Public Investigation

Fugaku said slowly, "Then go ahead."

Shin-getsu nodded.

He walked into the Shrine one step at a time.

Each step was slow.

His wounds stung as if they were tearing open.

But he held his back straight.

At last, he stood in the middle of the crowd.

The firelight fell across his pale face and revealed the bloodstains that had yet to dry on his clothes.

Uchiha Tekka was the first to ask, "Shin-getsu, what did those two men who broke into your house last night want?"

Shin-getsu replied softly, "To take me away."

"They said I had no relatives, so even if I disappeared, it wouldn't cause much of a stir."

Suppressed anger rose at once inside the Shrine.

Tekka's gaze turned colder.

"What else did they say?"

Shin-getsu lifted his head.

"They said my Sharingan hadn't awakened and my chakra reserves were average."

"My value for retrieval was low."

"But they needed to collect more samples soon."

Boom!

Those words exploded in everyone's hearts like an Explosive Tag.

"Samples!"

"So they really were after samples!"

"Bastards!"

"What do they take us Uchiha for?"

"Beasts!"

Several young Uchiha activated their Sharingan on the spot.

Even the faces of several clan elders darkened completely.

Low value for retrieval.

Collect more samples.

This was no longer mere suspicion.

They were treating Uchiha clan members as things to be evaluated, retrieved, and experimented on.

Uchiha Tekka trembled with rage.

"Did they say who sent them?"

Shin-getsu fell silent for a moment.

Everyone stared at him.

Fugaku's gaze grew grave as well.

Shin-getsu didn't name Danzo outright.

He knew that without evidence, directly accusing Danzo would only give the Third Hokage an excuse to claim that the Uchiha were slandering the village leadership.

What he needed to do was let the clan draw its own conclusions.

So he said quietly, "They didn't give any names."

"Nor were they wearing Anbu insignia."

"But they were professionals."

"They knew where I lived."

"They knew my records."

"They knew I had no relatives."

"They knew my Sharingan hadn't awakened."

"They even knew how much chakra I had."

Shin-getsu looked around at everyone.

"I'd like to ask you all something, seniors."

"Could ordinary rogue ninja have known all that?"

The Shrine fell deathly silent.

The answer was obvious.

No.

Only people inside Konoha could access that information.

And not just any ordinary ninja could get their hands on it.

They had to be someone with access to the village's intelligence network.

Tekka gritted his teeth. "Root."

This time, he said the name outright.

"It had to be Root!"

"Other than Shimura Danzō, no one would do something like this!"

Someone immediately agreed.

"Exactly!"

"Danzo has always been hostile toward us Uchiha!"

"After the Nine-Tails Incident, he was the one who pushed to move us to the outskirts of the village!"

"And now he's sending people to abduct our children!"

"Clan head, we can't keep putting up with this!"

"We have to demand an explanation from the Hokage!"

The atmosphere boiled over once again.

Fugaku barked, "Silence!"

The clan head's authority brought the crowd to a grudging quiet.

Fugaku looked at Shin-getsu.

"Go on."

Shin-getsu nodded.

"After I heard they were going to take me away, I fought back."

"I knew I wasn't strong enough to beat them."

"So I had no choice but to use lamp oil, wire, Explosive Tags, and the ceiling beams."

"The first man let his guard down, and I killed him."

"The second one was strong. I almost died."

At that, Shin-getsu paused.

He pulled open his collar.

Beneath the bandages on his chest, they could just make out the marks of burns from the explosion.

"To kill him, I detonated an Explosive Tag against my own body."

Many of the clan members' eyes widened.

An Explosive Tag against his own body?

Was this kid insane?

A nine-year-old had actually dared to fight like that?

Uchiha Tekka looked at Shin-getsu in a completely different light.

Until then, he had seen Shin-getsu only as a victim.

But now, he saw him as a true member of the clan.

An Uchiha who dared to risk his life against an enemy.

Shin-getsu continued, "In the end, I used a fallen ceiling beam to pin him down, then finished him off with another strike."

"After that, the patrol arrived."

"Then I passed out."

He spoke calmly.

But the calmer he sounded, the more unsettling it was.

A nine-year-old child spoke of life and death as if they were sparring in the Training Ground.

That ruthless resolve was so Uchiha.

