Chapter 281: Minimum Threshold

Itachi noticed the person walking towards him dressed as Homusubi, and he was surprised a little but this surprise did not affect Itachi's reaction and he immediately active his Sharingan.

As his black eyes turned scarlet with three black tomoe spinning inside, Itachi tried to see through the guise of this person.

But as he observed, Itachi frowned because he was unable to see past the guise of the opposite person, not to mention seeing through the guise, even determining the opposite party's gender was difficult for him, for a moment the person dressed as Homusubi seemed a woman but at the very next moment the person appeared to be a male, giving off an inexplicable sense of mystery.

Facing this person, Itachi did not drop his guard even if he seemed to be a member of Amatsukami, and asked cautiously, "You are?"

The party did not care about Itachi's cautious tone, but asked indifferently, "You are Uchiha Itachi?"

Itachi nodded without relaxing his guard.

The recent disappearance of Uchiha Hiiragi has again realized the people of Konoha that the danger that the Uchiha Shinobi are in. Just imagine, if an elite shinobi who has already awakened the three tomoe Sharingan, and has years of experience disappear overnight without leaving even a single clue, then that is a big reason for worry and fear.

It just implies that even if you are an elite Jonin, you are not safe.

Therefore, Itachi is especially careful, considering the importance of his identity, and the impact his disappearance can cause.

It not for his trust in Kuroto-san, and Shisui-san's judgment Itachi would have definitely not come to such an isolated and dense part of the forest, more so without informing anyone in the clan or the village.

But even if Itachi trusts Kuroto-san, it does not mean that the person standing in front of him would be trusted by him just because he/she 'seems' to be a member of Amatsukami.

He or maybe she? Whatever, the gender of this person is, said, "Uchiha Itachi, you can call me 'Ho' for now. I will be your proctor during your assessment until we know whether your recruitment is confirmed. If you are recruited into the organization, then you will be in my subdivision, and you will bear the title of Homusubi."

This person 'Ho' was obviously Hyuga Kuroto controlling the 'Uchiha Tsukihi' clone.

Fighting is one of the best methods for soul adaption, and Itachi is a very good sparring partner, so Kuroto would obviously not let this opportunity go to waste.

Itachi considered the words of 'Ho' a little and then said, "Doesn't the organization already have a Homusubi?"

Because Itachi was still not sure about the other parties' identity, as such Itachi arranged his words to not give out Shisui's name.

"What makes you think that there can only be one 'Homusubi'?" – After a pause, 'Ho' continued, "Uchiha Shisui is 'Homusubi' but Homusubi is not Uchiha Shisui."

Seeing that 'Ho' mentioned Shisui's name, Itachi relaxed his guard a little, but only a little, and asked doubtfully, "If that is the case, then how many Homusubi are there in the organization?"

'Ho' shrugged, "If you count on the basis of the minimum qualification, then there are two 'Homusubi' in the organization as of yet, as for the future, perhaps there will be a third, a fourth, a fifth… and so on, in short, there is no limit, as long as the candidate meets the minimum requirements, he is eligible to be a candidate to bear the title of Homusubi."

Itachi was surprised, and then asked curiously, "And what is the minimum standard requirement?"

'Ho' laughed a little and said, "The minimum requirement is to have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"WHAT!!???" – Even if it was calm and collected Itachi, he couldn't help but exclaim in shock upon learning the minimum standard. "Must have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan to bear the title of Homusubi?"

As far as Itachi knows, currently, there are only three people who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, one is Shisui, the second is Shinichi, and the third is probably this person standing before him. And that's what's more shocking, the ocular power Mangekyou Sharingan represents the peak level of what an Uchiha can awaken, and once an Uchiha does awaken Mangekyou Sharingan he will become the focus of all attention as he is considered a great threat. And Itachi is more clear about this than anyone else.

Never in his dream would Itachi have thought that to become a full-fledged member of Amatsukami, he must have Mangekyou Sharingan, and this surprise was clearly evident on his face.

Seeing Itachi's surprised loo, 'Ho' asked in a confused tone, "What's so strange about this?"

Itachi scowled, "Are you mocking me?"

