What exactly Akatsuki was—Konoha's "Meteor Garden Four" didn't know and didn't care. What they did care about was the Uchiha.
Uchiha Shisui's sudden shift in stance, Uchiha Itachi being pushed away by his clan, and the mysterious secrecy surrounding the clan meeting...
All of it gave them reason to suspect: was the Uchiha clan really planning something?
But true or not, as long as the Uchiha didn't make the first move, they absolutely could not "strike preemptively." It was far too risky politically.
Fortunately, Uchiha Itachi was now an ANBU squad captain, and due to some "special reasons," he'd been assigned under Danzo.
His two teammates were Root operatives, so some matters really did need to be reported directly to Danzo—and some were only for Danzo.
Danzo also had the authority to issue orders to Itachi directly. That made many things... more convenient.
Like certain sensitive missions that could be handed out directly by Danzo, bypassing the Hokage's approval and without being recorded by ANBU at all.
In specific extreme scenarios, Itachi's value became absolute.
Because he was Uchiha—yet also fully aligned with the Hokage's camp.
And even though they had no plans to act immediately, they'd decided to wait a while longer. It was too soon—they'd just stripped Itachi of the right to attend clan meetings. The Uchiha would be on high alert right now.
And they weren't fools. They were definitely tightening security. Waiting for them to get complacent later would be the best time to strike.
What Konoha's "Meteor Garden Four" were scheming, Yuhara didn't know.
And what Itachi was up to—he wasn't too clear on either.
Even though he'd sent Shisui to track Itachi, they hadn't gotten much intel.
Both were Mangekyō users and members of ANBU. Itachi's counter-surveillance skills were top-tier.
Aside from knowing the brat had snuck off to meet with Hiruzen, Yuhara didn't know much else.
"Still, that brat meeting with Hiruzen can't be anything good. So I've got to stay alert—he's got the Mangekyō, after all.
As long as we keep an eye on him, it's fine. The Uchiha don't act, Hiruzen won't dare take big action. Itachi is the real wild card."
Yuhara walked through the village streets, deep in thought, heading toward the training grounds.
He'd been training nonstop these past days. The clan had sent many elite shinobi to spar with him.
Of course, the ideal training partner was still Shisui. But Shisui was busy tailing Itachi.
Even if it didn't yield any intel—or even got noticed by Itachi—it still had to be done.
Just like how Itachi revealed his Mangekyō to them as a show of strength, Yuhara's move was to show Itachi: "We're watching you. Everything you do is under our eyes."
"Also, I remember Itachi's series of actions in the original were all tied to Uchiha Obito. So the question is—has Obito started moving yet?"
Yuhara stayed wary of Obito. Even knowing his weaknesses, that space-time ability was still ridiculously annoying.
The only people who could handle him were the now-dead Fourth Hokage, Minato, or late-game Kakashi with Mangekyō working with Naruto.
"Well... I've got Shisui. Worst case, he can just hit Obito with Kotoamatsukami. I refuse to believe that guy won't fall for it!"
Genjutsu was probably the best way to deal with Obito, and Kotoamatsukami was a monstrous genjutsu that could rewrite someone's will without them noticing.
Yuhara figured there weren't many people in this world who could resist it.
Maybe the Eternal Mangekyō could resist. Or those with Hashirama cells—possibly.
Yuhara liked to prepare for every possibility. Even if his theories weren't confirmed, they still helped him prepare.
Whether Itachi and Obito were collaborating now or later, Obito was bound to be Yuhara's enemy eventually.
So prepping early and treating him as a hypothetical threat? Totally logical.
"If only I could draw some old geezer time-based skill... I don't even need a nuke—just a slowdown move and I'd have Obito at my mercy."
Time powers were always busted.
And in this world, getting something like that through normal means? Only a Mangekyō miracle could help.
Too bad when Yuhara awakened his Mangekyō through the system, all he had in mind was "get the strongest power"—and now he was stuck with this.
Still, with a system, it wasn't impossible.
He shook his head. No point stressing about RNG gacha luck. That stuff was way too random.
Instead of daydreaming, it was better to think: what would Madara do against Obito's Mangekyō?
After thinking it through, Yuhara figured Madara's best play would probably be summoning his Susanoo and waiting for Obito to act.
Once Obito made a move, Madara would unleash overwhelming power in an instant and flatten him.
"Honestly, in terms of fundamental ninja skill, not many can match Uchiha Madara."
With that clarity, Yuhara decided his top priority now was leveling himself up.
He now had full access to the clan library—including the forbidden sections—and had already learned quite a bit.
He'd memorized both Izanagi and Izanami, and had trained in high-level Fire Release techniques like Great Fire Annihilation and Fire Release: Extinction.
He'd even expanded his Earth and Wind releases—thanks to the Wind-Style: Soaring Bird Dance he'd acquired.
"Other than completing form and nature transformation for Earth and Wind, I'd say I've boosted everything across the board.
Oh, and Wind Release doesn't need it—Soaring Bird Dance gave me nature transformation for free."
Completing transformation in just one month was unrealistic. No point rushing it.
Better to spend that time refining Susanoo instead.
His eye technique already reduced Susanoo's activation difficulty and chakra drain. Plus, he'd absorbed so much clan history—it helped deepen his understanding.
With that, investing more time in Susanoo was the obvious call.
"Also, my Susanoo is the same color as Madara's—blue. I wonder if mine can evolve to that level someday."
Madara's Susanoo was deep blue. So was Yuhara's. But right now, he could only reach the second stage.
Kind of embarrassing—especially compared to Madara or Sasuke.
But to be fair, he was pacing himself, experimenting, and had only been training for about a month. Not bad, honestly.
"Huh?"
As he walked, he suddenly noticed two familiar figures approaching.
One was Nara Shikamaru. The other—Kotoha Nara.