-Tachibana spoke calmly.
"Look here's the thing, I can promise you that Danzo doesn't have long to live anyway. The old man's eventually going to be killed by a rouge Uchiha whose entire clan was killed mostly because of his schemes and distrust."
But Mito shook her head, "I don't believe that the Uchiha had no fault in getting killed. Perhaps the village was faulty in pushing them into a corner, but I don't believe for one second that the Uchiha weren't responsible for their own annihilation too."
"Seriously? Do you think the Uchiha wanted to die silently? They didn't even attempt to fight off their killer in the end. They died silently, not even making a sound."
Mito's eyes narrowed but then she smirked and spoke calmly.
"I bet you didn't know Fugaku could use his Sharingan to quell any rebellion didn't you?"
Tachibana's mouth hung a little loose because of this new information since Mito was hinting that Fugaku simply hypnotised the entire clan to get them killed, but then he argued again.
"Either way, the point remains that even in the most extreme situation, the Uchiha chose to die peacefully instead of rebel! And that's not even my point.-"
"-My point is that Danzo doesn't have long to live, so killing him a few years earlier will do no harm! In fact, it will only make the village stronger and more prepared for what's to come!-"
"-I bet you didn't know that Madara secured a way for himself to be revived did you!? He even has a grand plan to achieve 'world peace' by trapping everyone else in a large scale unbreakable genjutsu!"
Mito's eyes narrowed when Tachibana said that as she looked at him with some suspicion.
"Uchiha Madara?"
Tachibana nodded.
"He set up an organisation which is after capturing the tailed beasts and sealing them into the husk of the ten tails, reviving it and becoming its jinchuriki so that he will become the strongest.-"
"-Then he'll sprout a massive tree and when its flower blooms he'll use its connection to the moon to send everyone into an unbreakable genjutsu where everything they could ever want will happen."
"That sounds fantastical and makes little to no sense."
Tachibana *sighed* and shook his head.
"Fine. Alright. I get it. You don't want to help me."
Tachibana was about to wave away Mito and send her back to the spirit world but her next words stopped him.
"I'll help."
"...huh?" Tachiaban was a little shocked and confused. "The hell? Weren't you against doing anything?"
Mito shook her head. "Even if I don't want to, I'm sure you'll do something anyway. So I want to interfere so that you don't do anything that affects the stability of the village. Simply killing an Elder of the village will expose it to the fangs and claws of those waiting to grab a bite."
Tachibana's eyes widened but then they immediately narrowed, "And how am I to believe that you'll even do anything I ask you to? What's to say you just agree while you are with me and then when the opportune moment has passed you just carelessly 'forget'?"
Mito shook her head and then looked at Tachibana like he was dumber than a brick.
"The contract."
"Ah…yes we can use the optional clauses." Tachibana nodded as he suddenly remembered the contract. "What do you want in exchange?"
Mito was silent for a few seconds before speaking after some thought, "I want to be able to talk to one person of my choice and be able to freely tell them anything without being restricted by you or whatever that strange force is that protects you."
Tachibana instantly shook his head, "No way. There are too many risks involving that. The only reason I trust you so much right now is because you can't say anything of what I say to another person. And I've always spoken to you with that in mind."
Mito nodded in understanding before modifying her terms a little, "How about this instead, I can talk to one other person specifically and tell them whatever I want to, but for as long as I talk to them, I won't have any memories of us together."
Tachibana frowned when he heard this.
'Although there isn't any 'real' way for her to harm me like this…she could always just memorise her instructions she wants to tell someone else and then tell them whatever she memorised.'
"I will agree on one condition.", Tachibana said, causing Mito to look at him with a questioning gaze. "As long as you promise me not to use that conversation to do anything against me or my interests."
Mito frowned but then after some thought she spoke softly, "Then I have another condition to add."
Tachibana nodded to hear it out and Mito said, "I want to be able to experiment and understand how the contract that binds us is made and I want to reject killing someone as long as I don't want them to die."
Tachibana's eyes deadpanned.
'Isn't this the same as telling me that she won't kill Danzo?'
'Well, no matter if I'm able to get her to kill him or not, I can still cause a lot of damage to him as long as Mito helps me.'
'The real trouble is the first part of her request.'
So, Tachibana asked the system a question.
'Will she be able to annul our contract if she understands how it was made?'
[ No, the host need not even worry about Mito being able to understand the contract. Although the contract is a piece of paper with rules, it is upheld and kept by the system. Without the system, the contract is a meaningless piece of paper. ]
'Hmmm...I see…'
Tachibana nodded and then spoke to Mito, "Alright, I agree to your terms and conditions as long as you agree to mine. Do you?"
Mito nodded, "I pledge to do exactly as you say unless it is about killing someone, in such a case I reserve the right to make my own judgement. I'm not a tool for you to order around."
"Sure. Whatever lets you sleep in the night." Tachibana said raising his hands and then quickly looked at her before asking.
"So here's my plan…can you do it?" Tachibana asked as he continued to explain to Mito his entire plan and what expected her to do.
"You don't even know yet if it's him!" Mito said indignantly while putting her hands on her waist and looking down at Tachibana with a frown.
"I mean…its either him or his co-conspirator. No one else would dare to experiment with the Land of Fire's kids under Konoha's nose except them."
Mito wasn't convinced, but Tachibana wasn't disappointed since he knew that when they'd investigate the case, the leads would eventually point at either of them.
"Do you have any ideas for me to improve the plan?" Tachibana asked Mito since she was probably a lot more experienced than him in this field.
"Hmm…why do you want me to disguise myself as the girl from the orphanage? Wouldn't it be better if I disguised as someone else? That wouldn't bring any suspicion towards you."
Tachibana smiled and then softly explained, "No. I want to leave that connection still…I just…I have a plan…it is getting rather annoying to tell people about the future I know about and then have them disregard me meaninglessly.-"
"-As long as I show them I can communicate with 'ghosts' like the little girl who is going to take revenge on Danzo because he captures and experiments on children of the village that should make them believe me more. That way I can change more."
Mito frowned since to her it seemed more like Tachibana was cooking up a scheme to control the village in secret.
To her, he still seemed just as evil as those he was 'fighting' against. She could feel his reasons for fighting Danzo weren't righteous, his eyes didn't burn with the fire of justice she had seen in several other shinobi around her and especially in her husband.
So it left her feeling a little strange.
'Although the boy isn't outright evil. He isn't a shining star of justice either.'
What had Mito the most worried was that the boy could be misled down a path that would turn him against the world.
But knowing that she'd already promised a contract she couldn't back down. Especially not when she had her own plan to warn others about him.
But it would take a while for her to be able to use her wish. At the earliest, it would probably be after the chunin exams if Tachibana's words regarding the future were to be believed.
'*sigh* this child…he's too dangerous but he doesn't do anything stupid with his abilities…at least he hasn't yet...I need to watch him more closely to be able to form a decent opinion about him…'
'The upcoming mission should give me a chance to learn more…'
'He's too mysterious…'
Unknowingly to Mito and Tachibana, they hadn't realised that Mito was slowly becoming an important figure in Tachibana's life and Tachibana in hers. Although both were opposed to each other's ideas, they did compromise to work together towards a common goal.