The original work never explicitly described how Toroi died.
But Nigai? His death was crystal clear.
This unlucky kid survived the Third Great Ninja War, only to later die when he impulsively rushed in during a mission with the Fourth Raikage to steal a ninjutsu scroll from Sugi Village. He was ambushed and killed by the Exploding Insect of the Nokizaru Group.
After a brief moment of thought, Kei concluded that the one whose fate had been altered must be Nigai.
Toroi, being a veteran ninja who had been through countless battles in the shinobi world, was long accustomed to life-and-death situations. Even if a teammate sacrificed themselves to save him, at most, he would mourn briefly before moving on.
But Nigai, a young and inexperienced ninja who had only recently been promoted to jonin, would likely be deeply affected by the death of a comrade. That, in turn, could change his personality and ultimately alter his fate.
"Well, better than nothing."
Kei smacked his lips and silently used the Hydrification Technique to dive into the sea. He swiftly approached the area where he had previously sensed the presence of a Chinoike ninja.
Near the port of the island, inside a residential building, a young man with crimson eyes, with dark red pupils crossed by a pinkish-purple horizontal stripe, sat calmly on the sofa.
He held a steaming cup of tea, sipping leisurely. The intense battle that had just taken place at the dock seemed to have left him completely unfazed.
Kei opened the half-closed door. Looking at the man before him—who closely resembled his original counterpart but was noticeably younger—he grew even more puzzled.
Wasn't this guy supposed to have slaughtered his entire clan after his wife was forced to death by his own kin? Shouldn't he have taken his daughter Chino and become a merchant?
"Kiri ninjas really are trash. They actually failed to kill you. But finding me here—does that make you lucky, or unlucky?" Oyashiro smirked at the middle-aged ninja standing at the door.
His Ketsuryūgan locked onto Kei's gaze, instantly activating a genjutsu!
Invisible spiritual energy spread throughout the small house.
The sticky, dark, and rancid aura of the spiritual energy made Kei frown slightly. The thought of experiencing the genjutsu instantly vanished.
Not interested in wasting words with his opponent, he casually reflected the genjutsu with his own illusion technique—Mirror Heaven and Earth Change.
Looking at the now dazed and motionless Oyashiro on the sofa, he retrieved a small glass bottle, barely the size of half a palm, from a sealing scroll.
He used a water technique to envelop the area, ensuring no traces were left behind. Then, he walked straight up to his opponent and reached for his eyes.
"Ahhh!" A blood-curdling scream echoed through the small house.
Unperturbed, Kei washed his bloodstained hand in the light-blue water sphere surrounding Oyashiro.
Looking at the pair of crystal-clear Ketsuryūgan sealed within the glass bottle, he nodded in satisfaction.
"My eyes! I can't see! I—" Despite the searing pain, Oyashiro barely managed to break free from his own genjutsu.
But before he could wail for long, Kei used another genjutsu.
Now without his Ketsuryūgan, Oyashiro instantly fell into the illusion. His expression kept shifting between bliss and agony, yet he was completely unable to escape from its grip. As the genjutsu took deeper hold, his face gradually returned to calmness.
Kei lifted his opponent by the waistband.
He tossed the bloodstained water sphere into the ocean, erasing all traces. Then, summoning Pidgeot using Summoning Jutsu, he flew directly southwest of the island.
Glancing back in the direction where Toroi and the others had escaped, Kei let out a long sigh.
Back at Musai's place, the planned breeding farm was nearly complete before he had even set out. Livestock, feed, workers—everything had been arranged.
As for the remaining savings on the desk, it should be enough to keep the business running.
One less ninja in Kumo, one less enemy in Konoha.
From Yugito's side, apart from the injuries she sustained when Matatabi rampaged, Kei had made plenty of other arrangements during his weeklong recovery in the hospital.
Once news of 'his' death reached back home, the sealed information would gradually unlock as the conditions for activation were met.
That little girl wouldn't repeat the same tragedy and get captured by the Immortal Duo, right? One less qualified jinchūriki in Kumo, one less potential threat in Konoha.
Black Zetsu's plan to rescue his mother just got harder.
Yes, absolutely perfect!
"Come on, let's see why you screwed over my little girl."
