Mutual Suspicion, Joining Forces to Confront the Uchiha

Outside Konoha.

White Zetsu emerged from the ground beside Obito Uchiha.

"The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, is dead. He used the Reaper Death Seal."

"As for that Senju Ye, he must have only returned recently. We had absolutely no information on him before this."

"Yes, understood."

Obito Uchiha nodded slightly.

But just as he prepared to leave and move on to the next stage of his plan...

Wait!

As though something had occurred to him, Obito Uchiha abruptly turned toward where Uchiha Fugaku and the others were.

His expression turned utterly grim.

That bastard Danzo! Not only did you fail to stop the Uchiha Clan, you actually let them through.

You've got some nerve, plotting against me!

Just you wait. Soon, I'll make you pay for what you did today!

Meanwhile, as Obito Uchiha came to resent Shimura Danzō, beside the ruins where the Nine-Tails had been sealed...

Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the ruins before them, their faces filled with confusion.

What exactly had happened here before they arrived?

Where was the Nine-Tails?

Where had that enormous Nine-Tails gone?

How had he suddenly vanished?

"Hiruzen!"

After being held up at the entrance to his own headquarters for so long, Shimura Danzō had arrived only to find there was nothing left to gain.

Fury surged through him, and he turned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and roared.

"Where is the Nine-Tails? Where the hell did you put him? And who was that fellow using Wood Release?"

"You're not leaving until you explain everything today!"

Clang, clang, clang.

As Shimura Danzō's voice fell, the Root members behind him drew the longswords at their waists in unison.

Seeing this, the Anbu members behind Hiruzen Sarutobi refused to back down and drew their own ninja weapons.

But just as the tension reached a breaking point, both sides poised to strike, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly barked.

"All of you, stand down!"

"Danzo, can't you see that I don't know what's going on either? I've been played too!"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, he took a deep draw on his pipe, his expression grave.

When he had seen Minato Namikaze preparing to use the Reaper Death Seal on the Nine-Tails from a distance, his spirits had soared.

He had stopped watching what happened next and brought his Anbu over, hoping to beat Danzo to the punch and secure custody of Naruto.

But when he eagerly rushed over with his men, what he found was...

The Uchiha had arrived before either him or Shimura Danzō!

What on earth was going on?

Why were the Uchiha here too?

Given how Danzo went on about the "evil Uchiha" every single day, he should have kept them firmly blocked.

But what had happened instead?

At the crucial moment, Danzo had actually handed the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to the Uchiha.

Something was very wrong!

If Danzo weren't standing right in front of him now, he would have suspected that Danzo had secretly joined forces with the Uchiha Clan.

And that they had staged this entire spectacle together!

"..."

Shimura Danzō fell silent for a moment at those words.

Then he waved to the Root members behind him, signaling for them to sheathe their longswords.

Seeing this, the Anbu on the other side put away their ninja weapons as well.

Silence settled over the scene once more.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were both waiting for the men they had sent out to return with the truth.

Until they knew what had happened, neither would let the man before him leave!

A short while later, an Anbu member ran up beside Hiruzen Sarutobi and spoke respectfully.

"Third Hokage, we have completed our investigation. Before the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, arrived, a ninja named Senju Ye, who claimed to be a disciple of the First Hokage, subdued the Nine-Tails single-handedly with powerful Wood Release ninjutsu."

"Afterward, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails with the Reaper Death Seal. As for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he is currently in Uchiha Fugaku's hands."

"The First Hokage's disciple? Senju Ye?"

What kind of nonsense was this?

His own teacher had been the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, so how had he never heard that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had a disciple?

A fake. He had to be an impostor!

Bam!

At that thought, Shimura Danzō punched the tree beside him, his face filled with anger.

"Hiruzen, I think we must put aside our differences for now."

"We must act against the Uchiha Clan together, while Shisui Uchiha has yet to return from the border!"

"Custody of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki must never fall into the hands of the evil Uchiha Clan!"

The Uchiha Clan was already terrifying with its Sharingan. If they gained full custody of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki as well...

Wouldn't all of Konoha belong to the Uchiha Clan from then on? What place would there be for Shimura Danzō?

"..."

After hearing Shimura Danzō's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent for a moment, then nodded firmly.

"Indeed. Custody of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki must not remain with the Uchiha Clan. That would threaten the village's peace."

At that point, Hiruzen Sarutobi added.

"But Danzo, we are only going to the Uchiha Clan to bring back the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze's child."

"You cannot move against the Uchiha Clan yet!"

"Heh."

At Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Shimura Danzō merely sneered and said nothing more.

Because he had noticed that this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't said they could not act against the Uchiha Clan.

He had said, "not yet"!

In short, after being outmaneuvered by the Uchiha Clan and that so-called "Senju Ye," the stubborn Hiruzen had finally seen the light.

That meant his future operations against the Uchiha Clan should proceed much more easily.

At that thought, Shimura Danzō's expression grew increasingly sinister.

He looked as though he could already see the Uchiha Clan's compound awash in blood, with not a single survivor.

But just as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō reached an agreement and headed together toward the Uchiha Clan's compound, intending to take custody of Naruto from Uchiha Fugaku...

The villagers' conversations along the way, and the looks they gave them...

Made their expressions grow uglier with every step, as though countless people were pointing accusing fingers at their backs!

"It was all thanks to the Uchiha Clan that my son and I made it back safely this time."

"My boy too. We misjudged the Uchiha Clan before. They're the true inheritors of the will of fire, the village's protectors."

"That's right. The Uchiha Clan mobilized everyone to save us this time. They lost more than a fifth of their clan, with countless casualties, and only just managed to keep us safe."

"Exactly, exactly. They're far better than those so-called great clans..."