That night.
Yusuke moved swiftly across the rooftops, a shadow blending into the darkness.
He avoided all the main roads and patrol routes, heading straight for the Uchiha Clan Compound with a clear purpose.
As he neared the outskirts of the Uchiha Clan Compound, the lights of the Security Department were still shining.
Two Uchiha clan members stood guard, bored out of their minds. As far as they were concerned, no one would be so daring as to break into the Uchiha Clan at night.
Yusuke lay hidden in a distant tree, his presence completely suppressed.
He watched for a gap in the patrols, waiting patiently.
When two patrol teams crossed paths and moved on, creating a blind spot in their field of vision,
"Now."
He formed hand seals and called out in a low voice, "Genjutsu: Cicada Time-Gap!"
A sound wave laced with chakra swept over the two guards at the back of the group.
Their eyes glazed over for an instant, as if time itself had briefly gone blank.
In that less-than-one-second gap, Yusuke moved.
He focused chakra beneath his feet and shot forward like an arrow loosed from its bow, moving so fast that he left a blur behind him.
He darted past the patrol and reached a spot near the Security Department building.
He tossed an inconspicuous Sealing Scroll with perfect accuracy through a half-open window.
Thud.
The faint sound of the scroll hitting the ground alerted the patrol.
"Who's there?!"
"I heard something!"
The two teams quickly spread out and began searching around the Security Department.
They warily scanned their surroundings and sounded the alarm.
The shrill alarm pierced the night sky. The Uchiha Clan Compound lit up in an instant, and figures poured out from every direction, converging on the Security Department.
"Where's the intruder?"
"Where are they?"
Amid the uproar, Yusuke had already used the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape far away.
He reappeared outside the Uchiha Clan Compound and glanced back at the commotion, a cold smile tugging at his lips.
The seed had been planted. Now all that remained was to see how it would take root.
Inside the Uchiha Security Department, the atmosphere was tense.
Setsuna Uchiha, acting clan head, picked up the Sealing Scroll from the floor, his expression dark.
The scroll looked ordinary. It was the most common kind of Sealing Scroll.
"Have you searched everywhere? No sign of the intruder?" he asked the clan member beside him, his voice icy.
"Yes, Lord Setsuna. The intruder was extremely fast, and it seems he used a very sophisticated genjutsu to interfere with the guards' senses."
Setsuna Uchiha snorted. He ordered the others to increase security, then took the scroll back to his office.
He examined it carefully, and only after confirming there were no traps did he cautiously undo the seal.
Hum!
As the seal was released, a familiar surge of Yin Release Chakra spread through the room.
At the center of the scroll lay a dull, lifeless Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
The eyeball was quite fresh, with blood still on it.
It looked as though it had been removed not long ago, but had lost its vitality because it hadn't been properly preserved.
"Is this a Sharingan?" Setsuna Uchiha's pupils contracted sharply.
There were already few in the Uchiha Clan capable of awakening a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and now someone had even had one taken from them.
Suppressing his fury, he reached out to touch the eyeball, trying to sense any lingering ocular power.
A moment later, he snatched his hand back, his face filled with shock and rage.
"Kagami Uchiha. This is Kagami's ocular power. It's faint, but there's no mistaking it!"
Kagami Uchiha had been a disciple of the Second Hokage, and an Uchiha prodigy whom the Second Hokage had held in high regard.
For a time, the Uchiha Clan had regarded him as their hope. Setsuna Uchiha had even intended to put him forward for the Hokage Position.
But years ago, after undertaking a top-secret S-rank mission in the Land of Lightning, he had vanished without a trace.
No one had seen him alive, nor found his body.
And now, one of his eyes had been returned in this manner.
"This is an outright provocation, an insult to the entire Uchiha Clan!"
The fury in Setsuna Uchiha's chest was about to burst forth.
Then he noticed a small scrap of paper stuck to the inside of the scroll. He carefully peeled it off and unfolded it.
There were only two hastily scribbled characters on the paper: Danzo.
In an instant, countless clues and memories surged through Setsuna Uchiha's mind.
The exact details of Kagami Uchiha's mission to the Land of Lightning had been kept secret.
But the follow-up arrangements and search had been handled mainly by Shimura Danzō, who was Hokage Assistant at the time.
"Could Kagami's disappearance really have something to do with Danzo? Is this eye a warning? Or is someone trying to use us to kill him?"
Setsuna Uchiha couldn't tell. But there was only one thing he could do now: true or not, this letter didn't change the fact that the Uchiha Clan's dignity could not be trampled on!
He carefully collected the blood from the eyeball. It was the only proof that could establish whether Shimura Danzō had stolen the Sharingan.
"Shimura Danzō." Setsuna Uchiha ground out the name, a fanatical gleam in his eyes that was distinctly Uchiha.
If Yusuke had seen him, he would have agreed with Tobirama Senju's opinion of the Uchiha Clan: they were all a little crazy.
"Gather the clan's elite."
"Come with me to the Shimura Clan Compound. The Shimura Clan will answer for this tonight."
Setsuna Uchiha shot to his feet and gave the order.
Yusuke sensed the commotion coming from the Uchiha Clan Compound. He knew Setsuna Uchiha had made his move.
"Shimura Danzō, this should give you a real headache."
He paid no further attention to the chaos behind him. After a few quick flashes, he was back home.
He shut the door, shutting out the clamor outside.
He took the complete Uzumaki Clan Treasure Vault Key from his ninja pouch.
The key felt cold to the touch, its patterns gleaming with an ancient luster under the light.
The Land of Whirlpools' treasure, and the powerful sealing jutsu it contained, would give him greater confidence when facing the crises ahead.
He spread out the map of the Land of Whirlpools he'd bought. His finger traced the border of the Land of Fire, then pointed to the scorched wasteland that had become ruins.
He marked the places he had visited before, crossed them off one by one, then circled several suspicious spots on the map.
Once he was done, he prepared to go alone. He would use the Flying Thunder God Technique marks he'd left along the way to launch himself forward and quickly return to the Land of Whirlpools.
Just as he was about to set off, a faint sound came from the window.
Yusuke instantly went on alert. His chakra stirred quietly as he fixed a sharp gaze on the window.
A figure nimbly climbed through and landed without a sound.
The moonlight outlined her tall figure and distinctive hime cut.
It was Hyuga Aya. She still wore an icy expression. Her pure white eyes swept over Yusuke before settling on the key and map in his hands.
"You're going to the ruins in the Land of Whirlpools," she said with certainty.
Yusuke put away the key and map, his expression calm. "What is it?"
"I'm going with you."
"Two people are safer. My Byakugan can help you avoid a lot of trouble."
Hyuga Aya was brief and to the point.
Yusuke shook his head and refused just as bluntly. "No need. It's easier for me to act alone. I can travel using the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Flying Thunder God..." Hyuga Aya repeated the words instinctively.
Suddenly, her face turned visibly red, all the way to her ears.
Fury and embarrassment flared in those usually cold, pale eyes.
She glared at Yusuke through gritted teeth, remembering when she'd taken a bath earlier.
Using a mirror, she had seen the Flying Thunder God Formula mark on her smooth back, with the words "I was here" written beside it.
And the worst part was, she couldn't get rid of it.
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