At the Hokage Building, after Baiyu had left, Shisui appeared inside once more.
"Lord Hokage!"
Shisui knelt on one knee.
The Third rose and walked over to Shisui, softly speaking around his pipe.
"Shisui, did you finish everything?"
"Yeah."
"Tell me everything you know about Uchiha Shiraha."
"After Shiraha's parents died, he focused on Taijutsu. His awakened Sharingan fell into disuse, so the clan looked down on him and gave him no resources. Later, when he was promoted to Chunin, the clan head assigned him to my team. On the surface, he doesn't seem to be one of the Uchiha hardliners, but his strength is astonishing."
"How astonishing?"
As Uchiha Shisui spoke, the Third's eyelid twitched. He recalled the Kusanagi Sword in Shiraha's hands.
"His Taijutsu is exceptional. His physical speed alone reaches the level of the Body Flicker Technique, and he also possesses powerful, uncanny swordsmanship. His attacks are devastating. He and Uchiha Itachi survived an encounter with Orochimaru and cut off his right arm, taking the Kusanagi Sword..."
As he spoke, Uchiha Shisui took out a scroll. Orochimaru's severed right arm, which Itachi had given him, was sealed inside.
"Orochimaru's right arm?"
The Third furrowed his brow, worry appearing on his face.
Losing his right arm meant the end of a ninja's career.
No wonder he'd lost the Kusanagi Sword, too.
"Orochimaru... sigh!"
The Third sighed inwardly and waved Shisui away.
After hearing this, the Third remained unable to calm himself for a long time.
After all those years as master and pupil, the Third had regarded Orochimaru as a son.
"Perhaps this is for the best."
In the end, that was all the Third could tell himself.
Once he had composed himself, the Third wrote a mission order at his desk and summoned an Anbu member.
"Tell the Anbu 13th Squad to keep Uchiha Shiraha under close surveillance. Report any unusual activity to me immediately!"
The Third handed the mission scroll to the Anbu member.
"Yes, sir!"
The Anbu member took the scroll and left.
Back at the Uchiha Clan compound, after returning home and having lunch,
Itachi followed his father to the study.
"How difficult was the mission, Itachi?"
Fugaku asked after closing the door.
"The mission failed."
"What happened? Did Shisui hold back? Given his strength, he should've had no trouble dealing with a badly wounded Orochimaru. I heard Root and Anbu both sent ninjas to support him. How could the mission have failed?"
"I don't know about Root or Anbu. Shisui didn't tell me. We were all ambushed by the Mist Ninja..."
Itachi described what had happened in detail. He placed particular emphasis on Shiraha's decisions, and Fugaku fell into thought as he listened.
The study fell silent for a while. Itachi glanced cautiously at his father.
"Father, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
"Wait. Tell me what you know about Shiraha."
Fugaku stopped Itachi and continued questioning him.
Itachi paused, then turned around and thought for a moment, searching his memories for an impression of what it was like to be around Shiraha.
"He gives me a strange impression. He's a very contradictory person. Unlike the other clan members, he doesn't seem arrogant, but in reality, he pays no attention to anything around him. He never starts a conversation with us. Whenever he has free time, he's either swinging his sword or studying strange plants and flowers. He also likes to space out. During missions, he's picked a lot of unusual plants and flowers. He's good at Taijutsu and seems to know a little medical ninjutsu, too."
Itachi recounted what he remembered, speaking haltingly.
"What left the deepest impression on me was the fight with Orochimaru. He fought Orochimaru and his guards alone, wounded Orochimaru, and cut off his right arm."
"He crippled Orochimaru's right arm? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Uchiha Fugaku's expression changed dramatically as he silently considered the importance of this information.
Orochimaru had been badly wounded, but he was still powerful.
Fugaku couldn't recall ever hearing of a clan member named Shiraha.
"How could this happen? Everything's gone completely differently from how I expected."
Fugaku felt miserable. He had assigned Uchiha Shiraha to Shisui's team to showcase his son's talent.
Shiraha was supposed to play the role of a cheerleader, praising Itachi's exceptional abilities to the villagers.
Put simply, he was a nobody who could be sacrificed at any moment and was there to shout, "Nice!"
Fugaku had gone to considerable trouble to help his son make a name for himself as quickly as possible.
Uchiha Itachi had lived up to his expectations. He had awakened his Sharingan at an early age and been promoted to Chunin. After gaining some experience under Shisui, he could apply for promotion to Jonin.
With connections, climbing the ranks was that easy.
Uchiha Fugaku was preparing Itachi to inherit the clan head's position one day.
Now Shiraha had ruined all of it in one fell swoop.
Once the news got out, the clan would immediately learn about a new prodigy. But Itachi...
Fugaku looked at his son and thought that he absolutely couldn't let the news get out.
Shiraha was a rising star in the clan, but Itachi was his son.
"Who else knows about this besides me?"
"Captain Shisui knows, too. I entrusted him with turning in Orochimaru's right arm as a trophy to the village."
Itachi answered honestly.
Fugaku suddenly noticed something and hurriedly asked, "You entrusted it to him? Was Orochimaru's arm yours?"
"Father, it was Shiraha's trophy."
Itachi shook his head gently. His perceptive mind immediately guessed what his father was planning.
It would have benefited him, but he didn't want to do that.
"Father, Shiraha is a member of the clan, too."
Itachi added.
Fugaku looked at him, sighed, and smiled. "You've always been so competitive. Fine, then. Report it honestly."
"Thank you, Father."
Itachi's expression relaxed. He bowed in thanks, then took his leave.
Fugaku doted on his son. He knew what Shisui was planning and hadn't stopped him.
He also knew that Shisui was constantly trying to explain the clan's position to the village, even revealing information about the clan.
But Fugaku had allowed it.
He knew what would happen if the Uchiha kept opposing the village.
But the clan members, who were constantly treated with suspicion, didn't see it that way. The seeds of hatred had been sown between them.
A few conversations weren't enough to make it all go away.
He was the Uchiha Clan Head. He had no other choice.
A clan head who didn't stand with his people would soon be abandoned by them.
Uchiha Madara was a living example.
After an avalanche, not a single snowflake was innocent.
Uchiha Fugaku watched Itachi leave in silence, then used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in another secret room in the house.
A member of the Uchiha Clan was waiting for him inside.
"Clan Head, we lost five clan members and ten Ninja Cats on this mission. The village must've done it."
The man was Fugaku's right-hand man, Uchiha Hayata, a squad captain in the Konoha Military Police Force and a leading figure among the clan's hardliners.
"Are you sure?"
Fugaku asked.
"I'm sure. Young Master Itachi was attacked, too. I helped cover their tracks. They were all Konoha Anbu."
Itachi?
Was the Third really planning to wipe them all out?
Fugaku's eyes widened. After a moment, he gradually calmed down and asked, "What do you think of Shiraha?"
"Who's Shiraha? Is he a new Anbu squad captain?"
Uchiha Hayata couldn't recall who that name referred to. No one by that name came to mind.
"He's another member of Shisui's team. A Chunin from the clan."
"Average strength. He showed decent Taijutsu during the Chunin Ninja Exams, but his ninjutsu and genjutsu were a complete mess."
Uchiha Hayata answered matter-of-factly.
Once he knew Shiraha's exact position, he answered right away.
He had memorized the records of every ninja in the clan, but he needed a reminder to recall anyone unimportant.
"Have someone keep a close eye on him."
"Yes, I'll arrange it immediately!"
Uchiha Hayata replied.
"Go. Remind the clan members to make sure their squads go on missions with members of other clans whenever possible. Tell them to stay alert."
"Yes!"
As soon as he spoke, the smoke dispersed, and he vanished.
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