Chapter 603

Chapter 603: Possible Identity of Female Homusubi

After confirming that the flustered Juzetsu has left, Kuroto stepped forward and picked up Jozetsu’s right arm that he had cut off not long ago.

The sudden act of cutting of Jozetsu’s arm was not just out of anger or whim, but it was actually a planned and calculated move, with a solid reason backing it up. And the reason why Kuroto cut off Jozetsu’s arm is that he needed it to be used on Danzo.

To obtain the maximum data from Danzo, the longer he persists in the ritual the more beneficial it is for Kuroto, so to make sure that he extracts maximum benefit out of Danzo, he has to solve some of Danzo’s physical problems so that he doesn’t die instantly during the ritual.

Although Danzo was able to somehow transplant Uchiha Shin’s right arm into himself, it is not made up of Danzo’s flesh after all, so it will inevitably become another unstable factor in the ceremony.

To make sure that this unstable factor doesn’t create that much of a problem, the best option would be to replace that entire arm itself… and if that arm is to be replaced, it has to be replaced with an arm that remains consistent with Danzo’s body, as well as have Hashirama Cells in it. And is there a better option compared to Zetsu’s arm?

Zetsu’s arm would be most suitable for him because not only will Zetsu’s arm replace Shin’s arm without inducing any unstable factor for various reasons, it will also strengthen Danzo’s aging body which will help Danzo bear the heavy strain of ritual, and help him persist longer. Therefore, Kuroto decided that that arm should be replaced with Zetsu’s.

And for that, Kuroto initially considered cloning an entire right arm using the cell tissues of White Zetsu’s Clone, but cloning Zetsu’s cells is a very laborious process because of the presence of Hashirama Cells in them, moreover, if he were to give a cloned arm to Danzo, it would also expose Amatsukami’s Cloning Technology to Danzo and Orochimaru which would be problematic as Orochimaru might be able to figure out more things about Amatsukami, and Kuroto can’t have that, so after some consideration, especially after this Jozetsu guy came in front of him, Kuroto decided to use Jozetsu’s arm for that process and so he did what he did.

Of course, now how to hand over this arm to Danzo is also an issue, as neither can he, nor can Homusubi directly go to him and advice him to use this arm as a replacement, but it is still not that big of an issue as this work can be left to Naomi.

Once Naomi is instructed, she will deliver this arm to Danzo…

Having decided so, after Kuroto sealed Zetsu’s arm in a scroll, he then disappeared from this place and decided to go and meet Naomi.

…

At the same time, somewhere else in the Land of Fire.

Similar to Hyuga Kuroto, Uchiha Itachi who was called upon by the Akatsuki Organization arrived at an isolated place.

Worried about Sasuke’s safety, Itachi actually arrived quite early, and seeing that there was no one present nearby, Itachi decided to wait.

After a while, Jozetsu, whose arm was cut off by Kuroto appeared in front of Itachi with a flustered expression.

Itachi was disappointed when he saw that the person who came to meet him is not the masked Uchiha of the Akatsuki, but just one of those Zetsu beings.

Having learned his lesson in front of Kuroto, this time Jozetsu didn’t try to intimidate or play around with Itachi, and directly said, “You can call me Jozetsu, and I am responsible for contacting you from now on… The suspects you have given us the last time are under investigation, but the possibility of them being members of Amatsukami is quite less… as such, we need you to investigate in more depth and figure out other Uchiha who could be Homusubi…”

Obviously, the information Itachi previously handed to Akatsuki was not instructed by Kuroto, it was Itachi’s own investigation.

Being one of the Homusubi himself, Itachi is obviously aware of the exact identities of all the Homusubi, but still, Itachi decided to investigate if there were any Uchiha who went missing since Konoha was established.

After carrying out his research, Itachi didn’t find many people who went missing strangely, the ones who went missing in some war, the status of most of them was indeed confirmed… as their corpses were searched and discovered by the search team of the Uchiha Clan, so not many suspects exists in reality.

In the truest sense if you ignore the Uchiha brothers who were kidnapped by Amatsukami, and Uchiha Hiiragi who was kidnapped by Akatsuki only to be used in Hiruko’s Chimera Ritual, then there were only two Uchiha clansmen whose final status was never confirmed.

