My name is [Crow]

Meanwhile.

Root.

A full moon hung high outside the window, casting its clear, lovely light.

Danzo stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the moon outside.

"Iwagakure is plotting to wage war on Konoha. We must obtain their intelligence.

Kabuto, only you can handle this mission."

Behind him, Kabuto Yakushi's expression remained unchanged, but his heart grew colder.

That Megumi Fushiguro had been right. Danzo really was planning to move against him!

Once he went to Iwagakure, Danzo would transfer the director there under the pretext of another mission, immediately setting them up to kill each other!

Seeing that Kabuto Yakushi had yet to respond, Danzo promptly dangled a promise before him.

"As long as you complete this mission, I'll persuade the Hokage to allocate funding to the Orphanage."

As he spoke, he walked up to Kabuto Yakushi.

"You wouldn't want Yakushi Nonō's Orphanage to be disbanded, would you?"

At those words, Kabuto Yakushi immediately clenched his fists, then relaxed them.

"Yes. Please allow me one day to prepare."

He played the role of a pawn forced to carry out a classified mission in another village to perfection.

It had to be said that Kabuto Yakushi truly possessed an exceptional talent for espionage.

"Very well."

Danzo nodded in satisfaction.

Once both of you are dead, the Orphanage's funding will naturally be mine.

As for completing the mission?

Laughable.

The next day.

Yecheng got up bright and early.

"Good morning, Shizune."

"Good morning, Yecheng-kun. You're up early again today."

Shizune answered as she cooked.

"Where's my teacher? Is she still asleep?"

Yecheng planned to ask her about the Monster Strength technique today, pairing it with Playful Cloud to send his combat power soaring once again.

"Lady Tsunade worked very late last night. We'd better not wake her."

Shizune brought breakfast over: fried fish, four small side dishes, and a bowl of miso soup.

There was quite a variety.

"Yecheng, you really gave me a fright yesterday."

During breakfast, Shizune said with a wry smile, "I've followed Lady Tsunade for so many years, but I've never seen anyone pick up Medical Ninjutsu so quickly.

You might be able to learn the Mystical Palm Technique very soon!"

The Mystical Palm Technique was a highly advanced healing ninjutsu. It could greatly accelerate the growth of flesh and was said to heal any injury within five minutes.

With the Six Eyes, Yecheng could control chakra at the atomic level. Accomplishing something like that was truly effortless.

Now that he had Tsunade backing him, Yecheng also intended to gradually reveal his talent.

He had played dumb before because he feared the threat Danzo posed. Now that he had someone to rely on, continuing to play the pig would only leave him eating slop.

Of course, what he actually said was, "You're exaggerating. It's all thanks to you and my teacher teaching me so well."

Even knowing it was flattery, Shizune still felt very happy to hear it.

"Yecheng-kun, you're as sweet-tongued as ever. I wonder what lucky girl will end up with you someday."

Smiling, Shizune patted Yecheng's head.

Yecheng: ...

Damn it!

Why do you all love patting my head so much?

I'll get you for this someday!

Even after breakfast was over, Tsunade still had not gotten up.

After some thought, Yecheng decided to visit Aoba Yamashiro first and strengthen his Black Bird Manipulation.

Having learned Aoba Yamashiro's address from Shizune, he headed straight there.

The western outskirts of Konoha.

"Good morning. Well, if it isn't Yecheng-kun."

Aoba Yamashiro had been feeding his crows. Seeing Yecheng approach, he actually took the initiative to greet him.

Yecheng was Lady Tsunade's highly valued personal disciple. His status had been made public not long ago, and he was now one of the most sought-after figures in Konoha.

Naturally, Aoba Yamashiro wanted to establish a good relationship with him, too.

Yecheng smiled in return. "Good morning, Jōnin Yamashiro."

Although the man had only just been promoted to Special Jōnin, people rose by lifting one another up.

And judging by his expression, he clearly enjoyed being addressed as "Jōnin."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yecheng got to the point.

"Jōnin Yamashiro, I'm very interested in ninja crows. I came to ask for your guidance."

He paused, then continued, "I understand the rules. I'll owe you a favor for this."

A ninja's core methods were highly confidential, known only to those closest to them. Otherwise, information could easily leak, allowing enemies to target their weaknesses.

For Yecheng to ask so directly, he had to offer a substantial benefit to persuade the other man.

At first, Aoba Yamashiro felt somewhat displeased by his words.

Even if you're Lady Princess Tsunade's disciple, you can't just come asking about my core secrets!

But upon hearing the last sentence, his face lit up, and he agreed on the spot.

"Of course! No problem!"

Leaving the distant future aside, Yecheng was Princess Tsunade's personal disciple. If Aoba suffered a serious injury, he could use this favor to ask Princess Tsunade to treat him!

That was practically equivalent to a second life!

As for the distant future, the Third was getting old and would have to step down sooner or later. Who could succeed him?

Danzo?

What a joke.

Anyone with eyes could see that, among those currently in the village, Princess Tsunade was the Fifth Hokage!

Which raised another question: after Princess Tsunade, who could succeed her as the Sixth?

To put it bluntly, Yecheng had a very good chance of becoming Hokage in a few decades!

Naturally, establishing a connection with him now would be excellent.

Besides, with the promise of a favor from him, the risk of leaking information was hardly worth mentioning in comparison.

Aoba Yamashiro held nothing back. Not only did he give Yecheng ten ninja crows and teach him how to raise them, he even taught him the Scatter Thousand Crows Technique!

Having committed himself, he went all the way, passing on everything he knew.

Yecheng glanced at him without saying much, absorbing everything and mastering it in moments!

"Thank you so much for today, Uncle Aoba. I'll definitely treat you to a meal another day!"

"Not at all. I only did what I should. You're the impressive one, Yecheng-kun!"

Watching Yecheng leave, Aoba Yamashiro was filled with shock and admiration.

He had spent a long time developing this set of techniques before bringing them together into a complete system!

Yet to Yecheng, none of it seemed complicated. He had mastered it after watching a single demonstration!

And Yecheng had clearly known nothing about raising crows at first, yet after hearing and understanding the explanation, he had even applied what he learned to point out a few shortcomings in the crows Aoba raised!

A genius!

A true genius!

Aoba Yamashiro could not stop marveling.

No wonder even Princess Tsunade, who had left the village years ago, had stayed in Konoha because of him.

With a disciple like that, who wouldn't want to pass on everything they knew and see just how far he could go?

"Black Bird Manipulation!"

Upon returning to his training ground, Yecheng immediately activated Black Bird Manipulation, bringing all ten crows under his control.

Ten images instantly appeared in his mind.

This was precisely Black Bird Manipulation's most incredible effect: sharing the senses of the crows under his control!

And these were no ordinary crows.

They also possessed chakra and could use certain ninjutsu under their master's control.

In the original story, during the operation to hunt down the Akatsuki's immortal duo, Aoba Yamashiro had used these ninja crows to perform the Scatter Thousand Crows Technique, working with his teammates to injure Kakuzu and making quite a showing.

Looking at the chakra inside these ninja crows, Yecheng had a different idea.

The original Black Bird Manipulation was a cursed technique with top-tier intelligence-gathering capabilities but lackluster combat power. But that was because the world of Jujutsu Kaisen only had ordinary crows, not ninja crows!

Perhaps these ninja crows could provide a starting point for improving the cursed technique's power.

He could first raise them into ninja beasts or birds on the level of the Inuzuka Clan's ninja dogs, then develop them toward becoming summoning beasts.

Once he mastered Senjutsu in the future, perhaps he could even cultivate the ninja crows into a "fourth sacred land" besides Katsuyu, the toads, and the snakes!

Even after possessing the Six Eyes for so long, he had yet to discover the limits of their power!

Yecheng absolutely had that confidence!

"But for now, I should send a ninja crow to Kabuto Yakushi first. That way, we can communicate in real time."

"Director, I'll see you again in a while."

Kabuto Yakushi waved goodbye to Yakushi Nonō, then turned and left.

The next time we meet, I'll definitely save you!

He did not say that last part aloud.

Yakushi Nonō also waved goodbye. As she watched his retreating figure, he seemed increasingly familiar.

"Kabuto would be about his age now, too..."

Yakushi Nonō murmured, then shook her head.

Kabuto should be somewhere abroad right now. How could he have come back?

Bitterness welled up in Yakushi Nonō's heart. Most of the children she loved most had already perished in this hellish world.

Of the only two left, Kabuto's whereabouts remained unknown. She did not even know whether he was still alive.

Only Yecheng was doing somewhat better. He had become Lady Tsunade's disciple. With her Medical Ninjutsu, perhaps his fate could be rewritten.

Yakushi Nonō silently prayed for Yecheng.

Deep inside the Forest of Death, Kabuto Yakushi stopped and called out to the shadows.

"We are Shadow, lurking in the shadows, hunting the shadows!"

Just as he had expected, he immediately saw the shadow beneath his feet writhe, and the "Megumi Fushiguro" he had met several times appeared again.

"What is it?"

Yecheng's shadow clone spoke flatly.

In truth, he had already seen everything clearly from within the shadows, but he still needed to put the other man at ease.

Subordinates were people, too. Failing to treat them as human would only come back to bite you.

Many people failed to understand this principle, which was why their subordinates kept overthrowing them.

He doesn't know about my situation? He hasn't been monitoring me all the time?

A thought stirred in Kabuto Yakushi's mind, and he recounted the matter with Danzo.

"Also, this is the evidence of Danzo's wrongdoing that I collected."

Kabuto Yakushi handed over a scroll containing records of many of Danzo's human experiments, including even his experiments researching Wood Release with Orochimaru!

Even Kabuto Yakushi himself had been startled when he first uncovered this information!

In Konoha, Danzo was audacious beyond belief, with no regard for any taboo!

Still, it was precisely this lawless behavior that had allowed him to collect so much incriminating material.

Yecheng took the scroll and recalled the original plot.

"You can follow Danzo's orders and leave Konoha for Iwagakure, but prioritize your own safety.

When the time is right..."

Just then, Yecheng's shadow clone suddenly gave a mysterious smile. "Finally here?"

"Caw-caw-"

A crow flew in from the horizon and landed on the shoulder of Yecheng's shadow clone.

A crow?

A thought struck Kabuto Yakushi. There were only a handful of well-known crow users in Konoha:

Aoba Yamashiro, Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi...

Among them, those who could be connected to [Shadow]...

Could it be the Uchiha Clan!?

Kabuto Yakushi silently speculated about the other party's true identity.

Just then, the Ninja Crow actually spoke!

"It took a little time. Sorry for the wait."

"Mm, there's quite a bit going on over here. It's time I headed back, too."

Kabuto Yakushi: ?

What kind of jutsu was this now?

This was not a genjutsu, but a real, talking Ninja Crow!

Were there summoning beasts like this in the Shinobi World?

This fell outside the scope of his intelligence, shaking his earlier conjectures.

Moreover, judging by their conversation, they did not seem to be the same person.

This [Shadow] organization was far too mysterious!

Kabuto Yakushi's mind was a tangled mess. Unable to extract any useful intelligence for the moment, he could only remain silent.

"Is he the new member?"

The Ninja Crow spoke again.

"More or less, but he hasn't passed [It]'s test yet."

"Is that so? Very well. With your eye for people, I doubt you'd be mistaken."

The Ninja Crow added another remark, then landed on Kabuto Yakushi's shoulder.

"Head back first. Leave things here to me."

"All right."

With that, Yecheng's shadow clone used Shadow Traversal to leave.

But to Kabuto Yakushi's eyes, he had once again sunk into the shadows before vanishing.

To fool someone, one had to get the air of mystique just right.

After the shadow clone left, Yecheng made the Ninja Crow speak through Black Bird Manipulation.

"Kid, this is an incarnation of yours truly. Use it to stay in touch from now on."

"Yes. I have yet to ask your name, sir."

Kabuto Yakushi was very courteous, while silently analyzing the personality of this newly appeared member of [Shadow] and the information about him.

He seems hot-tempered, he thought.

"My name is [Crow]. I am [Shadow]'s emissary."

As he spoke, he raised his head to gaze at the sky, his tone profound.

"One day, you too will understand the greatness of [Shadow]."

"...Yes."

"Mm."

The Ninja Crow seemed quite satisfied with his answer. He nodded, then turned into a mass of ink-dark shadow and vanished.

Yecheng had discovered that, with the fine control afforded by the Six Eyes, even the tiny amount of chakra in the Ninja Crow could be combined with his other abilities to accomplish certain things.

For instance, right now, he had used Black Bird Manipulation to make the Ninja Crow slip into Kabuto Yakushi's shadow.

Kabuto Yakushi analyzed it silently.

It seems [Shadow] is both the organization's name and the name of a person-or rather, a code name.

But he still knew absolutely nothing about that person's existence or the purpose of their actions.

Lurk in the shadows, hunt the shadows...

Kabuto Yakushi carefully mulled over those words. The first "shadows" was easy to understand: plotting and acting behind the scenes, without letting the world know.

What did the second "shadows" refer to?

Kabuto Yakushi recalled what "Megumi Fushiguro" had told him earlier.

"One day, you will understand what the true darkness of the Shinobi World is."

Perhaps what the [Shadow] organization hunted was precisely this "true darkness"!

What exactly was it?

Kabuto Yakushi could not figure it out.

Not enough intelligence...

"I should get ready and set off for Iwagakure."

Whatever the case, at least the [Shadow] organization is helping me right now.

I'll take care of what's in front of me first.

Director, I will protect you.

Determination showed in Kabuto Yakushi's eyes.

Meanwhile, Danzo entered the Orphanage with Aburame Ryoma.