Faced with Yūyū’s sudden question, Kai replied,
“Consider us… old acquaintances.”
Yūyū thought to herself.
An old acquaintance of Kakashi Hatake…
Among the Uchiha, the only person who seems to fit that description is his former teammate, Uchiha Obito.
But wasn’t Obito hailed as a hero after dying in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge during the Third Shinobi World War?
Come to think of it, Kakashi’s Sharingan came from Obito.
Yet he somehow lost that eye later.
Yūyū stared at Kai’s back.
He claims to be Uchiha Kai.
But when I was still serving in Konoha’s ANBU, I was responsible for monitoring the Konoha Police Force.
Because of that, I had access to the Uchiha clan’s records.
There isn’t an Uchiha named Kai.
Not even among the newborns.
Suddenly, a terrifying possibility occurred to her.
Cold sweat ran down her back.
“Are you… Uchiha Obito?”
Up ahead, the corner of Kai’s mouth curved slightly.
He didn’t answer.
He had never expected that the first person to uncover the mystery surrounding his identity wouldn’t be Obito’s closest friend, Kakashi Hatake, nor his former teacher, Minato Namikaze.
Instead, it was Yūhi Yūyū, someone who had never even known him before.
There was something rather ironic about that.
In truth, Kai had no real reason to hide the truth.
He could simply admit that he was Uchiha Obito.
But…
She’s started investigating me.
Isn’t that a sign that she’s interested in me?
Then maintaining a little mystery and making her even more curious is obviously the better move.
“Maybe I am.”
“Maybe I’m not.”
Kai answered casually.
Yūyū puffed out her cheeks.
“What do you mean, maybe you are and maybe you aren’t?!”
“You’re Obito, aren’t you?!”
“Who knows~”
“You!”
Yūyū’s face turned red with frustration.
Maybe I actually met Obito before…
I just don’t remember him clearly.
She suddenly had an idea.
“Then take off your mask again.”
“Let me take a look.”
“Sure.”
“You can take it off yourself.”
Kai smiled.
Yūyū hurried forward and reached toward his mask.
Whoosh!
Her hand passed straight through Kai’s face.
Kai grabbed her wrist.
Kamui activated.
She was sucked into the Kamui dimension.
A while later, Kai released her again.
“Calmed down now?”
“I swear!”
“I’ll definitely kill you!”
“Whoever you are!”
“Hmm…”
“So this is what humans call a third wheel?”
Spiral Zetsu, who had been silently watching the two bicker from behind, muttered to himself.
After another full day of travel, the three had crossed most of the Land of Water.
They finally arrived at the foot of the mountain where the Hidden Mist Village was located.
Yūyū was, after all, a woman.
She couldn’t stand spending days traveling while covered in sweat.
So after Kai gave her his absolute assurance that he wouldn’t peek, she found a clean mountain spring.
After looking around carefully, she undressed.
She had delicate features, long purple hair, and an exceptionally well-proportioned figure.
Whether viewed as a shinobi or simply as a woman, she possessed a remarkably graceful physique.
She wasn’t as exaggeratedly curvaceous as Tsunade, but her figure was comparable to Hinata’s in adulthood.
Under the moonlight, her body stretched gracefully as she entered the spring, covering her chest with both hands.
A faint blush appeared on her face.
Previously, Kai had noticed that her appearance differed slightly from that of Yūgao Uzuki.
The difference was a small beauty mark beneath the outer corner of Yūyū’s left eye.
Yūgao didn’t have one.
Yūyū soaked in the spring, washing away the tension and exhaustion that had accumulated over the past several days.
Things seemed to have turned out differently from what she had expected.
After being captured by Kai, nothing humiliating or degrading had happened to her.
Nearby, Kai sat beside a campfire, eating wild fruit.
Spiral Zetsu was lying boredly on a tree branch.
“Come to think of it…”
“The place we passed through earlier was still quite far from the Hidden Mist Village.”
“So why did the entire Seven Ninja Swordsmen happen to be there?”
“If it was a coincidence, the odds seem far too low.”
Indeed.
