Visiting Mito Uzumaki

Early the next morning, after getting himself properly rested and refreshed.

At the Great Elder's home.

Uchiha Yato had already arrived at the Great Elder's residence.

Uchiha Yato said directly, "I've investigated the cause of Aunt Michiko's death."

The Great Elder had initially assumed that Uchiha Yato had come to see Shisui.

When he had left yesterday, Uchiha Yato had sought out the Great Elder and explained that he hoped the old man would look after Shisui for a while so he could investigate Aunt Michiko's death and what had happened.

He had not expected the matter to be uncovered in merely one night.

The Great Elder asked excitedly, "Who?"

"Who did it? Someone from the village, or a spy from another country?"

Uchiha Yato did not beat around the bush. "The Hokage's advisor—Danzo Shimura."

Learning that the matter involved Konoha's higher-ups somewhat disheartened the peace-loving Great Elder.

But Uchiha Yato gave him no time to wallow in despair.

He laid out his plan.

"First, I need Aunt Michiko to be buried. I only asked you for her body before because I needed evidence and confirmation of the murderer."

The Great Elder had never doubted Uchiha Yato's intentions, so he had agreed when Yato took Michiko's body away.

The Great Elder said, "No problem. You don't need to concern yourself with Michiko's affairs from now on."

"Surely that isn't all there is to your plan, with the way you troublemakers think."

Uchiha Yato smiled. "Of course not. But first, I need to apologize to you."

As he spoke, Uchiha Yato dropped to his knees and lowered his head. "There's no way to take revenge on Danzo Shimura immediately. After all, we have the entire clan behind us."

Hearing that, the Great Elder realized that this foolish boy before him had grown up.

From the standpoint of personal feelings, Uchiha Yato was already strong enough to kill Danzo Shimura. The Mangekyo Sharingan was no mere decoration.

But from the clan's perspective, things were far more complicated. This was not merely a matter of the clan—it was also a test between the Hokage and the clan.

The Great Elder joked, "This old man can live for at least another decade or so. When the time comes, Danzo Shimura can simply be buried with me."

He glanced at Uchiha Yato and added, "As for you, you little troublemaker, stop tormenting these old bones of mine."

People said Uchiha Yato was all alone, but wasn't the Great Elder the same?

If not for Yato and Shisui, the Great Elder might have gone to Danzo Shimura to fight him to the death already.

Uchiha Yato continued, "I need the clan's cooperation."

The Great Elder became interested upon hearing that.

"How should we cooperate?"

"Danzo Shimura's obsession is becoming Hokage. I'll make that his eternal dream."

Once he understood Yato's intentions, the Great Elder did not ask further questions. He merely nodded slightly in agreement.

Then he said, "Go ahead and do what you need to do. I'll speak with the clan head."

After chatting briefly with the Great Elder, Yato cast a glance at Shisui, who was still swaddled in his blankets, and left the Great Elder's home.

Within the Senju Clan territory.

Mito Uzumaki and Uchiha Yato sat facing one another, conversing.

After leaving the Great Elder's home, Uchiha Yato had gone straight to visit Mito Uzumaki.

Mito Uzumaki said, "Boy, whose hand are you asking for this time?"

After dealing with Uchiha Yato before, Mito Uzumaki had gotten a clear read on him. He could take a joke, and he could take being teased.

Uchiha Yato said, "Lady Mito, stop teasing me. I came to confirm something with you this time."

Mito Uzumaki was rather surprised. Anything important enough for Uchiha Yato to come to her about could not be a trivial matter.

"Oh?"

"Go on, then. Let me hear it."

Uchiha Yato said directly, "Uchiha Michiko is dead."

"Her Sharingan were taken."

"Danzo Shimura was the murderer. I have evidence against him."

"I want to know your stance on this matter."

Upon hearing Uchiha Yato's words, the composed Mito Uzumaki instantly turned serious.

Uchiha Yato's father had been a direct descendant of the Senju Clan.

If Uchiha Yato's father had not insisted on marrying Yato's mother and marrying into the Uchiha Clan, Yato should have been called Senju Yato now.

