Chapter – 448 The Stone Tablet

In the strange gaze of everyone, the flushed Tenzo hurriedly left behind Anko, seemingly wanting to get out of here as soon as possible for some reason.

Kuroto naturally saw that Tenzo had deliberately led Anko away, so he also said to both Shisui and Itachi who were standing behind him, "Both of you can go, if there is anything new, I find, I will let the two of you know."

"Alright Kuroto-san, we will wait!" both Shisui and Itachi nodded, and soon left in the direction of the Uchiha Clan grounds.

Orochimaru's quirked his eyebrow for a moment, and a hint of suspicion flashed on his disguised handsome face.

Because of his keenness, Orochimaru caught a small inconspicuous detail in Shisui and Itachi's attitude towards Kuroto. The way Shisui and Itachi followed Kuroto's instructions surprised Orochimaru. He felt that the relationship between Kuroto and the two Uchiha was slightly different from friends and colleagues. It seemed a bit like that of a Superior and Subordinate, and Shisui and Itachi seemed unusually respectful towards Kuroto, which surprised Orochimaru because this is very strange in his eyes.

According to the information provided to him by the few spies still lurking in Konoha, Orochimaru can be quite sure that Kuroto and Shisui do not have a superior and subordinate relationship in the Anbu. As for Itachi, although, Orochimaru is not aware of what position Itachi holds in the Anbu, given the fact that Itachi is next in line to the position of the patriarch of the Uchiha Clan, he has no reason to be so respectful to a Hyuga of the Branch Family, in fact, it should be quite the opposite.

Moreover, Shisui has the Mangekyou Sharingan, and since the news of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan has yet to be revealed to anyone, Orochimaru is quite sure that he is one of the very few alive who actually knows of the fact that even Uchiha Itachi has the Mangekyou Sharingan, which is why he is more surprised upon noticing the respectful attitude of both Shisui and Itachi towards Kuroto.

Orochimaru knows that the current Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi are undoubtedly the highest fighting power in Konoha, this is also the reason why he did not try to mess around in the village this time, after all, he wouldn't want to be tortured for more than 72 hours while tied to stakes in less than a second and then again be burned to death by those black flames like the last time, right? Nor would he want to be pummelled by the giant green humanoid made of Chakra or be brainwashed by Uchiha Shisui.

That's why he is quite curious and as he noticed Shisui and Itachi leave, Orochimaru can't help but ask inquisitively, "Kuroto-kun, I am very curious about the means you used to win over Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, you wouldn't mind sharing them with your Sensei, right?"

Kuroto originally planned to say a few words to Orochimaru, after all, no matter how vicious the other party may be, he is still the one who taught Kuroto most of the things, and Kuroto seriously respects him, but upon noticing the hostile look of Kimimaro, an imaginary light bulb lit on the side of Kuroto's head, and after thinking a little, he suddenly changed his mind and said in an arrogant tone, "Humph, if I am stronger than both of them, they will naturally follow."

"Really?" Orochimaru didn't really believe in Kuroto's nonsense, especially that fake arrogant tone, others might think that Kuroto's arrogance is genuine, but as someone who knows Hyuga Kuroto quite well, he naturally saw through Kuroto's fake arrogance.

At the same time, Orochimaru didn't believe in Kuroto's reasoning either, he knows that the kid has Ryuumyaku in his hand, and might as well have gained a good level of control over it with the passage of time, so his strength is definitely not weak, and possibly one of the strongest in Konoha but to be able to subdue both Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi at the same time? That's just unreasonable.

In Orochimaru's eyes, apart from the leaders of the Akatsuki Organization and Amatsukami, no one in the Shinobi World can defeat the joint strength of Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi at the same time.

"Humph, obviously." Kuroto snorted, then continued with a frivolous attitude, "Orochimaru-sama, why are you still playing these children's games? Does it even make any sense to bring these dead weights with you to Konoha, knowing full well that your cover might get blown away? Especially when Akatsuki is after you?"

