Chapter 134: Mangekyo Obtained
Stelle's footsteps echoed with a measured, unhurried rhythm down the dimly lit corridors leading to the Interrogation Department. Halfway down the cold stone hall, a shadow detached itself from the wall.
It was Jiraiya.
Ten days. That was all it took to hollow the young shinobi out completely. Deep, bruised bags hung beneath his bloodshot eyes, and his usually vibrant white hair was limp and unkempt. He looked far worse than a scout returning from a month-long, sleepless border patrol.
He dragged his heavy feet toward her, his voice cracking into a dry rasp. "Hokage-sama..."
After forcing the title out, his jaw worked silently. He simply didn't know what else to say. His exhausted gaze swept downward, landing on the Hokage's hands. They were still heavily wrapped in thick medical bandages, the stark black ink of complex Sealing Techniques peeking through the white linen.
The assassination attempt had left a terrifying mark. The poison used was incredibly virulent; even after ten grueling days of continuous, desperate treatment by the elite Medical Department, a stubborn trace of the venom lingered in her system, refusing to be fully purged.
What could he possibly say to defend the attacker? His instincts screamed that Kou was innocent, that this entire situation was a twisted, nonsensical nightmare. If a direct, near-fatal assassination attempt on the Hokage could be dismissed so easily, then what crime in this world could possibly be considered unforgivable?
But exactly what was wrong here? Why did all the evidence point to a perfectly normal betrayal, yet his gut felt like it was tied in agonizing knots?
As they reached the heavy iron doors of the Interrogation Department, two Anbu guards immediately stepped forward, crossing their short blades. Without an official, stamped order, Jiraiya was strictly forbidden from taking another step.
Stelle glanced at the trembling young man beside her. She let the silence stretch for a calculated moment before speaking. "Go in. Say your goodbyes to her."
Jiraiya's entire body violently flinched. His mind went completely blank, the ambient noise of the prison fading into a high-pitched ringing.
Say goodbye.
Kou was going to be executed.
A suffocating tightness gripped his throat. A deep sense of dazed helplessness spread through his chest, expanding until it felt like it would crush his ribs.
With a casual wave of her bandaged hand, Stelle dismissed the Anbu guards. The heavy locks clicked open, and the two of them stepped into the damp, freezing cell together.
Kou lay crumpled on the cold stone floor, her eyes shut tight. Her skin was ashen, drained of all vitality. Had it not been for the shallow, agonizingly slow rise and fall of her chest, Jiraiya would have assumed he was staring at a corpse.
His knees gave out. He crouched down in front of her, his hands hovering uselessly over her battered form.
"How can I save you?" he whispered, his voice breaking. "But it seems I can't save you either. I clearly feel like something is wrong, yet why does everything seem right... Kou..."
At the sound of his voice, Kou's eyelashes fluttered. She slowly opened her eyes, her unfocused gaze landing on Jiraiya. Her lips parted, trembling as she tried to force sound from her throat, but she was far too weak. Despite struggling for several agonizing seconds, she couldn't utter a single syllable.
"What are you saying?" Jiraiya leaned in closer, his desperation leaking into his tone. "I'm listening. Tell me."
Kou shifted her weight, her arms shaking violently as she tried to push herself off the floor. Jiraiya didn't know what she was trying to accomplish, but he gently reached out, supporting her shoulders to help her up. In these final, fleeting moments, he allowed himself this one small act of selfishness.
Hot moisture pricked the corners of his eyes. He blinked, ready to let the tears fall.
And then, the 'dying' girl moved.
It was a blur of unnatural, terrifying speed. A cold iron kunai materialized in Kou's grip. Without a single warning breath, she lunged upward, driving the blackened blade straight toward Stelle, who was standing quietly just a few feet away.
"No!"
Jiraiya didn't think. He simply threw his body into the trajectory of the blade, shielding Stelle with his own flesh.
Schlick.
