Explosion

The Anbu Sealing Ninja did not answer.

The Anbu captain said slowly, "Recording is permitted."

Tekka sneered.

"Continue."

The stone gate did not open immediately.

According to the agreement between both parties, the scene could not be arbitrarily disturbed.

Therefore, they first searched for traces around the stone gate.

Soon, Uchiha Yashiro discovered a bit of fabric fiber in the lower right corner of the stone gate.

Dark gray.

Extremely fine.

It looked like a fragment torn from a hem by the stone crevice.

Tekka's eyes lit up.

"Seal it."

The Anbu captain also saw that fiber.

His expression shifted slightly.

The color and material were very similar to the lining of Root combat uniforms.

Of course, the Anbu also had similar fabric.

But the problem was that the Hokage's direct Anbu had not sent anyone into the Uchiha compound last night.

If this matter continued to be investigated, it would become very troublesome.

He finally understood why the Hokage's face had looked so grim yesterday.

This secret passage was likely truly related to Danzo.

Fugaku had remained silent the entire time.

But his gaze grew increasingly cold.

He did not need to obtain an order signed by Danzo right now.

These traces were enough for the Uchiha to see one thing clearly.

Someone had been operating on the periphery of the Uchiha compound for a long time.

Someone had used the Anbu system's sealing techniques to maintain the passage.

Someone had evacuated from here last night.

Someone had attempted to eavesdrop on Shin-getsu.

Connecting these clues, the so-called "enemy village spy" theory no longer held water.

Unless an enemy village spy was more familiar with the Konoha Anbu system than the high-ranking officials of Konoha themselves.

The group returned to the fork in the road and entered another passage.

This passage was deeper and older.

The walls were heavy with moisture.

After walking several dozen meters, a small underground space appeared ahead.

The space was not large.

However, it contained some old wooden crates, a damaged ninja tool rack, and a record board that had already been burned.

The paper on the record board had turned to ash.

Clearly, someone had cleaned it out in advance.

But no matter how rushed the cleanup, it was impossible to be completely clean.

Inabi crouched down and inspected the bottom of the wooden crates.

"Ninja tools and scrolls were stored here."

Tekka asked, "Can you determine the timeframe?"

"Someone moved them recently."

Inabi pointed to the dust marks on the ground.

"The old dust was compressed, indicating the crates were moved not long ago."

The Anbu captain looked at that underground space, and his heart sank as well.

This was no longer just an ordinary secret passage.

It was an underground surveillance outpost.

Located right on the periphery of the Uchiha compound.

If this matter were to be completely exposed, the Hokage Building would be in a very passive position.

Tekka suddenly walked over to the charred record board.

He stared at the pile of ashes and sneered:

"Burned quite clean."

"Too bad, it's too clean."

The Anbu captain looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Tekka said, "If this place were truly an abandoned facility, the record board should have rotted and gathered dust long ago."

"But the record board has been freshly burned."

"This suggests someone came in specifically to clean it up last night or even earlier."

"If it's an abandoned facility, why bother cleaning it?"

The Anbu captain fell silent.

Tekka wrote this statement directly into the scroll.

The record board in the underground space was recently incinerated, suspected to be an intentional destruction of records.

After finishing, Tekka still felt it wasn't enough, so he added another line at the end:

Anbu personnel were present and offered no effective rebuttal.

The corner of the Anbu captain's eye twitched slightly.

This Uchiha Tekka was clearly determined not to let a single word slide today.

But he had no way to stop him.

Because what the other party wrote was the truth.

Fugaku looked around.

"Continue the search."

The group began to search the underground space carefully.

Soon, Uchiha Yashiro discovered a metal fragment embedded in the dirt in a corner.

The fragment was very small, like a piece of a broken ninja tool.

When the Anbu Sealing Ninja saw the object, his expression shifted noticeably.

Fugaku noticed it immediately.

"Do you recognize it?"

The Anbu Sealing Ninja remained silent.

Tekka stepped forward.

"I'm asking you a question."

The Anbu captain said slowly, "This is a fragment of an old-style Anbu Communication Needle."

