“Yūgao Uzuki?”
“How do you know my sister’s name?!”
The woman standing before Kai was stunned by his words.
“Hm?”
Kai came back to his senses and looked at the woman more carefully.
She did indeed look remarkably similar to Yūgao Uzuki, but there were also subtle differences.
Right.
At this point in the timeline, Yūgao Uzuki was only nine years old—the age at which she had just graduated from the Academy.
She hadn’t even joined the ANBU yet.
The woman standing before him looked around seventeen or eighteen.
Yūgao’s older sister?
“What is your name?”
Kai asked.
“My name is Yūhi Yūyū.”
“I’m Yūgao’s older sister.”
“Who exactly are you, and what are you planning to do?!”
Yūyū demanded.
Kai raised his head and looked at the evening sky.
Yūyū…
The setting sun.
She had never appeared in the original Naruto story.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t exist.
After all, just because Kishimoto never showed a shinobi going to the bathroom didn’t mean shinobi didn’t use the bathroom.
Well…
That was probably more of a topic for Spiral Zetsu.
Kishimoto seemed to enjoy placing hints of a character’s fate within their name.
Take Hayate Gekkō, for example.
His name evoked moonlight and a swift wind— and he ultimately disappeared like a gust of wind beneath the moon.
Then there was Yūhi Yūyū.
The setting sun before the rising moon…
Perhaps it symbolized a beautiful woman whose life was destined to end prematurely.
Kai’s mind immediately constructed a possible future.
Two sisters who depended on each other.
The older sister would lose her life during an ANBU mission.
The young Yūgao, left alone, would inherit her sister’s will and strive toward becoming an ANBU herself.
A gust of wind passed through the forest.
Kai looked at Yūyū again.
Waiting for her ahead was a fate of death.
At least…
That was what would have happened if Kai had never transmigrated into this world.
If he had never met her.
“I asked you a question!”
“Answer me!”
Yūyū demanded anxiously.
“Would you be willing to come with me?”
Kai answered a completely different question.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“You want me to betray Konoha?!”
Yūyū was furious.
Kai reached out and gently placed his hand against her cold, delicate cheek.
Yūyū instinctively tried to move away.
But her body wouldn’t respond.
Humiliation filled her eyes.
She almost wished she could kill herself on the spot.
“I simply don’t want to see a woman like you become another sacrifice to this cruel shinobi world.”
Kai’s words were strange.
But there was something unfathomable in his eyes.
Yūyū couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t simply spouting nonsense.
There had to be a reason he was speaking this way.
Even so, her resolve didn’t waver.
“The moment we joined the ANBU, every one of us wrote our own will!”
“Even if it means death, we will never betray Konoha!”
Kai smiled.
He gently grasped Yūyū’s delicate chin and tilted her head upward.
“I’ll kill your comrades?”
Yūyū’s eyes trembled.
She looked at the two unconscious ANBU lying on the ground.
“They’re ANBU too.”
“Just like me, they’ve already put life and death aside.”
“Then what if I replace them with your nine-year-old sister?”
Kai’s voice became dangerous.
Yūyū’s pupils suddenly froze.
“You’re despicable!”
“Answer me.”
“Are you coming with me or not?”
Kai offered no further explanation.
Yūyū struggled intensely with the decision.
But then she thought of her younger sister.
The little girl who had lost both parents and had depended on her from childhood.
In the end, Yūyū made her painful choice.
“What do you want me to do?”
Kai thought to himself:
As expected.
No matter how firm a shinobi’s convictions are, it’s impossible to completely cast aside personal emotions.
Even Itachi Uchiha, who had been willing to slaughter his own clan for the sake of the village and peace in the shinobi world, couldn’t bring himself to kill his younger brother.
Because deep down…
Sasuke was more important to him than the village.
Likewise, in Yūyū’s heart, her younger sister Yūgao was more important than Konoha.
That was simply human nature.
Of course, Kai had no intention of actually harming Yūgao.
