Stirring Up Konoha

After Uchiha Shiraha departed, the figure of Uchiha Shisui appeared once more within the Hokage Building.

"Lord Hokage!"

Shisui knelt on one knee.

The Third Hokage rose and walked over to Shisui, puffing on his pipe as he spoke softly:

"Shisui, is everything taken care of?"

"Yes."

"Tell me in detail about the situation with Uchiha Shiraha."

"Ever since his parents died, Shiraha has focused solely on taijutsu, leaving his awakened Sharingan to wither. Because of this, he is unwelcome in the clan and has received no resources. Later, when he was promoted to Chunin, the clan head assigned him to my squad. On the surface, he does not appear to be one of the Uchiha hardliners, yet the strength he displays is truly astonishing."

"In what way is it astonishing?"

Hearing Uchiha Shisui's account, the Third Hokage's eyelids twitched as he recalled the Kusanagi Sword in Shiraha's possession.

"His taijutsu is exceptional; his raw physical speed alone reaches the level of the Body Flicker Technique. At the same time, he possesses a powerful and bizarre swordsmanship. The destructive power is staggering. He and Uchiha Itachi survived an encounter with Orochimaru, managed to sever Orochimaru's right arm, and seized the Kusanagi Sword..."

As he spoke, Uchiha Shisui produced a scroll containing the sealed right hand of Orochimaru that Itachi had handed to him.

"Orochimaru's right hand?"

The Third Hokage frowned, a trace of worry appearing on his face.

For a ninja, losing a right hand is often equivalent to losing one's life.

No wonder even the Kusanagi Sword was lost.

"Orochimaru... alas!"

The Third Hokage sighed inwardly and waved his hand, signaling for Shisui to take his leave.

Upon hearing this news, the Third Hokage could not calm his heart for a long time.

After so many years of mentorship, the Third Hokage had always viewed Orochimaru as his own son.

"Perhaps this is for the best."

In the end, the Third Hokage could only offer himself this consolation.

After settling his emotions, the Third Hokage wrote out a mission order on his desk and summoned the Anbu.

"Notify the Anbu 13th Squad to keep Uchiha Shiraha under close surveillance. If there is any unusual activity, report it to me immediately!"

The Third Hokage handed the mission scroll to the Anbu.

"Understood!"

The Anbu took the scroll, turned, and departed.

Back at the Uchiha compound, having just finished lunch, Itachi followed his father into the study.

"Itachi, how was the difficulty of this mission?"

Closing the door, Uchiha Fugaku asked.

"The mission failed."

"What happened? Did Shisui hold back? Given his strength, he should have had absolute certainty in dealing with a severely wounded Orochimaru. I heard that both Root and the Anbu dispatched ninja to provide support, so how could it have failed?"

"I am not clear on the involvement of Root and the Anbu; Shisui did not tell me. They were all ambushed by Mist Ninja..."

Itachi recounted the situation to Fugaku in detail, placing special emphasis on the decisions Shiraha made during the conflict. Fugaku fell into deep thought after listening.

The study remained quiet for a long while before Itachi looked at his father cautiously.

"Father, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

"Wait a moment. Tell me what you know about Shiraha."

Fugaku called out to stop Itachi and continued his questioning.

Itachi paused, turned around, and pondered for a moment, as if searching for the feeling of being around Shiraha.

"He left a very strange impression on me—he is a very contradictory person. Unlike other clansmen, he appears to have no arrogance, yet in reality, he seems to hold nothing around him in his eyes. He does not initiate conversation with us. Whenever he is free, he is either swinging his katana or studying strange flowers and plants. He also likes to stare blankly. During the mission, he plucked quite a few odd flowers and herbs. He is skilled in taijutsu and seems to know a bit of medical ninjutsu as well."

Itachi recounted these details intermittently, following his memory.

"What left the deepest impression on me was the battle against Orochimaru. He fought Orochimaru and his guards alone and wounded them. He was the one who severed Orochimaru's right arm."

"He crippled Orochimaru's right arm? Why didn't you inform me of this sooner!"

Uchiha Fugaku's expression changed drastically as he secretly calculated the significance of this news.

Although Orochimaru was severely wounded, his strength remained formidable.

This clansman named Shiraha held no place in his memory.