That was also one of the reasons why the hot-tempered Tsunade had ultimately let the matter end so hastily.

When Uchiha Yato's parents had died in battle, Mito Uzumaki, as the wife of the Senju Clan head, had personally come to ask about Yato's guardianship.

The one who had confronted her at the time was Uchiha Michiko, who had said that she and her husband would take good care of Yato.

After briefly recalling the past and returning to the present matter, Mito Uzumaki sighed.

"I never expected that the next news I heard of her would be from you, telling me that she had died."

"Michiko argued with me back then. Otherwise, you would be growing up in this old woman's care now."

Uchiha Yato said, "Then I'd be incredibly lucky. Otherwise, I'd be afraid of angering you to death, old lady."

"And when Lady Tsunade came looking for trouble with me, no one would be left to plead my case."

What had been a rather sad matter had its mournful atmosphere completely ruined by Uchiha Yato's few remarks.

The corner of Mito Uzumaki's eye twitched.

Good grief. When this boy says he'd be lucky, he means I'd be the lucky one, since otherwise I might not have lived until now.

After steadying her emotions, Mito Uzumaki said, "So you want me to intervene and have Danzo Shimura punished?"

Uchiha Yato said, "No. I hope you will stay out of this matter. Whatever the final outcome is, it will have nothing to do with you. Can you promise me that?"

They spoke a little more about other matters before Mito Uzumaki finally said, "Then what payment are you offering me?"

"You can't expect this old woman to play along with you for nothing, can you?"

Uchiha Yato took a light sip of tea before saying, "I'll investigate the cause of Nawaki's death for you."

Mito Uzumaki said nothing. After the two finished the tea on the table, Yato left directly without the slightest hesitation.

As Uchiha Yato departed, another figure soon left the Senju Clan territory and headed toward Konoha Forest.

Overall, the conversation had gone ideally. The only concern had been that Mito Uzumaki might blindly try to protect Konoha's higher-ups.

Mito Uzumaki's tacit approval also meant that she cared deeply about her grandson's death.

It was rather laughable when one thought about it. Nawaki, practically the crown prince of the Senju Clan, had died because of a small explosive tag, leading Tsunade to leave the village in the end.

Mito Uzumaki had been more or less uncomfortable about it all along. Since Uchiha Yato had given her the opportunity, she might as well go with the flow.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Yato's thoughts spun rapidly as he walked away.

"How can I fleece Lord Danzo a little more?"

The emotional points Yato's system required were best gained from characters who appeared frequently in the story.

No matter how intense the emotions of civilians or nameless extras who had never appeared were, they would not provide emotional points.

Yato had experimented with this before. Unseen extras and ninja with very little screen time provided very few emotional points, if any at all.

When Tsunade had beaten him up before, that single incident had given him a full 2,000 emotional points.

"So I still need to figure out how to fleece these original characters."

Inside the Root base.

Danzo sat in the seat of Root's leader, listening as his subordinates reported on the current movements of the various countries.

Suddenly, a figure rushed in from outside and said, "Uchiha Yato visited Lady Mito Uzumaki's home today."

Danzo Shimura showed some interest at the report.

"How long did he stay?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Do you know what they discussed?"

"I do not. Lady Mito Uzumaki is the village's finest sensory ninja. This subordinate did not dare approach and only saw Uchiha Yato emerge from outside the Senju Clan territory."

Danzo Shimura was fairly satisfied with his subordinate's answer.

Mito Uzumaki was from the Uzumaki Clan, and her sensory abilities were exceptionally powerful. Not approaching had been the correct decision.

After briefly considering it, Danzo believed there were only two possibilities.

First, Uchiha Yato was once again setting his sights on Tsunade and hoping for a marriage alliance between her and the Uchiha Clan.

Second, Uchiha Yato had discovered the cause of Uchiha Michiko's death and sought Mito Uzumaki's help.

Danzo Shimura dismissed both the Root ninja before him and the Root ninja who had reported earlier.

Then he suddenly asked, "Which possibility do you think is more likely?"

"Ryoma."