Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

Chapter 161 The Truth
The blood moon obscured the sky.

The empty, dark space was filled with red light, exuding an indescribable eeriness and oppression.

Two figures stood in the void. By the moonlight, they exchanged the intelligence they held and slowly flipped through it.

Picking up the thick stack of rosters in his hand, Ryoma Aburame felt a slight sense of relief.

Despite a minor mishap, the mission at Leigushan has finally progressed to its third phase.

Destroying the Raigūzan mine was only the least important part of the mission Danzo gave him; the real priorities were the deal with Orochimaru and the Akatsuki intelligence from Itachi Uchiha.

months ago.

Itachi Uchiha used his unique chakra chart to leave marks and information on the Root's intelligence personnel.

His identity must not be revealed.

He demanded that Danzo meet with him in the Land of Lightning, claiming that he had obtained a list of key Akatsuki members and that he needed to ensure Sasuke's safety before handing the information over to Konoha.

Danzo naturally wouldn't agree to Itachi's request.

He was well aware of how hateful his actions were. With no information available about Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan, how could he dare to risk his life?

Moreover, Shisui also has a Kotoamatsukami that is missing, and it is most likely in the hands of Itachi Uchiha.

If he were to be hit by a zero-frame Kotoamatsukami attack as soon as he showed up, then something terrible would happen!

It just so happened that he was about to send Aburame Ryoma to make a deal with Orochimaru, and the agreed-upon location for the deal was Mount Raikō on the border of the Land of Lightning.

He decided to do both things at the same time.

Send someone to inform Uchiha Itachi to meet him near Raikozan.

Both events took place at Leigushan, so intelligence personnel naturally had to scout out the location beforehand to find a suitable place for the transaction.

As a result, they unexpectedly discovered a secret mine in Kumogakure, which corresponded to the mineral vein information in the minds of the Kumogakure Jonin, thus leading to this extremely complex mission.

The correct procedure for the task should be:

Arrive at the Raigū Mountains at the appointed time, kill all the Cloud Village ninja, and make a deal with Orochimaru in exchange for his arm and Sharingan.

Once the transaction was completed, the Leigushan mine was destroyed.

Wait for Itachi Uchiha at the designated location on the outskirts of the mountains, finally obtain information about the Akatsuki organization, and safely return to Konoha with the information and the arm.

But now everything is in chaos.

Itachi Uchiha came to the Land of Lightning to find Orochimaru, and the two missions overlapped and conflicted, causing a deviation in the process.

Fortunately, the two corrected the situation in time.

He lured Orochimaru and that troublesome blue-skinned guy to one side of the battlefield, then distracted the most perceptive Gray, creating a space for exchanging information.

The mine wasn't blown up, and Orochimaru's deal wasn't completed. Instead, they got their hands on the Akatsuki's intelligence first.

Wow!

Opening the black booklet, Ryoma Aburame saw his old partner on the first page.

Orochimaru.

Code name: Empty.

Identity: S-rank rogue ninja of Konoha, formerly one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha.

Status: Betrayed; kill on sight.

This guy actually joined the Akatsuki!
He even betrayed them and was hunted down all over the world – that's totally in line with Orochimaru's style!
Ryoma Aburame kept flipping through the intelligence in his hand.

The more I looked, the more frightened I became.

A mysterious masked man claiming to be Madara Uchiha, Pain, a god-like figure, a blue-haired angel, a follower of an immortal evil god, and a powerful ninja who is said to have once fought against the First Hokage...

The information about each person was not very detailed, but even the smallest glimpses revealed were enough to terrify him. If Uchiha Itachi's information was entirely accurate, this Akatsuki organization already possessed the ability to destroy any of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

There's such a powerful organization in the ninja world!

Suppressing his shock, he quickly memorized the contents of the booklet page by page. For a ninja who had worked in intelligence for twenty years, this was the simplest basic skill.

On one side, Ryoma Aburame's lips moved as he recited the intelligence, while on the other side, Itachi Uchiha quickly flipped through Sasuke's photos.

There are three photos in total, all taken secretly, and almost none of them show the face directly.

He immediately recognized the first picture as being taken at the Uchiha training ground, where Sasuke was holding the "Miracle" hand seal, spitting out a Great Fireball, his body hunched over with an indescribable weariness.

They must be training in Fire Release techniques.

Calculating the size and power of the Great Fireball, Itachi Uchiha nodded, showing his approval of Sasuke's efforts.

The next photo is taken at the Ninja Academy.

Sasuke, his eyes bloodshot, stared directly at a silver-haired girl whose face he couldn't see clearly, his single-tomoe Sharingan radiating intense confidence.

