Mikoto Uchiha

That afternoon, in a secluded alley in the civilian district of northern Konohagakure. WwWCOM

"Taijutsu: Dual Blade Double Strike!"

Kunai flew. A flash of steel struck in an instant!

The fourteen-year-old ninja, codenamed Shuitai, had come from the Rain Ninja assassination squad's youth division. A kunai pierced his shoulder, and a katana slashed across his throat! He stared at Li Tong in disbelief as his weapon slipped from his hand. Clutching his blood-spurting neck with both hands, he fell to his knees!

Li Tong stood holding his bloodstained katana, watching him with an expressionless face.

Shuitai toppled to the ground. His body twitched twice, then lay still as blood spread beneath him!

Whoosh!

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

Li Tong casually raised a hand and stored all three cards in his game inventory!

This was the second Rain Assassin Li Tong had killed that day. Qifeng, the one he'd killed at noon, had been a Chunin, while Shuitai was only a Genin with 6 reputation. Killing him had been easy!

Looking at the corpse, Li Tong pulled a piece of cotton cloth from his clothes and wiped the blood from his katana.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

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

"I'll leave him to you!" Li Tong snapped his fingers at Chen He, sheathed his clean katana, and turned toward the mouth of the alley.

Chen He's eyelid twitched. Li Tong killed people, and they cleaned up the bodies. They no longer looked like Anbu Jonin assigned to protect and monitor Li Tong. They looked more like servants doing his dirty work. But there was nothing they could do. They had to carry out White Fang's orders!

Li Tong roamed the streets and alleys of Konoha, back and forth, ignoring all the gossip as he focused on his search!

He was looking for assassins or spies from Amegakure!

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

Another Genin, with a reputation of 766 points!

Konoha, in the Land of Fire, was the most powerful ninja village in the Shinobi World. It had more than fourteen thousand professional ninja and nearly one hundred and fifty thousand ordinary residents, a ratio of roughly ten to one.

Foreign merchants, traveling samurai and wandering ninja, vendors from other towns in the Land of Fire, laborers seeking work, tourists... It was these outsiders who let spies from various countries and factions blend in and enter Konoha to gather intelligence.

Especially now, with the Second Shinobi World War on the verge of breaking out, the great ninja powers of the Shinobi World were frequently spying on one another and gathering intelligence.

To Konoha, they were a cancer!

But to Li Tong, they were "treasures"!

Four thirty in the afternoon!

In the woods near the Medical Department building in western Konohagakure, Li Tong killed another spy from Amegakure. It was another Genin, with a reputation of 779 points!

This one was a spy, not an assassin. Li Tong could easily tell the difference from the information displayed about their identities.

Assassins came to kill, while spies came to gather intelligence. Spies didn't need to be especially strong. They needed keen observational skills and the ability to analyze information.

For example, seeing members of the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan clash in the street was useful intelligence. Once an enemy country learned that the rift between the Hyuga and Uchiha was deepening, it could try to drive a wedge between them and worsen Konoha's internal strife.

Or it could simply send an assassin to kill a member of the Hyuga Clan and frame the Uchiha Clan, setting off a major incident!

Killing spies was extremely beneficial to Konoha. Setting aside the cards, Li Tong truly did want to prove himself. Konoha was a powerful ally, and it was worth getting close to!

Dusk had fallen.

Li Tong returned to the bustling streets, crowded with passersby. Since noon, he had killed four spies or assassins from Amegakure. In fact, he had spotted more than that, including spies from other ninja villages and people with Jonin-level reputations.

But those targets were difficult to deal with. He couldn't indiscriminately kill the former, or he wouldn't be able to explain how he'd identified them. As for the latter, he couldn't beat them.

The four kills had earned him eleven cards. Li Tong had put them away without checking what they were.

Jiangchuan Flavor Restaurant.

Li Tong ordered a bowl of noodles and sat by the window to eat. Gossip about him was spreading through Konoha, growing louder by the hour. The restaurant's dining hall was no exception, but Li Tong ignored it.

"Hey! I heard you harassed Kushina Uzumaki. Is that true?" someone suddenly asked, sitting down across from Li Tong as if they were old friends. It was a clear, bright female voice.

"Hm?" Li Tong paused mid-bite and looked up.

She was a girl around eleven or twelve, about Li Tong's age, with fair skin, long black hair, and striking looks. A Forehead Protector rested on her brow. She was already a Konoha ninja, not a student at the Ninja Academy.

What stood out was her Sharingan! It had a Single Tomoe!

A Uchiha Clan ninja!

--

Name: Mikoto Uchiha

Identity: Granddaughter of the Uchiha Clan's Great Elder in Konohagakure, Land of Fire; member of the Konoha Military Police Force's Reconnaissance Unit

Reputation: 85

Relationship: Neutral

--

It was Mikoto Uchiha, the wife of Fugaku Uchiha in the original story and the mother of Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. She would die alongside Fugaku in the Uchiha Clan massacre in Konoha Year 55.

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

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Mikoto Uchiha." Mikoto smiled and held out her fair, delicate hand to Lu Han.

Li Tong glanced at her outstretched hand, then looked at Mikoto's face. "What do you want?"

A flicker of awkwardness crossed Mikoto's face, but she naturally withdrew her hand, tucked her hair behind her ear, then rested her elbows on the table and leaned toward Li Tong. Lowering her voice, she asked with a bright smile, "I'm inviting you to join the Uchiha Clan. Come with me!"

This again!

He'd met Fugaku Uchiha at noon, and Fugaku had wanted the same thing. Now Mikoto Uchiha was here too.

Li Tong didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked Mikoto up and down.

There was something strange about her.

Magicians understood psychology—in fact, they could be experts at it—because magic was all about deception. In his previous life, Li Tong had been a world-class master magician. He knew how to use psychology to guide an audience's attention and perceptions. And that meant he was good at reading people, too.

Mikoto Uchiha was nervous!

Li Tong could tell. Her air of easy familiarity, the way she acted relaxed and carefree, even her smile—all of it might have been an act.

Someone had probably ordered her to do this. She hadn't volunteered.

How interesting!

The Uchiha Clan had really gone to some trouble to recruit him.

Li Tong now strongly suspected they'd sent Mikoto because word had spread that he'd harassed Kushina, so they'd chosen a female ninja to approach him!

After all, Mikoto Uchiha shouldn't have had any special relationship with Fugaku Uchiha yet. She was only twelve.

"I can join your Uchiha Clan. I can help you deal with the Hyuga Clan, and I can testify against them." Lu Han pushed his bowl and chopsticks aside, leaned toward Mikoto as she had, and put on a bright smile. Lowering his voice, he added, "But I have one condition!"

The table wasn't wide, and they were sitting close, face-to-face.

Li Tong could already smell Mikoto Uchiha's fragrance.

Mikoto's smile stiffened a little. She just wasn't used to smiling like that, but she persisted and asked with a bright smile, "What condition?"

Li Tong smiled back. "Marry me!"