Early the next morning, Yu went to school on an empty stomach!
With the sewer pipes overwhelmed, there was no water at home to cook with!
Ah... did I bring this on myself?
Fortunately, every household was in the same boat, which made Yu feel better.
After that day, though, water jars sold like hotcakes in Konoha!
On the way to school, a foul stench still hung in the air!
All the shops were closed. Cleaning up the sewage was a massive undertaking!
Most people were discussing last night's Cesspool explosion!
"Mr. Choza was unclogging his toilet last night when sewage suddenly sprayed him right in the face!!"
"That little girl from the Yamanaka Clan, Ino, had it even worse. She was helping water the clan's flower fields when the hose suddenly started spraying sewage. The poor girl burst into tears..."
"What happened to the flower fields???"
Flower fields (×), sewage swamp (✓)
"The Inuzuka Clan had it worse still. Every last one of them went down. Konoha Hospital is almost out of beds..."
"Ugh, who could do something so vile!!"
"They still haven't caught anyone..."
"What is the Uchiha's Konoha Military Police Force even doing? Aren't they always strutting around like they own the place?"
Hokage Hiruzen was discussing the incident with Konoha's Jonin, led by Shikaku!
"Both the Aburame Clan and the Yamanaka Clan have eyewitness accounts, but the Anbu found no one matching them after a search."
"Did they escape through the drainage pipes? But Konoha's drains don't lead outside the village!"
"If they could pass through Konoha's detection barrier unnoticed and leave without a sound, either their abilities are beyond our imagination, or they're still hiding inside Konoha!"
Inoichi Yamanaka rubbed his chin. "This is too strange. What could an enemy gain by sneaking into the village and going to all that trouble to blow up the Cesspool?"
Hiruzen smoked his pipe. "Hmm, that is what troubles me as well. If they wanted to extract intelligence-bearing substances from ninja feces to analyze chakra and ninjutsu, that would make some sense, but there are far wiser ways to go about it."
"Could it... have been an inside job?"
"Indeed, all the evidence we have points to that conclusion. Reluctant as I am to suspect our own people, it would explain why the detection barrier registered nothing."
"But who would do something like this?"
"I suspect it was a children's prank."
The speaker was Shikaku Nara.
Silence fell for a moment.
Inoichi asked, "Shikaku, do you have any grounds for that suspicion?"
Shikaku replied, "Both sightings described figures resembling children..."
Inoichi said, "Perhaps the enemy disguised themselves."
Shikaku said, "A disguise is possible, but it doesn't explain the motive. Perhaps there never was a motive, and we've all fallen into a logical trap. If we treat it as a prank, everything makes sense..."
Inoichi said, "You've always liked thinking things through in depth. I'm surprised you arrived at such a simple conclusion."
Shikaku smiled. "Actually, that's what my son Shikamaru thought. We adults tend to overcomplicate things, but children can often see straight to the heart of the matter."
Inoichi said, "I agree, but if it was a children's prank, they should have left some clues. Yet there are none. That's the crux of the problem..."
Shikaku said, "Once you eliminate every other possibility, whatever remains, however unbelievable, must be the truth. These must be some remarkable children!"
Hiruzen waved a hand, cutting off the discussion. "Enough. This incident may have had some unpleasant consequences, but ultimately, no one was killed or injured. Let's treat it as a prank..."
With the Hokage having spoken, no one said anything more.
Konoha and the Uchiha were in a tense standoff, and they simply had no manpower to spare for this absurd, unexpected incident!
And so, the investigation into the Cesspool explosion came to nothing!
The Ninja Academy!
The four devious little rascals shared an unspoken understanding and never mentioned a word about the previous night!
Quite a few children were absent from class, including Shino, Kiba, and Sakura!
Mizuki was absent as usual!
Unexpectedly, even Iruka-sensei had taken the day off!
As it turned out, Iruka had been soaking in a hot spring the previous night when he suddenly found himself surrounded by a soup of sewage!
