Enemies in the Dark

"Whoa!" Uchiha Zongxin was so startled that the pudding in his hand nearly flew away, and he jumped behind his brother.

Uchiha Zongye remained calm, though he coughed awkwardly. "Naoki, you're still awake? A tail swipe from the Nine-Tails collapsed a corner of our house, so it's uninhabitable for the time being..."

"So you decided to come to my place to freeload?" Naoki put down his broom, deactivated his Sharingan, turned on the kitchen light, and scrutinized the two of them.

Under the light, Uchiha Zongxin was clutching the pudding with a bit of cream on the corner of his mouth, while Uchiha Zongye was lugging two sleeping bags—the scene was quite comical.

"We saved your life!" Uchiha Zongxin poked his head out from behind his brother, sounding indignant. "If it weren't for my brother and me, you'd probably be starting to rot wherever you were lying right now!"

"And?"

"This is called demanding reasonable compensation!" Uchiha Zongxin had already torn open the pudding packaging and started eating. "Mmm~ this is delicious, where did you buy it?"

Seeing Naoki's face growing darker, Uchiha Zongye quickly tried to smooth things over. "We'll pay for our stay! And we'll only stay for one night; we'll find temporary housing tomorrow."

Naoki looked at Uchiha Zongye's sincere expression, then at Uchiha Zongxin, who was eating pudding while staring at him with a "just try refusing" look, and finally sighed.

"Stay if you must. My place is big enough; there's no shortage of sleeping space. But next time, don't sneak in like this."

Tossing the broom aside, Naoki pointed toward the two guest rooms.

"There are two empty rooms there; they're yours."

With that, he headed toward his own room, intending to go back to sleep.

But to his surprise, before he could even enter his bedroom, a knock sounded at the front gate.

"That must be for me. You two get some rest."

After saying this to the pair in the living room, Naoki walked out of the house and opened the gate.

The visitor was a colleague from the Police Force.

"Naoki, change your clothes. Uchiha Yashiro needs to see you."

The sky was nearing dawn, but Konoha was still immersed in a long nightmare. From the distance came the muffled thuds of collapsing buildings, and medical teams hurried past carrying stretchers.

Naoki followed in silence until he reached the door of Uchiha Yashiro at the Police Force headquarters.

After the colleague who brought him left, Naoki pressed his fingers together and knocked on the wooden door.

Uchiha Yashiro, who was buried in paperwork, didn't even look up as he said, "Come in!"

Walking into the room and approaching the desk, Naoki spoke up: "I heard you were looking for me? I'm not sure what this is about."

Uchiha Yashiro tossed his pen aside and looked at Naoki with a smile. "You kid... you usually keep a low profile, but when it counts, you've got more guts than your father did back in the day."

Naoki smiled.

"I just had a bit of an intelligence advantage, that's all. It's nothing worth mentioning."

"Still so humble," Uchiha Yashiro laughed heartily.

Naoki asked, "I wonder... how is the Hokage?"

Uchiha Yashiro shook his head. "Namikaze Minato is dead."

Naoki pressed, "How did he die?"

Leaning back in his chair, Uchiha Yashiro spread his hands and gave a bitter smile. "He used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal half of the Nine-Tails into his own child, so he lost his life."

"That is not good news." Naoki shook his head slowly.

Namikaze Minato's death was truly a pity for Naoki. After all, with such a powerful figure in Konoha, many troubles could be avoided... and more importantly, with Namikaze Minato dead, the Uchiha clan no longer had any future to speak of.

Uchiha Yashiro sighed and said, "Indeed. We were on good terms with Namikaze Minato. If things had gone smoothly in the future, the Uchiha clan might have had a member serving as a Hokage advisor, or even Hokage... what a shame."

"Forget it, let's not talk about that." He didn't want to dwell on the issue. "Your suggestion last night was excellent, but things are quietly changing..." He stood up, walked over to Naoki's side, and sat on the edge of the wooden desk. "You don't know this yet, but I just received word that the Third and other high-ranking officials are still secretly suspicious of our motives for suddenly 'disobeying orders' to join the battle."

Naoki remained silent.

Although the Police Force's active participation had washed away the most direct suspicions, it hadn't eliminated all doubts; instead, it might have made some people feel that the Uchiha were "overreacting" or "harboring ulterior motives"...

"We cannot fully fathom the minds of the higher-ups," Naoki said slowly. "But we did the right thing. We saved people and shared the burden of casualties; everyone saw that. At the very least, we broke the foundation of that most lethal rumor. As for the rest, we can only take it slow." He gave a wry smile and added, "Who told the Nine-Tails to have a Three-Tomoe Sharingan appear in its eyes, of all things..."

"Indeed." Uchiha Yashiro muttered, then shook his head again. "What I fear is that someone doesn't want us to take it slow. This incident is very strange... I've racked my brain and still can't imagine who could control the Nine-Tails to that extent."

"You mean..."

"Both inside and outside the village, there are people we don't know lurking in the shadows. If it weren't for this incident, I fear that person would have remained hidden."

"Naoki, your performance last night was stunning. Now, I want you to help me think: who could have done this?"

Naoki certainly knew the answer to the question, but he couldn't state it bluntly. After a moment of thought, he feigned hesitation in his analysis.

"If we're talking about a connection to the Nine-Tails, then going back eighteen generations, among thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people, there is probably only one candidate."

Uchiha Yashiro said tentatively, "Uchiha Madara?"

Naoki nodded. "Exactly."

"How is that possible? Since the founding of the village, other than the time he took the initiative to fight the First Hokage, he never showed any intention of troubling the clan. Besides, after the 'Battle at the Valley of the End,' even the First Hokage died. How could he have survived until now?"

"When you eliminate all impossible scenarios, whatever remains, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth." Naoki spread his hands. "Other than Uchiha Madara, I can't think of any other possibility."

"And just think about it: is the Nine-Tails something an ordinary ninja can control? Your own Sharingan is Three-Tomoe; whether or not it can reach the level seen last night, if you don't know, who would?"

Uchiha Yashiro nodded slowly.

"That makes sense." He then added, "However, it is simply too unbelievable. How could Uchiha Madara still be alive today, let alone go head-to-head with Minato..."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be Uchiha Madara."

Naoki began to "analyze."

"Perhaps it is a descendant or student who inherited his will..."

Uchiha Yashiro stood up and walked to the window. After thinking for a long time, he shook his head.

"That is also inconceivable. The Sharingan that controlled the Nine-Tails last night could not possibly have been a Three-Tomoe; it would have to be a Mangekyou Sharingan." Having said this, he finally realized the implication and whipped his head around to look at Naoki. "We actually have such a powerful enemy lurking in the shadows?"