It Seems Like I Have a Home

On the road back to Konoha, Mei Senju turned her head to take an extra look at Seigetsu Squad.

As someone who had been through it all, Mei Senju could tell at a glance whether the two had crossed that threshold in their relationship.

Mei Senju noticed that the young girl, Seigetsu, would look at Kawadera Uchiha from time to time, her eyes filled with a certain glow.

Kawadera Uchiha felt a strange sensation in his heart; having transmigrated for over half a year, he had yet to see Konoha.

"Lord Second, would you like to see how Konoha has changed? You haven't been back to Konoha either, have you?"

"Going back to take a look would be fine."

Tobirama Senju had never expected that in his current state of a half-dead, lingering soul, he would one day be able to lay eyes on Konoha once more.

Just one look would be enough to satisfy him.

Leaving the Land of Grass and entering the forests of the Land of Fire, they were met with the scent of dew and decaying vegetation.

This country was filled with dense, boundless forests, with a sea of trees rolling along the contours of the mountains.

With plenty of firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea, the people of the Land of Fire did not worry about fuel; the soil was fertile, and a decent harvest could be reaped from even the most casual planting, making life much better than in other great nations.

Of course, it would be even better if there were no ninjas.

After seven or eight days, they finally caught sight of Konoha in the distance.

Opening his sea of consciousness to let Tobirama Senju see the village, Tobirama Senju's first words were: "Such high walls?"

During the era of the First Hokage, Konoha had no walls.

Defense?

Konoha at that time never bothered with defense.

If an enemy dared to invade, couldn't you just kill them from eight hundred miles away?

During the Second's era, Tobirama Senju had established watchtowers to maintain a long-term reconnaissance mechanism.

"Why build such high walls?"

"You'd have to ask the Third about that; how would I know?"

After submitting their permits to the guard squad, the group entered the village.

Utatane Koharu waited at the gate, representing the village to welcome the rotating ninjas back to Konoha.

On the fourth-floor rooftop of the Hokage Building in the distance, Danzō Shimura gazed toward the village entrance.

Zhong Uchiha knelt on one knee behind Danzō and asked, "Lord Danzō, when shall we restart the plan?"

Danzō frowned and said, "That simple-minded woman Tsunade doesn't matter, but Orochimaru's warning cannot be ignored.

Wait. Wait until the storm passes, then find another opportunity to make a move on Nawaki Senju and the others."

"Yes! Lord Danzō!"

Orochimaru's reaction had been fierce, uprooting all of Danzō's plants on the front lines in a single night.

If Zhong Uchiha hadn't run fast and possessed decent strength, he would have died at Orochimaru's hands as well.

Orochimaru hadn't consulted Danzō at all, acting directly and causing Root to lose three capable operatives.

After Nawaki Senju returned to the village, Orochimaru also sent his own people to guard him.

Danzō turned his head to look at the stone face of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and suddenly recalled some past events.

He asked, "Kinoe, is Torifu Akimichi still unwilling to come out of retirement?"

"Yes, Lord Danzō. Ever since the Second Hokage sacrificed himself, Advisor Torifu has remained in seclusion, no longer concerning himself with any matters."

Danzō nodded, thinking to himself that he was just a weak, fat man.

It was only because they had been teammates for decades that there was some lingering sentiment.

He should know the stakes and wouldn't speak out of turn. After all, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans were beneficiaries as well.

At the main gate of Konoha, after agreeing with Seigetsu Senju on when they would meet next, Kawadera Uchiha headed "home."

It seemed he had a home in the village, a strange, unfamiliar home.

Following the memories of his original self, he arrived before the Uchiha clan compound.

Outside the gate of the Uchiha compound stood the Konoha Military Police Force. The Konoha Military Police Force was responsible for maintaining internal order within Konoha.

Quite a few people were holding tickets, waiting anxiously outside the police station.

Someone was smoking cigarette after cigarette on the side of the road next to the station, the ground littered with butts, as if they had encountered some sort of trouble.

There were people gathered in twos and threes, discussing something with worried expressions.