The young Chunin had never seen anything like it and had an immediate breakdown. Afraid of bringing that negativity into the classroom and tainting the children's innocent hearts, he took a day off to collect himself.
There was something else that infuriated Iruka!
He was a premium VIP at that Hot Spring Inn, having spent more than half a year's salary on the membership!
"The inn's proprietress claimed it was a one-hundred-percent natural hot spring. Then why did that filth come pouring out of the sewers?!"
"Swindlers! Frauds! How dare they openly advertise falsely in Konoha!"
"Even if I can't get my money back, I'll expose them so no one else gets tricked!"
And so... the Ninja Academy's theory class became free time that day!
Outside Konoha, beyond the reach of the stench.
With his Ninja Blade on his back, Shisui Uchiha walked along the cold, deserted stone steps to meet Danzo at his invitation.
Was the voice that spoke in my mind last night telling the truth? Let me find out!
Tap!
Shisui stopped and knelt on one knee, saying calmly, "Lord Danzo, I'm here!"
Tap! Before a temple housing an imposing bronze statue, a figure turned around, his right side of the face wrapped in white bandages and his right arm swathed in cloth, his left hand resting on a cane!
Danzo fixed his left eye on Shisui. His deeply lined mouth twitched as he approached and said gravely, "The Uchiha rebellion is imminent. We can no longer afford any delay. Shisui, as a ninja of the Uchiha's new generation, and someone I hold in high regard, I want to know where you stand!"
Shisui said, "On the day I returned, I told Lord Hokage that if there truly was no other choice, I would use my ocular technique, Kotoamatsukami, to prevent the rebellion!"
Stopping before Shisui, Danzo curled his lips. "And if there was no other choice, would you intend to use that ocular technique... on me as well?"
The atmosphere suddenly turned icy. Danzo lunged forward, reaching for Shisui's eye socket!!!
Bzzzt...!!!
Three tomoe appeared in Shisui's eyes!
Danzo abruptly slowed to a halt. "You..."
Shisui caught Danzo to steady him. "Don't worry. It's only an ordinary genjutsu..."
Whoosh!
Danzo's figure suddenly dissolved into an illusion!
Slash...!!!
That aged hand ruthlessly gouged toward Shisui's eye socket once more...!
As his hand drew near, Danzo smiled in triumph. "Now... the eye with Kotoamatsukami is mine!"
Whoosh...!!
But without the slightest warning... Shisui vanished from the spot!!
Danzo's expression changed dramatically. "What? He used the Body Flicker Technique to evade my surprise attack under Izanagi...?!"
Whoosh...!
Shisui Uchiha appeared atop the torii over the stone steps behind him, both eyes now transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan. "Izanagi. So it really was true. Danzo, you never intended to settle things peacefully with the Uchiha...!"
Seeing that the plot had been exposed, the Root members lurking in hiding emerged one after another!
Danzo shouted fiercely, "His eyes pose an enormous threat to Konoha. We must take possession of them, whatever the cost!!!!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Root members rushed him all at once...!!
But back then, Shisui had escaped Root's pursuit even after being severely injured in a surprise attack and losing an eye, let alone now, at full strength!
Boom...!
Green chakra, symbolizing "peace," erupted and formed a majestic armored body!
The Root members stared, dumbfounded. "What... is that chakra???"
Danzo, once a disciple of the Second Hokage, narrowed his eye. "So that is Susanoo...!!"
Clack...!
The breastplate of Shisui's Susanoo opened, and a fiery red mass of light blazed within!
-Divine artifact: Susa no O!
-Susanoo: Ninety-Nine!!
Whizz, whizz, whizz...!!
Countless green tomoe shot from the Susa no O, hurtling toward them...
Blood splattered as several Root members failed to dodge in time!!
By the time the barrage of tomoe ended... Shisui had vanished without a trace!!
Danzo's face was livid.
"If he returns to the Uchiha alive, we'll lose every advantage. After him! Kill him, whatever the cost!!!!"
"And notify the Hokage! Put Konoha on its highest state of battle readiness!!!"
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