Fortunately, thanks to White Zetsu, Uha quickly located the Sealed Jutsu Scroll's hiding place.
It was tucked away behind the Hokage's office, beside an inconspicuous wooden shack.
Three full squads of Anbu were stationed around it, their expressions alert and vigilant.
Not far off, Uha stood cloaked in black, eyes flickering with sharp light.
"I knew it. There's no way something as important as the Sealed Jutsu Scroll would be left unguarded."
Each Anbu squad had four members, their strength roughly on par with standard jōnin. More than enough to deter the average intruder.
But to Uha, they were no more than walking donations.
Still, he had no intention of forcing his way in. He opted for stealth.
"Kaidō Number 26: Curved Light."
Raising a hand, he murmured the incantation under his breath.
Spiritual pressure surged and condensed into a strange sheet of energy that wrapped around his body, blending him into the surroundings until he became nearly invisible.
This kidō spell wasn't particularly offensive or restraining in nature, but it was uniquely effective. It created a transparent veil woven from Uha's spiritual pressure. Combined with his enchanted "Black Cloak," which concealed his spiritual signature, the result was a near-perfect form of stealth even the sound he made was suppressed.
Every thirty minutes, one Anbu squad would enter the shack to inspect the Sealed Jutsu Scroll.
Uha took advantage of this and quietly followed one group inside, slipping through the door right behind them like a shadow.
"So this is the legendary Sealed Jutsu Scroll?"
He unrolled the scroll on the table and began reading aloud:
"Multi Shadow Clone Technique, Rasengan, Reanimation Jutsu, Tandem Paper Bombs, Flying Thunder God Technique, Water Style: Severing Wave, Water Style: Water Dragon Fang Explosion, Water Style: Great Water Surge, Fivefold Rashomon, Eight Inner Gates..."
After finishing, Uha raised an eyebrow.
"Not bad. The Sealed Jutsu Scroll isn't as underwhelming as I imagined."
The Reanimation Jutsu was a dream tool in the right hands.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was extremely valuable, though notoriously difficult to master.
The Eight Inner Gates also had immense potential but not everyone was Might Guy. Without opening all eight, the power would be heavily limited.
So all things considered, the Reanimation Jutsu seemed the most practical.
Just then, a familiar mechanical chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding~ Side Quest Complete!]
Side Quest: Borrow the Sealed Jutsu Scroll from Konoha and recite the names of all the jutsu within.
Reward (Pending): Hadō No. 90, Bakudō No. 81, Bakudō No. 99, +1500 Spiritual Pressure EXP, Soul Insight Gauntlets.
"Fifteen hundred? That's quite a haul. Worth the risk," Uha nodded in satisfaction.
Staring at the massive scroll on the desk, he fell silent for a moment, then pulled out a second scroll he had prepared beforehand. With deft hands, he copied and sealed away every jutsu from the original.
While these jutsu didn't mean much to him, they would be quite useful to Konan and Nagato.
However...
Thirty minutes passed, and no one came through the door.
Uha frowned.
What was going on?
Did the Anbu fall asleep?
Or-
Suddenly, a sharp voice shouted from outside.
"Who dares steal Konoha's Sealed Jutsu Scroll?! You've got a death wish! Taste this Ninja Art-"
"Your crotch is delicious! Meat Tank!"
With a thunderous rumble, a massive ball of flesh rolled in, demolishing the wooden shack into a storm of flying debris.
As the dust cleared, the attackers were nowhere to be seen.
Uha stood atop a tree, calmly surveying the scene. He saw three figures: a burly, red-haired man with a wild aura, flanked by one man with a pineapple-shaped haircut and another with long blond hair.
"A middle-aged Ino–Shika–Cho trio?"
He raised a brow in surprise.
"But how did they detect me? I should've been like thin air to them."
Nara Shikaku stepped forward confidently.
"Your Transparent Style kekkei genkai perfectly concealed your body. Even I must admit your stealth is extraordinary. But your residual chakra fluctuations gave you away."