No.

He was even more ruthless than many Uchiha.

Shisui watched Shin-getsu, his feelings tangled.

Itachi, too, remained silent.

He was finding it harder and harder to understand his younger clanmate.

Everything Shin-getsu said was true.

But the way he spoke kept pushing the clan's emotions in a certain direction.

He wasn't openly stirring them up.

Yet he was more effective than someone who did.

He laid out the facts one by one, letting everyone grow angry, grow suspicious, and reach their own conclusions.

It was dangerous.

And clever.

Fugaku had naturally seen through it as well.

He stared at Shin-getsu and asked gravely, "Shin-getsu, what do you want the clan to do?"

At those words, everyone turned their eyes toward Shin-getsu.

Shin-getsu's heart stirred.

Fugaku's question was crucial.

If he answered too aggressively, Fugaku would rein him in.

If he answered too timidly, the momentum he'd built would fizzle out.

So he had to give an answer that seemed restrained but was sharp underneath.

Shin-getsu raised his head and spoke clearly.

"First, we need to step up patrols inside the clan grounds. We should especially register and protect orphans, children, and clan members whose Sharingan hasn't awakened."

Quite a few people nodded.

That was reasonable.

"Second, the Police Force should demand that the village publicly explain how outsiders managed to infiltrate the Uchiha Clan Grounds last night."

"If they weren't village personnel, then Konoha's defenses failed."

"If they were village personnel, then all the more reason to investigate."

Several clan members' eyes lit up.

That was right!

Whether or not it was Root, Konoha had to answer for it.

If they weren't village personnel, then the village's defenses had failed.

If they were, then the problem was even worse.

Either way, the village couldn't escape blame.

Shin-getsu continued, "Third, don't directly accuse anyone."

At that, the Radical Faction frowned at once.

Tekka couldn't help asking, "Why?"

Shin-getsu looked at him.

"Because we have no evidence."

"If we accuse someone outright without evidence, they'll turn around and accuse us of slandering the village leadership and trying to sow discord."

Tekka froze.

Shin-getsu said, "But we can demand an investigation."

"A public investigation."

"Have Lord Hokage personally promise to see it through."

"Let the whole village know that someone broke into the Uchiha Clan Grounds last night and nearly abducted a nine-year-old child to use as a sample."

"If someone tries to bury this, then they'll first have to explain why the villagers shouldn't be allowed to know about it."

Silence fell over the Shrine once more.

This time, it wasn't the silence of anger.

It was one of shock.

Even Fugaku looked at Shin-getsu differently.

This was a vicious move.

What the Uchiha lacked most right now was a voice.

The Konoha High Command had always kept the Uchiha isolated from the villagers, allowing fear and prejudice against them to take root.

What would the villagers think if last night's events became public?

A nine-year-old child had been taken as a test subject.

Even if they disliked the Uchiha, they would instinctively feel uneasy.

Because today it could be the Uchiha.

Would another clan be next tomorrow?

The Hyuga?

The Inuzuka?

The Aburame?

An ordinary civilian shinobi?

Once something like this was brought into the open, the Konoha High Command could no longer easily brush it aside in the name of "the greater good."

And if the Third Hokage forcibly suppressed the news, the Uchiha would have even more reason to suspect the High Command had something to hide.

Uchiha Tekka's eyes lit up.

"Good!"

"Shin-getsu is right!"

"We'll demand a public investigation!"

"Let's see if they dare investigate!"

One of the clan elders slowly nodded as well.

"This child makes a good point."

"Direct confrontation is unwise, but we can't keep staying silent like we have in the past."

"A public investigation is one way to handle this."

Shisui looked at Shin-getsu, shaken.

He'd thought Shin-getsu would inflame the conflict.

But he hadn't expected Shin-getsu's solution to be calmer than many adults' would have been.

No direct action.

No direct accusations.

But every step put the pressure back on the Konoha High Command.

This wasn't a reckless act of revenge.

It was a calculated move.

Itachi was equally conflicted.

He suddenly realized that if there were more people like Shin-getsu within the Uchiha, perhaps things wouldn't necessarily end in the worst possible way.

But at the same time, a faint unease stirred within him.

Because Shin-getsu was too sharp.

Sharp enough that, if he ever lost control, he could cut a lot of people.