Danzo Takes the Blame as Usual

Most of the people living over by the Uchiha Clan Compound.

They weren't nearly as likely to have the Three-Tomoe Sharingan as the Konoha Military Police Force, but plenty of them had awakened the Sharingan.

Uchiha Fugaku's eyes in particular were the finest of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Lord Danzo couldn't let an opportunity like that slip by.

As a bonus, he could show off to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After all, Lord Danzo was the greatest contributor to putting down the Uchiha Clan's rebellion.

As a department directly under the Hokage, Anbu was highly efficient.

It didn't take long for them to compile a list of the dead from the Uchiha Clan Compound.

There was only one person whose body they couldn't find: Uchiha Itachi.

That made the facts quite clear.

It was also what Sarutobi Hiruzen had expected.

But he knew things weren't nearly as simple as they seemed.

His eldest son, his daughter-in-law, and three clan members could not have been killed by Uchiha Itachi.

First, he hadn't issued a kill-on-sight order for the Uchiha, so Shinnosuke's squad wouldn't have fought Uchiha Itachi in the first place.

Second, with Sasuke Uchiha as leverage, Uchiha Itachi would never dare kill his clan members.

That left only one possibility: someone else had done it.

The prime suspect was the Masked Man who had controlled the Nine-Tails, killed his wife, Biwako, then severed Danzo's left arm and stolen Shisui's right eye.

At the thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen was both furious and overcome with a headache.

A deep sense of helpless frustration rose within him.

He had no idea what Konoha had done to offend that man. Why was he targeting them so relentlessly, killing Konoha Ninja again and again?

This time, he had even killed Hiruzen's eldest son and daughter-in-law.

If it had been anyone else, Hiruzen would have sent a large force of elite Konoha Ninja to hunt him down long ago.

But the man seemed to command some kind of Space-Time Ninjutsu, appearing and vanishing without a trace.

No one could hope to match him.

Before one crisis had even passed, another had arrived.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was brooding over the situation, a commotion broke out nearby, interrupting his thoughts.

A moment later, an Anbu Ninja hurried over. "Lord Hokage, we have a problem."

"What happened?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked with a frown.

"Several bodies disappeared without a trace while we were collecting them," the Anbu Ninja said, his voice shaking.

Clearly, even battle-hardened Anbu elites couldn't help feeling a chill at such a strange occurrence.

"Which bodies are missing?" Kakashi seemed to sense something unusual and came over to ask.

The Anbu Ninja replied, "Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Hefeng, Uchiha Zong, and Uchiha Qing."

"No doubt about it. They're all Uchiha clan members who had awakened the Sharingan," Kakashi sighed. Then the Anbu Ninja added, "Oh, and it seems Fujiwara Chiya's body is missing too."

"Fujiwara Chiya?" Sarutobi Hiruzen froze. As if a thought had just occurred to him, he quickly pressed, "Are you sure Fujiwara Chiya is dead?"

Aside from the Uchiha clan members who had already died and the mysterious Masked Man, Chiya was the only one who had any motive to kill Hiruzen's son.

After all, Hiruzen had issued a kill-on-sight order for Chiya.

He didn't believe Chiya had the strength to defeat the squad led by his son, let alone kill them all. But Chiya was a genius, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

What if Chiya had only pretended to be dead?

"Lord Hokage, Chiya really is dead. Several Anbu Ninja and I examined the body ourselves."

Kakashi answered Sarutobi Hiruzen. He had caught the implication behind Hiruzen's question, and his brow furrowed as he said firmly, "I checked with my Sharingan. He suffered a fatal wound to the chest, so we can rule out playing dead or using the Transformation Technique."

"Chiya was striking in appearance, with black hair and black eyes. Without his Sharingan activated, he could easily have been mistaken for an Uchiha clan member at the Uchiha Clan Compound."

"Chiya's body was beside Uchiha Hefeng, Uchiha Zong, and Uchiha Qing. I think whoever stole the bodies mistook him for one of the Uchiha."

"I see." Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, but still didn't rule out Chiya as a suspect. He asked, "Then who do you think did it?"

"It was Uchiha Itachi." A low, aged voice approached from nearby.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others turned around. Danzo was walking toward them, leaning on his cane. Two Root shinobi in black robes followed behind him, one on either side.

Danzo still didn't know that Fugaku's body had been stolen. He continued, "Uchiha Itachi was filled with hatred and disgust for his clan. That's why he killed Shisui and took his eyes, sparking conflict with his fellow Uchiha."

"And in the end, it led to this tragedy."

"It was him? How could that be?" A flicker of surprise crossed Kakashi's eyes. He then asked, "Does that mean he killed Chiya too?"

The other Anbu nearby looked at Danzo, waiting for an answer.

"Of course. Fujiwara Chiya was a Konoha jonin. When he saw Uchiha Itachi slaughtering his fellow villagers, he would naturally have fought to stop him. Unfortunately, he died at Uchiha Itachi's hands." Once he learned Chiya was dead, Danzo gave a confident answer.

Pleased with himself, he couldn't help glancing at Sarutobi Hiruzen, as if to say, See, Hiruzen? My plan worked. I resolved the Uchiha Clan's rebellion with ease, sacrificing only a little nobody like Fujiwara Chiya.

Hearing Danzo's words, full of holes yet delivered as if he'd foreseen everything, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he couldn't let him continue. He clasped his hands behind his back and turned away from everyone. "Stop dawdling. Get back to work."

"Yes, sir." Kakashi and the others answered respectfully, then vanished from the spot.

As soon as they were gone, Danzo waved away the two Anbu Ninja behind him and stepped up behind Sarutobi Hiruzen, looking pleased with himself. "That settles everything."

"What settles everything?" Sarutobi Hiruzen turned around, his expression dark as thunder. "You fool, Danzo! Look at what you've done. You let the wolf in, and now the Uchiha Clan has been wiped out. You've also gotten my eldest son and daughter-in-law killed. I can no longer tolerate your acting on your own!"

"Shinnosuke is dead?" A flicker of surprise crossed Danzo's face.

Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored him and continued, "Starting today, you're dismissed as Hokage Advisor. Root Division is to be disbanded as well."

"But, Hiruzen, I—" Sarutobi Hiruzen's sudden show of force caught Danzo off guard. For a moment, he seemed to see the Shinobi Hero as he had been in his youth, and his voice weakened without him meaning to.

Second update.