Kurotsuchi thought and thought, but couldn't come up with a good idea.
Finally, she gritted her teeth and decided on a simple method.
'Even if you don't think it's an assassination, it's okay, as long as I make others think it's an assassination!'
With decision made,
Kurotsuchi immediately went to the roof of Takumi's house.
Quietly lifting a roof board, she saw Takumi sleeping soundly and rejoiced inwardly.
Then, she suddenly stomped through a ceiling panel and landed right next to Takumi.
Bang!
With a loud crash.
Takumi's eyes snapped open, and he saw someone land beside him.
The next thing he saw was a pair of lively, big eyes.
"Now do you believe I'm trying to assassinate you?"
Kurotsuchi's face was mischievous, full of confidence in her plan.
Takumi, however, looked darkly at the big hole in the ceiling, utterly speechless.
'Is this shooting myself in the foot?'
Withdrawing his gaze, he said fiercely, "No!"
Then, he directly threw Kurotsuchi out through the hole in the roof.
Bang bang bang!
The door was knocked urgently, and people outside shouted, "Are you okay, Takumi-kun? We just heard a loud noise from your room!"
"It's nothing, just the ceiling giving way from age."
Takumi shouted back. "Sorry for startling you, thank you for your concern."
"Glad you're okay."
The people outside, hearing Takumi's voice, were relieved and stopped knocking frantically. "Recently, people have been trying to harm you, Takumi-kun. You must be careful."
"Okay, I'll be careful."
Takumi shouted again, then smiled wryly to himself.
Now even the villagers know he's been frequently targeted for assassination lately.
Well, the Akatsuki did come way too often.
And now Kumogakure has been added.
In such a short time, how many assassination attempts have there been?
No wonder the villagers worry about his safety at the slightest unusual event.
It's because recent events have made them tense.
Konoha hasn't had a hero for too long.
The last one was Namikaze Minato.
And he became Hokage, but not long after,
Because of an outsider invasion, the Nine-Tails inside Uzumaki Kushina was released, causing massive destruction in the village.
Minato died that night.
Konoha's hero died like that.
Now, they cherish the new hero of Konoha dearly, hoping Takumi can lead them to an even more brilliant future.
If something unexpected happened to Takumi now, they would regret it for life.
In short, Takumi's life was more precious than he himself realized.
Kurotsuchi, thrown out, looked troubled.
At least she knew she had come to Konoha secretly and couldn't be discovered.
At least until she achieved her goal, she couldn't be found by Konoha's people.
So she quickly merged into the ground.
But she was still very depressed.
It was a foolproof plan, yet it didn't succeed.
"It must be the lack of witnesses!"
Kurotsuchi quickly hit upon the crucial point.
"As long as there are witnesses, he'll have to admit I really did try to assassinate him!"
Kurotsuchi quickly found a suitable witness.
Konoha's famous Copy Ninja, Kakashi.
At that moment, Kakashi was standing at a street corner, leaning against a wall, reading a masterpiece authored by Jiraiya.
Kurotsuchi clearly hadn't read this masterpiece; otherwise, she might have reconsidered using this famous Shinobi as a witness.
The witness was found.
Now she just needed Takumi to appear near the witness at the right time, and then she would strike.
In front of everyone, Takumi would have to admit she was an assassin.
Then it would naturally follow that he would arrest her and keep her by his side, eating and sleeping together!
Perfect plan!
"Hehehe..."
Kurotsuchi let out a laugh like a lecherous old man.
She didn't notice that Kakashi had already spotted her.
Although his eye seemed to be on the masterpiece, his thoughts were on her.
'If I remember correctly, this one is the Tsuchikage's granddaughter...'
'But I don't recall any record of her visit...'
'And judging by her sneaky behavior, could it be...'
For a moment, Kakashi's gaze sharpened.
But the next moment, it returned to its usual lackluster look. 'Looks like another one of Takumi's fangirls. There are so many crazy young girls these days.'
'Going to any lengths just to meet their idol.'
Kakashi sighed and shook his head, casually turning a page.
This turn immediately drew him into the captivating plot description. His face slightly flushed, he excitedly covered his mouth. "As expected of the legendary Jiraiya-sensei! He can write descriptions like this?"
Kurotsuchi was like a patient assassin.
She hid in the corner, patiently waiting for Takumi to appear.
Although Takumi was sleeping now,
But there would come a time when Takumi got up to eat.
Kurotsuchi hadn't considered the possibility of Takumi cooking for himself at home.
She was now completely absorbed in her 'perfect' plan, without any thought of other possible events.
She waited like this for over two hours.
Kurotsuchi had plenty of patience, staying perfectly still for those two hours.
Finally, Takumi came out, stretching.
The warm sunlight shone on him, but Takumi couldn't help but sigh.
His Observation Haki was warning him again.
But there was nothing he could do.
He couldn't really arrest Kurotsuchi.
He still hadn't figured out the exact situation.
If this led to a diplomatic conflict with Iwagakure, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Not that he couldn't handle it, but there was no need to create extra trouble at this critical juncture.
Ignoring Kurotsuchi in the corner, he turned and walked in another direction.
But Kurotsuchi rushed out at that moment, moving fast.
"Good afternoon, Kakashi-senpai."
Takumi raised his hand to greet Kakashi.
Kakashi looked up and said to Takumi, "You're early too... but what are you two doing right now?"
At this moment,
Kurotsuchi's kunai was once again at Takumi's throat, but there wasn't a trace of killing intent from her.
So neither Takumi nor Kakashi was fazed.
Hiding your killing intent before the target appears to remain concealed is qualified for an assassin.
But now the target is right there, and your kunai is at his throat, yet you still have no killing intent.
What kind of assassination is this?
Anyone can see you don't plan to kill.
How could they possibly care?
"Who knows?"
Takumi shrugged. His movement made Kurotsuchi quickly adjust her grip, afraid his action might make her kunai poke a hole in his neck.
Her kunai was still very sharp.
"Don't move!"
Kurotsuchi warned nervously.
"That sounds a bit more like it."
Takumi smiled, then said to Kakashi, "Senpai, has there been any record of visits from Iwagakure lately?"
"No."
Kakashi shook his head, his gaze still on the masterpiece. "But relations with Iwagakure aren't too tense lately, and given her special status, it shouldn't be a problem."
"And from the looks of it, she came for you, so even less of a problem."
Kakashi looked unconcerned.
This made Takumi a bit dissatisfied. "Hey, hey, Kakashi-senpai?"
"Can you negotiate with Iwagakure? Their princess is missing, don't they care?"
Takumi was indeed dissatisfied.
If Kurotsuchi kept pestering him like this, what would happen if she pulled this stunt while he was intimate with Kurenai or Tsunade at night? How would that play out?
Kurenai would be okay, she was gentle and understanding, now practically obedient to him.
But Tsunade's personality was hard to predict.
When she discovered Yugito in his bed, she punched him without hesitation.
She nearly shattered his Susano'o that automatically protected him.
This was someone absolutely not to be provoked; it could lead to disaster.