Orochimaru did not answer, the reason being that he could feel that Kuroto's words weren't actually targeting him, rather they were targeting one of the kids standing behind him, so Orochimaru was quite curious about who Kuroto was targeting, and what were his intentions.

And obviously, Kuroto's words worked, Kimimaro suddenly burst out with chilling killing intent, and the surroundings turned colder. Even the villagers in the surroundings subconsciously walked away because of feeling uncomfortable.

Kuroto smiled inwardly, 'The best way to provoke Kimimaro is by ridiculing Orochimaru-sama.'

Orochimaru reached out his hand to stop Kimimaro who wanted to lash out at Kuroto, then said with a sly smile, "Kuroto-kun, I feel quite hurt that you have forgotten a few things about your early genin days, didn't you also follow me like these kids and grew up all the way?"

Kuroto snorted, "But I was different from these kids even during my Genin days, these kids can't even figure out anything." Then he deliberately showed an impatient expression, "Well, unlike you, I have some important things that I must take care of, and I don't have much time to waste on a nuke-nin, so if there's nothing else to say, I will take my leave."

After that Kuroto didn't wait for Orochimaru to answer and directly walked away with an indifferent expression.

'Let's see if this plan of mine works.' Thought Kuroto all while walking away.

On the other hand, Orochimaru's mood remained the same, obviously, Kuroto's fake arrogance and frivolous attitude would not affect Orochimaru, but he was quite curious about Kuroto's attempt to incite the kids and paid attention to their individual reactions.

Kimimaro was angrier at Hyuga Kuroto, but because Orochimaru had stopped him before, so he temporarily suppressed his killing intent and did not immediately rush toward Kuroto, however, in his heart, Kimimaro was determined to assassinate Hyuga Kuroto before they left Konoha.

Haku still had his head down, as a result, he really did not really pay much attention to what Orochimaru and Kuroto discussed.

It wasn't until Kuroto disappeared from their gazes that Kimimaro asked Orochimaru with a puzzled look, "Orochimaru -sama, he dared to be rude to you so openly, why did you stop me from teaching him a lesson?"

Orochimaru lightly said, "Three Konoha Anbu are hidden, and keeping a watch over us, had you made a move they would have wasted not even a second to subdue you, and even attempted to take me under custody."

Kimimaro immediately apologized, "Forgive me for not noticing." Then covered his killing intent towards Hyuga Kuroto.

Orochimaru shook his head and did not say anything to Kimimaro, but inwardly, he had a smile and thought, 'So it is Kimimaro he was trying to rile up, what does this kid intend to do with Kimimaro? Sigh, his behavior is getting more and more difficult to read.'

At this time, Anko walked back with a flushed Tenzo, and noticing that there was no sign of Kuroto, she asked the disguised Orochimaru, "Where did he go, the one with the white Kimono?"

The disguised Orochimaru said, "Oh, he said that he had something very urgent to do so he left."

Anko nodded, and did not question anymore, then she escorted the four Otogakure shinobi to the night market of Konoha.

Looking at the grown-up Mitarashi Anko, Hyuga Kuroto, and the third kid he met up with not too long ago, even Orochimaru can't help but reminisce the old days when he took the three young Genin under his wing.

…

Sometimes later outside Naka Shrine.

"Kenji, man did you hear about the duel that took place today?" asked the Uchiha guard responsible for guarding the Naka Shrine.

"Of course, I heard about it, Tanaka-san." The Uchiha named Tanaka nodded, then continued, "Who would have thought that Sasuke-sama would awaken the Sharingan at such a young age."

"Hehe, Sasuke-sama is certainly Fugaku-sama's son, and Itachi-sama's brother, Sasuke-sama too will become a very strong Shinobi in the future." The Uchiha named Tanaka said.

"I couldn't agree more, Tanaka-san." Kenji nodded with a chuckled.

Step Step

At this moment, both Kenji and Tanaka heard the sound of footsteps and were on full alert. Tanaka even had a signal flare drawn out, after all, he doesn't want to become a victim similar to Uchiha Ryota, Uchiha Hideki, and Uchiha Hiiragi.