Kei pressed his palm onto Oyashiro's head, activating the Psycho Mind Transmission to quickly scan his memories.
He had always been suspicious of the forces behind the assassination attempt on Yugito.
Based on the timeline, when he assassinated Kumo's high-ranking officials, Madara had just died, and Kiri was leaderless. It didn't make sense for them to have the capability to mess with Kumo.
Yet, even after interrogating the surviving captives from Kiri, all evidence still pointed to them! And now, Oyashiro was indeed entangled with Kiri ninjas.
Could it really have been Madara's final command before his death?
"...Ōnoki, so it really was you!" After scanning Oyashiro's most recent year of memories, Kei's mouth twitched slightly.
Unlike in the original story, where he had slaughtered his entire clan and taken his daughter away from the Valley of Hell…
This time, he had only recently gotten married.
Because the Chinoike clan lived in extremely harsh conditions, he had to take on missions to earn money for his wife and clan's livelihood. Over a year ago, he started frequently taking missions at underground bounty exchanges.
After a few months, due to his considerable strength and good reputation, he was soon noticed by a major employer.
He often received high-paying assignments from this major employer. There were many other ninjas like him at the underground bounty exchange. By chance, someone vaguely saw their major employer "accidentally" reveal a Kiri forehead protector.
So, they all assumed that their employer was actually Kiri.
If it weren't for this recent mission—"assisting Kiri ninjas in attacking Kumo"—being too difficult to keep secret,
Oyashiro probably still wouldn't have known the truth.
Their major employer had actually been Iwa all along!
In the original story, the Raikage had accused Ōnoki of frequently hiring bounty ninjas to do his dirty work. In a war where anything goes, this kind of tactic wasn't exactly unexpected.
"Has Iwa already allied with Kiri?"
Kei withdrew his hand from Oyashiro's head, temporarily abandoning the idea of eliminating him.
In the original story, during the Third Great Ninja War, Iwa and Kiri were indeed allies. If it weren't for the fact that, after the war, Iwa suddenly betrayed Kumo during their joint attack. Given their geographical positions, this alliance might have lasted all the way until the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"I wonder what bandage man and little mustache would think if they found out."
Kei kept ridiculing the situation in his mind.
During the First Great Ninja War, the Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage had fought each other to the death.
Iwa and Kiri were practically mortal enemies.
And yet, after all these years, these two villages had formed an alliance?
In the original story, it made sense when Madara did something similar—after all, he had no connection to the Second Mizukage, so his alliances were purely based on benefits.
But before this, Kei had always thought that it was only because, during the Third Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage suddenly launched a sneak attack on Iwa, forcing them into an alliance with Kiri.
But now, seeing the situation, these two villages had already been in cahoots for quite some time!
"There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests?" Kei let out a mocking chuckle. He shook his head, not bothering to judge further.
After all, Konoha's higher-ups had even lower moral standards than those of Iwa and Kiri.
Pidgeot flew swiftly through the high-altitude sky.
Carrying extra baggage this time, it took two full days of exhausting flight before it finally carried Kei to the coast of the Land of Fire.
He released the summoning technique, allowing the falcon to return to Konoha's breeding facility to rest.
Kei then hoisted Oyashiro onto his shoulder and continued toward Konoha.
Meanwhile, he started contemplating whether he should have Kurenai sign a summoning contract with the Giant Clam.
His disciple had great talent in genjutsu and was naturally gifted with water chakra, but she had never truly developed it before.
With some effort, even if she couldn't become the second coming of Gengetsu, she could still refine her abilities and greatly improve her potential.
Most importantly, if she could summon a clam, he wouldn't have to carry captives back to Konoha over long distances every single time.
Carrying people on such long journeys was a total nightmare!
[Major alteration to an important supporting character's fate.]
[The worldline has deviated.]
- 1 fate-related trait extraction
- 1 random trait upgrading (Green)
- 1 gifting opportunity]
"Looks like news of his death has reached Kumo!" As he traveled, a system notification echoed in Kei's mind once again.
His previously bad mood from carrying dead weight instantly took a 180-degree turn upon seeing the rewards.
A fate-related trait!
Like Minato's [Fortune] or Jiraiya's [Prophet of Destiny]... He wanted to be a beloved child of fate too!