Before long, Mitsuki arrived at the command center.
Moments ago he'd just bragged to himself about being a polite person — yet he didn't bother knocking. He simply pushed open the door to the upper command office and walked right in.
Even though Mitsuki rarely stayed here obediently, this was still technically his office space. He had his own desk and chair. Knocking would actually be the weird choice.
Inside were only Fugaku and Hizashi, each sitting at their desks, reading through scrolls.
Hearing someone enter without knocking, Fugaku instinctively wanted to scold the person a little.But the moment he saw it was Mitsuki, his expression changed instantly. He stood up, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Mitsuki! Excellent — you're safe."
Hizashi also smiled.
"Mitsuki, was your mission to the Land of Water successful?"
Mitsuki let out a small chuckle.
"I'd say it went smoothly."
Hizashi nodded.
"Well, that's good. After all, the enemy is still one of the Five Great… wait— Are you saying… you succeeded?"
He had considered the possibility that Mitsuki completed the mission, but Mitsuki returned so quickly that Hizashi assumed something must have gone wrong.
Fugaku, however, never doubted Mitsuki. One glance at Mitsuki's expression, and he could tell the story wasn't over yet.
Mitsuki hopped up onto his own desk, legs giving a little push, and leisurely began recounting the mission.
Naturally, he left out everything related to Madara.
That piece of intel, Mitsuki planned to discuss privately with Tsunade first, and then report solely to Hiruzen — after all, he was the Hokage.
Fugaku was a good person, but if other Uchiha learned that Madara not only survived but could still fight… who knew what thoughts might arise?
Most of the Uchiha had extreme personalities. If they walked the path of rebellion like in the original timeline… Mitsuki truly didn't want to raise his hand against fellow villagers.
Better to snip those fuses early.
…
"And that's that. After killing the Third Mizukage, I left Kirigakure."
Hearing the full account, Fugaku and Hizashi fell silent at the same time.
They exchanged a look. Fugaku hesitated, then spoke:
"So… that means Kirigakure has already…"
Mitsuki finished the sentence for him.
"Already collapsed, yep."
He raised his left hand and unrolled a scroll.
A sealing tag unravelled — and in the next second, with a puff of smoke, the corpse of the Third Mizukage appeared in the command center.
"Hsssss—!"
The moment they saw the body clearly, both Fugaku and Hizashi sucked in a sharp breath.
It really was the Third Mizukage.
Their gazes toward Mitsuki unconsciously shifted into awe.
To go alone against a Hidden Village of the Five Great Nations, destroy the village, kill the Mizukage, and return unharmed…
Wasn't this basically the God of Shinobi reborn?
Mitsuki formed a single seal with his right hand and resealed the body back into the scroll.
This corpse was extremely important — it had to be returned to Konoha. Not casually tossed aside like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Storing the scroll away, Mitsuki clapped his hands.
"That's the situation. I'm going to use the Flying Thunder God to take this intel and the Mizukage's body back to the village. If nothing unexpected happens, this war will end very soon."
He turned to leave.
But Fugaku called out quickly, "Wait, Mitsuki."
Mitsuki looked back, puzzled.
Fugaku continued,
"A few days ago, Shisui and Ruri killed three special enemies disguised as Konoha shinobi. They tried to lure Shisui and the others to the Land of Water by spreading fake intel that you were severely injured. Fortunately, they didn't fall for it — thanks to Ruri, she…"
And like beans spilling from a broken jar, Fugaku explained everything.
Mitsuki relaxed slightly after hearing both Ruri and Shisui were fine. It would've been awkward if he returned only for them to rush blindly into the Land of Water. Thank goodness Ruri listened to his advice and didn't act impulsively.
But then he grew curious.
"These special enemies… how special were they?"
Hizashi recalled the bodies.
"They weren't wearing clothes. Their entire bodies were white, and the blood from their wounds was also white."
Alright. Mitsuki instantly understood.
Definitely another trick from Madara.
Mitsuki mentally complained:
Damn, Madara sure had plenty of vitality when he was younger. How'd he end up old and obsessed with shady crap like this?
He sighed.
"Where are the bodies now?"
"They're still in the Torture and Interrogation Division's corpse storage," Fugaku answered.
Mitsuki thought for a moment and nodded.
"Then I'll take those three corpses back to Konoha as well."
Neither Fugaku nor Hizashi objected.
They'd examined the bodies for days and learned nothing except that the cells had high vitality. They planned to send them back anyway.
After saying goodbye, Mitsuki went to T&I, picked up the three White Zetsu corpses, then scanned the camp for Ruri's chakra.
Found her.
She was in the mission hall, browsing available assignments.
Mitsuki entered the hall and spotted her at a glance.
If this were his previous world, she'd look like a girl browsing jewelry displays for something she liked.
But in this war-torn shinobi world, a girl her age was browsing missions about killing people.
Pretty hellish, actually.
Mitsuki walked up with a greeting.
"Ruri, what are you doing?"
Her whole body tensed for a moment at the sound of his voice, then eased when she recognized him. The corner of her lips curled ever so slightly.
But her voice stayed cool as always.
"Don't bother me. I'm thinking."
"…Uh."
Mitsuki was momentarily stabbed, but he let it slide.
Ruri frowned at the mission board for a while longer, then gave up entirely. Kirigakure had been quiet lately — she hadn't found any worthwhile combat missions for days.
She turned to Mitsuki.
"Judging from your appearance, your mission went very well."
Mitsuki replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course it did. Anyway, have you had headaches these past days? Any progress on that voice?"
Ruri considered her words.
"I have some guesses. But I need to return to the village to confirm."
Mitsuki took out a scroll and waved it in front of her with a smirk.
"Well, what a coincidence. I'm heading back to the village to deliver a few things. Want a free ride?"