Guilty Conscience, Growing Suspicion!

Carelessness?

Uchiha Fugaku knew this was no mere case of carelessness.

No matter how careless he had been, an Elite Jonin should not have been kicked to the ground by someone so unremarkable.

There was only one explanation: Uchiha Yongye was no ordinary man!

He had ordered his clansmen to investigate Uchiha Yongye. His Chakra, Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu were all average. Nothing about him stood out.

Yet this "average" man had broken his gifted son's genjutsu, kicked him flat, then walked away as though nothing had happened.

It had to be the Uchiha Clan's bloodline doing what it always did: the deeper the hatred, the greater the power!

And Fugaku, the inept clan leader, surely had a place among the targets of Uchiha Yongye's hatred.

He was not afraid for himself. But if Uchiha Yongye went after his family again...

The more Uchiha Fugaku thought about it, the worse his headache became.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Clan leader!"

A clansman serving as a guard pushed the door open and dropped to one knee, his face full of alarm.

"Something's happened outside the clan compound!"

Uchiha Fugaku sat bolt upright, his brows drawn tight. "Speak."

"Several Root and ANBU ninjas have been killed!"

The guard kept his voice low, but could not hide his tension.

"They were already dead when our patrol arrived. The scene was scorched earth. Witnesses say the killer wore a mask, had silver hair, and specialized in Lightning Release. He also used an extremely powerful Fire Release technique—Great Fire Annihilation!"

Silver hair. Lightning Release. Fire Release. Great Fire Annihilation.

Uchiha Fugaku's temple throbbed. The very thing he feared most had happened.

The Uchiha Clan was renowned throughout the Shinobi World for its mastery of Fire Release. Its crest was a fan—a tool used to fan flames.

Since ancient times, the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release Ninjutsu had been famous far and wide.

An immensely powerful Great Fire Annihilation! Once word got out, everyone would point the finger at the Uchiha.

Worse still, the killer had silver hair.

Silver hair was no Uchiha trait.

But the killer had used Great Fire Annihilation to murder people, then masked his face while leaving his hair exposed.

Taken together, it looked like a clumsy attempt at deception: the killer was an Uchiha! He had simply used the Transformation Technique to alter his appearance and muddy the waters.

Either way, the Uchiha would have a hard time clearing their name.

Uchiha Fugaku pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling his temples pound. Uchiha Yongye alone was headache enough. Now some mysterious killer had appeared and gone on a rampage outside the clan compound.

That mad dog Shimura Danzō would never let this go!

"Any other leads?" he asked grimly.

The guard shook his head. "No. Root and the ANBU must know more, but they wouldn't tell our patrol."

"Which way did the killer flee?"

"We don't know. By the time we arrived, he was gone. All that remained was a trace of Lightning Release Chakra."

A Lightning Release Clone.

Fugaku's frown deepened. Skilled in both Lightning Release and Fire Release, and capable of escaping a three-way encirclement by Root, the ANBU, and the Uchiha—who was this killer?

Ninjas capable of such a feat were few and far between!

A masked figure surfaced in Uchiha Fugaku's mind. That man was highly suspicious too!

Uchiha Fugaku waved the guard away. He lay back down, only to find himself even less able to sleep. His mind churned with dreadful visions of what might come.

Just as his head felt ready to split, the door eased open.

His wife, Uchiha Mikoto, had returned. She moved quietly, as if afraid of waking him. But Fugaku had not been asleep. He opened his eyes and watched her hazy silhouette in the moonlight.

Only then did he realize that his wife, who slept on another bed, had been out of the room.

"Where did you go this late?" Uchiha Fugaku asked.

Mikoto paused, then answered softly, "Sasuke had a nightmare. I went to stay with him for a while."

Fugaku said nothing more. He stared at the ceiling as frustration rose within him like a tide.

Troubles at home, troubles in the clan, troubles in Konoha—they weighed so heavily on him that he failed to notice anything unusual about his wife.

At the other end of Konoha, the atmosphere inside Root's base was even darker than Fugaku's bedroom.

Shimura Danzō sat in the seat of honor, gripping his cane in his right hand. The half of his face not covered in bandages was dark with fury.

Two Root ninjas knelt before him. One was a sensory ninja who had survived at the scene; the other was his trusted subordinate, Yamanaka Fū.

"Confirmed?" Danzō asked, his voice hoarse and cold.

"Confirmed." Yamanaka Fū kept his head lowered. His voice was steady, though it carried a trace of suppressed anger.

"Four Root Elite ninjas were killed. The ANBU lost three as well.

"Besides using a powerful Fire Release technique, the killer was highly skilled in Lightning Release. He was extremely fast and struck without mercy. According to the witnesses, he wore a mask and had silver hair."

Lightning Release. Silver hair.

Danzō's fingers tightened sharply.

Almost by instinct, a white figure appeared in his mind.

Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.

Even Danzō had been forced to fear that man. Back then, if he had not secretly fanned the flames and used rumors to strike first, Sakumo might well have become the Fourth Hokage.

A guilty conscience.

Danzō was no exception. He had plotted Hatake Sakumo's death, and now the words "silver hair" made him think at once of Sakumo's son.

Kakashi Hatake.

Silver hair, a mask, mastery of Lightning Release and Fire Release. Every clue pointed to him.

Danzō narrowed his eye.

He knew Kakashi would not kill Root's people for no reason. The boy was thriving in the ANBU and had no quarrel with Root.

That was precisely why Danzō grew more suspicious.

Kakashi would not act without cause—unless he had learned something. Had he discovered the truth behind Hatake Sakumo's death?

Had he learned that Danzō had been behind it?

"Assign people to investigate Kakashi," Danzō said, his voice cold as a blade. "His recent movements, mission records, how much Chakra he used tonight—I want it all checked."

Kakashi had the ability and the motive. That was reason enough to suspect him and investigate him thoroughly!

"Yes." Yamanaka Fū accepted the order.

Danzō rose, leaning on his cane. It struck the floor with a dull thud.

He walked to the door step by step, then stopped and turned back. In his one uncovered eye, a vicious intent to kill roiled.

"As for Kakashi, investigate first, then act. But the Uchiha—"

His voice dropped low, carrying a ruthlessness that brooked no argument.

"Anyone who dares kill Root's people is rebelling."

"Come. We're going to settle accounts with the Uchiha!"

With Kakashi, it was a matter of eliminating a potential threat. With the Uchiha, retaliation was a must!

Danzō never accepted a loss, and he would never let anyone who challenged Root's authority live to see tomorrow's sun.

Whether the Uchiha had done it tonight or someone had framed them, he would put the blame on them.

When it came to striking at the Uchiha, Shimura Danzō considered it his duty—and he would gladly take the lead!