Chapter Ninety-Eight: Intelligence Record

Hearing Uchiha Li’s decidedly unfriendly answer, Akimichi Choza stepped forward from behind him and said, “You two sneaking, shadowy types—what kind of attitude is that?”

As members of Konoha, whenever they carried out missions outside the village, who did not treat them with proper respect?

And yet these two, hiding their faces and their intentions, had not only guessed their identities, but dared to be so insolent. Worse still, they did not even bother to conceal it. It was truly infuriating.

Uchiha Li likewise stepped forward.

Although the other side was also from Konoha, and both would, in time, become figures of great weight, he was now speaking for Terra. Naturally, he could not allow himself to lose presence.

Besides, this was only a contest of words, not a real clash of arms.

At that moment, Minato raised a hand to stop Choza and said in a gentle voice, “You two, Konoha has no authority over you, of course. Still, I would like to know how you came to recognize our identities.”

This mission was rather special. Since they had to venture deep into the Land of Wind, they had deliberately worn masks to conceal who they were. Moreover, these masks were entirely different in style from those used by the village’s covert operatives.

And yet Uchiha Li had identified them at a glance, which left him puzzled.

Could something have gone wrong back in the village, with their intelligence leaked?

Minato shook his head and dismissed that possibility in his heart.

“As expected of Senior Minato. Even with the difference in age, he still gives exactly the same impression.”

Uchiha Li silently praised him inwardly.

Listening to Minato’s tone, even though he could not see the smile hidden beneath the mask, he could still feel its warmth and easy approachability.

He had once carefully compared the smiles of the Third and Fourth Hokage.

The Third’s words and smile carried a powerful, almost contagious force; every gesture brimmed with the Will of Fire, able to stir the hearts of others.

Minato’s smile, however, was simply that of a gentle man. Even before seeing his face, one could hear the kindness in his voice.

After a brief silence, Uchiha Li answered, “Terra knows all.”

Minato, naturally, did not believe that for a moment, but neither did he choose to press the matter.

Instead, he touched his yellow hair and continued in the same soft tone, “Very well, then, Mr. Terra. I hope there will be no conflict between us from this point on.”

So long as there was no clash of interests, he had no desire to make enemies without cause.

But if their mission were to become entangled, then he would not hold back.

With that, Minato turned and departed with Choza and Shibi.

Watching their figures gradually disappear, Uchiha Li turned to Kakashi and said, “I thought you would not be able to resist revealing yourself.”

If Kakashi still harbored even a sliver of hope, he might indeed have done so.

After all, the chance to alter a friend’s fate was difficult to refuse.

Even he himself could not be certain, if faced with such a thing, whether he would be tempted.

Though Uchiha Li understood all too well that time was like an abyss: the moment you gazed into it, it gazed back at you.

Any rash change could very easily lead to consequences far worse than before.

Kakashi sighed and said, “You were right. If I had rushed out, I would only have made things more complicated, and might even have brought about an even worse outcome.”

Hearing this, Uchiha Li said with deeper meaning, “So you understand. But some things are not so simple. For example, someone who was supposed to die—did he truly die?”

Kakashi froze, then came to himself and asked sharply, “What do you mean?”

Uchiha Li smiled faintly in his heart and said, “Nothing at all. And even if there were something, what of it? What could you do now?”

Perhaps Kakashi was a genius, his overall strength formidable, one of the few among his generation who could stand as his equal.

But genius and hard work, before the power of the Mangekyo, were sometimes worth nothing at all.

Especially against Obito’s Mangekyo ability, Kamui, which was practically a bug in itself—Kakashi was no match for it.

So even if he were told now, there was nothing he could do.

The Obito of today was no longer the helpful boy once eager to assist others in the village. He had become someone else entirely.

“Li, how can you be like this?”

Kakashi’s tone turned a little angry.

He was not stupid; he had already sensed that Uchiha Li had been hinting at something all along.

And yet Uchiha Li refused to say it plainly, deliberately leaving him hanging.

“All right, Kakashi, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” Uchiha Li said. Then his tone shifted. “It’s just that some things come at a price.”

“Terra?”

Kakashi blinked, then quickly understood.

As before, what exactly did Terra know?

Could it be that he truly had to join Terra before he would be told?

Meanwhile, the three who had left had entered a spacious, empty hall.

Choza asked, “Minato, are we just letting those two suspicious people go?”

Shibi leaned against the wall. Usually sparing with his words, he too spoke up now.

“Indeed. This so-called Terra may interfere with our mission.”

Though he had had little contact with Terra, the insects within his body had already conveyed countless impressions.

Those two from Terra just now—especially the black-haired one who had spoken the whole time—made his insects feel a deep, instinctive dread.

As though something unimaginably terrifying lurked upon him.

His insects rarely revealed such emotion.

Only when faced with an enemy they could not hope to defeat would they feel that way.

Minato removed his mask and said slowly, “For some reason, I cannot sense any malice from them, even though their attitude toward us was far from friendly.”

The two people from Terra had indeed seemed cold and hard to approach, but in truth, that was not the impression they gave him.

Especially the silver-haired one. Though he had not said much, the feeling he gave was far too familiar.

Like his student Kakashi—there was almost no difference between them.

But the silver-haired man’s build made it impossible for him to be Kakashi.

At the very least, it could not be the Kakashi of now.

Minato closed his eyes, once more tracing the two figures in his mind and comparing them.

What he had not said was that, just then, he had sensed fluctuations in space and time from those two of Terra.

Ordinary people would never have been able to detect such ripples, but to him, a master of space-time ninjutsu, they were unmistakable.

That was precisely why he had no intention of making a move.

“All right, since you say so, we won’t interfere,” Choza and Shibi said after hearing Minato’s explanation.

Minato’s judgment had always been sound, and he was the leader of this mission.

As shinobi of Konoha, when they carried out missions outside the village, they naturally followed the captain’s arrangements.

“You don’t need to worry too much either,” Minato said, drawing a notebook from his chest. “I’ll record Terra’s intelligence for future use…”