Tekka's gaze turned icy.

"An old-style Anbu Communication Needle?"

"Very well."

He wrote it down on the scroll again.

A fragment of an old-style Anbu Communication Needle was discovered in the underground space.

After writing, Tekka looked up and asked, "Can this kind of thing also be leaked to enemy village spies?"

The Anbu captain did not answer.

Because this time, it was not easy to answer.

A jutsu could be explained as a leak.

Clothing could be dismissed as a coincidence.

But a fragment of an Anbu Communication Needle appearing in an underground stronghold on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound could not be easily explained away with a simple "leak."

Moreover, although the old-style Communication Needles had been phased out, they were primarily used within the Anbu in the past.

Root, of course, had used them as well.

Fugaku picked up the fragment and placed it into a sealing bag.

His movements were very slow.

But everyone around could feel the pressure radiating from him.

The Uchiha Clan Head was truly enraged.

Just then, a faint, unusual sound suddenly echoed from the depths of the passage.

Click.

The sound was faint.

But everyone present was a ninja, and they caught it instantly.

The Anbu captain's expression shifted.

"Not good!"

Inabi shouted at the same time, "The sealing formula has been triggered!"

At the four corners of the underground space, the runes that had previously gone dark suddenly glowed with a faint red light.

Tekka's face changed drastically.

"Someone is detonating the evidence remotely!"

The Anbu Sealing Ninja immediately formed hand seals.

"Seal!"

Inabi also struck at the same time.

Two streams of chakra pressed down simultaneously toward the runes at the four corners.

But the runes brightened rapidly.

Clearly, this was a cleanup technique set up long ago.

Once someone investigated the core area, it would automatically destroy any remnants.

Or, someone was triggering it remotely from the outside.

Boom!

A muffled sound echoed.

A wall in the deepest part of the underground space exploded.

It wasn't a massive blast.

Instead, it was a precise incineration.

The hidden compartment inside the wall was instantly swallowed by flames.

Whatever might have been hidden inside turned directly into black ash.

Tekka was furious.

"Bastards!"

The Anbu captain's expression also darkened.

At this point, even he could no longer cover for the other party.

If this was an abandoned passage, why would there be an automatic destruction technique?

If it were merely a spy from an enemy village, why could they trigger it remotely while they were all investigating together?

This indicated that the person behind the secret passage had been monitoring the scene the entire time.

They even had the authority to trigger the seals here.

Fugaku did not shout in anger.

He simply watched the incinerated wall in silence.

The quieter he was, the more terrifying it felt.

A moment later, he spoke slowly:

"Record it."

Tekka gritted his teeth and wrote:

During the investigation, a hidden compartment in the underground space was automatically destroyed by a sealing technique.

Suspected remote triggering of cleanup measures.

Anbu present, unable to prevent it.

Uchiha Police Force present, unable to prevent it.

Evidence destroyed, responsibility to be investigated.

After finishing, he looked coldly at the Anbu captain.

"Can you still call this a coincidence?"

The Anbu captain remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he said in a low voice:

"I will report this matter truthfully to the Hokage."

Tekka sneered.

"I hope the Hokage can still manage to find a Cloud Village spy this time."

Fugaku raised a hand.

"Enough."

Tekka finally shut his mouth.

Fugaku looked toward the Anbu captain.

"Continue to seal off the scene."

"Make two copies of all discovered evidence."

"One for the Uchiha Police Force, and one for the Hokage's direct Anbu."

"The destruction of the jutsu residue shall be jointly sealed by both parties."

The Anbu captain nodded.

"Agreed."

The investigation lasted for two full hours.

In the end, both sides confirmed several key facts.

First, the secret passage had been used and maintained recently.

Second, there were traces of Anbu-system sealing jutsu residue inside the secret passage.

Third, the underground space was suspected to be a long-term base.

Fourth, there were traces of recent destruction records at the scene.

Fifth, fragments of an old-style Anbu Communication Needle were discovered.

Sixth, a hidden compartment was automatically destroyed by a sealing jutsu during the investigation process.

Taken together, these six points were enough to make the Uchiha completely blow their tops.