The Shopkeeper of Konoha

It was already evening when the man stepped in. He looked like any other person belonging to Sunagakure, but only Aoto knew that this person didn't belong to that village at all. His disguise was so precise that he was sure that even some of the best sensory-type ninjas wouldn't be able to sense that something was wrong with him.

Maybe the ones with Sharingan and Byakugan could see through.

After the man entered, he didn't immediately go and talk with Aoto, and Aoto, too, didn't show him any special preference. There were other customers around, and since the closing time was approaching, the volume of the customers was lessening.

The man came up to Aoto to ask random questions so as not to be suspicious to others if anybody put an eye on the shop for a long time. After an hour or so, all of the customers had already left, leaving the man and Aoto alone in the shop.

"You have quite the nerves coming here at this moment," Aoto said. The man was surprised that his disguise couldn't hold a candle to the shopkeeper. He just smirked a bit and finally took off the disguise.

What was revealed was a young man with dark hair and pitch-black eyes.

"And here I thought I would be able to scare you," the man said.

"This place is my safe haven. Nothing can get away from my eyes here, Shisui," Aoto said. It was Shisui, the one which Aoto himself sent on a mission. A mission to find the remnants of the God tree or anything related to the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Shisui didn't understand his words and just thought that Aoto was humbling himself.

"Hahahah. Expected of someone who has so much knowledge," Shisui said.

"You took the risk of coming and meeting me here, at the time when the vigilance of Konoha is at the peak. Must be something interesting," Aoto said.

"It's not as difficult as you think. They think I am dead, and thus they are not even looking for me. But they are looking for my friend," Shisui said.

"Itachi has a different mission than yours. It will end soon, and both of you will come out as heroes," Aoto said. Shisui just shook his head and said.

"I don't want to be a hero. As long as others are safe and sound, I am quite content to be in the shadows and protect everyone," Shisui said.

"But you still took the risk and came. So you must have something quite intriguing," Aoto smiled and said. Shisui nodded and took out several pictures and placed them on the table. The pictures were of a tomb where one could see a ninjutsu-type seal being placed on it.

The tomb was under a mountain and seemed like it was recently dug up, probably by Shisui himself. The seal on the tomb was transparent, and one could see a pale man standing. The pale man was wearing white clothes with designs not native to the society here, or in any of the villages. He had a spear in his hand, but his head was hung as if he was sleeping while standing.

On the side of the man was the actual tomb which was sealed by rocks, and the pictures couldn't show what was inside it. Aoto looked at the man for quite some time, and his eyebrows were creased.

He recognized the fat man, and he wasn't that surprised to see him; the only thing he was surprised about was that he didn't expect to see him this early. Shisui was a bit on edge at the moment as he could see Aoto's eyebrows squint hard. This meant that this situation wasn't as easy as he had expected.

To be fair, Shisui himself knew something was off as he tried to gauge the man using his Sharingan. In his eyes, there was almost no blind spot or anything that could give him an edge over this fat man. This had never happened before, and all the talks about gods suddenly became real for Shisui.

"He shouldn't be here. Not yet," Aoto mumbled, but Shisui could distinctly hear him.

"Aoto-san, do you know him?" Shisui asked. Aoto nodded as he handed him the pictures back.

"Did you cover up what you found out and seal it again?" Aoto asked.

"Yes. The place wasn't sealed, and I found this place because I came across a tomb under a ruined castle which had been buried by a huge mountain, and the locals proclaimed that it was a castle built by Gods. I wouldn't have cared as there were many Gods in mythology, but it was the first time I heard that the gods they proclaim to worship went by the name of Rabbit Princess. This made me look around, and I could sense a flow of intense chakra from the mountain, and this led to the seal. In my return, I placed the rocks exactly the same way I found them. I made a seal so that no one can sense the chakra from outside, like me, and also a defense seal, but I have a feeling that the defense seal wouldn't do any favor if that person ever came out," Shisui said.

"You did well, Shisui. I couldn't have asked for a more mature handle of the problem," Aoto said. Shisui wasn't happy at all with the praise and asked.

"Who is he?" Shisui asked.

"Kinshiki Otsutsuki, a lackey of Momoshiki," Aoto said.

"An Ōtsutsuki? So that is what they look like. They look terrible," Shisui said. There was no fear in his eyes as he said that. Aoto was impressed by seeing his resolve in this small time.

"He isn't that big of a deal. You and your friend can team up and with the right kind of information, can take him down. The one he is the lackey of is what is concerning me," Aoto said.

"He is a lackey of someone?" Shisui, who had expected this person to be an Ōtsutsuki, didn't expect this person to be just a lackey.

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