"Hey, isn't it a bit too much to call a young girl that? Where is your emotional intelligence?"
Temari couldn't bear to watch anymore.
A girl roughly her age being called 'Great-Grandma'—is that something a person should say?
"Isn't this to prevent her from acting rashly? What the Uchiha are best at is 'my body moved on its own.'"
Bai Mo was referring to the phrase (which hadn't happened yet) when Sasuke shielded Naruto from the White Senbon.
As well as the two extremes of the Uchiha that derived from it.
When he doesn't care about you, no matter who you are, he doesn't care about your life.
When he does care about you, no matter what happens, he won't even care about his own life.
"You talk like you know the Uchiha very well..."
Hikari, who was sulking, muttered this when she heard Bai Mo's words.
But then she thought about it, and realized he really did seem to know them well.
At least better than she did.
Thinking this, Uchiha Hikari's resentment toward Bai Mo instantly shifted onto herself.
She hated the Uchiha Clan, who treated themselves as weapons, the most; how could she have the same personality traits as those clansmen!
"You're right! So tell me, what should we do? I'll listen to you first!"
Uchiha Hikari, determined to make a change, abruptly changed the subject.
"I roughly guessed the situation here at the Ryūmyaku before coming, so I made a few small preparations beforehand. Wait a moment, the wind was a bit strong just now, and the distance was a bit far."
A full thirty seconds after Bai Mo finished speaking, a White Zetsu's head popped out of the ground.
"Ouch, this place is killing me, drilling through it."
The White Zetsu complained, covered in dust.
— — When there are no mobile phones for communication, the White Zetsu, who can relay messages, acts as a human telephone.
When Bai Mo left, a White Zetsu followed him at a considerable distance.
Whenever Bai Mo needed him, he would inject Natural Energy into the ground, allowing the White Zetsu to sense it and hurry over.
"Go notify Nagato and tell him to come here. If Orochimaru is interested, he can come too, but when they arrive, tell them to bring two extra White Zetsu,"
Bai Mo said to the White Zetsu.
"Alright, is that all? I'm starting the transmission now."
After confirming, the White Zetsu began transmitting the information to the White Zetsu inside Amegakure.
"Who is Nagato?"
Temari asked curiously.
"The leader of our organization."
"The leader? You talk to the head of your organization like that?"
Temari was astonished.
"Why not? Is he going to say, 'Who is truly the master of the Akatsuki Organization, you or me?' just because of this?"
"..."
Right, why not?
Temari felt like her retort had been completely stifled.
However, thinking about it that way, the atmosphere around Bai Mo seemed quite good.
"It's been transmitted. Lord Nagato and Orochimaru have already set off.
Oh, right, Lord Bai Mo, there is also a piece of news here, coming from Konoha."
The White Zetsu stopped mid-sentence, glancing at the others nearby.
"Go ahead. I already told them Nagato's real name, why would you worry about this?"
Bai Mo waved his hand.
"The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is dead."
After hearing Bai Mo, the White Zetsu continued speaking.
— — Previously, when Bai Mo told Orochimaru not to withdraw the spies he had left in Konoha, it wasn't essentially for the purpose of having those spies gather intelligence.
The best stealth agents for gathering intelligence were still the White Zetsu.
Orochimaru's spies were merely an excuse to go to Konoha after the incident occurred.
"What?!"
Temari and Gaara looked at Bai Mo in surprise upon hearing the news.
"Don't jump to conclusions, we didn't do it. The Third Hokage is highly valued within our organization.
One of our more important goals during the Chūnin Exams was to ensure Orochimaru didn't kill the Third Hokage.
If we truly wanted him dead, wouldn't all our previous efforts have been in vain?"
Bai Mo immediately guessed what the siblings were thinking and offered an explanation.
"Then didn't you still waste your efforts? He's dead now anyway—speaking of which, the Third Hokage wasn't weak, was he? Who killed him?"
Temari was curious.
"His death before would have been meaningless, but his death now serves a purpose.
Besides, our organization isn't some kind of nanny security service. We can't constantly monitor him just to prevent him from committing suicide, can we?
What if Hiruzen Sarutobi found out about this and threatened suicide unless he got a twilight romance? Would we have to go to your village and kidnap Grandmother Chiyo for him?"
Bai Mo spread his hands.
Gaara: "..."
"I always feel like you have a strange obsession with Grandmother Chiyo."
Temari retorted.
Bai Mo calmly denied it, "That's your misconception."
"Instead, let's talk about you. One of your fishnet stockings is high and the other is low; one covers only your thigh, and the other covers only your calf. Do you have some kind of asymmetrical compulsion?"
"You? This... Does it not look good on me?"
Hearing Bai Mo comment on her outfit, Temari, who had never cared about such things, suddenly panicked and looked down to examine herself.
"I think black pantyhose are quite nice, they suit you well."
Bai Mo was, of course, referring to her attire during the Boruto era.
"Really?"
Temari was stunned. She had seen them before, but hadn't tried them because they didn't seem very girly.
"I think you shouldn't. My uncle once told me that the Land of Wind is too hot, and wearing stockings that cover your feet makes them sweat and smell easily."
Gaara offered the advice very seriously.
"Shut up."
Temari gave Gaara a merciless glare.
"?"
Gaara looked innocent and displayed a question mark.
Did he say something wrong?
"And yes, pantyhose can also protect your legs from erosion by sand and wind, keeping your skin smooth."
"...Fine, I'll try it when I get back."
This actually piqued Temari's interest.
"...You two, shouldn't we discuss the matter of the Third Hokage?"
Gaara interjected weakly.
"It's fine. Hiruzen Sarutobi, in the afterlife, would definitely want us to talk more about stockings."
"..."
"Alright, I'll tell you about the cause of Hiruzen Sarutobi's death and the matter of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
Bai Mo sat down on the ground, preparing to explain the situation regarding the Ōtsutsuki Clan and his journey back to this era from the future.
— —
Konoha.
The White Zetsu lurking in Konoha was constantly monitoring the key target, Boruto Uzumaki.
Therefore, on the very day Hiruzen Sarutobi was killed, the White Zetsu immediately obtained the intelligence and transmitted it to the White Zetsu network.
No one discovered the incident on the day it happened.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's fate was somewhat tragic.
His wife died during the Nine-Tails attack.
His son, Asuma, ran away rebelliously; he was slightly more mature now that he was back, but he still wasn't planning on living at home.
His grandson, Konohamaru, was much the same.
An entire day passed, and still no one realized that Hiruzen Sarutobi was missing.
Perhaps this was due to everyone's confidence in his strength, believing that no one could eliminate him silently and without a trace.
It wasn't until the third day, after Tsunade had just finished receiving Jiraiya's report on his surveillance of the adult Sasuke over the past two days, and after Jiraiya left, that she realized she couldn't contact Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After an investigation, she discovered that two days earlier, Hiruzen Sarutobi had taken Konohamaru, Naruto, and Boruto to train in the woods outside the village and seemed not to have returned since.
Although searching there now was akin to marking the boat to find the sword, Tsunade still decided to go and see if there were any clues.