Journey to the Land of Lightning · The End!

"Knock on him, he's here now..."

In the dense forest not far from the burrow, Cook felt the weasel's scrutinizing gaze, and his four short legs began to tremble uncontrollably again.

Itachi stared calmly at the black cat in front of him, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

When it was just a tiny kitten, no bigger than a palm, I and Shisui secretly fed it under the eaves of Brother Kou's house.

He naturally knew a little about Cook.

Although Cook has been spoiled and has many bad habits, he is definitely not the type to be so nervous as to be unable to say a word in a situation like this.

It's obvious that it's hiding something.

And the thing that makes it so desperately try to hide it... is most likely related to knocking!

An ominous premonition uncontrollably surfaced in Itachi's heart:

"Could it be... that Kou has encountered danger?"

He shook his head, then denied it:

"No, it shouldn't be."

"Putting aside the fact that there were no sounds of fighting nearby, if Cook had really encountered danger, he would not have acted as relaxed as he did just now when he bumped into him."

Its unusual nature only became apparent after I inquired about Kou's whereabouts, rather than existing from the very beginning of our meeting.

"Knock now... it should still be safe!"

After reaching this conclusion, Itachi's gaze did not relax; instead, it became even more somber.

"If Kokoro had already escaped unharmed from the Raikage, yet neither chose to immediately leave the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range nor continued to pursue Orochimaru..."

What exactly does he want to do by staying here?

Could it be that...?

Upon realizing a possibility, Itachi's pupils suddenly contracted.

Koko is very likely carrying out a secret mission assigned to him by Madara!

Only in this way can we explain why Cook showed such strong resistance to Kou Mingming's questioning, even though Kou Mingming was perfectly fine.

It's covering for the knocking!

Cook was here just now, most likely keeping watch for Kou, or stalling him if necessary, to buy Kou the time needed to complete the task!

Thinking of this, Itachi's heart sank.

He looked at the black cat in front of him, a cold glint in his eyes.

If the mission that Koko is currently carrying out is indeed related to that Masked Man who claims to be Uchiha Madara,

Therefore, no matter what, I must find out where Kou Shi is right now!

As Itachi thought to himself, three jet-black Tomo silently appeared in his eyes, slowly rotating on his scarlet irises.

To be honest, he didn't want to hurt Cook.

However, in this situation, applying a mild hypnotic Genjutsu using the Sharingan might be the fastest and gentlest method.

Cook noticed the red glow in Itachi's eyes, realized what was happening, and abruptly closed his golden vertical pupils, preparing to dispel the Summoning Technique as quickly as possible.

However, just as the Mitsudomoe were about to appear in Itachi's eyes, a calm voice slowly sounded from behind him:

"Weasel, what are you planning to do to my Hakimi?!"

Itachi and Cook both turned their heads in the direction from which the sound came.

Cook's tightly closed eyes snapped open, and a tall, slender black figure was reflected in his golden vertical pupils.

The figure emerged unhurriedly from the depths of the dense forest, a half-smile playing on his handsome face, his gaze fixed coldly on Itachi opposite him.

"Oh my god, oh my god, you've finally come, meow! I've been waiting for you for so long!!"

The moment Cook saw Knock, its four paws kicked wildly, and it made a sharp turn to bypass the weasel, then pounced on Knock with an astonishing burst of power that belied its small size!

With a blank expression, Kou reached out and grabbed the black cat's head that was hurtling towards him.

He brought Cook up in front of him, looked at its little Kun Kun, nodded in satisfaction, and casually stuffed the still struggling black cat into his clothes.

"Hmm, not bad, you didn't pee your pants this time, that's progress!"

Cook poked half its furry head out from his collar, gripping his collar tightly with its two front paws, while letting out a confident hiss in the direction of the weasel.

"Ha!!" (Same sound effect as in Deathly Hallows)

He stroked the soft fur that had stood up on Cook's back, raised his eyes, and turned his gaze toward Itachi.

The moment their eyes met, a hint of surprise flashed in Itachi's usually calm eyes.

He could sense that Kou's gaze seemed different from before...

What exactly did he go through during the short time they were apart?

