Hyuga's Fear? Public Bounty Warrant! The Whole Village Shaken to Its Core

Tsunade sat behind the blood-soaked desk without saying a word. She only picked up the brush on the table, dipped it full of red cinnabar, and wrote Danzo's name heavily on the blank wanted notice.

In less than half an hour, an S-rank wanted notice bearing the Hokage's seal was nailed hard onto the most conspicuous central bulletin board in Hidden Leaf Village by several Anbu ninja.

It was early morning, and the streets were crowded with vendors and ninja heading to hand in and receive missions. The area before the bulletin board was instantly packed with people. A chunin wearing glasses at the very front read out the words on it, his voice growing louder and louder until it even cracked into a scream.

"Hidden Leaf elder Shimura Danzo is suspected of secretly slaughtering ninja of the same village and wantonly plundering the Uchiha Clan's kekkei genkai. His crimes are heinous. He is hereby stripped of all positions and designated an S-rank rogue ninja. Dead or alive, the bounty is... fifty million ryo!"

After a brief silence, the crowd boiled over like a pan of exploding oil, the surging roar of voices nearly overturning the bulletin board.

"What kind of joke is this?! Lord Danzo was the Third Hokage's comrade-in-arms, one of the village's elders!" a vegetable-selling uncle shouted at the top of his lungs, the basket in his hand dropping to the ground.

"Didn't you see it says he plundered the Uchiha Clan's kekkei genkai?! Then six years ago, was that massacre not done by Itachi Uchiha alone, but by the village elders..." Another young genin stopped halfway through, hurriedly covering his mouth as he looked around in terror.

The news spread through every street and alley of Konoha as if it had grown wings, taking less than two hours to reach even the high-walled compounds of the major ninja clans.

In the spacious courtyard of the Hyuga Clan, the morning mist had yet to disperse. The current clan head, Hiashi Hyuga, wore a loose kimono and stood on the wooden corridor. Several branch-family experts knelt on one knee below the steps, their faces grave.

"Clan head, the rumors outside have gone mad. That Uchiha Yuan, who was supposed to have been dead for six years, not only came back to life, he even stormed into the Hokage Building alone. Lady Tsunade even issued Danzo's wanted notice directly according to his wishes," a branch-family ninja reported with his head lowered.

Hiashi stared at the withered leaves drifting down in the courtyard with those Byakugan eyes and said nothing for a long time. His hands were clasped behind his back, but his fingers unconsciously clenched tight. The feeling of dread he had felt when the Uchiha were annihilated six years ago surged back into his heart. If they could dig out Sharingan today, could they dig out the Byakugan of the Hyuga tomorrow?

"Pass down the order." Hiashi turned around, his tone stern. "The Hyuga Clan will fully pull back its defenses for the time being and cancel all nonessential outside missions. Remember, the Uchiha's affairs have nothing to do with us Hyuga. No one is allowed to say a single extra word outside!"

Elsewhere, in a private room at the secluded Barbecue Q in Hidden Leaf Village, the heads of the three Ino-Shika-Cho families sat around the grill.

Slices of meat sizzled and dripped oil on the wire mesh, but Choza Akimichi, who usually loved meat the most, had not even touched his chopsticks. Inoichi Yamanaka held a wine cup, his brows twisted into a knot as he looked at Nara Shikaku, who sat across from him smoking.

"Shikaku, you were at the scene. Just how far has that Uchiha Yuan reached?" Inoichi asked in a low voice.

Shikaku exhaled a choking smoke ring, picked up his chopsticks, and moved the charred slice of meat to the plate beside him. "Unfathomable. What's even more terrifying is the killing aura on him. I watched with my own eyes as he threw the arm of the Third Surveillance Team's leader onto Lady Tsunade's desk. When Orochimaru defected back then, he was insane, but he had reservations. But this Yuan... there are no rules in his eyes, no village. Only revenge."

"Then how should we state our position?" Choza rubbed his round belly, feeling a little uneasy.

