On the way back to Konoha, Mei Senju glanced over at Seigetsu Squad again.
As someone who had been through it herself, Mei could tell at a glance whether the two had taken their relationship to a new level.
Mei noticed that the young Xingyue kept glancing at Kawadera Uchiha, a light in her eyes.
Kawadera felt strange. He had been here for over half a year, yet he had never seen Konoha.
"Second, would you like to see how Konoha has changed? You haven't been back either, have you?"
"It would be nice to go back and have a look."
Tobirama hadn't expected that, in his half-dead state as a lingering soul, he'd one day get to see Konoha again.
Just one look would be enough.
They left the Land of Grass and entered the forests of the Land of Fire. The scent of dew and decaying plants greeted them.
The country was covered in dense forests as far as the eye could see, a sea of trees rolling along the contours of the mountains.
The people of the Land of Fire never had to worry about firewood, and with the fertile soil, they could plant just about anything and reap a plentiful harvest. Their lives were far better than those of people in the other great nations.
Of course, it would have been even better if there were no ninja.
After seven or eight days, they finally caught sight of Konoha in the distance.
Opening his Sea of Consciousness so Tobirama could see the village, Kawadera heard his first words: "Those walls are so tall?"
There had been no walls around Konoha during the First's time.
Defense?
Konoha had never needed to defend itself back then.
If enemies came, couldn't they just kill them eight hundred li away?
During the Second's time, Tobirama had established watchtowers and a long-term reconnaissance system.
"Why build such tall walls?"
"You'll have to ask the Third. How would I know?"
After handing over their permits to the gate guards, the group entered the village.
Utatane Koharu was waiting at the gate, representing the village as she welcomed the returning ninja back to Konoha for their leave.
On the fourth-floor rooftop of the Hokage Building in the distance, Shimura Danzō gazed toward the village entrance.
Zhong Uchiha knelt behind Danzō and asked, "Lord Danzō, when should we restart the plan?"
Danzō frowned. "Tsunade's simple-mindedness doesn't matter, but Orochimaru's warning can't be ignored.
"Wait until things blow over, then find another chance to go after Nawaki and the others."
"Yes, Lord Danzō!"
Orochimaru had reacted fiercely, wiping out all of Danzō's spies on the Front Line in a single night.
If Zhong hadn't been quick on his feet and reasonably capable, he would have died at Orochimaru's hands too.
Orochimaru hadn't even consulted Danzō before taking action, costing Root three capable operatives.
After Nawaki returned to the village, Orochimaru had also sent his own people to keep watch over him.
Danzō turned to look at the Second's portrait and suddenly remembered some things from the past.
He asked, "Kinoe, is Torifu Akimichi still unwilling to come out of retirement?"
"Yes, Lord Danzō. Ever since the Second died, Advisor Torifu has kept to himself and stopped involving himself in anything."
Danzō nodded, thinking that Torifu was a weak-willed fatso.
He only felt some affection for him because they had been teammates for decades.
Torifu should know better than to say anything reckless. After all, the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans had benefited too.
At the entrance to Konoha, after agreeing with Seigetsu Senju when they would meet again, Kawadera headed "home."
It seemed he had a home in the village—a strange, unfamiliar home.
Following the memories of the body's original owner, he made his way to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The Konoha Military Police Force stood just outside the gate to the compound, responsible for maintaining order within the village.
Quite a few people stood outside the Police Force, clutching tickets and waiting anxiously.
Someone was smoking one cigarette after another by the roadside beside the Police Force. Cigarette butts littered the ground; he seemed to have run into some kind of trouble.
Small groups of people had gathered together, all wearing worried expressions as they discussed something.
Kawadera looked up at the Police Force's Shuriken-and-Gunbai emblem.
No matter how much the people of Konoha complained, no one could challenge the authority of the Uchiha Clan.
Entering the compound, Kawadera nodded to people he seemed to recognize along the way.
They seemed to recognize him too. Whether or not they actually did, it couldn't hurt to smile.
He walked deeper into the compound and stopped in front of a small, two-story detached house.
There was a little courtyard of about twenty square meters in front, and the house had only two rooms. It wasn't large.
The original owner's memories were too hazy. He searched the flowerpot by the door, under the doormat, on the window frame, and then... finally found the key beneath the flowerpot.
Well hidden.
The flower in the pot had long since died, drooping over the edge.
Dust covered everything inside the house.
After coughing a couple of times, Kawadera promptly went back outside and found someone on the street. He paid her five thousand ryō to clean the place up.
Many ninja clans had members with little talent for being ninja. In the end, they gave up the life and lived as ordinary people.
The person Kawadera hired was a one-eyed older woman.
Her round, plump face still showed traces of the beauty she must have had in her youth. Unfortunately, after losing one Sharingan, she had retired early.
She was kind and worked carefully. It was hard to imagine how Itachi Uchiha could later bring himself to kill her.
Just after the cleaning was done and the woman had left, Kawadera's expression turned cold. Someone had suddenly appeared behind him.
He turned and saw Ishiya Uchiha, his superior, and quickly switched to a smile. "Senior Ishiya! You're back in the village too?"
Ishiya was Kawadera's direct superior within the clan and its intelligence chief.
He was the one who had arranged for Kawadera to join Seigetsu's squad.
"Kawadera, did you find out what happened to Shiro Uchiha on the Front Line?"
Shiro was dead. Kawadera could hardly have been happier. Life without a boss was so much more comfortable.
"Sorry for the trouble, Senior Ishiya. I investigated for a long time, but came up empty-handed."
Ishiya knew the chances of finding anything were slim and didn't press him.
"Then what important information did you get from the Front Line in the Land of Grass?"
"I watched Hiruzen Sarutobi fight Ōnoki. Hiruzen was at a disadvantage and didn't have any good answers."
"You don't have to tell me that. The whole Shinobi World knows Ōnoki has always had the upper hand over Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Kawadera was caught off guard. That was common knowledge?
He hurriedly added, "There's another piece of information. It's extremely important!"
"Go on."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi's student Jiraiya stayed behind in the Land of Rain without permission. He's raising three orphans from the Land of Rain there, and he didn't even take part in the final battle against the Rock Ninja.
"It's a scandal! A huge scandal for Hiruzen Sarutobi's faction!"
"Oh?" Ishiya was very interested. "Something like that really happened?"
He had assumed Jiraiya was in the Land of Rain on Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, carrying out some secret mission. He hadn't expected him to have stayed behind without permission, raising orphans from an enemy nation.
The Land of Rain and Konoha had deep-seated enmity. Konoha Ninja had killed plenty of people in the Land of Rain.
The heavy rain there obscured most ninja's senses. It was like being in a pitch-black forest: you had to strike quickly and ruthlessly, or you wouldn't have time to react. Accidental killings were all too common.
"Good work, Kawadera. This information is important. I'll inform the clan's leadership and make good use of it!"
Kawadera thought that the villagers would find out about this sooner or later. He might as well reveal it now and earn the Uchiha Clan's trust.
Ishiya's final instruction was, "Keep close to Seigetsu and find more important information like Jiraiya staying in an enemy nation!"
Kawadera nodded. After watching Ishiya leave, he thought, My infiltration is already very deep—more than several inches deep.
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