Chapter 67 (Patreon)

Watching Roy vanish before her eyes, Yugito and the Two-Tails could only stare at each other in bewilderment.

“That man... He carried the Nine-Tails’ presence on him. He—”

“I’ve heard that Konoha possesses a jutsu that allows a person’s spirit to leave their body and move freely—the Spirit Transformation Technique.”

They spoke almost simultaneously, each blurting out what they had discovered.

At the Two-Tails’ words, Yugito recalled exactly where Roy had appeared moments earlier. He had been standing directly between the window and Kushina.

“This is bad! Someone’s using the Spirit Transformation Technique to target Kushina!”

She immediately suspected that the person she had just seen was working with the assassin who had attacked using Fire Release. Their goal was to kill the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki and frame her—the Two-Tails’ jinchūriki—for the assassination.

That would sow discord between Konoha and Kumogakure, destroying the peace they had fought so hard to achieve.

The incident also reinforced Yugito’s belief that Konoha was suffering from a severe internal conflict.

She hurriedly returned her consciousness to her body, rushed toward Kushina, and shouted, “Watch out!”

Although Yugito had never encountered the technique herself, she had heard stories from veterans of the Second Shinobi World War. Konoha’s Spirit Transformation Technique could kill without warning on the battlefield, leaving its victims with almost no way to defend themselves.

Even invisible jutsu normally left something for a sensor to detect. A disembodied spirit was different. If the user chose to conceal themselves, discovering them was nearly impossible.

Had the Konoha shinobi who wielded the Spirit Transformation Technique not later vanished from the battlefield, the Second Shinobi World War might have ended with Konoha’s victory much sooner.

Kushina, who had been talking with Kaorui, heard Yugito’s warning and turned around in confusion.

“Yugito-san?”

“A shinobi is using the Spirit Transformation Technique to assassinate you!”

“Ahem... I think she misunderstood what happened,” Roy said before hurriedly explaining the situation to Kushina.

Kushina listened calmly, then turned to Yugito with a reassuring smile.

“That wasn’t... Well, yes, it was the Spirit Transformation Technique, but no one was trying to assassinate me. He was only here to deliver a message.”

When Kushina first heard that Yugito’s consciousness had come into contact with Roy’s blade, she had considered treating Yugito as an ally and telling her everything. However, Roy’s next words reminded her that Yugito was not a shinobi of Konoha.

Furthermore, Roy and Yugito had barely interacted before now. If they revealed everything to her, the information would most likely end up before the Raikage almost immediately.

Since Yugito had already misunderstood the situation, it was better to let her continue believing that explanation.

The corners of Yugito’s mouth twitched after hearing Kushina’s answer.

They had used a technique as powerful as the Spirit Transformation Technique merely to deliver a message? How was that any different from firing a Tailed Beast Ball at a genin?

Only Konoha could afford to waste such a valuable technique on something so trivial.

If someone in Kumogakure possessed an ability of that caliber, they would never be dispatched so casually unless the situation demanded it.

The “misunderstanding” had been resolved, but Roy had no control over what everyone was secretly thinking.

Kushina, for example, remained convinced that he had deliberately brushed against Yugito.

She wasn’t jealous. In fact, she cheerfully declared her full support and even claimed that she was supporting him on behalf of all Konoha.

Teasing aside, they hadn’t forgotten their actual objective. Once enough time had passed, Kushina suggested that they go out for a stroll.

Kaorui knew this was more than a simple shopping trip. However, regardless of what Kushina and Roy were planning, she intended to stand firmly beside them.

Nonō Yakushi, who had only arrived that morning, knew nothing about the situation. She didn’t think too deeply about it, either. This wasn’t the first time she had accompanied them on a shopping trip, so she was already accustomed to it.

Yugito, however, remained suspicious.

Someone had attacked them only two nights ago, yet Kushina was already strolling through the village as though nothing had happened. Furthermore, someone had used the Spirit Transformation Technique to deliver a message to her that morning. Could this shopping trip merely be an excuse to meet someone in secret?

Yugito guessed that the shinobi who used the Spirit Transformation Technique had been investigating the attackers for Kushina. Now that the investigation had produced results, Kushina had suddenly decided to go shopping so she could deal with the matter discreetly.

However, Yugito had no intention of interfering in Konoha’s internal affairs. As far as she was concerned, the more divided Konoha became, the better it would be for Kumogakure.

She secretly observed Kushina throughout their outing. Yet even after following her around for half the day, Yugito found that Kushina genuinely seemed interested only in shopping.

As an experienced kunoichi, Yugito trusted her judgment. If Kushina had secretly contacted anyone along the way, it wouldn’t have escaped her notice.

Meanwhile, once the timing was right, Roy slipped away from Kushina and the others and headed toward the entrance of Root’s underground base.

As for how he had discovered the entrance, the answer was simple. There were only so many places in Konoha where large groups of shinobi regularly gathered.

Once he excluded the shinobi clan compounds, the Hokage’s Office, the Academy, and the various training grounds, there weren’t many possibilities left.

Furthermore, a shinobi’s spiritual pressure was far stronger than that of an ordinary civilian. Although Hiruzen had officially disbanded Root, its underground base had since been occupied by the ANBU. By sensing where large numbers of shinobi had gathered, Roy could easily identify the correct location.

The infiltration went even more smoothly than he had expected. Although ANBU were stationed both inside and outside the base, they could hardly be described as vigilant.

It made sense when Roy thought about it. Everything of value had already been removed, leaving the base as little more than an empty shell. If some of the experimental equipment hadn’t been too large to relocate, the ANBU would have abandoned the place entirely.

They remained only to prevent someone from wandering inside and damaging equipment that was said to cost a fortune.

Roy avoided one ANBU after another and made his way deeper into the underground base.

At first glance, there truly didn’t appear to be anything valuable left. Nevertheless, Roy was certain that many of Danzō’s secrets were still hidden somewhere within these walls.

Given Danzō’s personality, even if he had never expected Hiruzen Sarutobi to remove him from power and disband Root, there was no chance he would have left his most dangerous secrets out in the open.

Danzō also knew the ANBU’s methods inside and out. If he truly wanted to hide something, an ordinary ANBU search would never uncover it.

Unfortunately for him, hiding something from Roy was far more difficult.

Unless an area was protected by a special barrier, physical walls meant nothing to a soul. Roy could simply pass through them as he pleased.

“Kushina-sama, haven’t you found any clothes you like yet?” Nonō asked, puzzled as she watched Kushina try on yet another outfit.

Kushina hadn’t behaved like this during their previous shopping trips. Normally, she only tried something on after deciding that she liked it, simply to confirm the size. Today, however, she had gone through one outfit after another. It was already nearly lunchtime, yet she still hadn’t chosen anything to buy.

“Hmm... None of these sizes seem quite right.”

Delaying for time was certainly part of it, but Kushina wasn’t lying about the clothes.

The sizes she used to wear no longer fit properly. Anything that fit comfortably around her waist felt too tight around her bust, while anything that fit her bust hung loosely around her waist. She simply couldn’t find anything that fit both perfectly.

“That’s strange. Has Kushina-sama gotten a little bigger recently?”

Nonō gave Kushina a careful once-over, her confusion only deepening.

It was true that a woman’s chest often became fuller while nursing, but the difference shouldn’t have been enough to make every standard size fit so poorly.

No matter how long Nonō thought about it, she never could have imagined just how diligently a certain someone had been practicing the ‘Rasengan’.