The kunai sank deep into his chest without an ounce of mercy, burying itself just inches from his heart.
Jiraiya's eyes widened to the size of saucers. He collapsed onto the cold stone, coughing up a spatter of blood. Even as the agonizing pain flared through his nervous system, his mind rejected reality. He still couldn't believe Kou would do such a thing.
A sinister crimson light flared within Kou's eyes, reflecting in Jiraiya's fading vision before his world went entirely black.
"Why on earth..." Stelle barked, rushing forward with perfectly feigned panic. "Jiraiya!"
Before she could reach him, the tomoe in Uchiha Kou's eyes connected, spinning wildly into the dreaded, complex pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan. A hum of dense chakra vibrated through the air, and a crystalline purple barrier instantly erected itself, enveloping the Uchiha in a protective dome.
Hidden within the cold stone walls, Black Zetsu watched. A thrill of dark, parasitic excitement rippled through his shadowy form. Finally. But he forced his erratic chakra to settle. He couldn't afford to be reckless. Until that Mangekyo Sharingan was securely in his grasp, he had to remain an invisible observer, ready to adapt to any sudden variables.
The purple barrier held for exactly three seconds before shattering like fragile glass. It was to be expected. That barrier was one of Ida Mutzuki's signature techniques; as the one who created it, she naturally knew exactly how to dismantle it.
But Kou wasn't finished. The air pressure in the cell plummeted. Ribs of pure, pitch-black chakra erupted from Kou's spine, rapidly forming into the skeletal torso of a massive Susanoo. The dark giant swung a devastating, spectral fist straight at Ida Mutzuki.
From Black Zetsu's vantage point, the chaotic scene unfolded perfectly. He watched as Uchiha Kou desperately snatched the Hokage's ninja tool pouch. The cost was severe—Kou took a brutal hit, half of her body scorched into a bloody, charred mess by a point-blank Fire Release.
Desperate to secure her stolen prize, Kou forcibly pushed her Mangekyo to the absolute limit, manifesting the black Susanoo to force the Hokage back.
It didn't last. With a terrifying display of raw physical power, Ida Mutzuki drove a chakra-laced punch straight into the spectral construct, shattering the black Susanoo into a million fading sparks.
The objective was secured. Black Zetsu had zero intention of lingering in this dangerous village for a millisecond longer. Slithering out from the shadows, the dark entity lunged forward, enveloping and possessing Uchiha Kou's battered body before smoothly sinking into the earth, vanishing without a trace.
Such a massive collision of chakra instantly alerted the guards outside. When the Anbu and medical teams finally breached the cell, they were met with a gruesome sight: the heavily injured Jiraiya collapsed in a pool of his own blood, and the Hokage standing over him, her expression grim and furious.
Later, inside the Hokage's Office, the atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy. Stelle sat behind the massive desk, her expression dark and unreadable, playing the role of a furious leader deep in thought. Sensing her foul mood, the other three men in the room kept their mouths firmly shut, swallowing the mountain of questions burning in their throats.
Finally, she broke the silence, her voice cold and authoritative. "Sakumo."
The White Fang straightened. "Hokage-sama."
"Lead three teams—no, make it five. Take five of the Anbu's most elite tracking squads. Hunt down Uchiha Kou." She paused, narrowing her eyes. "Dead or alive."
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples, feeling a massive migraine pulsing behind his eyes. If it had been any ordinary Uchiha traitor, Hiruzen would have simply been angry. But this specific girl? She made him want to grind his teeth into dust.
His student, Jiraiya, had spent the last ten days running himself ragged, exhausting every favor and shred of energy to prove Kou's innocence. And how did she repay that unwavering loyalty? By driving a kunai an inch from the boy's heart. She really was an absolute menace.
Why did someone from another world have to come to ours? Hiruzen thought bitterly. Why couldn't she just stay in her own dimension and leave us in peace?
