Orochimaru quickly became so captivated by Tobirama's vast collection of research notes that he lost himself completely. He went an entire day and night without sleep, tirelessly consuming that wealth of knowledge.
Diarmuid had discussed it with him for a long time, but his own schedule remained regular. He didn't sink into the materials indefinitely like Orochimaru.
After dinner, Diarmuid continued his training with the Spirit Transformation Jutsu. This had become his essential daily task, and he placed immense value on it. He wanted to reach a sufficient level of mastery as soon as possible to take a look at the Pure Land himself; perhaps more unknown mysteries and benefits were hidden there.
Most importantly, he wanted to understand exactly what Tobirama meant in his notes by the phrase, "The end of the Spirit Transformation Jutsu is Spiritualization."
Although Tobirama had noted that this so-called "Spiritualization" was extremely dangerous, one could sense between the lines that he believed it held great advantages. Perhaps if he hadn't died so young, he might have actually attempted to turn himself into that mysterious "Spiritualization" state.
Because of this, Diarmuid, who already prioritized the Spirit Transformation Jutsu, treated the technique with even greater gravity.
The reason was simple: physically, he had already attained immortality. Having awakened the power of Wood Release, his vitality was incredibly robust. Furthermore, he had mastered Natural Energy and could enter Sage Mode at any time.
His only regret was that the research into the Sharingan was still in the stage of tedious, repetitive accumulation. Both Sasori and Orochimaru had stated that this research would not yield results in the short term. Therefore, Diarmuid had hit a plateau in terms of physical advancement for the time being. Aside from minor improvements, like his daily Lightning Release training or studying fragments of the Eight Inner Gates, there wasn't much left to elevate.
With his physical condition at a bottleneck, Diarmuid naturally shifted his focus toward his internal self: the training of the soul.
…
Meanwhile, in the Land of Fire, Konohagakure...
A few days ago, when Orochimaru took his leave from Danzo, Diarmuid had also tracked down Kakuzu in Amegakure and asked him to make a trip to Konoha. Thus, he and Orochimaru had set out at the same time, traveling in opposite directions. However, it seemed he entered Konoha about a day later than Orochimaru.
It wasn't that Kakuzu traveled slower than Orochimaru; rather, he had spent a day fiddling with Konoha's barrier to infiltrate secretly.
At the Ichiraku Ramen stall, Kakuzu lifted the curtain and walked in.
"Welcome, customer!" Teuchi's father, Old Man Ichiraku, bellowed in a booming voice.
Since he was infiltrating, Kakuzu wasn't wearing the Yorozuya's black cloak with red clouds; instead, he had changed into inconspicuous, ordinary clothes. Over the past year or two, Kakuzu and Jūzō had become famous throughout the shinobi world, frequently pulling off flashy operations to bolster the Yorozuya's reputation.
In reality, however, Jūzō was the conspicuous one, while Kakuzu felt more like a mastermind behind the scenes. He was remarkably low-profile. On one hand, Jūzō was a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and his fame was long-standing. When he appeared with his iconic Executioner's Blade, anyone with even a passing knowledge of the shinobi world could recognize him instantly; he was a magnet for attention.
On the other hand, Kakuzu had been habitually low-profile for decades. He was meticulous; in almost every mission, he slaughtered everyone to ensure no witnesses remained, thus maintaining his anonymity.
His logic was simple: if I kill all the witnesses, then no one witnessed me, therefore, I am low-profile.
So, while Kakuzu had a fearsome reputation, if you asked someone to describe his features, most would simply say, "He's Jūzō's partner." Describing his actual appearance was impossible. Information regarding Kakuzu's methods, ninjutsu, or specific abilities was essentially non-existent. At most, one could infer from the aftermath of a battle that he was a powerful ninjutsu master who seemed to wield all five elemental natures.
In the original story, Kakuzu was exactly this kind of character. Despite roaming the shinobi world for decades and causing chaos in the Akatsuki for so long, the ninja of Konoha remained completely ignorant of him. Even someone like Asuma, the son of the Hokage, possessed no intelligence on him. That was why he ended up killed by Kakuzu and Hidan.
Kakuzu's eventual downfall happened only because he failed to eliminate all the witnesses in that one battle, allowing Konoha to obtain his data and target him specifically. Thinking back, Kakuzu likely knew very well that keeping his intelligence secret was a massive advantage, given his five lives. Once his secrets were known, he could be countered. Thus, for years, he prioritized information security.
Even now, as an S-rank rogue ninja who had traversed the world for decades, he sat in Konoha's bustling commercial street in plain clothes, and not a single passerby could recognize him.
Is this the ramen Diarmuid recommended so highly? Is it really that good? Kakuzu wondered to himself. He looked at the owner and said, "One bowl of ramen."
"Coming right up! Take a seat, customer," the owner greeted him heartily.
