The Three Uchiha Brothers

At the Root base, Danzo sat comfortably in his chair, listening to his subordinate's report.

"All human experiments have been suspended as you ordered. Assassinations of the opposition have also ceased. A large number of ninja without assignments have now gathered within the base."

C knelt on one knee, not daring to raise his head to look at Danzo before him.

"Hm. If they have no missions, have them all monitor the Uchiha Clan. They are an unruly bunch anyway." Looking at the two reports before him, Danzo casually sent them off to watch the Uchiha Clan.

"Yes, but wouldn't that provoke..." C hesitated.

"It doesn't matter. Hiruzen won't be paying attention to that side for the time being." Danzo did not care about C's hesitation. Or rather, he cared more about C's objection. "You only need to carry out my orders. I'll find a way to handle the rest."

"Yes!" Having realized he had displeased Danzo, how could C dare say anything more? He could only nod in agreement.

"Hmph, the Uchiha Clan..." Though he dearly wanted to wipe out the entire clan, Danzo dismissed the thought when he remembered that he would be supporting Kazashiro's rise to power in the future.

How could the Hokage's father turn his blade upon comrades from the same village?

Of course, if they insisted on rebelling... he could simply pin the blame on Hiruzen.

Looking at the genetic identification report issued by the Root base, Danzo flipped it shut.

Naturally suspicious by nature, he could not possibly take Orochimaru's word alone. Kazashiro's sample had been divided into several portions and sent to Root's laboratories. As each laboratory issued its confirmation, the last trace of doubt in Danzo's heart was finally dispelled.

Just as Danzo was about to give orders for the next operation, a Root ninja suddenly burst in and dropped to his knees before him. "Lord Danzo, Kazashiro has gotten into a conflict with members of the Uchiha Clan!"

Obito racked his brains, trying to figure out which acquaintance Kazashiro might be.

Otherwise, why had he suddenly appeared, shouting that he wanted to save him?

"Hey, Kakashi, are you just going to leave it at scaring me? Get out here and back me up!" Looking at the three guys before him, each a head taller than himself, Kazashiro recalled why he had burst out of the bushes.

"Sigh..." Having been called out by Kazashiro, Kakashi could hardly pretend nothing had happened. He could only scratch his head and crawl out of the bushes.

"Kakashi? Never heard of you. Hey, White-Hair, are you here to save this idiot too?" The Uchiha boy paid Kakashi's appearance no mind. Right in front of them, he kicked Obito at his feet again.

Kakashi was speechless.

He had merely been training here as usual when he happened to spot Kazashiro's butt sticking out of the bushes. Curious why the guy was skulking around, he had come over to take a look.

And now he had been dragged into this mess.

"It's because you spend all day hanging around outsiders that you believe in that bullshit Will of Fire. Hmph. You two, I'm Uchiha Yaowan. State your names." Gesturing for his two lackeys to release Obito, Uchiha Yaowan arrogantly raised his chin.

"..." x2

Kazashiro and Kakashi had no desire to respond to him.

Kakashi especially had no interest in acknowledging a guy who was obviously an idiot at first glance.

"Thank you..." Once released, Obito hurried over to Kazashiro's side. Though he still could not remember who the other boy was, he politely thanked him while defending his own embarrassing performance. "Actually, I could have handled them even if you hadn't stepped in. If those three hadn't ambushed me—"

"Really? Then we'll leave them to you!" Seeing that Obito had been released and claimed he could take on three opponents alone, Kazashiro promptly prepared to sell out his teammate.

"Huh?" Stunned by Kazashiro's shamelessness, Obito's eyes widened. "Actually, I also..."

Just as Obito stammered, trying to patch things up, Uchiha Yaowan impatiently rushed forward and threw a punch.

"Sigh." With a long sigh, Kakashi was forced to act. He bent down and struck the other's arm with his palm, redirecting the fist that had been about to smash into Obito's face.

"Not bad, you've got some moves! What are you two standing around for? Get them!" Surprised that his attack had been countered, Uchiha Yaowan called for his followers to join in.

Completely confident in Kakashi's abilities, Kazashiro swung his fists and charged forward as well. With a powerhouse carrying this side, he figured he could at least pad his record by tagging along.

Inspired by the two of them, Obito also erupted with fighting spirit, clawing and biting as he tangled with the last opponent.

Lacking a size advantage, Kazashiro fought without a shred of honor, attacking only below the belt. Before long, he seized his chance and grabbed the weak point of the Uchiha fighting him.

As the pressure from his hand increased, the once-arrogant Uchiha began begging for mercy. His face turned pale, and cold sweat started pouring from his body.

"Damn, that guy fights dirty!" Startled by Kazashiro's tactics, Obito lost focus for a moment and took another punch.

"That guy..." Kakashi, who had looked completely at ease from start to finish, had black lines running across his face. Dodging Uchiha Yaowan's attack, he followed up with a punch to the other's abdomen.

"Perfect chance!" Having dealt with his own opponent, Kazashiro saw Uchiha Yaowan clutching his stomach with both hands. He launched a flying kick that struck the other's weak point with precision, bending Uchiha Yaowan's already hunched waist even farther.

"I surrender, I surrender!" Seeing this, the Uchiha who had been yanking Obito's hair and beating him with both hands let go and announced his surrender.

Good grief, had he just heard the sound of balls cracking?!

"Hey, all of you, stop right now!"

Before Kazashiro and the others could celebrate their victory, several ninja wearing forehead protectors and shinobi flak jackets appeared around them.

"This is trouble." Seeing the shuriken and fan emblems embroidered on their uniform sleeves, Kakashi silently cursed.

He had not expected their fight to alert the Military Police Force.

"Hey, Yaowan, are you okay?" The Military Police Force ninja responsible for examining Uchiha Yaowan's injuries wore an ugly expression.

"Yaowang? Yaosi? Are you two all right?" Another Military Police Force ninja checked on the other two.

"Waaah, Uncle Yaomei, Uchiha Obito got outsiders to gang up on us..." Seeing the Military Police Force arrive, Uchiha Yaosi, the only Uchiha still standing, burst into tears and threw himself into the other's arms. He immediately twisted the truth, placing all the blame on Obito.

"You bastard!" Obito, his face swollen like a pig's head, grew furious at those words. Just as he was about to rush forward and confront the other boy, the third Military Police Force ninja pinned him down.