The next day.
Uchiha Yuan was on his way to Training Ground 17. A new Leading Jonin would be arriving today, and after a few days of adjustment training, they would be heading to the battlefield.
Whoosh.
A faint breeze suddenly stirred ahead of him. Uchiha Yuan stopped, and a masked ninja appeared before him.
The sight of the mask's face pattern, formed from several different colors, made Uchiha Yuan's expression change.
The other party was a ninja from Root.
During his conversation with Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku last night, Uchiha Yuan had gained some understanding of the village's internal affairs.
For instance, the difference between Anbu ninja and Root ninja.
Anbu ninja wore animal-faced masks, while Root ninja wore masks with face patterns made up of several colored markings.
As for what Uchiha Fugaku had said yesterday about the village using missions to dispose of certain "disobedient" ninja, it was merely the clan's suspicion, with no evidence to prove it.
But several outstanding clan members with excellent talent had died inexplicably during missions. Some teams sent out by the clan had even been directly ambushed and killed.
That was enough to invite suspicion. The Uchiha might be arrogant, but they were not fools. And when the village made too many moves in secret, traces were bound to be left behind.
The Uchiha Clan suspected that the mysterious Root was behind those covert assassinations.
"Uchiha Yuan, Lord Danzo wishes to see you." The Root ninja spoke in an icy voice.
At that, Uchiha Yuan lifted his chin and gave the Root ninja an annoyed once-over. "Danzo? Who's that? I've never heard that name. Just because some nobody wants to see me, I'm supposed to go see him?
Hmph. I have no interest in meeting a rat that hides its head