"How could this be! The course of events has completely changed."

Fugaku felt extremely troubled at this moment. His original plan in arranging for Uchiha Shiraha to join Shisui's squad had been to use him as a foil to highlight his son's talent.

Baiyu acted as a cheerleader within the squad, incidentally promoting Itachi's exceptional talent to the villagers.

To put it simply, he was a salted fish who could be sacrificed at any moment and was good for nothing but shouting "666."

Fugaku had spent a great deal of effort to accelerate his son's rise to fame.

Uchiha Itachi had lived up to expectations, awakening the Sharingan at the earliest age and promoting to Chunin; once he gained some seniority by hanging around Shisui, he would be able to apply for promotion to Jonin.

With the right background, leveling up was just that simple.

Uchiha Fugaku was doing this to prepare Itachi to inherit the position of clan head in the future.

Now, Baiyu had ruined it all in one fell swoop.

If this news spread, the clansmen would immediately know of a new genius in the family, but Itachi...

Fugaku looked at his son before him, thinking that this news must absolutely not be leaked.

Baiyu was a rising star in the clan, but Itachi was his son.

"Besides me, who else knows about this news?"

"Captain Shisui knows as well. I entrusted him to submit Orochimaru's right arm to the village as a war trophy."

Itachi answered honestly.

Fugaku noticed something at this moment and hurriedly asked, "You entrusted him? Was the arm of Orochimaru yours to give?"

"Father, this was Baiyu's trophy."

Itachi shook his head gently; his mind was clear, and he immediately guessed his father's intentions.

This would be very beneficial to him, but he did not want to do it.

"Father, Baiyu is also a member of the clan."

Itachi added.

Fugaku glanced at him, sighed, and smiled, "Your personality is so strong-willed; very well, then! Report it truthfully."

"Thank you, Father."

Itachi's expression relaxed, and he bowed in gratitude before taking his leave from Fugaku.

Fugaku doted on his son; he knew Shisui's intentions and did not stop him.

He was also aware that Shisui was constantly trying to explain things to the village, even going so far as to leak clan intelligence.

But Fugaku tacitly allowed these things to happen.

He knew the consequences of the Uchiha continuing to oppose the village.

However, the clansmen, who were plagued by suspicion, did not think so; the seeds of hatred had already been sown between the two sides.

A conversation or two was not enough to quell it.

His identity was that of the Uchiha clan head, and he had no other choice.

A clan head who did not stand with his clansmen would soon be abandoned by them.

Uchiha Madara was a living example of this.

After an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent.

Uchiha Fugaku watched silently as Itachi left, then appeared in another secret room in his home using a Body Flicker technique.

An Uchiha clansman was waiting for him in the secret room.

"Lord Clan Head, five clansmen were lost during this mission, along with ten ninja cats. It must have been the village that made the move."

This clansman was Fugaku's right-hand man, Uchiha Hayata, a squad leader of the Konoha Military Police Force and the person in charge of the clan's main radicals.

"Are you certain?"

Fugaku asked.

"Certain. Young Master Itachi was also attacked; I helped them clean up the trail! Their identities were all Konoha Anbu."

Uchiha Hayata said solemnly.

Itachi?

The Third Hokage, does he really intend to wipe us out?

Fugaku's eyes widened abruptly, but after they slowly returned to normal, he asked calmly, "What do you think of this person, Baiyu?"

"Who is Baiyu? Is he a new Anbu squad leader from the village?"

Uchiha Hayata could not recall the subject of the name; there was no such person in his mind.

"Another member of Shisui's squad, a Chunin of the clan."

"His strength is average. His taijutsu performance during the Chunin Exams was decent, but he is a complete mess when it comes to ninjutsu and genjutsu."

Uchiha Hayata answered matter-of-factly.

Once the specific position of Baiyu was mentioned, he answered immediately.

He kept the files of every ninja in the clan in his mind, but he needed a reminder to recall those who were unimportant.

"Send men to monitor his movements closely."

"Understood, I will make arrangements immediately!"

Uchiha Hayata replied.

"Go on then! Instruct the clansmen that squads going out on missions recently should try to pair up with members of other clans. Remind them to prioritize their safety."

"Understood!"

As soon as the words fell, the smoke dissipated, and his figure was nowhere to be seen.