"An uncontrolled bloodline limit?"
Fugaku drew his sword half an inch, and the Uchiha elites around him activated their Sharingan at once.
The ANBU ninja held up the Red-Sealed Order, a dark patch of cold sweat soaking through the back of his clothes. He did not dare raise his head, only lifted the scroll higher.
Kakashi took it and opened it for a quick scan, creasing the paper between his fingers.
Hiashi swept his Byakugan over the scroll. "What does it say?"
Kakashi closed the Red-Sealed Order. "It orders ANBU to protect Sasuke and restrict his movements if necessary."
Fugaku sneered. "Protect him? Danzo said he was doing it for Konoha, too."
Sasuke held out his hand. "Give it to me."
Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then handed it over.
After reading it, Sasuke passed the Red-Sealed Order to the ninja taking notes. "File this. Make the title clear: before Danzo was confirmed dead or the evidence returned to the village, the Hokage Building had already prepared a restriction order for the victim."
The ANBU messenger grew anxious. "This is only a contingency plan!"
"A contingency plan with the seal already stamped on it?" Sasuke looked at him. "Go back and tell Hiruzen Sarutobi that I accept surveillance. ANBU may enter the Uchiha Clan Compound, but only with Kakashi leading them. If anyone else dares set foot in the evidence area, the Konoha Military Police Force will treat them as Root remnants."
The ANBU ninja swallowed. "I'll relay that."
Fugaku frowned. "Sasuke, you're letting ANBU into the compound?"
"Let them in." Sasuke handed the black box to Yamada Naoto. "If we don't let them see, how will they know what a rotten mess they're guarding?"
Kakashi looked at Sasuke. "Aren't you worried I'll actually keep you under surveillance?"
"Of course you will." Sasuke walked past him. "But what you get to see is up to me."
The Konoha Gate had yet to open fully, but members of the Konoha Military Police Force were already waiting inside. The black box, experiment tags, video fragments, and Sharingan storage cabinets were loaded onto the Sealing Transport one by one. Each piece of evidence bore signatures from all three parties, with a seal each from the Uchiha, Hyuga, and ANBU.
Every light in the Hokage Building was on.
The Third Hokage stood in his office, his pipe held in one hand. The tobacco had burned down without him taking a single puff. When Sasuke entered, he placed the Sealed Arm Box directly on the desk.
It landed with a dull thud.
The Third Hokage stared at the Sealing Box. "What is this?"
Sasuke spread out the registration scroll. "Shimura Danzō's right arm. It has multiple Sharingan embedded in it. Those present confirmed that at least three belonged to missing Uchiha clan members. We also have video fragments of Root's underground Wood Release experiments, experiment tags, and the storage cabinet inventory."
The Third Hokage's face tightened. "Where is Danzo?"
"He fled to escape punishment."
The Third Hokage closed his eyes briefly. "Without a body, we can't reach a conclusion."
Sasuke slapped a document onto the desk. "Then classify him as an S-Rank Missing-nin fleeing prosecution. List every charge: theft of bloodline limits, illegal human experimentation, assault on the clan compound, destruction of evidence, resisting arrest, killing an ANBU tracking hound, and using a forbidden technique to escape."
The Third Hokage looked at Kakashi. "Do you agree?"
Kakashi placed the valley records on the desk. "The evidence at the scene supports Sasuke's assessment."
"Kakashi." The Third Hokage's voice grew heavier. "You're ANBU."
"That's why I follow the evidence."
The office fell silent.
Hiashi set down the scroll containing his testimony. "The Hyuga witnessed it. Danzo had Sharingan transplanted into his right arm. If he isn't convicted immediately, the Hyuga will submit a formal inquiry to the Daimyo's Residence."
Fugaku laid his sword across his knees. "The Uchiha demand that the order be issued here and now."
The Third Hokage stared at the document on his desk, veins bulging on the back of his hand. He knew that once he signed, Danzo would have no way back. Worse still, the Hokage Building would be irrevocably bound to this wanted notice.
Sasuke did not hurry him. He simply pushed the window open.
Downstairs, the Konoha Military Police Force had already posted a public inventory of some of the valley evidence in the square. Villagers awakened in the middle of the night crowded around the wooden noticeboard, their curses rising in waves.
