I Became a Stand-In

Another meeting in Cat Country. When Shiba Seika was asked by Uchiha Shisui, "Who was that mysterious person in the Akatsuki who seduced Kakashi?" he almost lost it again.

You're asking me who I am?

Now that's a real riot!

And he never expected that the seed he'd casually sown back then would bloom into such a gaudy flower so quickly.

Kakashi's initiative was stronger than he'd imagined—already starting his revenge, huh?

And through Uchiha Shisui's earnest account, Shiba Seika quickly caught the gaps he could exploit.

"You're saying a lot of people in Konoha suspect Root was behind the trial on Kakashi?"

Uchiha Shisui hesitated, then after some deliberation said, "Aizen-kun, I'm not at liberty to discuss that."

Shiba Seika smiled. Your attitude alone speaks volumes, you naive child.

So he thought of something.

"As for that Akatsuki member, I do know a thing or two. His name is Shimura Taiga, a rogue ninja who fled from the Eastern Region to the Land of Rain. Pretty strong, but a bit ruthless in his methods."

Shiba Seika casually fabricated a new identity for himself.

The name was fake, but only a few syllables off, so even if it came to light later, he could claim he'd misheard it from someone else.

The best part was that his surname was just one syllable off from the Root leader's.

Hearing this, Uchiha Shisui's expression immediately shifted.

"Aizen-kun, you're saying that evil Akatsuki member's surname is Shimura?!"

And wasn't the east of the Land of Rain just the Land of Fire?

Uchiha Shisui felt like he'd just stumbled onto a major clue!

Shiba Seika feigned confusion and asked, "Yes, is there something wrong with that surname?"

Uchiha Shisui said nothing.

He figured the Shimura clan wasn't a major ninja family, and Danzo rarely flaunted his surname or lineage, so it made sense that someone from the Land of Rain wouldn't know.

But didn't that make it even more suspicious?

Uchiha Shisui didn't want to think so darkly of the village's high-ranking elders, but the recent chain of events left him no choice.

First, Minato and Elder Danzo clashed. Then Kakashi suddenly faced accusations. Now he'd discovered that the one who seduced Kakashi was likely from the Shimura clan!

It all came full circle!

The more Uchiha Shisui thought, the more alarmed he became.

And Shiba Seika, just by watching Uchiha Shisui's expression for a moment, knew his planted seed had sprouted again.

He smiled faintly, brimming with anticipation for Konoha's coming changes, and said, "Is this intel satisfactory, Shisui-kun? If you ever want to know more about the Akatsuki, feel free to come to me. As a friend, I'll give you a discount."

Uchiha Shisui nodded, somewhat flustered, puzzled that not long ago you'd called him your beloved friend and sworn brother.

But the easygoing Shisui ultimately couldn't bring himself to ask outright, instead pushing the copied ninjutsu scrolls over without hesitation.

"Aizen-kun, these are the techniques I promised you. They're not high-level, so I hope you don't mind."

Shiba Seika cheerfully accepted them.

Getting paid for fooling someone—how could he possibly mind a deal like that?

"Well then, a pleasant transaction, Shisui-kun. I hope we'll have more chances to cooperate in the future."

After that, Shiba Seika paid the Gray Cat Shopkeeper the referral fee and ordered a high-end ninja sword infused with Chakra metal from the shop, then formed hand seals and left Cat Country.

Back at the base, he quickly gathered the Akatsuki members stationed there.

"Everyone, I recently had some luck and acquired a few ninjutsu. I'll be teaching them to my teammates first.

As for the rest, as long as you work hard for the Akatsuki, I'll teach you one by one in the future. Keep up the effort and contribute to building the organization!"

Though Shiba Seika's words sounded righteous, the sharper members quickly grasped the real meaning—

Captain Seika had lucked into a batch of teachable techniques, and he alone would decide who to teach!

He said contributing to the organization would earn you the teachings, but the question was: would following Yahiko's orders and following Captain Seika's orders really count the same?

Soon, word reached Yahiko.

He was so angry his head ached, and he couldn't help rubbing his temples.

Yahiko was naive, not stupid. He could clearly see that Shiba Seika was winning people over to sideline him.

But his nature meant he couldn't bring himself to confront Shiba Seika harshly and demand the techniques.

Frustrated, he thought of his two friends again.

Just then, Nagato pushed the door open, looking delighted.

"Yahiko, great news! Seika-kun helped me pick out some people today, taught me a bunch of methods, and gave me a lot of intel on Konoha. Now I can finally set up my intelligence network."

As luck would have it, soon after, Konan also pushed the door open, beaming. "Yahiko, good news! Seika found us a channel to sell supplies through Cat Country.

We can sell some of the food and medicine left by the Ando merchant to Cat Country, then trade for ninja tools and weapons to arm our members!"

"Now everyone can stop worrying about not having Ninja Tools when they go on duty!"

Yahiko, watching the delighted expressions on his two friends' faces, momentarily forgot what he had been about to say.

As expected, Shiba Seika had come prepared once again, and with a single move, he had his two friends firmly on his side.

Yahiko forced out a stiff, "Congratulations."

After that, he didn't bring up his own matter again.

Because without even asking, he had already guessed his friends' answers, and being kind-hearted, he didn't want to put them in a difficult position.

Yet today's events were far from over.

Before long, another subordinate came in to report, "Leader Yahiko, the ninja clan members who joined us a few days ago have also applied to join Captain Seika's squad today."

Yahiko's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is that possible?! Weren't they just listening to me expound on the vision and ideals of peace yesterday?"

The subordinate didn't know how to respond to that.

Those ninjas who had applied to follow Shiba Seika were precisely the refugees from the small ninja clans who had contributed their entire fortunes and the Cat Country summoning contract.

They had clearly trusted him so much before, identified so strongly with his ideals—why had it come to this?

Yahiko didn't understand.

But Shiba Seika understood perfectly, because when it came down to it, being moved by ideals was one thing, but when actually doing the work, ninjas would inevitably lean toward following a strong and reliable leader.

Moreover, since Shiba Seika had always emulated Boss Cao's method of holding the "emperor" hostage to command the lords, no matter how much he argued with Yahiko, he had never openly rebelled.

So in the eyes of the new members, following Shiba Seika didn't seem to conflict with following the ideals of the Akatsuki.

Under this succession of blows, Yahiko finally slumped back alone in his chair, leaning against its back, with only one thought left in his mind—

Damn it, I've become the substitute!

Was he really only fit for recruiting new members and giving inspirational speeches from now on?