Who Is the Prey? (Please Read On)

Itachi Uchiha packed his personal gear. After glancing at his still-rowdy little brother, he finally turned and vanished into the night.

He took his first mission after becoming a Chunin extremely seriously, and his enthusiasm was high in every respect.

His new teammates might not be too happy about it, but he wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible.

That way, I can come back sooner and spend time with Sasuke.

Itachi Uchiha moved quickly. Before long, he had already left the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

To be honest, the Uchiha Clan did not give him a particularly good feeling now.

So many people kept talking about "the clan" and "the family." It seemed vastly different from what he had heard from Lord Hokage.

"Hmm?"

Itachi Uchiha suddenly slowed, as though he had sensed something.

"Who is it? Come out."

As he spoke, his eyes turned scarlet, his gaze fixed firmly on his surroundings.

Being watched inside Konoha was extremely rare, but he quickly thought of something.

After all, he had seen someone crazily hunting down ninja from the same village within Konoha!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Yet the only answer was several kunai slicing through the air toward him!

Are they Root agents?

A kunai appeared in Itachi Uchiha's hand. He dodged while knocking aside the incoming kunai.

"Hmm!"

But the instant one kunai flew past him, his Sharingan suddenly caught sight of a special curse formula attached to it!

At that very moment, he clearly sensed a masked figure appearing beside him.--

"What's going on?"

Hidezawa looked toward the shadowy figure in confusion, his heart filled with doubt.

It was rare for him to choose to walk home and think through some things instead of simply using Flying Thunder God to return, yet he had run into this.

Normally, he should have gone over to take a look.

But at that moment, he sensed a strange Flying Thunder God Mark appear, so he did not dare act rashly!

He knew very well that, barring the unexpected, such a movable mark belonged to that guy Obito Uchiha.

Flying Thunder God Marks were not so easily removed. Back then, that lunatic Obito Uchiha had gone to Konoha hoping the Fourth Hokage would recognize him and save him.

But the problem was, like Fugaku Uchiha, he seemed never to have considered whether he himself had done anything wrong.

He wore a mask to hide his face, deliberately changed his voice so no one could make anything of it, put Exploding Tags on baby Naruto, and then forcibly released the Nine-Tails from Kushina's body.

Someone who was clearly trying to kill his wife and child—no matter how good-tempered the Fourth Hokage was, he must have been furious!

And Obito Uchiha had been furious too, or he would not have mocked the Fourth Hokage to his face in the future for failing to recognize him back then.

"What kind of lunatic logic is that?"

Hidezawa could not help pursing his lips. He truly could not empathize with a lunatic like that.

Moreover, he very much agreed with the evil old Senju ghost, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's assessment of the Sharingan.

The more evolved an Uchiha's eyes became, the more abnormal their minds grew. Once they awakened the Mangekyo, they were downright lunatics!

With that in mind, Hidezawa pretended he had seen nothing and headed home without looking back.

"Black Zetsu, he doesn't seem to care at all."

Watching Hidezawa's actions, White Zetsu's half of the Pitcher Plant Monster spoke helplessly from the shadows.

Black Zetsu was somewhat speechless as well. This guy really did not play by the usual rules.

When encountering a stranger of unknown identity, whether they were from Root or the Anbu, shouldn't you investigate them?

You were a Konoha ninja!

Although the plan did not require Hidezawa to go over there, and he was sick to death of Obito's so-called plans.

Still, as "Madara Uchiha's will," he could only reluctantly assist Obito properly. And if they were doing this, they might as well do it perfectly!

"Notify the guy on Obito and see whether the battle over there has ended."

Though Black Zetsu was speechless, he did not care. He spoke directly.

"This kid can use Flying Thunder God to get back. Tell Obito to hurry up, and remember to bring Itachi Uchiha over."

"Okay, okay, okay."

White Zetsu nodded. Whatever Black Zetsu said went; he did not need to think too much about it.

After walking some distance away, Hidezawa quietly turned back to glance at what was happening behind him.

"What exactly is going on?"

A shadowy figure out of nowhere, Obito's Flying Thunder God Mark—these messy clues combined made Hidezawa feel that something was off.

Suddenly, he thought of one possibility!

"Could it be because Shisui Uchiha and I are teammates, and he wants to use that?"

Hidezawa could not figure it out, but if he had guessed correctly, then the situation was rather complicated.

"Hmm?"

As he walked, Hidezawa suddenly sensed a special fluctuation of power. At that instant, the Flying Thunder God curse formula felt incredibly close!

Yet that sensation quickly vanished, as though nothing had happened.

Hidezawa frowned. After hesitating, he warily looked toward the turn ahead, and his pupils instantly widened.

He saw Itachi Uchiha lying on the ground, covered in wounds and already unconscious. In that instant, Hidezawa seemed to understand what that bastard Obito Uchiha was trying to do.

"So it really is Shisui. That bastard set me up?"

Hidezawa knew he could not leave now, because leaving would instead make him look guilty.

Obito Uchiha possessed Kamui. If he put on a mask and put on an act, he might truly make people mistake it for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Itachi Uchiha was not dead. Perhaps his memories before falling unconscious were of being defeated by "Hidezawa"!

"I think I even said some things deliberately to disgust Danzo."

Hidezawa pursed his lips. Whether Obito had heard those words or not, with Black Zetsu and White Zetsu at his side, he had surely investigated Hidezawa's identity in detail.

Which meant...

"I can't get out of this at all?"

Hidezawa was from Root, and everyone knew Danzo hated the Uchiha Clan. Itachi Uchiha had also once defeated Root ninja.

So, as Danzo's enforcer, was it not perfectly normal for Hidezawa to do something to Itachi Uchiha?

In front of everyone during the Chunin Exams, he could only humiliate him and could not kill him. But it was not impossible that he would strike viciously again in secret, was it?

And with Itachi Uchiha near death, Shisui Uchiha would surely become dissatisfied with Konoha. If he then developed certain thoughts, would that not be perfectly natural as well?

"..."

Thinking this, Hidezawa silently sighed, then slowly drew a kunai.

"Looks like there's no other way. But I want to see who the prey really is."