Kakuzu sat down. It wasn't mealtime yet, so the stall was quiet; he was the only one there. While waiting, Kakuzu asked, "Boss, it seems Konoha went through some trouble recently? I heard your Fourth Hokage perished?"
Old Man Teuchi's hands, which were stirring the noodles in the pot, stiffened slightly. He said in a mournful tone, "Yeah... it's no secret. Many people coming to Konoha lately have been asking. That night was truly dangerous. Someone controlled our village's Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails. In the end, Lord Fourth sacrificed himself to protect everyone."
"What a tragedy," Kakuzu added.
Konoha hadn't widely publicized the event, after all, having your own Tailed Beast controlled to ravage the village and having the newly appointed leader killed wasn't exactly something to brag about. However, they hadn't imposed a total media blackout either, as that would be self-deception. There were undoubtedly spies from other villages hidden in Konoha, so a disaster as large as the Nine-Tails' attack couldn't be kept quiet. Furthermore, the village had held a grand funeral for the Fourth Hokage, making it impossible to hide.
Thus, anyone in the shinobi world who paid attention to Konoha knew that the village had suffered a catastrophe. Kakuzu's blatant inquiry did not seem out of place.
…
Meanwhile, at Konoha's Barrier Team, ninjas had already noticed something was wrong.
"Shinnosuke-sama, although it was masked well, we discovered that someone used abnormal means to bypass a section of the barrier and entered the village. In other words, an unidentified individual is currently inside our village," a ninja reported to Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
In Konoha's administrative structure, rank is usually denoted by suffixes. The Root, Anbu, and Medical Division are high-level "Divisions". A "Team" is generally lower in rank than a "Division."
Of course, there are exceptions, like the Jonin Standby Station. While technically lower in administrative rank, it congregates the elite Jonin of Konoha, reports directly to the Hokage, and has the authority to represent the collective opinion of all Konoha Jonin. They even have a say in the selection of the Hokage, so their status as a "Team" shouldn't be underestimated.
However, the Barrier Team was truly a minor entity. Their responsibilities were vital, but their rank was not prestigious. Their affiliation shifted constantly, a reflection of Konoha's internal power struggles. Theoretically, they could report directly to the Hokage, but in practice, they were passed back and forth between the Anbu and the Intelligence Division. When the elders' administrative power was high, the Barrier Team fell under them; when the Anbu had more power, they managed it.
Currently, Hiruzen's position was not yet fully stabilized, as the final procedures hadn't been settled. He also harbored some wariness toward Koharu and Homura, because they, like him, shared a history with Danzo. It wasn't impossible that those two could be swayed by Danzo.
Consequently, at this stage, Hiruzen did not trust the administrative departments managed by the Council of Elders. He naturally trusted his own son more, so the Barrier Team was currently under Anbu management.
"Let me see," Shinnosuke said.
He placed his hand on a sphere of unknown material. This sphere was a module that maintained Konoha's massive barrier. Normally, members of the Barrier Team only needed to perform routine maintenance on the sphere to keep the barrier strong.
Soon, chakra was funneled into the sphere. Shinnosuke closed his eyes, sensing the flow. After a long moment, he opened them, a trace of confusion in his gaze.
The situation was exactly as reported. Someone had tampered with the barrier and infiltrated Konoha. It was clear that the person who did this was highly skilled and intimately familiar with large-scale barriers.
But... the subsequent masking was incredibly sloppy.
Indeed, while the Barrier Team said it was "masked well," Shinnosuke felt a sense of "perfunctoriness." It was as if the infiltrator could have done a much better job to make it harder to detect, but chose to do a half-hearted job instead. It was almost as if they were intentionally telling them: I'm inside.
This was very strange.
Shinnosuke's intuition was correct. Kakuzu was indeed familiar with large-scale barriers, or rather, all types of barriers. For decades, he had traveled the shinobi world performing secret bounty missions in bizarre locations, so he had vast experience with them.
And he truly hadn't bothered to hide his entry into Konoha.
After thinking for a while, Shinnosuke said, "Continue monitoring the barrier." Then, he turned and left the Barrier Team headquarters.
On the other side, Kakuzu finished his bowl of ramen with a look of satisfaction. "Before coming to Konoha, my friend recommended that I must try your ramen. Having eaten it, it was indeed worth the trip."
"Hahaha! Thank you for the compliment, customer!" the owner said, beaming. Look at that, has the fame of Ichiraku Ramen already spread beyond Konoha? Should I take this chance to start a chain-store expansion plan?
After paying, Kakuzu quickly left Ichiraku. He didn't linger on the commercial street. He took a series of winding turns through various alleys until he reached the edge of the Forest of Death, where a rushing river flowed through.
"By now, they should have realized I've entered Konoha," Kakuzu murmured softly as he sat down on a rock.