"I see . . . Well done Shiki." Mito praised after hearing the boy's report on his investigation of the Mountains' Graveyard.
"So that fossil is still hanging around instead of obediently dying . . ." The Uzumaki matriarch thought out loud, clearly not too surprised.
If the person in front of him was not his most respected and beloved Mito-sama, Shiki would not have hesitated to point out how Madara and her were practically the same age.
But alas, the boy would not do that to his mistress and so kept silent. As for her lack of surprise, he did not think much of it.
With someone of Mito's caliber being far more powerful and active than in the original timeline, along with her familiarity with Madara, it was not that shocking that she sensed something strange going on.
She did capture and White Zetsu and even managed to extract some info out of it after all.
"That strange statue that is keeping him alive, an cultivated artificial body of Hashirama, the Rinnegan and that strange ocular jutsu . . ." The Uzumaki matriarch muttered still deep in her thoughts.
Meanwhile, Shiki realized something.
'I have just raided Madara's hideout which as it so happens, is an abandoned Otsutsuki cave complex, coming across some mysterious records and depictions that had information I should not have known is very reasonable, no?' The boy internally asked himself.
It was the perfect excuse to share some of his meta knowledge.
"Mito-sama, while my shadow clones scoured the cave system, I came across some additional information." Shiki spoke up.
"Oh?" Mito raised an eyebrow in surprise.
It was not like Shiki not to include such things in his initial report.
The boy also realized the problem and fell silent for a bit.
. . .
'Screw this.' He dismissively spat within his mind.
Maybe he was not ready to reveal everything yet but Mito, more than anyone else, did not deserve lies and flimsy excuses.
"Actually, that was a lie. I am deeply sorry." Shiki bowed, well, his genjutsu projection speaking to Mito did.
The Uzumaki matriarch wryly smiled.
"You really are a good boy Shiki." She shook her head with clear love and affection on her face.
"The first time you actually told me a lie and you gave up on it before you could even finish." The redhead commented.
Despite his hollow nature, the boy had the decency of letting a slight blush of embarrassment show.
"So what do you want to tell me?" Mito thankfully moved the topic back to the previous matter.
"Through means I'm still not very comfortable sharing, I've obtained a whole lot of intelligence and I think now is a good time to reveal some to make sure Mito-sama is fully prepared." Shiki started.
"Prepared?" The Uzumaki matriarch questioned.
"Mito-sama is planning on going to find Madara, right?" The boy counter questioned but it was honestly rhetorical.
Shiki then proceeded to explain five important key points to Mito though not fully.
He partially revealed the secrets of Madara's Rinnegan, its Six Paths and Outer Path jutsu and the old man's unique Limbo: Border Jail.
Additionally, the boy also explained how adding Hashirama's power to Madara is what triggered the transformation of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan into the Rinnegan though, for the time being, he mentioned nothing of Asura, Indra and their reincarnations.
The second point he explained was the origin of the Tailed Beasts and how the mysterious statue keeping Madara alive was actually called the Gedo Statue and was the husk, the physical body of the original Tailed Beast, the Ten Tails.
How it was defeated, how the Sage of Six Paths became the first Jinchuuriki and how he split the chakra sealed within him into nine pieces to form the currently known Tailed Beasts.
Though, he did not mention neither the sage's name nor the existence of a mother and younger brother, nor did he reveal the meddlesome old toad's role in the story.
The third point was regarding the existence of Black Zetsu and, to a lesser extent, White Zetsu. Shiki informed Mito that even Madara remained ignorant of their nature and that she should be very careful of the black one, not of its power but of its schemes and treachery.
The fourth point was the nature of Madara's supposedly secret plan, the Eye of The Moon plan and how a falsified prophecy he erroneously thought was left by the Sage of Six Paths let him astray with delusions about the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
On that particular point, even Mito was shocked and exasperated that Madara would buy into such utter nonsense.
But the minds of Indra, Ashura and their reincarnations, worked in mysterious ways, ways a certain someone knew how to exploit.
The fifth and final point was regarding the existence of Uchiha Hikari and how he was going to seek out her seal.
"You're going to tell me how you know all this one day." The Uzumaki matriarch declared with certainty in her voice.
"Of course Mito-sama." Shiki immediately responded with a smile.
"I shall tell you all that and much more." He added, making the older woman dotingly smile.
And with that, the transmission ended.
*
On Mito's side . . .
The Uzumaki matriarch's consciousness sank deep into her mindscape, seeking out the seal holding her prisoner.
"Nine Tails." She calmly called out.
"You heard what that child said. Any thoughts?" Mito questioned.
"Hmph." Was the Tailed Beast's only response, its deep rumbled voice echoing through the space as it closed its eyes, front paw crossed as it assumed its signature pose.
Surprisingly, the horrendous torture-like seal from before was nowhere to be seen and the Nine Tails seemed remarkably more obediently the before.
But what led to the current circumstances, is a story for another time.
Back to the matter at hand.
Minutes of silence trickled by but the Uzumaki matriarch was unruffled.
"What I think . . ." The Tailed Beast finally began speaking.
". . . Is that you old hag . . are losing the qualifications to refer to that brat as "that child", like a proper guardian to her ward." The Nine Tails went completely off topic.
"And what do you mean by that I wonder?" Mito inquired, a seemingly bright and gentle but ominous smile capable of frightening even the strongest Tailed Beast, plastered on her face.
"Hmph! You know full well what I mean." The Nine Tails defiantly responded with another harrumph but did not push the topic further.
"Regarding the origin of us Tailed Beasts, everything that brat claimed is correct. I can also tell you that the old man definitely did not leave that kind of prophecy behind." It continued.
"As for the rest, I'm not too sure." The Tailed Beast said its piece and fell back into silence.
Knowing she would likely not be getting anything beyond what she already did, Mito's mind left the sealing space and came back to reality.
*
Back to Shiki . . .
The boy felt a lightness of spirit he never felt before at having gotten some of the truth out, sharing it with the person he trusted the most, even if not yet fully, definitely did wonders.
He could literally feel his spirit refreshing and swelling with power, hastening the progress he was making towards his next level of evolution.
Specially, a vague itch at the center of his forehead came as quickly as it disappeared . . .
"Well then, no rest for the wicked! Time to get me another Uchiha cutie." Shiki thought out loud, not even realizing how the usual him would never vocalize such thoughts.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -