Proposing to Hinata

Hiashi Hyuga's mood grew exceedingly heavy.

Yes, if the Uchiha clan were exterminated, then the Hyuga clan would become Konoha's strongest remaining clan.

If the Third Hokage were still young, Hiashi would have trusted him.

But now, the Third Hokage had grown old. His sharpness and Will of Fire had slowly been eroded by the power of the Hokage's position.

Hiashi did not trust the current Third Hokage.

He was truly afraid that the Hyuga would become the second Uchiha!

Hiashi Hyuga let out a sigh and said, "Uchiha child, you are right. I am indeed worried that the Hyuga will become the next Uchiha. But how am I supposed to trust your Uchiha clan?"

Hearing Hiashi Hyuga say that, Sasuke knew.

It was settled. Completely settled.

Sasuke said, "It's simple. The most reliable relationship between two clans is marriage."

Fugaku took three scrolls from his robes and said to Hiashi Hyuga, "Clan Head Hyuga, these are three S-rank forbidden techniques collected by our Uchiha clan. We offer them to the Hyuga clan as betrothal gifts. I have come to propose marriage for Sasuke."

Hiashi Hyuga was somewhat surprised. "Huh? Sasuke? This five-year-old child?"

Fugaku was a little embarrassed as well.

After all, proposing marriage between a five-year-old brat and the Hyuga clan's princess, arranging a childhood betrothal, was not exactly easy to say aloud.

However, Fugaku told Hiashi about Sasuke's talent.

A genius who had been born with a two-tomoe Sharingan and awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan at the age of five.

Even Hiashi was deeply shocked by such talent!

Moreover, through his Byakugan,

Hiashi had also observed the flame of Sasuke's soul. Sasuke's chakra reserves actually surpassed his own!

Hiashi was certain that the five-year-old boy before him would absolutely grow into someone far beyond people like them in the future.

At once, Hiashi Hyuga and Uchiha Fugaku finalized the children's betrothal.

The sad part was that Hiashi had not even asked Hinata about it.

Perhaps, to Hiashi Hyuga, using Hinata, a child with such a "timid" personality, to arrange a childhood betrothal with the exceptionally gifted Sasuke

was a deal with no possible loss!

After returning to the Uchiha clan,

Sasuke's face was full of excitement, because what he wanted to do would soon be accomplished!

Very soon, the Uchiha clan would truly escape the crisis of extermination!

And he had even gained Hinata as his future wife~

Together with the Hyuga clan's support,

it was simply a deal with no possible loss!

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

In Root, a masked figure suddenly appeared and said to Danzo, "Lord Danzo, Orochimaru failed. He did not kill Shisui."

Danzo looked toward the wall and said calmly, "Good. Where is Orochimaru now?"

"Orochimaru has disappeared."

As the root of the village, Danzo was responsible for doing the sort of things that could not see the light of day. Naturally, there were some matters the Third Hokage could not be allowed to know about.

Danzo liked using mercenary organizations to handle certain tasks.

But this time, Orochimaru had failed.

Therefore, Danzo wanted to kill Orochimaru and completely erase the secret that he had once had dealings with Orochimaru!

But Orochimaru had disappeared. Back when Orochimaru was still in Konoha, he had maintained close dealings with Danzo, so he knew Danzo's personality. He was surely hiding from Danzo now.

Danzo sighed helplessly.

Sigh...

He still regarded the Uchiha clan as a thorn in his eye, a splinter in his flesh.

Since Orochimaru could not deal with Shisui,

then I will deal with the Uchiha clan myself.

Danzo still had a secret trump card. After driving the Uchiha clan out of their original territory, Danzo had once visited the Uchiha clan's district.

Deep within the district stood a stone tablet. Danzo could not understand what was written upon it; even with a three-tomoe Sharingan, he could not comprehend it.

However, that day, Danzo had encountered a man wearing a yellow tiger-striped mask.

His power had filled Danzo with fear.

He called himself "Uchiha Madara," but as the Second Hokage's disciple, Danzo naturally knew that Uchiha Madara had long since died.

So Danzo only took him for a madman obsessed with Uchiha Madara. The mysterious masked man told Danzo

that he also wanted to destroy the Uchiha clan, for many reasons.

On one hand, as a fellow Uchiha, Obito was deeply wary of the Uchiha clan's Mangekyo Sharingan.

On the other hand, Obito worried that the Uchiha clan would interfere with his plans.

In short, to Obito, the Uchiha clan was also an utterly terrible clan. In this despairing world, they had no reason to continue living.

He could simply create another Uchiha in the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Danzo thought of that mysterious masked man who called himself Uchiha Madara.

Perhaps with his help, he could get rid of the troublesome Uchiha!

From the moment Danzo attacked Shisui, he and the Uchiha had already become mortal enemies.

Danzo had no way to contact the mysterious masked man for the time being.

However, he intended to pressure Itachi—the spy the Third Hokage had planted within the Uchiha clan!

To the Third Hokage, Itachi was absolutely loyal to the village, and he was also the spy the Third Hokage had planted in the Uchiha clan.

To the Uchiha, Itachi was likewise a spy who had once been planted in the ANBU.

Years of living as a double agent had left Itachi somewhat unable to see who he truly was.

It was only in recent days, when he felt familial affection from Fugaku, that he came to understand the bonds of family within the Uchiha clan.

He also hated Danzo to the bone!

That night, Danzo sent a Root ninja to summon Itachi to the Hokage Building!

Uchiha district.

Itachi stood atop a rooftop, looking at the Root ninja who had come to summon him. "You said Danzo wants me to go to the Hokage Building? Then why didn't the ANBU come to notify me?"

The Root ninja said, "I don't know. I'm only responsible for delivering the message."

A red light flashed in Itachi's eyes as he sped toward the Hokage Building.

Right now, there was an information gap between the Uchiha clan and Konoha's upper echelons.

Konoha's upper echelons did not know where Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was.

Moreover, Konoha's upper echelons only knew that Itachi had awakened the Mangekyo, but did not know the abilities of his Mangekyo.

Finally, the Hyuga clan, the greatest force supporting the Third Hokage, had been driven apart from him by the Uchiha clan.

Since the Uchiha clan possessed the advantage needed to contend with Konoha's upper echelons,

Itachi no longer needed to continue being a double agent.

Otherwise, after being a spy for too long, he would forget his true identity.