With Uchiha Shisui accompanying him, Uzumaki Kuming slowly walked into Konoha.
He didn't rush to reunite with Naruto or seek out the people he knew. He simply walked along the village streets, taking in how Konoha had changed.
"Four years. It's like I went away to college and came home to find I couldn't recognize my hometown anymore."
Looking at the bustling streets, Uzumaki Kuming briefly lost himself in thought. Uchiha Shisui seemed to sense what was going through his mind and silently followed behind him without a word.
As the two entered through Konoha Gate, the guards on either side only wondered why Shisui had brought a beggar with him. They wisely decided not to ask.
Konoha had changed enormously over the past few years. Although Uzumaki Kuming had been gravely injured and fallen unconscious, Minato Namikaze, who had succeeded him as Fifth Hokage, had clearly carried on his political legacy. The village had developed just as Kuming had planned. Hiruzen Sarutobi had probably considered this when he chose Minato Namikaze as Hokage.
"Shisui, what's Itachi doing? Why can't I sense his Chakra?"
As soon as Uzumaki Kuming entered the village, he activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. Familiar Chakra signatures appeared in his field of perception. Kushina seemed to be busy at the hospital, while Minato Namikaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the others seemed to be receiving guests at the Hokage Building. Kuming sensed several extremely unfamiliar Chakra signatures there.
Uchiha Fugaku was patrolling a street somewhere. Hyuga Hiashi was at home, apparently looking after his child. Orochimaru was tinkering with something in his laboratory, while Jiraiya was peeping at the bathhouse.
These familiar people were still in the village, but Kuming couldn't sense Itachi's Chakra.
"Itachi? He's a Jonin in the village now. He led a team