"Captain, some Genin have mysteriously gone missing in the village recently."
Uchiha Xuan came to the office with several documents.
Uchiha Jin opened the files. Six Genin had gone missing in total.
And all six had disappeared within less than a week.
"I suspect enemy spies hiding in the village were responsible."
Uchiha Xuan ventured a bold guess.
After following Jin on cases lately, he felt he had improved greatly.
Uchiha Jin stared at the missing ninja's records without speaking.
As for what these people had in common, besides all being Genin, they were also all civilian ninja.
"Take some men to visit the missing ninja's families and find out what happened."
With the documents in hand, he first went to Uchiha Fugaku, then headed to the Hokage's Office to report to the Third.
Incidents like this in the village all had to be reported to the Hokage.
The Hokage's Office.
"Third, this is the list of Genin who went missing from the village over the past week."
Uchiha Jin placed the documents on the desk.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked through them, his brows deeply furrowed on his aged face.
Although Konoha had a large population, six ninja going missing at the same time had to be taken seriously.
If they failed to discover why they had disappeared, the same thing might happen again.
"Jin, what do you think?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his tobacco, took a light puff, and looked at the boy standing before him.
This boy's efficiency at solving cases was downright terrifying.
He believed Jin would soon find the reason...
"The village's ninja wouldn't disappear for no reason, unless someone needed their bodies."
Uchiha Jin stared straight into his clouded eyes without the slightest hesitation.
"There's some merit to what you're saying."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted slightly at his words, but he quickly regained his composure.
"I'll have the Anbu investigate this. Keep watching for any more ninja going missing, and let me know immediately if any do."
Uchiha Jin frowned.
The Hokage wouldn't let him investigate. It seemed he had already identified the culprit.
In fact, it hardly took any thought to guess who it was.
Right now, the only people in the village who dared do something like this were Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru.
Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly knew the culprit's identity, yet instead of letting the Uchiha Clan pursue the case, he had the Anbu investigate.
He was blatantly shielding a criminal!
Uchiha Jin looked at the red bar above his head and suddenly felt its color was darker than before.
So this was the village's Hokage?
It looked like he would have to find a time to purge him.
Uchiha Jin turned and left the Hokage's Office, then opened the system panel. A blue, translucent screen instantly appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Uchiha Jin] [Age: 11] [Strength: Elite Jonin] [Talent titles possessed: "Clear-Sighted" (able to see the degree of "evil" above everyone's head), "Eye of Judgment" (able to see the sins others have committed), "Judgment Aura" (exerts an innate suppression on the souls of targets bearing sin marks), "Death-Tracing Eye" (able to see basic information about the deceased and their killer)] [Justice points: 2400]
After a period of enforcing the law, he had accumulated 2,400 justice points.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched him leave, then looked toward the Anbu hidden in the corner.
"Summon Danzo."
About an hour later, just as he was growing impatient, Shimura Danzō finally arrived, leaning on his cane.
"Monkey, what did you want with me?"
He frowned, unable to understand what the other man was up to.
Was he planning to retire and hand the position of Hokage to him?
That would be wonderful!
As it turned out, he was simply getting far ahead of himself.
"Take a look."
With a cold expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed him the list of missing Genin from the desk.
Shimura Danzō caught it and opened the documents, his brows knitting tightly.
Although he had indeed done some bad things for the village, these missing Genin truly had nothing to do with him!
You couldn't make him take the blame for everything!
Shimura Danzō was just about to explain when something seemed to occur to him, and he abruptly closed his mouth.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt he had found the culprit, and his attitude hardened.
"Danzo, do you have any idea what you're doing?!"
He could let his close friend's usual spreading of negative rumors about the Uchiha Clan slide, but he had truly never expected him to dare lay hands on their comrades in the village.
Such behavior had already crossed his bottom line.
He was the village's Hokage. He absolutely could not watch his close friend go astray.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to resolve things later.
Shimura Danzō said nothing, his expression cold.
He had a rough idea of who was behind the Genin's disappearance.
But he couldn't reveal that person's identity yet. He still needed to rely on him to continue the experiments.
He could only take the blame for him.
"I don't want to see anything like this happen again."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at his close friend with a complicated look, which then turned firm and resolute. "Otherwise, I won't hesitate to make you pay!"
For all his usual indulgence toward Shimura Danzō, he would never tolerate it if the circumstances were truly serious.
"I understand."
Seeing him lose his temper, Shimura Danzō refrained from arguing for once.
Otherwise, he might end up pushing him too far.
Then he would invoke his position as Hokage to throw his weight around again.
Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had left this office normally. Every time, the words "I'm the Hokage" infuriated him into slamming the door on his way out.
Monkey would be retiring soon anyway.
He just had to endure a little longer.
Once he became Hokage, everything would get better!
He believed that under his leadership, the village would surely flourish, then completely crush the other nations and unify the entire Shinobi World!
Shimura Danzō had great ambitions.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the Hokage and had never had the opportunity to realize them.
"Monkey, when are you planning to retire?"
A trace of anticipation flashed through Shimura Danzō's lone eye, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on his cane.
Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally understood his friend's little schemes.
In truth, he had never intended to let Danzo serve as Hokage.
The man was too extreme.
Letting him become Hokage would absolutely be a disaster for the village!
Besides, he already had candidates for Hokage in mind.
Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru.
When the time came, he would publicly announce the two candidates and let the villagers vote.
That would settle who became the Fourth.
"Wait a little longer."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and gazed out the window at the village, reluctant to let go.
Honestly, he didn't want to give up his position as Third Hokage so soon.
The feeling of wielding power was truly intoxicating.
No wonder his close friend tried every possible means to become Hokage.
At his words, Shimura Danzō's brows furrowed tightly, his chest rising and falling slightly with anger.
The man was giving him another vague answer.
Couldn't he give him a definite time?!
That way, he could prepare the arrangements for his succession as Fourth Hokage.
"Danzo, you can go back now."
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand lightly, then couldn't help adding a reminder before Danzo left.
"Don't forget what I said."
Shimura Danzō snorted coldly, turned, and left the office.
"Tsk, he finally didn't slam the door."
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with a smile. Then his gaze grew deep, and he murmured softly.
"Danzo, I hope you really were the one behind this..."
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