What Is Proper Conduct? What Are the Rules?

And then there was that mysterious killer. Just thinking about him made Danzo's chest tighten with rage.

Uchiha Fugaku thought Danzo was the killer. Hiruzen Sarutobi thought so too. But Danzo knew the truth.

He had been framed!

The real killer, the mysterious man who could kill an elite jonin instantly with Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, was still hiding in the shadows. No one knew who he was, what he wanted, or whom he would target next.

While maneuvering against Uchiha Fugaku and Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo also had to spare the energy to guard against an enemy he could not see.

Those two fools had it easy!

He was the only smart one, and he was the one suffering for it!

The thought made Danzo grind his teeth!

"How dare you frame me! Once I find out who you are..."

Danzo's voice turned hoarse and venomous. "I'll wipe out your entire clan!"

Before the words had left his mouth, a figure surfaced in his mind.

A black robe patterned with red clouds. A spiral mask. A single crimson Sharingan showing through it.

The man who called himself Madara Uchiha. The mastermind who had fueled the Nine-Tails' Rampage. The collaborator who had met Danzo in secret and promised to help him destroy the Uchiha Clan for good.

If he was the mastermind...

Then everything made sense!

The more Danzo considered it, the more convinced he became. His spirits surged.

Madara Uchiha had faked his death and remained hidden all this time.

He had the strength to kill Sarutobi Shinnosuke instantly, the motive to turn Konoha High Command against itself, and every reason to pin the crime on Danzo.

Danzo was one of the few people who knew he existed. If Madara made him a murderer and an enemy of Konoha, no one would give Danzo's words much weight!

The thrill of discovering the truth vanished. The light in Danzo's lone eye grew colder and colder.

It seemed Madara Uchiha wanted to destroy not just the Uchiha, but all of Konoha!

The Hokage and Root stood opposed. The Uchiha were growing restless. Three factions were tearing at one another in the dark... Wasn't this exactly what Madara Uchiha wanted?

No one in Konoha had benefited from this chaos.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had lost his son. Danzo had been branded the killer. Uchiha Fugaku had been forced to show his hand.

The only one who stood to gain was the troublemaker hiding in the shadows!

Danzo shot to his feet.

"Someone, come here."

A trusted ninja appeared soundlessly at the chamber entrance and dropped to one knee.

"Make preparations. I'm sending Hiruzen Sarutobi a top-secret message!"

"And notify Orochimaru. I want to see him as soon as possible!"

The ninja accepted his orders and left.

Silence settled over the chamber again. Danzo stood alone in the dark, torchlight flickering across his face and throwing its bandaged half in and out of shadow.

He knew Orochimaru was a viper. Working with him would bring endless trouble. But the situation no longer allowed Danzo to be choosy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was Hokage and had the authority of the office behind him. Danzo would have to take a dangerous gamble to turn the tables!

Uchiha Clan Compound.

Yongye sat at the dining table with one leg crossed over the other, toying with a kunai. An intricate technique mark was engraved near its tip.

A Flying Thunder God Mark.

Even with all the original owner's memories, he couldn't bear sitting cross-legged all day. He had refitted much of the house in the style he knew from Earth.

Ayame was awake and busy making breakfast at the stove.

Her movements were soft and careful, as though she feared disturbing Yongye. Every so often, though, she turned her head to steal a glance at his back.

Sunlight streamed through the window and fell across her face. Pain and inner conflict kept flickering over her delicate features.

Yongye ignored her. His attention was on the system prompt that had just sounded in his mind.

[Ding—The Impure World Reincarnation that Shimura Danzō had pinned his hopes on failed to clear his name! Still falsely accused, Danzo has fallen into a state of extreme frustration!]

[Repeatedly suspected by the comrade who knows him best and identified by the resurrected dead, Danzo cannot defend himself or clear his name. His composure has suffered a severe breakdown!]

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained one advanced mystery box. Open it now?]

Yongye's grin was harder to suppress than an AK's recoil.

You old dog, Danzo, you really are my lucky star. Every time, you spring another unexpected gift on me!

What will it be this time?

"Open it."

[Ding—Advanced mystery box opened!]

[Congratulations, host! You have received: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!]

Yongye nodded in satisfaction.

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was a Forbidden Jutsu created by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju and brought to prominence by Naruto Uzumaki.

Unlike an ordinary Shadow Clone, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique could divide Chakra evenly among its clones, giving each one exactly the same strength as the original.

More importantly, once a clone dispersed, all the experience and memories it had gained returned to the original. In a very short time, the original could acquire battle experience that would take an ordinary person decades to accumulate.

Of course, most people couldn't withstand such a massive shock. That was why it had become a Forbidden Jutsu.

But Yongye now possessed the Uzumaki Constitution. His Chakra reserves already far exceeded those of an ordinary person, and with the Uzumaki Clan's immense vitality and Chakra capacity...

In anyone else's hands, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was a Forbidden Jutsu. In his, it was a standard tactic!

Countless profound principles of Ninjutsu flooded his mind.

The mechanism for distributing Chakra among clones, the channel through which their memories returned to the original, the calculations for the maximum number of clones, and tactical models combining the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique with Flying Thunder God.

Clear Sword Heart worked at breakneck speed, breaking that knowledge apart, reorganizing it, and weaving it into a coherent whole.

Yongye slowly opened his eyes and spun the kunai in his hand.

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique plus Flying Thunder God.

From now on, he had another tactical option: stay in the clan compound drinking tea while his many Shadow Clones went out under different disguises to stir up trouble!

He could keep himself safe while maximizing the results, leaving every faction in Konoha suspicious and on edge!

The fiercer Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and Uchiha Fugaku fought, and the more miserable they felt, the more rewards he would reap!

In the end, he could become the Shinobi World's ultimate ancestor, free to tell anyone he pleased, "No beef for you!"

Yongye had no respect for that idiot Homelander. If he was going to be anyone, he'd be the ultimate ancestor: disobey him, and you were an unfilial descendant. And unfilial descendants could all be killed!

Yongye turned to look at Ayame by the stove.

This prize was quite nice. He ought to collect more like her!

After a while, breakfast was ready. Ayame carried the tray over in both hands, set it down carefully, and laid out the food.

Her movements were a little awkward, and she looked nervous. Yet beneath that nervousness was an obedience she could not quite explain.

At first, she had hoped to maneuver her way into becoming Yongye's wife.

But over the course of one night, Yongye had taught her what proper conduct meant, what the rules were, and what it meant to be a maid. Now she knew her place.

Yongye began eating. Ayame slipped under the table of her own accord and began eating too...

After breakfast and his morning workout, Uchiha Yongye opened the door and left home.

Earlier, just as dawn was breaking, a clansman had come to deliver a message: the clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, had summoned him to a meeting.

Yongye had been catching up on sleep. He had answered offhandedly, rolled over, and gone back to sleep. More people had come to hurry him along, but he hadn't even opened the door. Each time, he had simply called back that he would be there soon.

Now the sun was high in the sky, and he was only just strolling toward the underground meeting hall at Naka Shrine.

Naka Shrine had long been a gathering place for the Uchiha Clan. It stood just south of the compound's center and looked like an ordinary Japanese-style building from outside, but beneath it lay a hidden chamber.

Its entrance was concealed behind a wall bearing the Uchiha Gunbai crest. It would open only when someone activated the Sharingan and channeled Chakra into it in a specific sequence.

Yongye reached the entrance without slowing and raised his hand to push open the door marked with the Gunbai crest.

A figure suddenly stepped across his path, blocking him.