Returning the soul back to the main body proved to be much easier compared to what Kuroto had to go through earlier. There was instinctive guidance as such there was no need to keep track of the directions, moreover, the return speed was also several times faster than before.
Before he knew it, Kuroto's soul was already back inside his main body.
Whew…
Coming out of the tree hole, Kuroto stretched his body and felt a bit refreshed.
Since the seals placed around the tree hole were not damaged, so Kuroto was sure that no people or animal dared to approach the tree hole during the absence of his soul. For which Kuroto was really glad, as he wouldn't have to bother wasting time in hunting some irrelevant people or beasts that would later become either his test subjects or will be fed to Okina Buta.
At this time, Okina Buta's nose twitched, and he instantly got up. Noticing that Kuroto has come out of the tree hole, he leaned over and tried to circle around Kuroto.
But given his size, circling around shook the entire forest, Kuroto helplessly smiled and jumped on the back of this idiot boar, after patting the boar's head Kuroto said, "Yes-yes, this time I owe you a favor, I will be sure to send you a treat!"
As soon as Kuroto said this, hot air escaped Okina Buta's snout, which indicated that he was happy and excited for the treat.
Although Okina Buta hasn't been around Kuroto for very long, nor has Kuroto summoned for Buta's help very much, however, every time Kuroto has summoned Buta, he has been handy in one way or the other. There is also the fact that Buta seems to have Kuroto imprinted in his mind as some sort of master or owner probably because Kuroto fed him a lot of poison while he was still young, which might have been an act of kindness from someone's perspective.
Anyway, this boar is now useful since he is almost as big as Gamabunta, which makes him a good summon beast as he is already very strong, and he also has an instinctive understanding of Chakra, probably because of the pure chakra circulating within his body.
After assuring Okina Buta, Kuroto deactivated the Summoning and sent away Okina Buta back to his habitat.
Kuroto himself also did not delay any longer and after spending a few more days in the Land of Demons he decided to go back to Konoha.
…
Two weeks later, Kuroto returned to the village.
The first thing he needed to do was to have a meeting with Sandaime-sama regarding the situation of Land of Demons, but it appeared that Sandaime-sama was seriously busy with village's matters as well as some other political matters so he couldn't spare time to meet Kuroto right of the bat, as such Kuroto submitted his report to Sandaime-sama and returned to his house.
Whenever Sandaime-sama will have time, he would Summon Kuroto.
After coming back to the house, he was greeted with the sight of Yui, Shion, and Taruho eating lunch.
Seeing Kuroto's return Yui hurriedly got up from her seat and greeted Kuroto, "Kuroto-kun you are finally back!"
Kuroto hugged her and rubbed Yui's back. There was a short silence as the two stayed in the same position, this was necessary to relieve Yui of her anxieties, but seeing Shion's expectant gaze, Kuroto separated from Yui and walked towards Shion.
He didn't speak much, he just untied the Ryuumyaku's Gourd and gave it to Shion, told her and Taruho to take this upstairs and they will understand everything.
The remnant spirit body of Miko-sama was staying within that Gourd, and it is difficult to predict just how long will she remain in the Shinobi World, so Kuroto believes that instead of him explaining anything to Shion, it would be best for her mother, that is Miko-sama to do so herself. That would be the best choice as Shion and Miko-sama will at least have the last chance to talk things out. And Miko-sama can also express the words she was reluctant to at first.
Although Shion was a bit skeptical, out of trust in Kuroto she nodded and went to the room she was staying in for the past few weeks.
After Shion and Taruho went upstairs, Kuroto asked Yui to recite everything that happened in the village in his absence, "Please explain everything to me very carefully!"
Yui nodded and quickly explained. there was suddenly an emergency flare lit up a few weeks ago which alarmed everyone, immediately after that village entered an emergency state and Hokage-sama ordered villagers to go to the evacuation site.
Then while Yui, Shion, and Taruho were going to the evacuation site, there was this arrogant guy whose name was Shinno, he came after Shino, although Yui resisted him and even almost killed him several times, however, he had some sort of regeneration technique that helped him always recover. Therefore, Yui wasn't sure what to do with him.
Then this Kunoichi by the name Uchiha Tsukihi arrived and gave her the opportunity to retreat along with Shion, and Taruho.
