A Chain of Devastating Blows!

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not spare the sacrifice another glance.

He walked to the edge of the ritual array and began forming hand seals. His fingers did not move quickly, but every seal was steady as stone.

He had never actually performed Impure World Reincarnation before.

But before becoming Hokage, he had seen Tobirama Senju perform it with his own eyes. The sequence of seals, the way Chakra was guided, the conditions that activated the jutsu—all of it was etched deep in his memory. He had never forgotten.

And to make absolutely sure, he had looked up the relevant materials last night and reviewed them.

Tiger. Snake. Dog. Dragon!

He pressed his palms together!

"Impure World Reincarnation."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was hoarse and low, carrying an unquestionable gravity.

The ritual array blazed to life. Countless streams of gray-white earth surged from the ground like living things and wrapped around the sacrifice, layer upon layer.

The sacrifice let out a muffled scream. His body convulsed beneath the earth, twisting and changing shape.

The earth seemed alive as it spread across his skin, seeped into him, and remade him, changing his face and form one layer at a time.

After only a few breaths, someone entirely different stood in the center of the array.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

His face, his build, his presence... all were just as they had been in life. Only his eyes had changed. The whites were gray-black, and his pupils held no light, like two deep pits leading to Yomi.

Fine cracks covered his skin. They were the telltale seams of Impure World Reincarnation, like a piece of shattered porcelain glued back together.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke slowly opened his eyes.

He looked down at his hands, then at the bloodstained ANBU uniform he wore. Finally, he raised his head toward Hiruzen Sarutobi at the edge of the array.

Guilt filled his eyes, so deep it seemed to reach his bones.

"Father."

"I failed you..."

He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. The cracks near his eyes parted slightly with the motion, revealing the gray-white earth beneath.

"I made you... bury your own son."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's fingers trembled.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing the grief that threatened to burst out again down into the depths of his chest.

When he opened them, only a judge's composure remained in his aged eyes.

"Never mind that."

His voice was lower than usual, but it remained steady.

"Tell me. Who killed you?"

Sarutobi Shinnosuke looked up. A bitter smile crossed his face, made all the more desolate by the gray-black whites of his eyes.

"I failed. I couldn't identify my attacker."

He shook his head, his voice full of helplessness and self-reproach.

"He was dressed in black, with a hood covering him completely. I was just about to leave the hospital room when he kicked me into the air from behind.

Before I could form a seal to defend myself, Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere riddled me with holes.

Less than three breaths passed between the ambush and my death. I didn't see anything clearly or gather any useful information."

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly clenched his fist inside his sleeve.

His eldest son, the ANBU Captain, the successor he had spent more than twenty years grooming, had been killed that easily in an instant!

No useful information. No chance to fight back. Just black clothes, a hood, and Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere.

He was silent for a moment before speaking again, his voice as cold as midwinter ice.

"Was it Danzo?"

Obvious hesitation appeared on Sarutobi Shinnosuke's face.

"Now that you mention it, the Man in Black did feel a lot like Danzo."

He spoke cautiously, hesitating as he chose his words.

"His build, the way he attacked, his habits when forming hand seals... they all reminded me of Danzo. But..."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke paused and frowned slightly.

"That shouldn't be possible. I know how strong Danzo is. He's stronger than me, yes, but nowhere near strong enough to kill me in an instant. Besides..."

He raised his head, his gray-black eyes full of confusion.

"Danzo had no reason to be so ruthless with me. I've barely dealt with him, and there's no deep grudge between us.

Even if he resented you for removing him from his post, he wouldn't take it out on me.

But Father, you must watch out for his revenge!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing more. He stood at the edge of the array with his hands behind his back, looking down at his resurrected son as murderous intent poured off him.

Kokoro no Suke had spoken cautiously, but the message beneath his caution was clear enough.

The killer had felt a lot like Danzo!

As a shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi trusted his own instincts. He trusted Sarutobi Shinnosuke's instincts too.

Under the twin blows of losing his son and being betrayed by an old friend, he forgot one thing: the Uchiha's Sharingan could perfectly copy someone else's movements!

Root, underground chamber.

Shimura Danzō sat in a stone chair, his fingers locked around his cane.

The half of his face beneath the bandages was dark with fury, and rage churned in his lone eye, so intense it was almost tangible.

Two pieces of bad news had hit him one after the other first thing that morning!

A brutal one-two punch!

First, Uchiha Fugaku—that shameless bastard! The Uchiha Clan Head who had spent more than a decade hiding in his shell, that spineless coward who had never dared make a peep in front of him, had secretly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and brought out Susanoo with ease!

"Damn you, Uchiha Fugaku..."

Danzo forced the words through his teeth, his voice hoarse and savage, like a beast growling deep in its throat.

"You hid the Mangekyō Sharingan all this time! If I'd known sooner..."

His grip made the cane creak.

If he had known Fugaku possessed the Mangekyō, he would never have suppressed the Uchiha so recklessly.

He would have planned a meticulous ambush, gathered every elite operative in Root, and laid an inescapable trap. He would have killed Uchiha Fugaku in a single strike and dug out those eyes!

The Mangekyō Sharingan was the treasure he had dreamed of possessing!

To gain the Sharingan's power, he had been willing to work with Orochimaru, violate Konoha's ban on Human Experiments, and slaughter Uchiha to collect their eyes one pair at a time.

Yet a ready-made pair of Mangekyō eyes had been hidden right under his nose for years, and he had never noticed.

Uchiha Fugaku had made a fool of him!

The second piece of bad news: Hiruzen Sarutobi really had gone senile!

Danzo had pinned great hopes on Hiruzen Sarutobi performing Impure World Reincarnation. Once Shinnosuke named the real killer himself, Danzo's name would be cleared.

But what happened?

Hiruzen Sarutobi still believed he had killed Shinnosuke!

How the hell was that fair?!

"Hiruzen, if you've gone this senile, what's the point of staying alive? You might as well die and be done with it..."

Danzo's voice sank lower and lower, until it sounded like he was muttering to himself—or uttering a curse.

"And Shinnosuke—I never thought you'd be so useless! You couldn't even tell who killed you! A pair of incompetent fools, father and son!"

He slammed his cane into the floor, leaving a shallow dent.

Impure World Reincarnation, the Forbidden Jutsu handed down by the Second Hokage, could summon the dead back from the Pure Land to the Living World.

It was his last chance to clear his name!

But that useless Shinnosuke hadn't seen a damn thing! Black clothes, a hood, a build, some movements, a vague feeling that it was Danzo...

That was it?

That was all the intelligence the ANBU Captain had gathered before he died?

Stupid!

Stupid beyond belief!

The Uchiha were one thing. They were enemies; it was only natural for them to deceive him.

Fugaku hiding his Mangekyō was an enemy's cunning. Danzo was furious, but he could accept that!

But Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sarutobi Shinnosuke...

One was an old comrade he had fought beside for decades. The other was a junior he had watched grow up. He had thought they, at least, would understand how he operated.

Yet they truly believed he would be stupid enough to go after Shinnosuke!

The man he actually wanted dead was Hiruzen Sarutobi! Killing Shinnosuke served no purpose and would only tip Hiruzen off. He wasn't that stupid!

The helpless rage of being falsely accused was harder for Danzo to bear than the kick Uchiha Yongye had given him. It made him want to lose his mind!