Leaving Konoha a Memento

"Oh-ho-ho! Shikaku, keep drinking. Don't be so tense—relax a little!"

In an elegant yet luxurious room, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire held up his wine cup, repeatedly urging Nara Shikaku to drink with him.

"Lord Daimyo, perhaps we should take it easy. You only arrived in Konoha today, and the journey must have been tiring. You should get some rest. Lord Third will come to see you tomorrow, so there's no hurry to drink now."

Shikaku smiled as he held his wine cup, but never brought it to his lips.

The Third should have come today, actually. But he still had a stack of documents to deal with, and the Anbu had begun a new investigation of the Uchiha Compound. That was more important, and the Third had to oversee it personally. So he'd sent Shikaku in his place to receive the Daimyo and his party.

"Ah, we can talk about Hiruzen's business tomorrow. You're here today, so come on, drink up... You lot, don't stop! Keep dancing and playing!"

The Daimyo had already had quite a bit to drink. His face was red as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

If Shikaku hadn't been there, he might have joined the dancers himself.

Seeing how unconcerned the Daimyo was, Shikaku felt both relieved and troubled.

The Daimyo hadn't taken issue with the Hokage failing to greet him in person, which was certainly a relief. But at what cost? Konoha's resident strategist and Jonin Commander now had to accompany him personally. Shikaku should have been doing more important work, but instead he was... It wasn't that the Daimyo didn't matter, but Shikaku couldn't help feeling that his talents were being wasted.

"Lord Daimyo, it's getting late. Would you like to retire?"

"Retire? Why? There's plenty of time left. If you have something to do, go ahead. You don't need to worry about me. I'm not ready to rest!"

"Yes. Then please allow me to take my leave. There's still work to do in the village..."

"All right, all right, go on. Don't mind me!"

The Daimyo waved him away, his eyes fixed on the dancers nearby.

Shikaku shook his head, set down his wine cup, bowed, and got to his feet.

The Daimyo only glanced at him before turning his attention back to the dancers. Just as he grew more excited and was about to join them, the women suddenly began collapsing one after another. Within a few breaths, the Daimyo was the only one in the room still conscious.

The sight made every hair on his body stand on end. He was just about to shout for help when a figure silently appeared before him.

"You are..."

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire widened his eyes, trying to make out the stranger's face. All he saw was a pair of red eyes.

"The Sharingan..."

"That's right."

Uchiha Arashi smiled and nodded. Without another word, he activated Kotoamatsukami and implanted a will into the Daimyo's mind.

The Daimyo stood there in a daze. It took him a moment to come to his senses.

"So it's you. Didn't I tell you to stay in the Capital of Fire? Why did you follow me here?"

"I have something important to discuss with you, Daimyo."

"Then hurry up and say it. Don't interrupt my drinking."

"I want to open a bookstore in Konoha and promote my novels throughout the country. I need your support."

"That's a small matter. Just talk to the people under me!"

"Of course, but I need a document with your personal signature."

"What a hassle. Do you have paper and a pen?"

"I do."

Uchiha Arashi immediately handed him the paper and pen he'd prepared.

The Daimyo picked up the pen and swiftly wrote a document. With it, Uchiha Arashi could deal directly with the minister responsible for publishing in the Land of Fire.

"Anything else?"

"No. Please, carry on drinking."

Uchiha Arashi smiled with satisfaction, took half a step back, and vanished in a twist of space.

The dancers came to, then continued as if nothing had happened. The Daimyo himself didn't think anything unusual had occurred. The entire plan had been carried out without a sound.

Meanwhile, after returning to the Kamui Dimension, Uchiha Arashi rubbed his eyes.

"It's considerably stronger than when Kakashi uses it, but the strain is still intense. I need to get my hands on Hashirama Cells as soon as possible."

There was no doubt that two Mangekyo were stronger than one, since his ocular power had doubled. But the cost had grown as well. After using Kamui twice, he'd already lost a fifth of his chakra.

Fortunately, he had Uchiha blood. Otherwise, he might not have been able to use Kamui at all. Now he could not only use it, but also open the dimension and travel through it. That was a huge improvement.

Unfortunately, his two Mangekyo were Kamui and Kotoamatsukami. They couldn't work in tandem, and he couldn't awaken Susanoo. That was a real shame.

"I still have enough chakra. Next, I'll leave Konoha a little memento."

After resting for a moment, Uchiha Arashi used Kamui again and appeared atop Kage Rock.

The Hokage Building stood before him.

"Now, let's begin!"

Uchiha Arashi grinned. Fixing his eyes on the top floor of the Hokage Building, he began to unleash his chakra and ocular power.

Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's office.

"The Sharingan was stolen?"

Seeing the wounded Kakashi, Hiruzen immediately stood and walked over to examine him closely.

"Yes. There were two Mangekyo in the Uchiha Compound... I was controlled by a jutsu that might have been genjutsu or a Space-Time Ninjutsu, then affected by a second genjutsu... They were well prepared. I couldn't fight back."

Kakashi had recovered somewhat, but he was still in terrible shape.

"There were actually two Mangekyo... That's information we've never had before. Kakashi, can you identify the attackers?"

"I can't, Lord Third. They came too quickly and gave me no time to react. And we can't rule out the possibility that they used the Transformation Technique..."

"That's a problem."

Hiruzen stroked his chin.

Konoha still had two Mangekyo. That completely upended his original plan. Just thinking about two ticking time bombs buried within the village made his back feel cold.

"Wait. Does anything seem wrong to you?"

As Hiruzen pondered, he suddenly noticed that the figure before him seemed to be warping.

Kakashi and the Purple-haired Anbu hadn't yet reacted.

Hiruzen's expression grew more and more grave. It wasn't just the figure before him—the entire area around them was warping.

The distortion accelerated. In just a few seconds, the whole world seemed to twist out of shape.

"Something's wrong! It's a Space-Time Ninjutsu! Run!"

He suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed Kakashi, and shouted.

The three of them crashed through the window and leaped outside. When they looked back, a gigantic vortex had engulfed the entire top floor of the Hokage Building.