Megumi went back inside his home and straight into Yukimi's room. There she was, crying more heavily than earlier.
He wasn't someone who ignored people's feelings, even in his past life, but now that he was cursed, he didn't have the luxury to pay attention anymore.
Megumi left the room and stood outside. He wouldn't apologize for what he did, but he would compensate her.
Knock knock.
Megumi knocked at her door, but she didn't answer. He knocked again and again.
This time she opened the door, her face red from excessive crying.
"What do you want?" she asked, but her face was down since she stood a step away from Megumi.
"Why are you crying again? I remember that I'll allow you to go visit your people's graves tomorrow."
Megumi healed her swollen face back to its original state.
But her face was getting overheated from Megumi touching it.
"Why is your face so red? If you need anything, please let me know."
Megumi turned to leave but was hugged from behind by Yukimi. He didn't react as if it meant anything to him.
"I'm sorry," she said with her face buried in Megumi's back.
"Sorry for what? I'm not angry at you. I just don't want you to feel entitled to everything. Since that flirty Root member and the One-Eye Ghoul want you to stay with me without paying me for babysitting, it's my right to protect and provide for you." Megumi explained. "And I just want you to behave like your real age."
"Okay." She didn't get the message but still nodded.
"Do you want to see the moon tonight?"
She nodded again. This was what she wanted, since she'd spent all her days inside a cave. It meant a lot to her, the only survivor immune to her clan's flaw.
"Nue."
Megumi summoned his bird, which appeared in the vast area of his property.
"Wow, this bird is bigger than when you summoned it earlier," Yukimi said. "Are we going to ride it?"
She hadn't seen Nue before except earlier, when its size could be said to be slightly bigger than the rabbit. The major reason she didn't like it was mostly because it looked ugly and scary.
"Yes, tonight will be special."
Yukimi extended her hand, then noticed she was now standing on the huge bird.
"Hold me tight and see the moon in 4K view."
"Megumi, look at the village! It's... beautiful," Yukimi said in astonishment.
The two were high in the sky, the village below.
In a dark hallway in the village, ten masked men who could be identified as Root members carried luggage on both their shoulders, except for one who could be seen as the leader.
While they were running, they were blocked by a small figure.
The captain leading the squad raised his hand to stop his team. He immediately recognized the small figure as the one on their billboard hit list.
"Megumi Nara." The leader had seen reports of how strong this monster before him was.
"Captain, who is this kid? Should we kill him?"
"Yes, we are the protectors of the village. Who is this nobody?"
"Lord Danzo will be angry if we keep wasting time here."
The members were furious that a kid around five to six would be stupid enough to engage the whole Root organization.
"What are you ants carrying into your holes?" Megumi asked.
This angered the Root members. They started dropping the bags they were carrying and unsheathing their blades, ready to make Megumi pay for his actions.
"In battle formation." The Root leader gave his order, and Megumi was surrounded.
Megumi saw their killing intent and was ready to beat their asses. Since he'd seen them through his crows, he had a clone accompany Yukimi while he beat the shit out of these puppets.
"Okay, I came here to kill you anyway, and I can read your memories later for any tangible information."
Megumi drew out his cursed tool, which took the form of a gun. He would end them without them struggling.
In less than a minute, Megumi was the only one standing amid the blood of the Root members. Each one had been killed with a single cursed bullet embedded in their skulls.
"Now let's see anything from their brains."
Megumi started grabbing the head of each member one after the other. He read some of the Root members' memories and could tell most of them were civilians. The arrogant ones were the clansmen. One Root member had been promised his family would be looked after.
He discovered the bags contained children set to be recruited into Root after he'd massacred the best ones. Danzo wanted to add more stock in case the opportunity to become Hokage opened.
"Tsk, pathetic Danzo."
Megumi would still play the long game with the four old relics in power. Not yet time to strike.
Megumi checked on the children in the bags. The youngest was his age, and they were knocked out either to avoid noise or to keep the Root base unknown to outsiders.
