Amaterasu Descends, Burning Them to Ash-Who Gave You the Nerve to Shift the Blame?

Sasuke's six-pointed star pattern on his left eye spun wildly, and a trickle of warm blood slid down his cheek. He covered his left cheek tightly with one hand, suppressing a beast-like growl in his throat. Naruto stepped forward and placed his large hand directly on Sasuke's shoulder. The violent Pure Yang Chakra flowed into Sasuke's body along his meridians, forcibly calming the restless pupil power that was almost tearing his optic nerve apart.

"Calm down," Naruto said in a low voice. "It's not time for you to go crazy yet."

Kakashi stepped forward, blocking Sasuke's view.

Heavy footsteps, accompanied by the crisp sound of a cane tapping the ground, came from the warehouse door.

"It seems the Land of Iron's windproof barrier can't stop this overwhelming stench of blood." An aged yet powerful voice broke the deathly silence.

Everyone turned around. Ōnoki floated in mid-air with his hands behind his back, slowly drifting into the house. Beside him was a tall girl with short hair, whose long legs moved extremely fast; it was Kurotsuchi. Akatsuchi from Iwagakure followed at the back like a mountain of flesh, blocking most of the doorway.

Kurotsuchi glanced at the samurai corpse on the ground, then at the White Zetsu that Naruto had sealed into a wooden sculpture, before finally fixing her gaze on Naruto. A smirk played on her lips. "The Hidden Leaf Village's Root was just uprooted by your own people, and now the heavily armored samurai of the Land of Iron are dying from Root's standard Kunai. And now you've created this inhuman wooden doll. Who would believe you're not the thief crying 'stop thief'?"

Raikage A snorted coldly from the side, arms crossed, clearly watching the show. Mifune's face was gloomy; he didn't stop Kurotsuchi's attack, obviously needing a more convincing explanation as well.

Karin gritted her teeth in anger, about to retort, when Naruto raised his hand to stop her.

Naruto looked at Kurotsuchi, his eyes calm and unwavering. "Eyes can be donated to those who need them. With so many powerful individuals present, if Hidden Leaf really did it, would we be stupid enough to leave a weapon with the name written on it on the corpse for you to catch? A brain is a good thing."

Kurotsuchi's face turned cold, and she quickly Hand Seals, her palms radiating intense heat from her Chakra: "Who are you calling brainless?"

"Kurotsuchi, step back." Ōnoki raised his hand, his cane held horizontally in front of his granddaughter. The old man slowly landed on the ground, his cloudy eyes gleaming with a sharp light. "It's good that the young man is quick-witted. But even if this monster's origins are unknown, the murder weapon was undeniably a product of Hidden Leaf. We old folks can overlook it, but we still have to give the Land of Iron an explanation. To think you can absolve yourself of all responsibility with just a few words is far too arrogant."

"You want to explain?" Naruto smiled. He turned to the side, his gaze passing over the crowd and landing on Hinata had been standing quietly at the back.

"Hinata, teach them what it means to investigate a case." Naruto's tone softened, but it revealed absolute protectiveness and trust.

Hinata took a deep breath and took a step forward. She didn't look at Kurotsuchi or Ōnoki, but walked straight to the body of the heavily armored samurai.

The veins around his eyes bulged, and his pure white pupils instantly focused.

"Byakugan, open them."

Under the perspective of X-ray vision, the Chakra pathways and skeletal structure inside the corpse are clearly visible.

Hinata crouched down, her finger hovering two inches above the wound where the Kunai was inserted. Her voice was crisp and efficient. "The deceased's heart was indeed ruptured, but this Kunai Hidden Leaf was inserted after death. The muscles around the wound did not contract, and there was no large-scale gushing of blood."

Mifune frowned and strode forward. "How did he die?"

Hinata pointed to the samurai's nape. "Here, between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae, there's an extremely thin wound that severed the central nervous system and pierced directly through the heart. The weapon was extremely thin and the speed was incredibly fast; the victim didn't even have time to cry for help before being killed instantly."

The entire room fell silent for a few seconds. Kurotsuchi frowned, took two steps forward to examine the body closely, and sure enough, he saw a barely perceptible line of blood on the back of the corpse's neck.

Hinata stood up, her Byakugan vision still open, her gaze piercing through the thick stone walls of the warehouse.

"The method was clean, but the killer was too hasty. He left Chakra residue on the body." Hinata turned around, pointing to the windowless, dead wall on the west side of the warehouse. "Following the Chakra Threads, hidden in a gap in this wall is a piece of wire used to guide a concealed weapon. The other end of the wire..."

Hinata's gaze sharpened. "In the underground ventilation duct three meters outside the wall. Heartbeat 120, breathing extremely weakly, still trying to crawl out."

Before he could finish speaking, Kurotsuchi's figure shot out like a cannonball.

"They dare to use Iwagakure -burrowing techniques in front of Iwagakure!"

Kurotsuchi kicked the west wall, shattering it. Amidst the flying bricks and stones, she slammed her right hand into the ground.

"Lava Release: Gray Stone Sealing Technique!"

Large amounts of grayish-white viscous substance were poured into the ventilation duct opening, instantly hardening into solid stone. With a muffled groan, a man dressed in the attire of a merchant from the Land of Iron was propelled from the ground by the immense pressure, half of his body sealed tightly within the gray stone, unable to move.

Kurotsuchi dusted off his hands, walked over, grabbed the man's hair, and yanked his face up. "Tell me, who sent you?"

The man's face was covered in blood, a sinister smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He clenched his teeth, preparing to crush the poison hidden in his molars.

"Want to die?" Kurotsuchi Tu raised his knife and slashed down, dislocating the man's jawbone with a chop.

Mifune recognized the face, and his expression instantly turned ashen. "This is the manager of the city's chamber of commerce, usually in charge of purchasing supplies. He's the mole!"

Ōnoki stroked his beard, his gaze towards Naruto now tinged with apprehension. "The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan truly lives up to its reputation."

Naruto didn't even glance at Ōnoki, his eyes fixed on the subdued assassin. Suddenly, an extremely sharp, piercing pain came from the edge of the Great Evolution Divine Soul Art's perception.

That was not ordinary Chakra, but an extremely evil substance filled with resentment and a desire for destruction.

"Kurotsuchi, back off!" Naruto shouted fiercely.

Kurotsuchi was stunned for a moment, not yet reacting. The man sealed by the gray stone suddenly began to convulse violently.

The skin on his neck was instantly torn apart, and a dark green tumor was squeezed out from under the skin. A murky Sharingan even opened on the tumor—it was the substance from the test tube that Obito had just crushed in the dome, the extract of Hashirama Cells remaining in Danzo's right arm!

The man's body expanded rapidly, like an inflated balloon. The gray stone seal was shattered by the surging Monster Strength within him, sending fragments of stone flying everywhere.

"What the hell is this?!" Kurotsuchi quickly retreated, Hand Seals to prepare for defense.

The assassin, after the mutation, completely lost his mind. His scarlet eyes were fixed on Sasuke, who was closest to him and Sasuke the purest Uchiha bloodline. This was an instinctive desire to devour someone with a superior bloodline.

The monster let out a non-human roar, and on all fours, like a wild beast that had lost its mind, it pounced directly on Sasuke. It was so fast that even the Kage present only saw a series of afterimages.

Just as Kakashi was about to Hand Seals to use Chidori, a hand pressed down on his shoulder.

"Get out of the way."

The sound was so cold it felt like ice crystals were falling off.

Sasuke, who had been keeping his head down and covering his left eye with one hand, slowly straightened up. He removed his hand.

In his left eye, an extremely complex and sharp six-pointed star pattern was spinning wildly, exuding a destructive aura that sent chills down one's spine.

Sasuke looked up and stared directly at the monster rushing towards him.

"Amaterasu."

Two cold words were uttered. No Hand Seals, no warning was given.

A jet-black flame suddenly ignited on the monster's chest. The flame had no temperature, but the moment it touched the monster, it spread wildly with devastating force.

"Roar--!"

The monster let out an extremely shrill scream, struggling wildly in mid-air, trying to extinguish the flames with its Chakra. But the black flames were impossible to extinguish, and it burned away along with its Chakra.

In less than three seconds, the monster's body was completely burned to ashes in mid-air, without even a drop of blood falling to the ground.

Thump.

A piece of charred metal Forehead Protector fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

The entire hall fell silent.

Raikage A clenched his fists tightly, and azure lightning flashed wildly across his body. He stared at the black flames still burning on the ground, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

Ōnoki's cloudy eyes suddenly widened, staring intently at Sasuke's left eye, the veins on his hand gripping his cane bulging. The Mangekyō Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan had actually reappeared in this teenager.

Sasuke gasped for breath, a shocking tear of blood streaming from his left eye. He stared intently at the tattered Forehead Protector lying on the ground.

Kakashi strode over and used Kunai to pick up the piece of metal that hadn't been completely burned by Amaterasu.

On the back of the Forehead Protector is a tiny design—a Crow missing its left wing.

"Naka Shrine ..." Sasuke's voice was terribly hoarse, and the six-pointed star in his eyes flickered wildly, threatening to go out of control at any moment. That voice, that pattern, were all marks left by Itachi Uchiha.

This isn't a simple frame-up; it's aimed at him! Someone is deliberately using clues about Itachi to force him into a trap.

Naruto walked to Sasuke's side and once again channeled Yang Release Chakra into his body. He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the roof of the warehouse and locking onto the snow-covered Fortress City tower.

Within the perception network of the Great Evolution Divine Soul Art, Obito's spatial fluctuations had just disappeared. The masked guy, abandoning this mess, retreated with a defiant air.

"Using someone else to do the dirty work, killing three birds with one stone. This method is far more sophisticated than your Tsuchikage's attempts to shift blame." Naruto withdrew his gaze, glancing at Ōnoki and the Raikage, and tossed the Crow Forehead Protector onto the table. "Someone wants to muddy the waters before the Five Kage Summit, turning everyone into pawns in their Eye of the Moon Plan."

Naruto stomped on the cracked stone slab beneath his feet, his voice icy and chilling. "Believe it or not, I've laid down the rules. Anyone who wants to be a coward can go back to the village now. Anyone who wants to find out who this bastard behind is, let's see who it is tomorrow at the arena."

After saying that, Naruto turned and walked away.

Kakashi, Karin, and Hinata followed closely behind. Sasuke took one last look at the Crow Forehead Protector, put it into his ninja tool pouch, and followed without a word.

The people left behind from Iwagakure, Hidden Cloud, and the Land of Iron faced the mess on the ground, their faces growing increasingly grim.

The wind and snow continued to rage Fortress City. Above the tower's dome, a spatial Uzumaki had completely closed.

Obito's hoarse, cold laugh faded into the snow, "Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha... struggle as much as you want. The truth about the Naka Shrine will tear you to shreds..."