Codename Araki

Lord Danzo stared intently at Itachi's retreating back, gritting his teeth as he watched the latter leave Root.

Then.

"What in the world happened!" he roared at his subordinate, his face contorted with rage.

"I underestimated Uchiha Dan's strength, leading to the complete annihilation of the Second Squad. I also engaged Dan, but I couldn't kill him and had to retreat. This mission failure is my fault, please punish me, Lord Danzo."

Aburame Ryoma took the blame proactively, without complaint.

Upon hearing this, Lord Danzo took a deep breath, calming his anger.

He knew how strong Aburame Ryoma was, and how loyal he was. He would never lie to him.

If even Ryoma was helpless, what kind of monster was this Uchiha Dan?

Thinking this.

Lord Danzo sat back in his chair and waved a hand at Ryoma, who was kneeling on the ground: "Get up. I won't punish you this time."

Aburame Ryoma stood up and asked, "Should we continue sending people to assassinate Uchiha Dan?"

"Forget it. Don't send any more people in for now. Let's pretend nothing happened."

Lord Danzo waved his hand.

He wasn't worried at all that Dan would come looking for trouble with him after returning.

After all.

He, Lord Danzo, had even assassinated the Hokage, and in the end, nothing happened to him. Assassinating an Uchiha now, what was the problem?

In Konoha, no one could do anything to him.

He was the darkness of the Ninja World.

He could cover the sky with one hand.

"I will collect and organize detailed intelligence on Uchiha Dan again before reporting to you," Aburame Ryoma added.

"Mhm. Make sure to find his true weakness. Understood?"

Lord Danzo nodded, instructing his subordinate.

Every ninja had a weakness, and Uchiha Dan was no exception. It was just that he, Lord Danzo, hadn't found it yet.

Putting this matter aside for the moment.

"With the loss of the Second Squad, it's time to replenish Root's personnel and absorb some fresh blood. Speaking of which, it's been a while since I visited the various ninja clans."

Danzo muttered to himself, pondering for a moment, then suddenly asked Aburame Ryoma, "By the way, are there any promising talents in the Aburame Clan recently?"

"I'll go ask when I get back."

Aburame Ryoma replied with his head bowed, a flicker of sadness flashing in his eyes beneath his sunglasses.

He was loyal to Danzo, loyal to Konoha, but he also loved his clan members. He knew what joining Root meant for them.

Itachi walked out of Root, his eyes shimmering with disbelief.

He hadn't expected that even Root's meticulously planned assassination attempt couldn't do anything to his uncle.

That must have been a thrilling and spectacular battle.

Although Itachi didn't know the details of the battle, he guessed that his uncle must have used the same method he used against the Masked Man to make Aburame Ryoma return empty-handed?

Perhaps, when his uncle returned, he could try to ask.

However.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Itachi still hadn't waited for Dan to return.

Early in the morning, he received a notification to report to the Hokage's office with Kakashi and Tenzo to meet the Third Hokage.

Sip.

The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe, exhaling a long smoke ring, then said to Kakashi:

"The Land of Forests has clearly allied with our Konoha, yet they are secretly flirting with Iwagakure. I've already sent Might Guy to the border to exchange intelligence scrolls with the Hannya Corps of the Land of Forests, but I'm still a bit uneasy. You take Team Six and secretly follow Guy's team. If the Hannya Corps betrays Konoha, you know what to do."

"Yes."

Kakashi accepted the order and led his team members to depart immediately.

Along the way, Itachi seemed preoccupied.

Seeing this, Kakashi was a little surprised and lazily asked, "Is this your first mission as an Anbu member? Are you nervous?"

Tenzo also patted Itachi's shoulder and encouraged him:

"Don't worry about not performing well, it's really nothing. I even assassinated the Hokage once, that was when I was ten years old..."

Tenzo was still in Root at the time and was ordered by Danzo to assassinate the Third Hokage. After being defeated by the Hokage's guard Kakashi, he defected from darkness to light.

Itachi: 6.

Actually, he wasn't nervous because of the mission.

It was almost the end of the month, and in a little over a week, the Uchiha Clan Meeting would be held.

Currently, undercurrents are surging within the clan, and the contradiction between the Hawk and Dove Factions is becoming more prominent.

Last night, Shisui met with Itachi and told him with a grave expression:

This Clan Meeting might become the breaking point for the conflict between the two factions. He hoped Itachi would stand with him to maintain peace within the clan.

Furthermore.

Itachi remembered that his Uncle had previously accepted his father's invitation and would be attending an Uchiha Clan Meeting for the first time.

Given his Uncle's unpredictable nature, Itachi wondered what he might do at the Clan Meeting.

Thinking of this.

Itachi's mind was in a turmoil. He had a premonition that something big would happen.

Therefore, he could not miss this Clan Meeting.

What Itachi was worried about now was whether he could return in time if this mission took too long.

Within the Land of Fire.

Dan, clad in a cloak and wearing a conical hat, walked along a forest path.

He was surrounded by a vast primeval forest, with birds and beasts appearing from time to time. After walking for more than half a day, he arrived at a remote small town.

The streets were deserted, lacking any sign of life, with only a few scattered residential houses and convenience stores. A few crows perched on a utility pole by the roadside, occasionally cawing strangely.

Dan, familiar with the way, walked to the end of the street and entered a tall building, heading straight for the restroom.

Different times, the same restroom.

Behind the hidden door of this restroom lay the Land of Fire's underground Bounty Exchange.

Creak.

Dan pushed the door open and descended dozens of meters down the passage, arriving at the trading hall of the Bounty Exchange.

Unlike the emptiness and desolation above, this place was bustling with people, with a large number of bounty hunters, ronin, and samurai crowding around, creating a noisy din.

The Bounty Exchange was a black market where countless illicit funds, intelligence, stolen goods, and...

Corpses circulated.

In the ninja world, dead people were sometimes worth more than living ones, as corpses often contained crucial intelligence.

The best proof of this was Hashirama Senju, known as the God of Shinobi.

His cells were comparable to Tang Monk's flesh; whoever obtained them would gain an unfair advantage.

If this First Hokage had been cremated after death, there wouldn't have been so many troublesome matters later on.

The morgue was the most popular department in the Bounty Exchange.

When Dan arrived, several bounty hunters were lining up with corpses. After the staff verified them, the corpses were immediately processed, and bounties were issued.

The prices for corpses ranged from hundreds of thousands of Ryo to tens of millions of Ryo.

Of course, corpses worth tens of millions of Ryo were usually Kage, high-level elites, or S-rank rogue ninjas from the major ninja villages. One might not even see one in a year.

Dan was a senior bounty hunter, codenamed "Mr. Araki," so he didn't need to queue.

He was personally received by the owner of the Bounty Exchange.

"Mr. Araki, you're here."

A bald man with a scar on his face walked over quickly, welcoming Dan's arrival.

Dan glanced at the owner.

This person was merely a merchant, an employee. The real big boss behind the Bounty Exchange must be someone else.

However, Dan wasn't interested in these matters; he was only here to make money.

Thanks again to "Be careful not to get angry" and "Yangge stay" for their rewards. Thank you all for the monthly and recommendation votes.