Has he already awakened the Sharingan?

A barely perceptible glint of joy flashed in his eyes as he continued watching.

In the last photo, Sasuke is smirking as he faces a blond boy who is making a cocky beckoning gesture, as if the two are engaged in a battle.

In the background of the photo sits a silver-haired girl with her eyes covered. Judging from her hair color and figure, she should be the same person as in the second photo, possibly a classmate who is close to Sasuke.

I heard he was quite popular with girls at school, and it seems that's true.

Gently release the hand holding the photo.

call!
The photographs floated in the void like fallen leaves, eventually seemingly burned to ashes by wildfire.

The crimson Sharingan stared directly at the bowed-headed Ryoma Aburame. A cold glint flashed in Itachi Uchiha's eyes as the three tomoe slowly rotated and intertwined.

"What do you call it?"

"Rain Country Base, Blue-haired Angel, Flight Ability... Call me Ryoma."

Aburame Ryoma, who was reciting information, frowned.

"How long have you been a member of the root?

"do not know."

Ryoma Aburame's cold voice carried a hint of impatience. The human brain is very unreliable; once distracted, the information memory process can easily become disordered.

What he hates most is having someone disturb him when he's memorizing information.

"You're qualified to know my identity; you must be a high-ranking member of Root!"

Uchiha Itachi's annoying voice kept echoing in his ears. Aburame Ryoma sighed and looked up:

"you……"

His voice suddenly stopped.

The terrifying kaleidoscope swirled before his eyes, firmly occupying his vision. Its purple eyes, like the blood moon in the sky, reflected eerie kaleidoscope patterns.

Uchiha Itachi stared at the dazed figure, the shuriken in his eyes spinning faster, his Mangekyou Sharingan power constantly invading Aburame Ryoma's mental will.

Sensing the other person's increasingly weak will, his gaze grew even deeper.

"Tell me your identity within Root?"

"Manage all affairs of the root department and convey Lord Danzo's will."

With bloodshot eyes, Aburame Ryoma revealed his identity without realizing it. His voice remained icy and unusually dull, clearly indicating that he had fallen into a hypnotic state.

Itachi Uchiha didn't rush to ask questions, but stood quietly in place, waiting for a long time. Seeing that there was still no movement in the genjutsu space, a cold smile curled up at the corner of his mouth.

This time.

He finally managed to bypass the extremely troublesome seal of the tongue!
A blood moon hangs in the sky.

A crimson light pierced through Ryoma Aburame's figure, leaving him standing blankly in the sky, seemingly surrendering. The pretext of delivering Akatsuki's information was merely a pretext; Akatsuki's information didn't need to be conveyed in person. Simply handing the roster to the Root's intelligence ninja would ensure its smooth transmission back to Konoha—why go through all this trouble?
His real purpose was to use this intelligence to lure out the top leaders of the organization!

The Akatsuki's mission to hunt down Orochimaru gave him the opportunity to bypass Kisame Hoshigaki's surveillance.

By offering information about Sasuke's current situation as a condition, they transformed the one-way information exchange into a two-way transaction, thus making it a reasonable invitation for Danzo to leave the village.

With Shisui's Kotoamatsukami in his possession, Danzo could not possibly leave the village to see him.

The other party will definitely assign a key person to replace him.

His identity is a top secret in Konoha, involving the murky affairs of the Uchiha, Akatsuki, and Konoha. The person sent by the other side is most likely a high-ranking member of Root who is qualified to know Danzo's secret.

This is his chance.

A brilliant opportunity to obtain information about Danzo.

The facts were just as he had thought.

When Yamashita interrogated Bakurin, he hadn't even asked about Danzo yet, but only mentioned the captain's abilities, which instantly triggered the Tongue Disaster Seal.

The intelligence level of the other party was extremely high, even comparable to that of Danzo himself. They were undoubtedly high-ranking members of Root, which allowed Itachi Uchiha's plan to be implemented smoothly.

He then handed Orochimaru over to Kisame Hoshigaki, using Tsukuyomi to pull Ryoma's spirit into a genjutsu space, temporarily separating his spirit from his body.

Afterwards, by completing the hypnotic interrogation of information in the Tsukuyomi space, one can bypass the control of the Seal of the Extinction of Tongue.

just now.

It's time to reap the rewards.

Uchiha Itachi relaxed slightly, gazing at the dazed Aburame Ryoma, frantically channeling his eye power into his eyes to dismantle the opponent's will:

Where is Shisui's kaleidoscope?

"It is Lord Danzo's right eye."

The information that should have triggered the cursed seal was revealed by Aburame Ryoma without any hesitation.

