"Okay." Hankuang nodded seriously.
"Tell us everything you know about the deaths of the three Root ninja! Don't be afraid—the entire village stands behind you!"
With two big shots staring at him, Hankuang put on an expression of serious recollection.
Then he said, "Our squad was escorting supplies for Anko. Halfway there, we saw several corpses and two heavily injured Sand Ninja."
"Minato Namikaze hadn't arrived yet?" Danzo suddenly asked.
"Uh... no. Teacher Minato only arrived after we sent up the signal flare."
"I see~~"
Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi exchanged a glance.
The second person interrogated was Obito.
"Obito Uchiha!"
Obito was startled badly at the very start because Lord Danzou's voice was far too loud.
"Tell us how the three Root ninja were killed." Danzo stared at Obito, his tone carrying immense pressure.
"Huh? I didn't see anything!" Obito looked thoroughly frightened.
He really hadn't seen anything.
Hankuang had simply moved too quickly.
The third person interrogated was Nohara Rin.
"Nohara Rin, if you were threatened, you're safe now. Tell us how Minato Namikaze killed the three Root ninja."
"Huh? Teacher Minato only arrived afterward~~" Rin corrected him.
Next, it was Kakashi's turn.
"Kakashi, tell us truthfully what happened when you encountered the three Root ninja."
"We were helping Anko..."
The last person interrogated was Morino Ibiki.
He wasn't a member of Team 9, so he was asked many questions.
Unfortunately.
Hankuang had avenged his teammates for him, and he had been threatened into stabbing the corpses a few more times. He was destined not to betray Hankuang.
After the interrogation ended, Team 9 was also informed that they were temporarily forbidden from leaving the village.
Inside the office.
Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi both looked toward the corner.
Whoosh!
A ninja revealed himself.
Inoichi Yamanaka.
He was a member of Konoha's sensory-type clan and the newly appointed clan head of the Yamanaka Clan.
"Inoichi, tell us your conclusion." Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned him.
"None of the three lied: Hankuang, Obito Uchiha, and Nohara Rin! The other two were lying." Inoichi Yamanaka answered truthfully.
Silence!
The office fell silent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked astonished, while Danzo found it hard to believe. Even Inoichi Yamanaka was puzzled.
Because—
Hankuang's account was exactly the same as Kakashi's and Morino Ibiki's.
How could the same account produce two completely different results?
"Inoichi! Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your Lie Detection Technique?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with a frown.
"It's never failed before." Inoichi Yamanaka answered.
This technique was a Mind Secret Technique unique to the Yamanaka Clan. It had never failed, yet now, it seemed to have encountered a minor problem.
Of course.
There was also an explanation that made sense.
Bang!
Danzo slammed his fist onto the table, his expression dark.
"I knew it. They hid the truth."
"It must have been Minato Namikaze!"
"Don't rush. Did you forget what Inoichi just said? Hankuang wasn't lying!" Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him.
According to Hankuang's account, Minato Namikaze had only arrived after they fired the signal flare.
"That's not right! What if Hankuang was deceived?"
Danzo offered a different theory.
That was the only possibility.
Hankuang had been deceived by Kakashi and Morino Ibiki, which was why his Lie Detection Technique had failed to detect anything.
"That's possible."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
Danzo continued with his speculation.
"Perhaps Kakashi and Morino Ibiki discovered some clues and were threatened by Minato Namikaze. Then the two of them fabricated lies and deceived the other three!"
"Danzo, what you're saying makes sense, but it's still only speculation." Hiruzen Sarutobi reminded him.
"Speculation? Then how do you explain those two lying?" Danzo countered.
"Very well."
After thinking briefly, Hiruzen Sarutobi came up with a solution.
"Send someone to the front lines to interrogate those two Sand Ninja. And when Minato returns, question him as well."
Training Ground No. 4.
Team 9 had gathered together, with Morino Ibiki among them.
"Hankuang, what did they ask you?"
"What about you guys?"
They exchanged information and compiled the questions they had been asked.
Next.
Hankuang sat on a rock, lost in thought.
"Apparently, there's nothing wrong?"
After thinking for a while, he couldn't find any inconsistencies in the answers given by the five of them.
Hankuang had no idea that while the five of them were being interrogated, a Yamanaka clan head had secretly used a Mind Secret Technique to investigate them.
He also didn't know that his Super Immunity had directly nullified that Mind Secret Technique.
And so.
Hankuang, the actual culprit, was identified as innocent by Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
When Team 9 arrived at the ramen shop, Teuchi was so angry his teeth itched.
"You guys ran pretty fast last time!"
Staring at the brats, Teuchi held out his hand and demanded payment for the ramen from last time.
"Wait! Did we eat the ramen last time?" Hankuang asked, confused.
"You didn't eat it, but you ordered it! You still have to pay!"
"If we didn't eat it, what are we paying for?" Hankuang countered.
"You ordered it, ordered it! Get it?" Teuchi was so angry that his neck thickened.
"Then bring out the ramen we ordered last time."
Teuchi: "..."
In the end.
Hankuang and the others were thrown out.
Before you continue