"Good. This is good."
Inside the underground laboratory, Madara watched Haori and the others through White Zetsu's eyes.
Although Madara was confident that Haori would surely be able to replace Obito—and might even surpass him—
he had seen just how talented Haori was. At one point, he had even wondered, Did I choose the wrong person?
But he was Uchiha Madara. Once he had made up his mind, there was no need to change it.
Besides, that little brat Haori was far too clever and difficult to control. Choosing him would inevitably bring trouble.
More importantly, as far as Madara was concerned, the two of them were essentially the same.
Now that he had made his decision, he naturally needed to keep an eye on how these "actors" were doing.
Haori had indeed lived up to his expectations—and, in fact, he had done an excellent job!
But Madara was also considering something: should he take the necessary precautions with those two brats, Kakashi and Rin, ahead of time, just in case something went wrong?
"Zetsu."
After thinking it over, Madara finally spoke.
"Lead the Kirigakure shinobi to Kakashi. Most importantly, make sure they're separated. Understood?"
"No problem, Lord Madara."
Soon, a White Zetsu emerged from the wall. He nodded and readily agreed.
"Though, Lord Madara, there's something else I need to report."
"What is it?"
Madara was a little puzzled, but he still looked perfectly calm.
"That little Uchiha Haori brought a woman from the Uchiha Clan with him."
White Zetsu shrugged and spoke in a casual tone.
"I'm not sure what they were up to, but the woman split off from him before they entered the Konoha camp."
"An Uchiha woman?"
Madara frowned at the news. He really hadn't known about this.
He had told Obito they needed to make sure Haori and the other "actors" took the stage, but the truth was, he knew those people couldn't possibly stay away.
Kirigakure shinobi had suddenly appeared in the Land of Grass and seemed to be planning to sabotage the peace talks.
Faced with a situation like this, Konoha would naturally send some of its elite shinobi—Kakashi and the others, for instance, who had already carried out the mission to blow up the bridge.
What's more, Namikaze Minato himself was at the front lines. He needed to assist Konoha's people with the negotiations, so his subordinates' team would naturally get involved.
As for Haori, he had fought against Kirigakure in the Land of Whirlpools and earned merits in the Land of Grass.
No village would ever let a shinobi like that sit out a situation like this!
So Madara knew little about what was going on with the Uchiha, especially since that clan had disappointed him utterly.
He wouldn't pay them much attention unless he needed to gather information.
"Do you know who the woman is?"
Madara thought for a moment before asking.
"No. I didn't look into it."
White Zetsu shrugged and answered casually.
"We only noticed them after they entered the Land of Grass."
"Forget it. Whoever she is, it doesn't matter."
Madara thought it over, then shook his head.
"Keep an eye on her. If she becomes a nuisance, lead her toward Iwagakure. If not, let Kirigakure deal with her."
Although this was an unexpected complication, Madara didn't take it too seriously.
He didn't particularly care whether she was dealt with or not. As long as Kakashi and Rin didn't recognize Obito, and Obito had the necessary disguise—
then even if Namikaze Minato showed up, it wouldn't matter!
"Also, be ready to notify Obito at any time.
He's been looking forward to this for a long time, hasn't he? Then let him face reality."
"Haori, where do you think these Kirigakure shinobi are hiding?"
In the forest of the Land of Grass, Rin looked at Haori curiously.
Of the three of them, only Haori had fought Kirigakure shinobi before. That was also why Kakashi was willing to follow his lead.
"Well, Kirigakure shinobi really aren't easy to find."
Haori pursed his lips at the question. Tracking down Kirigakure shinobi wasn't simple, even though he had fought for his life against them in the Land of Whirlpools.
And, to his embarrassment, he didn't want to tell Kakashi and the others that he had been the one ambushed back then.
One major reason he'd been hopping from team to team ever since the Land of Whirlpools was that Kirigakure shinobi had ambushed and killed his former teammates.
