Provocation

Nightingale's death was completely unexpected for Zhang Miao. In his opinion, it was just an escort mission, and an escort for someone as important as the Third Hokage, so there shouldn't have been any problems.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi at this time wasn't as old as he would be ten years later.

Even Orochimaru, during the Konoha Crush Plan in the original story, had told Hiruzen Sarutobi that if he were ten years younger, he could have easily defeated him!

While that was a slight exaggeration, it did highlight how powerful Hiruzen Sarutobi was during this period!

Yet, despite escorting such a powerful person, Nightingale had still died. How could Zhang Miao accept this?

However, as someone with the mental age of an adult, Zhang Miao quickly forced himself to calm down. He then quietly asked Kakashi, "How did Nightingale die?"

Hearing Zhang Miao's question, Kakashi immediately shook his head, indicating he couldn't say.

Seeing Kakashi's refusal to speak, Zhang Miao knew it was likely an Anbu rule. He didn't press further, instead closing his eyes and recalling the plot details of Hiruzen Sarutobi leaving the village for the Land of Fire's Daimyo's Mansion.

Soon, a short segment of the anime's plot appeared in Zhang Miao's mind.

According to the description in this segment, after Hiruzen Sarutobi left, Danzō, in his ambition to become Hokage, had dispatched several Anbu from his Root organization to assassinate Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, when these ninjas intercepted Hiruzen Sarutobi, they discovered it wasn't him at all, but Kakashi using the Transformation Jutsu.

The final result was that Kakashi killed all the ninjas from the Root organization who had come to assassinate him, leaving only Yamato, who possessed Wood Release. Hiruzen Sarutobi also successfully received his Hokage appointment.

In Zhang Miao's view, Danzō sending a few people was clearly just sending them to their deaths. Even without Kakashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi's skills would have been enough to eliminate them in minutes.

Therefore, Zhang Miao hadn't paid any attention to this plot detail. But to his surprise, Nightingale had died during this very plot he'd disregarded.

Thinking this, Zhang Miao sighed and quietly asked Kakashi, "Has Nightingale's body been returned? I want to see her one last time!"

"There is no body!" As soon as Zhang Miao finished speaking, Kakashi shook his head. "Anbu rules dictate that the dead leave no bodies!"

The Anbu had two rules: one, they had to wear masks during missions under normal circumstances, and two, the dead left no bodies, and all traces of them had to be eliminated.

Zhang Miao had originally planned to retrieve Nightingale's body and find a way to revive her later. But now, Kakashi's words shattered that hope. Enraged, he punched the floor of the corridor.

"Danzō, that damned old dog!"

Hearing Zhang Miao directly speak Danzō's name, Kakashi's eyes widened. He looked at Zhang Miao in disbelief.

Just moments ago, Zhang Miao seemed to know nothing, but after closing his eyes for a short while, he appeared to know everything, and quite a lot at that!

Could this also be a Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki Clan?

What shocked Kakashi even more was what happened next. After punching the corridor floor, Zhang Miao shouted towards the house behind him.

"Uncle, who's eavesdropping inside the house, someone has established an illegal organization to assassinate the Hokage. Are you going to do something about it?"

As soon as Zhang Miao finished speaking, the door to the house behind him "swished" open. Fugaku Uchiha then emerged from inside, looking displeased.

"Who tried to assassinate the Hokage?"

"Danzō!" Zhang Miao gritted out the name, then pointed to Kakashi beside him. "Kakashi is the witness. Take your men and arrest Danzō immediately!"

"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that!"

As soon as Zhang Miao finished speaking, Kakashi shook his head.

"The ones who tried to assassinate the Hokage are all dead. Furthermore, the Root ninjas had curse marks carved onto their tongues, preventing them from speaking anything detrimental to Danzō. Therefore, no one can prove that Danzō sent people to assassinate the Hokage."

Zhang Miao knew Kakashi was telling the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to let Danzō get away with it.

"Danzō, that cunning old dog! No, this can't just be let go!"

With that, Zhang Miao turned his gaze back to Fugaku Uchiha, his eyes flashing with sharp insight.

"Among the Leaf Village's high command, the Third Hokage is a pacifist. The one who targets the Uchiha Clan the most is Danzō. I'm sure you understand this, Uncle Fugaku."

As soon as Zhang Miao finished speaking, Fugaku Uchiha narrowed his eyes and glanced at him.

"You want to use the Uchiha to deal with Danzō, don't you?"

"Hmph!" Hearing Fugaku Uchiha's words, Zhang Miao let out a cold laugh. "Are you scared?"

"What did you say?"

Hearing Zhang Miao's words, Fugaku Uchiha's eyes widened, filled with anger.

Seeing the furious expression on Fugaku Uchiha's face, Zhang Miao grinned again, revealing a disdainful smile.

"Danzō suppresses the Uchiha so much, and now you have such a great opportunity, yet you, Uncle Fugaku, don't dare to resist? If you ask me, it's not that Uncle Fugaku is scared, but that the entire Uchiha clan is scared!"

With that, Zhang Miao stood up and nodded towards Kakashi.

"There's no point in saying more. Kakashi, let's go. I'll find a way to make Danzō pay. I'm not someone who gets bullied to their face and doesn't dare to fight back!"

After speaking, Zhang Miao walked out of Fugaku Uchiha's residence without looking back. Kakashi gave Fugaku Uchiha a slight nod before quickly following him.

After both of them had left, Itachi Uchiha, who had been sitting on the corridor, asked Fugaku Uchiha, "Father, what should we do?"

Hearing Itachi Uchiha's question, Fugaku Uchiha, who had appeared furious moments before, now smiled.

"Ryunosuke clearly provoked me just now, wanting to use us against Danzō. However, this might also be an opportunity for our Uchiha clan!"

Hearing Fugaku Uchiha's words, Itachi Uchiha nodded as if he understood but not quite.

Meanwhile, Zhang Miao, who had left Fugaku Uchiha's house, frowned deeply, seemingly deep in thought.

At this moment, Zhang Miao wasn't contemplating how to deal with Danzō, but rather how to revive Nightingale.

Zhang Miao knew very well that after Nightingale died, not even her body remained, which undoubtedly cut off any possibility of reviving her with forbidden jutsu. Therefore, if he wanted her back by his side, he could only rely on the Ninja Recruitment System.

However, Nightingale, who died in an unremarkable plot point and vanished without a trace, was undoubtedly an ordinary ninja.

According to the System, the recruitment of ordinary ninjas was random. Zhang Miao could only choose to recruit ordinary ninjas below six stars, but he couldn't choose who to recruit.

In other words, even if Nightingale were alive, Zhang Miao couldn't guarantee he could recruit her, let alone that she was now dead and had vanished without a trace.

According to the System, fragments corresponding to dead ninjas were "out-of-print" fragments, meaning they couldn't be collected through normal means.

Thinking this, Zhang Miao felt an urge to smash his head against the wall.

"Damn it, these out-of-print fragments are hard to get!"

Just as Zhang Miao was at a loss, Kakashi's voice suddenly came from beside him.

"Ryunosuke, if you want to deal with Danzō, perhaps I can help you think of a way!"

"En, thank you!"

Hearing Kakashi's words, Zhang Miao felt a warmth spread through his heart. As he turned to thank Kakashi, looking at Kakashi's face, a flash of inspiration struck him!

"Wait, there is a way to collect out-of-print fragments!"

With this thought, Zhang Miao's eyes lit up.