But the one who can be suspected to be Homusubi is naturally Uchiha Obito who ‘sacrificed’ himself to save Kakashi and Rin at the Kannabi Bridge.

Understanding so, Itachi asked with a calm expression, “What about the information I gave last time…? Has the masked man ruled out the suspicions of Uchiha Obito being Homusubi?”

After all, the description of Uchiha Obito’s death according to the testimony of Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin was that Uchiha Obito was buried by rocks, however, strictly speaking, neither of them actually witnessed Uchiha Obito’s death, moreover, his body was never found either so logically speaking they can not rule out the possibility that Uchiha Obito is still alive if he was ‘by some miracle’ rescued or captured by someone.

Especially after Akatsuki Organization became active in the Shinobi World, the presence of the masked man of Akatsuki became a big mystery… but when he stole the Mangekyou Sharingan in Kakashi’s eye many people began to doubt that he is Uchiha Obito.

Although the masked Uchiha of Akatsuki claims to be Uchiha Madara, there are very few people who are willing to believe his claim, and Itachi is more than certain that he is Uchiha Obito.

It’s just that Itachi is unable to figure out why Uchiha Obito who was known for his cheerful and optimistic nature became so strange… Although Itachi is unable to figure out the exact reason, he can still guess that it must have been something so deep that shook all his beliefs… Because Itachi knows that everyone who was awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan must have experienced something very painful in their life…

When faced with Itachi’s question Jozetsu was not sure how to answer… so he laughed ‘haha’ and changed the topic, “The reason I am asking this to you is that other than that male Homusubi, there is also a female Homusubi in the Amatsukami Organization… Do you have any suspects who might possibly be her? You know, the female Homusubi of Amatsukami also has the legendary Mangekyou Sharingan… finding her shouldn’t be that difficult for you, right?”

Itachi stared at Jozetsu for a moment, and said, “I have investigated all the possible suspects, although there were many people from our clan who went missing during the first, second, and third great shinobi war… we were still able to confirm the status of most of them after investigation, so not many suspects exist.

Other than Uchiha Obito that I told about not long ago, two Uchiha brothers who were kidnapped by Amatsukami a few years ago, one Uchiha who was kidnapped by Akatsuki for the Chimera Ritual there was only one female Uchiha whose death was quite a mystery even to us… If my guess is correct, which it is then this particular female Uchiha might just be the person behind the Homusubi mask.”

Jozetsu’s eyes brightened, and he asked, “Who is she?”

Asked by Jozetsu, Itachi took out a scroll from his cloak and said, “The results of my investigation are in this scroll, and I can give this to you… but…”

While eyeing the scroll, Jozetsu asked, “But what?”

Itachi’s expression became serious and he said word by word, “I want Akatsuki to return my brother first…”

Jozetsu frowned, “What?”

Itachi said, “This is my condition… return my brother, and I will give this scroll…”

Jozetsu hesitated, obviously he can not decide such a matter…

As if Itachi understood Jozetsu’s thoughts, he said, “You can ask the masked man, I am sure he will consider my words… and just in case, to make sure that I am not deceiving you… I am going to give you the name of the person I am talking about… Uchiha Naori… remember this name and tell it to Uchiha Madara, and see if her name rings any bells… ”

Yup, Itachi decided to use Uchiha Naori, as her death is still a mystery for the entire Uchiha Clan.

How exactly did Uchiha Naori––the creator of Izanami––died is something no one in the Uchiha Clan is aware of… perhaps the current Uchiha Patriarch may know, but Itachi is not sure if his father knows how Uchiha Naori died, as such, he decided to include her name in the scroll as well.

As for the issue of whether masked man will not believe that the female Uchiha of Amatsukami is Uchiha Naori? It’s not Itachi’s problem the masked man will believe if he wants to and he will not believe if he doesn’t want to… Itachi was only asked to investigate and he did that exactly.

Besides, who is masked man to claim that Uchiha Naori is not Homusubi, after all, the masked man claims himself to be Uchiha Madara… if he can be Uchiha Madara, then why can Uchiha Naori not be the female Homusubi of Amatsukami?