The Source of the Rumors

"Let's go back."

"Don't rush to master the Lightning Style: Earth Flash scroll."

"For the next few days, just practice stabilizing your Lightning Chakra."

"If you insist on fooling around, I'll tell Lord Hokage to revoke your jutsu permit."

Shin-getsu said coolly, "Tattling?"

Kakashi replied with righteous confidence.

"Adults are allowed to exercise their authority."

Shin-getsu: "..."

The two left the Third Training Ground.

They had just reached the street corner when Shin-getsu's steps suddenly faltered slightly.

Kakashi stopped too.

"You noticed?"

Shin-getsu said quietly, "Someone's following us."

Kakashi drawled lazily, "They always are."

Shin-getsu looked at him.

"Not Anbu, and not Uchiha."

Kakashi's eyes shifted.

Shin-getsu didn't look back. He simply continued walking.

"To the rear right, beside the dango stall."

"A middle-aged man in gray."

"He has calluses on his hands, but he's no ordinary civilian."

"He's been around since we left the records room."

Kakashi still looked relaxed.

But his gaze had turned cold.

Of course he'd noticed the man too.

He just hadn't expected Shin-getsu to notice him as well.

The man had disguised himself quite well.

His chakra was suppressed, and his movements showed no obvious signs of being a shinobi.

Shin-getsu's alertness wasn't due to his Sharingan alone.

It also came from his habit of observation.

Kakashi asked, "How did you figure it out?"

Shin-getsu said, "He bought two skewers of dango, but didn't eat them."

"He kept his fingers around the middle of the bamboo skewers, where he could easily grip them to throw as Senbon."

"Also, when he looks at me, he avoids my eyes."

"Ordinary villagers usually look at a Uchiha's eyes."

"Only shinobi deliberately avoid them."

Kakashi fell silent for a second.

"You're really only nine?"

Shin-getsu answered calmly, "That's what my household registration says."

Kakashi was starting to get a headache.

That answer sounded even less like something a nine-year-old would say.

He lowered his voice. "Don't attack him."

Shin-getsu said, "I wasn't planning to."

"Then what are you planning to do?"

Shin-getsu said coolly, "Let him know I've spotted him."

Before Kakashi could react, Shin-getsu suddenly turned to look at the middle-aged man in gray.

His Two-Tomoe Sharingan activated in an instant.

His scarlet gaze cut through the crowd and landed precisely on the man.

The middle-aged man's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Only for a moment.

But it was enough.

Shin-getsu immediately turned away and continued walking.

Kakashi's gaze shifted.

"You did that on purpose?"

Shin-getsu said, "If he's with Root, he'll report back that I spotted him."

Kakashi asked, "What good will that do you?"

Shin-getsu replied calmly, "It'll make Danzo more anxious."

Kakashi stopped in his tracks.

At last, he couldn't help looking at Shin-getsu.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

Shin-getsu nodded.

"I do."

Kakashi's voice dropped.

"Pushing Danzo too far isn't a good idea."

Shin-getsu looked ahead.

"If I don't push him, does that mean he won't come after me?"

Kakashi fell silent.

Shin-getsu continued:

"From the moment he first sent people to capture me, there was no chance of reconciliation between us."

"The only difference is whether I passively wait for his next strike or make him expose more weaknesses when he attacks."

Kakashi frowned.

"You're too young."

Shin-getsu said coolly:

"The enemy won't spare me just because I'm young."

Kakashi fell silent again.

He had no answer.

Because that was the Shinobi World.

Age had never been a get-out-of-death-free card.

In fact, children were often easier to sacrifice than adults.

Kakashi thought of himself.

He thought of Obito and Rin.

They had been children when they went to war too.

But war wouldn't stop just because they were young.

When they reached the outskirts of the Uchiha Clan Grounds, Kakashi stopped.

"I can only take you this far."

Shin-getsu looked at him.

"Thanks for today."

Kakashi waved a hand.

"No need."

"I was ordered to keep an eye on you."

Shin-getsu said, "And you taught me the basics of Lightning Release."

Kakashi drawled lazily, "That was just a bonus."

With that, he turned to leave.

But after two steps, he stopped.

