The Tribe's Disappearance

Night.

Uchiha Clan Affairs Hall.

Conference Room.

Uchiha Nara sat at the head of the room. A dozen people sat cross-legged before him, all elites from the various departments of the Uchiha Clan Affairs Hall.

The room was filled with officials from the Administration Institute, led by Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Ken, and Uchiha Rettou, alongside elders from the Advisory Institute—save for the Great Elder, who was occupied with clan business.

Non-ninja departments, such as the Nursing Home and the Orphanage, were not summoned. The attendees were primarily ninjas from the Administration, Advisory, Guard, and Ninjutsu Institutes, as well as the clan elders.

"Clan Head, many of our chunin and genin who left the village for missions have gone missing without a trace. There are fifteen of them now. Our Guard Institute investigated the sites, but found absolutely no clues or evidence! Clan Head, I suspect the Anbu is behind this!"

Uchiha Yashiro spoke slowly, his expression grave as he clutched a file.

"Were there no clues at the end of their missions, or along the routes they took?"

Uchiha Nara frowned and asked softly.

"None at all! It is precisely because there are no clues that I suspect the Anbu. Only the Anbu, who report directly to the Hokage, would know the missions and routes our clansmen were taking!" Uchiha Yashiro replied sternly, his face devoid of emotion.

Nara took a deep breath and said slowly, "Have the Guard Institute investigate again. I will have the jonin of the Military Police Force join the search. Regardless of the outcome, I want them found—dead or alive!"

As he uttered the words "dead or alive," a faint breeze stirred within the enclosed room.

Nara's chakra fluctuated slightly, and his eyes turned scarlet. His three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated, revealing that he was not as calm as he appeared regarding the disappearance of his clansmen.

"It must be the Anbu! Nara! We should go to the Hokage Building! We must demand an explanation from Sarutobi Hiruzen!"

It was not just Nara who was unsettled. The Second Elder, Uchiha Kyo, stood up with a thud, his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan glaring, his face twisted and ferocious as he roared with extreme disrespect.

Among the missing ninjas was his favorite grandson. Having spent these past few days searching for clues to no avail, even this once-refined Second Elder could no longer sit still within the clan.

Nara found these elders from the Advisory Institute quite a headache; they addressed him by his given name, never using any honorifics.

It was fortunate that the Great Elder, Uchiha Okura, rarely attended these meetings, or Nara would have found it even harder to maintain his composure.

"We are all pained by the disappearance of our clansmen, but we have no evidence. Making baseless accusations against the Hokage will only lead him to suppress us further. Trust Nara; he will handle this properly."

Uchiha Zen, sitting nearby, spoke in a soft, consoling tone.

Uchiha Zen was in his forties, an advisor from the Advisory Institute. He was gentle, quiet, fond of reading, and possessed great strategic insight.

"You coward! Genjutsu: Sharingan!"

"Ah!"

With a roar from Uchiha Kyo, Uchiha Zen—who had been looking at him while trying to intervene—let out a miserable scream, collapsed backward, and fell unconscious.

"Second Elder, please calm down!"

"Calm yourself, sir!"

"Old man, please, be reasonable!"

The others in the room scrambled to intervene.

Uchiha Kyo took a deep breath, glared at Nara with his Sharingan, and asked expressionlessly, "Nara, the Hokage faction is bullying us like this. How do you intend to strike back?"

The Second Elder's face was flushed with rage, his eyes bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead and temples throbbed, making him look truly terrifying.

"Strike back? Second Elder, our ninjas only returned from the front lines a month ago; we are in no position to retaliate. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the Hokage is responsible. We cannot confront him based on mere suspicion. Besides, it is not just Uchiha ninjas who are missing; many others from different clans and civilians have vanished as well."

Nara seemed to ignore the Second Elder's violent outburst, replying with a blank expression.

Uchiha Kyo narrowed his eyes, his breathing growing heavy.

"However, I will question the Hokage about this. Second Elder, as Clan Head, I am even more distressed by these disappearances than you are. Rest assured, I swear I will get to the bottom of this."

"If it truly is the Hokage's doing, I will make him pay the price!"

Nara closed his eyes, tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and answered slowly.

"Good. I shall wait for your good news."

Upon hearing Nara's words, Uchiha Kyo actually smiled—a twisted, grimacing smile that, combined with his wide eyes and bulging veins, looked truly sinister.

The Second Elder is losing his mind. At this rate, will he awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?

Nara thought to himself.

The meeting concluded, and Nara sat alone on his mat. He folded his left arm across his chest, resting his right elbow on his left hand, and stroked his chin in contemplation.

"Shimura Danzo returned to Konoha with his troops only a month ago, and now Uchiha clansmen are disappearing one after another. Aside from Shimura Danzo, I cannot think of anyone else who would stoop so low."

Uchiha Nara had a clear suspect in mind; Shimura Danzo was his primary target. It was no wonder Uchiha Yashiro and the Second Elder suspected the Anbu.

Disappearances without a trace were almost certainly the work of an Anbu ambush.

The clansmen had been caught off guard, captured, or worse, leaving absolutely no trail to follow.

Nara had already instructed Uchiha Yashiro to issue a notice: Uchiha ninjas were to stop accepting missions that required leaving the village for the time being.

The jonin of the Military Police Force's Criminal Investigation Division had also been dispatched to search for clues.

Among the missing chunin and genin were many with exceptional talent—the future of the Uchiha—now vanished into thin air without a sound.

The Second Elder Uchiha Kyo and Uchiha Zen were both men of considerable cunning and depth; though they occasionally disagreed, they shared a mutual respect born of their shared stature.

Clearly, the Second Elder was on the verge of losing his composure and erupting due to his grandson's disappearance. If the case could not be resolved, or if it remained a dead end, Naraku would find it difficult to provide an explanation.

This position of Clan Head is not easy to hold, Naraku sighed heavily.

Naraku ceased his brooding, stood up, and prepared to head to the Hokage Building to report and make inquiries.

"Akahi Squad, follow me to the Hokage Building."

"Yes!"

In the previously empty space, a puff of smoke appeared, revealing the figures of four young ninja.

Uchiha Akabi was the captain of Naraku's four-man bodyguard squad, responsible for Naraku's safety.

Akabi had previously followed Naraku onto the battlefield, and the other three were all elite young ninja cultivated by the clan.

Hokage Building

Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, holding a dossier in his hand, his brow furrowed into deep lines.

There had been many ninja disappearances in Konoha recently, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen deeply perplexed. The Anbu's investigations had yielded no leads; the perpetrator's methods were clean, leaving no traces at the scenes.

When the first few ninja failed to report for their mission debriefings on time, Sarutobi Hiruzen had assumed the delays were due to other reasons, never suspecting this level of severity.

However, as time passed, over twenty ninja had failed to report for their debriefings, vanishing without a trace.

Most importantly, the missing ninja were mostly chunin and genin, and specifically those from the Uchiha clan, which made Sarutobi Hiruzen sense something highly unusual.

Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a smoke ring and spoke to the empty office, "Ghost Fox, pass on my order: go and summon Shimura Danzo."

"Yes!"

Though no one was visible in the corner of the office, a reply echoed back.