The top-level ocular power that an Uchiha Shinobi can have is the bare minimum standard that a 'Homusubi' must have, if that's not a joke, then what is?

This is pure bullshit, something that Itachi is completely unwilling to accept!

Seeing Itachi's unbelievable look, 'Ho' sighed, and then, deactivated the seals around the eye part of the mask, with the eyes now clearly visible, 'Ho' activated the Sharingan, which soon turned into something different, it was the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan!

Looking at the eye pattern, Itachi wasn't much surprised, as he probably expected the other party to have it, but was curious about something and asked, "Your Mangekyou Sharingan is different from Shisui-san's?"

'Ho' nodded, and explained, "Yes, what I have is called the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it's a higher level of ocular power compared to ordinary Mangekyou Sharingan that Uchiha Shisui possesses, so you see, I am the leader of 'Homusubi' sub-division."

As 'Ho' spoke, suddenly the basic ribcage Susanoo appeared around 'Ho.'

Looking at the golden-orange Susanoo ribcage, Itachi muttered, "So it really was you who helped clear rumors about Shisui-san being 'Homusubi'?" – muttered Itachi.

'Ho' nodded as the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan was deactivated, and the basic Susanoo disappeared.

Itachi asked at this moment, "But you mentioned the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan? I have never heard of this? And you also mentioned it to be a higher level of ocular power?"

'Ho' said, "Yes, but now is not the time to discuss this, just know that Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan is a higher level of ocular power that an Uchiha can have, you will learn about all these things in the future, for now, focus on the matter at hand. To become a member of Amatsukami, you must have Mangekyou Sharingan."

Itachi was a little frustrated and asked, "Is it really that difficult to join Amatsukami as a formal member?"

'Ho' nodded, "It's difficult indeed. Having a Mangekyou Sharingan is just a threshold. If you are not a shinobi who stands at peak level combat power, that is, at the level of a Kage, or better yet, higher than a Kage, then you would be a burden to the organization. And you clearly haven't reached that level yet. But now you might be wondering why are you here then? So to answer your question, it's potential. You have potential Uchiha Itachi, and therefore, you will undergo training. Once you fulfilled the minimum standard. You will become a full-fledged member of Amatsukami."

After hearing Ho's words, Itachi eased a little.

Given the reputation of Amatsukami, it doesn't sound so strange if he thinks about it. And Itachi was able to accept the minimum standard requirement that he must have.

And looking at the person standing in front of him, many of Itachi's doubts were also cleared. Prior to this, Itachi really wondered who was the 'Homusubi' who fought Shisui at the eastern peak of Tojinbo Mountain Range.

After all, many people including his father Uchiha Fugaku had witnessed the scene of two Susanoo clashed against one another at that time, so Itachi always wondered just who is the other individual in Amatsukami who also possesses Mangekyou Sharingan.

Now that there was 'Ho' in front of him Itachi did not need to wonder anymore.

Well putting all his thoughts aside, Itachi glanced at the opposite person and said, "In that case, I am grateful Ho-san, in order to save the Uchiha Clan and protect the village, I will work my hardest to not be a burden."

'Ho' nodded and said, "You have talent no doubt about it, now let's see how much of your talent come to fruition."

With those words, both Itachi and 'Ho' took their respective battle stance.

…

Konoha Cemetery

Hatake Kakashi stared at the memorial monument in front of him, and spoke, "Minato-sensei, our team-11 is responsible for ensuring the safety of your child. I assure you that I will protect him at all cost, let him follow your footsteps to become a shinobi you can be proud of."

There are few things that interest Hatake Kakashi, so in his free time, he would generally come to the Konoha Cemetery to have some idle talks with his friends Obito and Rin, as well as his Jonin Sensei, Namikaze Minato.

Sometimes, Kakashi can even spend his entire day here in a dazed state.

When he is here, Kakashi's vigilance is a bit less, and sometimes he is unable to notice the other person who comes to the Konoha Cemetery similar to him.

And that person is none other than the masked man, who was watching him even now, but Kakashi did not notice this.

When the masked man who was silently watching Hatake Kakashi, heard Kakashi's words, he narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Is team-11 responsible for protecting Uzumaki Naruto now? This is a good opportunity!'

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