Soon the sound of footsteps got closer, both Kenji and Tanaka got a closer look at the identities of the persons who came to the Naka Shrine, and then took a light breath, "Itachi-sama, Shisui-san you both come to the Naka Shrine at such an hour?"

Itachi nodded and said, "Good work Kenji-San, Tanaka-San, the reason for coming to Naka Shrine at this hour is actually very important. We have something we have to check, it won't take very long, we can take a look, right?"

Tanaka hurriedly nodded, "Yes, yes, of course, take your time. If there is any way in which we can help your search, then please don't hesitate to ask us Itachi-sama."

Itachi nodded then said, "It's alright, there is no need to worry. Both of you can take a good rest, we will be here for some time, and don't worry, we know what we are looking for, so we can find it ourselves."

Kenji nodded, "Alright Itachi-sama."

And the very next moment, both Uchiha Kenji and Uchiha Tanaka fell into a deep sleep all while standing in their positions. From beginning to end, neither of them noticed the third person standing behind Shisui and Itachi, nor did the two realize that they were under Genjutsu from the moment they heard the sound of Itachi's footsteps.

Noting the two asleep, Shisui said with an impressed expression, "Voice-induced Genjutsu, huh?"

Itachi nodded, "Yes, I used the sound of my footsteps as a medium to disturb Kenji-san, and Tanka-san's chakra, then used my voice as the command to mind control the two into putting them to sleep."

Kuroto quirked his eyebrow and asked, "If I am not wrong, one of the partners of Zabuza during the Kirigakure coup d'état used such type of Voice-induced Genjutsu, right?"

Itachi nodded, "Yes, this Genjutsu is called, 'Demonic Genjutsu: Cajolery of Glamour' and it was used by a Kirigakure Shinobi named Gengo, his use of Genjutsu piqued my interest as it is quite similar to Shisui-san's Kotoamatsukami although, much weaker. After I had captured him and went through his memories, I learned quite a lot about Voice-Induced Genjutsu and its potential. The current him was not much proficient in this form of Genjutsu but its potential cannot be denied, it can take many by a surprise who are vigilant against the Sharingan."

Kuroto and Shisui nodded in understanding.

Sharingan is a fear of many, and they train specifically in order to avoid being trapped in a Genjutsu, Might Guy is one such example, in which case Sound Induced Genjutsu would work wonders against such fellows.

After all, nobody would think that an Uchiha with the Sharingan would use sound-induced Genjutsu, rather than a Visual Genjutsu.

Itachi continued, "In any case, now that the coast is clear, we can go inside the Naka Shrine, I will also spread my crows in the surroundings to keep watch for anyone else coming here, so we can search for what we are here for without any worry."

Kuroto and Shisui nodded and proceeded towards the inner hall of Naka Shrine.

There was no other guard in the main hall, so Kuroto went unimpeded all the way as if strolling through his back garden, and soon arrived at the secret underground meeting place of the Uchiha Clan; beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right.

Looking at the Stone Tablet in front of him, Kuroto muttered lightly, "So this stone tablet is the cause of all the problems?"

This Stone Tablet was left behind by Rikudo Sennin in order to discourage the descendants of Otsutsuki Indra from attempting to recreate the Rinnegan, but because it was tempered by Black Zetsu, so it can be said to be the cause of all the problems.

After all, If Madara had not read the Stone Tablet, he wouldn't have chosen to leave Konoha and proceeded with Project Tsuki no Me, so it wouldn't be wrong to say that this Stone Tablet is truly one of the greatest causes of all the problems

At this moment, Itachi arrived after spreading his crows, then said, "The Stone Tablet Can be deciphered by the Sharingan and the Mangekyou Sharingan, but even me or Shisui-san cannot fully decipher it, as we would most likely need a higher level of Visual Prowess for it. Kuroto-san, do you need me to decipher it?"

Kuroto shook his head, "There's no need."

.

.

Read up to Chapter - 703 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations