Wild thoughts

As Uzuki Yugao listened to Uchiha Sora, she felt as though the person before her had become a complete stranger.

"Sora! You're already so powerful. You can conquer an entire small nation, and even Lord Hokage has to be wary of you. Why are you still so obsessed with pursuing power?" Uzuki Yugao simply couldn't understand. There was nothing wrong with pursuing power; everyone wanted it. But abandoning the village and his comrades for it? She couldn't accept this version of Sora.

Uchiha Sora sighed softly. Gazing into Uzuki Yugao's reddened eyes, he gently raised a hand and brushed her smooth cheek. "Yugao, it seems even you can't understand me."

"I..." Conflict flickered in Uzuki Yugao's eyes. Looking at Uchiha Sora's face so close to hers, she couldn't help blushing.

A voice seemed to call out inside her: Say yes! Say yes! Then you can be together! Forget about Konoha! Don't go back! Just follow him forever and stay by his side!

But Uzuki Yugao immediately shook her head, forcing herself to regain her senses. No! I can't let Sora keep going down the wrong path! His pursuit of power will only leave him surrounded by enemies. I have to stop him and bring him back to Konoha!

Yet as she looked at Uchiha Sora's young, handsome face and resolute eyes, a sense of helplessness welled up inside her.

How can I get Sora to change his mind?

By then, Uchiha Sora had withdrawn his hand. A trace of regret crossed his face as he said, "Yugao, let's talk about why you came to see me. You're here on a mission from Konoha, aren't you?"

Uzuki Yugao sighed, took an encrypted scroll from inside her clothes, and handed it to Uchiha Sora. "Lord Third Hokage asked me to deliver this intelligence scroll to you. It contains urgent information you need right now."

Uchiha Sora frowned slightly. With a thought, he immediately contacted Pakura, whom he had summoned through Impure World Reincarnation, and told her to come over.

Soon after receiving his message, Pakura arrived before Uchiha Sora.

"Leader!" Pakura bowed respectfully to Uchiha Sora.

"Open this scroll for me and see what it says," Uchiha Sora instructed.

"Yes!" Pakura replied. Taking the scroll, she cast a curious glance at Uzuki Yugao's slightly reddened eyes.

As a woman herself, she could tell at a glance that this purple-haired female ANBU from Konoha seemed to share some special connection with her leader...

Still, her leader's private affairs were naturally none of her business. After that brief moment of curiosity, she meticulously carried out Uchiha Sora's orders.

Uzuki Yugao watched Pakura enter. Though hers was a body created through Impure World Reincarnation, her figure was strikingly flawless, making Yugao's delicate brows draw together.

Even his reincarnated subordinates are beauties like this?

Sora, what exactly is going through your mind?

Yugao silently bristled, even beginning to suspect that something had gone wrong with Uchiha Sora's character.

Tampering with the dead is bad enough, but he's even tampering with dead women this beautiful!

If Uchiha Sora had known what Yugao was thinking at that moment, he probably would have coughed up blood in frustration and given her a sharp flick on the forehead!

While her imagination ran wild, Pakura had already unsealed the encrypted scroll and finished reading the intelligence inside.

Her expression immediately grew serious. "Leader, there's nothing wrong with the scroll. It does contain intelligence. According to this, a force from the Land of Earth has crossed the border into the Land of Grass. They seem to be preparing a surprise attack on our Kusagakure!"

Uchiha Sora also frowned slightly at her words.

Since his intelligence network had yet to be established, and Kusagakure's original intelligence department was currently operating sluggishly, he knew next to nothing about the movements of other powers.

It was hardly surprising that the Land of Earth wanted to launch a surprise attack against him. What truly concerned him was the need to speed up the establishment of his intelligence department. Otherwise, any trouble would leave him reacting from a disadvantage.

Konoha had tipped him off this time, but what about next time?

Even without this intelligence, the Land of Earth couldn't possibly breach Kusagakure with him defending it, but they would certainly cause him considerable trouble.

As he considered these issues, Uchiha Sora told Uzuki Yugao, "I have a pretty good idea of why the Third Hokage sent me this intelligence in advance. Go back and tell him that sending this information can count as a bargaining chip in our future negotiations!"

Yugao paused. "Negotiations?"

"It seems you haven't heard. There will be negotiations between Konoha and me," Uchiha Sora said. "But nothing has been finalized yet, so it's only natural that you don't know."

"Oh, all right." Still preoccupied with how to bring Uchiha Sora back, Yugao nodded distractedly.

But she quickly snapped out of it and shook her head firmly. "Sora, I can't go back right now!"

"Hmm? Why not? Don't you need to return and report?" Uchiha Sora asked, puzzled.

Uzuki Yugao said, "I can send your message back by carrier pigeon, but I have to stay here right now!"

"Heh, little girl, don't you know how dangerous it is to stay in Kusagakure right now?" Pakura suddenly gave a soft laugh beside them. "A young little ANBU like you probably hasn't been on an S-rank mission yet, has she? If you stay here, you could die at any moment!"

"Is that so? But the danger is exactly why I'm staying!" Staring at Pakura, Yugao enunciated every word. "Your leader and I were teammates from the very beginning. If it's dangerous here, then I have no reason to abandon my teammate and leave!"

"Hehe! Such admirable courage!" Pakura smiled at Uzuki Yugao, then gave Uchiha Sora a meaningful look. An amused smile curved her lips, and she couldn't resist saying, "Leader, I always thought you only had followers like Zabuza. I never expected you to have a little ANBU from Konoha, too!"

"Pakura, you're talking too much!" Uchiha Sora shot her a glare.

"Sorry, Leader. I'll go make the arrangements right away!"

Pakura said it with a smile, then turned and left.

But thanks to Impure World Reincarnation, Uchiha Sora could still sense just how eager Pakura was to enjoy this bit of gossip.

Watching Pakura leave with a sway of her hips, Yugao said to Uchiha Sora, "Sora, forbidden techniques carry risks. When you used Impure World Reincarnation, did you ever consider what you'd do if the people you reincarnated escaped your control?"

"And how can you be sure what these dead people are thinking? They might even turn around and lead you astray, making you do something wrong..."

At that, Uchiha Sora shook his head with a laugh and flicked Yugao's forehead. "Stop letting your imagination run wild! The technique has risks, but those risks can be controlled! Even if they break free of my control, I can seal every one of them away again! All right, if you want to stay, then stay. I'll have someone arrange a place for you!"

P.S. Last night, thanks to this author's silver tongue, she agreed to let me bring her breakfast this morning. I got up bright and early and bought her breakfast, but she wouldn't even open the door. She just told me to leave it outside and wouldn't let me in. Still, she did thank me... Sigh, enough said. Everyone, please tap those update-request ads and send some little free gifts. There'll be an extra update today! This author needs to find comfort in writing!