The Root of the Hidden Leaf

Near the southeastern edge of the Hidden Leaf Village lay a vast underground world.

Darkness, dampness, and silence defined this place, though the occasional drip-drip of water would sound and echo endlessly.

This was the base of Root, controlled by Danzo Shimura.

A broad, cross-shaped stone bridge spanned the courtyard at the heart of Root's deeply buried base, linking every part of the enormous underground complex.

A thick stone pillar rising from even deeper underground supported the bridge.

At the center of the bridge stood a massive circular platform.

Danzo Shimura, who had just had a fierce argument with Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood quietly at the center of the platform in thought. Strange glints continuously flickered in his gloomy eyes beneath the dim light.

His display in the Hokage's office had certainly contained genuine anger, but comparatively speaking, more of it had been a performance with his acting pushed to the limit.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen through his little schemes at a glance, he also understood his close friend Hiruzen Sarutobi extremely well.

He needed nothing else. Merely from changes in Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression and tone, he could roughly guess what the man was thinking.

Therefore...

He had been probing him.

Through a half-real, half-fake angry quarrel, he had stirred Hiruzen Sarutobi's emotions, making it easier to reach the correct judgment.

And, as expected, his probing had uncovered Hiruzen Sarutobi's true thoughts.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone, expression, and every other aspect had seemed perfectly normal, Danzo Shimura, who knew Hiruzen Sarutobi better than the man knew himself, understood very clearly that this apparent normality was precisely the greatest abnormality.

It was not as though he had never asked Hiruzen Sarutobi for Uchiha Clan ninjas to join Root before.

Though he had ultimately failed to get what he wanted, Hiruzen Sarutobi had made certain concessions and compensated him elsewhere.

But just now, Hiruzen Sarutobi would rather argue with him than hand anyone over.

That resolute refusal to hand anyone over was so firm that it hardly seemed like him...

As his close friend, Danzo Shimura knew perfectly well what Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of the Uchiha Clan.

But ordinary Uchiha could not possibly bear Hiruzen Sarutobi's "expectations" and "hopes." Otherwise, after Uchiha Kagami's "disappearance," the Hidden Leaf's upper ranks would not have made no progress whatsoever in their relationship with the Uchiha Clan for so many years.

Yet an Uchiha named Yin Jie, merely a child who had recently returned to the Uchiha Clan and joined the Hidden Leaf Village, had drawn such importance from Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Hokage had even directly warned him not to entertain any ideas. That could prove only one thing.

The intelligence he had received was true!

Originally, he had not put much faith in that somewhat outrageous intelligence. After all, he had inherited and carried forward his teacher Tobirama Senju's hostility toward the Uchiha Clan, and quite a few of Tobirama Senju's research materials on the Uchiha Clan had fallen into his hands.

Thus, he knew many of the Uchiha Clan's secrets, such as the approximate age at which Uchiha Madara, the man known as the "Asura of the Shinobi World," had awakened his eyes.

So he simply did not believe that an Uchiha could awaken the Sharingan at the age of six, with one eye already possessing two tomoe.

But now, Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude left him no choice but to believe that the Uchiha Clan had indeed produced an extraordinarily gifted child.

"Heh..."

Danzo Shimura's expression was calm and cold as an imperceptible sneer curled at his lips. "Uchiha Yin Jie..."

Time passed swiftly.

More than three months had passed since Yin Jie returned to the Uchiha Clan and the Hidden Leaf Village, and the Ninja Academy was about to begin its term.

During that time, Tsunade, Uchiha Yasashiro, and the others had each briefly returned to the Hidden Leaf Village after successfully completing their missions.

Uchiha Yasashiro had also taken advantage of that free time to teach Yin Jie the Uchiha Clan's shuriken-throwing technique, which was likewise famous throughout the shinobi world.

However, because both her son and daughter-in-law had died beneath Sakumo Hatake's White Fang Short Blade, Chiyo had gone completely mad. She personally led a large force of reinforcements in a sudden, fierce assault on the Hidden Leaf's defensive line, causing the pressure on the Hidden Leaf's side to surge. Within just a few days, they suffered massive casualties.

As a result, Tsunade, Uchiha Yasashiro, and the others hurriedly returned to the front lines to provide support, finally stabilizing the precarious situation on the battlefield.

The war between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand Village once again fell into a stalemate.

As far as the Uchiha Clan was concerned, both Elder Uchiha Zong and Clan Head Uchiha Xuan had intended to wait until Yin Jie turned seven. They wanted him to develop a stronger bond with the clan and complete the clan's education before entering the Ninja Academy.

If the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had not forcibly required every shinobi clan to send their children to study alongside civilians when he first established the Ninja Academy—and had the Senju Clan set the example—these shinobi clans, including the Uchiha Clan, would still have preferred to educate their own children themselves.

After all, the Ninja Academy... those who knew, knew. It could not teach anything important at all.

But unfortunately, this genius child of the Uchiha Clan, Yin Jie, had not only drawn the Uchiha Clan's attention. He had also caught the eye of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who wanted to cultivate a new "bridge."

Thus, without consulting the Uchiha Clan, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled the rug out from under them. He directly sent down an official notice and added Uchiha Yin Jie's name to this year's list of new Ninja Academy students.

By the time the Uchiha Clan discovered it, everything had already been settled.

Elder Uchiha Zong and Clan Head Uchiha Xuan could only wear bitter expressions and reluctantly thank the Hokage for attaching such importance to a child of their Uchiha Clan.

After all, they could not completely tear off all pretenses over such a "minor matter"...

And so, with a baffled look on his face, Yin Jie received a notice from Uchiha Fugaku that he was to attend the Ninja Academy the next day.