"You'll regret this, you monkey!"
"Call me Hokage!"
BAM!
The Leaf administrative building.
Danzo flung open the door and strode away.
The cane in his hand somehow looked oddly out of place.
Heavy.
Far too heavy.
Inside the building.
Utatane Koharu hesitated, then spoke softly. "Hiruzen, could we have gotten it wrong? Maybe Danzo really didn't do anything to that Cloud Village envoy?"
Her voice was quiet.
Apparently, even she wasn't entirely sure.
"Tap."
"Tap."
The Third Hokage said nothing, only puffing steadily on his pipe.
If his anger could take physical form, flames would already be shooting three yards above his head.
He was furious!
Finally, after filling the entire office with smoke, he got up and walked to the window by the door.
He watched Danzo's retreating figure below, striding away without a hitch.
His expression grew darker and darker, until at last he couldn't help calling him back.
"Danzo!"
Downstairs.
Danzo stood with his back to the Third Hokage's window. He stopped, but didn't turn around.
The Third Hokage sighed and leaped down.
Tap.
His feet touched down beside Danzo, and he spoke softly.
"You should know—"
"This is going to come back to bite us tomorrow."
"The armistice agreement between Cloud Village and the Leaf is almost ready. How can we afford to have this kind of trouble within the village?"
His voice carried a hint of weary defeat.
Hearing that, Danzo felt something stir in his heart.
Thinking of his old friend's age, he sighed and stopped being stubborn.
He turned around and said, "Trouble? What trouble?"
"They can't even find the body. If their own people got lost, what does that have to do with us?"
"Those knuckleheads with nothing but lightning on the brain—what makes them think they can stand here and talk to the Leaf as equals?"
His expression was awful.
Almost livid.
As for Cloud Village, if he had any real say right now, he'd absolutely advocate for attacking them!
The insignificant Cloud Village actually thought it could take advantage of their troubles!
Did they really think the Leaf had no one left?!
Unfortunately, his friend Hiruzen was a man who loved peace.
He didn't want the village plunged into war again.
Looking at his friend's aged back, he saw the wrinkles that had appeared across his once-smooth forehead in just two short years.
They had piled up so badly that Hiruzen's face was becoming hard to recognize.
"...Sigh." For a moment, he couldn't tell whether it was concern or impulse. He took a couple of quick steps. "Hiruzen, if you can't go on, hand over the Hokage position. You're too tired."
So that was it!
He still hadn't given up!
At that, the trace of emotion Sarutobi had just felt vanished without a trace.
He merely flicked his sleeve and sneered. "So you're the one who disposed of the body, after all?"
Danzo: ????
"Otherwise, how would you know they couldn't find the body? I'm the only one who knows about that!"
The Third Hokage's wrinkles tightened as he lifted his eyelids to look at him.
His cloudy eyes held an unusually scrutinizing gaze.
"You!"
Two veins popped on Danzo's forehead!
He wanted to point at Sarutobi's nose and curse, "Are you an idiot?!"
But he couldn't expose the fact that he'd sent Root to spy on the Hokage.
If that came out in the open, it would cause another major mess.
So in the end, he could only swallow the blame.
He gritted his teeth and forced it down.
BAM!
He turned and walked off, swinging his cane.
If he stayed any longer, he was afraid he'd lose control and give Sarutobi a good whack with it!
Behind him.
The Third Hokage shook his head, then turned his gaze toward the Hyuga District.
A look of calculation passed through his eyes.
Danzo was still useful to him at a time like this.
He couldn't just hand him over.
In that case, he'd have to dump the blame on the Hyuga Clan.
"Hopefully, the Cloud Village people won't go too far."
And so, before Cloud Village had even figured out what happened, and before the two sides had begun negotiations, the Third Hokage had already arranged where to dump the blame.
Would this cause trouble for the Leaf?
It had happened after the visit to the Hyuga Clan, and the young lady had gone missing too!
Naturally, the Hyuga Clan would have to take full responsibility!
What did any of it have to do with him, the Third Hokage?
Uchiha District.
Sasuke rubbed his sleepy eyes and pushed open his bedroom door.
When he saw the figure standing outside, he instinctively ran over.
He reached out his arms and mumbled, "Brother? Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Still mumbling, he threw his arms around him.
But the moment he made contact, he sensed something was off.
The height didn't seem right.
And neither did the reaction.
Normally, Brother Itachi would bend down and pick him up.
Sasuke rubbed his eyes and looked carefully.
"Well, well, my foolish little brother!"
The person in front of him smiled, tapped Sasuke on the forehead, and slowly grinned.
His white teeth glimmered faintly in the moonlight.
"Uchiha Jin?!"
"It's you! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
The moment Sasuke realized who it was, he completely lost it.
He leaped away and frantically rubbed his arms and wrists, then brushed at his clothes.
His disgust was plain to see.
"You tricked me just to get a hug!"
"Hmph! Uchiha Jin, you're a bad person!"
His emotions were so intense that after a few quick swipes, he whipped around and punched Jin.
BAM!
He'd hit him!
A smug look appeared on Sasuke's face.
His earlier reaction had been nothing but an act.
The whole point had been to land that retaliatory punch.
POOF!
But before his smile could even spread, it suddenly froze.
Uchiha Jin, his good second-big brother, had vanished in a puff of smoke!
"E-e-exploded?"
"I-I just punched my own second-big brother to death?!"
Sasuke was stunned.
His pupils were as if they'd been hit by an earthquake of unprecedented magnitude.
A hint of scarlet even flickered in his eyes!
H-he was awakening his Sharingan!
But just as he was about to awaken it, the door to the bedroom beside him suddenly swung open.
WHOOSH.
"Sasuke, what are you—hmm?"
Itachi, drawn by the noise, stepped out of his room.
The instant he noticed something strange in Sasuke's eyes, he vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already holding Sasuke's forehead in both hands.
He demanded in a low voice, "Sasuke, what's wrong?"
He was puzzled.
Wasn't that the sign of an impending Sharingan awakening?
Had it been interrupted... or was Sasuke not upset enough?
But what could have upset Sasuke in the middle of the night?
Had he had a nightmare?
But... since when could nightmares awaken the Sharingan?
If nightmares were enough, their father would've become a master of them long ago...
While Itachi was puzzling over it, Sasuke suddenly snapped out of it.
As if he'd found his savior, he burst into tears.
"Waaah... Nisan, I just... just... accidentally punched the second-oldest brother to death."
"Hm? Sasuke, are you saying you punched Jin to death?"
Itachi froze for a moment.
The next second, he doubled over laughing. "Sasuke, you really think a lot of yourself... Uh, I mean, are you sure you saw right?"
Itachi didn't know how strong Jin was, but Sasuke couldn't even hope to touch him.
At most, Jin could take him out with a single slap.
Hearing that, Sasuke came to his senses too.
His little face turned red with embarrassment as he repeated himself.
Itachi shook his head and smiled. "That was a clone. He used it to fool Mom."
"A clone... the Three Body Technique?!"
"When did that guy learn it?"
To his surprise, the mention of a clone only left Sasuke even more bewildered.
His little head was full of confusion and doubt.
Learning the Three Body Technique was an extremely dull and lengthy process.
Especially for a young child.
It could take months of continuous practice.
"That guy's always at the clan compound. He's either sunbathing or chatting people up. When does he practice the Three Body Technique?"
"Did he just learn it instantly?"
Before you continue