Makeshift Operation · The Case's Classification

In his previous life, Uchiha Hara had heard a saying: the world was one giant makeshift operation. Many organizations that appeared tightly run might actually be filled with chaos, delays, and all kinds of unreliability.

He did not know whether Konoha's upper ranks were like that, but the Uchiha clan's senior management certainly seemed to have that makeshift flavor at the moment.

He had originally thought that the disappearance of the three generations of Uchihas would be noticed within a day or two at most, considering it involved an elder and his direct descendants.

Yet reality gave him a somewhat ironic answer.

Time passed peacefully. A full week went by, but the Uchiha clan showed no reaction whatsoever.

That week, Uchiha Hara lived more comfortably than ever before.

He suspended his hunts outside the village and focused on digesting the energy accumulated in his body and maintaining his daily training. Every day, he consumed Fish Blood Essence and Soul Essence, watching the values on his panel steadily rise.

Essence +0.004 daily, Spirit +0.004, natural growth +0.001, for a total of +0.005 per day. Weekend growth was 0

.007. Over seven days, the total increase was 0.039.

Current values: Essence 1.863, Qi 1.863, Spirit 1.863)

Those seven days were also the most relaxing seven days Uchiha Hara had ever experienced. First, he lacked no money. Second, he had no homework. Third, no trouble came knocking.

Asuma Sarutobi seemed to have truly given up completely. He no longer appeared around Hara and Kurenai Yuhi, and the barely perceptible provocations vanished along with him.

School life became unusually peaceful as well.

Life was so calm that Uchiha Hara sometimes felt slightly unaccustomed to it.

His continuous training, especially his refinement of river water, further expanded the Demon Refining Pot's internal space. It had recently reached as much as 470 cubic meters, equivalent to a single-floor residence with four bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. It was remarkably spacious.

Unfortunately, it could not house people.

His practice of Tai Chi and Uchiha Style Swordsmanship had never stopped. His forms became increasingly proficient, and the circulation of his force grew smoother and more rounded.

It was simply that without actual combat to test himself, it was difficult for him to precisely determine what level his current taijutsu and swordsmanship had reached.

The visualization method was even more of a slow and painstaking process. His spiritual power quietly condensed and purified itself. Earth-shaking changes could not be seen in the short term, but he could feel the koi visualization in his sea of consciousness becoming increasingly distinct and lively.

Just as he was about to treat that night's events as an incident that had never happened, the Uchiha finally reacted.

The one who noticed the anomaly was Uchiha Kaze, a teammate in the same Security Force patrol squad as Uchiha Osamu.

In truth, Uchiha Kaze had noticed that Osamu had not come to work on the second day of his disappearance.

Yet rather than worry, Kaze felt somewhat pleased and guilty—because he had been among those most enthusiastic about bullying and ostracizing Uchiha Osamu.

He instinctively assumed that his excessive behavior the previous day had finally angered this "well-connected hire" enough to make him quit.

He skipped one day. Good. Let him cool down a little, and it'll make it look less like I pushed him too hard. Thinking this, Uchiha Kaze even secretly hoped that Uchiha Osamu would "cool down" for a few more days.

However, on the third day, then the fourth... Uchiha Osamu was still nowhere to be seen.

Uchiha Kaze's mindset began to change.

Skipping work for one day could be blamed on me, but it's already been three or four days. That means Uchiha Osamu himself has an attitude problem and doesn't know the bigger picture!

Not only did he fail to report it immediately, he even developed a dark thought: let Uchiha Osamu accumulate a few more days of absence. That way, when accountability came later, Uchiha Osamu's responsibility would be greater.

At most, Uchiha Kaze would be held secondarily responsible for inadequate supervision.

So, he suppressed the matter for another two days.

It was not until Uchiha Osamu had been absent for an astonishing five or six consecutive days that Uchiha Kaze truly felt something was wrong.

He quietly asked around about Uchiha Osamu and discovered that Osamu's relationships were so poor that he barely had any friends. No one had seen him for days, yet no one found it strange.

He also took some time to wander around Uchiha Osamu's home and found the front gate tightly shut and the courtyard silent, with no sign that anyone was home.