"Shin-getsu."

Shin-getsu looked up.

Kakashi didn't turn around. He simply said:

"Don't trust every voice within the Uchiha."

"And don't trust the Hokage Building too much."

"Above all, don't trust Root."

Shin-getsu's gaze shifted.

"Then who should I trust?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment.

"Trust what you've figured out for yourself."

With that, he used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared.

Shin-getsu stood where he was, watching the direction Kakashi had vanished in.

That was an interesting warning.

He wasn't completely on the Hokage's side.

He wasn't completely on the Uchiha's side.

And he certainly wasn't on Root's side.

Kakashi's position seemed more complicated than Shin-getsu had imagined.

That made sense.

After everything he'd been through, how could Kakashi still be nothing more than a tool that followed orders?

Shin-getsu looked away and entered the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

As soon as he entered, Tekka came over to meet him.

"You're back?"

Shin-getsu nodded.

Tekka glanced at the scroll in his hand.

"What did you choose?"

"Lightning Style: Earth Flash."

Tekka's eyes lit up.

"Not bad."

"The clan has Fire Style techniques. Lightning Release will fill in a gap."

Then he lowered his voice:

"I've got a lead on what you asked me to look into."

Shin-getsu's gaze sharpened.

"The source of the rumors?"

Tekka nodded.

"On the surface, a few young clan members have been spreading them."

"But the first person to say it was someone named Uchiha Shinsuke."

Shin-getsu asked, "Who is he?"

Tekka looked troubled.

"A peripheral member of the Police Force."

"Nothing special in terms of skill. Two-Tomoe Sharingan."

"He usually doesn't stand out."

"But lately, he's been spending a lot of time with the Radical Faction."

Shin-getsu continued, "Has he had any suspicious contact with anyone?"

Tekka said gravely:

"Yes."

"The day before we discovered the Secret Tunnel, he left the clan grounds for half an hour."

"He said he went to buy medicine."

"But we checked the pharmacies. He never went to any of them."

The corner of Shin-getsu's mouth lifted slightly.

"The fish has shown its head."

Tekka asked, "Should we arrest him now?"

Shin-getsu shook his head.

"Not yet."

Tekka frowned.

"Still waiting?"

Shin-getsu said, "There's no point in arresting a mere messenger."

"I want to know who's behind him."

Tekka lowered his voice. "The Root?"

Shin-getsu replied coolly, "It could also be the Root contacting him through an intermediary."

"If we arrest him outright, he can just say he heard it from someone else. At most, he'll be punished under clan rules."

"The Root won't suffer any real damage."

Tekka gritted his teeth.

"Then what do we do?"

Shin-getsu looked toward Naka Shrine in the distance.

"When's the next clan meeting?"

"Tonight," Tekka replied.

Shin-getsu nodded.

"Then tonight it is."

Tekka's gaze sharpened.

"You're going to confront him at the clan meeting?"

Shin-getsu spoke slowly.

"Not confront him."

"I'll make him expose himself."

Tekka looked at Shin-getsu and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

Every time this kid spoke in that calm tone, it meant someone was about to have a bad time.

Shin-getsu continued.

"At the clan meeting, someone will definitely suggest that I step forward."

"Some might even pressure the clan leader to take a more radical stance."

"When that happens, don't stop them."

Tekka frowned.

"What about you?"

A trace of coldness surfaced in Shin-getsu's eyes.

"I'll tell them this."

"What the Uchiha truly need isn't a banner driven by anger to its death."

"They need evidence and strength that can drive a blade into the enemy's heart."

Tekka was silent for a moment, then grinned.

"Good."

"Tonight, I'll watch you put on a show."

Shin-getsu didn't smile.

He knew tonight's clan meeting was crucial.

Danzo wanted to use public opinion to push him onto the pyre.

Then he would turn that fire back on the hand the Root had reached into the Uchiha from within.

He lowered his eyes to the Lightning Release Scroll in his hand.

Causality Points, resources, public opinion, strength.

All the threads were converging.

And his job was to drag out the puppeteer before those threads tangled into an inescapable knot.

Night fell.

Naka Shrine.

It was about to get lively again.