Falsifying History—Isn't That the Third Hokage's Usual Tactic?

Uchiha Sasuke's Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly.

"Uchiha Style Throwing Technique!"

Uchiha Sasuke was certain—it was the Uchiha Style Throwing Technique, and its mastery surpassed even his own.

He collapsed to the ground once more, but a faint smile hid at the corner of his lips as his eyes returned to normal.

"I'm finally not alone!"

Uchiha Sasuke first felt relieved, then began to consider what Uchiha Feng had said.

"Then can you be trusted now?" He could not even trust his own beloved older brother, so what about this member of the Uchiha Clan who had suddenly appeared?

He did not know.

He lay on the ground for a long time, until the sun had set and night had fallen, just like the night the clan was massacred.

The fear in his heart grew, and a detail suddenly resurfaced in his mind.

Konoha Ninja Academy, especially the grade he was in, dismissed school very early. Many students lived far from the academy, including members of the ostracized Uchiha Clan.

For the students' safety, how could they possibly have been kept until dark?

A scene appeared in his mind.

Iruka Umino had stood at the podium, holding a test paper and saying there had been a last-minute arrangement?

Could something like an exam really be arranged at the last minute?

At the time, he had been delighted, because he could take first place again. His father, mother, and brother would all praise him.

But what about the academy students in grades other than his?

Before he returned, they had already been killed! They had long since been dismissed. Only his class had encountered a special situation.

Had that exam really been arranged at the last minute?

After school had been deliberately dragged on, it was completely dark by the time he returned to the Uchiha compound.

And along the way, he had not encountered a single person?

It was all too much of a coincidence!

The night wind swept over his body, bringing his thoughts back. The biting cold stirred his skin, and the goosebumps told him he was still alive.

He got to his feet and wandered aimlessly through the darkness.

The next day.

At Konoha Hospital, after receiving treatment from Konoha's elite medical ninja, Ao of the Land of Water had completely escaped mortal danger.

But his path as a ninja had been severed.

Lying in the hospital bed, he looked at everything before him with his one remaining eye.

He knew he had made the right gamble!

Konoha did not dare let him die. Then what about the demands he had made?

"Has there been any news from the village?" Ao asked the chunin beside him in a hoarse voice.

"My lord, a new negotiation team has arrived, though they are still chunin. They need you to take charge. They also said that the moment you woke up, we were to tell you that you had completed the mission very well."

The chunin answered Ao's question with delight. Ao was now their pillar of support.

They had originally been prepared to all die in Konoha. Now, there was a glimmer of hope.

"Completed? Good! Now we'll see how Konoha responds." Ao was somewhat pleased. It seemed the people who had ambushed him only wanted to cause trouble for Konoha.

What about next time?

"My lord, Konoha has also agreed to all our demands except the first one. It may be because of the Land of Lightning. The Land of Lightning has publicly declared that Konoha spies disrupted the stability of their tailed beast jinchuriki. The two sides are currently negotiating."

The chunin's news excited Ao somewhat.

This was the best opportunity. The person behind all this wanted to see Konoha suffer even more, so their attention should now be focused on the more important Land of Lightning front.

"Inform Konoha's people that my condition has improved. Demand that they send guards to escort us to the border." Ignoring his injuries, Ao immediately began making arrangements.

This was their best opportunity.

"My lord, then what about those demands you made?" The chunin hesitated. One of their men had committed suicide solely to negotiate those terms!

"Carry out the order!" Ao looked at the chunin and sighed.

After all, he had kept his arrangements from them. He had divided the 150 million ryo into three portions. The 100 million ryo carried back by the Minister of Etiquette and his summoned beast had already reached the village.

As for the remaining 50 million ryo, it was still on him.

This time, his loss was merely one Byakugan.

Now Konoha had even promised to provide a Byakugan and compensation. He had already profited. What mattered most now was taking advantage of the time when Konoha was negotiating with the Hidden Cloud Village to return safely.

Upon receiving Ao's request, Konoha's side cooperated readily.

Once they got rid of the Hidden Mist Village, they could concentrate fully on confronting the Hidden Cloud Village.

That evening, led by Ao, the Hidden Mist Village's negotiation force once again took a large amount of compensation from Konoha, along with one Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan.

To prevent the same thing from happening again, this time the escort was a three-man team from the Ino–Shika–Cho Clan, trusted aides of the Third Hokage.

At that moment, Uchiha Feng was training at the training ground.

Kakashi's assigned basic training was indeed useful.

Uchiha Feng had already noticed the difference between his current self and his former self.

Previously, he had been highly offensive but lacked adaptability. That version of himself had been full of openings.

The basic training happened to make up for his shortcomings and strengthened his defensive ability.

Hatake Kakashi was still the same today. He had not slept for two days and two nights straight.

Inside the mission archives, he searched through records from that year.

He discovered that there were very few records of his father's missions, and some mission records had even been destroyed. It was not just the record of his final mission, but also records of missions that had brought enormous benefits to the village.

The number of ninja missions officially recorded under his father's name was actually fewer than Kakashi's own.

That was the White Fang of Konoha, whose name had once struck fear throughout the ninja world. Yet in the official mission archives, he was merely rated at the level of an ordinary jonin. So much had been erased.

Had his father been carrying out classified missions?

He had also investigated the civilians who had come to insult his father back then. After his father's suicide, they had all moved away from the Hidden Leaf Village.

The ninja his father had abandoned the mission to save.

He had become an elite jonin in a short time, then failed a mission and died.

Everything seemed normal, yet it was far too normal!

"Let's end it here today! I heard something major has happened in your Konoha, so I'm preparing to leave!" Uchiha Feng deliberately let that slip.

But the two reacted very differently.

"Oh! The mission payment won't be refunded, though! But I can make you a list of basic training exercises. You can train according to the list." Kakashi only wanted to fulfill his deal with Sarutobi Ippei.

And now, he had found the information he wanted.

"What? You're leaving? Why?" Uchiha Sasuke did not want Uchiha Feng to leave.

Only then did he feel that he was not alone.

"Sasuke, when did you two become so close?" Kakashi heard something unusual in Uchiha Sasuke's words.

Uchiha Sasuke had just experienced the massacre of his clan. Why was he reacting so strongly to an outsider leaving? Why did he care so much?

They had only spent three days together, and those three days had not exactly been pleasant.