Assassination from Root

Noon.

Fugaku returned home with a grim expression.

Today's meeting, as Qing Xuan had said, had not gone smoothly.

The moment he brought up Kumogakure's plot, his proposal was doomed to be rejected by everyone.

Years of war had led to widespread war-weariness in the village, coupled with the Nine-Tails Attack two years ago, stability had become the dominant theme in everyone's minds.

Moreover, he was an Uchiha...

Uchiha...

Fugaku sneered inwardly, but despite that, he felt no gloom, only an immense sense of relief.

Qing Xuan said there would be good entertainment to watch, so he would wait and see.

He walked into the house, looking at the empty courtyard where only Mikoto was hanging laundry.

Qing Xuan, that scoundrel, was always wandering around, so that was to be expected. Itachi should have a mission today, but where was Sasuke? Shouldn't he be crawling around the yard at this hour, running to call him "Dad"?

"You're back?"

Mikoto wiped her hands on her waist and smiled at Fugaku, "Wait a moment, I'll prepare lunch right away."

"Where's Sasuke?"

As soon as Fugaku finished speaking, Mikoto chuckled. She recalled Itachi's helpless look when he was dragged away by two clan members this morning and couldn't help but suppress a laugh.

That child needed to experience some unique treatment from time to time.

She realized that since Qing Xuan arrived, this home had become much less gloomy.

"Itachi and Sasuke were both taken by Qing Xuan! He said he wanted Itachi to teach him how to practice shuriken."

"Practice?"

Fugaku frowned, "But didn't Itachi have a mission today?"

"Qing Xuan sent someone to request leave for him."

"Nonsense!"

Fugaku reprimanded him, then turned and went back into the house.

"Hurry up and cook. The meeting this morning tired me out. I'm going to rest first..."

In a barren jungle southeast of the Uchiha compound, on a cleared patch of ground, was Itachi's favorite training ground.

In his free time, he would always practice various ninjutsu and throwing techniques with Shisui.

But now, a group of uninvited guests had arrived.

Sasuke's big eyes curiously surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings. A butterfly flew by, and he happily stretched out his chubby little hands to grab it.

"Uwah! Iyaya!"

[Uchiha Intermediate Throwing Technique + Itachi's Handful of Skillful Tips + Sharingan Coordination and Throwing Intuition -- Calculating Value -- Total Soul Points 349! Copy and Fuse?]

Qing Xuan, holding the restless Sasuke, casually slapped him, then propped his chin on his hand and watched Itachi seriously demonstrate various throwing techniques and their practical applications with a kunai.

Over three hundred points. Itachi was truly a genius that even Orochimaru marveled at. At only seven years old, he had already mastered so many techniques?

As he thought this, a gust of wind rustling fallen leaves suddenly came from the clearing.

Itachi, who was explaining, and Qing Xuan, who was hitting Sasuke, both stopped what they were doing. A single tomoe appeared in both their eyes simultaneously.

Qing Xuan scooped Sasuke securely into his arms with his right hand, while Itachi gripped the kunai in his hand and shielded Qing Xuan and the child behind him.

"Clang!"

A kunai deflected several silently thrown shuriken. Itachi's eyes instantly locked onto a target, and he vanished from his spot.

A whistling sound followed, like a sharp whistle, carrying a gust of wind pressure directly towards Qing Xuan.

Facing the whistling kunai, Qing Xuan ignored it, holding Sasuke, and sat there as steady as a mountain.

"Crack!"

Transparent ice instantly formed, like an indestructible vertical wall. A cold figure stood beside Qing Xuan, their slender fingers hooking the ring at the end of the kunai and twirling it a few times before finally holding it horizontally before their icy, beautiful face.

Long hair danced in the wind as the white-clothed figure, holding the kunai, smiled and blocked all subsequent attacks.

Then, sounds of fighting came from the woods. Before long, three pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan appeared from the darkness. Several blood-stained, broken masks were thrown directly in front of Qing Xuan.

Qing Xuan lowered his head slightly, covering Sasuke's eyes with one hand. He looked at the painted face patterns under the bloodstains and a cold smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"If you can't have it, you want to destroy it completely?"

He stood up, handed Sasuke to the returning Itachi, and clasped his hands behind his back, tilting his head to look at the circle of clear blue sky framed by the trees above the clearing.

"Unfortunately, brother will always be the man you can never have!"

He let out a sigh and commanded, "Burn them all!"

Several Uchiha Jonin said nothing more, turned, and left.

A brilliant flash of fire soon lit up a desolate mountain in the distance.

"Who are those people?"

Itachi's brow furrowed tightly.

He recognized their clothing and masks, but still couldn't believe it. Why would the Hokage's direct assassination unit be here to assassinate him and Qing Xuan?

"They're not from the Anbu."

Qing Xuan refuted his unspoken question. "They're more like a special organization within the Anbu that is no longer under the Hokage's control."

Facing Itachi's confusion, he explained softly, "Root. It was originally the Anbu's training department, but after Danzo took over, it became his direct subordinate force. They've often done dirty work like assassinating the Hokage."

"Assassinating the Hokage?"

Itachi was stunned! Could Konohagakure Ninja assassinate the Hokage? What would that even make them?

Qing Xuan looked Itachi up and down with a mischievous gaze, smiling in a way that was inexplicable. "Some people can even kill their own families! What's wrong with assassinating a Hokage? Look at you, so spineless."

He continued, "Even after the Fourth died, when the Third Hokage was on his way to the Daimyo's mansion, Kakashi was supposed to be involved. But he had a change of heart and went to warn the Hokage, so the assassination failed."

"What about Danzo?"

Qing Xuan shrugged. "He was fine. He even went to the Ninja Academy to ask you questions last time, remember?"

Itachi's entire being was plunged into immense shock, feeling like his worldview had been completely overturned.

He looked at Qing Xuan incredulously, his eyes filled with bewilderment. Should I know these things at my age?

"Why do you know all this?"

"What's so surprising?"

Qing Xuan raised an eyebrow. "My dad worked directly under Danzo. He was the legitimate second-in-command of Root, how could I not know?"

"Hiss—"

Itachi felt completely numb. "Uncle was in that line of work? Then why would they still want to kill you?"

Qing Xuan looked at Itachi, his eyes conveying a "are you stupid?" kind of meaning. "Because Dad doesn't work there anymore. Speaking of which, people really change, don't they? Root can't be trusted, and Danzo is even less trustworthy!"

[Story Character: Uchiha Itachi's mind has been greatly shocked. Uchiha Itachi's view of Danzo has been altered. Reward: One exquisite Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations to the host for obtaining - one Intermediate Sculpting Experience Book!]

Damn it! This Itachi guy really doesn't have much good stuff on him!

Qing Xuan was speechless. Ever since he returned to the village, this guy had been the hardest to "fleece."

He just couldn't understand why.

Do they just have to pick on honest people?

As the two spoke, they were completely unaware of two figures standing in the shade of some trees in the distance.

"Hey! Tsunade, you have to calm down before we figure out what's going on!"

"You bastard!"

"Hey! Tsunade! Where are you going? Don't be rash!"