After giving his orders, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood by the office window, gazing outside with a grave expression.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura stood behind him.
"Ah..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh and spoke to himself, as if asking the two people behind him—or perhaps asking himself.
"Do you think this really has something to do with the Uchiha Clan?"
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu glanced at each other, their eyes revealing that they held different opinions.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't turn around. He gazed into the distance, deep in thought, and continued.
"Although the Second Hokage had a policy of keeping the Uchiha Clan at a distance, we all knew Kagami. That fellow wouldn't just sit by and let the Uchiha Clan do something harmful to Konoha."
"There's been no word from Danzo, and the attacking ninja have been captured. This time, it was probably just some village acting on its own."
After a pause, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke in a low voice, as if reassuring himself that he was right.
But then Utatane Koharu, standing beside him, asked uneasily,
"Third Hokage, if we confirm that the captured ninja were sent by another hidden village, will we really have to shatter this peace?"
Hiruzen didn't answer.
He quietly took a puff of his pipe and looked into the distance, his expression complicated.
Beneath the dusky evening sky, the back of Hiruzen Sarutobi, still in his prime, seemed to stoop a little more.
At the same time,
the gates to the Uchiha Clan's compound swung open.
A stern-faced, middle-aged man with short hair stepped out through the broad entrance.
The Root members concealed beneath the trees and in the watchtowers tensed up. They drew their Kunai, their eyes sharp as they prepared for a brutal battle!
But a striking figure with