Chapter 46

The villagers around them simply refused to agree.

Someone shouted at the top of his lungs, and everyone swarmed in together, taking the man down in a few quick moves.

This guy was no ninja either. Even if he was a little sturdier than an ordinary person, he could not hold up against so many people. In just a couple of moves, he was pinned down tight. "Heh..."

"Those Uchiha fools are way too easy to trick."

"They just left the corpses here like this. In that case, don't mind if I do."

In the dark, chakra threads invisible to the naked eye emerged from a ninja's fingertips.

That was right. This guy was a puppet user.

Since Shisui had left, it was his turn to take the stage.

As long as he controlled the corpses to attack the villagers again, the bit of trust Shisui had spent all that effort building up just now would all go down the drain.

The corner of his mouth curled up, and the chakra threads suddenly whipped toward the two corpses. "Hmm?!"

This ninja was busy daydreaming about promotions and riches when the view before him suddenly darkened—a person had blocked his light. "You are..."

Bang!

Before he could finish, a fist slammed straight into his stomach.

With just that one blow, he passed out cold. "Sasuke was actually right."

"There are way too many guys hiding in the shadows."

"This job is a lot more troublesome than cooking."

The one standing there was none other than Susanoo, whom Sasuke had arranged in advance.

With Sasuke's current ability, he could not make much of a splash in a conflict of this scale.

But... Susanoo was different!

A dozen or so minutes later.

Inside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Nine hundred ninety-eight!"

"Nine hundred ninety-nine!"

Sasuke was lying on the ground doing weighted push-ups. After adding several pillars onto himself, the burden on his body had multiplied several times over.

He had no choice but to admire Rock Lee—wearing this stuff every day, did he really not find it annoying?

Of course, the results were indeed obvious. "Clap, clap, clap..."

As he was training, a burst of applause came from the distance. "Hmm?"

Sasuke slowly withdrew his strength and stood up.

Looking at the ninja walking over, he frowned. "Anbu?"

The other party was wearing a mask, and Sasuke was a little puzzled.

Logically speaking, shouldn't the Anbu all be guarding Hiruzen Sarutobi right now?

With such a huge mess, if that old man still did not show himself, there would be no excuse for it.

"Uchiha Sasuke, working pretty hard, aren't you?"

"Your talent is already that strong, yet you still refuse to rest."

"Speaking of which, didn't you say you were going to slack off?"

"Why are you training harder than anyone?"

A sinister voice came from that "Anbu's" mouth.

This feeling...

"Orochimaru?!"

Without another word, Sasuke stripped off all the weights on his body and activated Lightning God Mode straight away.

Although he could not figure out why Orochimaru had come here, it definitely was not for anything good.

Sasuke understood it perfectly well. The moment Orochimaru made a move, he had to run immediately.

With his current strength, going head-to-head with Orochimaru would be asking for death. "Tsk, I didn't expect you to still remember me."

"I'm in a bit of a hurry this time and can't take you away. Your Uchiha people are everywhere."

"But... I'll leave you with something that will make sure you never forget me for the rest of your life."

As soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, his hands formed seals at high speed, and he slammed them hard onto the ground.

In an instant, a transparent barrier rose out of thin air, directly trapping Sasuke inside.

After suffering last time, Orochimaru did not want anyone else running over to get in his way. "A barrier?!"

Sasuke's heart lurched.

They were too close. Even if he wanted to run, he could not get away.

Orochimaru's mouth suddenly opened wide, and his tongue shot out like a living snake.

It was absurdly fast. Even with Lightning God Mode active, Sasuke could not dodge it at all.

In the blink of an eye, that snake head had shoved right up to his face.

That oppressive force made Sasuke's entire body go rigid. He could not even move a finger.

He could even smell the foul stench from the snake's mouth in his nose. Bang!

Boom!

At that critical moment, the barrier that looked unbreakable was suddenly smashed apart by someone's punch.

Immediately after, a figure dropped down and punched that snake head straight into the ground. "Sasuke, are you all right?"

Susanoo's voice came from the side. "Sir..."

