Tacit Understanding Between Old Friends

Uchiha Arashi decided to relocate as quickly as possible from within the Shadow Space.

At the same moment, at the headquarters of Root.

"A battle occurred within the Uchiha compound?"

Upon hearing this news, Danzo narrowed his eyes, his brain beginning to race.

"Yes, we have already collected all the traces."

The squad leader knelt on one knee and reported.

"Did you not see who was fighting?"

Danzo asked.

"No, by the time we arrived at the scene, there was no one left."

"Time elapsed?"

"Less than three seconds."

"Less than three seconds..."

Danzo stroked his chin, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that one of the combatants was the person he was looking for.

"Follow the clues and continue the investigation. Also, seal off the entire Uchiha compound for me; don't let a single fly escape!"

"Yes!"

The subordinate ninja departed.

Danzo stood in his office for a long time, finally making up his mind, and rose to head toward the Hokage building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was busy handling official business. As Hokage, he had too much work to do every day and often stayed up late working overtime.

He never imagined that his old friend would come to see him at this time, especially since the two had just gone through an unpleasant negotiation.

"Hiruzen, I want you to seal off the entire Konoha!"

Danzo made his demand the moment he entered.

Hiruzen's hand, reaching for his pipe, paused, then he picked it up anyway and took a gentle puff.

"Danzo, you should know that I cannot seal off Konoha based on your word alone."

"I have reason! My men discovered traces of a battle in the Uchiha compound—not old traces, but fresh ones. They even heard the sound of Lightning Release. The person closest to the battlefield was less than a hundred meters away, yet by the time he reached the scene, both combatants had vanished. I have reason to suspect that an outsider is hiding in the village, carrying out an unknown plan."

Danzo pressed his hands onto the Hokage's desk, spitting as he spoke loudly.

Watching the droplets of saliva land on his documents, Hiruzen's brow twitched involuntarily.

"First question: why were your men in the Uchiha compound?"

"I am investigating the Uchiha who are still alive!"

"The Uchiha who are still alive?"

Hiruzen finally couldn't sit still; he straightened his posture slightly. "What exactly is the situation? What have you discovered?"

"My men investigated and found that the number of Uchiha corpses does not match the number of clansmen. A few are missing."

Danzo said in a deep voice.

"A few are missing?"

Hiruzen frowned. "Is it possible the missing bodies were taken by someone else? You should know that there were others involved this time..."

Many things could not be stated too clearly, but the fact remained that both Hiruzen and Danzo knew a third party was involved in the operation.

It was clearly an internal village matter, yet outsiders had interfered. Such things sounded bad and could easily lead to trouble, so he had simply suppressed the news.

Now that Danzo was actively lifting the lid, Hiruzen was somewhat dissatisfied.

"It's not that simple. The traces at the scene indicate that those missing people vanished into thin air. Furthermore, without exception, those who disappeared were children. If that person only wanted the Sharingan, why would he take those children? To raise them as enemies? Besides, I haven't told you before, but that very night, I was attacked. The person who attacked me possessed a ninjutsu similar to space-time!"

Danzo finally told the truth.

"Wait, what did you say? Space-time ninjutsu?"

Hiruzen stood up abruptly, his eyes fixed firmly on Danzo.

"Yes, I can confirm that he can render attacks against him completely ineffective. Kunai, ninjutsu—everything can pass directly through his body. He can also slip into an air vortex to relocate. Aside from space-time ninjutsu, I can think of no other possibility."

"Can you determine his age?"

"No, but I can be certain that he is no younger than twenty."

"Twenty..."

Hiruzen's brow furrowed tighter and tighter, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"What did you think of?"

Danzo was suddenly curious.

"Space-time ninjutsu, twenty years old... Danzo, if you were to roll his age back seven years..."

"Seven years ago? How could that..."

Danzo instinctively wanted to retort, but the words caught in his throat.

Wasn't seven years ago the time of the Nine-Tails Incident?

Someone in their twenties now would have been in their teens seven years ago; if they were a particularly gifted youth, their strength could already be formidable by that age.

Take Kakashi, for instance, who became a Jonin at thirteen.

"Hiruzen, are you trying to say..."

That he was the one who killed Minato?

Danzo didn't voice the second half of the sentence, but the tacit understanding between the two old friends was fully apparent in that moment.

"I cannot be certain, but it is worth suspecting. Do not forget what kind of ninjutsu Minato excelled at; the only person capable of trading blows with him on equal footing would be someone using the same type of ninjutsu."

The Flying Thunder God was already notoriously difficult to counter, and an opponent who could suppress even that technique could only be using space-time ninjutsu of their own.

Recalling his own brief encounter with the individual, that near-invincible posture in the blink of an eye—even if they hadn't been that powerful seven years ago, they would certainly have been troublesome.

"We absolutely cannot let him go!"

Danzo said with a dark expression.

This was no longer just about himself, but also about the late Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Although Minato becoming the Fourth Hokage had left Danzo feeling deeply displeased, at the end of the day, he loved Konoha. The idea of the Hokage being killed by an outsider was something he could never accept. Given the chance, he would choose revenge one hundred percent of the time.

"Yes, I know. Rest assured, I will order the Anbu to initiate a lockdown, though it cannot be done openly... Do not say it; I know what you mean, but the Uchiha incident happened only recently. A full-scale lockdown for Xunzi now would only incite panic among the populace, and it would be difficult to explain to the Daimyo."

Hiruzen said with a pointed tone.

Danzo suddenly realized.

It was that time of year again—the Daimyo's annual holiday.

"Fine, then I will have all of Root mobilize to coordinate with the Anbu."

"Agreed."

With a few brief exchanges, the two settled on a plan, and a massive net began to spread out in silence.

On the other side, on a small hill outside Konoha.

"A brand new Mangekyo. That little girl's ocular technique must be a combination of genjutsu and space-time. As for that brat... could it be Shisui's Kotoamatsukami? But Danzo should have stolen Kotoamatsukami; why is it in his hands? It is fortunate I was prepared, otherwise, today would have been dangerous."

Obito removed his mask and looked toward Konoha.

"Konoha has already reacted. I must speed things up; those three Mangekyo Sharingan must never fall into the hands of Konoha."