Tsunade shot a cold glance at the three Cloud-nin and said in a low voice, "Just leave the scroll here."
The tone of those three men irritated her; she neither agreed nor refused.
In the past even envoys from other villages wouldn't have dared to speak to them like that. But now the village had been seized; though they still retained some power, they'd become like beaten dogs — anyone could trample them and spit.
"You—" another Cloud-nin, clearly losing his temper, snarled. A bunch of trash — the Hokage were killed and they still dare make demands of us?
(He felt this way largely because this Cloud team hadn't taken part in the great battle at Konoha. Compared with their Cloud Village, the remaining Konoha forces were nothing — at best a tiny ninja hamlet.)
The Cloud-nin captain raised a hand to stop him. "No problem. Take your time, sirs. But before you leave, I want you two to take a look at these three faces."
With that he opened a luminous portrait. The two former Konoha advisors merely glanced at it and looked away. But when the Cloud captain unfurled the second scroll, Mito Monen gave an involuntary shudder.
He quickly adjusted his spectacles and said in a low voice, "Tsunade?!"
Tsunade's eyes snapped open. Sure enough, the second scroll held a sketch of Tsunade's likeness — unmistakably hers.
Her proud face softened, and she took the second portrait to examine it closely. Finally there was news about the new Hokage Konoha had been searching for.
"Have… they already infiltrated the Fire Country capital?" Tsunade asked.
Her taut, aged features relaxed somewhat, and a flicker of excitement showed.
"If you agree to cooperate with us, we'll reveal the rest of the information," the Cloud-nin captain said with a sigh of relief. Clearly Konoha wouldn't ignore intelligence about Tsunade.
He then opened the final portrait — and it was Madara's likeness.
The three portraits had been sketched after they had one meeting with Tsunade's group and then tracked them from a distance.
Mito Monen and Tsunade were both focused on the portrait of Tsunade; they only spared a casual glance at the third image before looking away.
Then, in the next instant—
"How is this possible?!"
Both of them cried out at once, lunging toward the Cloud captain and snatching the portrait away.
"???"
The Cloud-nin captain was startled by Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's sudden reaction.
The other two Cloud-nin, afraid that these two old advisors might attack their captain, immediately stepped in front of him to shield him.
When the Cloud-nin captain looked toward the two Hokage advisors, he was horrified to find both old men completely pale, their faces ashen, their eyes locked onto the third portrait as they panted heavily—
as if they had just seen a ghost.
"L-Lord…?"
The Cloud-nin captain squeezed out from between his teammates, cautiously testing the waters.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura continued staring at the portrait, as if possessed, muttering under their breath:
"How could it be him???"
The three Cloud-nin carefully examined the portrait of the handsome, imposing man, but saw nothing particularly unusual.
They had no idea who the "he" mentioned by the advisors was supposed to be.
Koharu and Homura belonged to a generation that had actually seen Uchiha Madara when they were very young, and his appearance was deeply engraved into their memories.
Even after holding high positions in Konoha for decades, they themselves had never cultivated the overwhelming aura Madara once possessed.
It wasn't an exaggeration: his presence was the kind that could terrify even small children into silence.
"How could he still be alive… and still so young?"
Homura collapsed onto the floor, muttering blankly.
It was over.
All over!
In Homura's mind, the ninja world seemed to have stepped into an era of absolute chaos.
After a long silence, Koharu clutched Madara's portrait tightly, turned to the three Cloud-nin, and said:
"We agree to cooperate with Kumogakure. Tell us your detailed plan. I'll summon all the clan heads and call an emergency leadership meeting immediately."
The Cloud-nin captain whispered in astonishment:
"For this kind of cooperation… you don't need a high-level meeting."
He was shaken—did capturing a wandering Uchiha really need such a serious response?
But Homura shook his head, expression grim, and left the cabin to personally summon the clan heads.
Koharu continued staring at the three portraits, countless thoughts racing through her mind.
Could it be that…
It must be because Tsunade encountered this man who looked so much like Madara somewhere in the ninja world, and chose to accompany him in order to extract information from him.
Yes—this had to be the case.
Judging from that, Tsunade still cared about Konoha; otherwise, she would never risk traveling with "Madara," even if the man merely resembled him.
Turning Koharu pondered silently. For now, the priority is to locate Lady Tsunade. Once we find her, we'll understand everything that happened. But… when we do find them, who should we send to make contact with Lady Tsunade?
A moment later, a name flashed through Koharu's mind—the most suitable person for a dangerous mission like this.
…
…
At the Konoha encampment, Itachi had just finished a mission. Exhausted, he returned to his wooden cabin.
Creaaak—
The door slid open.
Itachi looked into the room and saw a masked man sitting leisurely beside the tea table, brewing tea.
Their eyes met briefly. Itachi stepped inside and quietly shut the door.
"Back already?"
Tobi lifted the teapot and glanced around the cabin. The house had only one floor and a single room. The living room was the bedroom, and the bedroom was the living room.
This alone showed Itachi's current status within what remained of Konoha.
Seeing Itachi silent, Tobi poured him a cup of tea.
"So, have you thought about it?"
Itachi gave him a calm glance, sat beside him, and replied casually, "Still considering it."
During their last meeting, Tobi had explained his plan.
This man who called himself Madara wanted to bring all of Konoha's remaining forces under his command and then integrate them with his Akatsuki organization.
Before that, he intended to help Itachi seize power—making him the next Hokage of the Konoha remnants.
Itachi had neither agreed nor refused.
He was loyal to Konoha—foolishly loyal, even—but was this Konoha the same Konoha he cherished?
Itachi had begun searching for a path of his own. And clearly, aside from remaining in Konoha where he was no longer valued, the only other road was to follow "Madara" and join Akatsuki.
"No need to rush," Tobi said as he continued pouring tea.
Though he seemed intent on taking over Konoha's survivors, his real focus was abducting Naruto, the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
As for why he hadn't acted yet—Tobi didn't want to completely sever his relationship with Itachi, who had awakened Fugaku's Mangekyō. He wanted to observe Itachi's stance a little longer.
Just then—
Knock knock knock—
Someone knocked on the wooden door.
Itachi exchanged a glance with Tobi, then looked toward the door.
"Who is it?"
"Lord Itachi! Elders Koharu and Homura urgently request your presence!"
A Konoha ninja's voice called from outside.
°°°
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