Itachi’s compromise made many things far easier. For example, providing Konoha’s barrier codes. The Konoha ninja probably never imagined that within less than half a year after returning the rogue ninja, the same rogue would come back openly—and this time through the front gate.

  Kita didn’t have Itachi’s advanced genjutsu, but with her abilities, bypassing the guards was trivial. Sneaking into Konoha without being detected was as simple as slipping into the mist vilge under Madara’s watch. She even ate a bowl of Ichiraku ramen while there—a bold and reckless act.

  But Konoha wasn’t entirely incompetent. If someone stayed inside the vilge for more than three days, no matter how well they hid, exposure was just a matter of time without assistance. Unfortunately, Konoha didn’t have a helper to aid her.

  It wasn’t that Kita lingered deliberately. It was just that the back mountains of Konoha were huge. She wandered for days, unable to locate the grave marked for Uchiha Madara. Was it hidden too deeply, or did the grave no longer exist in the back mountains? That was a question worth pondering.

  “Monster!”

  “Ugly freak! Get out!”

  The commotion of small children woke Kita from her nap beneath a tree. A powerful retort followed.

  “I—I’m not a monster! I’ll become Hokage one day!”

  The blonde, blue-eyed boy wasn’t so much shouting as defending himself against his tormentors. The price of resistance, of course, was a severe beating. Kita had to admit, bullying others wasn’t her style. So she simply flicked her fingers, sending a small clod of earth at the boys, knocking them down.

  She had noticed before that Konoha’s jinchūriki didn’t fare well—or rather, jinchūriki in any vilge struggled. A small act of kindness, like helping the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, was as easy as feeding a stray cat.

  So when the beaten jinchūriki looked up at her with admiration, Kita simply smiled, waving as one would to a begging cat. Then, in the blink of an eye, she vanished.

  Well, if Madara’s grave couldn’t be found, she’d start with the Second Hokage’s secret scrolls. She couldn’t return empty-handed.

  All of this—directly or indirectly—caused a crisis in Konoha. The vilge experienced an unprecedented infiltration. To avoid alerting the enemy, Konoha went on Level Two alert. The ANBU frantically searched for the intruder while the jonin coordinated silently. Only ordinary vilgers and low- to mid-level ninja remained oblivious.

  At such a time, going out to investigate was unwise. Fortunately, she had obtained what she needed. From silently entering Konoha, helping the young Nine-Tails, causing a commotion, stealing the scroll, and finally reviewing it—six days and eleven hours had passed. Now, in a hidden house, Kita was cooking pasta, about to pour on tomato-meat sauce, when the homeowner returned.

  The confrontation took just three moves: capture, gag, and seal chakra. Then, six meters of steel wire bound the visitor to a single bed.

  ANBU attire, dog-face mask, white spiked hair, and crimson Sharingan eyes.

  After doing all this, Kita continued cooking her pasta with tomato-meat sauce—all ingredients prepared by the man now tied to the bed.

  Having eaten her modest meal elegantly, she wiped her mouth with satisfaction.

  The most dangerous pce is often the safest. Captain Kakashi, responsible for this capture, could never have imagined the enemy was hiding in his own home. After a week of exhaustion and lifting the vilge alert, he had walked right into it.

  ——I came to Konoha on some business, temporarily staying at your pce for a few days. I’ll leave soon. I ate all the food in your fridge—consider it compensation.

  Kita pced five hundred ryo on the table and approached Kakashi, whose mouth was gagged. She removed his forehead protector. His closed Sharingan eyes were forced open with a medical fshlight. The pupils constricted sharply. Standing so close, Kakashi could smell Kita’s shampoo—the same scent as his own? Damn! She used my shampoo!

  Curiosity piqued, Kita stared at the Sharingan for a while, then abandoned the thought of extracting the eye.

  This eye felt strangely familiar. She couldn’t describe it precisely—like déjà vu, yet not entirely. She had sensed this familiarity when Kakashi used genjutsu on her before, but why? She had never actually faced this eye in combat.

  The fshlight went dark. Kita sat in a chair, speaking earnestly to Kakashi.

  ——I made a promise not to attack Konoha, its vilge or its people. Don’t worry about me harming you. I’m here for business, and I’m curious about this eye. Can you tell me about its owner?

  Kakashi whimpered, muffled by the gag. Kita removed it.

  “Bastard! How did you get in here?”

  ——Do you mean the vilge, or my home?

  Kakashi froze, unsure how to answer, then realized.

  “Samander Hanzo didn’t kill you!”

  He looked well, his face smooth and clothes neat—clearly living comfortably.

  Kita smiled and shook her head.

  ——I can come and go freely in Konoha, and the same applies to Hanzo. Consider it a lesson—next time, just kill me if you catch me. Now, let’s discuss that Uchiha Obito boy.

  “Never!”

  Kakashi’s indignation rose. Kita sighed, gathered her waist-length hair, and tied it into a low ponytail with the red ribbon on her wrist.

  ——Kakashi, if you haven’t experienced Mind Lock, tell me about that boy voluntarily. If I see it myself, it might not just be about him. I’m not skilled at interrogation like Ibiki—understand?

  Kakashi hadn’t experienced Mind Lock, yet refused to speak. Kita anticipated his stubbornness. Before he could attempt self-harm, she grabbed his jaw.

  What stubbornness… impossible to hate, she thought, pressing her palm to her forehead.

  ——I’m terrible at dealing with people like you. Never mind. This isn’t crucial. Even if you die, I’d be troubled. Your chakra will return in twelve hours. Rest.

  She pced the bck scroll from Konoha’s secrets on the table, resealed his mouth with tape, and kindly said:

  ——Don’t feel frustrated. Many stronger people have fallen to me. You chose the wrong opponent at the start.

  With that, she struck, knocking Kakashi unconscious.

  …

  The entrance was at the Konoha monument. After a long tunnel, she reached the destination. Itachi had not lied about the grave in the back mountains. The location was indeed there, though hard to find.

  Time had passed long enough, but the inner space was rge, showing signs that someone had previously studied Madara’s body. Now, however, no one had come for a long time. Respect for the deceased, or just carelessness—Kita couldn’t say.

  The inner chamber was nearly circur. Madara’s coffin y at the center, surrounded by stone tables. According to the Second Hokage’s notes, he had once studied Madara’s body here. Kita brushed dust off a table—clearly long untouched.

  The fake corpse looked remarkably like Madara, simir to the statue in the Valley of the End. Young, around thirty, preserved with formalin, and perfectly intact. She lifted its eyelids—no Sharingan. It seemed even an ancestor’s eyes had been recovered. No, not exactly—Madara wasn’t dead.

  As time had passed, the corpse was useless, just as Itachi had said.

  This pce was hidden, difficult to locate, with only one entrance—the tunnel Kita had just traversed. Transporting the body, repcing it, escaping—likely using space-time ninjutsu. Convenient… she wished she could learn space-time ninjutsu. It would make movement faster and easier. Too bad she couldn’t master the Flying Raijin.

  Lost in thought, she felt something under her foot. Kneeling, she held a small clod of earth. Curious, she touched the bluestone floor.

  The soil was hard, dry, and uncrushable.

  Interesting. In fertile Konoha soil, why was this so poor? And why did Madara’s grave contain rock soil only found in the Land of Earth?

  Kita stored the clod, input chakra into the stone floor—and the answer appeared.

  Hands forming seals, she began sinking into the ground. Half an hour ter, Konoha had no trace of Kita.

  ━━━━ ? ━━━

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