"Sign it." Sasuke pushed the pen toward him. "If you keep stalling, Lord Hokage, the people downstairs will think you're waiting for Danzo to come back and split the spoils."
The Third Hokage snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot.
Sasuke reminded him, "Keep the pen steady. If you stamp the seal crooked, you'll have to do it again."
Hiashi turned his face aside. The ninja Shikaku had left to take notes lowered his head to write, his shoulders giving a slight twitch.
The Third Hokage picked up the pen, signed, and stamped the seal.
No one spoke as the Hokage Seal came down.
Sasuke picked up the document and checked it. "Good. Kakashi, have ANBU make ten copies and post them at every gate before dawn."
The Third Hokage put down the pen. "Sasuke, for your personal safety, I've decided to have Kakashi lead an ANBU squad into the Uchiha Clan Compound."
Fugaku rose immediately. "That won't be necessary."
Sasuke raised a hand to stop him. "Fine."
The Third Hokage's eyelid twitched. He had not expected Sasuke to agree so quickly.
Sasuke rolled up the wanted notice. "But put the rules in writing. ANBU will only guard the perimeter. They may not enter the Uchiha Shrine, the evidence room, or the Clan Head's Study. Every member must register their identification number, and every shift change must be recorded. If even one goes missing, we'll report them as a fleeing Danzo remnant."
The Third Hokage stared at him. "You insist on rules even for your protection?"
"Without rules, protection becomes imprisonment." Sasuke looked at Kakashi. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Kakashi nodded. "I'll register everyone."
The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair, weariness settling over his brow. "Go."
Sasuke turned to leave, then stopped at the door.
"Lord Hokage, I'll preserve Danzo's arm with all three parties as witnesses. You'd better pray he doesn't make another move."
The Third Hokage asked, "What do you mean?"
Sasuke did not turn around. "Every time he makes a move, I'll expose another layer."
Outside the Uchiha Clan Compound, ANBU took up positions among the eaves and utility poles. Kakashi stood at the street entrance, watching the Konoha Military Police Force write each ANBU member's identification number on a wooden plaque and hang it on a temporary registration board.
One ANBU ninja protested, "Since when does the Konoha Military Police Force register us?"
Yamada Naoto slapped his pen onto the table. "Register or get out. Root just tried to wipe out the Uchiha, and you still expect to run around in here wearing a mask?"
Kakashi pressed a hand onto the ANBU ninja's shoulder. "Register."
Sasuke entered the Clan Head's Residence without any guards behind him. He crossed the outer hall, entered the study, lit the lamp himself, and pushed one side of the window halfway open.
Outside, three ANBU hid at separate points among the shadows of the trees. One was on the roof, two beyond the wall. Kakashi stood farther away on the Water Tower, with a clear view of the desk.
Sasuke sat down and poured himself a cup of tea.
The tea grew lukewarm, but he did not take a single sip.
He took a blank scroll from a drawer and spread it open. He tapped the desk twice with his fingers, then picked up his pen and slowly wrote a few words.
Summary of public opinion manipulation in the Hatake Sakumo suicide incident.
On the Water Tower, Kakashi's shoulders tensed.
Sasuke continued writing: Root rumor-spreading budget, classification of the failed mission, annotations indicating the Hokage Building's tacit approval, records of withheld survivor benefits, covert efforts to encourage comrades' families to visit and hurl abuse.
For each entry, he laid a corresponding rubbing of an old seal beside it. Root's seal, the administrative document seal, the Hokage Building's internal affairs seal, year codes-everything matched.
The ANBU ninja on the roof could not make out the contents. He could only see Sasuke writing on a scroll.
Kakashi could read it.
His Sharingan took in every word.
After finishing the last line, Sasuke rolled the scroll halfway closed, deliberately leaving the title exposed. Then he rose and walked into the inner room, leaving the door ajar.
Only the lamplight and the half-open file remained in the study.
The ANBU outside the wall did not move.
Neither did the ANBU on the roof.
On the Water Tower, Kakashi rested a hand on the railing, pressing his fingertips into the wood.
A moment later, he vanished from the Water Tower, landing without a sound. He pushed the gap in the window a finger's width wider and slipped into the study.
Kakashi reached for the scroll, but stopped at the title.
Sasuke's voice came from behind the inner room's door.
"Go ahead and read it, Kakashi Hatake. The Hokage Building kept meticulous records of your father's life, too."
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