"Do nothing." Shikaku tapped the plate with his chopsticks. "This is the evil the higher-ups committed back then. This fire won't burn onto our heads. Ordinary ninja families can only play deaf and dumb right now. Whoever dares stand in front of that killer god will be crushed into mincemeat."

While undercurrents raged outside, the old Uchiha clan grounds were strangely calm.

Sasuke sat on a broken stone pillar. This place had once been the busiest assembly square of the Uchiha Clan. He clenched a small wanted notice that had just been blown over by the wind, printed with Danzo's gloomy face.

He did not cry. Ever since the day he had buried Yuan with his own hands six years ago, his tears had run dry. He stared fixedly at the words on the paper, the scene of that rainy night and the blood-dripping blade in Itachi's hand replaying again and again in his mind. So the murderers were not only Itachi, but also these Konoha elders with mouths full of benevolence and righteousness!

"Sasuke, don't sit where the wind is blowing," Aunt Mihui's gentle voice came from behind him.

Sasuke turned his head. Aunt Mihui had already taken off those old, shabby clothes and changed into a clean set of homewear. Her hair was neatly combed, and though the white strands could not be hidden, her mental state was completely different from when she had been in that ruined house yesterday. She held a thick booklet in her hand and was registering supplies.

Not only her—around them, more than a dozen surviving elderly, weak, women, and children had all come out at this moment. A few slightly sturdier old men were holding brooms, clearing away the broken stones and weeds that had grown for six years across the square.

"Aunt Mihui, Brother Yuan..." Sasuke stood up, his voice a little hoarse.

"Your Brother Yuan went to handle proper business." Mihui closed the booklet, walked up to Sasuke, and tugged his collar into place for him. "Sasuke, Yuan was right. From today on, we don't have to hide anymore. We clung to life for six years. Now, I'm going to pick up the dignity that belongs to the Uchiha."

Mihui turned around and looked at the busy clansmen, her voice exceptionally firm. "In the past, I always felt that staying alive was enough. Now I understand. Only when we stand firm ourselves can Yuan swing his blade freely outside. I've already asked people to contact those distant relatives who scattered around the edges of the village. From today on, the Uchiha will rebuild the clan!"

On this stretch of ruins, a woman's resilience was like wild grass growing from the cracks in rock. Once it saw sunlight, it would grow wildly.

At the same time, in the abandoned commercial street in the northwest corner of Konoha.

Yuan withdrew his hand from his ninja tool pouch. Just now, he had gone to the black market and exchanged the few ninja tools he had taken from Danzo's base—worth little, but still somewhat valuable—for cash. He planned to return to the clan grounds and check on the progress of the rebuilding.

Just as he reached an intersection.

From the shadows at the street corner came the sound of blades being drawn in perfect unison.

There were no shouts, no nonsense. Thirty Anbu ninja wearing animal masks and gray uniforms rolled out from every direction like thirty emotionless shadows, directly blocking the intersection so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Their uniforms differed from the Anbu directly under the Hokage. There was an additional black pattern on their shoulders. These were the Root elites remaining in the village, or perhaps thugs sent by certain die-hard elder loyalists.

The leading Anbu held a long blade in his hand, its tip pointed straight at Yuan's nose.

"Uchiha Yuan. The village is not a place for you to run wild. Even if Lady Hokage issued the wanted notice under pressure, we will never acknowledge that a rebellious wretch like you can rampage through Konoha." The leader's voice came through the mask, sounding dull and cold.

Yuan stopped. The autumn wind lifted the hem of his tattered black trench coat. He looked at the thirty ninja waiting in strict formation and did not even show any intention of drawing the short blade on his back.

"You don't acknowledge me?" Yuan rolled his neck, his joints cracking with a sound that made one's teeth ache. The corner of his mouth slowly split into a savage curve. "Fine by me. I slept for six years, and that warm-up just now wasn't nearly enough. Since you're all rushing here to die, I happen to need a few sandbags."