Hang Them All Out to Dry

Compared to Danzo, who wanted to keep prying into the Uchiha Clan's affairs,

the Third Hokage was far more cautious.

He knew that even the slightest disturbance now would provoke a fierce backlash from the Uchiha.

So, he had not sent anyone to monitor the Uchiha that night.

But by daybreak, ANBU had already arrived outside the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Yet when they arrived, the walls surrounding the Uchiha Clan Grounds presented a horrifying sight.

More than two hundred corpses dressed in standard Root uniforms had been specially smoke-dried. Like air-cured meat, they were hung neatly and densely around the walls.

Most of the animal masks on their faces had been removed, revealing bluish-gray, rigid expressions beneath—faces that still bore traces of shock and agony.

The autumn wind blew past, carrying a nauseating, strange stench and making these former assassins sway faintly like grotesque wind chimes.

By now, it was broad daylight, and a great many villagers and ninja had witnessed this shocking scene.

It swiftly set off an uproar throughout all of Konoha.

"Who are those people? Why are they hanging on the Uchiha walls?"

"Judging by their clothes... aren't they from Root?"

"Root? Danzo's personal force? How could they..."

"Could the Uchiha incident from the night before last have been Root's doing?"

"Has the village's internal conflict really reached this point?"

Whispers spread among the villagers and ordinary ninja, while panic and suspicion spread like a plague.

Not everyone could immediately recognize Root's uniforms, but once someone pointed it out, the news spread without wings.

Shien's goal was simple—he did not need everyone to believe it immediately.

He only needed to plant a seed of doubt and make Konoha's higher-ups, especially the Third Hokage, feel the pressure.

Even if ordinary villagers did not recognize them, the ninja certainly would—especially the great clans, the clans Zhiming Uchiha had visited yesterday.

They would understand the meaning behind it even more clearly.

Inside the Hokage Office.

The Third Hokage had just lit his pipe when he received the intelligence report.

"What!?"

The Third Hokage's voice rose sharply as he hurriedly pulled a crystal ball from a drawer.

He formed hand seals, and a figure immediately appeared within the crystal ball, gradually becoming clearer.

The horrifying display on the Uchiha walls was reflected clearly inside it. His face darkened like storm clouds.

"Shien Uchiha... how dare he!"

The Third Hokage was furious. He had never expected Shien, who had seemed like a soft bun for others to knead as they pleased yesterday, to act in such ruthless, uncompromising fashion.

He had expected Shien Uchiha to retaliate, but never imagined that he would lay Konoha's internal conflict bare before everyone!

But what the Third Hokage felt even more was a sense of helplessness at being driven to the edge of a cliff.

Once this intelligence spread widely and the outside world learned that Konoha's foremost great clan and its ANBU forces had clashed, with both sides suffering heavy losses—especially the watchful Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Rock Village, and the other great powers—

they would surely swarm in like sharks scenting blood, intensifying their infiltration and espionage against Konoha.

Konoha had already been left severely depleted by the Nine-Tails Incident and the internal strife of the Uchiha Massacre Night. It simply could not withstand such turmoil!

Meanwhile, at the Hyuga Clan Grounds.

Hyuga Hiashi sat facing the clan's First Elder and Second Elder. The atmosphere was somewhat grave.

"It has been confirmed," Hyuga Hiashi said in a low voice.

"Someone attempted to invade the Uchiha Clan last night, but that Genjutsu master intervened."

"They were captured by the Uchiha without even making a sound."

"Xiu, the clansman assisting the Uchiha with their night watch, cautiously used his Byakugan to observe that masked Genjutsu expert."

"...Beneath the mask was the face of Shisui Uchiha."

Hiashi deliberately paused, giving the two elders time to process the news and react.

"Shisui Uchiha?" The First Elder frowned. "Didn't he disappear two years ago? It was said that he committed suicide."

In the ninja world, someone missing for two years without a single word was most likely dead.

Hiashi nodded, affirming the First Elder's words.

"He should indeed be dead. According to Xiu's Byakugan observations, the structure of his body was extremely abnormal, and his Chakra flow differed greatly from that of the living. He seemed more like... a dead person summoned back by some technique."

The Second Elder sucked in a breath. "A dead person returning to life...?"

After his thoughts raced, he exclaimed, "Could it be the forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation!?"

The Second Elder had followed the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, into battle in his younger years. He had personally witnessed Tobirama Senju use that technique.

The First Elder lowered his gaze, looking deeply solemn. "Very likely."

"Lord Tobirama's Impure World Reincarnation was imperfect. Its combat power was even quite poor."

"It could basically only be used in conjunction with Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags," the Second Elder recalled.

Hiashi was only in his thirties and knew nothing of the Second Hokage's era.

So he could only listen.

The two elders discussed it quietly for a moment, but gained no useful information. Instead, they became even more puzzled.

They did not dwell on it further and signaled Hiashi with their eyes to continue.

Hiashi went on, "Furthermore, Shien Uchiha, the acting clan head, unquestionably possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Last night, his sparring match with Shisui at the training ground caused quite a commotion. Many Uchiha clansmen saw two Susanoo facing each other."

"Even during the night, quite a few Uchiha clansmen were discussing it."

The room fell silent.

A Mangekyō Sharingan, along with a Shisui Uchiha suspected of having been brought back through Impure World Reincarnation.

This meant that the Uchiha's top-tier combat strength had not been completely wiped out as they had initially estimated.

Instead, it had been preserved in a stranger, more unfathomable manner.

The Hyuga First Elder pondered for a long time before slowly speaking. "It seems the Uchiha are not lambs waiting to be slaughtered."

"The village's actions this time have completely torn apart its relationship with the Uchiha."

"If the Uchiha are purged, then the Hyuga will likely be next."

"Danzo's ambitions are too great, and the Third Hokage's tacit approval... We cannot sit around and wait to die."

Hiashi nodded. He understood the meaning behind the First Elder's words.

"Shien Uchiha's earlier proposal to hand over the Konoha Military Police Force was a test, but it also conveyed goodwill."

"Now that they have displayed their strength yet find themselves in a difficult position, this is precisely the time for us to make our stance known."

The First Elder agreed. "Providing help in the snow is better than adding flowers to brocade."

"If we lend the Uchiha a hand, we will surely reap considerable returns in the future."

"Even for the positions in the Konoha Military Police Force, we should speak up for the Uchiha."

"Knock, knock, knock..."

At that moment, a sudden knock sounded from outside.

"Come in."

After a Hyuga clansman entered, he reported:

"The Third Hokage has asked for the clan head to go see him."