Is Everyone Trying to Outdo Everyone Else?!

Only two people remained in the Hokage Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Masked ANBU who had escorted him back.

Moonlight slanted through the window, stretching Hiruzen Sarutobi's shadow long and thin across the wall of scrolls and documents.

He stood before the window with his hands behind his back and gave his orders.

"Send word to Jiraiya and Tsunade. Have them return to Konoha quietly, as fast as possible, whatever it takes! I need them for the operation to kill Madara Uchiha!"

"In the message to Tsunade, tell her about Madara Uchiha. Fighting the Uchiha is the Senju Clan's eternal duty!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a slow, heavy breath.

To others, Madara Uchiha was a legend, a figure from history, an old story from the Battle of the Valley of the End.

But to the descendants of the Senju Clan, he was an enemy etched into their bones, a blood feud they were born into.

Tsunade might disregard the Hokage's orders and Konoha's safety, but she could never disregard Madara Uchiha.

Time could not wash away the blood feud between the Senju Clan and Madara Uchiha.

The Masked ANBU spoke in a restrained voice. "You don't trust Danzo? You still think he was the killer?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi answered coldly:

"Whether I trust him or not, I have to guard against him!

And I will not let Uchiha Yongye keep acting so brazenly! Konoha belongs to the Will of Fire!

It does not belong to the Uchiha, and it certainly does not belong to Uchiha Yongye!

In this operation, I will eliminate every threat to Konoha!"

The Masked ANBU fell silent for a moment, then bowed slightly.

"Yes."

She turned toward the door, her steps steady and her back straight. Moonlight traced the slender outline of her standard black ANBU uniform.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched her go, his expression suddenly complicated.

Guilt, helplessness, words left unsaid—and a faint sense that he owed her something.

Root's underground base.

Danzo hurried into a secret chamber, leaning on his cane. His steps were quicker than usual, and the cane struck the stone floor in a rapid, muffled rhythm.

As soon as he entered, he dismissed his attendants. The chamber door slammed shut behind him, its echo humming through the Iron Wall.

Only two people remained inside.

Danzo and the thin, Masked Root Shinobi—the one Yongye had called "very interesting."

Danzo leaned back in a stone chair and released a long breath.

He had held in his anger and humiliation for far too long at the Training Ground. At last he could relax a little, though his half-bandaged face was still dark with rage.

"We couldn't keep that little madman out as planned. We'll have to lure him away ahead of time."

Danzo raised his head, cold killing intent churning in his single eye. "Orochimaru, I'm leaving this to you. Any problem?"

The moment Danzo said "Orochimaru," the Root shinobi's entire presence changed.

His Chakra, once so steady it was almost lifeless, turned cold and slick, as though a seal had come undone. Danger prickled in the air.

He raised a hand and slowly removed his mask.

Beneath it was a face so pale it looked sickly. Golden slit-pupiled eyes gleamed in the torchlight, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a strange, unreadable smile.

Most unsettling of all was his tongue. He extended it and slowly licked his lips, its length nothing like a human's.

Orochimaru.

One of the Konoha Sannin, the Third Hokage's most prized student, and the most dangerous S-rank Missing-nin Konoha had ever known.

"Why lure him away?"

Mischief glinted in Orochimaru's golden eyes, and his smile widened.

"A tiger has entered the cage. Why not release a Lion into it too? Wouldn't that be more interesting—and yield a greater prize?"

Danzo narrowed his eye. He knew Orochimaru. The man never spoke idly; even his most casual suggestions concealed careful calculations.

"That Uchiha brat can use the Eight Gates Released Formation."

Danzo made no effort to hide his wariness.

"You've seen Might Guy use the Eight Gates. Opening the Seventh Gate is enough to overpower most Kage Level fighters.

Uchiha Yongye opens the Seventh Gate as if it's nothing. He might not even fear the backlash from opening the Eighth. Where would you find a Lion that could match a monster like him?"

Orochimaru did not answer at once.

He ran that unnaturally long tongue over his lips again, as if tasting some lingering delicacy in the air.

"That Lion possesses the legendary Rinnegan!"

Orochimaru paused, torchlight dancing in his golden eyes.

"Would that be a worthy match?"

Danzo's fingers clenched.

The Rinnegan!

First among the legendary Three Great Dojutsu, the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—a supreme eye technique known only from the creation myths of the Shinobi World.

Compared with the Rinnegan, the Sharingan and even the Mangekyo Sharingan were mere toys for mortals!

Danzo's breathing grew heavy.

Greed surged in his single eye, so fierce it nearly spilled over.

If he could claim those eyes for himself... forget the Hokage Position. The entire Shinobi World would tremble beneath his feet!

But he was Danzo. After a few moments, he forced the greed down. His gaze turned calculating and grim.

A "Lion" with the Rinnegan could be no ordinary person.

And Orochimaru was not recommending this person merely to help him. That snake had plans of his own.

Danzo did not press him. This was no time to demand answers. In the end, the winner would be whoever held the strongest trump card!

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

Danzo nodded slowly, regaining his usual composure.

Orochimaru's smile deepened. He had known Danzo would agree. The Rinnegan was bait enough on its own; that old fish could never resist.

He put his mask back on, hiding his deathly pale face and unsettling smile. But his cold, clammy presence lingered like damp seeping into the walls.

After Orochimaru left, Danzo sat alone in the chamber for a long time.

Torchlight flickered across his face, casting its bandaged half in alternating light and shadow.

"Come in."

A trusted shinobi appeared silently in the doorway and knelt on one knee, awaiting orders.

Danzo lowered his voice, as if afraid even the walls might overhear.

"Take some men in secret and dig..."

His voice dropped further, and he whispered the last few words into his subordinate's ear.

The shinobi's pupils widened as Danzo spoke, then quickly returned to the cold indifference of a Root operative.

He nodded firmly, saluted, and slipped soundlessly out of the chamber.

Danzo was alone again. He rose with his cane and walked to a map on the wall.

The map showed Konoha and the surrounding terrain. One location had been circled in red.

There, his dream would come true!

Uchiha Clan Compound, Clan Leader's Mansion.

It was late, and the mansion was quiet. Sasuke was already asleep, and Itachi had returned to his room. Only a faint oil lamp still burned in the master bedroom at the end of the corridor.

Uchiha Fugaku sat cross-legged on a mat, eyes closed and brow deeply furrowed.

Shimura Danzō was treacherous and couldn't be trusted!

Uchiha Yongye was a reckless fool he couldn't rely on!

The Masked Man, Madara Uchiha, had unfathomable strength!

His Mangekyō Sharingan had been exposed!

He needed a new trump card, one powerful enough to keep the factions in check and protect the Uchiha when it mattered most!

And the strongest trump card he could think of was Itachi.

His eldest son, his greatest pride, had graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven, awakened the Sharingan at ten, and become an ANBU squad captain at thirteen.

In talent, strength, and resolve, Itachi stood closer to the peak than anyone else in the Uchiha's younger generation.

But the Three-Tomoe was not enough. Against a monster like Madara Uchiha, it was nowhere near enough.

Itachi had to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!

Only the Mangekyō Sharingan could stand against the Mangekyō Sharingan!

Fugaku took a deep breath, stood, and opened the bedroom door.

Uchiha Mikoto sat in the corridor, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. Moonlight fell across her gentle face. She looked tired, but more than that, troubled.

Since her failed night attack on Yongye—after which that madman had instead "invested" in her—she had tried not to remember what happened.

Every time she did, heat rose in her cheeks. There was anger, humiliation, and something else she despised herself for feeling—something she could neither name nor explain.

She had told no one. Not Fugaku, not Itachi, and certainly not Sasuke. She had swallowed that filthy secret, intending to carry it to her grave.

Seeing her husband emerge, Mikoto hurried to her feet and forced a gentle smile. It froze when she saw his face.

Fugaku looked grave.

There was an almost ruthless resolve in his expression, as though he had weighed a painful choice for a long time and finally made it.

"Mikoto, I need your help."

Mikoto nodded instinctively. If her husband was speaking to her in that tone, something terrible must have happened.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"Help me awaken Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan!"

The teacup slipped from Mikoto's hand and shattered on the wooden floor. Tea splashed across her skirt, but she did not notice.

Her pupils contracted, her lips trembled, and her gentle face turned paper-white.

As the wife of the Uchiha Clan's leader, she knew exactly what it took to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Watching the person dearest to you die!

That soul-rending pain was the only key.

"You... you're going to..."

Her voice shook, and her eyes reddened at once.

"What are you going to do to Itachi? What are you going to do to my son?!"

Fugaku turned his head, avoiding her gaze.

"In seven days, ANBU, Root, and the Uchiha will join forces to kill the Masked Man, Madara Uchiha!

Whatever the outcome, the balance between Konoha and the Uchiha will be shattered. I don't trust Danzo. The Uchiha need a trump card strong enough to protect us!

A powerful trump card no one expects!"

He paused. His Mangekyō Sharingan slowly turned in the moonlight.

"Itachi needs the Mangekyō Sharingan. The Uchiha need Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan!"

Tears spilled down Mikoto's face. She bit her lip and shook her head desperately, choking so badly she could barely finish a sentence.

"Isn't there... isn't there another way? Does it have to... have to be this? Couldn't we do something else?"

Fugaku was silent for a long time. Moonlight fell on his normally stern face, making him look ten years older.

"If there were another way, I wouldn't have come to you."

Mikoto sank onto the corridor floor, tears sliding silently down her cheeks.

She knew he was telling the truth. If there were another way, he would not choose this one. Given the choice, he would rather die himself than hurt his son.

But he was the clan leader. The leader of the Uchiha Clan. Thousands of lives rested on his shoulders.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She looked up, overjoyed. "What about Uchiha Yongye? Can't we rely on him? That bastard is strong! Danzo would never dare cross him!"