Kirigakure Attacks (Please Follow)

"Very good, this is very good."

Inside the underground laboratory, Uchiha Madara was observing the situation of Haori and the others through the vision of a White Zetsu.

Although Uchiha Madara was confident that Haori would inevitably replace Obito, and perhaps even surpass him.

Because he had seen Haori's excellence with his own eyes, to the point where it had even made him wonder if he had chosen the wrong person.

However, he was Uchiha Madara; once he made up his mind, there was no need for him to change it.

Especially since the brat Haori was too clever and difficult to control; choosing him would inevitably lead to accidents.

More importantly, in his view, these two were actually the same.

Since he had made his decision, he naturally had to pay attention to the state of these "actors."

Haori had indeed met his requirements, and one could say he had done an excellent job!

However, he was now also considering one thing: should he take necessary measures against those two brats, Kakashi and Rin, in advance to avoid any problems?

"Zetsu."

After much thought, Uchiha Madara finally spoke.

"Guide the Kirigakure Ninja toward Kakashi's side. The most important thing is to make sure they are separated, understand?"

"No problem, Lord Madara."

Soon, a White Zetsu emerged from the wall, nodding in direct agreement.

"However, Lord Madara, there is one more thing I need to report to you."

"What is it?"

Uchiha Madara was somewhat puzzled, yet he still appeared exceptionally calm.

"That little brat, Uchiha Haori, he brought a woman from the Uchiha clan along."

The White Zetsu shrugged, speaking in a relaxed tone.

"But I don't know what they were doing; regardless, that woman separated from him before entering the Konoha camp."

"An Uchiha woman?"

Upon hearing this news, Uchiha Madara couldn't help but frown; he really wasn't aware of this matter.

When he told Obito that he was ensuring these "actors" took the stage, it was actually because he knew these people couldn't help but come.

Kirigakure personnel had suddenly appeared in the Land of Grass, and were suspected of wanting to sabotage the peace talks.

Faced with such a situation, Konoha would naturally have to send some elites, such as Kakashi and the others who had already carried out the bridge-bombing mission.

Moreover, Namikaze Minato himself was on the front lines; he needed to coordinate with the Konoha personnel to complete the negotiations, so the squad under his command would naturally be involved.

As for Haori, this guy had fought against Kirigakure in the Land of Whirlpools and had earned merit in the Land of Grass.

With such talent, faced with the current situation, no village would allow him not to come!

Therefore, he didn't know much about the situation within the Uchiha clan, especially since this clan had disappointed him to the core.

Unless it was to collect necessary intelligence, he wouldn't pay them much attention at all.

"Do you know who that woman is?"

Uchiha Madara pondered for a moment before asking.

"Don't know, didn't investigate."

The White Zetsu shrugged and replied casually.

"We only discovered her after they entered the Land of Grass."

"Forget it, it doesn't matter who she is."

Uchiha Madara thought for a moment, then finally shook his head.

"Observe her a bit more. If she becomes a nuisance, lead her toward Iwagakure; if she isn't, just let Kirigakure deal with her."

Although an unexpected variable had appeared, Uchiha Madara didn't take it to heart.

To him, it didn't even matter whether he dealt with it or not, as long as he ensured that Kakashi and Rin wouldn't recognize the truth, while simultaneously preparing the necessary disguise for Obito.

Then, even if Namikaze Minato arrived, it wouldn't matter!

"Also, be ready to notify Obito at any time."

"Hasn't he been looking forward to this for a long time? Then let him face reality."

"Haori, where do you think these Kirigakure Ninja are hiding?"

In the forests of the Land of Grass, Rin looked at Haori with some curiosity.

Among the three of them, only Haori had dealt with Kirigakure Ninja before, which was the reason Kakashi was willing to follow Haori's lead.

"This... honestly, Kirigakure Ninja are not that easy to find."

Upon hearing this, Haori couldn't help but purse his lips; tracking the traces of Kirigakure Ninja was not a simple task, even though he had fought for his life against them in the Land of Whirlpools.

To be honest, Haori felt too embarrassed to tell Kakashi and the others that he was actually the one who kept getting ambushed back then.

