Meanwhile, at the Root Organization.
"Bam!"
"Bam!"
Things kept getting hurled to the ground.
The Root Organization members standing nearby were all trembling with fear.
They were terrified of doing something to displease Danzo and becoming the target of his anger.
"What does that Uchiha clan think they are?"
"They're nothing but puppets controlled by that Sarutobi fool, yet they're still patting themselves on the back..."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, it seems you really are going to make a move against me."
"In that case..."
A sinister look crossed Danzo's face.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't looking too pleased either.
He had assumed that Danzo would be the first person he saw after returning to the Hokage Office.
After all, Danzo couldn't possibly tolerate the way Hiruzen had clearly favored the Uchiha that day.
What was that man up to?
"Lord Hokage, after leaving, Lord Danzo went straight back to the Root Organization."
"He hasn't come out since."
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was wondering what was going on, an Anbu ninja appeared and reported the details.
"I see."
Hiruzen Sarutobi furrowed his brow even more deeply.
When something unusual happened, there was always a reason. Danzo's behavior was undoubtedly sending a troubling signal.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had some idea of what he was thinking, too.
For a time, this incident began to accelerate the problems among the village's leadership.
Back to the person who had started this whole incident—Uchiha Sasuke.
In the Military Police Force's infirmary.
"Father, this still might not be enough. I need more food."
"I used up too much energy in that fight. I need a proper meal."
"As for these injuries, they'll be fine once I've eaten my fill."
"Oh, and I need three servings of those meat rolls. They're really good!"
Sasuke made demands as he ate.
Fugaku Uchiha stood to one side, the dark lines across his face making his mood plain.
Who got this much of an appetite after awakening a special Kekkei Genkai?!
And Sasuke wasn't making it up.
Ever since Sasuke had started eating so much, both his talent and his strength had improved by leaps and bounds in a short time.
Even his way of thinking had taken a huge leap forward.
This incident had left Fugaku Uchiha seriously questioning himself.
He even wondered if Sasuke really was his son.
It wasn't until the next morning that Sasuke finally ate his fill.
His injuries had also mostly healed.
"Father, there's something you want to ask me, right?"
"Go ahead and ask."
Sasuke got up, put on his clothes, and went to Fugaku Uchiha's office.
"Those two from yesterday..."
"I killed them, though I paid a price for it."
"How did you..."
"Using my Kekkei Genkai along with the Sharingan's insight made it easy enough."
"Exactly how..."
"I can't say. Those people are dead now, so no one will know I was the one who did it."
"Wait, Shisui knows. Father, should we kill Shisui, too?"
Their conversation ended there.
Fugaku Uchiha was afraid that if he kept asking, Sasuke might decide to kill him as well.
The questioning was over, but Sasuke still couldn't leave.
After all, Sasuke had been badly injured the previous night.
If he left so soon, it would surely draw even more of Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention.
After taking time off, Sasuke sat in the infirmary and cultivated chakra with a helpless look on his face.
It wasn't long before Itachi returned.
That was right—Itachi hadn't shown up earlier because he'd gone to request leave for Sasuke.
"I'm fine now."
"Big Brother, who do you think is most likely to make a move against the clan?"
Before Itachi could speak, Sasuke asked him.
"Root."
Itachi answered without giving it much thought.
"Root must have learned about my talent, so they tried to take me to the Root Organization."
"Big Brother, if we don't have enough power to protect ourselves, we'll keep getting oppressed and bullied!"
"This isn't something we can resolve just by avoiding them or backing down."
Sasuke started working on Itachi again, trying to make progress with his persuasive words.
Honestly, getting through to Itachi was practically as hard as Naruto talking Nagato around!
The reason Sasuke had brought this up was that he'd noticed his urgent mission still hadn't been completed.
In other words, the Root Organization hadn't given up on attacking him.
Based on Sasuke's understanding of the system, these missions usually ended once he got away from the danger.
Unless Root was going to make another move against him soon, the mission should have disappeared by now...
So, he had to work on Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi was an extremely powerful fighter!
At critical moments, he might even surpass Uchiha Shisui.
The brothers started by discussing the matter, then moved on to questions about ninjutsu, genjutsu, and chakra, before finally chatting about all sorts of nonsense.
But it was clear that they both enjoyed that kind of atmosphere, and by the time their conversation ended, they were both in a pretty good mood.
"Sasuke!"
A familiar voice reached Sasuke's ears.
With his blond hair and his habit of barging straight through the door, it could only be his close friend, Uzumaki Naruto.
Several familiar figures stood behind him.
Rock Lee, Hinata Hyuga, and Hyuga Neji.
"Sorry to bother you. I'm Hyuga Neji, a friend of Sasuke's."
"We heard he was injured during training, so we wanted to come see him after school."
Neji politely explained why they had come.
"It's really not that bad. I just need to rest for a few days."
"Go ahead and chat. I'll get some fruit for you."
Itachi smiled warmly, then went outside to prepare some fruit.
"All right, Naruto. You've checked me over several times already. I'm really fine."
A few minutes later, Sasuke was starting to get annoyed by Naruto's habit of checking him over again and again.
He really felt like punching Naruto, no matter how touching it was.
Naruto couldn't find anything wrong, but still wanted to pull down Sasuke's pants and check his deep-sea eel...
"Sasuke, how did you get hurt so badly during training?"
Neji finally spoke up.
At first, he'd wondered why there were signs of a fight on Sasuke's body.
After activating his Byakugan, Neji was even more certain.
Sasuke's injuries weren't from training. They'd come from a fight...
"You saw through me?"
"I was doing mock battles with some of the older members of the clan. That's all."
"So I got a little hurt... Hehe..."
Sasuke changed the subject.
It wasn't that he wanted to lie. It was just better for them not to know about this yet...
Before you continue