"Naruto… Uzumaki?"
On the road from the desert where Loulan's ruins were located to Konoha Village in the Land of Fire, Shisui Uchiha could not help frowning when he heard Nagato mention this search request from Queen Sara of Loulan.
His expression looked as if he had thought of something.
"What? Do you know this person, Shisui?"
Seeing Shisui Uchiha show such an expression, Nagato, who had originally thought this would be a mission that required no small amount of investigation before they could find the target, asked in surprise.
"No. I do not know the exact person corresponding to this name. But the surname Uzumaki…"
Shisui Uchiha thought for a while, then said in a tone filled with incomprehension and uncertainty, "No matter how I think about it, it should be connected to the Fourth Hokage's wife, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki."
"But the Fourth Hokage's surname is Namikaze, right? If that Naruto really is the child of Kushina Uzumaki and the Fourth Hokage, he should be called Naruto Namikaze, shouldn't he?"
Nagato raised a doubt.
"And after Uzushiogakure was destroyed, the Uzumaki clan was forced to scatter across the shinobi world. Perhaps there were Uzumaki clansmen other than Kushina Uzumaki who were taken in by Konoha."
"Perhaps. After all, I have not returned to Konoha for more than two years."
Shisui Uchiha thought about it, then spoke with some uncertainty.
"And according to Queen Sara's description, that sixteen-year-old youth called Naruto Uzumaki came to Loulan from roughly twenty years in the future five or six years ago, before the Third Shinobi World War even began.
"Counting it like that, he would indeed have been born after I left Konoha. Maybe he is the descendant of some wandering Uzumaki clansman who settled in Konoha."
After thinking it through, Shisui Uchiha felt that this did make some sense.
So he stopped continuing to worry over the possible meaning hidden behind that name. Instead, with a bit of nostalgia and concern, he looked far away in the direction of Konoha Village.
"Konoha… I wonder how much you have changed compared to when I left. That cliff carved with the faces of the previous Hokage should have a fourth face now, right?"
"Feeling timid now that you are close to home?"
Nagato lightly stepped on the back of a hawk that happened to dive down to hunt a rabbit, continuing to keep pace with Shisui Uchiha without interfering with the hawk's speed or direction in the slightest.
Curiously, he asked, "Speaking of which, would you rather Konoha have not changed much, or would you rather it changed a great deal?"
"…Hard to say."
Shisui Uchiha shook his head. His expression also carried confusion and uncertainty.
"If nothing has changed, that may be good for me. But for Konoha, it would mean they have not progressed at all, wouldn't it? That is not acceptable. A new era has already arrived. A village that clings stubbornly to the past will be left far behind. I do not want Konoha to become something abandoned by the times.
"But if the changes are too great, I am also afraid that I will no longer recognize it as the homeland I once knew. I am also worried that the people of my clan will not be able to adapt to such drastic changes in time and will be forced to become obstacles standing in the path of reform…
"It is laughable. When I watched Lord Fourth command Kirigakure with such force, almost dragging the village forward by force toward an entirely new system, I still thought those stubborn conservatives were truly annoying…"
"That is probably because, on Kirigakure's side, aside from Rei Kaguya, there are no people you care that much about."
As an observer and an outsider, Nagato easily heard the reason behind Shisui Uchiha's conflict.
"But when it comes to Konoha, the old and young of the Uchiha clan alone are enough to make it impossible for you to ignore them."
"That is why I think Lord Fourth's mental strength is not something ordinary people can imagine."
Shisui Uchiha sighed and spoke with heartfelt emotion.
"During the process of reforming Kirigakure, the Kaguya clan basically never received any special preferential treatment from him. Sometimes, they would even be dragged out and criticized by name without mercy because they made mistakes…
"If not for the fact that he lives in the Kaguya clan grounds and occasionally brings his older sister and nephew out to eat together, I might really have thought he had already broken with the Kaguya clan."
"Then I think you are closer to being in a position where you have broken with your clan, Shisui."
Nagato smiled and pointed at the Kirigakure forehead protector on Shisui Uchiha's forehead.
"If this thing is seen by members of the Uchiha clan who know you, they might get so angry they awaken three-tomoe Sharingan on the spot."
"After we enter the Land of Fire, I will definitely hide this thing…"
Shisui Uchiha awkwardly covered his forehead protector and said, "Besides, this time, we are only infiltrating Konoha in advance to guard against a sudden Root attack on the village. Unless necessary, we do not even need to undo our disguises and appear in battle."
"I hope so."
Looking at the patch of green gradually appearing on the horizon ahead, Nagato sighed.
…
Two days later.
Konoha.
Nagato and Shisui Uchiha, who had already disguised themselves in advance and were pretending to be merchants from the Land of Wind coming to the Land of Fire to purchase goods, entered Konoha Village through the main gate.
