Third Generation

"What is that?"

"Why is it so bright?"

"Could it be... a fire?"

No matter how remote this forest was, it was still within the village's boundaries. Residents who hadn't yet gone to bed spotted the sea of flames burning in the forest at the Northeast Corner. Since even the villagers had noticed the commotion, certain people could no longer pretend not to see it.

At the village center, beneath the Hokage Rock.

The Hokage Building.

"Hiruzen, how did the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki end up stepping into the Uchiha Clan's territory?"

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, the two elders, stormed into the Hokage's Office with aggressive strides.

"Just a small coincidence."

"A coincidence?"

"Yes, a small, trivial coincidence. Nothing more than friendship between children." Behind the wide mahogany desk, an elderly man in his sixties with graying hair and a white beard sat in his chair, pipe in mouth, puffing clouds of smoke.

This old man—

Was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"A coincidence?"

Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses. If not for their years of friendship and his deep understanding of this old friend and classmate, he might have actually believed it was just a coincidence.

He didn't dwell on the issue and instead asked, "Hiruzen, what do you plan to do this time? Will you use this opportunity to continue suppressing the Uchiha?"

"I already said it was a coincidence. There's no denying the danger of the Uchiha Clan, but this time they didn't do anything wrong. And using a child to strike at the Uchiha is something that should not be allowed. Regardless, as long as the Uchiha don't do anything to betray the village, the Uchiha are Konoha's Uchiha."

The Third Hokage refused Elder Mitokado's suggestion with righteous conviction.

"In that case... the Northeast Corner forest—was it Danzo?" Utatane Koharu gleaned more details from the Third Hokage's attitude. This incident was probably like the ones before: Hiruzen made the plan, and Danzo handled the execution.

"It was spies from another village."

The Third Hokage corrected Utatane Koharu's slip of the tongue.

"Spies from another village..." Utatane Koharu glanced at the Third Hokage and smoothly changed her wording, "Then, can you explain why these foreign spies attacked the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Surely they didn't think they had a chance to steal him away?"

"For matters like this, it's faster to ask the parties involved directly."

The Third Hokage set down his pipe and covered the crystal ball in its box with a soft silk cloth.

Then he stood up.

He reached out and tore off his loose white casual robe, revealing the black form-fitting combat gear underneath.

"Hiruzen, are you going yourself? Wouldn't it be better to stay here and oversee the situation? Besides, we still don't have enough intel on what's happening in the Northeast Corner forest..." Utatane Koharu raised an objection.

"It involves Naruto and the Uchiha—I have no choice but to go!"

The Third Hokage sighed.

Mitokado Homura glanced at his old friend's already-donned combat gear and thought, He was prepared for this! And with that crystal ball... he probably wasn't entirely in the dark about what was happening in the forest.

"We'll go too," he suddenly said.

"That works."

The Third Hokage considered for a few seconds, then nodded. "Danzo might also show up. Make sure he doesn't lose control."

"Leave it to us!"

Mitokado Homura accepted the task, and Utatane Koharu gave a slight nod in agreement.

Only then did the Third Hokage reach out and open the window. With a single leap, he shot outside, his agile form belying his age of over sixty.

The two elders, not yet old enough to need canes, followed closely. They had already changed into combat-ready clothing when they came, anticipating a trip to the scene.

Around them, a large number of Anbu followed closely.

The Third Hokage moved at incredible speed. As he traveled, he said, "But if I had to guess, this is revenge. Uchiha Sōken, the 'Flame Demon,' once slaughtered hundreds of Mist Ninja on the Eastern Front. These Kirigakure spies attacked Uchiha Sōken to retaliate against him. Naruto was most likely caught in the crossfire."

"...In that case, it was the Uchiha Clan's oversight. Knowing they were trouble magnets, they still approached the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki..."

Mitokado Homura pondered this and couldn't help but silently applaud.

Hiruzen's move was truly clever. Rather than accusing the Uchiha of scheming to contact the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, it was better to fault them for failing to protect him. The charge seemed lighter, but it would also reduce the likelihood of the Uchiha pushing back. As the saying goes, dripping water wears through stone, a rope saws through wood, and boiling a frog in warm water was the most suitable method for dealing with the Uchiha Clan.

Little by little, slowly, cutting away with a soft blade—continuously weakening the Uchiha.

This had always been their agreed-upon grand strategy.

Indeed, Danzo was always inferior to Hiruzen. He only knew brute force, even coercing clan ninja into joining 'Root.' How could he compare to Hiruzen?

"Enough. We'll discuss that later."

The Third Hokage cut off Mitokado Homura's criticism. "The top priority is rescuing Naruto. Naruto's safety is the most important thing. Everything else comes second." The worry on his face was like that of an elder concerned for a child's safety.

The Hokage himself was personally heading to the sea of flames at the village's Northeast Corner.

This news spread like wings, flying into the hands of many at lightning speed. Beneath the calm surface of the water, turbulent undercurrents surged and churned once more. The peaceful, quiet night was thoroughly shattered, as figure after figure leaped across rooftops, terraces, the tops of utility poles, and the treetops.

And then the Police Force emerged in a steady stream.

Even the drunkards staggering through the streets realized something major was happening at this point. They didn't dare keep loitering about, scrambling and crawling their way back home.

The crowd, converged toward the forest at the village's Northeast Corner.

"The last one."

The flame-wreathed blade flashed. The attacker, whose body had been locked in place by Genjutsu, lost his head in an instant. The headless corpse crumpled limply onto the grass. Sōken shook the longsword in his hand; the flames extinguished, and the blade, clear as water, reflected the flickering firelight.

Naruto, tucked under his left arm, was still unconscious.

Struck by the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Secret Technique, it was normal for him to sleep for a while.

"Twelve attackers, four Elite Combat Squads—that's no small investment!" Sōken jabbed the sword tip into the severed head's mouth, prying it open. By the firelight, he could see the black curse mark on the tongue—a Fuinjutsu called the [Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal].

"So it really is that bastard Danzo! But that old man Third definitely knew about it too..."

The curse mark on the tongue was fading with time, and the brain had already been destroyed by the seal's power the instant the body died. Say what you will, Root's secrecy measures were solid—not just the brain, but the corpse was self-destructing as well.

Though he knew full well that keeping the corpse to accuse Danzo was almost certainly hopeless, and capturing one alive was even more impossible, still, the fact that Danzo wielded such a domineering Fuinjutsu—whether inherited from the Forbidden Technique Grandmaster, the Second Hokage, or derived from the Uzumaki Clan's legacy, or even developed by Danzo himself—whichever it was, it made Sōken's mouth water.

Fuinjutsu was a fine thing.

Not just for controlling subordinates; used well, it could serve a major purpose in battle too.

"The prelude's over. Time for the main course, I suppose?"

Sōken looked up at the sky. From the moment the fight started, he'd felt that faint sense of being watched from above. It didn't take many brain cells to figure out who was spying on the battle here. A few minutes ago, that watching sensation had vanished.

No doubt, that big shot was already moving this way.