Chapter 45 Going Home 

The next morning.

A small river not far from the meeting place.

"Will you come back to see me?"

Before parting, Ajisai grabbed Giyu's sleeve. She was very grateful to Giyu for saving her life, as well as the incident on the carriage and the death of Sanshouo no Koga.

Konan also stared at Giyu's eyes, trying to see if the child's thoughts had changed after last night's conversation.

The reason why she wanted to make Giyu aware of the difference in their stances in advance was because she wanted to draw a clear line between the future ninja of the great nation and Ajisai, the seedling of the Kingdom of Rain. Otherwise, the better the relationship becomes, the more painful it will be when they meet and confront each other again in the future.

She had imagined in her mind what it would be like when she, Nagato, and Jiraiya met again after the organization was established in the future—things and people will be different, and they will be enemies instead of friends. But just imagining it, Konan felt a blur of consciousness and heartache, and the new goal that had just been established became difficult to maintain.

She didn't want this to happen to the two children in front of her.

"No."

Giyu's words made Ajisai's face startled, and her eyes quickly darkened. Konan also nodded in understanding, thinking that what she said yesterday had an effect.

Until Giyu said the next sentence.

"The family is under strict control. I guess I won't have the chance to be so far away from home again." 

He was like such an obedient baby, but his words were completely unworthy of the strength he showed, which almost made Ajisai and Konan laugh at the same time.

"Okay, it's getting late, what else do you want to say?"

Konan's paper clone has a time limit, and the chakra will be exhausted soon.

"Well..."

Ajisai thought for a while and wished, "Giyu, I hope you can find your missing friend." 

"I will." Giyu nodded and said at the same time: "I also hope you can find a new family."

Ajisai's eye circles are a little red.

Konan spread her wings, raised her right hand slightly, and hundreds of pieces of paper flew up, dragging the Ajisai. "In that case, let's say goodbye..." 

"Wait a minute."

Giyu called out to Konan.

"Is there anything else?"

"I need one of your hairs."

Tanjiro mentioned to Giyu that Tokito Muichiro's favorite thing to do is origami.

He must really like the ability to not only deform paper at will, but also dye it and turn it into an explosive tag.

In the past, the two saps had little contact with each other, but origami was undoubtedly a very good breakthrough to enhance their relationship.

"What do you want your hair for?"

Konan's expression turned strange.

She had heard stories about a witch from the land of Demons who could cast a love spell on others through a hair. It was also Jiraiya who told this story to her.

Giyu said bluntly, "Let another person like me."

Konan's face remained calm, and her heart was shocked, and then it turned into a joke like an adult looking at a childish child.

She waved her hand, and a piece of hair fell down, but it turned into a thin paper thread on the way to the ground.

"This is just my clone. Even if you take it away, it will be of no use."

A trace of confusion appeared on Giyu's face. Because Konan was not an enemy and was not injured, he had not used the Transparent World to explore it. I didn't expect that she was not a real person.

"But we can make a promise."

Konan grew wings and slowly floated into the air. "If you are not a ninja from a great country next time we meet, I will give you a hair." 

[I'm am afraid that even if there is this opportunity, he won’t ask me anymore. ]

Giyu thought for a while with his eyes half open.

The conditions for resurrecting Tokito Muichiro is that both water and wind breathing techniques must be achieved at the normal level at the same time.

At present, only Itachi can stably brush the wind breathing resolution. Although Uzumaki Naruto can brush it, the chance is low. It will take at least several years to brush it to 100%. There seems to be nothing wrong with waiting a little longer to obtain the gene carrier.

Thinking of this, he raised his head again and nodded solemnly to Konan: "Then we have an agreement."

 Konan looked at his extremely formal look and felt dumbfounded, but her face remained calm and she didn't even say goodbye. She took Ajisai and flew away into the distance. Only the latter kept waving to Giyu, and Giyu responded by watching.

It's a pity that Konan couldn't put a smile on her face, let alone tell others about this matter as if it was a funny story.

Whether it was Nagato's dream, the suspicious Madara or this country, each one of them made her breathless.

But there was such a fun thing in her heart, and there was nothing wrong with it, occasionally making her laugh when she was alone.

After Konan flapped her wings and the Ajisai disappeared completely into the shrouded sky, Giyu turned around and walked towards the meeting place with Shisui.

When they separated, Shisui sent a crow to follow him.

But then Giyu planned to go on an adventure to Fortress No. 14, so he used his shadow clone to lure the crow away.

Now if Shisui returned to the agreed place first and didn't see him, and couldn't find him through crows, he would be very anxious.

With this in mind, Giyu rode the waves and finally arrived at a place where crows were everywhere on the treetops fifteen minutes later.

He walked to a boulder, opened his Sharingan and turned around, unlocking the genjutsu attached to the stone: the art of the here and now (which can change the appearance of an object in the eyes of others). Instead, there was a A small wooden house.

"You're finally back, Giyu."

Before Giyu could knock on the door, Shisui had already opened the door. Uchiha Itachi followed behind, but his face was a little haggard, as if he had suffered some mental shock.

