireball Technique?"

"And that person's using Water Dragon Bullet and Earth Flow Wall. They're obviously copying you. Doesn't Kusagakure have any jutsu of its own?"

"Not really..."

Kakashi thought about it carefully.

During his years in Anbu, he'd dealt with Grass Ninja as well. They gave him the impression of trying desperately to imitate the Five Great Ninja Villages, yet never managing to learn what made them great.

They could only compete on price to take a share of the Five Great Ninja Villages' market and cover the village's necessary expenses.

That would have been bad enough, but Kusagakure also had ambitions far beyond its strength. It had always wanted to become the Sixth Great Ninja Village.

"Captain Kakashi, should we attack them and use Illusion Technique to interrogate them?"

Youhu looked eager to give it a try, making him seem like a fresh Genin on his very first mission.

Kakashi quickly stopped Youhu from acting on his wild idea. "Don't be rash. These are peaceful times. If you attack Kusagakure, it'll be the same as declaring war on them..."

"Even though we've concealed our identities, we could still give ourselves away..."

Youhu frowned, thinking Kakashi was far too indecisive, and laid out his plan.

"Why not just kill them? This place might belong to Uchiha Madara anyway. We can interrogate them for information first and confirm where the Grass Village Leader is."

"Then we can attack the Grass Village Leader and find out whether Kusagakure is working with Obito."

"If they are, we'll set off a Civil War in Kusagakure. If they aren't, I can use my Space-Time Ninjutsu to escape. We can pin it on Brother Obito either way."

"After that, we can have the Third Lord step in and reassure Kusagakure, announcing that Konoha and Kusagakure are joining forces against the Masked Man."

"Your plan..."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. He even felt that Youhu had a point.

If they attacked Kusagakure as the Masked Man, and Kusagakure turned out to be working with Obito, then a fight inside the village would be perfectly reasonable. If they weren't working together, they could still pin the blame on Obito.

It would bring Konoha and Kusagakure closer together.

Youhu had thought everything through so thoroughly that he'd even taken care of the Lord Third's work for him.

But the last remnant of justice in Kakashi wouldn't let him do it. If he went through with this, what would make him any different from Obito, who had attacked the village?

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the darkness in his heart, Kakashi made his decision.

"Until we know the exact situation in Kusagakure, we can't act recklessly."

"Youhu, haven't you always wanted to visit Kannabi Bridge? Let's take a look and see if the boulder that crushed Obito is still there."