The Masked Man soon learned how Konoha had responded.
Border security had been tightened.
The internal review had continued without interruption.
The hiring chain and flow of funds had been placed under investigation.
He remained silent for a long time.
This was not the Konoha he wanted to see.
What he wanted was fear.
Fear would make the higher-ups demand haste.
Those demands would let Root reclaim more unchecked authority.
That unchecked authority would put the Uchiha under pressure again.
Once the Uchiha were forced back into their old position, their hatred would keep growing.
But now, Konoha had not fully followed that path.
The Uchiha had not rushed to prove their innocence.
Nara had not rushed to draw conclusions.
The Hokage Building had not suspended the internal review.
Even the border anomalies had been broken down into probes, hiring chains, flows of funds, and intelligence routes.
Too slow.
So slow that it irritated him.
White Zetsu emerged halfway from the ground.
"They're still investigating that brat, but it's hard to find a lead."
The Masked Man looked at him.
White Zetsu continued, "Uchiha Gen has rarely shown himself lately. Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi have all been shielding him. It's become impossible to tell who came up with many of their assessments."
The eye behind the mask narrowed slightly.
That only proved there was something wrong with Gen.
A truly ordinary child would not immediately hide behind collective decision-making after being targeted.
But precisely because he had hidden himself in time, going after him directly had become difficult.
If anything happened to Gen now, the Uchiha would immediately realize someone had targeted the person truly driving the changes.
Those within Konoha would also connect it to the external space-related leads.
The Masked Man disliked leaving traces like that.
He needed