The Yamanaka ninja's answer fell, and the morgue went completely silent.
Danzo stared at the recovered head, his face turning livid.
It was Uchiha Lieyang again.
Not an unidentified ninja from another village, nor an elite enemy shinobi who had infiltrated the Land of Fire.
From beginning to end, the only person who had killed the Root ninjas was him!
"Continue."
The Yamanaka ninja closed his eyes again and placed both hands on the dead man's head.
More fragmented memories were pieced together bit by bit.
White mist blanketed the forest.
Hundreds of kunai collided in midair.
Shadow clones suddenly burst from underground.
Hand signs formed with one hand.
Earth Release, Water Release, Lightning Release.
And Lightning Body Flicker, so fast even a Jōnin could not react.
The Yamanaka ninja's breathing grew heavier, and cold sweat soon seeped from his forehead.
These memories were far too chaotic.
The deceased had suffered intense shock before dying, leaving the images in his mind filled with gaps. Even so, the information pieced together from those fragments was still astonishing.
Several breaths later, the Yamanaka ninja withdrew his hands.
"Lord Danzo."
"The target used Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique and Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears. He also possesses a high-speed Body Flicker Technique that stimulates the body with Lightning Release."
"His Shadow Clone Technique is unusual as well."
Danzo asked coldly, "How is it unusual?"
"The shadow clones can fight independently. Their ninjutsu, swordsmanship, and genjutsu have no obvious flaws."
The Yamanaka ninja paused.
"Until the moment he died, the deceased could not determine which one was the original body."
"What else?"
"He formed hand signs with one hand."
Danzo's grip on his cane suddenly tightened.
"Are you certain?"
"The memories may be incomplete, but they would not contain images that never existed."
The Yamanaka ninja lowered his head.
"Uchiha Lieyang completed his hand signs with only one hand, and the signs were greatly simplified. Earth Rising Spears required only two hand signs, activating far faster than normal ninjas could manage."
Danzo's expression darkened completely.
According to Konoha's files, Uchiha Lieyang possessed only Fire and Wind Chakra natures.
He excelled at Fire Release, genjutsu, and throwing ninja tools.
His taijutsu was average.
His greatest recorded achievement was nothing more than killing two Chunin alone.
Yet the Lieyang in the dead man's memories wielded Water Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release, the Hidden Mist Technique, Lightning Body Flicker, one-handed hand signs, and unusual shadow clones.
This was no mere oversight.
He had been disguising himself from the very beginning!
"Dismissed."
"Yes."
The Yamanaka ninja left the morgue.
After the doors closed, Danzo remained where he was for a long time without moving.
He finally understood why the Flowing Moon Squad had been annihilated.
Why the three men dispatched afterward had not even managed to send a distress signal.
It was not because someone had aided Lieyang.
Nor was it because enemy ninjas had infiltrated the Land of Fire.
It was because Uchiha Lieyang's true strength was completely different from the records Konoha possessed!
"Hidden for so many years..."
Danzo gritted his teeth and slammed his cane heavily against the floor.
Thud!
"The Uchiha truly cannot be trusted!"
Lieyang knew full well that Konoha had the Yamanaka Clan, who could read the memories of the dead, yet he had still left behind the bodies and heads.
This was not negligence.
It was provocation!
He simply did not care what Konoha could uncover.
It was almost as though he had deliberately allowed those corpses to bring the information back, so Root would understand just how absurdly wrong their previous judgment had been!
Danzo did not remain in the morgue.
That very night, he rushed to the Hokage Building and directly pushed open the office doors.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was still handling documents.
When he saw Danzo enter, he set down his pen.
"More news?"
Danzo threw the compiled memory report onto the desk.
"Read it yourself."
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the report.
The moment he finished the first page, his gaze stopped.
The further he read, the darker his expression became.
"Water Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release."
"One-handed hand signs, simplified signs, unusual shadow clones..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his head.
"All of this information came from the dead men's memories?"
"The Yamanaka Clan has confirmed it."
Danzo planted his cane against the floor, his voice cold and hard.
"Hiruzen, do you still think he might have been attacked?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not answer.
Two Root squads had been wiped out.
In the memories of the dead, every clue pointed to Uchiha Lieyang as the killer.
This was already irrefutable proof of defection.
Danzo continued, "He lived in Konoha for twenty years."
"Yet his Chakra natures were not even fully recorded in his Special Jōnin file."
"Water Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release, one-handed hand signs, and that shadow clone capable of independently killing a Jōnin."
"How long had he hidden these things?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked through the report again.
"Some of those abilities may have only been acquired recently."
"Recently?"
Danzo sneered.
"A Special Jōnin suddenly mastering three Chakra natures within just a few days of leaving the village, learning several unregistered ninjutsu, and becoming able to form hand signs with one hand?"
"Hiruzen, do you believe that yourself?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent.
It truly could not be explained.
Ninjutsu could be copied with the Sharingan.
But Chakra natures, hand-sign methods, and combat habits could never undergo such massive changes in only a few days.
The only reasonable explanation was that Lieyang had long possessed these powers and had simply never displayed them before the village.
"He had been deceiving Konoha all along."
Danzo's voice grew colder and colder.
"ANBU investigated him for three years, and Root gathered intelligence on him as well."
"Yet everyone saw only what he wanted us to see."
"An Uchiha deliberately hiding his true strength, building prestige within his clan, establishing businesses in the village, and winning over ninjas and civilians."
"Do you still think that was merely to improve relations between the Uchiha and Konoha?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi held his pipe without speaking.
Danzo stepped forward.
"During the Nine-Tails Incident, the Sharingan controlled the Nine-Tails."
"These past years, the Uchiha Clan has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the village, and radical voices have continued to emerge within the Konoha Police Force."
"And now, an Uchiha Lieyang who has concealed himself for years has appeared."
"He did not act on impulse."
"He had long prepared to defect!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. "The Nine-Tails Incident has not been fully investigated. We cannot treat every Uchiha as an enemy."
"But Uchiha Lieyang is already an enemy!"
Danzo refused to yield.
"He killed two mission companions, then consecutively destroyed Root tracking squads."
"He openly displayed abilities that had never been registered before, and deliberately left behind bodies for the Yamanaka Clan to read their memories."
"He is telling us that he does not fear Konoha sending more people after him!"
Danzo's exposed eye stared fixedly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Someone like him must be killed."
"Otherwise, he will take more Konoha intelligence with him, and more ninjas will die by his hand."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the casualty records on the desk.
Takeno Sota.
Ayakawa Yukina.
The Flowing Moon Squad.
The follow-up tracking squads.
Each name represented a ninja Konoha had spent vast resources cultivating.
Now, all of them were dead.
"His actions are indeed unreasonable."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said quietly, "Since he decided to defect, the most reasonable choice should have been to hide his abilities and leave the Land of Fire as quickly as possible."
"But he did not leave."
"He even deliberately left behind corpses whose memories could be read."
Danzo said coldly, "Because he is arrogant."
"He believes Root cannot kill him."
"Hiruzen, continued hesitation will only expand our losses."
"Uchiha Lieyang must be hunted down completely. His corpse, eyes, and brain must all be brought back to Konoha. None of his information can be allowed to fall into the hands of other ninja villages."
After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally set down his pipe.
"Continue the pursuit."
Before you continue