But seeing the bandages wrapped around Giyu's body, he cheered up and his eyes became dangerous: "Are you injured?" 

"It's not important."

Giyu interrupted the topic, leaving the two of them speechless. This is not important, what else could be important!

Especially Shisui, who is responsible for taking care of him, can think of the situation when he apologized to Fugaku and his wife after returning to Konoha.

He originally wanted to find a reason to prevent Giyu from entering Amegakure Village, but he didn't expect that this guy would get rid of the crow and come back injured.

"I found the angel."

After entering the house, Giyu directly told his "investigation results", "The matter should have nothing to do with her. She was just a female ninja who took care of children in the Land of Rain."

Shisui cast an inquiring gaze, while Itachi stared at his bandage and inspected it carefully, "Where were you? "

"I found the body of Uchiha Flame in Amegakure Village. "

Shisui said as he used three tomoe to cast an illusion on Giyu, and a line of subtitles appeared in the field of vision of Giyu and Itachi.

 [Don't resist.]

The two were slightly startled, and their mental bodies were pulled into the illusion space, but the outside body was still chatting, completely controlled by Shisui's illusion.

"What's going on? "

In the illusion space that is exactly the same as reality, Giyu frowned slightly, "Why are we here? "

" From the moment I stepped into Amegakure Village, I was monitored by the enemy. Some of the things I know are things the other party lets me know, and some are things the other party doesn’t know I know, so I can only say them here. "

With his hands in a row, the three of them came to a laboratory with white walls. Four naked corpses lay neatly on a cold tray. This scene was formed based on Uchiha Shisui's memory.

Giyu's breathing stopped for a moment, because one of them was Uchiha Flame.

The other three people were mostly in their teens.

"My process of finding Uchiha Flame's body was too smooth. As if someone had drawn directional arrows for me along the road. "

Shisui walked to the safe in the laboratory and said, "This is the laboratory of Sanshouo no Hanzo's youngest son, Sanshouo no Koga's family. In addition to Flame, there are three other people with different bloodline limits. According to the documents here, it is said that Sanshouo no Koga planned to test the compatibility of the blood ninja and Sanshōuo venom sacs, so he implanted Sanshōuo venom sacs in the openings in their abdomens."

"According to records, Uchiha Wen was the first to die from the poison, and his body has been destroyed. "

He paid attention to Giyu's expression, but the latter's face was as dark as water, and he was not affected. Instead, he retorted: "But the ninja dog named Kuromaru has already made a judgment, saying that judging from the amount of Wen's bleeding, it should be He died on the spot..."

"Yes, this is the first point that made me suspicious of the document. "

Shisui nodded and replied, "It seems that Wen's body was very badly damaged and may even leak more information, so he is not displayed here. "

"Since it is an experiment. "

Giyu walked to Uchiha Flame's right hand and pointed at the injury that penetrated to the back of his head, "How to explain this? "

"The report said that Uchiha Flame woke up before the poison sac was implanted. When he was still weak, he tried to resist and used illusions on the researchers. One of them overreacted and stabbed him through the skull, killing him. "

Shisui paused and pointed to the remaining three bloodline limit ninjas, "There are only incisions on Flame's body surface, but there are still inactivated Sanshōuo venom sacs remaining in the bodies of the other three people. This was transplanted before their death. Experimental evidence. It seemed that whoever had arranged all this wanted me to believe that it was Sanshouo no Koga who had done this. And Flame's body should have been moved here after his death..."

He glanced at Itachi, "In order to further verify this matter, I want to go to Fortress No. 14 to see what's going on. But unfortunately, although I found Itachi, I didn't find the Sanshouo no Koga himself, so the matter was discontinued and I could only find another opportunity in the future. "

" Sanshouo no Koga is dead. "

Giyu's expression was a little complicated. He didn't expect that he had killed the killer, but the investigation of this matter had reached a dead end.

"I killed him. "

"WHAT?!" Shisui and Itachi exclaimed at the same time.

Shisui looked at the bandages on Giyu's body and asked solemnly: "What happened after we separated? "

So Giyu started to talk about it, explaining that during his journey to find the angel, he became suspicious when he met Rain Ninja, and deliberately sneaked into the No. 14 fortress. When it came to the collapse of the ceiling, At this time, Itachi's face suddenly turned pale, and Shisui immediately stopped.

"What's wrong..."

Giyu didn't understand, this was in the illusion space, how could Itachi become like this.

Shisui's eyes turned back and forth between the two of them. But he still didn't speak. Finally, Itachi adjusted his breathing and said to Giyu: "Sorry, Giyu... you said that the intruder who caused the explosion and caused the ceiling to collapse , should be us. "

"..."

The illusion space suddenly fell into a deathly stagnation.

"What are you doing up there?" After a long time, Giyu asked in a cold voice, "The people in the laboratory told me that the office above is Sanshouo no Koga's office, and all the materials for the poison sac transplantation experiment are there." 

"Giyu, this confidential mission involving Itachi -"

"LET - HIM - SAY." 

