Richard sat in the living room on the first floor, eyeing Sasuke who occupied the seat across from him.
"I visited Orochimaru earlier today," Richard said calmly. "He mentioned you've been away trying to find members of the Akatsuki."
"That was the original plan," Sasuke replied without hesitation, his chest partially exposed in his open shirt. "But the Akatsuki have vanished completely."
"So because you couldn't find any Akatsuki members, you came to Konoha looking for me?"
"Yes. It's been ten months since we last saw each other," Sasuke said. "Besides, I've been away from Konoha for almost four years. I wanted to see if the village is still how I remember it."
That's what Sasuke claimed, but Richard didn't believe he'd returned just to sightsee around Konoha. If nothing unexpected had happened, Sasuke would have first visited the Uchiha clan territory, used his Sharingan to read the information on the stone tablet at Naka Shrine, and then come to his door.
As for whether Sasuke had gone to see Naruto and Sakura, Richard doubted it. Although Sasuke and Naruto had been classmates and teammates in Team 7, Sasuke wouldn't be bothered enough by their presence to announce his return to Konoha.
"If I'm not mistaken, your main reason for coming back was the stone tablet at Naka Shrine," Richard said. "You awakened your Sharingan long ago, but until you left the village, your ocular power only allowed you to decipher a small portion of its contents. You've returned primarily to gain more information about the Mangekyō Sharingan from that tablet."
After hearing this, Sasuke didn't hesitate at all. "You guessed correctly. I did visit Naka Shrine to read the stone tablet left by my Uchiha ancestors. Compared to four years ago, my ocular power has improved significantly, but I still can't see much."
Richard wasn't surprised that Sasuke couldn't view all the contents on the stone tablet. To access everything, ocular power was just one factor. More important was whether the Sharingan had been upgraded. Only when the Sharingan evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō could one see the complete contents on the stone tablet—or rather, see the complete contents that Black Zetsu had tampered with.
Richard looked directly at Sasuke. "Don't waste time thinking of shortcuts. If you want to awaken the Mangekyō, you can only achieve it by experiencing the pain of losing someone you love. In other words, if you want the Mangekyō Sharingan, you must kill Itachi Uchiha with your own hands. This means you can't unlock the Mangekyō before completing your revenge."
Though Sasuke hadn't stated it explicitly, Richard had quickly deduced why he'd gone to examine the stone tablet. For Sasuke, completing his revenge was paramount. To ensure he could achieve it with absolute certainty, it made sense that he'd want to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan beforehand. Otherwise, his Sharingan would always be inferior to Itachi's.
"I'm mentally prepared for what you're saying," Sasuke replied. "But let's move past that. I came to Konoha to find you mainly to ask if you know Itachi's whereabouts. After they captured the Eight-Tails, they completely disappeared. I've used Orochimaru's intelligence network to search extensively, but I couldn't pinpoint their location."
"I'm not certain where Itachi Uchiha is right now," Richard said. "However, I do have a means to contact him and arrange for you two to have your final confrontation."
"You can contact him?" Sasuke looked at Richard with surprise.
"Yes, I have a way." Richard removed the "Gyoku" ring from his left hand and continued, "I can use this. This ring isn't just a symbol of full Akatsuki membership—it also functions as a communication device and can transmit chakra. However, only those with the Rinnegan can activate this capability."
Sasuke frowned at the ring in Richard's hand. "That's not Orochimaru's ring, is it?"
"No, Orochimaru's is this one." Richard pulled the "Ku" ring that had originally belonged to Orochimaru from his system space and tossed it to Sasuke, who caught it without hesitation.
"Put it on, and I'll arrange for you to meet Itachi immediately," Richard said.
"Alright." Sasuke slipped the "Ku" ring onto the ring finger of his right hand.
Once Sasuke had donned the ring, Richard activated his Rinnegan, channeled chakra into his own ring, and used it to sense the presence of the other rings. Without much effort, he detected the "Shu" ring belonging to Itachi.
Richard had assumed Itachi would be in another country, but surprisingly, he was in the Land of Fire—specifically, at a secret Uchiha clan base within its borders.
After locating Itachi, Richard used the connection between the "Gyoku" and "Shu" rings to send Itachi a message through something akin to telepathy.
"I'm Richard. Sasuke is here with me, ready to take his revenge. If you want to see him, release your chakra and convert it into thought waves. I'll use the Projection Technique to arrange a meeting."
Richard's voice appeared in Itachi's mind without warning. At first, Itachi assumed Pain was contacting him. He never expected that Richard could use the rings for long-distance communication like Pain, or that he had mastered the Projection Technique.
Though surprised, Itachi responded quickly. Rather than replying with words, he sat in a chair in the base's lobby, released his chakra, and converted it into thought waves.
Sensing Itachi's thought waves, Richard immediately performed the Projection Technique. He had initially planned to project both Itachi and Sasuke into the Uchiha territory in illusory form simultaneously, but after consideration, he decided to display the projection in the living room instead. The reason was simple—he didn't want to waste time teaching Sasuke how to convert chakra into thought waves. Though not complicated, learning this technique would take at least half an hour.
Sasuke had no idea what Richard was doing; he only sensed Richard channeling chakra. As he looked on in confusion, Itachi's projection appeared in the living room.
Though different from a clone, Sasuke recognized Itachi instantly. The projection looked exactly like him—though the skin and hair were pitch black, and only his clothing displayed rainbow-like patterns, Itachi's Sharingan was perfectly rendered.
