Mikoto Uchiha

In the afternoon, in a secluded alley within the civilian district on the north side of Konohagakure.

"Taijutsu: Dual Blade Double Strike!"

Kunai flew like arrows, and the blade flashed in an instant!

The fourteen-year-old ninja codenamed "Shuitai," who hailed from the Amegakure assassination tactical youth squad, felt a kunai pierce his shoulder just as a katana slashed across his throat! He looked ahead in disbelief, his weapons slipping from his grasp as he clutched his spurting neck and collapsed to his knees.

Li Tong stood over him, holding his blood-stained katana with an expressionless face.

Shuitai slumped forward, his body shuddering twice before he breathed his last, blood pooling beneath him.

Whoosh!

A flash of light erupted, and three cards flew out from Shuitai's corpse.

Li Tong feigned a casual wave of his hand, sweeping the three cards into his game inventory.

This was the second Amegakure assassin Li Tong had killed today. The one from noon, Qifeng, was a Chunin, but this Shuitai was merely a Genin worth 6 Reputation points; killing him had been easy for Li Tong.

Glancing at the corpse, Li Tong pulled a cotton cloth from his robes and wiped the blood from his katana.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four whirlwinds appeared around him, and Chen He and three other Anbu Jonin materialized.

"He's yours," Li Tong said with a snap of his fingers at Chen He, sheathing his clean blade and turning to walk toward the alley entrance.

Chen He's eyelid twitched. Li Tong killed, and they cleaned up the mess. They didn't look like Anbu Jonin assigned to protect and monitor Li Tong at all; they looked more like servants doing his dirty work. But there was no help for it—they had to follow the orders of White Fang.

Li Tong wandered through the streets and alleys of Konoha, back and forth, turning a deaf ear to the gossip and focusing entirely on his search.

He was hunting for assassins or spies from Amegakure.

At three in the afternoon, in front of an abandoned warehouse hidden in the woods in the south-central part of Konoha, Li Tong killed his third target.

Another Genin, worth 766 Reputation points!

As the most powerful ninja village in the shinobi world, Konohagakure in the Land of Fire housed over fourteen thousand professional ninjas and nearly one hundred and fifty thousand ordinary residents, a ratio of roughly ten to one.

Foreign merchants, passing samurai, wandering ninjas, peddlers from other villages in the Land of Fire, laborers seeking work, and tourists—it was precisely this influx of outsiders that allowed spies from various nations and factions to hide in plain sight and gather intelligence.

Especially now, with the Second Shinobi World War looming, intelligence gathering and mutual reconnaissance between the great ninja powers had become extremely frequent.

For Konoha, this was naturally a malignant tumor.

But for Li Tong, they were all "treasures."

Four-thirty in the afternoon!

In the woods near the Medical Department building in the west of Konohagakure, Li Tong killed another spy from Amegakure. It was still a Genin, worth 779 Reputation points.

These were spies, not assassins; Li Tong could clearly distinguish them through the identity information displayed.

Assassins came with the intent to kill, while spies came to gather intelligence. Spies didn't need great strength; they required keen observation and analytical skills.

For instance, seeing a conflict between the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan on the street was a piece of useful intelligence. Once an enemy nation obtained such information and learned that the friction between the two clans was deepening, they could employ schemes to sow discord and exacerbate internal conflict within Konoha.

Or, they could simply send an assassin to kill a member of the Hyuga Clan, frame the Uchiha Clan, and trigger a major incident.

Li Tong killing these spies was highly beneficial to Konoha. Setting aside the issue of the cards, Li Tong did have the intention of proving himself; Konoha was a massive pillar of support, and he intended to cling to it.

Dusk had fallen.

Li Tong returned to the bustling, crowded commercial district. From noon until now, he had killed four spies or assassins from Amegakure. In truth, he had discovered more than just these—there were spies from other villages, and even some with the strength of Jonin.

However, those were difficult to target. He couldn't kill indiscriminately, or he wouldn't be able to explain how he identified his targets, and he simply couldn't defeat the Jonin-level ones.

He had killed four people and obtained eleven cards in total. Li Tong tucked them away, not yet having checked what they were.

Jiangchuan Flavor Restaurant.

Li Tong ordered a bowl of noodles and sat by the window to eat. The gossip about him was intensifying throughout Konoha, and the restaurant lobby was no exception, but Li Tong remained indifferent.

"Hey! I heard you were acting like a hooligan toward Kushina Uzumaki. Is that true?" A person suddenly sat down opposite Li Tong and asked with practiced familiarity. It was a crisp, female voice.

"Hm?" Li Tong, buried in his noodles, paused and looked up.

It was a girl of about eleven or twelve, roughly his age, with fair skin, beautiful features, and long black hair. She wore a forehead protector, indicating she was already a Konoha ninja, not an Academy student.

What was noteworthy was that she possessed the Sharingan! A single tomoe!

An Uchiha Clan ninja!

Name: Mikoto Uchiha
Identity: Granddaughter of the Great Elder of the Uchiha Clan in Konohagakure, Land of Fire; member of the Konoha Military Police Force reconnaissance team
Reputation: 85
Relationship: Neutral

It was Mikoto Uchiha, the wife of Fugaku Uchiha in the original story, the mother of Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha, who would die alongside Fugaku Uchiha on the night of the Uchiha Clan massacre in the fifty-fifth year of Konoha.

"Do we know each other?" Li Tong asked with a deadpan expression.

"Allow me to introduce myself: Mikoto Uchiha." Mikoto Uchiha smiled and extended a fair, delicate hand toward Li Tong.

Li Tong glanced at the hand hanging in the air, then looked back at Mikoto Uchiha's face and asked, "Is there something you need?"

A flash of awkwardness crossed Mikoto Uchiha's face as she reached out to shake Li Tong's hand, but she retracted it naturally, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then rested her elbows on the table, leaned forward slightly toward Li Tong, and lowered her voice with a smile: "I'm inviting you to join our Uchiha Clan. Come with me!"

This again!

He had run into Fugaku Uchiha at noon, and Fugaku Uchiha had the same intention; now, Mikoto Uchiha had come as well.

Li Tong did not answer immediately, instead looking Mikoto Uchiha up and down.

He felt that Mikoto Uchiha was acting a bit strange.

Magicians all understand psychology, some even mastering it, because magic itself is about deception. As a world-class master magician in his past life, Li Tong possessed the ability to use psychology to guide the audience's attention and perception; conversely, he was also skilled at observing people.

Mikoto Uchiha was very nervous!

Li Tong could tell; the familiarity she displayed, her ease, and even that smile were likely all a facade.

It was likely that someone had ordered her to do this, rather than her coming of her own volition.

How interesting!

The Uchiha Clan really put some thought into recruiting people.

Li Tong now highly suspected that the reason Mikoto Uchiha had been sent was because the news of him acting like a hooligan toward Kushina had spread, so they had sent a female ninja!

Come to think of it, Mikoto Uchiha and Fugaku Uchiha shouldn't have any special relationship yet; after all, Mikoto was only twelve years old.

"I can go to your Uchiha Clan, I can help you deal with the Hyuga Clan, and I can even provide testimony." Li Tong pushed his bowl and chopsticks aside, leaned forward just like Mikoto Uchiha, put on a smiling expression, and lowered his voice: "But I have one condition!"

The table wasn't very wide, and the two were now very close, face to face.

Li Tong could already smell the fragrance on Mikoto Uchiha.

Mikoto's smile stiffened; she simply wasn't used to smiling like this, but she persisted and asked with a smile, "What condition!"

Li Tong smiled and said, "Marry me!"