Even Obito Uchiha, a genjutsu idiot, could use his Mangekyou Sharingan to hypnotize the Third Mizukage, who was a Jinchūriki. Faced with Itachi Uchiha's hypnosis, he was powerless to resist.

Having received the expected answer, Itachi's expression remained as calm as ice.

Danzo forced the Uchiha clan to rebel and assassinated Shisui, all in order to obtain the power of the Sharingan. It's not particularly strange that he implanted the Mangekyou Sharingan, which he had finally acquired, into his right eye.

Just as his desire to kill Danzo was not surprising to anyone.

"Tell me Danzo's abilities, information, and... weaknesses," Itachi Uchiha revealed his true intentions, his eyes bloodshot as if they were about to shed tears of blood.

“…I don’t know.” Aburame Ryoma looked blank and helpless, seemingly completely unaware of the question.

You don't know any information at all?
Uchiha Itachi frowned, the Yin Release eye power of the Mangekyou Sharingan was working in his spiritual body, and he could not sense any will to resist.

He hadn't broken free from hypnosis; he genuinely didn't know anything!
"How many years have you followed Danzo?"

"A long time... I... I don't remember."

When faced with Itachi's question, Ryoma Aburame opened his mouth to answer, but found that he couldn't remember anything about Danzo at all.

I tried my best to recall it.

Memories are hazy, and so are intelligence and abilities!

I feel like that memory is right on my lips, but I just can't see the whole picture, as if it's hidden behind a thick veil.

A sharp pain shot through my brain, and my whole body trembled involuntarily.

"How could you not remember?"

With each heavy blow to his head, Ryoma Aburame's gaze was both bewildered and urgent.

No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't find a single memory of the past; only a lonely image remained in his mind.

It was a man with indistinct features, looking at him with a smile on his lips.

We should not forget.

You should never forget that man.

"I have no idea."

No matter what he did, he couldn't recall anything about that person. Aburame Ryoma shook his head and kept repeating the same sentence, as if he were in a state of hysteria.

His emotions and will were in fierce conflict, and even the power of his eyes that had been firmly locking his will began to loosen.

"I know."

With his kaleidoscope eyes spinning continuously, Itachi controlled his Yin Release eye power to enter the depths of Aburame Ryoma's sea of ​​consciousness. A large fragment of memory, tinged with purplish-black and resembling a piece of necrotic, rotting flesh, appeared before him.

This is an ability he can only unleash with the blessing of Tsukuyomi.

"Can...can you tell me?"

With a hopeful look in his eyes, Aburame Ryoma trembled with fear.

"Ah."

The weasel's voice also became low.

The necrotic memories were violently broken through by the Sharingan, and countless fragments of memories surged out, as if opening Pandora's box.

then.

He was silent.

The entire space fell into a deathly silence.

Having waited a long time for Itachi's response, Ryoma Aburame stared blankly at the blood moon in the sky, his kaleidoscope eyes spinning rapidly.

until……

boom!
Countless fragments of memory came rushing in like snowflakes, and the memories in my mind gradually became clearer, like a patient with severe myopia finally putting on glasses with the right prescription, and everything became clear and bright.

Ryoma Aburame raised his head and stared blankly upwards.

He was a boy with a bright, sunny smile.

The boy half-squatted on the ground, his handsome features and gentle eyes squinting at him, the golden sunlight filtering through his hair and casting sharp shadows on the ground.

Why don't you go and play with the other children?

kid?
Play?
Longma looked down and found himself squatting on the ground, his childish little hands with black fingers and the mud in his palms looking incredibly sticky and damp.

here it is?
The lush green branches overhead swayed gently in the breeze, and in the distance, below the cliff, stood only a massive Hokage Rock, where the statue of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, silently watched him.

"Hey, what are you looking at? I'm talking to you!"

Seeing Ryoma looking around, the spiky-haired man pretended to be annoyed and glared at him, but the slight smile at the corner of his mouth betrayed his true feelings.

"I……"

He wanted to speak, but found that he couldn't control this childish body. This wasn't reality; he was just a phantom traveler.

"They didn't even notice my presence, and I assumed you were the same."

Young Ryoma Aburame muttered to himself as he dug into the soil, pulling out the earthworms hidden inside bit by bit.

"My name is Aburame Ryoma."

Using her fingers to lift the wet earthworm into the air, the youthful-looking Ryoma, wearing small sunglasses, looked at the man in front of her:
"What about you?"

"Shimura Danzo."

The boy smiled and said his name, the fork-shaped scar on his chin proudly raised, without a trace of ruthlessness, but instead giving him an indescribable and unique charm.

(End of this chapter)