Haruma commandeered the cave's only wooden bed.
After forming hand seals to notify the others, he lazily closed his eyes and lay down on it.
Haruma had been lying at home, already inside the system's training room, when he sensed the vibration of Shisui's mark.
Afraid that Shisui had run into danger, he immediately interrupted his combat training and rushed over at once.
Shisui was not only Haruma's best buddy now (the buddy with the biggest IOU)! He was also his biggest source of income outside the village!
How could a mere few million in training fees matter more than his buddy!
After notifying everyone, he discovered that he still had over ten minutes left in the training room. In the spirit of thrift, Haruma finally lay down.
Mikoto, who had nothing particularly important to do at home, sensed the necklace around her neck vibrating and formed her projection within minutes.
"Did something happen?" Mikoto asked.
"Nothing major. Let's wait until Clan Head Fugaku and Itachi arrive before we discuss it."
Looking at the pitch-black projection, with only its eyes and bodily outline visible, Shisui marveled inwardly: I hardly ever see my best friend leave home, but he sure knows a lot of amazing ninjutsu.
Hearing that nothing major had happened, Mikoto relaxed and looked around, then curiously examined her own pitch-black body.
Twenty minutes later,
Even Haruma had gotten up and chatted with Mikoto for a while before Fugaku's and Itachi's projections finally arrived.
"Itachi, have you been doing all right out there?" Mikoto asked with a hint of worry.
"Father, Mother." Itachi nodded in greeting. "I've been doing very well out here. Don't worry."
Maintaining his paternal dignity, Fugaku said nothing and gave a slight nod.
Mikoto, meanwhile, fussed over Itachi with all sorts of concerned questions.
Haruma did not interrupt this reunion between mother and son. He simply sat sprawled on the wooden bed, shifting his backside.
Honestly, this wooden bed was still too hard.
Only after several minutes did Mikoto look at Haruma apologetically. "I haven't held you up, have I?"
"It's fine, Mikoto. You can chat a little longer if you want," Haruma said softly, waving a casual hand.
Beside them, Fugaku secretly gritted his white teeth and nearly stumbled.
She may be my wife, but isn't this difference in treatment a little too obvious!
"No, you should discuss business first," Mikoto said to Haruma with a hint of apology.
Maintaining this projection for just half an hour had already consumed nearly half of Mikoto's chakra.
One could only imagine how much it cost Haruma to keep this jutsu running the entire time.
Although this jutsu consumed quite a lot, Haruma really felt no strain. After all, he had long since assigned the job of molding chakra to the One-Tail inside him.
Haruma turned toward Itachi and said softly, "Shisui has already said hello to Obito."
"They should be coming to recruit you and Orochimaru next."
Itachi glanced at Shisui's real body. Seeing no injuries, he looked at Haruma and said calmly, "I'll play my part well, pretend to cooperate, and infiltrate the Akatsuki."
"Haah... just put on a token act." Haruma yawned, sounding rather listless. "In Obito's eyes, you and Orochimaru are two powerful assets."
"The Akatsuki's upcoming plans can't be carried out without the strength of S-rank missing-nin."
"Besides, no matter how well you act, Obito won't trust you anyway."
"So... just put on a token act and go along with joining them."
Itachi frowned. "The Akatsuki's upcoming plans?"
Haruma nodded. "There's no harm in telling you. The Akatsuki's next step is to capture all the tailed beasts."
"So the Akatsuki are very eager to get shinobi of your caliber."
Itachi remained expressionless, but inwardly, he was deeply shocked.
Capture the tailed beasts? All of them?
The jinchūriki, already distributed among the hidden villages and even kept under tight protection, were actually that organization's targets.
This was undoubtedly provoking an entirely new war across the Shinobi World!
Out of the corner of his eye, Itachi observed his parents and Shisui. Their expressions seemed largely unchanged. Clearly, they had known about this news for some time.
"Since you already know everything, why send me to infiltrate the Akatsuki?"
Despite his considerable intelligence, Itachi could not make sense of it at this moment.
Haruma did not answer, merely brushing it off with a laugh. "Naturally, I have my reasons. We'll talk once you've gotten in."
Naturally, he would not tell Itachi right now that it was not just the Akatsuki-he, too, had designs on these native tailed beasts.
The current Akatsuki belonged to Obito and Nagato. Who would control the Akatsuki later was still up in the air.
Once they had gathered the talent, collected the tailed beasts, and spread their infamy throughout the Shinobi World,
He could simply take over their nest and reap the rewards. Wouldn't that be lovely?
Simply put, in Haruma's eyes, the current Akatsuki was a perfect team of workers.
And the sooner his good buddy Itachi clocked in at the factory, the sooner Haruma could sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
He was not telling Itachi now because he feared this employee might think the boss was a warmonger too, stop putting his heart into his work, and start slacking off and fooling around.
After speaking, Haruma paid no further attention to the silent Itachi beside him and turned toward Fugaku.
"How are things on your end?"
"Everything has been going fairly smoothly," Fugaku said evenly. "With the coordinates and information you provided, I've kept my distance the whole time and haven't approached rashly."
Fugaku was not skilled in sensory ninjutsu, so before he left, Haruma had specifically warned him about Danzo's subordinate from the Aburame Clan.
Haruma fell silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head to look at Fugaku, a gleam flashing in his eyes as though he had thought of another good idea.
"Since Obito already knows someone is impersonating him, you might as well muddy the waters a little more."
Seeing Haruma's gleaming eyes, Fugaku had an ominous feeling. "What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.
Haruma raised his voice. "You can use the mark to determine their approximate location anyway, so you won't lose track of Danzo and his people."
"And since you're already pretty far from Konoha, you might as well disguise yourself as Obito and help Shisui expand his business outside the village."
"Huh???"
After hearing that, Fugaku could not even stop his projection from fluctuating.
"You mean I should rob people along the way while I'm tailing them?!"
"Clan Head, this isn't robbery!" Shisui, who had been carrying out this classified mission for quite some time, hastily interjected.
Fugaku turned his head and stared blankly at Shisui. "Then... what is it?"
Shisui stepped forward and said firmly, "Saving the Shinobi World!"
Fugaku: "???"
Mikoto: "???"
Looking at Shisui, whose face had flushed somewhat, even Itachi could not help spacing out for a moment.
Was this still that upright best friend of his, who had been willing to sacrifice himself for peace?
What exactly had happened to Shisui during the year or so he had been missing?
From holding justice in his heart and loving peace to praising robbery as saving the Shinobi World?
Even Jiraiya's novels wouldn't dare write something like this!