Cuckolded Right in Front of Him

Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent.

A trace of disappointment flashed through Shisui's eyes at that reaction.

Whenever faced with a difficult question, he went silent again.

"This was Xiu's idea, wasn't it?"

Only after quite a while did Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly ask.

Shisui hesitated for a brief instant, but that instant alone confirmed Hiruzen Sarutobi's suspicion.

"You don't need to make things difficult for yourself. This was never your style to begin with."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand. "But if that happens, the Uchiha will have to take ordinary missions like everyone else. Yet with the village's current number of missions..."

"You needn't worry about that. I've already thought it through for you."

Shisui sighed inwardly. Yashiro had called it exactly—Third Hokage really was using the number of missions to block him.

Fortunately, Xiu had taught him how to handle it long ago!

"Although the Uchiha are relinquishing the Police Force, the Police Force is still necessary. I recommend that the Hyuga take over its work. Their Byakugan Bloodline is exceptionally suited to this sort of duty."

Shisui spoke calmly. "On the other hand, to ease the village's burden in this regard, I specifically found myself a side job. Judging by the time, it should be about now..."

The moment Shisui finished speaking, a rapid knock sounded from within the office.

"Come in!"

Bang!

The door was shoved open, and a bespectacled Chunin spoke urgently.

"Lord Hokage, someone from the Daimyo's Court has arrived..."

"No need. I'm already here~"

A somewhat slick-sounding voice drifted in from the hallway.

Immediately afterward, a figure in a high-collared kimono and tall official hat entered through the doorway.

"Lord Fujiwara?"

The instant he saw the newcomer, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a sense of foreboding.

The man was Fujiwara Tetsuya, the Daimyo's Court liaison stationed in Konoha, chiefly responsible for delivering decrees from the Daimyo's Court.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Lord Hokage."

Fujiwara gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a slight nod, then took a scroll from his robes and handed it to him. "By order of the Daimyo, I have come to deliver Lord Shisui's appointment decree."

"An appointment decree?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed as he hurriedly opened the scroll.

Fujiwara Tetsuya nodded. "That's right. Uchiha Shisui is hereby appointed Senior Vice Minister of War and is to assume office immediately."

As those words fell, Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze landed upon the seal representing the Ministry of Central Affairs, and his face gradually darkened.

Originally, he had thought the Uchiha strike, while somewhat unexpected, was not entirely unacceptable.

After all, they had been suspected for so many years. Who wouldn't have some resentment? If they weren't given any authority, were they not even allowed to slack off?

But now, he truly found it hard to accept.

This wasn't a strike at all... this was a goddamn job change!

And they had even gone through the official channels of the Ministry of Central Affairs. How was this any different from being cuckolded right in front of his face?

He really wanted to grab Fujiwara Tetsuya by the collar and demand angrily, "Did you even ask for my opinion as Hokage?"

But after thinking about it, he decided against it. If he actually did that, the entire village would probably have to tighten their belts next year.

"Isn't this somewhat against the rules?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried his best to restrain his emotions. "Lord Fujiwara, you should know that when Konoha was founded, it reached an agreement with the Daimyo's Court. The Daimyo's Court promised not to interfere in the village's internal affairs."

"Ah, that is true."

Fujiwara Tetsuya nodded in full agreement. "But Lord Hiruzen, you seem to have forgotten that, strictly speaking, you are only the acting Hokage now."

The moment those words were spoken, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face stiffened.

He had nearly forgotten about that!

After the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, the Hokage position had remained vacant. Konoha was suffering from a severe shortage of capable successors, and to prevent Danzo from causing trouble, he had resumed the position as acting Hokage.

"Furthermore, the Daimyo has also heard quite a bit about the friction between Konoha and the Uchiha clan."

Fujiwara Tetsuya continued, "The Daimyo's meaning is... Konoha was founded jointly by the Senju and the Uchiha, after all. He is willing to trust the Uchiha."

He stopped there and said no more.

But the meaning was already obvious. You don't trust the Uchiha, but I do!

As for Madara Uchiha, or the Nine-Tails Attack...

What a joke. Which ninja clan had never produced a rogue ninja? Suppress them if you wanted to suppress them—why make excuses about suspicion?

When it came to politics, the Daimyo's Court were the professionals, weren't they?

Looking at Shisui's moved expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi now felt like an incompetent husband, forced to watch the village's strongest Bloodline clan get stolen away by the Daimyo while being utterly powerless to stop it.

And Hiruzen Sarutobi was not the only one who felt powerless.

Near Naka Shrine, Itachi Uchiha hid within a tree canopy.

Ever since the clan meeting last night, he had been barely able to suppress his urge to kill Xiu.

Unfortunately, he could not do it...

After his brief observation during last night's clan meeting, he had deeply realized that there was now an enormous gap in strength between himself and Uchiha Shu.

Mangekyō Sharingan, Susanoo, chakra reserves so vast they seemed bottomless...

And that elusive, unfathomable space-time ocular technique!

In his view, the first few were not problems without solutions.

But that bizarre space-time ocular technique left him with nowhere to begin.

Although Danzo had said they could make use of Root's strength, judging from the abilities Xiu had displayed, Itachi did not believe Root's pack of nobodies possessed the strength to threaten Xiu.

Fortunately, while it was difficult to find a countermeasure, he had seen that ability before!

Several years ago, he had encountered an Uchiha clansman wearing a tiger-striped mask who called himself a ghost.

That person had been the one who killed his teammate, causing him to awaken the Sharingan... (How did he survive, anyway? It wasn't shown in the original work. Can anyone explain this part of the plot?)

Afterward, through several secret observations, he discovered that the man possessed a method of teleportation through warped space.

And Xiu's ocular technique was identical to that man's!

If the two possessed the same ocular technique, then perhaps he could obtain a way to counter Uchiha Shu from that person. At the very least, he could provide some degree of restraint.

From his observations, the man seemed very interested in the Uchiha's inheritance stone tablet. From time to time, he would appear near the shrine using that space-time ability, which was why Itachi had been lying in wait here.

Recalling last night's clan meeting, Itachi Uchiha grew increasingly agitated.

He was not sure whether the other party would appear, but Shisui's appointment as Senior Vice Minister of War was now a foregone conclusion.

Yet it was not something that could not be changed. He could see that what the clansmen truly supported was not Shisui's decision, but Uchiha Shu!

Or rather, Xiu's Mangekyō!

Only by getting rid of Xiu as soon as possible could he change this divided situation.

Just as he was gradually losing patience, a spatial vortex suddenly appeared out of thin air in the distance, and a figure wearing a tiger-striped mask emerged from it.

At the sight, joy immediately surged through Itachi.

Without hesitation, he flashed in front of the man.

The newcomer seemed to have expected this. He turned slightly sideways, looking utterly unruffled.

"I need your help with something."