Hiruzen Sarutobi stared in stunned silence as Danzo coughed up blood and collapsed.
Hiruzen's Internal Monologue: He fainted before delivering the most critical piece of intelligence. Is Jin Uchiha dead? What is the status of the Root forces? I am operating entirely blind.
Suppressing his deep frustration, Hiruzen turned to his personal guard. "Alpha-Three, transport Elder Danzo to the Konoha Hospital immediately. Alpha-One, deploy to the Forest of Death. I need a comprehensive casualty assessment and a threat analysis of whoever, or whatever, Root was fighting."
The two Anbu squads knelt in acknowledgment and vanished.
Hiruzen was left alone with his remaining guard, staring at the roaring inferno that was once the subterranean Root Headquarters. The heat was blistering.
"Lord Hokage," an Anbu operative asked cautiously. "Should we deploy Water Release squads to extinguish the fire?"
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as his mind calculated the political variables.
Hiruzen's Internal Monologue: Danzo's operations are strictly black-ops. His facility is undoubtedly filled with illegal human experimentation, harvested Uchiha eyes, and unapproved Senju cell research. If standard Anbu operatives discover that evidence, the political backlash will destroy my administration. The other noble clans would revolt. It is a risk I cannot take.
"No," Hiruzen ordered, his voice flat. "Establish a perimeter to prevent the fire from spreading to the civilian sector. Let the facility burn."
Fifteen minutes later, Team Alpha-One returned from the Forest of Death. The Anbu captain's eyes were wide with poorly concealed terror behind his porcelain mask.
"Lord Hokage. The casualty rate is catastrophic," the captain reported. "We estimate over three hundred dead. The majority are mercenaries, but there are dozens of Root and Anbu corpses. Furthermore, the topography has been permanently altered. A massive fissure, seemingly created by a single blade strike, has split the forest."
The captain hesitated before delivering the final detail. "Sir, we cannot confirm the enemy's identity, but we found traces of a massive, thirty-meter-tall chakra construct. A black giant."
Hiruzen's breath hitched. A chakra construct of that magnitude was a Kage-level anomaly. It meant Jin had manifested the ultimate Uchiha defense: the Susanoo. If a thirty-meter giant had appeared, half the village had likely seen its silhouette against the night sky.
Hiruzen's Internal Monologue: The mercenaries and Anbu were supposed to drain Jin's chakra. If he manifested the Susanoo, the battle was not an ambush; it was a one-sided slaughter. But the Mangekyo Sharingan has a steep physical toll. Did Danzo at least manage to blind him or cripple him?
Ten minutes later, the answer arrived. A covert Anbu spy, pre-stationed near the Uchiha compound, materialized before the Hokage.
"Lord Hokage," the spy reported quickly. "Jin Uchiha has returned to his compound."
Hiruzen felt his chest tighten. "What is his physical condition? Is he injured? Is his vision impaired?"
"Negative, sir," the spy replied, destroying Hiruzen's last shred of hope. "His clothes are covered in enemy blood, but his gait is perfectly stable. He displays no signs of chakra exhaustion, and his eyes are clear and focused. He is completely healthy."
Hiruzen closed his eyes, a profound sense of dread settling over him.
His entire grand strategy had hinged on Jin's death in the forest. With Jin dead, Hiruzen had planned to use the moderate Fugaku as a puppet Patriarch, slowly integrating the Uchiha back into the village fold while maintaining Sarutobi dominance.
Now, the board was flipped. Jin had survived a concentrated military strike, annihilated Danzo's forces, and the Uchiha clan had successfully raided Root. The Uchiha were now an unstoppable, united military bloc within the village.
"Send messengers immediately," Hiruzen commanded, his voice heavy with the weight of his failing grip on the village. "Locate Jiraiya and Tsunade. Tell them the village is facing an internal crisis of the highest order. We need the Sannin back in Konoha."
Without waiting for a response, Hiruzen turned his back on the burning ruins of Root and walked away.
***
The Return to the Compound
When Jin arrived at the main gates of the Uchiha compound, the streets were not empty. Hundreds of clan members were gathered, their faces etched with anxiety. They had felt the distant tremors from the Forest of Death and had seen the faint, terrifying glow of the black Susanoo over the treeline.
Seeing Jin walk through the gates, uninjured and composed, an audible wave of relief washed through the crowd.
Jin did not walk past them. He stopped and addressed the clan.
"Everyone, the threat has been neutralized," Jin announced, his voice projecting calm, absolute authority. "The Uchiha Clan stands secure. There will be no chaos tonight. Return to your homes and rest."
His calm demeanor was infectious. The panic dissolved, replaced by a deep-seated trust in their Elder. The crowd dispersed quietly.
Ten minutes later, Jin entered the clan's central meeting hall.
The room was packed with the Uchiha Elders and the elite three-tomoe strike force. Their flak jackets were torn, and many sported minor wounds and bandages, but the atmosphere was electric with victory.
"Elder Jin is back!"
"Thank the ancestors, you're unharmed!"
Jin smiled faintly, acknowledging their hard-fought success. "You executed the raid flawlessly. Thank you for your work."
Fugaku, stepping naturally into his role as military commander under Jin's political leadership, stepped forward to deliver the official report.
"Jin, the primary objective was a success. Your parents were extracted from the subterranean holding cells," Fugaku stated clearly. "They are physically stable, but Danzo's surgeons extracted your father's Sharingan."
System Explanation: Danzo actively harvested three-tomoe Sharingan to implant in his right arm, utilizing them as single-use batteries to cast the reality-warping Izanagi jutsu.
"We anticipated as much," Jin replied, his tone pragmatic.
"We accessed the clan's medical vault," Fugaku continued. "We successfully transplanted a pair of preserved three-tomoe eyes from a deceased clan member into your father. He will retain his sight. Your mother's eyes were untouched; as she only possesses a two-tomoe Sharingan, Danzo deemed them useless for his specific needs."
Fugaku paused, his expression hardening as he delivered the secondary findings of the raid.
"We found more than just your parents in those dungeons, Jin. We breached Root's black-site laboratories. Tonight, we rescued thirty-two Uchiha clan members who had been reported 'Missing in Action' over the last decade."