Village Meeting

"Village meeting? Looks like they found out!"

Watching the messenger hawk circling overhead, Uchiha Fugaku murmured to himself.

He was not surprised by the village meeting being convened.

Shimura Ryoma was an Elite Jonin. Reaching that level was rare not only within the Shimura Clan, but even in all of Konoha.

The death of such an Elite Jonin was bound to shake the village, warranting a village meeting.

Fortunately, they had probably not discovered that Shimura Ryoma's death was connected to him. Otherwise, Anbu Ninja directly under the Hokage would have already come knocking.

Whoosh—

In a flash, he vanished from where he stood and hurried toward the Hokage Building.

The Uchiha Clan was located at the edge of the village, and he had not traveled at full speed. By the time he arrived at the Hokage Building's conference room, quite a few people had already gathered.

Among them were Clan Heads like himself, as well as Elite Jonin from the civilian ninja ranks.

When they saw him arrive, they merely glanced at him before withdrawing their gazes.

No one took the initiative to greet him. Clearly, their relationship with the Uchiha Clan was not particularly good.

This was the lingering consequence of the Uchiha Clan having controlled the Military Police Force for so many years.

The Military Police Force, directly under the Uchiha Clan, was in charge of village security. In the course of doing so, they inevitably had to punish those who violated public order.

This had invisibly created resentment among the clans these people belonged to, causing those clans to distance themselves from the Uchiha Clan.

This had been the Second Hokage's purpose in establishing the Military Police Force. It had to be said that the Second Hokage had achieved his goal.

"Captain Fugaku!"

Uchiha Fugaku found an empty seat and sat down.

At that moment, someone several seats away greeted him.

He was somewhat surprised. He had thought that, just like usual for his predecessor, no one would greet him today. He had not expected someone to take the initiative.

Turning his head, he saw a man in his thirties wearing a black kimono, with silver-white hair.

Information about the man quickly flashed through his mind.

Hatake Nobuhiro, the current Clan Head of the Hatake Clan. Beyond that, he had another identity: the younger brother of Konoha's White Fang, whose name resounded throughout the ninja world.

"Clan Head Nobuhiro!"

Since someone had greeted him, he naturally would not put on a cold and aloof act and ignore them. He responded politely.

"My clansmen caused Captain Fugaku trouble."

Hatake Nobuhiro said.

The reason he had taken the initiative to speak with Uchiha Fugaku was to express his gratitude.

During the previous conflict between members of the Hatake Clan and the Sarutobi Clan, the Hatake clansmen had not been at fault. However, the other side had been members of the Sarutobi Clan, the clan of the Third Hokage.

Uchiha Fugaku had been able to withstand the pressure and handle the matter impartially. He had not shown favoritism merely because the other party belonged to the Sarutobi Clan, and Nobuhiro was deeply grateful for that.

"It was nothing."

Uchiha Fugaku said in a good mood.

Receiving the Hatake Clan Head's gratitude showed that his efforts had not been wasted.

His policy of using the authority of public security management in reverse—cracking down on the four irreconcilable clans of Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane while showing goodwill toward clans outside those four—was feasible.

People continued to arrive in the conference room.

Finally, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with the three advisors Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura, entered the conference room one in front and three behind, then took their seats.

The arrival of the four drew everyone's attention, for they were the four people who held the greatest power in Konoha Village.

"I have summoned everyone here today because an extremely serious incident has occurred!"

The Third Hokage wore his Hokage Robe, and a powerful aura radiated from him. Though he was thin and wiry, he appeared imposing and majestic.

He looked around, his gaze sweeping across the ninjas present, before continuing.

"Two days ago, Elite Jonin Shimura Ryoma, Jonin Sousuke Shimura, and Jonin Ichiro Shimura left the village and then lost contact."

"Following the route the three had taken, signs of battle were found in a forest. The three have most likely been killed."

Upon hearing the Third Hokage's words, some of the ninjas present showed surprise, while others did not appear particularly shocked.

Clearly, some of them had not known this news, while others had already learned of it.

Given the Uchiha Clan's standing in the village, naturally no one would have disclosed this information to them. Thus, although Uchiha Fugaku already knew, he still showed a slightly surprised expression.

"Hokage, have you determined which force was responsible?"

A man wearing a gray high-collared coat and black sunglasses asked.

His name was Aburame Shibi, the current Clan Head of the Aburame Clan.

The Aburame Clan was quite close to the Shimura Clan. This could be seen from the fact that Aburame Torune of the Aburame Clan was one of Shimura Danzō's personal guards.

That was why, upon learning that Shimura Ryoma and the other two had been killed, he had immediately asked about it with concern.

"No. Every trace was erased. No clues capable of identifying the attackers were left behind."

The Third Hokage shook his head.

"What mission were the three carrying out when they were killed?"

A man with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle and two scars on his right cheek asked.

He was Nara Shikaku, Clan Head of the Nara Clan—a man of exceptional intellect known as a military strategist. His clan, together with the Akimichi Clan and the Yamanaka Clan, was collectively known as Ino-Shika-Cho.

"They were on a mission to Shirakawa Town. The specific mission is confidential and cannot be disclosed."

The one who answered was Shimura Daisuke, Clan Head of the Shimura Clan.

Knowing that Nara Shikaku possessed extraordinary intelligence, he greatly hoped to use Nara Shikaku's sharp mind to find the murderer of the three.

However, the mission they had been carrying out was truly inconvenient to reveal.

On one hand, such a matter was inherently disgraceful. On the other, Uchiha Fugaku, who was deeply connected to it, was present.

Thinking of the mission the three had been carrying out filled him with frustration.

Originally, according to the plan, this village meeting was to strip the Uchiha Clan of its duty to oversee the village entrances and exits, further suppressing the Uchiha Clan.

Yet unexpectedly, Shimura Ryoma and the other two had died during what should have been an utterly ordinary mission.

The focus of this meeting had therefore changed to announcing and investigating the deaths of Shimura Ryoma and the other two.

"Shirakawa Town?"

At the mention of that name, a flicker passed through Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.

He was no stranger to Shirakawa Town. After all, the base of the largest merchant caravan in the Land of Fire, which was on good terms with the Uchiha Clan, was located there.

Shimura Ryoma and the other two had actually been headed to Shirakawa Town. He did not believe that was a coincidence.

The mission they had been assigned likely had much to do with that merchant caravan.

They had most likely intended to use that caravan to plot something detrimental to the Uchiha Clan.

As for what exactly it was, the intelligence he had obtained so far was too limited to make a deduction.

However, he noticed that after hearing the name Shirakawa Town, several Clan Heads had almost subconsciously turned their gazes toward him.

This made him even more certain that Shimura Ryoma and the others had gone to Shirakawa Town with the likely purpose of dealing with the Uchiha Clan.

Fortunately, the ambush had killed Shimura Ryoma and the other two, leaving the Shimura Clan temporarily unable to spare attention for the Uchiha Clan. Otherwise, something bad would likely have happened.