After Qiu Shan Uchiha stored the last batch of supplies in his space, he nodded in satisfaction. Having a space of his own made everything much easier than before. Sealing scrolls could barely hold anything, and the scrolls themselves took up so much room. They were hardly practical.
And so, Qiu Shan Uchiha made his way toward the Land of Whirlpools, stopping along the way to buy supplies and begin building a place to live inside his Takamagahara space. He could hardly sleep out in the wilderness every time he rested in there.
Qiu Shan Uchiha planned to build his house on a relatively high spot on the island, where he could enjoy a view of the entire island from inside.
Qiu Shan Uchiha did not have particularly high standards for the house. He would make do for now, then, once he learned Hashirama Senju's or Yamato's Wood Release, he could get everything done in one go with a "Three-Bedroom, One-Living-Room Jutsu" or a "Grand Country Villa Jutsu."
Since Qiu Shan Uchiha had absolutely no experience in this area, he first used Earth Release to firm up and level the ground at his chosen site. Then he hired a team of experienced professionals who did this for a living, offering generous pay, and brought them straight into his space to handle the work. He left a shadow clone to supervise them, mainly to keep them from wandering around. (He had used genjutsu when bringing them in. With his Mangekyō Sharingan, deceiving ordinary people who were not even Shinobi was child's play.)
While Qiu Shan Uchiha threw himself into his little home-building project, Shisui Uchiha also began putting their agreed-upon plan into action.
Shisui Uchiha was clever about it. Rather than revealing his Mangekyō Sharingan too obviously, he took on several difficult missions and only used it at particularly challenging moments, such as when facing a troublesome enemy or a trap laid in advance. Once he was done, he immediately deactivated it, never letting it linger.
But no secret stayed hidden forever, especially when he was deliberately letting it slip. Although Shisui Uchiha was careful every time he used it, how many ninja who had survived years of hardship in the shinobi world were fools?
After Shisui Uchiha completed several difficult missions, word of the unusual change in his Sharingan inevitably spread. It was only a matter of time before Danzo learned of it. Uchiha Fugaku's role was to always react a step too late, failing to effectively stop the news from spreading.
While events in Konoha slowly gathered momentum, Qiu Shan Uchiha finally reached the coast after more than a week of traveling east, stopping along the way as though he were on vacation. The construction crew working inside his space had finally finished the day before, and he had used his space mark to send them back to their hometown.
The crew certainly lived up to their professional reputation. Although they had only spent a week on it, the house was quite well built. It was made entirely of wood, with the whole structure raised off the ground to keep out damp and insects. The materials were solid, and while it was not especially elegant, its quality was excellent. A family could live there for twenty or thirty years without any trouble.
Qiu Shan Uchiha was very pleased with their work. Not only did he pay their wages in full, but he also gave them a red envelope as a bonus. Of course, he also blurred their memories with genjutsu at the end to prevent any future trouble.
According to the intelligence, Kojiro Shimamura, a Missing-nin from Konoha, was hiding in a fishing village on the coast, presumably ready to put out to sea at any moment to escape the village's pursuit.
Qiu Shan Uchiha's mission was to kill the Missing-nin Kojiro Shimamura on the spot, though he could also arrest him and bring him back to the village for life imprisonment. Naturally, Qiu Shan Uchiha chose to kill him on the spot. It was more convenient and would not hold up his own business.
Qiu Shan Uchiha stopped near the small fishing village. To be cautious, he would, of course, send a shadow clone ahead to test the waters.
The fishing village had very few residents to begin with, so Qiu Shan Uchiha did not even need to ask around. He only had to look at their skin. Fishermen spent years exposed to direct sunlight at sea, leaving their skin noticeably different from that of ordinary people. There was also the cracking of their palms and how well they cared for their hands. Since Shinobi relied mainly on forming hand seals with their fingers to perform ninjutsu, they usually took care of their hands. Ordinary fishermen, on the other hand, were constantly exposed to seawater, which also left their hands very different from those of other people.
Although Kojiro Shimamura had applied makeup to disguise himself and dressed like a fisherman, those small details alone allowed Qiu Shan Uchiha to distinguish him from the ordinary fishermen.
The appearance of a stranger like Qiu Shan Uchiha likewise put Kojiro Shimamura on alert, especially since Qiu Shan Uchiha had made no attempt to hide his identity as a Konoha Shinobi and wore his forehead protector openly on his forehead.
Qiu Shan Uchiha had no intention of hiding it, either. At a time like this, any stranger who appeared, Shinobi or otherwise, would put the Missing-nin Kojiro Shimamura on high alert. Besides, it was his shadow clone that had entered the village. Even if there were traps, they would pose no threat to him.
Qiu Shan Uchiha's confidence came from his skill. With his current strength, he ranked among the best not just in Konoha, but in the entire shinobi world. Traps were nothing to him. Even if several Kage-level fighters ganged up on him, he could still escape unscathed.
When Qiu Shan Uchiha's shadow clone fixed his gaze on Kojiro Shimamura, who was pretending to mend a fishing net by the shore, Kojiro Shimamura's body went rigid. Unable to keep up the act, he dropped the net and ran straight into the nearby woods. Qiu Shan Uchiha's shadow clone immediately activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and followed close behind.
By the time the shadow clone reached the woods, Kojiro Shimamura had stopped concealing his identity. He had put on a Jōnin flak jacket and strapped a ninja tool pouch to his waist. When he saw Qiu Shan Uchiha's shadow clone follow him into the woods, he could no longer contain himself and shouted, on the verge of breaking down:
"You still found me! Why? Why? I've already hidden all the way out here! Why can't you let me live?" Kojiro Shimamura's eyes were bloodshot, and he gripped a kunai tightly. In his agitation, the veins in his neck bulged.
"Why did you have to come, huh? Just because he's from a Shinobi clan? Don't you know? He provoked me first! He provoked me first! I was his teacher! Didn't he know he should honor his teacher and show me some respect?"
Qiu Shan Uchiha had yet to say a single word, but Kojiro Shimamura seemed to have finally found someone to pour his grievances out to. Agitated, he hurled his accusations as though venting everything at once. By the end, the rims of his eyes had begun to redden.
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