The next day,
the revelation of the human experiments
caused a far greater uproar than Haruma had anticipated.
That night, besides the many Anbu and Root ninja,
the various clans, and even many civilians nearby, had witnessed the bloody scene.
The ground blasted by Kirin had fully exposed the underground base.
Looking down from above, the expensive medical equipment inside and the human specimens immersed in nutrient tanks
resembled a horrifying depiction of hell, searing itself into everyone's eyes.
The heavy rain last night had washed away Konoha's surface purity.
It had exposed the hidden darkness to the sunlight.
Not only that,
Fugaku had discovered five underground bases in total.
And Haruma, who had left Flying Thunder God Marks at each base,
had changed into clean clothes last night, then used the cover of darkness to overturn every one of those bases.
As it happened to be a thunderstorm,
the thunder resounding through heaven and earth had guided everyone again and again to uncover the darkness buried deep underground.
It was not just the civilians who felt afraid. The ninja clans were equally shocked and unnerved.
The missing-person cases that had drawn attention recently had also been solved last night.
Bodies of ninja from the various clans could be found in every base.
The few survivors were all gravely injured and unconscious, still lying in the medical department without having woken.
The bodies of Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan members found in the bases all had their eyes gouged out.
The sunshine was pleasant, and the air was fresh.
The dawn after the rain seemed much brighter on the surface.
Yet Konoha's normally bustling streets seemed somewhat quiet today.
Most shops were also closed at this hour.
The few pedestrians on the streets spoke in hushed voices and hurried along.
As though afraid they would be abducted the very next second.
After all, the most numerous bodies last night had not belonged to those clan ninja.
Instead, they had belonged to people without status like them... civilians.
At the Hokage Building,
there were actually more ninja coming and going than pedestrians on the streets.
They entered squad after squad, then swiftly departed after receiving their orders.
Inside the smoke-filled office,
a furious Sarutobi growled at Danzo before him, "Look at the idiotic things you've done!!!"
"The civilians are panicking! Everyone fears for their own safety!"
"The streets are deserted, and the news is still spreading rapidly! Is this the Konoha you wanted to see?!"
At the thought that this staggering scandal of theirs would spread to other countries as well,
Sarutobi truly wished he could slaughter Danzo with his own hands!
Bang!
Growing angrier the more he thought about it, Sarutobi slammed the desk. "Those disgusting laboratories were all inside Konoha!"
"Not to mention the medical equipment in the bases and the traces of experiments performed by multiple medical-nin!"
"Many people are even wondering whether I, the Hokage, was involved!"
"Now all of Konoha's major clans are waiting for me to give them an explanation!"
Meanwhile, Danzo, who was being berated by Sarutobi, also wore an extremely ugly expression.
Having been undergoing Sharingan transplants lately, he had not devoted much attention to Orochimaru's laboratories.
After the affair came to light last night,
a large number of Anbu ninja had stormed into the Root Base, looking ready to arrest Danzo by force, and a major battle had nearly broken out.
Danzo did not deny building the bases or the matter of the civilians. He merely argued, "I truly knew nothing about those clan ninja."
"Orochimaru must have acted on his own, bringing about the current consequences."
Last night's incident was indeed too big. It had already reached the point where everyone in Konoha knew about it.
Fully aware of the gravity of the situation, Danzo hurriedly shifted all the blame onto Orochimaru.
But as for the clan ninja, Danzo truly had known absolutely nothing about them.
Sarutobi kept sucking irritably on his pipe stem. He did not believe a word of Danzo's claims of ignorance.
He merely kept turning over possible solutions in his mind.
Sarutobi showed little reaction when Danzo mentioned Orochimaru's name.
After all, having gone out personally last night, he had discovered those scattered traces of powdered snakeskin in the very first underground base.
There were simply too many witnesses, and everything had happened too suddenly. There had not even been time to suppress the news.
Someone would have to step forward and take the blame for this affair.
And that person had to possess a certain standing!
Then there was the Kage Level expert who had suddenly appeared last night!
And the strangely dressed mystery figure who had abruptly vanished while being pursued by an Anbu squad.
Those two mysterious figures both seemed to have been targeting the experimental bases.
Every single one of these matters gave Sarutobi an unbearable headache!
Irritated, Sarutobi shot vicious glares at Danzo beside him from time to time.
Danzo, normally so arrogant, had instead quieted down and did not dare utter any provocations.
At the Uchiha Clan compound,
the masked Haruma, Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi
gathered once more in the room where they had first held their secret discussion.
Tapping his fingers quite rhythmically against the tabletop, Haruma said calmly, "Now all that's left is one final shudder."
Fugaku: "..."
Couldn't he talk normally?!
As a married man, Fugaku always felt that the moment this brat opened his mouth, his words carried a rather unusual implication.
Haruma tossed another golden shuriken to Itachi.
"At a time like this, that old bastard Sarutobi will definitely call you back to help."
"You're an Anbu Captain, after all. If he still lets you take time off after something like this happens in Konoha,"
"then no matter how stupid Fugaku is as clan leader, even he could probably guess you have ulterior motives."
Fugaku, who had caught a stray shot despite doing nothing, frowned.
He looked at Haruma unhappily and launched into another tirade in his mind.
Itachi nodded calmly and casually caught the shuriken engraved with a mark.
Shisui gazed at Itachi worriedly, looking as though he wanted to speak but hesitated.
"Don't worry, Shisui."
Itachi turned and said gently to Shisui, "Dafuweng is right. I'm the only suitable person to do this."
Fucking Dafuweng.
At that moment, the twitching corner of Fugaku's mouth happened to fall into step with the rhythm of Haruma's tapping.
Haruma, who still had not revealed his true identity to Itachi, had likewise given him that outlandish name.
Looking at Itachi, Shisui said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Itachi. You have to shoulder something like this alone, yet I can't help you."
Itachi patted Shisui's shoulder and reassured him, "It's all right, Shisui. This is all for our ideals. For the village, and for the Uchiha Clan."
"But! You..."
"Enough!"
Haruma clapped his hands together, looked at Shisui, and said, "Stop fussing! You can't help with this. Only Itachi can put this final piece of the puzzle in place."
"You haven't even finished your own mission yet. What are you doing worrying here?!"
Shisui, who had spent so long working up his emotions, nearly lost his composure at that remark.
That damned mission!
I'd honestly be better off just fighting Sarutobi outright!
I'd even accept dying in battle!
Fucking saving the Shinobi World!
Fucking robbing the rich to help the poor!
Fucking Madara Uchiha!!!
With nowhere to vent the furious roars in his heart, Shisui's broad face instantly flushed bright red.