As for what happened later, Yui didn't witness it, but she did hear that Uchiha Tsukihi sacrificed herself to defeat that guy named Shinno. Later everyone found out that he was a member of Akatsuki, and then more things happened, there was Hiruko who fought against the Uchiha Patriarch and several other things also happened.
Overall, the situation was chaotic, and too many things happened, many shinobi also died, so the next day a funeral ceremony was conducted and their names were engraved in the memorial monument, especially Uchiha Tsukihi's who sacrificed herself for the sake of the village.
Kuroto wasn't much surprised after hearing everything, which made Yui frown, she had an instinctive feeling that even though Kuroto-Kun wasn't in the village he was somehow informed of what all happened. Unable to understand the possible cause, Yui decided to let it go, as it didn't really matter much, as long as Kuroto-kun is fine then that's all that matters.
However, Kuroto's thoughts were a bit different, 'Yui's understanding of the situation is limited, I will have to ask Shisui for a better understanding of all the events!'
At this time, Yui spoke, "By the way Kuroto-kun, that person Shinno also asked about you, I don't think that he was aware of who I was, but he seemed to know you."
Kuroto nodded and explained the events of the first mission he took along with Uchiha Itachi after surviving the cleaning operation.
When she heard the details, Yui nodded in understanding as she was reminded of that mission where Kuroto-kun encountered Kumogakure's Nibi's Jinchuriki and was later praised by Jiraiya-sama.
Later Kuroto had some more discussion with Yui and then went on to search for Shisui.
From Shisui Kuroto get to know more information. It turns out that all the Anbu that went on to search for the whereabouts of Uzumaki Naruto searched all over the village and the surroundings but did not find him, later when they returned to the village and thought that Naruto went missing or was probably again kidnapped by someone of Akatsuki, they discovered that at some point Naruto had returned to his home and was immersed in a sound sleep along with another kid, who turned out to be Uchiha Sasuke.
Seeing such a sight, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and asked the details from temporary Eagle, who turned out to be Uzuki Yugao as she was assigned to cover up for Kuroto's absence in team-11
Uzuki Yugao explained as asked, and finally, the matter was resolved.
But the situation was still not resolved as the other three members of team-11 were still missing, later on, that same day when team-11 was returning to the village they again encountered Shimura Danzo and his Root shinobi, and a fight broke out.
Danzo was hell-bent on eliminating Uchiha Shisui for the crime of betraying the village, Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy on the other side were also damn stubborn. They did not allow Shimura Danzo to even touch Uchiha Shisui, so even though both of them played very well, but because the two were heavily outnumbered so they both suffered serious injuries.
It was at that time that Elder Mitokado arrived along with other Shinobi and rescued the three members of team-11 from Shimura Danzo.
The Uchiha Clan also caught the wind of this event and has fuming with anger that Shimura Danzo dared to take action against one of their elite Clansmen, Danzo was also adamant and did not even bother to apologize, he used the excuse that Uchiha Shisui was the culprit who attempted Hokage's assassination and tried to compromise Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.
However, this time, Sandaime severely reprimanded him and Danzo had to finally bite the bullet, and publicly apologize to Uchiha Shisui, he was also ordered to stay away from the Uchiha clan, which everyone knew that he did not take kindly considering his sour expression.
But considering that it was Hokage's order, Danzo had no choice but to obey regardless of his will.
At the same time, Uchiha Clan was really grateful to the other members of team-11 for protecting Uchiha Shisui, and Sandaime also praised captain Kakashi's decision.
Kuroto can't help but smile, he wasn't much worried about either of them because he knew that either way, they would be alright. Might Guy and Hatake Kakashi when together are a force to be reckoned with.
After having an understanding of a general situation Kuroto was busy considering some things.
At this time Shisui said, "Kuroto-san, as you expected, Danzo-sama is really after my Mangekyou Sharingan, I did not expect that he would choose to attack me even when the safety of Uzumaki Naruto was at stake."
Kuroto nodded and said, "Fortunately Kakashi and Guy understood Danzo's thoughts and acted at the right time."
Shisui nodded, "Fortunately there was also the seal you placed on my eyes, and Captain Kakashi and Guy-san acted at the right time, otherwise, Danzo-sama might have succeeded!"
