The Grove

He narrowed his eyes. He would not believe Aburame Ryoma's unilateral words, but after thinking about it, what Aburame Ryoma said actually made some sense.

He recalled an article he had read in his past life: Naruto: He should have been defined as a complete villain, yet was barely whitewashed by a single line.

In Kishimoto's setting, the corresponding whitewashing for Danzo was: He was the root guarding Konoha, protecting it in the shadows with hardline methods.

Simply put, there always had to be someone doing the dirty work in Konoha, and that job fell on Danzo.

Regardless of whether Danzo was whitewashed or not, this guy genuinely had selfish motives, and the rotten deeds he committed were too numerous to count.

For example, his greed for power, his obsession with the position of Hokage, and sending men to assassinate the Third Hokage.

He had sheltered Orochimaru, and even after Orochimaru defected, he still kept tangling with him in a messy and unsevered relationship.

He colluded with Hanzō, forcing Yahiko to commit suicide, which led to Nagato's corruption, planted a huge hidden danger for Konoha, and brought about the disaster of Pain.

As well as his original plan to annihilate the Uchiha Clan tonight—these were all pots he could never shake off.

That was getting a bit off topic, but overall, Root was just a tool in Danzo's hands, and tools depended on who used them.

Once he became Hokage, he would also need someone to do the dirty work. Takuya praised, "You're a smart man, you've done very well."

He thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll spare your lives and let bygones be bygones."

Aburame Ryoma was overjoyed. "Many thanks, My Lord! I'll head back right now to disband Root and let them each return to their homes..."

"No, Root doesn't need to be disbanded." Takuya's calm words came over, and the ecstatic Aburame Ryoma instantly froze in place.

"Don't overthink it," Takuya waved a hand, saying, "I'm just having you continue your old line of work."

Aburame Ryoma sighed inwardly. As expected, it wasn't that easy.

"Seeing as you're so familiar with Root, I'll leave Root to you. Remember, from now on, you and Root only need to obey my commands."

Aburame Ryoma resignedly replied, "Yes."

"Alright, you may go back. Keep an eye on Root and don't let any trouble happen."

Takuya issued the dismissal.

Aburame Ryoma nodded. He hesitated for two seconds and said, "My Lord, actually, there are still some Root shinobi sent out by Danzo to intercept and kill Uchiha clansmen returning from outside the village."

Takuya narrowed his eyes, thinking how before the gathering started, the Uchiha Clan had recalled their clansmen on missions outside the village a week in advance, yet very few people had returned. No wonder there were no scattered bloodlines left outside after the Uchiha Clan's annihilation; it turned out they had been intercepted and killed by men sent by Danzo.

The gathering was originally supposed to start tonight, giving the clansmen outside a week to hurry back. The clansmen who still hadn't returned by now were probably in dire straits.

"Alright, I get it. Then I'll leave this matter to you. Go investigate. Whoever killed the Uchiha clansmen, arrest them and execute them all."

Takuya didn't feel angry or anything about these unlucky Uchiha clansmen who were intercepted and killed; after all, he had just transmigrated here for less than half a day and didn't have any emotional attachment.

However, the two Uchiha clansmen beside him had also heard about this interception. If he didn't deal with it, what if word spread to the other clansmen and affected his reputation?

Therefore, he had to pronounce judgment on this matter right in front of these two clansmen.

Whoever killed the Uchiha would pay with their life. It was very simple.

"Yes."

Aburame Ryoma breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just paying with their lives, that was already a very fair outcome.

After all, it didn't implicate other innocent people in Root. Although these people who had to pay with their lives were also quite innocent—clearly just obeying their superior's orders only to pay with their lives in the end—Aburame Ryoma had no other choice. They could only chalk it up to bad luck.

Aburame Ryoma hurried away, disappearing from Uchiha Fugaku's line of sight before transforming into a blur to vanish on the spot. He quickly appeared on a rooftop, bounding away into the distance.

Takuya watched Aburame Ryoma's back vanish into the darkness before withdrawing his gaze. Aburame Ryoma's defection could be considered an unexpected blessing.

With this, the only thing left to deal with was Uchiha Obito.

As he thought this, he happened to see figures bounding over from the rooftops.

At the lead was none other than the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hiashi.

Takuya smiled faintly. Time to deal with the final trouble.

The relocated compound of the Uchiha Clan was nominally within Konoha, but in reality, there was quite a distance between them.

To put it bluntly, it could almost be considered two neighboring villages.

Between the two, one had to pass through a small forest.

The bright moonlight spilled down, filtering through the leaves to cast mottled patches of light. A gust of wind blew by, causing the leaves to rustle.

Yet standing in the deserted small forest was a single figure.

With flowing, unkempt black hair, wearing an orange-red mask with black stripes and a single eyehole, layered with a black robe over top, and a katana strapped to his waist.

He stood silently among the trees, his entire person blending into the night.

If a passerby with a weak heart were to walk past right now, they would probably be scared to death on the spot by this outfit.

Uchiha Obito patiently waited for Uchiha Itachi to return.

He had also just arrived not long ago, utilizing the intangibility ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan dojutsu, which allowed objects to be transferred back and forth between the real space and a different dimension.

He had casually found a spot and directly infiltrated all the way in from the outskirts of Konoha.

As luck would have it, the location he chose happened to be very close to the current Uchiha compound. He reached this small forest not long after, and subsequently waited right here for Uchiha Itachi.

He had arrived late and hadn't seen the three red signal flares that appeared over Konoha in the afternoon.

Therefore, he had no idea what major event had happened inside Konoha.

Eight hundred meters away from the small forest.

At the end of the street, facing the small forest.

The house had been temporarily requisitioned, and its owner moved next door, watched over by shinobi to avoid causing a commotion.

Beside the window of the house, the corners of Hyuga Hiashi's eyes were fierce, and bulging veins throbbed on both sides of his cheeks near his eye sockets.

The first ability of the Byakugan: Using chakra to multiply the eye's capabilities, allowing the eyes to see things within a radius of one kilometer.

The second ability: Seeing through objects. Using the Byakugan allows one to see the target's meridian pathways, acupoints, skeleton, and chakra flow. Among them, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya could even use the Byakugan to distinguish whose chakra belonged to whom.

Although Hyuga Hiashi was noble as the head of the Hyuga Clan and master of the Main House, his Byakugan wasn't as formidable as Kaguya's, unable to distinguish whose chakra it was purely through the Byakugan.

He could only see that inauspicious chakra was flowing within the body of that person in the forest, giving him a palpitating sensation.

After a moment, Hyuga Hiashi closed his Byakugan and turned to look at Uchiha Fugaku, whose expression was cold on the side, finding that this man was becoming increasingly difficult for him to figure out.

How did he know someone was in this forest?

And... that person's inauspicious chakra gave him a feeling that was both very unfamiliar and yet strangely familiar.