A distinct cold shout, Giyu's rare high-pitched voice interrupted Shisui.

A layer of cold, moist water vapor surged around his body, pushing away the cart carrying the body. The atmosphere in the room was chilling. 

“Don't say it.” Shisui said, even Itachi had never seen his brother angry. But he could understand it. After all, Giyu almost died there, so anyone would have the right to be angry.

However, Itachi completely misunderstood the reason for Giyu's anger.

"Giyu, I want to answer you too, but the mission is the mission..."

"You went to destroy the experimental materials, so that caused the explosion?"

Giyu's expression looked the same as before, but after what happened these days, his emotions have already accumulated to a critical point. He remembered Konan's method of testing whether he was lying, and looked through Itachi's chest, staring at his heart, feeling the changes in heart rate.

"Or is your mission to take away all the experimental data so that the village can continue their research?" Itachi's heartbeat paused briefly, revealing the answer and letting Giyu understand - right here In Konoha Village, there are people exactly like Sanshouo no Koga.

"Who gave you your mission?"

"Giyu!" Shisui quickly tugged at Giyu's clothes.

"He doesn't need to answer, just listen to me."

Giyu didn't expect Itachi to give an answer. He was just observing Itachi's heartbeat reaction after each word was given.

"Hokage? Jonin? ANBU? Clan? Advisor Elder——"

Once again, Itachi's heartbeat changed.

Giyu revealed the name of the only Konoha consultant elder he knew, the guy Uchiha Flame said had repeatedly stopped him from becoming a Jonin.

"Hamura?"

After a brief pause, he whispered: "It seems to be another elder." 

At this point, Itachi and Shisui both understood, although they didn't know how Giyu did it, as long as he wanted to. Even if we don't tell, he will definitely find that name.

"Itachi, at this point, we can only tell him."

Shisui sighed and advised: "Besides, the attack on Flame and Wen was probably coordinated by an insider. That person had a huge problem in the first place. Coupled with what happened to the two root ninjas before, he is even more suspicious."

"What root ninja?"

This is the first time Giyu has heard this word.

"Konoha ANBU's detachment, Roots."

Looking at Uchiha Itachi's ashen face, Shisui explained directly to Giyu.

"This time Itachi is carrying out Roots's mission. It seems that on the surface, it is to steal the materials for the Sanshōuo Transplantation Experiment. But after I used my illusion to detect it, the real mission they received is regardless of the apparent mission. Whether they succeed or not, they have to sacrifice themselves in front of Itachi. The best thing is to let Itachi kill them himself."

Giyu frowned, not understanding the brain circuits of these people.

"When comrades die, those who survive are responsible for the death of their comrades. They feel the need to inherit their will and do it themselves. This will lead to more emotional investment and guilt." Shisui explained the logic of the root ninja's actions.

"This is the second time Itachi has experienced this kind of thing. It is very likely that he will be deeply affected and will be more inclined to the roots in the future. This is their old method. Changing Itachi's own intention is what they issued the mission this time. The real purpose can also guide Itachi's code of conduct in the direction of the root."

After finishing speaking, he also specially added: "So Giyu, those two explosions, including the ceiling falling, were all caused by the root ninja. You must not blame Itachi for this..."

"I never blamed him for this."

Giyu's focus was not on this at all, but he had a new understanding of the dark side of ninjas.

"What do you mean by Roots's code of conduct?"

"In short, as long as a person poses a threat to Konoha, Roots can ignore the evidence, bypass the rules and regulations of Hokage and Konoha, and directly eliminate the other party. This principle , the same applies to other countries, to eliminate all hidden dangers that may threaten Konoha when they are just signs. This is the style of the root." He continued, "The root ninja does not need to have a will of his own, just needs to obey the judgment of their leader, Shimura Danzo."

Giyu looked paused, he had only heard this name from Konan yesterday.

The innocent and childish peace organization that Konan mentioned that did not resort to force was destroyed by this man and Sanshouo no Hanzo.

"What does this person have to do with Flame's death?"

"It's just speculation at the moment. We only know that Flame's route was probably betrayed by someone, and he has the ability to provide this information; He has a criminal record when it comes to human experiments; this matter will lead to a break between Konoha and Uchiha, and he also has this motive; the reason why he wants to exert influence on Itachi should also be for the purpose of guarding against Uchiha in the future. "

Shisui concluded, "So, instead of staying here and continuing to be monitored and deliberately misled, we should go back first and start with this person to find out the truth." 

Of course, his most important purpose is to try his best to Give the ready-made answers to the clan and resolve the conflict between Konoha and Uchiha first. Investigations can be carried out slowly and secretly.

It was the first time that Giyu had encountered such a complicated situation, but now that Flame's body had been found and the Sanshōuo Koga that could be used as a clue had been killed, there was no point in further investigation.

"Go back."

He agreed to Shisui's suggestion, then looked at Itachi and said seriously: "But you have to give me the report on the Sanshōuo Transplantation Experiment. I can't let you take that thing back."

 "I understand ."