He had only wanted to break through Yūyū’s psychological defenses.
He released her chin.
“I’m not asking you to do anything special.”
“Just abandon Konoha and come with me.”
Yūyū was slightly surprised.
Then she nodded.
“Fine.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“But if you ever ask me to do anything that harms Konoha, I’ll kill myself.”
“Even if you threaten me with my sister’s life.”
“Also…”
“I want you to spare my subordinates.”
“Deal.”
Kai had never intended to kill them in the first place.
“Release the genjutsu.”
“I won’t run.”
Yūyū said quietly.
“Release.”
The genjutsu disappeared.
Yūyū removed her forehead protector and took out a kunai.
Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself and carved a horizontal line across the Konoha symbol.
That mark represented her severing ties with the Hidden Leaf.
From this moment on, she was a missing-nin.
“Let’s go.”
Kai looked away.
Dragging Kitake’s corpse behind him, he started walking.
“Where are we going now?”
Yūyū followed behind him.
“The black-market exchange station.”
Kai didn’t turn around.
“Are you an Uchiha?”
Yūyū asked.
“You could say I am.”
“And you could also say I’m not.”
Kai’s answer was deliberately ambiguous.
Yūyū thought to herself:
So he’s a missing-nin from the Uchiha clan?
“Why did you kill Kitake?”
“Otherwise, would someone like him even be worth my personal attention?”
Kai countered.
Yūyū thought silently.
So he isn’t working with Root…
“If you’re thinking about using the communication scroll in your possession, I’d recommend putting it away.”
Kai suddenly said.
Yūyū froze.
The scroll she was about to take out immediately went back into her pouch.
Her original plan had been to send Kai’s information back to Konoha.
Apparently, that wasn’t going to work.
With his abilities, he could completely control my mind with the Sharingan if he wanted to.
Then why hasn’t he done it?
Yūyū stared at Kai’s back.
She couldn’t understand him.
Yet that uncertainty inevitably made her more curious about him.
Regardless…
He could become a threat to the village.
I’ll stay by his side for now.
I’ll figure out exactly who he is.
Then, when I find an opportunity…
I’ll kill him.
Yūyū didn’t notice the faint smile on Kai’s lips.
Perhaps he didn’t understand the minds of women from the real world.
But the minds of women from the anime world?
Those were practically an open book to him.
She would never succeed.
Back then, Konan had prepared six hundred billion explosive tags to kill Obito.
And yet she had still failed.
Kai didn’t believe Yūyū was stronger than Konan.
Nor did he believe that he was weaker than Obito.
Besides…
There were countless examples in anime where someone initially wanted to kill another person, only to eventually become emotionally attached to them.
Yūyū would probably be no different.
Not long after the two left, a Root squad wearing black cloaks and masks arrived at the scene.
They looked over the wreckage.
“Kitake’s chakra signature has disappeared.”
“He’s probably dead.”
The sensory-type Root shinobi reported.
“Captain.”
“These two aren’t dead.”
“But Yūhi Yūyū is missing.”
Another Root member examined the two unconscious ANBU on the ground.
“Kill them both.”
“Blame their deaths on Yūhi Yūyū.”
The Root captain stood on a tree branch above them, wearing a white cloak.
“But…”
“They’re still comrades from the village.”
“Remember.”
“The philosophy of Root is to support the great tree of Konoha from the shadows, regardless of the means required.”
“The only person capable of leading Konoha forward is Lord Danzō.”
“The deaths of these two are nothing more than necessary sacrifices.”
The captain’s voice was harsh.
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Crack!
Crack!
The ninja blades mercilessly pierced the hearts of the two ANBU.
How ironic.
These two ANBU shinobi had escaped death at Kai’s hands.
Yet moments later, they were killed by their own comrades.
Kai had seen through this long ago.
That was why he pursued power.
With power came the right to enjoy freedom.
And with power…
He could pursue everything else he desired.