"Come to think of it, Haori, you don't talk much about what happened in the Land of Whirlpools."
Kakashi turned to him, curious.
"And you hardly ever talk about your teammates, either."
"There's not much to say about the fighting in the Land of Whirlpools."
Haori put on a helpless expression and sighed.
"As for my teammates, they were all killed by Kirigakure shinobi. I was just lucky."
Haori's words immediately made Kakashi and Rin feel ashamed. They even regretted asking such a question.
Now they seemed to understand why Haori could say so many thought-provoking things.
You had to experience something firsthand to truly understand it!
"Sorry," Rin said quietly, while Kakashi's eyes were filled with remorse.
"It's fine. Let's focus on the mission."
Seeing their expressions, Haori immediately realized they'd gotten the wrong idea, but he wasn't going to explain.
After all, he'd gone through two or three teams before he started tagging along with other squads.
He'd nearly forgotten the names of his earliest teammates by now.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Haori frowned, stopped, and made a tactical hand signal.
At the same moment, he activated his Sharingan and quickly scanned the surroundings.
Kakashi saw Haori's move and lifted his Forehead Protector, revealing the scarlet Sharingan slowly turning in his eye socket.
"Looks like we have enemies."
Haori spoke quickly.
"There's chakra in the air. They're preparing to use the Hidden Mist Technique. Stay alert."
"Yeah."
Kakashi and Rin immediately nodded, but at that very moment, a huge water dragon suddenly came roaring toward them!
They didn't need to be warned. Haori and the others jumped aside at once, dodging the water dragon.
As they scattered and landed, the chakra in the air began to surge. In an instant, everything around them grew hazy.
"The Hidden Mist Technique again?"
Haori found the sight rather troublesome. He'd been badly caught out by this technique in the Land of Whirlpools.
There was something he'd never understood: why had Uchiha Fugaku agreed when Konoha sent the Uchiha to deal with Kirigakure?
Kirigakure specialized in Water Release and the Hidden Mist Technique. Neither was particularly suited to fighting the Uchiha.
At its strongest, the Hidden Mist Technique could even block the Rinnegan's vision!
"But these Kirigakure shinobi haven't put much chakra into their Hidden Mist Technique. It's nothing I can't handle."
Haori's eyes spun rapidly. He could see the presence and positions of others through the mist.
His vision was still hazy, and he could only make out the flow of chakra, but that was more than enough!
Whirr—
A Ninja Sword sliced through the air with a sharp hiss, slashing straight toward Haori from behind.
But in the next instant, Haori abruptly turned around. His scarlet Sharingan looked even more captivating in the mist.
Note: I've seen many readers say that Hikari being only in the village doesn't make sense. Let me briefly explain my thinking.
1. Jiraiya is one of the Legendary Sannin. When he comes back with her, the gate guards wouldn't stop him—and even Anbu wouldn't get in his way.
2. The protagonist is a hero of Konoha himself, which makes people trust him even more. Besides, when a large group enters the village, they don't record everyone one by one.
3. The original story makes it clear that Jiraiya has no interest in the higher-ups' affairs. He avoids them whenever he can, so how could he get involved? Since he trusts the protagonist, he wouldn't say anything about it.
4. Is it really that hard for Hikari to disguise her abilities so no one notices?
5. At this point in the story, Danzo probably wouldn't pay much attention to the Uchiha, unless they did something outrageous—like the protagonist meeting Kushina. Right now, Danzo is preparing to become Hokage. He also goes to the Land of Water to confront Nagato around this time, and as a result, Root gets beaten badly and has to be reorganized.
6. Although someone might bring up the matter later, since she was seen, it won't happen right now. The protagonist has time to make up for it.
These are the factors I considered when writing this. I didn't just write whatever came to mind. I just didn't go into too much detail because I was afraid readers would say I was padding the story.
This new writer humbly begs you to keep reading. Right now, reader engagement determines a book's future. Letting chapters pile up can easily kill a book.
Thank you, everyone! 🙇