Beauty Trap and Poison!

The Hokage Office was wreathed in smoke.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his broad desk, the tobacco in his pipe glowing and fading. His face betrayed nothing, but the knuckles of the fingers gripping his pipe stood out sharply.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke stood across from him, thick bandages wrapped around his abdomen. Medical Ninjutsu had mended his broken ribs, but every breath still brought a dull ache.

His face was pale, his gaze dark with fury.

"He was vicious with Asuma..."

Shinnosuke kept his voice low, unable to hide the hatred in it. "He broke all four of his limbs and nearly destroyed his manhood. If the medical team hadn't treated him in time, Asuma's life would have been ruined."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. The ember in his pipe flared rapidly several times.

"But that isn't the worst of it." Shinnosuke raised his head and looked his father in the eye. "The worst part is that he opens the Seventh Gate whenever he feels like it, without the slightest concern for the backlash or strain."

He paused, then delivered his conclusion one word at a time:

"That means he can definitely open the Eighth Gate!"

The air in the office seemed to freeze.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly removed his pipe, tapped its ash against the edge of the desk, then nodded.

"You're right."

He had reached the same conclusion last night.

When Might Guy, Konoha's strongest Taijutsu user, opened the Seventh Gate, he was covered in blood. His muscles tore, blood seeped through his skin, and he looked as though he had been dragged out of a meat grinder.

But that lunatic Uchiha Yongye? He opened the Seventh Gate as if it were nothing. He wasn't even out of breath.

If the Seventh Gate came so easily to him, what about the Eighth?

The Eight Gates Released Formation's Gate of Death burned away one's life in exchange for ultimate power dozens of times beyond Kage Level.

Back then, Might Duy had been a mere Genin, yet after opening the Eight Gates, he had reduced the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to three survivors. What would happen if a monster like Uchiha Yongye opened them?

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not dare imagine it.

That was why he had yielded last night. It was not only the entire Uchiha clan he feared, but Uchiha Yongye himself.

If they pushed that lunatic too far and he opened the Eight Gates in a rage, they would all be in deep trouble!

"Gathering intelligence alone..." Shinnosuke's voice broke into his thoughts. "That won't be enough to deal with Uchiha Yongye."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at his eldest son.

Shinnosuke had spent years in ANBU and had always been steady and seasoned. If he said they could not deal with Yongye, then they truly could not.

Against someone who opened the Eight Gates in a rage, intelligence would be useless!

Unless they stopped Uchiha Yongye from opening them. They had to kill him before he could!

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "Then you want to..."

Shinnosuke's face hardened with resolve. "Poison him and use a beauty trap. Both at once!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's fingers stilled. He remained silent for a long while as smoke from his pipe curled between them, blurring their expressions.

Poison him!

In the ninja world, using poison in combat and secretly poisoning someone were entirely different things.

Using poison meant employing it openly, right in front of your opponent, leaving them unable to defend against it, withstand it, or cure it.

Secretly poisoning someone meant sneaking it into their stomach.

It was hardly an honorable method. It was downright underhanded, and powerful ninja and ninja villages generally avoided it.

A beauty trap was much the same. It was effective, but if word got out, it would be humiliating.

Yet conventional methods truly were useless against a lunatic like Uchiha Yongye, who could neither be threatened nor persuaded. They could not beat him or keep him in line. He would not listen to reason, and accusations meant nothing to him.

That left only underhanded tactics!

"...All right. Do it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slowly, his voice firm and decisive.

After forty years as Hokage, he knew better than anyone that some dirty work had to be done. Danzo had done it for him before. Now that Danzo had been removed, he would have to do it himself.

For Konoha, he was willing to shoulder anything!

"Focus on recovering first. Once your injuries have healed, make the arrangements carefully. And remember—"

He raised his head. A cold calculation that only a politician could understand stirred in his aged eyes.

"Keep this strictly confidential, and leave no loose ends! No one but you and me can know about it."

"Understood."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke bowed and left the office.

His footsteps echoed down the corridor, steady and firm. He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the dull pain around his ribs, while his mind raced ahead.

One female ninja after another flashed through his mind—women from ANBU, Root, the intelligence division...

Who would be the best choice? Who would arouse the least suspicion? Who could get closest to that lunatic?