"You really came at the perfect time."

Sasuke sat down hard on the ground, his whole body relaxing. "It's you?!"

Orochimaru's tongue was still being grabbed. He looked up and froze.

Wasn't this the ruthless man who had beaten him half to death outside Konoha Village before?

This guy was actually connected to Sasuke?

Could it be that last time, it was also because he had tried to lay hands on Sasuke that this powerhouse had targeted him?

He was not one of the Uchiha!

Then who exactly was he?

Orochimaru's head was full of question marks, and Susanoo's mystery pressed down on him until he could barely breathe. "I didn't kill you last time. This time..."

"Hiss!"

Before Susanoo could finish speaking, a sudden pain struck his palm.

A Kusanagi Sword suddenly stabbed out of the snake head and sliced open his palm. "You think that little bit of pain is enough to break free?"

Bang!

Susanoo stomped down, and the ground split apart.

In the next second, his entire body appeared in front of Orochimaru like a ghost.

He swung his fist up and smashed it down hard.

Orochimaru's tongue was being gripped by someone, so he could not dodge at all, and he was blasted straight into the ground. "Ora, ora—"

What followed was a series of fists crashing down like a torrential rain. "That's enough, Mr. Susanoo."

"That guy has already run off."

Susanoo was still smashing away when Sasuke suddenly spoke.

He could no longer sense Orochimaru's chakra, and the barrier around them was gone too.

That guy had most likely used some crooked method to slip away. "He ran?"

"Sasuke, come out with me. It's too unsafe for you to stay here alone."

Susanoo frowned, looking at Sasuke with some concern.

He had originally caught a puppeteer and wanted to bring him back for Sasuke to take a look.

He had not expected to run right into this situation.

If he had arrived one step later, Sasuke might already have been branded with Orochimaru's curse mark.

Susanoo told Sasuke to come with him, but Sasuke shook his head.

Sasuke picked up the pillars on the ground and slowly put them back on himself. "No need. That guy is a cautious one."

"Besides, you already beat him up badly enough last time."

"He probably won't have the guts to come trouble me again anytime soon."

"Mr. Susanoo, go handle your own business. The clan needs you to hold things down."

"Please."

Susanoo nodded. His figure flickered and vanished.

Sasuke looked down and saw a guy still lying on the ground, knocked unconscious by Susanoo.

He froze for two seconds.

Mr. Susanoo, you... forgot someone.

Of course, he did not shout it out. Even if he did, it would be useless. The man was already gone. "Shadow Clone!"

Sasuke raised his fingers, formed a seal, and created a clone.

The clone reached out, picked up the man on the ground, and disappeared at once.

Wherever this thing came from, that was where it would be sent back.

Half an hour later.

"My lord, everyone we arranged to enter the village has been stopped by the Uchiha."

"The ones outside the village... were also blocked by the Uchiha."

"The most troublesome part is that all those hidden pawns have been thrown at the gate of your compound. Do you think... we should deal with it?"

A member of the Root Organization spoke with a face full of helplessness.

This operation had moved both inside and outside the village at the same time.

How could the Uchiha have known in advance and deployed forces on both sides?

Even more outrageous was that the ninjas they had planted all over the village, who were prepared to create chaos, were now being dug out one by one.

All of them had been thrown at Danzo Shimura's front gate.

This matter...

"Don't panic."

"This is exactly the result I wanted."

"Arrange for the remaining people to intercept that group of ninjas outside the village."

"Leave none alive. Kill them all."

The corner of Danzo's mouth curved up, his tone certain. "But..."

"Understood."

The Root member did not say anything more and turned to carry out the order.

Danzo stood in the courtyard with an expression that said victory was already in his grasp.

That bearing... just looking at it made people want to punch him.

On Hiruzen Sarutobi's side, he led a group of Anbu and charged all the way through.

Any trouble they ran into was crushed directly, clean and decisive.

Anyone who dared cause a disturbance was suppressed at the first moment.

Wherever he went, the villagers shouted at the tops of their lungs about how mighty and impressive the Lord Hokage was...

