We Must Take Action Against the Uchiha

Danzo was quite dissatisfied with Hiruzen's behavior. After all, it was only midnight, the perfect time to work.

Nearby, Ryoma quietly yawned, not knowing what to say.

At his age, why was he still working himself to death?

Working this hard every day, wasn't he afraid of dying from overwork?

Danzo was still venting. "Can Hiruzen even do his job as Hokage or not? If he can't, there are plenty of people who can."

"Tobirama should never have made him Hokage back then. If he had chosen me, the entire Shinobi World would have been unified by now."

Ryoma lowered his head. Oh no, he heard something he shouldn't have again.

As a senior guard of the Root Organization, Ryoma had followed Danzo around for years.

Naturally, he had heard plenty of things he should and shouldn't have heard.

For example, after Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze died, Konoha was left without a leader.

Danzo had thought his chance had finally come. Who could have expected retired Hiruzen to be rehired and hold the position for another four or five years?

Who knew where that dead Monkey got such a strong obsession with authority...

What was even more infuriating was that his health was still excellent. He wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

How much longer would Danzo have to endure before he could become Fifth Hokage?

For another example, Hiruzen was a coward and should have slaughtered the Uchiha to eliminate future trouble.

Looking at Danzo's agitation, Ryoma was rather helpless as well.

This lord usually showed little emotion, but whenever the Uchiha were mentioned, his entire person became extremely excited.

If he were sent to carry out any plans targeting the Uchiha, he would be so thrilled that he could stay awake for three days and three nights.

Like today.

Ryoma knew that Danzo was currently eager to uproot the Uchiha completely.

But it was obvious that this was not an appropriate time.

You don't sleep, and you won't let the Hokage sleep either?

"Lord Danzo, I think we should first formulate an appropriate plan, then send it to Lord Hokage. That would be better."

Danzo thought it over and decided it was feasible.

"Mm. We'll do that."

Late at night, the entire village was silent.

Inside the Root Organization, Danzo was writing <A Report on the Uchiha's Heinous and Unforgivable Crime of Unauthorized Contact with a Jinchuriki and the Need for Severe Punishment>.

He only had to wait until tomorrow to lodge a vicious complaint before Hiruzen, then launch a powerful counterattack.

After that, he would wipe out the Uchiha in one fell swoop and take dozens of Sharingan for future use.

At Naruto's home, Little Naruto had fallen asleep long ago.

He had a dream. In it, he was no longer isolated by everyone, but had made many good friends.

A white-haired ninja had even taught him many powerful ninjutsu.

"Hehehe," Naruto grinned widely. "I'm Hokage! I'm Hokage!"

In the hospital, Itachi lay on the bed, gazing at the moon above. He did not seem to be in a very good mood.

Even though he had successfully advanced to Chunin, Itachi still felt somewhat guilty.

He felt that he had failed to complete his father's instructions.

More importantly, he had let down his younger brother Sasuke's hopes.

Sasuke, who had come to keep him company, had long since fallen asleep and was occupying half of Itachi's bed.

Itachi stroked Sasuke's little head. "Sasuke, this is the last time."

At Kakashi's home, the lights were still on.

He had finally finished summarizing the day's work as well.

He was thinking about reporting to Lord Hokage first thing tomorrow morning, then continuing with the endless work.

He was also thinking that he needed to find a chance to buy the latest edition of Icha Icha Paradise.

At the Uchiha Clan Compound, in Eiji's home,

he gently wiped the blade, looking deep in thought.

Ever since he had activated Tobirama's sensory abilities, few people could follow him without his knowledge.

Even the renowned Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake could not do so.

Besides that, he could also sense probing gazes occasionally falling from the tall buildings around the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Forget about the evil Uchiha natives—even he was getting so irritated from being watched that he was about to explode.

Could anyone blame the Uchiha for rebelling? If he were the clan head, he would have flipped the table long ago.

As for Naruto, their contact would certainly cause many people to become dissatisfied.

Eiji returned Xiao Er to the sword rack.

"If that's the case, then I have to improve my strength as quickly as possible and make these rotten old men too afraid to target me ever again."

The next morning, Eiji arrived at the Security Division and found Inaho handling complaints from villagers.

The reason for their complaints was strange as well: they were accusing the Security Division of enforcing the law without smiling.

Inaho was grinding his teeth with hatred. You idiots were fighting in the street, and you still expect me to smile while enforcing the law?

Are you trying to die?

If this had happened outside the village, I would have beaten you so badly your own mothers wouldn't have recognized you.

But Inaho could not say that. If he failed to resolve the matter, these unreasonable villagers would make a complaint to Lord Hokage.

By then, even Clan Head Fugaku would be scolded along with him.

