Shu's Hot Springs

That night, at the Root base.

Root was located in an underground defensive facility outside Konoha. It had once been the so-called Anbu training department, but the Anbu trained here were not under the Hokage's command. They answered to Shimura Danzō.

Dim yellow lights illuminated the dark underground passage. Itachi Uchiha arrived at the door at the end of the corridor and silently stopped there.

"Itachi, is that you? Come in." An aged voice came from inside the room.

Itachi pushed open the door and entered.

Shimura Danzō sat beside a desk reading a book, with several more books laid out before him.

Itachi dropped to one knee. "Lord Danzo."

"Mm..."

Danzo closed the book in his hand and turned to Itachi Uchiha. "I heard something happened to the Uchiha last night?"

"Yes."

Itachi lowered his head and gave a detailed account of everything he had heard from the clan members about the previous night.

Danzo listened without expression throughout. Only when Itachi mentioned that Fugaku would soon step down as clan head did his face finally show some reaction.

"The village has always worried that the Uchiha would launch a coup. Given the recent tensions, I had thought that day would come soon. I never expected something like this to happen at such a critical moment."

"From the looks of it, once your father relinquishes his position as clan head, the Uchiha will be leaderless. At least until a new clan head is chosen, they will have no choice but to settle down for a while."

As Danzo spoke, his tone suddenly shifted. "However... the new clan head's attitude toward the village will also be a problem. If it is someone from the radical faction, the conflict may escalate completely."

"Fugaku may have always wavered in his stance, but he was indeed a conscientious captain of the Police Force. The current Uchiha will have a hard time finding anyone more outstanding or more suitable for that post than him."

"Still, I never expected him to lose to a child. Was he ambushed?"

"No..."

Itachi found it somewhat difficult to say. "He was defeated head-on."

"What a monster."

Danzo's tone was tinged with regret, yet it also seemed to conceal something deeper. "What do you think of that child, Uchiha Shu?"

"Violent-tempered, arrogant, and extreme."

Itachi Uchiha answered without hesitation.

What had happened last night only further confirmed his view.

In his eyes, Uchiha Shu belonged to the same kind as the radical elements within the clan.

Only, Shu was more conceited, more extreme, and more arrogant than they were!

If the arrogance of those clan members was the mindset of "the Uchiha are superior to others,"

then Shu's arrogance was an equal contempt for everyone!

"That is what I think as well. He does not possess the broad-mindedness that you and Shisui have. He does not even hesitate over the bonds of kinship. In all my life, I have rarely seen someone like him. If he is allowed to continue unchecked, he may become another Madara Uchiha."

"And what unsettles me most is that, according to Root intelligence, he has already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"

At those words, Itachi Uchiha froze.

Mangekyō...

Eyes like Shisui's?

As Shisui's friend, Itachi immediately recalled the Sharingan pattern Shisui had once shown him, a pattern like shuriken.

"So your clan has not received the news yet... As an Uchiha, you should understand better than I do what kind of power those eyes possess."

Danzo sighed. "To prevent the disasters of the past from happening again, I intend to crush this threat in the cradle. But he is your clansman, and you bear the responsibility of connecting the village and the Uchiha. I called you here to hear your thoughts."

The air fell silent.

Itachi Uchiha said nothing, but Danzo understood what he meant.

"Then I will leave this matter to you," Danzo said heavily.

"He is very strong. I fear I may be inadequate on my own," Itachi said.

Although he despised Uchiha Shu, he had to admit that Shu's strength and talent far surpassed his own from the past.

Recalling the glance Shu had cast toward him from afar that morning, he did not dare act rashly.

"Root will assist you," Danzo said flatly. "However, the Uchiha practice internal autonomy, and Root agents cannot easily infiltrate them. You will need to keep track of his movements."

Danzo paused, saying nothing further.

"Understood!"

Itachi paused. "However, the target spends most of his time in the clan grounds. There will only be opportunities when he is carrying out missions. The other members of Kurenai Yuhi's team..."

"If it cannot be avoided, eliminate them as well." Danzo's voice was cold, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. "For the peace of the village, sacrifices must be made."

"...Understood."

The next day, Itachi Uchiha arrived at the Anbu early and began monitoring Shu through the Anbu surveillance system.

However, mindful of the other party's keen senses, he did not dare stare at him as recklessly as before. He only occasionally swept the telescope past the direction of Uchiha Shu's home.

It was only after Shu left his house and entered the street that he openly monitored him through the surveillance system.

On the monitors, Shu left his house.

He first bought a packet of seaweed senbei and a cup of lemon tea from Teuchi's pancake stall, eating and drinking as he walked.

Then he met up with the other members of his team. Yet instead of taking a mission, they went to the shopping district.

A day off...

Itachi Uchiha withdrew his gaze and stopped monitoring them.

Ninja teams that handled ordinary missions had flexible schedules. Most teams accepted missions on a regular cycle, such as one every few days, followed by a set number of rest days.

On top of that, missions were unpredictable. No team took missions every single day.

Those who took missions every day were not ninja. They were workhorses.

And once it was confirmed that Shu was not on a mission, there was basically no need to monitor him for the rest of the day.

There were surveillance systems and barriers throughout Konoha, including around the Uchiha clan grounds. If someone was delayed there, ninja would arrive soon enough.

Itachi Uchiha glanced at the monitors and paid them no further attention.

Sure enough, throughout the day, the group was either shopping or eating and drinking.

Before long, the entire day passed in the blink of an eye.

On the second day, Itachi came to the Anbu to continue monitoring them.

One look through the telescope showed that they still had not taken a mission. Early that morning, they had gone to the village's hot spring district.

After entering the largest hot spring inn, they never came back out.

Mm, relaxing in the hot springs was perfectly normal... It was not as though he could stop working forever.

On the third day, Itachi continued his surveillance.

As he swept the telescope over the area, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

Shu's house was empty!

Empty in the literal sense!

Not a single appliance or piece of furniture remained. There was only an empty house.

Startled, Itachi hurriedly aimed the telescope at Hazuki's home, only to discover that Uchiha Hazuki's house was empty as well.

No, where had they gone?

"Hey—look over here~"

The white-haired team leader beside him lazily pointed at the surveillance screen.

Itachi followed the sound and saw Uchiha Shu, Uchiha Hazuki, and Uchiha Izumi standing outside a hot spring inn in yukata, handing out pastries to passersby.

"Raku's Hot Springs?" (Furo referred to a natural-flowing hot spring.)

"It is called Shu's Hot Springs now."

Kakashi pointed at the inn's sign. "That's right, it is the most luxurious establishment at the source of Konoha Hot Springs. That brat spent a fortune yesterday and bought the entire place for thirty percent above market price."

"Oh, right. As an aside, he also bought two adjacent houses on Central Street. I guess he will rarely return to the clan grounds from now on."

Itachi Uchiha: "???"

No, was he really not going to work anymore?