Kai had been too busy enjoying the battle to think about such details.
From the tree, Spiral Zetsu answered casually.
“If it wasn’t a coincidence…”
“Then someone must have discovered your whereabouts and leaked them.”
“Who could that someone be?”
“Could it be…”
Kai fell into thought.
“Spiral Zetsu.”
“At this distance, can you still communicate with the other White Zetsu?”
“Of course.”
“No problem at all.”
“They contact me periodically and report what’s happening back home.”
“After all, Orochimaru’s research concerns your grand plans for the future.”
“We can’t afford any accidents.”
For once, Spiral Zetsu sounded remarkably reliable.
“What about Kabuto Yakushi?”
“Have you been keeping an eye on him?”
“You mean the guy working under Orochimaru?”
“The glasses-wearing guy with the pathetic-looking face?”
“He doesn’t seem particularly impressive, so I didn’t pay much attention to him.”
“I see…”
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
Although he didn’t consider the Kabuto of this era a threat, he knew just how terrifying Kabuto’s potential would become.
If Kabuto weren’t one of Orochimaru’s most capable assistants, Kai would have killed him at the first opportunity.
“You think that glasses guy did it?”
Spiral Zetsu asked.
It wasn’t merely suspicion.
Kai was already convinced.
It was Kabuto Yakushi. Get faster updates on g.com.
Originally, Kabuto had served Danzō and worked as a multi-sided spy traveling between various nations.
After being discarded by Danzō, he found a place under Orochimaru and became completely devoted to him.
But being completely devoted to Orochimaru didn’t mean he would be equally devoted to Kai.
Just imagine.
What would Kabuto think while watching the Orochimaru he respected become nothing more than a tool for Kai to obtain Hashirama’s power?
Wouldn’t it be entirely possible for him to secretly leak Kai’s whereabouts without Orochimaru’s knowledge?
That was simply the kind of person Kabuto was.
“If that’s really the case, I’ll have the White Zetsu eliminate him immediately!”
For once, Spiral Zetsu released genuine killing intent.
“Don’t act recklessly yet.”
“Just keep monitoring him.”
“Right now, nothing is more important than Orochimaru’s research.”
“Hashirama’s cells are connected to my future.”
“We can’t allow anything to interfere with Orochimaru’s progress.”
“Even if Kabuto really is behind this…”
“We’ll pretend we don’t know for now.”
Although Kai spoke calmly, murderous intent surged within his eyes.
He had never imagined that after coming to this Naruto world, someone would actually manage to scheme against him.
So Kai had already made his decision.
Once he obtained Orochimaru’s finished research, he would immediately kill Kabuto Yakushi.
Even if Kabuto turned out to be innocent.
He would kill him anyway.
Yūyū returned from bathing.
When she saw the campfire burning in front of Kai, she frowned.
“Do you not know basic shinobi principles?”
“Lighting a fire while camping at night is a major taboo.”
“Enemy shinobi could discover us at any moment!”
“Wouldn’t that be even better?”
Kai smiled.
“If I get killed, you’ll be free.”
“You!”
Yūyū gritted her teeth.
But she couldn’t find a counterargument.
She could only stomp her foot angrily.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the campfire that had been burning brightly moments ago flickered violently.
Then—
It went out.
At the same time, an enormous mass of fog enveloped the entire mountain.
This wasn’t naturally occurring mist.
It was the Hidden Mist’s secret technique—
Hidden Mist Jutsu.
But the scale of this Hidden Mist Jutsu was extraordinary.
It was far beyond anything the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had demonstrated.
Within the Bloody Mist Village, there was only one person capable of producing mist on this scale.
A voice echoed through the fog.
“Someone capable of defeating the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist…”
“Unfortunately, that leaves me no choice.”
“I’ll have to personally deal with this intruder.”
A beautiful young man with green hair and purple eyes slowly emerged from the mist.
His voice was clear and almost childlike.
Kai stood up.
His expression remained completely calm.
“I didn’t expect we’d meet this soon.”
“The one controlling the Bloody Mist…”
“The Fourth Mizukage.”
“Yagura Karatachi.”