"Ah... makes sense." Uha nodded, understanding dawning.
His body wasn't human fundamentally different from those in the Shinobi World.
As such, refining chakra was extraordinarily difficult.
But after a full year, even without training, he had accumulated a small trace of chakra within.
And that faint signature was the key to his detection. It wasn't a failure of his invisibility techniques.
"Now's our chance!"
Yamanaka Inoichi swiftly formed hand seals.
"Ninja Art: Mind Disruption Technique!"
His mental energy surged into Uha's consciousness.
But in the very next instant
Inoichi's face went pale, blood sprayed from his mouth, and he collapsed backward, unconscious.
Uha turned slightly, his voice cool and sharp.
"Tch. Playing with fire, were you? You're lucky you didn't use the full Mind Transfer Technique. If you had... you wouldn't just be unconscious."
How long had he lived?
A full one hundred and twenty years.
And he had spent nearly a century fighting in the brutal realm of Hueco Mundo.
His spiritual world was vast and impenetrable like a boundless ocean.
To attempt to disturb that with a mere mind technique? Utter foolishness.
If Inoichi had tried the actual Mind Transfer, he might have been instantly destroyed by the sheer force of Uha's psyche.
Watching their comrade drop in seconds, Nara Shikaku's smile stiffened.
He turned to Akimichi Chōza, face grim.
"Be extremely careful. This man... might be on par with the Hokage himself."
"Got it!" Chōza nodded solemnly.
He formed hand signs and roared,
"Super Expansion Jutsu!"
His body swelled rapidly until he towered over the trees like a giant.
But he wasn't done yet.
With a grunt, he began spinning.
"Ninja Art-Super Human Boulder!"
Chōza launched himself forward like a wrecking ball.
Shikaku was right behind him.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Strangle Technique!"
He quickly weaved hand seals, his shadow shooting forward at lightning speed.
Dozens of tendrils rose into the air, aiming directly at Uha's head.
Yet Uha remained unfazed.
Raising a hand, he pointed in the air.
"Hadō No. 90-"
"Black Coffin."
Spiritual pressure erupted around him, forming a colossal, obsidian coffin that enveloped both Chōza and Shikaku in an instant.
A heartbeat later, the coffin shattered revealing their battered and barely conscious bodies.
[Ding~ Side Quests Complete!]
Side Quest I: Defeat Konoha Elite Jōnin Yamanaka Inoichi
Reward (Pending): +650 Spiritual Pressure EXP
Side Quest II: Defeat Konoha Elite Jōnin Akimichi Chōza
Reward (Pending): +650 Spiritual Pressure EXP
Side Quest III: Defeat Konoha Elite Jōnin Nara Shikaku
Reward (Pending): +700 Spiritual Pressure EXP
"Claim rewards," Uha said silently.
A surge of spiritual energy flooded his body. His power climbed rapidly.
For the first time, his Spiritual Pressure Level broke into Level 5.
"As expected. Every level up in spiritual pressure brings a massive boost in strength."
Feeling the transformation within his body, Uha smiled.
"Now, even if Konan, Obito, and Nagato teamed up, it would take serious effort to force me into Resurrección."
He glanced around at the destruction.
Clearly, the Anbu had taken the opportunity during that half hour to evacuate the surrounding civilians.
"Time to go," Uha muttered.
This little trip to Konoha had been quite the harvest.
First, a mission involving Ichiraku and the Sealed Jutsu Scroll.
Then, three elite jōnin showing up to gift him experience. Talk about hospitality.
Just then, a light voice drifted through the clearing.
"You stole our Sealed Jutsu Scroll, injured three of my most capable subordinates... and now you're leaving? Isn't that a bit rude?"
Uha's eyes narrowed.
A blond-haired young man with piercing blue eyes stood before him, clad in a white Hokage cloak, radiating calm confidence.
The Fourth Hokage-Minato Namikaze-had arrived.