"Hey, isn't calling a young girl that a bit too harsh? Where is your emotional intelligence?"
Even Temari couldn't stand it anymore. A girl about her own age being addressed as "Great-Grandma"—what kind of person would use such a title?
"This is to prevent her from acting recklessly. The Uchiha are best at 'my body moved on its own.'"
What Makoto was referring to was Sasuke's iconic line about blocking the ice needles for Naruto—something that didn't happened in this timeline.
It represented the two extremes of the Uchiha clan:
When they don't care about you, no matter who you are, they won't value your life!
When they do care about you, no matter what happens, they won't value their own life!
"You talk as if you know the Uchiha so well..." Hikari, who was sulking, muttered after hearing Makoto's words.
But upon second thought, he really did seem to understand them quite well.
At least better than she did.
Thinking this, Hikari's resentment toward Makoto instantly shifted to herself.
She hated the Uchiha clan members who treated themselves as disposable weapons the most—how could she share the same personality traits as those clansmen?
"You're right! Then tell me, what's the plan? I'll listen to you first!"
Determined to change, Hikari abruptly switched topics.
"I had a rough idea about the Dragon Vein situation before coming here and made some small preparations. Wait a moment—the wind was a bit strong earlier, and the distance was quite far."
A full thirty seconds after Makoto spoke, a White Zetsu's head emerged from the ground.
"Ouch, that was tough drilling through this place," the White Zetsu complained, covered in dust.
In times without mobile phones for communication, the interconnected White Zetsu served as human telephones.
When Makoto went out, one White Zetsu always followed at a considerable distance.
Whenever Makoto needed it, he would simply inject natural energy into the ground, allowing White Zetsu to detect the signal and come over.
"Go notify Nagato and ask him to come here. If Orochimaru is interested, he can come too, but tell him to bring a couple more White Zetsu with him," Makoto instructed.
"Okay, that's all? I'll start transmitting now," White Zetsu confirmed before beginning to relay the information to the clones in Amegakure.
"Who's Nagato?" Temari asked, curious.
"Our organization's leader."
"Leader? You speak to your organization's leader like that?" Temari was astonished.
"And? Would he say something like 'In the Akatsuki, are you the boss or am I the boss?' just because of this?"
"..."
That's ... kinda make sense? Temari felt her intended retort had been completely blocked!
But looking at it that way, the atmosphere around Makoto seemed quite good.
"Message delivered. Nagato and Orochimaru have already set off. Oh, by the way, Makoto, there's another message here from Konoha."
White Zetsu paused mid-sentence, his gaze drifting toward the others nearby.
"Go ahead, I've already told them Nagato's real name. Why would I care about this?" Makoto waved his hand dismissively.
"The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is dead."
Hearing Makoto's permission, White Zetsu continued.
Previously, when Makoto told Orochimaru not to withdraw his spies from the Hidden Leaf, it wasn't really for gathering intelligence.
The best stealth operatives for intelligence collection were still the White Zetsu.
Orochimaru's spies were merely an excuse to visit the Hidden Leaf Village after the incident occurred.
"What?!"
Hearing this news, Temari and Gaara looked at Makoto in shock.
"Don't jump to conclusions. It wasn't us. The Third Hokage had very high regard within our organization. One of our important objectives in participating in the Chunin Exams was to ensure Orochimaru wouldn't kill the Third Hokage. If we really wanted him dead, wouldn't all our previous efforts have been in vain?"
Makoto immediately guessed what the siblings were thinking and directly offered an explanation.
"But aren't your efforts still wasted now? He's still dead—and speaking of which, the Third Hokage wasn't weak. Who killed him?" Temari asked, somewhat curious.
"Before, his death would have been meaningless. Now, it serves some purpose. Besides, our organization isn't some nanny security service. We can't possibly monitor him around the clock to prevent suicide if that's what he wants, can we? What if Sarutobi Hiruzen found out about this and threatened to have a romance with Granny chiyou or else commit suicide? Would we have to go to your village and kidnap Granny Chiyo for him?" Makoto spread his hands.
Gaara: "..."
"I feel like you have some strange obsession with Granny Chiyo," Temari teased.
"That's your misconception," Makoto calmly denied. "Instead, let's talk about you. One of your fishnet stockings is higher, the other lower—one only covering your thigh, the other only your calf. Do you have some kind of asymmetry fetish?"
"You? This... doesn't it look good on me?"
Hearing Makoto comment on her outfit, Temari—who had never cared about such things before—suddenly felt flustered and looked down to examine herself.
"I think black pantyhose would be quite nice. It would suit you well."
What Makoto referred to was, of course, her outfit from the Boruto era.
"Really?" Temari was taken aback.
She had seen that style before but hadn't tried it because it didn't seem very girlish.
"I think it's better not to. Uncle once told me that the Land of Wind is too hot, and wearing socks that cover your feet can make you sweat and smell."
Gaara offered his advice very seriously.
"You shut up." Temari shot Gaara a merciless glance.
"?????"
Gaara innocently projected a question mark.
Had he said something wrong?
"Hmm, and pantyhose can also protect your legs from wind and sand erosion, keeping your skin smooth."
"...Alright, I'll try them when I get back." Temari was genuinely persuaded by this logic.
"...Excuse me, shouldn't we be discussing matters regarding the Third Hokage?" Gaara timidly interjected.
"It's fine. Sarutobi Hiruzen's spirit in heaven would definitely want us to talk more about stockings than his death."
"..."
"Alright then, let me explain the circumstances of Sarutobi Hiruzen's death and the matters concerning the Otsutsuki Clan."
Makoto sat on the ground, preparing to explain the affairs of the Otsutsuki and his own journey from the future back to this era.
...
Konoha.
The White Zetsu lurking in konoha was constantly monitoring the key target, Boruto Uzumaki.
Therefore, on the very day Sarutobi Hiruzen was killed, White Zetsu immediately obtained the intelligence and transmitted it through the network.
However, no one noticed anything amiss on the day it happened.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's situation was rather tragic.
His wife had died during the Nine-Tails incident. His son, Asuma, had run away rebelliously, and though he had returned somewhat more mature now, he showed no intention of moving back home.
As for his grandson Konohamaru, the situation was much the same.
A full day passed, and still, no one had noticed Sarutobi Hiruzen's disappearance.
Perhaps this was also due to everyone's confidence in his abilities, believing no one could possibly eliminate him without a sound.
It wasn't until the third day—after Tsunade had just finished hearing Jiraiya's report on his surveillance of the adult Sasuke over the past two days and Jiraiya had left—that she realized she couldn't contact Sarutobi Hiruzen.
After some investigation, they discovered that Sarutobi Hiruzen had taken Konohamaru, Naruto, and Boruto to train in the woods outside the village two days prior and seemingly never returned.
Although searching there now would be like looking for a dropped sword from a mark on a moving boat, Tsunade still decided to go and check if there were any clues.