Arrest

Boom! The Shadow Clone that had launched the Lightning Ball vanished completely, its memories returning to the original. It had no time to admire the beautiful fireworks created by the roaring thunder.

As the Shadow Clone's memories returned, Kaede lowered his head and pretended nothing was wrong, letting out only a faint, pained groan. That was enough to make the others think his Shadow Clone had been killed.

Just after Kaede's Shadow Clone disappeared, Shisui's Shadow Clone was killed as well. He wasn't yet the legendary Body Flicker Shisui, renowned for charging through armies and driving back a thousand soldiers with a single sword.

"Those two boys were hiding their skills all along, weren't they? They showed their true strength when it mattered." Kabuto teased them. Ninjas couldn't be judged by ordinary standards. What was wrong with having a few secrets? Everyone had them.

"All right, no need to be modest. Getting back to the village as soon as possible is what matters. We're not far from the battlefield, and the enemy could catch up with us." Kabuto cut off the two slippery kids. He knew what they were about to say as soon as they so much as moved. Those two little liars.

The squad traveled at full speed, yet it still took them several days to return to Konoha. The Land of Fire was vast, and they had already chased their target all the way to the border. Getting back this quickly was already impressive.

As soon as squad leader Kabuto returned to Konoha, he had to report the mission to the Hokage at the Hokage Building. The other three returned to the Anbu base to rest. Despite being exhausted from days on the road, they didn't rest; their sharp instincts told them trouble was brewing.

There couldn't be only one Iwagakure spy in the village—the one they'd captured—and there wouldn't be only one contact, either. Now Konoha had a living spy in its hands, and there were plenty of ways to make him reveal all his secrets.

By evening, Kabuto returned, his expression grave.

"The village has decided to conduct a covert purge. The targets are the spies sent by Iwagakure. The Jonin spy we captured has already been restrained using a secret technique from the Yamanaka Clan. With Root's secret techniques to assist, the self-destructing seal in his mind was removed, and Anbu obtained every secret in his head."

"A purge? Did Iwagakure send a lot of spies to Konoha?" Kaede asked in confusion. Ninjas weren't cabbages. Spying was the kind of work you usually didn't come back from. Was Iwagakure really that generous? It was certainly a major ninja village with a huge number of shinobi.

"Most of them are ordinary people, but that's what makes this truly troublesome. Most were children whose memories were sealed when they were very young, then smuggled into Konoha. By now, almost all of them have settled down and started families. They're Konoha villagers, and until their seals are removed, they don't even know they're spies." That was why Kabuto looked so grim.

Even if ordinary people became spies, they couldn't obtain much important information. Iwagakure was simply casting a wide net; all the major ninja villages did the same.

Under normal circumstances, once these ordinary people were identified, they'd be imprisoned for a few years at most, provided they hadn't harmed Konoha. The problem was that, at the meeting just now, Danzo of Root had proposed executing every spy. That was going too far.

Such a harsh punishment was far too cruel for ordinary people who couldn't fight back and didn't even know their true identities. But Kabuto was Anbu. He could only follow orders.

"Our mission is to assist Lord Orochimaru in arresting all the spies from Iwagakure. After that, we hand them over to Root," Kabuto ordered sternly.

"Yes, sir!"

Konoha was still brightly lit that night, but in one house tucked away in a corner of the street, a heart-wrenching wail went unheard.

Before Anbu arrived, they had secretly set up a barrier to cut off the house from the outside world. No matter how loudly the people inside screamed, no one would hear them.

Kaede stood guard on the roof, watching Sparrow forcibly take the husband away while Shisui used Genjutsu to alter their memories. They worked together smoothly, as if they'd rehearsed it many times. This was already the ninth house. One more, and tonight's operation would be over.

The man hung his head, tears blurring his vision. He didn't dare look at his wife and son, who lay on the ground. Starting tomorrow, they wouldn't remember him anymore. They would only remember that he'd gone to another country to do business and would return once he'd made some money.

That was what the short Anbu had just explained to him. After the seal in his brain was lifted and he learned that he'd originally been a spy sent by Iwagakure, he hadn't had the courage to plead his innocence. It was all true.

The man was taken into the shadows and reunited with the other eight. They were heading to the tenth house, where the last spy was waiting.

Bringing up the rear, Kaede watched the nine people stumble along like puppets under Genjutsu's control. He knew that these ten ordinary people were being arrested as spies because Danzo and Orochimaru were probably running short of test subjects. That was why they were taking such care with the operation.

Danzo had proposed the charges, Orochimaru was in charge of the matter, and Anbu were carrying out the arrests. In the end, the prisoners would be handed over to Root for interrogation. After going around in circles like this, Danzo could simply pass a little information to the Third Hokage, and no one would ask what had become of the ten people.

The reason Kaede's squad had been assigned this task instead of Root handling the arrests themselves was that the final spy had a special identity: she was married to a member of the Uchiha Clan.

Root couldn't—and didn't dare—openly enter the Uchiha Clan Grounds to arrest anyone. Not even with irrefutable evidence. The most powerful clan in Konoha had its pride, after all.

Only if Kaede and Shisui, both members of the Uchiha Clan, went to arrest her would the Uchiha avoid resisting and agree to release her.

But Kaede knew what Danzo and Orochimaru were up to. How could he not understand why they were going to such lengths to bring these ten people to Root? If they only wanted to interrogate them, what was the Anbu interrogation unit for?

With the Uchiha still in control of Konoha's Military Police Force, the village's defenses were strong. Smuggling ten living, fresh test subjects in from outside the village would be no easy task.

"Shisui, in a moment..." Kaede moved closer to Shisui and whispered.

"Senpai, you..." Shisui sounded so startled that his voice rose unnaturally. Kaede clapped a hand over his mouth and put a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet.

"Why do you want to do this?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I... do." Shisui hesitated, then nodded. For the past few months, Kaede had been teaching him constantly. He knew Kaede wouldn't lie to him.

"Then do as I say. I'll explain when we have time." Kaede tapped Shisui on the forehead and returned to the back of the group.

"Captain, Sparrow, wait here. The two of us will go in and bring her out." Kaede stopped at the entrance to the Uchiha Clan Grounds and spoke.

"All right. Be careful." Kabuto knew how domineering the Uchiha Clan could be, so he didn't plan to follow Shun and Hikari into the grounds to make the arrest.

"Don't worry. I'm going home. Nothing will happen." Kaede waved back and disappeared into the Uchiha Clan Grounds with Shisui.

On a distant rooftop stood a ninja with long black hair, golden vertical-pupiled eyes, purple markings extending toward his nose, pale skin, and blue-green tomoe-shaped earrings. He looked sinister, like a snake.

"The Uchiha... and the Sharingan. They'll make excellent test subjects!"