In the darkness.
White Zetsu, pale from head to toe, wore a twisted grin as he reported to a man wearing a Spiral Mask.
"Hatake Shinichi? That guy actually has the strength to defeat the Fourth Raikage?!"
"What? He has the Mangekyō Sharingan too! How is that possible..."
The masked man, Obito, was so shocked that he went numb.
As Kakashi's best buddy, he naturally knew Hatake Shinichi. But in his memory, that guy had barely any presence beyond being the older brother of the prodigy Kakashi.
Back at the Ninja Academy, he had been called a dead last, just like Obito.
Yet that dead last had now displayed terrifying strength that shook the entire Shinobi World. If White Zetsu hadn't delivered the information himself, Obito would never have believed it!
"His Mangekyō Sharingan seems to have an ability like your Kamui. It lets him turn intangible too!"
White Zetsu chuckled, looking rather pleased by Obito's misfortune. "And he has another powerful genjutsu ability. That's how he defeated the Fourth Raikage. I hear the Fourth Raikage is still unconscious. His mind must have taken a devastating blow..."
"Hatake Shinichi!"
At those words, Obito's heart sank.
With the same Space-Time Ninjutsu as him, plus that powerful genjutsu, wasn't Shinichi his natural nemesis?
With someone that powerful guarding Konoha, it seemed he would have to adjust his original plan. At the very least, he couldn't strike Konoha so soon. Getting caught off guard and losing would be disastrous.
Obito was far from the only one lurking in the shadows. There was also a certain perverted venomous snake who liked licking his lips.
"That Shinichi? What a surprise!"
By this point, Orochimaru had already defected from Konoha after the Third Hokage uncovered his human experiments, and had joined the Akatsuki.
Of course, his mind wasn't on the Akatsuki at all.
Aside from immortality, only the pursuit of truth could drive Orochimaru to act.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan? What a fascinating power. If only I could obtain it..."
A dangerous gleam shone in Orochimaru's snake-like slit pupils.
Grass City, at the Land of Fire Border.
The place wasn't particularly prosperous, but though small, it had everything one could need.
Its hot spring inns, in particular, seemed to enjoy excellent reviews.
As a born hedonist, Shinichi naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.
"This is the life!"
Soaking his whole body in an outdoor hot spring with a little drink in hand felt absolutely heavenly.
Carefree as ever, Shinichi had spent the past two days indulging in all kinds of delicious food and bath services. Life was so good that he had no idea he had already stirred up an undercurrent throughout the Shinobi World.
Countless people had taken note of the name Hatake Shinichi and were secretly plotting ways to deal with him and Konoha.
If those people knew that he was out here enjoying himself to the fullest, who knew what expressions they would make?
That's enough relaxing. Time to have a look around Kusagakure!
With that thought, Shinichi bit his finger and pressed his hand to the ground.
Summoning Technique!
Poof.
Smoke burst out, revealing a small ninja dog. It was none other than Pakkun, Kakashi's signature summon.
The Hatake Clan's summons were a clan of ninja dogs passed down through the generations, a fact known throughout the Shinobi World. As a member of the Hatake Clan, Shinichi had naturally signed a Summoning Contract with them as well.
The ninja dogs weren't particularly strong, but they excelled at tracking and gathering intelligence.
"Boss Shinichi, what do you need me for?"
Pakkun asked curiously, wearing an expression every bit as punchable as Shinichi's.
"Pakkun, sorry for the trouble, but could you scout out Kusagakure and help me find someone? No, maybe two people."
Shinichi took a sip of sake, a contented expression on his face. "They have blood-red hair. In other words, they're members of the Uzumaki Clan. You know what I mean."
That was right. Shinichi had deliberately taken a detour to Kusagakure to look for Karin and her mother, both members of the Uzumaki Clan.
In the original story, Karin's childhood had been deeply pitiful. If he had the chance, he certainly wouldn't mind helping the little girl escape her tragic fate and giving her a happy, stable home.
"Boss Shinichi, you're soaking in a hot spring and drinking while sending me out to scout for you. Isn't that a little unfair?"
Pakkun looked somewhat displeased.
"Come on, we're close! Don't sweat the little things!"
Shinichi laughed awkwardly. "Fine, I'll treat you to a feast when you get back! I'm not a cheapskate like Kakashi. Whatever you want to eat, I'll buy it for you."
"All right. You said it."
And just like that, Pakkun was talked into leaving.
As for a certain shameless fellow, he continued enjoying the hot spring with a clear conscience, looking every bit like an exploitative boss.
Pakkun truly was an elite among ninja dogs. His intelligence-gathering abilities were exceptional.
In less than half a day, Pakkun returned with the information Shinichi wanted.
"What? You couldn't find them?"
Shinichi raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I sent lots of ninja dogs to search Kusagakure, but none of them found them. We did get some related information, though. Until a few months ago, there really was a mother and daughter with blood-red hair in Kusagakure. The mother seems to have been a medical ninja there, but she died of some unknown illness."
Pakkun explained, "The little girl became an orphan and disappeared the next day. She might have left Kusagakure. But she was apparently only three or four years old, so she shouldn't have gotten far. She's probably still somewhere around Grass City!"
An illness? Karin's mother had exhausted her chakra. Those Kusagakure ninja had literally drained her to death.
That was the tragedy of being a member of the Uzumaki Clan.
"Pakkun, put everything into finding that little girl! Notify me the moment you find her!"
Shinichi's expression turned serious.
If Karin was wandering out there alone now, life certainly couldn't be easy for her. She might even be worse off than Naruto had been before meeting him.
The thought of such a young child wandering alone, with no home, at the mercy of anyone who wanted to bully her, perhaps going days without a single meal, made Shinichi's chest tighten.
But that was the horror of war, and one of the dark realities of the Shinobi World.
Whether it was Karin or the trio of Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, they were all victims of war.
"Got it, Boss Shinichi!"
Pakkun had never seen such a serious expression on Shinichi's face. He dropped his joking attitude and immediately vanished in a puff of smoke to carry out his mission.
With no sign of Karin, Shinichi lost all desire to keep enjoying himself at the hot spring inn.
With a heavy heart, Shinichi left the inn and began searching around Grass City himself. Even though he knew that blindly searching like this was foolish, he couldn't help doing it.
He could only hope that the damned god of the Shinobi World would show that poor little girl a little mercy and let her cross his path soon!
Before you continue