Kawadera Uchiha looked up at the shuriken and fan emblem of the Military Police Force.

No matter how much the people of Konoha complained, no one dared to offend the dignity of the Uchiha Clan.

Entering the compound, Kawadera Uchiha nodded and greeted those he seemingly recognized on the road.

The people opposite him seemed to recognize Kawadera Uchiha as well; regardless of whether the other party actually knew him, a smile was never the wrong choice.

Walking through the compound, Kawadera Uchiha arrived in front of a two-story detached house.

Before him was a small courtyard of about 20 square meters, with a modest two-room house.

The memories of the original body were too blurry, so he searched the flowerpot at the door, under the rug, on the window frame, and finally found the key under the flowerpot.

Hidden well indeed.

The flower in the pot had long since died, drooping listlessly.

Entering the house, he found dust everywhere.

After coughing twice, Kawadera Uchiha decisively retreated, headed to the street to find someone, and spent 5,000 ryo to hire help to clean the house.

Within the ninja clans, there were many who possessed only average talent and eventually gave up their status as ninjas to live out their lives as ordinary people.

The person Kawadera Uchiha found was a one-eyed middle-aged woman.

On the woman's plump, round face, one could still see traces of her youthful beauty, but unfortunately, after losing one Sharingan, she had retired early.

The woman was very kind and worked with diligence and care; he truly didn't know how Itachi Uchiha could have brought himself to strike her down later on.

Just as the cleaning was finished and he had seen the woman off, Kawadera Uchiha's expression turned cold as someone suddenly appeared behind him.

Turning around to see Ishiya Uchiha, his superior, he quickly switched to a smile and said, "Senior Ishiya! You've returned to the village as well?"

Ishiya Uchiha was Kawadera Uchiha's direct superior within the clan and the head of the clan's intelligence division.

It was Ishiya Uchiha who had arranged for him to join Seigetsu Senju's squad.

"Kawadera, have you discovered the cause of Shiro Uchiha's death while at the front lines?"

Shiro Uchiha was dead, and Kawadera Uchiha couldn't be happier. Life without a leader was far too comfortable.

"My apologies, Senior Ishiya, I investigated for a long time but found nothing."

Ishiya Uchiha knew there wasn't much hope for this matter, so he didn't press the issue.

"Then, is there any important intelligence from the Land of Grass front?"

Kawadera Uchiha said, "I observed the clash between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Ōnoki; Hiruzen Sarutobi was at a disadvantage and had no effective countermeasures."

"You don't need to tell me that; the entire ninja world knows that Ōnoki has always held the upper hand over Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Kawadera Uchiha was choked by the retort, thinking to himself, Is this actually common knowledge?

He immediately said, "There is one more piece of intelligence, very important!"

"Speak."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple, Jiraiya, has remained in the Land of Rain without authorization, training three orphans from the Land of Rain there. He didn't even participate in the final decisive battle against the Rock Ninja. A scandal! This is a huge scandal for Hiruzen Sarutobi's faction!"

"Oh?" Ishiya Uchiha was very interested. "There is such a thing?"

I thought Jiraiya was acting under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders for some secret mission; I didn't expect him to be staying in the Land of Rain on his own, training orphans of an enemy nation?

The hatred between the Land of Rain and Konoha was deep; Konoha ninjas had killed plenty of people in the Land of Rain.

The heavy rain in the Land of Rain obscured the senses of most ninjas, like being in a forest of absolute darkness; one had to be decisive and ruthless when striking, otherwise, there was no time to react, and incidents of accidental killing were all too common.

"Very good, Kawadera, this intelligence is very important. I will inform the clan's high-level officials and make good use of it!"

Kawadera Uchiha thought to himself that such intelligence would eventually be known by the village, so it was better to speak up early and trade it for the Uchiha Clan's trust.

Ishiya Uchiha said in parting, "Continue to lurk by Seigetsu Senju's side and obtain important intelligence similar to Jiraiya's unauthorized stay in the enemy country!"

Kawadera Uchiha nodded, and after watching Ishiya Uchiha leave, he thought, My lurking is very deep indeed—over a dozen centimeters deep.