Secret Meeting in the Dead of Night

The light in the Hokage Office stayed on all night.

Outside, the darkness was thick as ink, shutting out even the moonlight. The air inside felt too heavy to breathe.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's chair. His pipe had gone out long ago, but he made no move to relight it. He only stared at the sheet of paper on his desk.

He had read the three claims on it at least twenty times.

Each reading felt like a knife driven into his chest.

Mitokado Homura sat on the sofa opposite him, hands braced on his knees, back slightly hunched. His eyes were bloodshot; he clearly had not slept in a long time either.

Utatane Koharu stood by the window with her back to them, looking out into the black night.

None of them spoke.

Silence weighed on the room like a mountain.

At last, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, his voice so hoarse it seemed forced from his throat.

"We can't... contain the rumors anymore."

His voice carried an exhaustion neither of them had ever heard before.

"The Anbu searched all day and found nothing."

Mitokado Homura sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Hiruzen, this opponent... is more capable than we thought."

"No one believes anything we say now."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing.

Of course he knew.

Since that morning, all of Konoha had been talking about those three claims.

The marketplace, the training grounds, the mission hall... people whispered everywhere.

He had sent the Anbu to arrest a few of the people leading the discussions, but that had only made things worse.

The way the villagers looked at them had changed.

There was no respect or trust in those eyes anymore, only fear and suspicion.

"Hiruzen."

Utatane Koharu turned around, her expression grave.

"We can't let this continue."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up. "Do you have a solution?"

Utatane Koharu was silent for a few seconds. Then she walked to the desk and planted both hands on it.

"We have to... make some concessions."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. "Concessions? What kind?"

"The Uchiha Clan's former grounds."

Utatane Koharu spoke each word deliberately.

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze.

Mitokado Homura looked up too, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Koharu, are you serious?" Mitokado Homura asked.

Utatane Koharu nodded.

"Think about it. Which rumor is doing us the most harm right now?"

She raised a finger.

"The first one: the Konoha High Command intends to wipe out every Kekkei Genkai clan."

"That rumor is deadly because the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre already happened. The evidence is right there."

"If we truly wanted to wipe out the Uchiha Clan, why would we return their former grounds?"

"Returning the land would be a gesture for the villagers to see."

"It would show them that the Konoha High Command never intended to wipe out the Uchiha."

Mitokado Homura's eyes lit up.

"That makes sense..."

"If we really wanted the Uchiha dead, why would we give their land back?"

"We'd be contradicting ourselves otherwise."

Utatane Koharu continued, "Returning the land would also reassure the survivors."

"It would show them that the Konoha High Command still values the Uchiha Clan."

"Two problems solved at once."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing.

He picked up his pipe, relit it, and took a long draw.

Smoke rose slowly, obscuring his expression.

"But..."

He sounded hesitant.

"That was the Uchiha Clan's original home."

"It took us a great deal of effort to move them away back then..."

"And now we're giving it back?"

"Hiruzen."

Utatane Koharu's voice sharpened.

"This is no time to worry about that bit of leverage!"

"If we don't make concessions now, the Konoha High Command will lose all credibility!"

"Then forget controlling the Uchiha. Even the neutral ninja clans won't listen to us anymore!"

Mitokado Homura nodded as well.

"Hiruzen, Koharu is right."

"Stabilizing the situation matters most right now."

"As for everything else... we'll deal with it later."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a long time.

He drew on his pipe again and again, smoke spreading through the office.

Only after a long while did he speak.

"Then... what about the other rumors?"

Utatane Koharu shook her head.

"We ignore the others."

"Danzo killing Minato Namikaze... that's baseless nonsense."

"There's no evidence. Given time, the villagers will forget it on their own."

"As for Danzo..."

Utatane Koharu paused.

"He's under house arrest now. Once things die down, we'll find a way."

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe and looked from one old friend to the other.

His expression was complicated.

Resentment, resignation, and a deep exhaustion.

"Then... all right."

He finally nodded.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll call a meeting of the clan heads."

"We'll return the Uchiha Clan's former grounds to them."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance. Both breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile.

In a nameless cave on the border of the Land of Fire.

Deep in the darkness, a figure slowly opened his eyes.

They were a pair of scarlet eyes.

Three Tomoe rotated slowly.

Uchiha Itachi woke from his coma.

His memories remained trapped in that bloody night: Sasuke's face, the bodies of his clan, those heart-rending screams...

He slammed a hand against the ground and tried to sit up.

"Don't move."

A low voice came from nearby.

"You've been unconscious for a day and a night. Your body hasn't recovered yet."

Itachi turned toward the voice.

In the darkness, a figure wearing a spiral mask leaned against the cave wall, watching him calmly.

Obito Uchiha.

Itachi's gaze turned cold.

"You..."

His voice was hoarse, as though something were lodged in his throat.

"Why didn't you keep your promise?"

Obito did not answer.

After a few seconds of silence, he spoke slowly.

"I've told you many times. I didn't do those things."

Itachi stared hard at him.

"I was at the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters all that night."

Obito's voice was calm, without a trace of emotion.

Itachi said nothing.

He thought back to the details of that night. The Masked Man had indeed been at the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters, intercepting reinforcements. He had seen it himself.

But who, then, had attacked the Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan?

"Believe me or don't."

Obito stood and walked over to Itachi.

"If I really wanted to betray you, you'd be a corpse by now."

Itachi fell silent.

He had to admit Obito had a point.

If Obito had wanted to harm him, he could have killed him while he was unconscious.

There would have been no reason to bring him to this cave.

"Then... what happened on the night of the massacre..."

Itachi frowned.

"Something about it feels wrong."

"Wrong?"

Itachi nodded, his gaze growing distant.

"The Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan weren't supposed to be attacked."

"But someone impersonated you and attacked them, muddying the waters."

"And Sasuke... he was supposed to be at the Ninja Academy."

"Instead, he ended up beneath my blade."

"There are too many coincidences."

Obito was silent.

"We'll talk about that later."

Obito changed the subject.

"Right now, you need to recover your strength."

Itachi nodded.

But just then, he remembered something far more important.

His voice grew urgent.

"That method you mentioned... the one that could bring Sasuke back."

"What is it?"

Obito stopped moving.

He was silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly.

"There's a forbidden technique in the Shinobi World called..."

"The Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."

Itachi's eyes lit up.

"Rinne Rebirth...?"

"That's right."

Obito turned toward him, his gaze settling on Itachi through the mask.

"Gather enough Chakra, and you can bring the dead back to life."

"Even those who have died can return to this world."

Itachi's breathing quickened.

His fingers trembled.

"Then... what would it take?"

Obito was silent for a moment.

"The requirements..."

His voice took on a cryptic edge.

"Are far more complicated than you imagine."

Itachi stared at him intently.

"Tell me."

Obito said nothing.

A deathly silence fell over the cave.

Only water dripping from the ceiling broke it: drip, drip.

A long time passed.

At last, Obito spoke slowly.

"Have you heard of... the Rinnegan?"