"Oi, you were just trying to use Genjutsu on my Hakimi, weren't you!"

Itachi snapped out of his daze, met Koko's unfriendly gaze, and nodded calmly.

"That's right. I noticed Cook wasn't acting right and thought something might have happened to you nearby, so I wanted to use Genjutsu to find out about you from him."

He looked into those dark eyes that were still coldly scrutinizing him, and added calmly:

"It seems you're alright now."

"Then I can rest assured."

Listening to Itachi's shameless lies without batting an eye, I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

He tucked the trembling black cat in his arms even deeper, and said in a sarcastic tone:

Is it possible that Cook is acting strangely because he's been frightened by some murderer?

There's always been a rumor in the Ninja World that cats are psychic, right? I think it saw the spirits of those people around you who came to take your life, and it's so scared it can't even speak properly."

He pulled Cook out of his arms and asked in an extremely irritating tone:

"Right, Cook?"

"Yes, absolutely right!!"

Cook, curled up in Kou's arms, frantically nodded the round cat's head.

Seeing that Koko had returned to his usual sharp-tongued manner, the faint worry in Itachi's heart finally dissipated silently.

Although he still had doubts about where Kou had gone, now was clearly not the time to ask.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the direction he had just instructed Orochimaru to retreat, silently calculating the time in his mind.

After confirming that Orochimaru had indeed safely escaped, Kotori's gaze sharpened, and he casually waved at Itachi:

"Let's go! Although I've temporarily sent those guys from Kumogakure away, they'll definitely send people to seal off this area soon."

"By then, leaving won't be as easy as it is now."

As he spoke, Kou turned around, preparing to use his Body Flicker Technique to leave.

But just as he was about to leave, as if suddenly remembering something, he turned back and added confidently:

"Oh, right! You'll be the one to report the details of this mission to Pain."

I have some very important training to do next, I don't have time!

Without waiting for Itachi's response, Kou Lian transformed into a sharp bolt of lightning and vanished from the spot the instant his words fell.

Only a few wisps of blue lightning slowly dissipated, and a leaf, stirred up by the airflow of his Body Flicker Technique, drifted gently to Itachi's feet.

Itachi stood still, his gaze calmly fixed on the direction where Kouchi had disappeared.

"Is it... something very important, spiritual practice?"

He pondered the words left behind by the kowtow repeatedly in his mind, lost in thought for a long time, but still couldn't deduce anything from them.

Itachi shook his head, suppressing his doubts that couldn't be confirmed for the time being, and then leaped off in the direction Koko had left...

The plan to capture Orochimaru, a defector from the Akatsuki, in the Land of Lightning ultimately ended in failure.

It wasn't until a week after the mission was over and he had reported everything to Pain that Itachi finally understood what Koku had meant by "important training"...

A week later, Kumogakure officially launched its massive expansion plan— the Ninja World Super Trend Doujin Association— to establish branches in major cities throughout the Ninja World, and simultaneously dropped a bombshell on the entire Ninja World—

The First person in charge of the best-selling Ninja World book "Icha Icha Paradise", a legend in the illustration world, and the undisputed founder of the adult Ninja World manga industry, the true identity of Yuji Itadori Teacher none other than Konoha missing-nin, Akatsuki member, Black Lightning - Uchiha Kuro!

This news spread throughout the entire Ninja World at an almost explosive speed in a very short period of time.

In taverns and teahouses in major cities around the world, this topic almost always dominates casual conversations after meals.

Even Kirigakure, Kirigakure that was isolated from the mainland and nestled deep in the waters of the Land of Water, could not completely escape the storm of public opinion that swept across the entire Ninja World.

Mist Village, Mizukage Aide the Office

He sat hunched over his desk, glanced at Mei Terumi Terumi's ashen face, then looked with utter despair at the intelligence briefing spread out on the table, which featured the cover of the first edition of "Icha Icha Paradise" alongside the announcement of the expansion of the Notebook Association, and remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, he raised his hand and slowly covered his face.

"Hey, you damned Ni-ge... you just wait and see!"

This debt... I'm not finished with you!!!