Upon seeing Itachi's projection, Sasuke, who had been sitting on the sofa, immediately stood up.
"Stay calm. This is merely his projection," Richard cautioned.
Hearing this, Sasuke sat back down.
Neither Itachi nor Sasuke took the initiative to speak, instead staring at each other intensely. After nearly half a minute of silence, Sasuke finally addressed Itachi's projection: "Time and place!"
No sooner had Sasuke spoken than Itachi's voice echoed through the room.
"Three days from now, at the Clan's secret base in the southern part of the Land of Fire."
With that, before Sasuke could respond, Itachi ceased transmitting his thought waves, and the projection vanished.
When Itachi's projection disappeared, Sasuke first returned the "Void" ring to Richard, then asked: "Do you want to accompany me and witness my revenge firsthand?"
"Of course!" Richard returned both the "Ku" and "Gyoku" rings to his system space, responding slowly.
"Then we'll depart in two days," Sasuke said.
"No, you go ahead first. I'll arrive on the third day." Richard retrieved a Flying Thunder God kunai made of vibranium from his system space and tossed it to Sasuke. "I'll use the Flying Thunder God technique when the time comes."
Sasuke pocketed the vibranium kunai, nodded, then stood, gave Richard a slight bow, and departed from his house.
After Sasuke left, Richard also used Flying Thunder God to leave his residence and appear in the Hokage's office.
That evening, Richard and Tsunade enjoyed dinner together at a restaurant in the village's commercial district.
"What's the occasion for inviting me to dinner tonight?" Tsunade asked.
"It's because you assigned Yugao a mission," Richard replied. "She just returned two days ago, and you've already given her another assignment. I've been eating dinner alone lately."
Hearing his answer, Tsunade smiled. "Don't make it sound like you're lonely. If you wanted company for dinner, plenty of kunoichi in the village would happily oblige. Besides, those three female assistants in your office would be delighted to join you."
Richard shook his head. "Forget about Yui and the others. It's better to keep work and personal life separate; otherwise things get complicated." He paused, set down his chopsticks, and continued seriously, "Speaking of which, Yui gave me some hot spring vouchers two days ago. Said there'd be a discount if we went together."
He produced the vouchers from his system space and handed them to Tsunade.
Tsunade accepted them without thinking, but after reading the contents, she immediately frowned. "Do you have a death wish?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes at Richard.
"Not at all. I'm just inviting you to the hot springs with me," Richard replied quickly. "If you don't want to go with me, you could always go with Jiraiya."
What he had given Tsunade was indeed a hot spring voucher—not for an ordinary hot spring, but for "Honma Onsen," Konoha's most renowned bathhouse. If there was any issue, it was that these vouchers were clearly meant for couples.
"It seems you really are tired of living if you're joking with me like this." Tsunade raised her hands, preparing to tear the voucher.
"I'm not joking. I'm serious," Richard said just as Tsunade was about to rip it apart.
Hearing this, Tsunade froze. After a few seconds, she set the voucher down again and regarded Richard seriously. "We're not compatible."
"Why not? I'm a man, you're a woman, and neither of us is married," Richard countered.
"You already have a girlfriend!" Tsunade shot back.
"I do have a girlfriend, but I've discussed this with Yugao, and she doesn't mind."
As soon as Richard finished speaking, Tsunade's expression turned to one of disbelief.
"You told Yugao that you have feelings for me?"
"Yes, I told her."
The moment Richard confirmed it, he felt Tsunade's powerful aura intensify. Simultaneously, she released chakra that was visible to the naked eye. Fortunately, they were in a private room rather than the main dining hall; otherwise, Tsunade would have drawn the attention of every patron in the restaurant.
After taking several deep breaths to calm herself, Tsunade reined in her aura and chakra.
"When we first returned to the village, Jiraiya warned me you were a lecherous guy," Tsunade said. "Now I see you're not just lustful—you're completely insane."
Though none of the countries in the shinobi world explicitly mandated monogamy—except for a select few, like the daimyo of each nation—most people tacitly accepted monogamy as the norm.
"Desire is in men's nature," Richard said calmly. "The genes for lacking desire were eliminated through biological evolution long ago."
Of course, he knew his approach tonight was rather direct, but he didn't want to prolong the situation any further. It had been almost four years since he and Tsunade first met.
Looking at Richard, Tsunade sighed helplessly. "If I were twenty or thirty years younger, I might seriously consider it. But now? No. I don't want people saying the Fifth Hokage is shameless, robbing the cradle in her old age. If we actually got together, we'd both face criticism, and people would look down on Konoha. The Hokage represents Konoha's face to the world—you should understand this perfectly well."
Tsunade tried to persuade Richard to abandon the idea, but as soon as she finished speaking, he gave her an answer completely beyond her expectations.
"If that's your concern, then we simply don't let others know," Richard said. "Besides, a secret affair is far more exciting than an open relationship."
What?
Tsunade stared at Richard in shock. If she hadn't known him better, she would have wanted to use her fists to knock some sense into him about such outlandish ideas.
Just as Tsunade was about to say something more, Richard calmly dropped a bombshell she had never anticipated.
"The Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, is also my secret lover."
Upon hearing this, Tsunade's expression became incredibly strange. After a few seconds, she finally managed to ask, "How could she possibly agree to such an arrangement? She's the Fifth Mizukage."
"It's not that unusual. Few people in Kirigakure know about it," Richard replied. "And outside of Kirigakure, you're only the second person to find out."