"Tora-sama, I… uh, am I really allowed to observe?"
Uchiha Inahori was a little nervous.
To the Uchiha of the past, the ANBU were nothing short of the underworld incarnate. Accounts of ANBU targeting the Uchiha appeared frequently in the clan's books and oral histories.
So…
The ANBU, to them, were shrouded in a kind of terrifying mystery.
And yet now…
Here he was, right inside the ANBU's stronghold—and possibly about to become one of them.
No matter how he thought about it, it felt… wrong. Like a trap waiting to be sprung once he made a single misstep.
"Of course you can. You're here precisely to oversee the ANBU's interrogation process. After all, this concerns the Sharingan—one of the Bloodline Limits. It's only natural to be cautious."
Kyoichi nodded. "We don't want Konoha's clans to get the wrong idea either."
"Y-Yes, of course!"
Inahori nodded quickly, but his mind was still working overtime, trying to grasp the ANBU's true intentions.
If that was really the case—
Then maybe the ANBU weren't targeting the Uchiha after all. Maybe they genuinely wanted to uncover the truth behind all this, and weren't acting out of the malice some had feared.
Which, when you thought about it…
Made sense.
The Uchiha were a mess right now. Aside from the Sharingan, there wasn't much left that was worth coveting.
Besides—
Those who needed to hand over their eyes had already done so.
Inahori couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, he'd chosen to cooperate with Konoha.
It was becoming increasingly clear: the Uchiha's strength couldn't compare to the full might of the village. Trying to rebel their way to power would be an impossible feat.
Slow assimilation was the only real path forward.
He thought for a moment, then shifted gears—trying to guess what was really going on tonight. At that moment—
"What's your take on what happened tonight?"
"My lord, is this a test?"
Inahori chuckled. He had relaxed quite a bit and even had the mood to joke around with "Tora" in front of him. But he quickly straightened up.
Because he remembered—
This wasn't the squad leader of his old Police Force, but the captain of an ANBU team. An entirely different status. A different relationship altogether.
"This uprising… to be honest, it's really strange. For one, Uchiha Ki was never this strong before. Even if—uh, I'm not sure if you know much about the Sharingan?"
Inahori glanced cautiously at Kyoichi.
Kyoichi paused in thought, then nodded. "I know a bit. The Uchiha's eyes are often called the 'mirrors of the soul.' They grow stronger through powerful emotions."
"That's more or less it. The Sharingan does grow stronger through emotional surges. But even so, that shouldn't have anything to do with physical combat ability."
Inahori voiced his doubts.
The spike in Uchiha Ki's strength was far beyond what could be explained by natural evolution of the Sharingan.
"He had chakra from an outside source—and a transplanted special constitution."
"Huh? You're serious?"
Uchiha Inahori was stunned, visibly skeptical.
While the Sharingan couldn't see chakra pathways as clearly as the Byakugan, it could still perceive chakra and its flow patterns.
That ability, after all, was the foundation of its famed copying powers.
However—
Back during the last meeting, he had discreetly looked at Uchiha Ki. There hadn't been anything unusual.
He shared this confusion with Kyoichi.
Even though he didn't know the full identity of the man in front of him, one thing was clear—
If this person wanted to harm the Uchiha, he wouldn't need to go to all this trouble. ANBU could quietly collect a few Sharingan for study without anyone ever knowing.
But instead, this man was being transparent and focused entirely on uncovering the truth.
As victims and key figures in the incident, the Uchiha had nothing to hide.
Otherwise…
They'd only be inviting the ANBU to look down on them.
The two continued talking for a while.
Kyoichi already knew most of what Inahori had to say—but hearing it from an Uchiha carried a weight that private knowledge couldn't match.
"So I suspect someone's pulling the strings behind all this."
"That… does make sense…"
Inahori nodded grimly.
Everyone coveted the Uchiha's eyes. Right now, the clan was like a house of cards in a storm.
His heart sank.
After thinking for a bit, he suddenly froze. Then, with a jolt, he shot to his feet.
"What is it?"
"Tora-sama, you might not know—before coming here, I was helping Elder tally up the number of defectors with the Police Force. But… if I'm remembering correctly, the numbers don't quite match up."
He strained to recall the details.
As a senior member of the younger generation, and a "big brother" figure in the Police Force, he knew many of the defectors personally. A quick mental rundown was enough to send alarm bells ringing.
"Sit down. Getting anxious won't help. The enemy's methods are strange—so strange even the Byakugan couldn't detect them. Normal sensory techniques are useless too."
Kyoichi motioned for him to calm down.
This was something he had already anticipated.
The Uchiha were in complete disarray. If Madara wasn't fixated on Itachi alone, he could've snatched anyone from the clan without effort.
But even then—
The ones taken would be ordinary Uchiha. There was no need to panic.
Not every Uchiha was another Obito… or Itachi.
At that moment, Yamanaka Inoichi entered with his team.
They had actually been waiting in the next room the whole time. It wasn't until just now that Kyoichi had given the signal—through a few subtle gestures—for them to come in.
"Captain Tora…"
"Sorry to trouble you, Inoichi-senpai. I need your help checking their memories. I suspect there might be influence from outside villages involved in this—and at the very least, Uchiha Ki is highly suspicious. Unfortunately…"
"We've already heard—self-destruction, self-immolation. The methods were shockingly extreme," Inoichi said with a grave expression.
