Danzo's Apprehension

"Next time we meet, it's not certain who will win or lose," Uchiha Gray said indifferently.

From the depths of the forest, Uchiha Obito's final words echoed out.

"Our organization is likely beyond anything you can imagine; within our ranks, there exist gods!"

Uchiha Obito vanished completely.

Uchiha Gray wore a faint, inscrutable smile.

It was merely that the duration of his Kamui had expired.

If the fight had continued, Uchiha Obito would have truly been injured, and the battle had already drawn the attention of several Leaf ninja.

Under the perception of his Sage Body, he sensed over a dozen ninja rushing toward them!

"Gray, what happened here?"

The first to arrive was, as always, Uchiha Shisui.

Uchiha Shisui's pupils constricted. What on earth had transpired?

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of trees had been burned to ash.

The grass on the ground had been scorched away, and countless trees throughout the forest were still ablaze!

An ordinary ninja would never possess such a volume of chakra; there was no doubt this was the result of Gray's ninjutsu!

"It was a masked ninja. I was in the middle of training when he suddenly appeared and tried to recruit me as his subordinate, but I refused," Uchiha Gray said calmly.

"We ended up fighting. He possessed a very strange ninjutsu that allowed him to shift his body into a void, making him impossible to hit, so I had no choice but to keep casting ninjutsu to exhaust his chakra."

Uchiha Gray spoke with breezy nonchalance.

However, Uchiha Shisui's expression turned to one of utter shock; he was completely dumbfounded.

"You kept releasing ninjutsu just to drain the opponent's chakra?"

Uchiha Shisui was left speechless.

Only someone with Gray's terrifyingly massive chakra reserves could cast ninjutsu so recklessly. For any other ninja, wasn't ninjutsu their most powerful trump card and their decisive weapon?

Everyone else had to carefully choose the perfect timing and the most efficient method to use their techniques.

But for Gray, he could cast them whenever he pleased.

Uchiha Gray felt the chakra within his body; excellent, in just this short time, his reserves had already fully recovered!

"Let's go!"

Uchiha Shisui felt a sense of helplessness.

With that, the two of them instantly departed and disappeared from sight.

Both had mastered high-speed Body Flicker Techniques, and that was not to mention that Uchiha Gray also possessed the ability template of Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit.

Evading a dozen chunin and a few jonin was child's play for him.

The searching ninja cast a wide net, but they failed to find any trace of Uchiha Shisui or Gray.

The two moved with lightning speed, vanishing in an instant.

"What on earth happened here!?"

The ninja wearing a fox mask looked on in shock; this was damage no human should be capable of inflicting.

It had practically altered the terrain of the Forest of Death!

"Is this really the amount of chakra a human can possess?" Hatake Kakashi felt the thin reserves of chakra within his own body, a flicker of envy crossing his eyes.

"This is definitely the level of chakra only a Kage-level powerhouse could possess, and this battle scene is certainly not the work of an ordinary ninja. I must report this to the Third Hokage immediately," Hatake Kakashi analyzed calmly.

After searching the area, he found no critical clues.

The power of the ninjutsu used had been too great and the range too vast; even if there had been clues, they had all been burned away.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!"

The sound of wind being pierced rang out.

Several ninja exuding cold, icy chakra appeared.

Their eyes were vacant, as if they were dead men. After coldly observing the area, they left immediately.

Hatake Kakashi glanced at them indifferently.

These were Root ninja, the subordinates of Danzo.

They possessed great strength, yet they lacked their own thoughts.

Naturally, they had no concept of comrades.

He sighed. Hadn't he once been the same?

But this was clearly not the time to dwell on that; Hatake Kakashi refocused his mind.

He headed rapidly toward the Hokage Building.

Root.

The Root ninjas who had just returned knelt before Danzo and said respectfully, "Lord Danzo, we have just conducted a sweep of the area, and no clues were left behind at the scene."

"However, based on our previous surveillance of the Forest of Death, Uchiha Gray has entered and exited the forest!"

"Per your orders, we have been monitoring Uchiha Gray at all times. We saw him enter the Forest of Death with our own eyes, yet we never saw him come out. Furthermore, we just searched the entire Forest of Death and found no trace of Uchiha Gray."

"Therefore, it is possible that everything that occurred in the Forest of Death was caused by Uchiha Gray!"

Danzo's eyes turned vicious and sinister. "Uchiha Gray is a variable!"

He had originally harbored doubts about Uchiha Shisui's strength, which was why he had notified Orochimaru about Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Gray leaving the village.

Yet, a few days later, not only Uchiha Shisui but even Uchiha Gray had returned unscathed.

He knew Orochimaru's strength well; as a veteran Kage-level powerhouse, he had to admit that even he could not defeat Orochimaru.

And yet, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Gray had returned safely!

However, the Root ninjas he had dispatched had not returned!

This cast a shroud of fog over the entire incident.

Orochimaru, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Gray were all alive, but his own Root ninjas were dead. What could be the reason for this?

Before he could dwell on it further, Orochimaru, in a fit of rage, sent him a message that chilled him to the bone.

Because he had deceived Orochimaru, he was now required to pay him one billion in compensation!

Otherwise, Orochimaru would refuse to help him craft the Wood Release Sharingan Arm!

That man Orochimaru was bleeding him dry!

But the side that held the technology held the initiative, and given Orochimaru's terrifying strength, he had no way to threaten him.

Danzo had no choice but to hand over the one billion.

But this also made him harbor a deep, absolute hatred for Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Gray!

"Could it be that this brat was hiding his strength during the genin exams!?"

Danzo's eyes shifted; only this explanation fit perfectly!

"That brat Uchiha Gray must have awakened his Sharingan, and it is possible he has already unlocked the Two-Tomoe Sharingan!"

"Although Orochimaru didn't reveal much information about Uchiha Gray, this is the only scenario in which he could have escaped from Orochimaru's clutches!"

As he speculated about Uchiha Gray, cold sweat began to stream down Danzo's back.

Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Gray, Uchiha Itachi.

The Uchiha clan now possessed three genius ninjas.

Uchiha Shisui was already a Kage-level powerhouse, and the future Uchiha Gray and Uchiha Itachi would be at least Elite Jonin.

If Uchiha Gray and Uchiha Itachi were allowed to grow up, then no one in the entire Leaf would be able to stop the Uchiha clan, and by then, it would be impossible for him to ever become Hokage.

"This absolutely cannot be allowed. Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Gray, Uchiha Itachi—all three of you must die!"