He used Great Serpent to curl them together and stored them in his shadow.
He didn't have limitations on bearing the weight of what he stored in his shadow, and the Great Serpent could breathe air to each and every one of them.
As he prepared to make his way to the village orphanage, he picked up good news: the masked man was in the village.
"What a beautiful day." Megumi abandoned his location and even disconnected his POV with Yukimi, since he was one hundred percent sure those two couldn't fly.
"I don't know how all the White Zetsu I kept have vanished without a trace," Black Zetsu said. He was sure nobody could detect them from underneath the ground or wherever they might have hidden themselves.
"It's easy. I'll just have to get the information myself then," Obito said.
Just as the two were discussing, something abnormal happened.
"Hey, why are there three shadows when we're just two here?" White Zetsu said, calling his teammates.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." Madara shot at where they were. Even Black and White Zetsu were caught in the midst of it as it came unexpectedly.
Both Black and White Zetsu were furious that Madara could do things without notifying them.
"Hey, are you trying to get us killed too?" White Zetsu raged at him.
Madara didn't bother replying to the stupid White Zetsu.
He couldn't believe someone had just snuck up on him without him noticing.
"Show yourself." Madara called out to the one hiding.
He expected it would be Kakashi or Shisui. Those two were the only powerhouses that could be a threat to him, and he didn't want to expose his presence, not here. He would have to kill the person.
Out of the smoke came Megumi, the useless jutsu burning his cool hoodie and revealing his tattoo.
Megumi fired five shots of cursed bullets in their direction as payback for what he'd done to his hoodie.
Madara dodged three of those bullets easily, but the same couldn't be said for his followers.
Black Zetsu didn't suffer any damage in the slightest, but White Zetsu was dead, his head busted, a hole in his chest and the last at his side stomach.
"Hello, simp."
Megumi said while he chuckled.
"How were you able to be alive?"
"I killed you with my own hands."
"I confirmed it myself. Tell me what forbidden jutsu you used to bring yourself back from the afterlife."
Madara saw something he never expected he would see: the boy he thought he'd killed.
"Why are you so interested, and who the fuck do you think you are that I'll tell you that?"
"I am Madara Uchiha, the one known by all and feared by all. I remember I already told you my name before. Now I'll have to kill you again just because you want revenge for your lost one."
Madara wanted to intimidate Megumi, but from the look of things, the boy wasn't even scared of him like last time.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. But if I also remember, unlike you who has damaged brain cells, you should remember that I said you're not Madara, simp."
Megumi replied.
"What rubbish and nonsense are you saying?" Madara had to suppress his frustration as he drew his blade, feeling eager and ready to kill him more than ever.
He looked into Megumi's eyes, walked up to him, then stabbed him in his heart, removing it completely this time to avoid the same mistake.
"That was close, Obito. You need to be careful nowadays," Black Zetsu said with concern.
"I told you several times that you should call me Madara," Madara said as he prepared to leave the village.
"Hahaha, that was so good." A voice came from behind Madara and Black Zetsu.
"Huh?" Both of them turned and looked, only to see Megumi now standing. What shocked Madara and Black Zetsu most was that the heart he'd ripped out and destroyed had already been replaced. Megumi stood there as if he hadn't been attacked.
"What's wrong? Seeing things?"
"Hehehehe." Megumi now tried displaying the acting he'd been practicing for the past six months. "What's wrong? Do I have a face on my face?" he asked.
"You see, I've waited for this day to come for the past 183 days, so I'll let you feel the pain my teacher had to go through after you took the tailed beast from her."
Megumi said this in a cold tone, releasing his cursed energy and letting it run wild.
Megumi changed the gun into the Inverted Spear of Heaven in his hand.
Then he started passing the weapon from his left hand to his right hand. "Hey, Obito, now I have two hands, but I'm confused because I don't know which one to kill you with."