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not let down that momentum either.

Very soon, with the cooperation of Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, and the other Uchiha clansmen, the chaos in the village was put out.

Thirty-two people were caught. Among them, the six who had transplanted Sharingan were cut down on the spot.

After taking care of that, Hiruzen Sarutobi had the Anbu go comfort the villagers.

He himself walked straight toward Danzo Shimura's side.

Before long, he arrived at Danzo's front gate. "Lord Hokage, instead of going to enjoy the fruits of victory, you came running to me."

"Looks like you have something to say to me."

Danzo looked perfectly composed, not taking Hiruzen Sarutobi's arrival seriously at all. "What exactly are you trying to do by causing all this?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows twisted together as he asked in a low voice. "Me?"

"Oh my, the one under confinement right now isn't the Uchiha, nor is it you, Lord Hokage."

"Third, have you forgotten? You were the one who ordered me to remain here under house arrest."

A mocking smile hung at Danzo's lips.

There was not the slightest hint of nervousness on Danzo's face. Instead, his smile was full of veiled malice, and his eyes were filled with ridicule. "Danzo..."

"Lord Hokage, you should worry more about your own affairs."

"As for me... no matter how you put it, I stand on your side."

After throwing down those words, Danzo turned and went into his room, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi alone outside.

Staring at that tightly shut door, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

Some things were pointless to ask about.

Inside the Hokage's office.

"Lord Hokage, a group of ninjas was discovered outside the village, seventy-three people in total."

"All dead. Not a single survivor was left."

When Uchiha Fugaku said this, his tone carried helplessness. "Hmm?"

"Not a single survivor was captured?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, finding it a little hard to believe.

Seventy-three people had snuck over, and the Uchiha side had set things up in advance. No matter what, they should have captured a few alive to interrogate, right?

But now...

"When the fight reached the end, a group of... Anbu suddenly appeared."

"Those people were especially ruthless. They slaughtered all the rest, then left when they were done."

"This might be..."

Uchiha Fugaku did not finish, leaving the rest hanging. "I understand."

"I know about the chaos in the village too."

"The villagers are already being pacified."

"You've all worked hard. Go back and rest for now."

Hiruzen Sarutobi dismissed them with a few casual words and had Uchiha Fugaku withdraw.

Uchiha Fugaku's gaze darkened, and he led Uchiha Natsume and the others out of the Hokage's office. "Not a single survivor."

"The moment the village fell into chaos, someone immediately stepped in to clean up the mess."

"The people from the Root Organization were all being watched. So where did Danzo transfer people from to cause trouble?"

"Uchiha... you'd better not be hiding anything..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows twisted into a knot.

What had happened today was far too clean.

Not only had it left no obvious flaws, but the cleanup had gone so smoothly it felt unreal.

Then he thought again of Danzo's final words... Could the Uchiha really...

Hiruzen Sarutobi had always been suspicious, and after running into something like this, his mind wandered even more.

He had originally planned to let the Uchiha move back to their old clan grounds, but now he simply did not mention it.

He had to think this over some more.

They returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Because they had just fought a battle, quite a few people had been injured and immediately ran to the Medical Department to get bandaged up.

The remaining core figures all gathered in the meeting room at Uchiha Fugaku's house.

Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi were both there.

Even Sasuke, who had been busy shoveling down rice, was forcibly dragged over.

At that moment, Sasuke was huddled in the corner, never once stopping as he ate from the bowl in his hands. "Clan leader, we handled things beautifully this time, didn't we?"

"We dealt with the trouble outside, and we settled the trouble at home too."

"So why didn't the Hokage so much as mention the matter of moving back to the clan grounds that he promised?"

Once Uchiha Natsume's fiery temper flared, he exploded on the spot.

Back in the Hokage's office, if Fugaku had not held him back, he would have flipped the whole place over long ago.

After holding in a bellyful of anger, he was the first to pour out everything on his mind.

The moment Uchiha Natsume, the representative of the radicals, opened his mouth, someone immediately chimed in.