"She was locked in the Interrogation Department for over a week," Uchiha Kagami muttered, his brow furrowed in deep confusion. "She shouldn't have had the physical stamina to even stand, let alone launch a lethal ambush. Who aided her?"
Kagami couldn't figure it out. Since the matter directly involved Stelle's safety, he couldn't afford to be soft-hearted. It was logically impossible for the hardened interrogators to be secretly colluding with Uchiha Kou, yet she was somehow still able to manifest a Susanoo while on the absolute verge of death.
Stelle let out a long, weary sigh, perfectly playing the exhausted leader. "She must have been bewitched or placed under a high-level Genjutsu by an outside party. As for who orchestrated it... we don't know yet. Leave that to the Anbu's investigation."
Their grim discussion was interrupted by the sudden flicker of an Anbu operative appearing in the room. The masked ninja quickly reported that while Jiraiya's wound was severe, it had narrowly missed his heart; he was stabilized and his injuries were no longer life-threatening.
Hiruzen let out a shaky breath, his tightly clenched fists finally relaxing. "Thank the Sage," he murmured, before looking back at the desk. "Then... how do we handle the public announcement regarding Kou?"
This was indeed a massive political headache. Since the incident directly involved the Uchiha Clan, it was no longer possible to just sweep the girl under the rug. The prominent members of the Uchiha Clan were all present in the village. For a Mangekyo-wielding Uchiha to suddenly appear out of nowhere and attack the Hokage multiple times, the administration had to assign her a plausible identity and deal with the fallout properly.
Otherwise, how would the other Ninja Clans view the Uchiha? And where would the Hokage's authority be? Those who didn't know the truth might start thinking the Hokage was weak enough to be assassinated at will.
Stelle leaned back in her chair. "How about we say she's Uchiha Setsuna in disguise? He was killed when he ambushed me last time, and Sensei Tobirama personally handled the disposal of his body. The rest of the Uchiha Clan doesn't know the exact details of his death."
"I'm afraid that won't work," Uchiha Kagami countered instantly, shaking his head. "Of the two Anbu operatives who assisted the Second Hokage in handling Setsuna's corpse back then, one of them was a member of our clan."
Since the Uchiha hadn't yet severed their deep political ties with the Senju Clan, their members were thoroughly embedded in every level of the village's infrastructure. They were truly everywhere. It was making the simple act of fabricating a convenient lie incredibly difficult.
The men in the room offered a few alternative suggestions, but none held up to basic scrutiny. Finally, Stelle tapped her chin and made the executive decision.
"Fine," Stelle said casually. "How about we say she's Uchiha Setsuna's illegitimate daughter? He was twenty-six when he died, and Kou appeared a year later. It's entirely plausible that he left behind a secret heir during a mission outside the village when he was fourteen."
The expressions on the faces of the three legendary shinobi were utterly indescribable. They didn't exactly say it was a good plan, but they couldn't immediately articulate why it was a bad one either.
As the patriarch of the Uchiha, Kagami naturally had the most authority on the matter. He cleared his throat, looking slightly pained as he recalled the dead man's habits. "Uchiha Setsuna was an absolute training fanatic. He spent all four seasons practically living at the clan's training grounds. Aside from the radical Hawks surrounding the Great Elder, he never interacted with anyone—especially not women., there are absolutely no clan records of him ever leaving the village on business when he was fourteen."
"He trained every single day and was still that pathetic?" Stelle scoffed, her disdain practically overflowing. Honestly, she felt that by associating her brilliant 'Kou' persona with a loser like Setsuna, she was the one taking a massive loss in reputation.
She waved her hand dismissively, finalizing the absurd lore she was writing into reality. "His parents are dead, and the radical Hawks have all been wiped out. Making up a little backstory is perfectly feasible since there's no one left to verify it. It's decided then—the official story is that the attacker is Uchiha Setsuna's illegitimate daughter."
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