…
At the same time, at Uchiha Fugaku's house.
"Patriarch, you have to tell us, who exactly was Uchiha Tsukihi? Is there really some secret unit within the Konoha Military Police Force as the rumors say?"
"Yes, rumors are circulating that Uchiha Tsukihi was an elite member of the secret unit, and some even say that even Sandaime-sama is not aware of this unit, is there really such a secret unit?"
Looking at the eager expression of his clansmen Fugaku sighed.
After coming back, Fugaku has researched all the clan records and he has found nothing about Uchiha Tsukihi.
Even the description of Uchiha Tsukihi that he obtained from Hyuga Yui's testimony does not match any Kunoichi Uchiha Clan ever cultivated, so Fugaku himself is confused as to who exactly was that Kunoichi.
And for some reason, Fugaku even feels that Kunoichi is not dead yet, he may be wrong, but it's also possible that he is right. This is Fugaku's instinctive feeling but there are also some facts behind his reasoning.
But regardless, Fugaku doesn't plan to waste the opportunity that the Uchiha Clan has got because of her fight. Now everyone in the village knows that Uchiha Tsukihi fought and sacrificed herself for the safety of the village just like Yondaime Hokage once did, so people will be more accepting and trusting of the Uchiha Clan.
"Alright everyone, since you all want to know so much about her then hear me, Uchiha Tsukihi was born on the battlefield, but she never got to see the faces of her parents as her father died on a mission while her mother died immediately after giving birth to her. She was personally raised by me and my wife Mikoto was her teacher. As Tsukihi grew up, we came to know that she was suffering from a Bloodline disease, as such she had to live in isolation, but that isolation was not here, not in Konoha, but in one of the old castles of the Uchiha Clan, she lived there, trained there and honed herself to be a Kunoichi that her parents could be proud of, but her time because of her illness was limited as it was slowly killing her. Her greatest desire was to die as a true Kunoichi, a Kunoichi who dies while protecting her clan and village even though she never lived here. It's strange to think about it, but perhaps she did not think so. Maybe she wanted to leave behind something that all her clansmen could be proud of. She idolized Yondaime Hokage and coincidentally she died the same death.
It was perhaps a coincidence that she was in the village recently, it might be because she caught wind of the incoming attack, I am not sure how, only she knows of this, but regardless, she died the death she wanted and we should be proud of her. She was a strong girl, a strong Kunoichi, and a true Uchiha by heart. All Uchiha should strive to be as determined as her!"
By the time, Fugaku finished, everyone was shocked by what they heard, nobody expected that Uchiha Tsukihi's life was so difficult, and everyone felt pride that she was an Uchiha, a true Uchiha.
Looking at everyone's proud Fugaku can't help but sigh helplessly, this is so unlike him, bullshiting never pleases him, but what can he do?
If that's necessary for the clan then he will do so, as that's what a Patriarch's role is.
After some more talks, Fugaku dismissed the now encouraged clansmen as he has to consider many things. With this open attack from Akatsuki, many things in the village will start to change, and he has to prepare himself and the Uchiha Clan for it.
Fugaku also has a feeling that the coming years would be even more troublesome now. The winds of the Shinobi world have started to change, and Uchiha Clan must ride those winds to survive.
At this time, Fugaku saw Itachi walking down the corridor.
Fugaku isn't sure why, but he feels that ever since the event of Sasuke being kidnapped by Oto Yumie, who is another member of Akatsuki, Itachi's persona and temperament have changed drastically.
For a while, Fugaku wanted to attribute this to Mangekyou Sharingan that Itachi might have awakened, but considering Itachi's young ago, Fugaku shook his head, as Itachi is too young to be able to awaken something like Mangekyou Sharingan.
As such Fugaku is a bit worried about Itachi. After all, Itachi is his successor, the heir of the Uchiha Clan.
Fugaku even considered a possibility of mental trauma or guilt that Itachi might be suffering from, but he can't be sure. At least, Itachi's emotions seem stable, or rather too stable actually.
Fugaku sighed, he will have to trust his son, because he knows that his son will never disappoint him, someone who had the sight of a battlefield burned into his mind at the age of four will never be traumatized by such a small event.
'Who am I kidding, perhaps it really is because of that…!'
.
.
Read up to Chapter 561 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations