Chapter 23

Sasuke replied, his face showing little expression. "I want to figure out how strong I'll have to be in the future before I can live my life in peace."

"From the looks of it, I'm still far off."

After he finished, he paused, his gaze sweeping around the people in the room, as if he had only just realized who they were. "Right, Lord Hokage, and all you seniors..."

"Are you all here to check on my injuries?"

Sasuke widened his eyes, his tone carrying a bit of innocence.

Uh—

The group was left a little awkward by the question, looking at one another. "All right, if there's anything to say, we'll talk outside."

"Let the kid recover properly."

After Hiruzen Sarutobi said that, he turned and walked out first.

The others could no longer keep lingering in the ward either.

After all, the injuries on Sasuke's body were real and plain to see. Anyone could tell they were not an act.

A few minutes later, the group gathered in the Police Force meeting room. "Danzo, you start. Tell us what you think of this matter."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat down, his expression darkening. "You said your Root Organization people were attacked by Uchiha?"

"Do you have evidence for that?"

Both sides had their own stories, but at the moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly leaning more toward the Uchiha side.

The main reason was that Danzo's story simply did not hold water.

He had actually said that Uchiha Sasuke and Shisui Uchiha had joined forces and killed the elites of his Root Organization!

And Hiruzen Sarutobi knew those dead men!

Never mind Sasuke being there to drag him down. Even if Shisui Uchiha had been alone, for him to forcefully kill four elites inside Uchiha territory without leaving the slightest trace...

Was that possible?

Even if those four could not beat Shisui, could they not run?

When Hiruzen Sarutobi asked him that, Danzo froze on the spot.

Brother, this script is wrong!

By all logic, shouldn't you be standing on my side without even thinking, then helping me investigate the Uchiha Clan?

Danzo silently complained in his heart.

But there was no way he could say those words out loud. "Is Lord Danzo perhaps unsure where to begin?"

Uchiha Fugaku spoke, his tone unhurried. "Then let me ask you a few questions."

"Why did four members of your Root Organization appear in the core area of my Uchiha Clan Compound?"

"Why, when they appeared, did unidentified ninja just happen to make a move against my son?"

"And why are you so certain that those people's deaths have something to do with my Sasuke?"

Uchiha Fugaku was no fool.

On the contrary, his mind was extremely clear.

The reason his performance had been unsatisfactory in the past was because Konoha's higher-ups had been united as one, all suppressing the Uchiha.

No matter how smart he was, he could not withstand being surrounded on all sides.

But things were different now.

What Hiruzen Sarutobi had said just now had already made it clear that a rift had appeared between him and Danzo. "Minister Fugaku also discovered enemies who infiltrated Konoha?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head, his gaze landing on Fugaku.

With a dark expression, Danzo dropped a sentence: "This matter has nothing to do with the Uchiha."

"The four of them most likely fell into someone else's ambush."

"My attitude earlier was problematic. I admit it. After I go back, I'll investigate this thoroughly."

After saying that, he turned and left, his steps urgent and heavy.

Uchiha Natsume raised a hand to stop him, but Shisui pressed down on his shoulder.

Being able to force Danzo this far was already a victory. "Lord Hokage, there's no problem on our side either."

"If you think anything is off, just say it directly."

As soon as Danzo left, Uchiha Fugaku turned his face and looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Making Danzo lower his head and admit fault already meant they had gained the upper hand.

Uchiha Fugaku had no intention of chasing after him relentlessly. If you ate too fast, you could choke.

Even if there were still knots in his heart, he had to press them down for now. "You're the head of the Police Force. There are some things you also have the authority to investigate."

"You'd best uncover something real."

"Since there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

"If anything new comes up, come find me at any time."

"Have Sasuke rest well. Those two sons of yours are each more talented than the last. Don't let that go to waste."

Hiruzen Sarutobi casually exchanged a few words like family talk, then left with the Anbu.

Only after everyone had left did Uchiha Fugaku let out a long breath. "You all go rotate shifts first."

"Shisui, you stay. I have something to ask you."

Uchiha Fugaku sat down and gave a direct order. "All right."

"Yes, Minister."

"Let's go."

The Police Force members left the room one after another.

Shisui stood there, a hint of confusion on his face.

The matter was clearly over, so why had he been kept behind alone?

"Shisui, you said just now that Sasuke killed two Root Organization members by himself?" Uchiha Fugaku threw out the question that had been sitting in his heart.

He had heard about this long ago.

But... forget seeing such a thing with his own eyes. He had never even heard of it.

A child who was only five years old, who had only entered the Ninja Academy a few months ago, had killed Anbu?

"I'm not too clear on the specifics either."

"When I arrived, those two were already dead."

"The remaining two had been so suppressed by Sasuke's aura that they didn't dare move."

"And mentally, there seemed to be some problems too... so I think Sasuke should have done it himself."

Shisui recounted the situation from start to finish.

But even as those words came out of his mouth, he himself felt they were absurd.

No matter who heard it, they would think it was made up. "All right, I understand."

"You go get busy too."

Uchiha Fugaku waved his hand and sent Shisui away as well.

He sat alone in front of his desk, no one knew what he was thinking.

At the same time, over at the Root Organization. "Bang!"

"Bang!"

Inside the room, things were smashed all over the place.

The Root Organization members standing nearby did not dare breathe loudly.

They were afraid that if any movement of theirs was wrong, they would anger Danzo and become his punching bag. "Those Uchiha really think they're something?"

"They're nothing but dogs on Sarutobi's leash, yet they still dare act so pleased with themselves..."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, looks like you're dead set on going against me."

"Then—"

A sinister smile surfaced on Danzo's face.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's office, his expression so dark it seemed water might drip from it.

He had originally thought that the first person he would see upon returning would be Danzo. After all, today he had clearly sided with the Uchiha, and that old thing Danzo definitely would not be able to hold back his anger. But he waited and waited, and did not even see a shadow of him.

What the hell was that old bastard up to?

"Lord Hokage, after Lord Danzo left, he returned directly to the Root Organization base and has not come out since."

An Anbu ninja appeared silently in front of the desk and reported everything he had found in full detail. "Understood."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows twisted into a tight knot.

When things went against the norm, there had to be something wrong. The quieter Danzo was, the more uneasy he felt. That guy might be plotting something crooked. Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind spun rapidly a few times, and he roughly guessed what Danzo intended to do.

The undercurrents among the higher-ups had been pushed into the open all at once because of today's incident. The conflict would probably erupt very soon.

—

On the other side, this time's ** **—Uchiha Sasuke was curled up in the Police Force's care room. "Dad, this stuff isn't enough for me to eat. I just finished a fight and used up too much energy. I need a proper meal to replenish myself. Look at my injuries. Once I eat my fill, they'll naturally heal. Oh right, give me three more servings of that meat roll. It tastes pretty good."

Sasuke's mouth was stuffed full, and as he chewed, he made demands.

Uchiha Fugaku stood beside him, the black lines on his face practically falling to the floor.

Who had ever seen someone become this able to eat after awakening a kekkei genkai?

What was even more absurd was that Sasuke was not talking nonsense. Ever since the day his appetite had increased sharply, his talent and strength had been shooting upward like a rocket. Even his brain worked better than before. The depth and breadth of his thinking were nothing like a child's at all.

The trouble caused this time had made even Uchiha Fugaku start doubting life.

He had even thought more than once—was this thing really his own son?

Only after fussing until the next morning did Sasuke finally eat his fill. The injuries on his body were more or less healed too. "Dad, you must have a belly full of questions you want to ask me, right? Ask whatever you want."

Sasuke climbed out of bed, put on his clothes, and strolled into Uchiha Fugaku's office. "Those two people yesterday..."

"I killed them. Of course, I also paid a small price."

"How did you..."

"By relying on my kekkei genkai, plus the observational power of the Sharingan. Something like that wasn't hard."

"The specifics..."

"I can't say. Anyway, those people are completely dead. No one knows I did it."

"No, that's not right. Brother Shisui knows. How about it, Dad? Should we take care of Brother Shisui too?"

The conversation came to an abrupt end there.

Uchiha Fugaku did not dare keep asking. He was afraid that if he asked a few more questions, Sasuke, this little brat, would have a screw come loose and even want to silence his own father.

The questioning stopped, but Sasuke still could not leave for the time being.

He had been badly injured last night. If he went bouncing around full of life today, he would definitely draw Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention. Sasuke could only ask for leave and sit helplessly in the care room, closing his eyes to refine chakra.

Before long, Itachi returned.

That was right. The reason Itachi had not shown up earlier was because he had gone to help Sasuke ask for leave. "I'm fine now."

Sasuke raised his head and, before Itachi could speak, directly threw out a question. "Big Brother, who in the village is most likely to lay ** against our clan?"

"Root."

Itachi barely hesitated before the answer slipped out. "This incident was most likely because Root learned about my talent and wanted to get me over to their side."

Itachi leaned by the window. Sasuke stared into his eyes and spoke word by word. "Brother, there are some things we both know in our hearts. If you don't have real ability in your hands, you can only be pinned to the ground and bullied."

"It's not like if you avoid them and take a few steps back on your own, they'll let you off."

Sasuke began unleashing that talk no jutsu of his on Itachi again.

Honestly, trying to straighten out this brother's head was no easier than that time Naruto went to persuade Nagato.

The reason Sasuke chose this time to lay things bare was because he had glanced at the emergency mission in the system—that thing was still there.

In other words, the Root Organization people had not stopped yet.

Based on his understanding of the system, this kind of mission would usually disappear automatically once the trouble was resolved. Unless... the other side was going to make another move against him in the short term. Otherwise, by all logic, it should have gone quiet long ago.

So now—he had to properly wash ** Uchiha Itachi.

This was no ordinary hitter.

At a critical moment, he was even more useful than Shisui.

At first, the brothers were still discussing serious business, but as they chatted, the topic drifted to ninjutsu, genjutsu, and chakra, and in the end, it turned straight into random nonsense mode.

Still, it could be seen that both of them enjoyed this atmosphere quite a bit. By the time they finished talking, both were in pretty good moods. "Sasuke!"

A familiar voice suddenly came from the doorway.

A blond head, and the door was shoved open hard—who else could it be but Naruto?

Several people followed behind him: Rock Lee, Hyuga Hinata, and Hyuga Neji. "Sorry for disturbing you. I'm Hyuga Neji, Sasuke's friend."

Neji spoke quite politely and explained why they had come. "We heard he got hurt while training, so we stopped by after school to check on him."

Sasuke waved his hand. "It's nothing serious. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

"You all chat first. I'll go bring some fruit over."

Itachi smiled gently, then turned and walked out.

A few minutes later. "Enough, Naruto. You've checked me over and over several times. I'm really fine."

Sasuke had been touched all over by Naruto for several rounds and was nearly annoyed to death.

Even if he was moved at heart, he still could not help wanting to beat this guy up.

It was one thing that he could not find anything wrong, but he had actually wanted to pull down Sasuke's pants, saying he had to see whether that deep-sea giant eel or whatever had been injured...

"Sasuke, how did you get hurt this badly while training?"

Neji finally spoke.

At first, he had found it strange. No matter how he looked at the injuries on Sasuke's body, they did not seem like something left from training.

After he opened his Byakugan and took a look, he became even more certain of his guess—

Those were battle injuries, not training injuries. "You saw through it?"

Sasuke tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Actually, I was doing practical combat training with a senior from the clan, a simulated battle."

"And then... I just got a little injured, hehe."

He directly steered the topic away.