Chapter 67: Injured Hayate, Obito in Konoha

Then, he suddenly looked towards a nearby rooftop.

"Truly an impressive concealment ninjutsu, to be able to eavesdrop while we were talking."

"..."

'Is it Gekko Hayate?'

Uchiha Itachi only needed one glance to identify the eavesdropper.

"I'll handle this," Seeing the masked man in front of him manifest the swirling spatial ripples again, Uchiha Itachi didn't want a Konoha Anbu ninja to be captured by him, so he decided to take action himself.

"Then I'll leave it to you," Of course, Obito knew Uchiha Itachi's little scheme, but for him, Konoha was a place he could come and go as he pleased, and he didn't care much about how much information a Konoha Anbu ninja could provide him.

"As for what I mentioned earlier, you need to do it as soon as possible. From now on, Kisame will be your contact."

"Understood."

The dark clouds parted, revealing a bright full moon.

Uchiha Itachi expressionlessly drew his long sword from his back and silently leaped towards the nearby rooftop.

"Sorry, Mr. Hayate, since you've heard my identity, I can only ask you to die."

Under the moonlight.

Uchiha Itachi opened his crimson Sharingan, gripping the cold, gleaming blade.

This scene was reminiscent of the night of the clan massacre.

"You...", Gekko Hayate, whose cover was blown, could only reveal himself on the rooftop, his face filled with shock.

"Ita... so it means Itachi, you traitor of Konoha, how dare you return!"

'And even collude with outsiders!'

Gripping his long sword tightly, Gekko Hayate looked at the Uchiha traitor before him, convinced that his appearance here, along with his secret meeting with an unknown ninja, was surely to disrupt Konoha's peace.

Both emotionally and logically, as the former captain of the Anbu, he had to clean up the mess.

"Die, Uchiha Itachi!"

'Take my Moonlight Slash!'

Gekko Hayate once again used his Transparent Escape to conceal his form, then leaped high into the air, executing his most proud Konoha-style swordsmanship.

'Secret Technique: Three Crescent Moon Dance!'

Three extremely fast figures, under the moonlight, attacked from three different angles, left, top, and right, with long swords aimed at the solitary Uchiha Itachi.

However, just as the blades were about to strike Uchiha Itachi's shoulders and head, the sound of flapping crow wings inexplicably arose.

And Uchiha Itachi, who should have been splattered with blood, had already disappeared from his original spot.

"Sorry, but I will let you die with minimal pain, please don't worry."

Uchiha Itachi's figure, coalesced from crows, quietly appeared behind Gekko Hayate.

And the blade in his hand had already pierced the other's side.

As for his line about "painless," he had said it many times since the night of the clan massacre.

Letting Konoha comrades die in an instant was the only "mercy" he could offer.

"You?"

Only after the long sword had pierced through his body did Gekko Hayate realize Uchiha Itachi was behind him.

'The speed of his sword draw... was actually faster than mine...'

'Is this the genius of the Uchiha clan, the S-class traitor of Konoha who annihilated an entire clan?'

'Indeed, trying to escape earlier would have been the wisest choice.'

'Sorry, Yugao, it seems I can no longer be with you...'

Regret, along with the final flashbacks of his life, began to surface in Gekko Hayate's mind.

'Konoha has been at peace for too long, being this lax is very dangerous...'

Only at the last moment of his life did Gekko Hayate remember Yugao's advice to him.

Swish!

A shuriken suddenly flew out, then multiplied into several, attacking the slightly surprised Uchiha Itachi.

The long sword embedded in Gekko Hayate's side had to be abandoned.

Uchiha Itachi, using his crow substitution technique again, narrowly dodged these tricky shuriken.

At the same time, he recognized the style of these shuriken.

"Uchiha Throwing Technique?"

"Didn't expect to meet again so soon, Uchiha Itachi."

From behind a large tree, the figures of two ninjas, a man and a woman, slowly emerged.

They were Uchiha Kage and Yuhi Kurenai.

Just now, Yuhi Kurenai thought the masked man had sensed them, but fortunately, Uchiha Kage remained calm, knowing it was Gekko Hayate hiding on the other side who had first exposed himself.

However, the two still chose to reveal themselves as Gekko Hayate was about to be killed by Uchiha Itachi.

"Cough... Kage? And... Yuhi Kurenai, hurry, go inform the Hokage building..."

Because the attack was interrupted at the last moment, the long sword Uchiha Itachi thrust into Gekko Hayate's body slightly missed the vital spot.