Could something have happened? All kinds of speculation flashed through Uchiha Kaze's mind. Yet perhaps due to some unspoken sense of luck and fear of bearing responsibility, he actually delayed another day before finally forcing himself to report that "Uchiha Osamu has failed to report for duty for several days and is suspected missing" to the squad captain.

Only then, after being filtered layer by layer through the delay, wishful thinking, and a certain degree of bureaucracy among the lower-ranking personnel, did the disappearance of Uchiha Osamu and his ancestors finally come to the Uchiha clan's attention.

However, as the investigation deepened and they saw the empty homes of Uchiha Amano and Uchiha Jiang, the Uchiha leadership finally realized something.

It was not just Uchiha Osamu who had disappeared. It was Uchiha Osamu, Uchiha Amano, and Uchiha Jiang—the three generations of the family!

And by then, a full week had passed since they had truly vanished.

The news was like a stone dropped into a tranquil lake. The ripples spread slowly, but they eventually reached the places they were meant to reach.

Once Uchiha Kaze's report was passed upward layer by layer and finally drew the higher-ups' attention, Uchiha Yama, the clan head and head of the Security Department, did not dare handle it alone because it involved an elder.

So he invited Second Elder Uchiha Rin, Fourth Elder Uchiha Kai, and Uchiha Fugaku, who attended as the clan heir. The four of them went together to Uchiha Jiang's residence.

When they pushed open the unlocked gate, what greeted their eyes was a home that was clean to an eerie degree.

The furniture and fixtures were mostly still in their original places, but every valuable item—money, weapons, ninjutsu, any possible book collections, decorations—had vanished.

There were no signs of fighting anywhere in the room. The floors were spotless, the cabinets hollow, as though the place had been carefully cleaned by the most professional of teams, leaving behind only a cold, uninhabited shell.

"This..." Second Elder Uchiha Rin frowned deeply as she scanned the surroundings.

"This is far too clean."

"Not just here," Fourth Elder Uchiha Kai said in a low voice. He had just swiftly checked Uchiha Amano's neighboring house. "Amano and Osamu's homes are the same. All their valuables are gone."

The four exchanged glances, each of them forming the same guess.

But this matter involved an elder, and none of them dared to be the first to say it aloud.

Clan Head Uchiha Yama's face was as dark as water. He walked to where Uchiha Jiang's study had once been. Now, only an empty desk and several open, completely bare drawers remained.

"Elder Jiang... what does this mean?" As the clan head, some things had to be said by him first.

Uchiha Fugaku stood slightly behind the others, his youthful face thoughtful. He tried to sense the chakra residue in the air, but Uchiha Hara had not used ninjutsu at all back then, while Uchiha Jiang had no time to use any. With so much time having passed, what traces could possibly remain?

He said quietly, "Father, Elders, if Osamu alone had disappeared, perhaps it could have been a young man throwing a tantrum. But Uncle Amano, and especially Elder Jiang, vanished at the same time, and their homes were cleaned out so... thoroughly. This was definitely no coincidence."

"Hmph!" Second Elder Uchiha Rin snorted coldly. She had always disagreed with Uchiha Jiang on clan affairs, and seeing Uchiha Jiang and Uchiha Fugaku still trying to smooth things over, she spoke bluntly. "What coincidence? The facts are obvious. I say he saw that the Third Elder's power was no longer secure, so he ran off with his belongings!"

"Betraying the clan?" Fourth Elder Uchiha Kai's pupils contracted slightly. That accusation was extremely serious. "Elder Rin, you cannot speak recklessly. Elder Jiang is, after all, our clan's Third Elder. How could he..."

"How could he what?" Uchiha Rin interrupted him, pointing at the empty room. "Then tell me, what is this? A family of three, along with all their savings, documents, and personal belongings, disappeared without a trace overnight! If this was not premeditated betrayal of the clan, how could it have been done so cleanly? Without leaving even a single clue!"

Uchiha Yama remained silent, lightly tapping his fingers against the surface of the empty desk.

He recalled some vague recent rumors about Uchiha Jiang's branch withholding bereavement payments. Though he had never investigated them deeply, perhaps they had not been baseless after all.

Moreover, Uchiha Jiang had one daughter and two sons. His daughter, Uchiha Chiri, had already gone blind. His son-in-law, Kagami Uchiha, did not belong to the Third Elder's branch. His eldest son had died young, while his only remaining son, Uchiha Amano, was incapable of much, and his grandson, Uchiha Osamu, was also mediocre.