He needed the perfect pawn. A beauty who could make Uchiha Yongye lower his guard.

The Uchiha Clan Compound.

Yongye led Ayame through the streets, drawing plenty of looks from the clanspeople along the way.

Some looked curious, some surprised, some reverent. Others looked envious or jealous.

Uchiha Yongye had torn through his enemies last night, and today he had brought a girl home. As expected of a man bold enough to confront even the Hokage—he was a step ahead of everyone in everything.

Ayame followed him with her head lowered, her face as red as a boiled shrimp.

She did not dare meet the Uchiha clanspeople's eyes. She kept her gaze fixed on Yongye's heels and followed without falling a step behind.

At his front door, Yongye stopped.

Someone was standing there: a girl named Uchiha Izumi.

She wore plain-colored clan clothes and stood with her hands on her hips, anger written across her pretty face. The moment she saw Yongye, the fury in her eyes flared.

"Yongye!"

Uchiha Izumi stormed over and immediately let loose on him.

"You went too far! How could you be so brutal to a fellow clansman?"

She was talking about Uchiha Itachi.

After Yongye's Heir-Breaking Kick yesterday, Itachi had said he was fine, but Izumi was no fool.

She had seen his legs trembling faintly when he walked, and how stiffly he moved when he sat down.

How much must that hurt? What if an injury there left lasting damage?

That was her happiness for the rest of her life at stake!

Yongye looked at her as if she were a kitten blocking his path.

He snapped, "If you want to talk about being brutal to your own clan, who could beat that traitor Itachi?"

Uchiha Izumi rolled her eyes dramatically, her delicate face full of contempt and disbelief.

"A gentle man like Itachi would never be as ruthless as you!

"And Itachi joined ANBU to keep communication open between the Uchiha and Konoha and prevent misunderstandings. He's no traitor!"

Her tone was adamant, backed by the blind certainty that her boyfriend was the best man in the world.

Then her gaze moved past Yongye to Ayame. She looked her up and down and recognized her as the daughter of Ichiraku Ramen's owner.

"Ayame?"

Izumi frowned.

She hurried over to Ayame and lowered her voice, as though sharing a momentous secret.

"Ayame, listen to me—Yongye is not a good man. Be careful around him! He may look good on the outside, but he's rotten underneath!"

She glanced back and glared at Yongye like a witness identifying a criminal.

"He seriously injured Itachi without a thought for their clan ties! He even bullied a child and made Sasuke cry! A man like that is capable of anything!"

Ayame stood rooted to the spot, her expression stiff.

She forced a friendly smile, but it looked painfully awkward.

Yongye was not a good man? She knew that better than anyone!

What kind of decent man would pull her into his arms and start touching her in a ramen shop, right in front of her father, then openly say that doing it without paying meant it was not prostitution?

But so what?

Uchiha Yongye was too strong!

He could beat up Elder Danzo, break the Hokage's son's limbs, force Lord Hokage to compromise, and make the ANBU commander kneel and apologize.

And she had accidentally offended a powerhouse like that! What else could she do but join him?

Uchiha Izumi had come to demand answers, with plenty prepared to say. Today, she was determined to get justice for Uchiha Itachi.

Even after receiving the full force of Medical Ninjutsu following that kick yesterday, Itachi still had trouble walking today. As his girlfriend, she was beside herself with worry.

She had a whole speech ready to lecture Uchiha Yongye. First, clan bonds! Second, peace above all! Third, do not set the Uchiha against Konoha! Fourth, respect the clan elders...

But before she could begin, Yongye had already had enough.

He grabbed Ayame by the wrist, walked straight past Izumi, and pushed open the door.

Bang!

The door slammed shut in Uchiha Izumi's face.

Izumi froze on the doorstep, mouth open, her carefully prepared lecture stuck in her throat!

She stamped her foot in anger and raised a hand to pound on the door, then thought better of it and lowered it.

She had to win him over with reason and virtue. She had to persuade him! If she angered Yongye enough to make him lash out, she would be the one to suffer!

"Uchiha Yongye! Come out!"

No one answered.

"I'm not finished! Are you too scared to face what you did?"

Still no answer.

Izumi gritted her teeth and planted herself by the door, refusing to leave.

She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, determined to wait until Yongye came out. She was going to have her say today.

Then some strange sounds came from inside the house.