37 Chapter 36 (1/2)

The night after we came home from the Land of Iron, I had finally got the chance to build a proper house for myself. I've made it in a different design than my previous home as a sign that I had moved on. Such was evident with Karin sleeping next to me, naked. Yes, we did it and it's not that she seduced me to it. I just got too stressed out and needed to let out a little steam. No, I am not using her for myself, I cared for her as much as myself. Regardless, I couldn't sleep yet because I was writing the most important thing in a scroll. There's a reason as to why I didn't do much in the summit and I can't afford to mess it up. The alliance must happen.

”What're you doing still awake this late?” Karin mumbled as she brushes my back. ”Is this what I think it is?”

”Just in case but, if anything happens to me, this house is yours. Please stay here, live and have children here in Konoha,” I said as she hugged me from behind. ”Come, let's sleep.”

Surprisingly, she didn't push the subject. I closed my eyes hoping that sleep can drag me out of reality. That night, I dreamt of Karin and I had started a family together, having cute little kids and grew old to watch our kids having their kids of their own.

The next morning, I was in the bathroom when Karin answered the doors. From the chakra signature, it was Kakashi-sensei and he was snickering when Karin invited him inside. I wrapped my body with a towel and walked towards the living room and saw Karin that was wearing my shirt from yesterday, serving my sensei a cup of tea. I slammed my face with my hand; he will not shut up about this. I could see that sensei was smiling at me.

”What do you want this early, sensei?” I asked when I sat down on the wooden seat.

”First off, it's afternoon and Tsunade-Sama had just woken up,” Sensei said as he read that obnoxious book of his. ”Secondly, how many rounds did you had that caused you to be this late? You never late.”

I just groaned at him as I walked back to my bedroom to change my clothes. We shunshin towards Senpai's temporary house when I was done and Anbu was hidden all over the place. There were two Anbu stood guard at the entrance and that alone was enough to say that the Godaime was in there. Honestly, it was overkill. We walked inside after greeting the two Anbu.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

”No!” Shizune screamed, ”get a hold of yourself! You can't eat Ton Ton!”

”What the hell are you on about?!” Senpai grumbled with her mouth full of food.

”Good afternoon, senpai! Glad to see you alive and well,” I said as we walked into her room.

”Ah, my junior! And Kakashi too? Come in! Let's eat! Shizune, more food!” Senpai yelled as she continued to eat. Shizune walked out in despair to get even more food I guess. Well, better for it to be food than sake.

”Sasuke had woken up if you are interested in it. He is completely changed and his loyalty lies with the village as what Itachi had promised in his will. He is undergoing ROOT training as we speak and I will initiate him later today,” I said after I sat in front of the dining table opposing my senpai.

”What will the villagers say?” Senpai wondered idly.

”They had worst, they will surely bear with it. Besides, they had their Uchiha heir back now,” I said as I took a bit of dango that was on the table.

”Fine! Well, I'm surprised to hear about the Joint Forces. Can't believe that Raikage and Tsuchikage agreed to cooperate,” Senpai said.

”Desperate time calls for desperate measure. I hope that the alliance will last even after the war,” I immediately commented.

”I'll say,” Kakashi-sensei finally said, ”things will get messier this time around, a war of this scale.”

”You know, sensei? What would you say if Obito were to come back to the village?” I asked, curious for his response.

”If he ain't that demented, I bet that he'd be proud of you guys right now,” Sensei said as he gave me his closed eye smile. The air, however, was full of depression. He was blaming himself for what had happened to his former teammate. I drone out thinking a few steps ahead.

”Another war,” Senpai interrupted, ”the Uchiha fate now torments us all. Call a planning session as soon as I'm finished.”

We both nodded before we got out and gather the shinobi council. It's a state of emergency and martial law had been imposed. The Hokage now has the total absolute power. A few hours later, the shinobi council consists of the top brass of Konoha shinobi was gathered.

At the front, Senpai sat along with the village elders. All of the clan heads were present and interestingly enough, only Shikamaru, Sasuke and I were the youngest in the meeting.

”I called this war planning session to order,” Senpai said with an authoritative voice.

”Troublesome,” My good friend Shikamaru whined next to me and I could hear Sasuke grunted from my other side.

”Shut it, Sloth-Shikamaru! I'm trying to listen here,” I whisper-yelled. All of a sudden we felt a killer intent behind us and then, boom! TKO! Senpai knocked both of us on the head. We were left sitting with a towering bruise on our head that was still hissing silently.

”Start gathering weapons and rations immediately,” Koharu-Sama started, ”20% each to battle squads and support squads. We must decide on the platoons breakdowns as soon as possible.”

”Half of my men or maybe more depending on their demand wanted to be at the front lines under Sasuke or my commands,” I announced. ”The rest wanted to be in the alliances' Intel corps. Also, this is the war to protect Naruto and my best friend was adamant about going. What say you, senpai?”

”Naruto and the Kyuubi are assets that can win us the war,” Senpai state, hinting that she would send him to the frontlines.

”If I may, Godaime-sama,” Shukaku-sama interrupted, ”even with his Sage Jutsu, Naruto is pretty much useless without controlling the Kyuubi's power. This is Akatsuki we're taking on here and they already had seven bijuu in their hands. Plus, Naruto is too unpredictable and acts too rashly for his self-interest.”

”In actuality, he is a lot mature than that and I'm sure Sasuke would agree with me if the knucklehead were to fight at the front with us. That being said, we couldn't afford to act without thinking right now, him being out there is a double edge sword for us. We need a distraction for Naruto, that's all. He won't forgive me for suggesting it but it's a good plan in my book,” I commented and the Uchiha grunted after me.

”I must confer the alliance about this. What else?” Senpai questioned.

”What of Kabuto? I understand that he was sighted near Fire and Lighting border. That man is too dangerous to be left alone. He might take advantage of things and attacks Konoha or worse, ally himself with the Akatsuki,” I demanded.

”About that, Sasuke-kun, I want to ask you, are you certain that you had killed Orochimaru or did he took over Kabuto's body? Kabuto looks like the Snake Sannin nowadays,” Tenzou suddenly asked.

”Orochimaru's body had been taken over by me actually, that Kabuto must have been experimenting on himself. Orochimaru wasn't stingy with Kabuto when it comes to research data,” Sasuke said and everybody gasped. ”Don't worry, Itachi had sealed him of when we fought at Uchiha Shrine.”

I had to chuckle at his words. People were gasping not because they feared the Snake came back and ran rampant over Konoha, they were surprised on how did he defeat the Snake Sannin.

”In any case, I request a mission to track Kabuto down. I can do a better job at it anyways but I do need a team of TNI with me if Morino-san allows it that is. They will work with me alone if you aren't comfortable with my other colleagues,” I said.

”Hikari-kun, we are long over that fear of the ROOT, your boys had helped us when Pein attacked our village. This mission of yours is minuscule in importance, your ROOT asset is a lot more beneficial at the war as did you. So, why the interest in Kabuto?” Ibiki-san asked.

”We cannot expect to overlook tiny details, Ibiki-san. This is Orochimaru's right-hand man we're talking about. Remember how they overran our security and killed my Sensei? As shinobi, we could not afford to leave loose ends,” I answered.

”Point taken Hikari-kun but what Ibiki had said is entirely true. Your strength is needed at the front. I am most definitely had wanted my Junior to be my right-hand man in this war. I will call Anko's team back for you and you can coordinate with them but you must get to the front when the war began,” Senpai countered. I was about to retort but an Intel Corps ninja suddenly barged in the meeting room.

”Hokage-Sama, the Raikage is calling all Kage for the Joint Forces meeting very soon!” She said bowing at us. She must be feeling guilty of interrupting the meeting but who could blame her, the message was important.

”Right, Hikari-kun. You coming?” Senpai asked.

”Maybe later, Sasuke and I will be sorting out ROOT first before going. You need to leave immediately. Take Torune and Fu as your additional escorts,” I answered before we both shunshinned to our HQ.

Our ROOT HQ was now above ground since the Pein attack. The previous base was somewhat intact but I took the chance to relocate as it helps to bring us closer to the other shinobis. That day, I had something in mind for Sasuke and Karin had already been waiting for us.

”Sasuke, your Mangekyou, is it already taking away your sights? Sorry, I took the chance of reading your clan's scroll about Sharingan. I know a little about your Mangekyou now,” I said as we walked towards the sickbay.

”Yes my sights are getting blurry, if I don't use the Mangekyou too much, I'll be fine,” he quickly replied.

”Be that as it may, brother, we're at war now. Konoha needs you to be at your very best,” I reasoned as I opened the doors to the sickbay. It was now rigged to be an operation theatre. The faint smell of disinfectant could be detected to even the novice of a ninja. Karin was scribbling notes on a set of eyeballs that were floating in a specimen jar.

”Impossible,” Sasuke said noting the pattern on said eyeballs.

”Not if you have my genes and resources to do so. Along with Itachi's eyes, you will receive several seals. Most of it is sensitive documents and numerous keys to open said seals and the vault. When I first died, the ROOT had no way of electing a new leader so now that I got a second chance at life, I must choose a successor immediately. I need to do so just in case something unprecedented happens to me. Do not refuse, this is your responsibility to Konoha right now. Karin will start the procedures for your eyes and I will start on the seals,” I explained as I gestured at the operating table. Surprisingly, he complied without much force. Well, except for his grunts, of course.

”Well, that was easy. I remembered that you were super rebellious with Orochimaru-sama,” Karin whined.

”Just start the procedure, Hime. Sasuke and I got a meeting at Kumogakure after this,” I chided and she pouted at me before she flew at me and hugged my body tightly.

”I wanna come with, I haven't got enough of you,” she whined again and I brushed her red hair.

”It's work-related, Hime. Tell you what, we'll go out on a date after we get back?” I said and then rolled my eyes when she looked at me with starry eyes.

”Huh,” Sasuke said as he stared at us, confirming his suspicion before he grunted and closed his eyes. We started our operation immediately afterwards.

The whole procedure was long and dragging, hence, Sasuke would be out cold for a while. Thus, I had to go ahead before him. I didn't even reach Kumo, though, Anko's team had caught up with me or is it me that had caught up with them? Anyway, we resumed our journey by executing our original mission--track Kabuto down.

We were infiltrating an abandoned facility rumoured to be one of Orochimaru's bases in search for a sliver of clues. As it turns out, Kumo was thinking the same thing with me regarding Kabuto. Such was evident with the remains of Kumo shinobi in this facility. It was recent since the body wasn't decaying too much. They had signs of snake ninjutsu injuries which Anko knew well.

”Kabuto's becoming more and more like Orochimaru,” Anko said after she finished examined the dead bodies, ”But why is he leaving bodies like this. It's not like him at all.”

”A bait, possibly? I'll seal their bodies. I am sure Kumo will appreciate this,” I said as I opened up a scroll and began the sealing process.

”Hmm, he's taken up Orochimaru's mantle alright. Question is, will he go after the Akatsuki or Konoha itself?” she pondered. We continued our search outside and I was shocked to find some more trails of dead bodies that led us to the deeper part of the forest.

”Hikari-kun, would you please?” Anko asked. I nodded before I sat down and entered my Sage-Mode. Afterwards, with my Byakugan enhanced, I could quadruple my normal Byakugan range and I was in an utter shock. Thousands of bodies stood below us unmoving like a statue but ready nonetheless. From the chakra signature, I knew that it was Shirozetsu and then, I saw them--Obito but with a Rinnegan on his left eye and Kabuto with Orochimaru's hand implanted on his. It would seem that Orochimaru's chakra was like a virus, trying to take over Kabuto's body. What's more, I could see that they had resurrected the previous Akatsuki member, thus, I have to act now before Kabuto could summon more troublesome enemy.