Several Security Division ninjas were berated for quite a while. After finally fobbing off the two villagers, Inaho felt utterly exhausted.

When he looked up and saw Eiji approaching, a smile appeared on Inaho's face.

"Eiji, what is it?"

Eiji did not beat around the bush and said directly, "Big Brother Inaho, I want to borrow the clan's ninjutsu scrolls."

"Sure. Come with me."

After Inaho returned to the clan yesterday, he reported his conversation with Eiji to the elders.

When they heard that Eiji had declared his eternal loyalty to the Uchiha, the elders became wildly excited.

They all said that Eiji was a promising talent, and it did not matter what ninjutsu he used.

As long as it could defeat the enemy, it was good ninjutsu.

Moreover, if Eiji made any requests, Inaho was to do his best to satisfy them.

That was why Inaho agreed so readily.

It was not his property anyway. If Eiji wanted to learn it, he could go ahead.

The two soon arrived at the Storage Room, where Inaho took on the role of guide.

"Eiji, as you know, our Uchiha clan is especially skilled at using Fire Release, so there are more scrolls on Fire Release."

"These are Swordsmanship, these are Taijutsu, and these are Genjutsu Basics."

"The last row contains other ninjutsu. Take a look. Just take whatever you need back with you, and remember to return it when you're done."

"If you need help, you can ask the clan's seniors to teach you."

Under Inaho's enthusiastic gaze, Eiji chose two scrolls related to Genjutsu and Fire Release.

"That will do for now. I'll look at the others after I've learned these."

"Okay." Inaho nodded and left the Storage Room with Eiji.

"There is still some work to finish at the Security Division, so I'll be going."

"Wait." Eiji stopped Tao Huo. "I need to apply for some more Explosive Tags."

Inaho agreed readily. "It's only a few Explosive Tags. Just go and collect them."

Eiji chuckled. "Really? There might be a little more than that."

Inaho suddenly got a bad feeling...

Sure enough, the facts proved that Inaho had been right.

Eiji brought several empty scrolls with him. When he returned, they were packed full.

He then found several familiar clansmen to carry a pile of weapons and deliver them to his home with him.

The already cramped little house now did not even have room to stand.

The Logistics Office clansman nearly burst into tears. "Eiji, what are the other clansmen supposed to do?"

Eiji gently patted him on the shoulder. "The situation is special right now. Please ask them to bear with it."

"No, you... I..."

Eiji did not care what happened to the others. Who told you all not to give me anything when I applied before?

Now that I have the chance, of course I have to take back twice as much.

Inaho went to the Security Division to handle official business, while Eiji happily returned home to organize his ninja tools.

After being poor for so many years, suddenly making a little fortune left him somewhat unaccustomed to it.

After stuffing the miscellaneous items under the bed, Eiji sat on the sofa and began studying the borrowed scrolls.

Let's see. What other simple and useful Genjutsu are there?

At the Hokage's office,

Kakashi had waited for a long time before Hiruzen finally found time to hear his report.

As required, the Anbu had to report the village's major and minor affairs every day so that the Hokage could make appropriate arrangements.

Kakashi was already very familiar with this. After taking his place, he began giving a detailed report.

Hiruzen smoked as he listened, his face expressionless.

Simple minor incidents could be handled by the Anbu themselves.

But when he heard Kakashi report that a member of the Uchiha had contacted Naruto, his eyes widened on the spot.

And the person who had contacted Naruto was none other than Eiji, who had made a brilliant showing in the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Hiruzen's mind raced as he imagined all sorts of strange possibilities.

Were the Uchiha planning to rebel?

"What did Eiji say to Naruto?"

"He treated Naruto to a bowl of deluxe ramen."

Hiruzen continued questioning him. "And then?"

"Then Eiji told Naruto that a Hokage had to bear the hopes and recognition of everyone in the village, and had to gain everyone's acknowledgment."

"That's all?"

Kakashi nodded. "Then the two parted ways. Tenzo and I followed them separately to ensure they would not contact each other again."

Hiruzen's agitation eased slightly.

At first, he had thought Eiji was dissatisfied with the village and was preparing to incite Naruto to rebel with him.

But judging from those words, they did not seem connected to rebellion.

Instead, it sounded like what Kagami had said to Lord Tobirama back then—that he wanted to gain the villagers' trust and so on.

Thinking again that Eiji might have inherited Kagami's will, Hiruzen felt another complicated surge of emotion.

"Kagami... I failed to take good care of the Uchiha clansmen. Please forgive me."

At the same time, Hiruzen had a bold idea.

If it was only a bowl of ramen, there should be no need to bring Eiji back to the Anbu for questioning, right?

At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

With a bang, Danzo directly shoved the door open.

"Hiruzen! We must take action against the Uchiha!"