The Killer Was Madara Uchiha!

Yongye closed the cash box without looking up, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Such a devoted son. I never thought you'd be so filial and so good at blaming others for your own crimes! You can be Danzo's lapdog if you want. I won't!"

The newcomer was Uchiha Itachi.

He stood in the doorway, moonlight stretching his shadow into a long, thin line behind him.

His scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan narrowed slightly. His ocular power gathered in the dark like a coiled snake, ready to strike without warning.

He had meant to frame Yongye.

If he could pin the charge of "colluding with Root" on him, Yongye might get angry, feel wronged, or rush to defend himself. All Itachi needed was one crack in that icy shell for his Sharingan Genjutsu to slip through.

He still remembered the last time Yongye had kicked him in the groin in the middle of the street.

The lingering pain had faded, but the humiliation remained, nailed deep into his pride like a rusty spike.

Worse, it had happened in front of his little brother, Sasuke!

That was something Uchiha Itachi could never tolerate!

He had to settle that score!

And Uchiha Yongye had become the greatest threat to peace in Konoha. He had to be eliminated!

But Yongye's reaction caught Itachi completely off guard.

No anger. No guilt. No attempt to explain himself.

He did not even spare Itachi a glance. He simply let loose a string of taunts about devoted sons and lapdogs.

All the while, he beamed down at the bills in the cash box, as absorbed as a miser.

Itachi's Sharingan Genjutsu was primed, but he had no opening.

The key to Sharingan Genjutsu was catching a weakness in an opponent's emotions.

Anger made people reckless. Fear slowed their reactions. Humiliation clouded their judgment... Any sharp surge of emotion was the perfect moment for a genjutsu to take hold.

But the man before him showed no weakness at all. His calm was not an act, nor was he forcing his feelings down. He was at ease to his very core.

Itachi fell silent for a moment, assessed the situation, and reached a conclusion: forcing a fight gave him poor odds. He would wait for another chance.

Their last clash had already proved as much. Yongye had broken his genjutsu with ease, Itachi's Taijutsu had been tortoise-slow against Yongye's speed, and that Heir-Breaking Kick...

Just remembering it made Itachi's legs draw together on their own!

It had been downright vicious!

Uchiha Yongye was an opponent he had to treat with caution.

Itachi decisively abandoned any thought of attacking. He gradually drew back the power in his Sharingan. The scarlet glow vanished, leaving his eyes black as ink once more.

"My father wants to see you. It's urgent."

His voice returned to its usual cool tone, as though their silent confrontation had never happened.

That did surprise Yongye.

He looked up at Uchiha Itachi with a faint, knowing smile.

Uchiha Fugaku?

That coward? Yongye had only just called him a "Green-Headed Fly" to his face in the secret chamber of Naka Shrine that morning. Fugaku had trembled with rage, his face turning from ashen to liver-red. He had looked one breath away from a stroke.

How long had it been? Less than half a day, and he had already sent someone for Yongye again?

Had he developed a taste for being insulted?

Did the esteemed clan leader have some peculiar habit that left him uncomfortable if he went a day without a scolding?

Yongye's curiosity was piqued.

He wanted to see what new trick Uchiha Fugaku, that Green-Headed Fly, had come up with.

"Fine. Just a moment."

He nodded, took a Storage Scroll from inside his robe, and spread it across the table.

His fingers flashed through Hand Seals. The Sealing Jutsu formula on the scroll lit up pale blue, enveloping the heavy cash box.

With a soft pop, the cash box dissolved into a wisp of white smoke and was sealed inside the scroll.

Uchiha Itachi stood in the doorway and watched the whole thing.

His expression did not change, but he silently added a note to his assessment of Yongye.

Money-hungry!

Last time, Yongye had charged each of the eight clan members Danzo had marked for death a hundred thousand ryō to save them. This time, he had extorted five million from Root and counted every bill before he would even look up at Itachi...

His fixation on money was nothing like a Uchiha's!

Though the Uchiha Clan had been pushed to the edge of the village, it remained a prominent name in the Shinobi World. Most of its members had no shortage of money.

A Uchiha whose eyes lit up at the sight of cash and who counted bills more intently than he fought was an oddity.

That weakness might prove useful someday!

Yongye tucked the scroll into his robe and walked to the doorway. He deliberately glanced between Itachi's legs, a wicked smirk curling his lips.

"How's it going, Itachi? Has everything down there recovered?"

His tone sounded like a concerned old friend asking after Itachi's health, but his eyes plainly said, Does that kick still hurt?

Itachi's face remained blank.

"If it hasn't, just say the word."

Yongye went on, sounding more sincere by the second—so sincere that Itachi wanted to hit him.

"I've always liked helping people. I'll make sure Izumi's well taken care of. She could be celebrating Mother's Day by next year!"

The corner of Uchiha Itachi's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

In the past, if anyone had dared make a joke like that about Izumi, Itachi would already have unleashed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and made them taste the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.

Now he merely turned away without a word and walked out.

His steps were steady, his breathing even, as if he had not heard a thing.

Yongye curled his lip and followed, grumbling inwardly:

—Of course. To a guy obsessed with his little brother, a girlfriend is just for show!

—Bringing up Izumi won't get to him nearly as much as bringing up Sasuke.

—If he found out about Uchiha Mikoto...

—Hm. I'll try that next time!

The two passed through the streets of the Uchiha Clan Compound and met Uchiha Fugaku at the edge of a secluded Training Ground.

Fugaku stood beneath an old pine, arms folded, his expression shifting uneasily. When Yongye and Itachi approached one behind the other, he gave them a slight nod in greeting.

Then he got straight to the point.

"Danzo has called for three-party peace talks. I suspect he's plotting something, though. Stay on guard when we get there."

He kept his voice low, his wariness undisguised.

Three-party peace talks.

The Hokage's side, Root's side, and the Uchiha's side.

Ever since Uchiha Yongye had kicked Danzo to the ground and forced the Third Hokage to yield two nights ago, relations between the Konoha High Command and the Uchiha had been stretched to the breaking point.

Then Sarutobi Shinnosuke had been assassinated, ANBU and Root had nearly come to blows, and Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan had been exposed...

The events had gone off like a chain of Explosive Tags, blasting the already fragile balance to pieces.

And under these circumstances, Danzo had proposed three-party peace talks?

What was that old bastard up to?

Uchiha Fugaku had no idea!

Uchiha Itachi nodded slightly to show he understood. His expression remained cool, but thought flickered through his eyes.

As someone who knew both the Konoha High Command and the Uchiha from within, he understood Danzo better than most. Danzo never made a deal at a loss. Every hand he offered held an unseen knife.

Uchiha Yongye only smiled, plainly looking forward to the show!

Seeing that, Uchiha Fugaku cursed inwardly: That bastard really is a brute!

But in Fugaku's eyes, that also had its advantages: he had no need to worry about Yongye siding with Konoha the way Shisui might!

The three said no more and set off together.

Rather than take the main road, they leaped onto the rooftops and sped through the night.

Moonlight drew long afterimages behind them as they crossed more than half of Konoha in a few breaths.

Their destination was not the Hokage Building, but an abandoned Training Ground.

It stood near the edge of Konoha, toward the Forest of Death. Weeds grew thick around it, its wire fences were rusted, and the human-shaped wooden targets on the range had rotted almost beyond recognition.

It was said to have been a secret ANBU training base years ago, abandoned because it lay too far from the village and cost too much to maintain.

Holding the talks there suited all three sides... It was far from busy streets, out of sight of the villagers, and clear of bystanders who might be caught in a fight.

More importantly, it was remote and open enough that any ambush would be hard to conceal!

The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō had already arrived.

Their two groups occupied separate corners of the Training Ground, facing each other across more than ten meters.

Two people stood behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

One was Might Guy, his trademark green bodysuit glaringly bright in the moonlight. He stood straight with his arms folded.

The other was a masked Anbu Ninja, lean and steady on his feet. There was no telling who he was.

But judging by the faint, sharp edge to his presence, he was at least an Elite Jonin-level fighter.

Two masked Root ninja stood behind Shimura Danzō.

Both wore Root's standard black cloaks, revealing only their cold eyes.

Their stances seemed casual, but each had positioned himself to cover a possible angle of attack, betraying years of combat experience.

Yongye and the others dropped from above, their robes snapping as they landed firmly at the Training Ground's third corner.

The three sides faced one another in a triangle. The distance between them fell at a delicate threshold: close enough to talk, but far enough that any sudden attacker would need at least three breaths to reach another group.

Moonlight washed over the abandoned Training Ground, turning it a deathly white.

Weeds rustled in the night breeze. Now and then, birds flew over from the direction of the Forest of Death, their cries shrill in the dark.

Hiruzen Sarutobi held a pipe between his teeth, blue smoke curling upward in the moonlight. His aged eyes moved between Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Yongye, openly wary and appraising.

Danzo leaned on his cane. Bandages covered half his face, leaving only one sinister eye exposed.

That eye rested on Fugaku for a moment before locking onto Yongye. The killing intent in it was almost palpable.

Fugaku stood at the front of the Uchiha group, arms folded, meeting the gazes of Konoha's two leaders without expression.

Yongye stood half a step behind him, hands in his pockets, posture loose. His gaze drifted across the sky, utterly unconcerned by the oppressive atmosphere.

Danzo spoke first, and his words were startling!

"Hiruzen, I wasn't the one who had Shinnosuke assassinated!"

"Fugaku, I wasn't the one who attacked you either!"

"The real culprit... was Madara Uchiha!"