So, although Gekko Hayate was seriously injured, he was still barely alive.

"Today's events were not my intention, I don't want to fight with you, let's go see the Hokage together," Seeing Uchiha Kage and Yuhi Kurenai, Uchiha Itachi realized that today was likely a setup by Obito.

And now, he couldn't easily silence them, so he could only see if Sarutobi Hiruzen still needed him to stay in Konoha.

Otherwise, this brief return to the village would have to end here.

———

"Hokage-sama must be crazy!", After leaving the Hokage building, Yuhi Kurenai immediately cursed.

She never expected that the Hokage already knew Uchiha Itachi's identity, and tonight's events, he even imposed a gag order on her and Uchiha Kage, not allowing them to spread the word.

Only saying that after the Chunin Exams, he would give them and Gekko Hayate an explanation.

"Teacher, be careful with your words," Uchiha Kage knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't crazy, it was just that his future diary had inadvertently exposed his true nature in front of them.

Coupled with recent emergencies.

Not to mention Sarutobi Hiruzen, if he were in such a situation, he would probably be overwhelmed too.

"Now I'm the Hokage's direct Anbu, I don't want to arrest you for slandering the Hokage one day," However, the only good thing was finally getting Uchiha Itachi out of his subordinate team.

And then being exempted from tonight's patrol duty.

It's just hard on Yugao, who's probably still waiting in the Konoha hospital for Gekko Hayate's surgery to end.

"Arrest me if you want," Yuhi Kurenai was in a bad mood, it was the first time she had questioned or even felt disillusioned with the kind and upright Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"To keep such a dangerous person like Uchiha Itachi in the village, it's like he doesn't care about you..."

Yes, Yuhi Kurenai was more worried about her student, Uchiha Kage's safety.

The bloody scenes of Uchiha Itachi's clan massacre, she had witnessed them all back then, and they were still vivid in her memory.

Who knows when such a dangerous person might go mad and suddenly attack her student?

"Don't be angry, teacher, the Hokage must have his considerations, and even against Uchiha Itachi, I won't lose," Feeling Yuhi Kurenai's concern for him, Uchiha Kage also seriously comforted her.

"You... don't be arrogant, be careful you end up like Hayate today."

'But that Anbu kunoichi does seem to be paired with Gekko Hayate...'

'Looks like this guy wasn't lying.'

'Right, facing his "useless" female teacher, this jerk probably wouldn't bother lying to me.'

'It was all my wishful thinking.'

"Teacher is right, I will be very careful," With Transparent Escape and intangibility as his life-saving techniques, Uchiha Kage had the confidence to appear before Uchiha Itachi with Yuhi Kurenai earlier.

"Just perfunctory, are you going to the hospital later?", Thinking of Uchiha Itachi being in the village, Yuhi Kurenai suddenly felt very insecure.

But not for her own safety, but for this student's safety.

"Yugao refused."

Gekko Hayate's condition wasn't that bad yet.

So, Yugao was still relatively calm.

"Then... I have a spare room at my place, would you like to...", Yuhi Kurenai didn't want Uchiha Kage to return to the "ominous" Uchiha clan grounds tonight.

"Kurenai!"

Just as Yuhi Kurenai was about to invite Uchiha Kage to stay at her place for a while, a hurried figure interrupted her.

"Asuma..."

"I heard there were bad guys in the village, are you hurt?"

Although not clear on the situation, Asuma had heard some rumors.

"No."

Looking at the sudden intrusion of her childhood friend, Yuhi Kurenai had no choice but to temporarily abandon her earlier idea.

Thinking carefully, a single woman inviting a man to stay overnight, and at night...

At this thought, she was too embarrassed to bring it up again.

But watching Uchiha Kage's departing figure, she was still full of worry.

'Right, Asuma...'

Retracting her worried gaze, Yuhi Kurenai looked at the childhood friend before her.

'He's the Hokage's son, so telling him some things shouldn't be a problem, right?'

After tonight's events, Yuhi Kurenai no longer felt as compelled to follow the Hokage's orders.

———

'Seeing Uchiha Itachi and still managing not to act, facing the Hokage's cover-up without getting angry.'

Uchiha Obito's figure slowly appeared in a shadowy corner of Konoha.

Watching Uchiha Kage leave the Hokage building, he momentarily thought of Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Kagami.

'What a foolishly loyal kid.'

'This is so un-Uchiha-like.'

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