Nagato, I've Come to Bring You a Gift!

"No..." Naruto screamed, rushing forward. But at this point, he hadn't even mastered the Three-Body Technique, and his greatest cheat hadn't been activated yet; he couldn't play any role at all.

An gently sidestepped, letting Naruto's fist pass by, and tapped the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious before raising his butcher's blade once more.

A moment later, the ground was covered in corpses, looking just like the Uchiha compound on the night of the clan's extermination.

"Hehe... Hahaha..."

An covered his forehead with one hand and laughed madly toward the sky, his laughter sounding like weeping. His eyes, completely beyond his control, shifted into the shape of the Mangekyo, blood-red and vivid.

This is it!

This is how revenge should be!

Hey, Third Hokage, let us put this on the scale and weigh it!

On one side is your grandson, and on the other is your old friend. Let's see which one is exactly heavier to you!

After the mad laughter subsided, An felt an emptiness in his heart; there was no sense of satisfaction at all.

He gently touched the scroll tucked in his clothes that sealed the bodies of his parents and younger brother. After a moment of silence, he picked up Naruto and leaped away in the direction of the Land of Rain.

Hey, Nagato, haven't you always wanted to collect the Tailed Beasts?

Now I have come to bring you a gift. Are you ready to receive it?

And Itachi, you animal, I am coming for you!

The sun set and the moon rose; the stars shifted.

A few hours later, the anomaly here was finally discovered.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had gone missing, and the Third Hokage's grandson had been killed—what a grave matter this was!

Before long, the bigwigs of Konohagakure gathered at the scene.

"Morino Ibiki, I leave everything to you."

Morino Ibiki hurriedly bowed in acknowledgment. "Please rest assured, Hokage-sama. I will definitely find out exactly which village's enemy dared to strike at us!"

The Third Hokage said nothing more. With a gloomy face, he waved his hand at Morino Ibiki, then clamped his pipe between his teeth and began to puff away incessantly.

Since it would take some time for Morino Ibiki to extract the memories of the deceased, Mitokado Homura was the first to state his position:

"Regardless of which village did this, it is a provocation against Konohagakure!"

"They dared to lay hands on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; this is clearly a declaration of war against Konohagakure!"

"This time, Konohagakure will absolutely not compromise!"

The crowd echoed their agreement one after another.

"That's right, the hostile villages must have learned about the Uchiha clan's annihilation and assumed our strength is severely depleted; otherwise, they would never dare to provoke us like this!"

"We cannot let other villages look down on us, or the Fourth Shinobi World War will break out immediately!"

Shimura Danzō added in a sinister tone:

"Hiruzen, I told you long ago that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki should be firmly kept under the village's control; he cannot be left to roam freely like this."

"Once we retrieve the Jinchuriki this time, he must be placed under the supervision of Root!"

The Third Hokage was already annoyed enough, but with his old friend fanning the flames, his temper flared instantly.

He glared at Danzo, his pipe creaking in his grip, and shouted in a low voice:

"Danzo!"

"Now is not the time for you to scramble for power!"

"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is not something you can just lay your hands on; you had better keep that firmly in mind!"

While the two were arguing, Morino Ibiki finished probing the deceased's memories and returned to report:

"Hokage-sama, there was only one assailant, dressed as an Anbu. He first forged your orders to issue a mission to Konohamaru and the others, lured the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki out of the village, and then launched a surprise attack to commit the crime and abduct him."

"The assailant's appearance and build were identical to Kakashi's, and, well..." He hesitated for a moment, cast a fleeting glance at Danzo, then quickly lowered his head and said, "The assailant also said, 'The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki should be firmly kept under the village's control; he cannot be left to roam freely like this'."

Good grief!

At this, everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look at Danzo.

The words were still ringing in their ears!

However, everyone only took one look before turning away, pretending they hadn't heard a thing.

Now it was Danzo's turn to be dumbfounded. Furious, he slammed his cane against the floor and cursed with wide, glaring eyes:

"This is a frame-up!"

"This was definitely done by another village!"

No one said a word; they simply kept their heads down, counting ants.

Things in this village were complicated, after all!

A frame-up or whatever else—that was easy to say, but what if... it was actually true?

"Danzo, stay. Everyone else, dismissed!" The Third Hokage ordered with a cold face, his tone indifferent.

Swish! In an instant, everyone else had vanished.

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall; what was to follow was not something they were qualified to overhear.

They only needed to wait for the Hokage to set the tone for this matter.

"Hiruzen, you wouldn't be so easily provoked, would you?" Danzo glared at the Third Hokage, his eyes filled with grievance and resentment.

"Hmph!" The Third Hokage let out a cold snort. He took a long drag from his pipe and slowly exhaled. The white smoke curled like a dragon, shrouding his expression in a hazy veil, making it impossible to read.

"Danzo, it is precisely because I know you too well!"

"I am very clear on the lengths you will go to in order to achieve your goals!"

"I have indulged you in the past, but this time, you have gone too far!"

"Konohamaru is still just a child. How could you bear to lay a hand on him?"

The Third Hokage's eyes were slightly red, but compared to his own grandson, the importance of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki still held more weight.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he finally revealed a hint of the demeanor that had earned him the title of the Professor.

"Danzo, you had better honestly hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Otherwise, I will not let you off so easily this time!"

Now it was Danzo's turn to panic. He hurriedly explained:

"Hiruzen, you know me!"

"If I were the one to do such a thing, I would certainly have disguised the culprits as ninjas from another village. Why would I use Root operatives directly, and even disguise them as Kakashi? Was I afraid people wouldn't recognize them?"

"Hmph!" The Third Hokage was even angrier upon hearing this. "You have always been narrow-minded and harbor deep hatred for traitors."

"Last time you attempted to assassinate me, Kakashi betrayed you at the critical moment, causing you to lose your chance to become Hokage completely. How could you not hate him?"

"Although everyone knows that the culprit must be a fake Kakashi, the necessary investigation and review are indispensable. If you obstruct this again, it might just be a repeat of the Hatake Sakumo incident!"

What is a reputation?

This is what a reputation is!

Danzo was left speechless. He wanted to explain, but even he felt that these words were weak and unconvincing.

Because this matter was so perfectly aligned with his own desires—it was something he had wanted to do but had never actually acted upon.

Could it be that one of my subordinates guessed my intentions and took the initiative to solve my troubles for me?

Seeing Danzo fall silent with his eyes darting around, the Third Hokage's anger flared even higher. He waved his hand, summoned an Anbu, and gave his orders:

"Pass on my order: effective immediately, Elder Shimura Danzō is confined to his quarters for reflection. He is forbidden from leaving."

"Also, have..." He hesitated for a moment before finally choosing a clever man for the task, "have Nara Shikaku lead a team to search Root. They must bring back the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"

"Understood!" The Anbu bowed and vanished with a Body Flicker.

Seeing that the Third Hokage's resolve was set, Danzo knew the situation was lost. He stopped wasting his breath, struck his cane heavily against the floor, and turned to leave, spitting out bitterly:

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

The Third Hokage stared deeply at the retreating figure of Danzo. He didn't say a word, merely puffing on his pipe incessantly, his thoughts unreadable.