The Konoha at this time was not very different from the one in Shisui Uchiha's memories. And because it was no longer wartime, the overall social atmosphere was also much livelier and more energetic than during the late stage of the Third Shinobi World War.
He raised his head and looked up at the fourth face newly carved onto the cliff wall, then muttered with some emotion, "So that is the Fourth Hokage's face on the Hokage Rock? He really looks young."
"Isn't the one in Kirigakure even younger? I heard he still has not reached the legal age to drink."
Nagato also lowered his voice and spoke with a hint of teasing.
"Uh… Now that I think about it, Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage is only in his twenties. What about Kumogakure's Fourth Raikage? He should be around the same age, right?
"Except for Iwagakure, which is still ruled by the Third Tsuchikage, the Fourth Kage of the other shinobi villages are all very young."
"Oh? You two young men actually know something about the affairs of other nations in the shinobi world?"
The owner of Ichiraku Ramen placed the ramen they had ordered in front of them.
At the same time, he looked in some surprise at their Land of Wind-style clothing and their faces, which were still very young even after disguise.
He asked with great curiosity, "You are already merchants traveling far and wide at such a young age?"
"We are just following our family around to do business and broaden our horizons."
Nagato, who was playing the older "brother" in their setting, smiled at Teuchi.
"This time, we came to the Land of Fire because we wanted to help our family see if there are any goods worth bringing to other countries to sell… Boss, do you have any recommendations?"
"Hahaha. That topic is not very suitable for me to answer."
Teuchi laughed and scratched his head.
"There are far too many products worth recommending from Konoha and the Land of Fire. How could a small merchant like me, who has never left Konoha Village in my entire life, explain it properly?
"If my immature and incomplete recommendations cause you two to miss something valuable, wouldn't that become my fault?"
"Having some recommendations is still better than us wandering around blindly and searching on our own."
Nagato maintained his persona with practiced ease, ignoring the side-eye Shisui Uchiha threw at him while eating ramen.
"Boss, just tell us what you personally like better. Let us use it as a reference."
"Well…"
Just as Teuchi was thinking about how to answer, a commotion that was not small suddenly came from the street nearby.
Shisui Uchiha and Nagato, who were sitting inside Ichiraku Ramen, subconsciously turned their heads to look toward the source of the sound.
But then they saw a figure fly sideways from that direction, crashing to the ground not far from the ramen shop's entrance with a bang.
It was a young shinobi wearing a Konoha forehead protector.
What is going on? Is Konoha's public security usually like this?
Nagato reached out and patted Shisui Uchiha on the shoulder, giving him a questioning look.
No. Do not act rashly. Something is wrong.
Shisui Uchiha gestured to Nagato with a movement difficult for ordinary people to notice, then looked solemnly at the two figures walking toward the Konoha shinobi who had been sent flying.
"Have you learned not to repeat rumors you heard from who knows where and spread them around randomly, you brat who only knows how to make trouble for the village!?"
The younger of the two figures crouched down and grabbed the collar of the person who had been sent flying.
He stared fiercely at the bruise already forming around the other person's eye, trying to make him understand his current dissatisfaction this way.
But what he did not expect was that the beaten person only spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva to the side and answered loudly without the slightest fear.
"Making… trouble for the village? Stop making me laugh.
"I am only revealing to everyone the true face of your Uchiha clan. I am letting everyone know the truth—that the Shisui Uchiha you people have spent years unreasonably demanding the village exchange back at any cost has long since become Kirigakure's dog."
"What are you going to do next? Keep hitting me until I can no longer speak? Or are you going to use your Uchiha clan's privileges to throw me into the Konoha Military Police Force's prison?
"Oh, no. It should not be called the Konoha Military Police Force. In my opinion, it should be called the Uchiha Military Police Force, right?"
"You!"
The young Uchiha wearing the uniform of the Konoha Military Police Force flushed red with anger on the spot.
He raised his fist, about to smash it down on the other man's face.
But before he could exert strength, the other, older Uchiha grabbed his arm and shook his head at him.
"Yuki, you cannot solve the problem like this."
"But… but Uncle Genka, he is insulting the honor of every member of our Uchiha clan!"
"If this punch lands, the negative consequences will only be worse than what he said."
Uchiha Genka forcibly pulled Uchiha Yuki off the young shinobi who had been beaten down.
After giving a hasty apology to the young shinobi whose eye had been bruised, he dragged Uchiha Yuki away from the scene with a gloomy face.
"Hah… hah… The end of you Uchiha is coming soon. Just you wait. Just you wait."
The beaten young shinobi staggered to his feet, cursing as he left.
And Shisui Uchiha, who had watched from the side, gradually turned grim after he left.
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