Even for missing-nin, the will to survive is strong. They wouldn't resort to such terrifying methods unless truly backed into a corner. And even then—if you're going that far, you'd expect them to take Kyoichi down with them, right?
But Uchiha Ki didn't.
He simply destroyed himself—denying anyone access to his body.
That guy definitely had secrets.
It was a shame…
They couldn't get anything from him directly. Their only hope now was to dig through the memories of those closest to him and search for scraps of information.
The Yamanaka Clan quickly got to work.
Inahori sat nearby, visibly uneasy. But Yamanaka Inoichi was a seasoned pro. At the start, the subject felt no pain. Only when the memory extraction went deeper did resistance start.
Since the targets were alive, Inoichi could take his time—searching patiently and thoroughly.
Kyoichi waited beside him.
Partly for the Yamanaka's findings—and partly for news from Mukai's side.
Danzo…
That was the real target!
After a long while…
Inoichi walked over and reported, "Captain Tora, we've retrieved partial memory from one of them and uncovered something."
"Go ahead."
"So far, Uchiha Ki's sudden increase in power is definitely abnormal. His words also had a strong persuasive effect.
But I believe it wasn't enough to make so many follow him so fanatically. From what I've seen in the memory, there may have been genjutsu involved."
Inoichi's report was clear and well-structured.
Inahori was stunned.
Genjutsu influence?
That's… impossible!
Uchiha Ki wasn't weak in genjutsu, but even among the Uchiha he was far from top-tier. Plenty of Police Force members were more talented. If not for seniority, he wouldn't have been made a clan elder.
"How good are you at genjutsu, Inahori?"
Inoichi looked at him.
Inahori hesitated, then said, "Not great. But to pull off something like this would require an extremely advanced level of genjutsu skill. Uchiha Ki…"
"Keep digging."
Kyoichi wasn't surprised.
Uchiha Ki had clearly been under Madara's control. Having them investigate was less about solving the case, and more about opening their eyes—to make them realize that behind all this, the shinobi world still hid shadowy, dangerous figures.
Once the alertness was there, many future attacks could be anticipated and thwarted.
He waited a little longer.
Mukai had arrived—
Next door…
"How did it go?"
"Tora-sama, I asked around—Danzo was indeed at the orphanage last night. After he left, Nonō Yakushi came out looking visibly upset. We didn't dare get too close to overhear the details."
"Good…"
Kyoichi nodded and motioned for him to continue keeping watch.
Danzo had made his move.
Which meant…
It was time for Kyoichi to begin his next step as well.
—
The Next Day
Kyoichi quietly arrived at Tsunade's office, waiting for her to return.
When Tsunade walked in, she paused in surprise, then closed the door behind her and snapped irritably, "Why are you sneaking around like that? Trying to scare someone on purpose?"
"Ahem, well, technically I haven't even reported back yet. I'm sure you already heard what happened last night?"
"Mhm. Uchiha Ki… we have to get to the bottom of this."
Tsunade's expression turned serious.
Damn it…
She'd just assumed the Hokage seat, and now the Uchiha had pulled this stunt.
If she didn't already know the bigger picture, she might've thought they were trying to test her authority. But what shocked her even more was the intel Kyoichi had relayed through Katsuyu.
Konoha's barrier had remained active the entire time.
Which meant the enemy had bypassed its detection completely—slipping into the village and completing their mission without a trace.
That kind of enemy…
Had to be identified. At the very least, they needed to find out who they were dealing with.
"This might be difficult to trace, but I'm sure a group like this is lurking somewhere in the shadows of the shinobi world," Kyoichi said. "I think it's time we get everyone to take this seriously.
As for the other villages—they probably wouldn't believe it even if we told them. But Kirigakure… we should quietly send a report to Yagura."
Tsunade thought for a moment, quickly catching on to his meaning.
He suspects that what happened in Kirigakure might also have been the work of this group?
But…
She frowned. "If it really was the same people, then their methods in Kirigakure were way too clumsy. It's almost like they wanted us to discover them."
"Whether it was or not doesn't really matter," Kyoichi said with a faint smile. "What matters is that we can make it seem like it was."
Tsunade fell silent for a beat, then nodded, understanding his logic.
He was right—she was still a bit too straightforward.
In situations like this, the truth was secondary. What mattered was what people believed.
She said nothing more, reaching for a scroll on the desk to review it. But the moment she opened it and scanned a few lines, she realized it was an Anbu report.
Her expression changed within seconds.
She shot up, nearly slamming her hand on the desk—only for Kyoichi to catch her wrist midair.
"Don't overreact!"
"Dammit, is there anything that bastard won't stoop to? The old man coddled him too much, actually let someone like Danzo create something like 'Root'."
Tsunade was shaking with rage.
Sure, most of those kids had been orphans—but for Danzo to blatantly disregard village protocol and use inhumane training to turn them into Root operatives?
It violated everything she believed in.
"Keep reading."
Kyoichi knew she hadn't gotten to the worst part yet.
The first half described how Danzo had reactivated old Root members and coerced Nonō Yakushi at the orphanage.
But the second half—
Detailed the experiments he had conducted with Orochimaru, and their horrifying results.
***************************
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