Partners in crime

This time, Danzo genuinely knew nothing about the specifics.

He had therefore come with a clear conscience, and even spoke to the Third with a touch of arrogance.

But when he saw Obito covered in blood, then the two Root ninja lying on the ground, a flash of horror immediately crossed his eyes.

Shock gripped him, and he muttered inwardly:

How is this possible? Kinoe told me all three men he sent were elite jōnin, and they could counter the Sharingan. Did Obito Uchiha actually kill them instead?

Danzo's first reaction was disbelief.

But the facts lay right before his eyes, along with the chaos all around him.

Danzo had already realized how serious this was. His assassination plot had most likely been exposed completely.

Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at the two dead ninja, his aged face dark as he said gravely:

"I shouldn't need to spell it out for you. You recognize those two, don't you?"

Danzo played dumb. "Sarutobi! What are you getting at? They're my Root men. Why are they dead?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a quiet snort. "These two openly tried to assassinate Obito in Konoha, but they weren't strong enough, and Obito killed them instead!"

"As they're your Root men, shouldn't you give us a reasonable explanation?"

Danzo had already suspected as much.

But hearing that Obito had killed the two Root ninja still shocked him.

He muttered inwardly, So it really was that brat Obito Uchiha? Where did the other one go...?

Before long, Danzo had found a suitable excuse.

He said coolly, "Sarutobi! I don't know what happened either! It must have been that boy Baoguo. He must have caused all this because of his quarrel with Obito last time."

Every ninja around them.

Including the Third Hokage, Obito, and the Anbu personnel, was inwardly speechless.

Danzo really was shameless, pinning something like this on his own nephew.

How could a kid like Hokoku Shimura possibly have enough authority to mobilize Root's elite ninja?

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not want the matter to escalate.

Although he and Danzo had fought both openly and in secret for years, he still had affection for his old companion.

Without Danzo, who would handle all the dirty work behind the Hokage's back?

So Hiruzen Sarutobi would never truly do anything to Danzo.

He had summoned Danzo so publicly.

Partly to give Obito an explanation, since he still wanted to win him over.

The other reason was to preserve Konoha's image.

Although war raged outside, Konoha itself had always been peaceful and stable.

If the villagers were thrown into a panic, he, the Third Hokage, would inevitably lose their trust.

Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow that to happen.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said mildly, "So that's what happened! Send someone to fetch Baoguo! We'll ask him exactly what's going on!"

As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Obito and asked, "Obito, what do you think of handling it this way?"

Obito sneered inwardly.

You two old bastards are backing each other up, trying to sweep this whole thing under the rug.

Aside from the villagers who knew nothing, probably every ninja present could see what was happening.

"Handle it however you like."

Obito showed nothing on his face, but inwardly, he was utterly disappointed in Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The old man had treated Obito well lately, and Obito really had been somewhat fooled by his kindly demeanor.

But now, it seemed he was still that same crafty old Third Hokage after all.

He and Danzo were in it together.

[Ding! Congratulations, host. The system's random mission has been completed.]

[Distributing rewards to the host. Reward 1: one copying opportunity. Reward 2: Explosive Tags ×10.]

The system notification rang out in his mind.

Obito knew this matter would most likely be swept aside without any resolution.

Completing the system mission and collecting the random rewards had been his main reason for coming here.

Although the rewards weren't particularly generous, Obito had no desire to stay and watch those two old men put on their little act.

"Take your time talking. I'm leaving."

Obito turned and headed toward the Uchiha Clan Compound, and the crowd automatically parted to let him through.

"Obito! Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Don't you want to wait until we get to the bottom of this? I'll have someone take you to Konoha Hospital to get your injuries checked."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice came from behind him.

Without even looking back, Obito waved casually. "No need to trouble yourselves. I'm fine!"

Injuries? I deliberately smeared this blood on myself to look pitiful.

As if those guys had what it took to hurt yours truly.

Watching Obito walk away so decisively, the villagers were somewhat baffled.

But the ninja, who knew the truth just as Obito did, could understand how he felt.

The Anbu ninja hidden nearby began whispering among themselves in groups of two or three:

"Obito must have noticed too. Lord Third is deliberately protecting Danzo."

"Yeah. Obito's probably already lost heart. He won't sincerely accept Lord Third's attempts to recruit him anymore."

"Shh! Keep it down. This is a matter between the Konoha High Command. It's not something we can discuss."

"Still, that kid Obito is a real monster. He actually killed two elite jōnin."

"Tell me about it. He's only nine. Who knows how unbelievably powerful he'll become?"

Obito had just reached the entrance to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

A large group of ninja in green flak jackets came marching out of the compound toward him.

Leading them was the Uchiha Clan's head, Uchiha Fugaku.

The large group of ninja behind Fugaku were all elite, high-ranking members of the Uchiha as well.

"Obito! Why are you back?"

The moment Fugaku saw Obito, delight flashed in his eyes.

He hurried over at a jog, took hold of Obito, and checked him all over for injuries. "How are you? Where were you hurt? Why is there so much blood...?"

Seeing how worried Fugaku was, Obito felt a flicker of warmth in his heart.

Obito shook his head. "Clan Head, I'm fine. This blood isn't mine."

As he spoke, Obito glanced over the Uchiha Clan elders and asked, "Clan Head, what's all this?"

Fugaku said, "Someone from our clan saw what happened to you outside the Hokage Office Building and ran back to tell me."

"I heard someone tried to assassinate you while you were training. So we Uchiha were heading over to see what was going on and back you up."

"Clan Head, you..." Hearing that, Obito was even more moved.

In the end, it's my own clan I can count on.

Unlike that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi, who says one thing and does another, putting on one face in public and another behind your back.

The Uchiha Clan was already unpopular in Konoha.

If Fugaku brought a group of people to back Obito up like this.

Hiruzen Sarutobi would surely suspect them of banding together to stir up trouble.

Yet Fugaku had disregarded all that and resolutely chosen to bring his people over.

To Obito, that willingness to protect one of his own was precious.

The Uchiha Clan, evil in other people's eyes, felt far warmer to Obito than the Konoha High Command ever did.