"I'll need to get myself a pair of sunglasses later."
While it normally wouldn't be a problem, at a critical moment, if Aoshi were to activate his Rinnegan, it could easily expose him.
After all, the Rinnegan looked drastically different from regular eyes. If certain people were to find out he possessed it, it would bring a lot of trouble.
People like Shimura Danzo, the leader of Root, or even Konoha's elder advisors.
He wasn't strong enough to dominate the entire shinobi world just yet, so anything that needed to be hidden must stay hidden for now.
Fortunately, while the ninja world looked feudal on the surface, it actually had some decent technological advancements.
They had home appliances like refrigerators and hair dryers—so something as simple as sunglasses wouldn't be an issue.
After making sure there was nothing about him that could reveal the Rinnegan, Aoshi finally stepped out of his room. Coincidentally, Mikoto—who lived directly across from him—also opened her door at the same time.
She had just finished bathing; Aoshi could still catch a faint whiff of body wash and shampoo from her.
And she wasn't dressed in her usual mission gear either. Instead, she wore more casual and form-fitting clothes suited for indoors, with her damp, silky hair cascading down her back.
As his gaze lingered on her graceful curves and that perfectly sculpted figure, Aoshi couldn't help but muse again: She's definitely rich… just not very generous.
Still, with a body like that, at least the future kid wouldn't go hungry.
"What are you staring at?" Noticing Aoshi's gaze, Mikoto lightly swatted him on the arm.
"I was just wondering who this person could be—so breathtakingly beautiful, so effortlessly graceful, she could make flowers blush and the moon retreat in envy. Truly... It's impossible to look away."
"Shameless," she replied, rolling her eyes at him.
"Even that eye-roll is beautiful. You really were born breathtaking," Aoshi added with a grin.
With a soft huff, Mikoto turned and headed to the living room, and Aoshi quickly followed behind her.
"Your hair must be uncomfortably wet. How about I help you dry it?" He wasn't sure if Jiraiya had a hair dryer, but he figured Konan probably did.
Her hair was long too—without a dryer, it would take forever to dry.
As it turned out, Aoshi was right. After borrowing a dryer from Konan, Aoshi took the initiative to help Mikoto with her hair.
"Mikoto-oneechan, are you Aoshi-nii's girlfriend?" Konan, watching nearby, couldn't help but ask.
Mikoto's cheeks flushed red as she quickly shook her head in embarrassment.
Still, Konan's innocent question gave her pause. If she really did become Aoshi's girlfriend… maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"You two rest for a while. Dinner will be ready soon."
At that moment, Jiraiya walked in, carrying several large, freshly caught fish. After speaking, he headed straight into the kitchen.
Having spent over a year taking care of the three kids, he had become a fairly skilled cook.
Yahiko volunteered to help, and even Nagato—who normally avoided the Konoha shinobi—reluctantly followed him into the kitchen.
Jiraiya watched Nagato quietly and sighed.
The real reason he had taken the trio in and taught them ninjutsu wasn't for Yahiko or Konan—it was all because of Nagato.
In his youth, Jiraiya had accidentally entered Mount Myoboku, where he met the Great Toad Sage and received a prophecy: one of his students would someday bring about great change to the ninja world.
When he saw Nagato's eyes—the legendary Rinnegan once possessed by the Sage of Six Paths—he believed Nagato could be the Child of Prophecy.
Of course, he wasn't entirely certain.
That's why he intended to continue traveling the ninja world until he found the true Child of Prophecy and could guide him to bring peace.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Jiraiya, someone had been secretly watching Nagato the entire time. That someone was White Zetsu—sent by Uchiha Madara.
The Rinnegan was the key to Madara's future resurrection, so of course, he needed to monitor it and ensure Nagato stayed on the correct path.
White Zetsu was the ideal candidate for such surveillance.
With the ability to merge seamlessly with both the earth and vegetation, as well as mimic chakra signatures perfectly, he was nearly impossible to detect—unless someone possessed specialized sensory skills.
Upon noticing that a Uchiha had approached Nagato, White Zetsu immediately relayed the information to Madara.
---
Deep underground in a hidden location lay a massive, monstrous figure:
The outer shell of the Ten Tails—Gedo Mazo.
Several tube-like appendages extended from its body and were connected to an elderly man resting nearby, his eyes closed.
That man was Uchiha Madara. So old and frail that his life depended on the Gedo Mazo's support. Without it, he would die instantly.
"Lord Madara! Bad news!" White Zetsu's voice broke the silence of the sealed chamber, startling Madara from his slumber.
"An Uchiha has made contact with Nagato!"
Madara's eyes flashed with sharp light. "Who?"
"Uchiha Mikoto."
With White Zetsu's exceptional intel-gathering skills, Madara knew everything about the Uchiha clan—and Mikoto, with her fully awakened three-tomoe Sharingan, was no exception.
"Shall we do something about her?"
After reviewing everything he knew about Mikoto, Madara finally said, "It doesn't matter. She's not a threat to my plan."
Though Mikoto had talent, in Madara's eyes, she still fell short. She wasn't qualified to carry on his legacy or be a chosen executor of his final plan.
He knew the Uchiha clan better than anyone—and even more so, the Sharingan.
When choosing a successor for his Eye of the Moon plan, he valued deep emotional capacity over raw talent.
After all, as a child, he himself hadn't been considered a genius—but that didn't stop him from becoming the feared 'Shura of the Ninja World,' rivaling even Hashirama Senju, the 'God of Shinobi.'
"So… we're not doing anything?" White Zetsu asked, a bit disappointed.
But Madara reconsidered. "We could test her. If the results aren't terrible, she might be worth keeping as a backup candidate."
He had already identified a more promising heir—but that child was still too young. Having a fallback option wouldn't hurt.
Madara then detailed the test he wanted White Zetsu to carry out.
"By the way, Lord Madara, after I complete the mission… can you finally tell me what the urge to poop feels like?"
As a non-human entity, White Zetsu didn't experience such things—and he was strangely obsessed with asking others about them.
Madara's face darkened, and he immediately closed his eyes, refusing to speak further.
Out of sight, out of mind.
White Zetsu was unfazed by the reaction, having gotten used to it by now. He mumbled to himself—'What does it feel like anyway?'—and then vanished into the earth.
After leaving Madara, White Zetsu sought out Black Zetsu and relayed every detail of Madara's new plan.
Madara thought he was the grand mastermind lurking in the shadows… But he didn't realize that he, too, was just a pawn in Black Zetsu's thousand-year-long scheme.
Compared to the ancient and cunning Black Zetsu, Madara was still too naïve.
"Just carry out the plan as Madara instructed," Black Zetsu said flatly. As far as he was concerned, so long as the Rinnegan remained intact, everything else was trivial.