The main reason he had been hopping between teams ever since the Land of Whirlpools was that his previous teammates had all been ambushed and killed by Kirigakure Ninja.

"Come to think of it, Haori, you rarely talk about what happened in the Land of Whirlpools."

Kakashi turned his head and asked with a hint of curiosity.

"And you rarely mention your former teammates, either."

"There isn't really much to say about the war in the Land of Whirlpools."

Haori put on a helpless expression and let out a sigh.

"As for my teammates, they all died at the hands of the Kirigakure Ninja; I was just the lucky one."

Haori's words instantly made Kakashi and Rin feel ashamed, and they even regretted asking such a question.

Now they seemed to understand why Haori could say so many thought-provoking things.

Only by experiencing and feeling such things could one truly empathize!

"Sorry."

Rin said in a low voice, and Kakashi's eyes were also filled with shame.

"It's fine, let's focus on the mission."

Seeing the look in their eyes, Haori realized immediately that the two had misunderstood, but he wasn't about to explain.

After all, he had gone through two or three batches of teammates before he finally started hopping between squads.

He could barely even remember the names of those first few teammates anymore.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Haori frowned; he stopped in his tracks and signaled a tactical gesture.

At that very moment, he activated his Sharingan, his gaze scanning the surroundings rapidly.

Seeing Haori's movement, Kakashi also lifted his forehead protector, the scarlet Sharingan slowly rotating within his eye sockets.

"It seems we have enemies."

Haori said quickly.

"There is chakra in the air; this is the preparation for the Hidden Mist Technique used by those Kirigakure Ninja. Be careful."

"Understood."

Kakashi and Rin nodded immediately, yet at that very instant, a massive water dragon roared toward them!

There was no need for a warning; Haori and the others jumped up instantly to dodge the water dragon.

As they scattered and landed, the chakra in the air began to increase drastically, and in a split second, everything around them began to grow hazy.

"The Hidden Mist Technique again?"

Haori felt a headache coming on; he had been severely hindered by this technique back in the Land of Whirlpools.

In truth, he had never understood why Uchiha Fugaku would have agreed when Konoha ordered the Uchiha to deal with Kirigakure.

One had to know that Kirigakure was not only skilled in Water Release but also possessed the Hidden Mist Technique, which was exceptionally unfriendly to the Uchiha.

Especially in its strongest state, the Hidden Mist Technique could even obscure the vision of the Rinnegan!

"However, the amount of chakra these Kirigakure Ninja poured into this Hidden Mist Technique isn't much; it's nothing to me."

Haori's eyes rotated rapidly, allowing him to see the presence and positions of others through the layer of mist.

Even though what he saw was very hazy and merely images of flowing chakra, it was enough for him!

Hum—

A ninja blade sliced through the air, creating a series of sounds as it slashed directly toward Haori's back.

Yet the next moment, Haori turned around abruptly, his scarlet Sharingan appearing even more bewitching within the mist.

PS: I've seen many experts express their views that Hikari being in the village is unreasonable, so I'll briefly explain my thoughts here.

1. Jiraiya is one of the Sannin; if he brings a team back, let alone the gate guards, even the Anbu wouldn't stop him if they saw it was him.

2. The protagonist himself is a hero of Konoha, which further increases trust, and large groups entering the village aren't recorded one by one.

3. It can be seen in the original work that Jiraiya has no interest in the dirty business of the higher-ups; he avoids it as much as possible, so he wouldn't say a word more, provided he trusts the protagonist.

4. Is it really that hard for someone with Hikari's strength to disguise herself and go unnoticed?

5. At this point in time, Danzo wouldn't necessarily pay too much attention to the Uchiha unless they did something outrageous—like the protagonist meeting Kushina. He is currently preparing for the Hokage position, and he is also heading to the Land of Water to confront Nagato during this period, which resulted in the Root being reorganized.

6. Although they might settle old scores later since she was seen, it won't be right now; the protagonist has time to make up for it.

I wrote this based on the factors above, not just randomly; I just didn't write it in such detail for fear of being called a filler.

A newbie begging for follow-up reads; current follow-up reads determine everything for a book, and "nurturing" a book by not reading it often leads to it dying.

Thank you all, experts. Onz