Discovery

"Clan Head!"

Six black-clad men approached and respectfully addressed Uchiha Fugaku.

"Mm."

Uchiha Fugaku acknowledged them.

These people were all absolutely loyal to the previous owner of this body, and each possessed at least jonin-level strength.

The two leading them, Uchiha Hoshi and Uchiha Min—the same two who had previously besieged Shimura Ryoma—were even Elite Jonin.

If Sousuke Shimura had not risked his life to create an opportunity for Shimura Ryoma to escape, Fugaku would not even have needed to act. Those two alone could have surrounded and killed Shimura Ryoma.

"Fortunately, the Clan Head acted. Otherwise, Shimura Ryoma might have escaped this time!"

Seeing Shimura Ryoma's corpse, Uchiha Min let out a sigh of relief and spoke shamefully.

"He was an Elite Jonin, after all, and someone helped create an opportunity for him to flee."

Uchiha Fugaku shook his head without blaming him.

As the strongest ninja beneath the Kage-level, Elite Jonin naturally possessed exceptional survival abilities.

With assistance from someone else, it was only natural that he could escape the joint siege of two ninja of the same level.

It was precisely because Fugaku had considered the possibility of such an accident that he had chosen to personally lead the ambush.

"The corpse bears severe burn marks, but there are no signs of burning in the surrounding area. Is this the Clan Head's Mangekyō ability?"

Uchiha Hoshi carefully examined Shimura Ryoma's charred corpse, envy rising in his heart.

As a confidant, he knew that the Clan Head had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

However, he did not know what abilities resided within the Clan Head's eyes.

Judging from this charred corpse, the Clan Head's Mangekyō Sharingan seemed capable of directly affecting its target without damaging the surroundings, causing only the target to burn.

Putting this together, it was not difficult to conclude that this had to be an extremely mysterious and powerful Dojutsu.

It filled him with envy and made him yearn to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan just like the Clan Head.

"Clean up the corpse and all traces of the battle. Don't leave behind a single clue!"

Uchiha Fugaku ordered.

"Yes."

The six replied.

Some crouched down to erase the traces around them, while others stepped forward, took out containers filled with liquid, and poured the liquid over Shimura Ryoma's corpse.

Sizzle—

As the liquid was poured over Shimura Ryoma's corpse, it melted away and vanished with startling speed, like ice and snow beneath the sun.

In the end, not even the hardest bones remained. Only a blackened human-shaped mark was left behind.

A short while later, all traces of the battle had been erased. Even the lingering scent had been concealed with special medicine.

Even ninja hounds would be unable to track them by scent.

Only after confirming that no traces capable of exposing them remained did Uchiha Fugaku lead the six back toward Konoha.

By the time they returned to Konoha, it was already evening.

In the early days, the Military Police Force's duties had included patrols outside the village, so they knew how to bypass the village's barrier and infiltrate it.

Without alerting anyone, they slipped into the village, returned to the Uchiha compound, and switched places with the Shadow Clones they had left behind.

No one knew they had ever left the village, much less that Shimura Ryoma and the other two had already died by their hands.

In a dim underground room, a single candle burned with a faint yellow glow.

An emaciated old man sat cross-legged within the room.

His right arm and right eye were both wrapped in bandages.

A cross-shaped scar marked his chin, and he exuded a cold, sinister air that made him look particularly unsettling.

He was Shimura Danzō, one of Konoha's three great advisors.

In addition, he was Root's former leader.

Although Root had now been forcibly disbanded by the Third Hokage, it remained under his control in truth.

He used the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal to bind every Root member tightly, driving them to serve his purposes.

"Lord Danzo, the Shimura Clan Head says he has an urgent matter to report!"

A Root Ninja wearing a leopard mask entered the room and dropped to one knee.

"Bring him in."

Shimura Danzō ordered.

Before long, led by the Leopard Mask Root Ninja, a man in his forties entered the room.

He wore wooden clogs and a brown kimono.

He was rather tall but not especially muscular, his frame overall lean and wiry.

He was Shimura Daisuke, the current Clan Head of the Shimura Clan.

Upon entering, Shimura Daisuke removed his clogs, sat on his knees, and said, "Lord Danzo, Shimura Ryoma has been out of contact for an entire day."

"Out of contact?"

Shimura Danzō frowned slightly.

Shimura Ryoma was an Elite Jonin. The fact that an Elite Jonin could be made to lose contact immediately made him realize the gravity of the matter.

"Yes. Yesterday, he left the village with Ichiro Shimura and Sousuke Shimura, heading for Shirakawa Town within the Land of Fire."

"But from that point on, the three of them cut off all contact. They did not report their whereabouts at regular intervals as planned."

Shimura Daisuke said.

"What was their mission in Shirakawa Town?"

"To persuade the Land of Fire's largest merchant caravan, which is based in Shirakawa Town, to postpone its arrival in Konoha until after the village meeting."

Shimura Daisuke answered.

Naturally, the Shimura Clan coveted the dividends from the largest merchant caravan in the Land of Fire. Thus, when he learned of Shimura Ryoma's plan, he immediately agreed to it.

"Leopard."

After hearing Shimura Daisuke's report, Shimura Danzō pondered briefly before calling out toward the room's entrance.

Soon, the Leopard Mask Root Ninja who had appeared earlier entered the room and dropped to one knee.

"Lord Danzo."

"Take a squad and search for Shimura Ryoma, Ichiro Shimura, and Sousuke Shimura along the route to Shirakawa Town."

"Yes."

The Leopard Mask Root Ninja acknowledged the order and vanished from the room.

Not long afterward, he led three Root Ninja out of the Root base and beyond Konoha Village.

The village did not notice them. Like the Uchiha Clan, Root members also knew how to bypass the village barrier when entering and leaving the village.

Several hours later, they arrived at the place where Uchiha Fugaku and the others had fought Shimura Ryoma's group.

"A battle took place here."

The Leopard Mask Root Ninja ran his hand over a slash mark on a tree and made his judgment.

Although the battle traces had been erased, it was impossible to remove every trace completely.

For example, the slash mark on this tree could not be erased unless the entire tree was dug up and removed.

But doing that would likewise leave behind an unnatural clearing and signs of disturbed soil.

He turned to a Root Ninja wearing a bug mask.

"Bug, see whether you can track their scent."

"I already tried. The scents are too mixed up. It's impossible to track them now."

The Bug Mask Root Ninja said.

"There are traces of Corpse Dissolving Liquid here."

A female Root Ninja wearing a butterfly mask dug into the soil and found a blackened human-shaped mark.

She was very familiar with such marks, because Root left behind the same kind when disposing of corpses.

"A battle likely occurred here. They were then killed, and their bodies were dissolved."

The Leopard Mask Root Ninja stepped forward and stared at the blackened human-shaped mark.

"Captain, what do we do now?"

The Bug Mask Root Ninja asked.

"Shimura Ryoma's group should already be dead. The enemy cannot be tracked. We'll return and report this to Lord Danzo!"

The group of four swiftly departed.