If Uchiha Jiang passed away, there was a ninety percent chance that his seat as Third Elder would not fall into Uchiha Amano's hands.

Once the position of Third Elder was lost, the wealth in Jiang's hands would naturally be lost as well.

Viewed this way, it was entirely possible that the Third Elder had been unwilling to surrender his power and had chosen to take away all the wealth he could control, leaving it to his son and grandson...

"Father." Uchiha Fugaku hesitated before speaking. "Elder Jiang is still an elder of our clan. Could there perhaps be another explanation? Should we not first do our best to search for them and determine where they went..."

"Search? How would we search?" Uchiha Rin's tone was mocking. "I have visited the Third Elder's home. I do not know how much money he had, but his book collection was no small amount. Moving that many books would take a long time! They clearly planned this long ago. They have probably already left the Land of Fire! Fugaku, you are still young. You do not understand that some people will do anything for profit. I say he used his position to line his own pockets. Now that he saw the matter might no longer remain hidden, he simply fled! This is betrayal! Betrayal of the Uchiha clan!"

Uchiha Kai opened his mouth, wanting to refute her, but faced with a scene that looked as if it had been thoroughly looted, he could not find a more reasonable explanation.

A disappearance of one or two days might have been an accident. But such complete, synchronized disappearances, along with all their property being taken away—other than voluntarily fleeing, there seemed to be no more logical conclusion.

Could someone have instantly abducted or eliminated them along with every one of their possessions, then conveniently cleaned up the entire place? That was simply too absurd.

Uchiha Yama finally stopped tapping the desk. He took a deep breath and made his decision.

A clan elder absconding with a huge sum of money—though they did not know the exact amount, they believed it was certainly substantial—was an enormous scandal. But the case had to be classified quickly to avoid causing even greater turmoil and suspicion.

"The matter is already clear." Uchiha Yama's voice carried unquestionable authority. "Uchiha Jiang, as a clan elder, failed to serve the clan. Instead, he is suspected of abusing his authority to embezzle clan assets, and has now fled the clan with his son, grandson, and illegal gains! This must never be tolerated!"

He looked toward the other two elders and his son. "From this moment onward, issue a warrant for Uchiha Jiang, Uchiha Amano, and Uchiha Osamu on charges of betraying the clan! Block the news. Publicly, say that they have departed on a secret long-term mission. Internally, thoroughly investigate all those with close ties to Uchiha Jiang's branch, especially accounts related to the distribution of bereavement payments. Make sure everything is accounted for!"

"Yes!" Uchiha Rin responded at once, a nearly imperceptible satisfaction flashing through her eyes at having removed an opponent.

The four elders were not united after all!

She stood with the clan head, while the Third and Fourth Elders stood together.

Uchiha Kai sighed, but ultimately nodded as well.

Uchiha Fugaku's lips moved, but seeing his father's resolute gaze and the attitudes of the two elders, he suppressed the lingering doubts in his heart.

Perhaps this was the truth.

He simply instinctively felt that Elder Jiang... did not seem like someone with the resolve to betray the clan so decisively.

But the evidence before them—or rather, the lack of evidence at the scene—seemed to point toward that conclusion.

Perhaps I was simply too young and inexperienced.

When Kuromai brought back the news that the Uchiha leadership had ultimately classified the disappearance as "betraying the clan," Uchiha Hara, who was conducting Water Release adaptation training at the bottom of the Naka River, slowly opened his eyes.

"Betraying the clan... is it?" he murmured, a complicated curve lifting at the corner of his mouth.

This result perfectly matched what he had expected.

The Uchiha leadership had constructed an elaborate story for themselves according to their own logic, perfectly explaining every anomaly and even proactively covering up possible gaps in the investigation for him.

"A makeshift operation has its advantages," he said softly, releasing a string of bubbles as he felt the strength within him grow ever more abundant.

"Good. That means it has nothing to do with me now."

He closed his eyes again, sinking his mind into visualization and completely shutting out the disturbances of the outside world.

Uchiha Jiang's branch would henceforth become a stain in history, a footnote to traitors. No one would ever investigate where they had truly gone.

And the real hunter continued to grow quietly in the darkness.