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"Lord Danzo! Lord Hokage requests your immediate presence for an emergency meeting!" Inside the Root base, an Anbu ninja belonging to the Hokage bowed respectfully to Danzo, who sat behind an office desk.
"I understand. I shall leave at once," Danzo responded, his expression neutral, with half of his face wrapped in bandages.
Once the Anbu ninja had departed, Danzo immediately summoned his confidant, Aburame Ryōma.
"Has the investigation into last night's events been completed?" Danzo's right hand, wrapped in bandages, tapped lightly on the armrest.
The arm transplanted with Hashirama cells was throbbing with a dull ache.
"Reporting to Lord Danzo," Aburame Ryōma said in a low voice. "Last night, a mysterious masked ninja attacked the Hyūga Clan compound. Hizashi Hyūga was severely injured and sent to the Konoha Hospital, Hiashi Hyūga sustained minor injuries, and the Cloud Envoy has gone missing."
"The Hyūga?" Hearing mention of a mysterious masked ninja, Danzo's left eye narrowed, and his brow furrowed.
He couldn't help but think of the current Akatsuki organization, which also seemed to have a mysterious masked man within its ranks.
However, after that battle four years ago, the Akatsuki had gone into hiding and stopped recruiting outsiders. Danzo's subordinates had no further intelligence on them.
He could only obtain scattered bits of information about the Akatsuki indirectly through spies planted in the Hidden Rain Village.
"Is it someone from the Akatsuki?" A glint of malice flashed in Danzo's eyes. His failure to seize the Rinnegan remained a regret that rankled him to this day.
"Unlikely," Aburame Ryōma analyzed. "The spies in the Rain Village haven't sent any word. If the Akatsuki were seeking revenge, Hanzo of the Salamander should be their primary target. Furthermore, there is no reason for them to attack the Hyūga Clan."
In the encirclement four years ago, Danzo had collaborated with Hanzo, deploying the majority of Root's ninja to drive Yahiko to his death, which in turn triggered the eruption of Nagato's Rinnegan.
The current Akatsuki consisted of only a few remnants, hiding within the Rain Village to gather strength for their revenge.
If they were to strike, the much closer Hanzo would certainly be the first target.
"Let us go. We should not keep the Hokage waiting," Danzo rose slowly, tucking his bandaged right arm into his broad robes.
Aburame Ryōma followed close behind.
---
**Inside the Hokage Building meeting room**, the atmosphere was heavy, and smoke filled the air.
By the time Shimura Danzo entered with a grim face, the Konoha higher-ups had all arrived.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat at the head of the table in his Hokage robes.
To his left were the two high-level advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
To his right sat the injured Hiashi Hyūga.
An Anbu ninja wearing a white cat mask stood silently behind the Hokage.
"Danzo, you've arrived a bit late." Homura Mitokado pushed up his glasses with his forefinger, his gaze behind the lenses scrutinizing his old friend.
"Root business is complex," Danzo said simply, then walked over to sit beside Hiashi Hyūga.
"Very well, everyone is here." Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the documents in his hand, took a puff from his pipe, and said to Kakashi behind him: "Show this document to Advisor Danzo."
"Yes!" The silver-haired Anbu bowed slightly, picked up the file from Hiruzen's desk, and brought it to Danzo.
As he scanned the report compiled by the Anbu, Danzo's left eye narrowed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi continued: "Last night, a mysterious intruder attacked the Hyūga Clan, killed the Cloud Envoy, and left the body at the Hyūga estate, intending to frame the clan. Fortunately, Hiashi discovered the anomaly in time and took the initiative to strike, preventing more serious consequences."
"However, the opponent is very strong. Hizashi is heavily injured, and Hiashi sustained minor injuries as well."
"I sent Anbu in pursuit, but they lost the trail. The enemy seems exceptionally familiar with Konoha's barriers. This is no small matter; I have already ordered the Barrier Team and Anbu to conduct a full investigation."
Having finished, Hiruzen set down his pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Regarding last night's events, Hiashi Hyūga naturally could not truthfully report that he had killed the Cloud Envoy himself.
Hiashi pinned everything on the mysterious intruder. The price of one brother heavily injured and the other lightly wounded was sufficient to account for the situation to the village.
Even if the Cloud Village questioned it, the Konoha leadership could not possibly blame the Hyūga Clan. If they did, what would the other shinobi clans think?
"Lord Third," Hiashi Hyūga spoke up. "When I returned to the estate this morning, I discovered that someone had broken into my study."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed as he said in a deep voice: "It seems he evaded the Anbu and doubled back."
"The enemy is very familiar with our village's layout..." Hiruzen mused.
His first thought was of the rogue ninja who had defected in recent years.
But counting them down, he couldn't think of any rogue ninja with the strength to fight both Hyūga brothers at once. Such a powerful ninja could not be nameless.
In current Konoha, Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha had not yet defected. Among the hundreds of recorded rogue ninja, Hiruko was likely the strongest.
"Did the opponent's ninjutsu have any specific characteristics?" Danzo asked Hiashi after finishing the report.
Could such a powerful ninja have formed a grudge against the Hyūga during the last war?
Hiashi weighed his words carefully: "The opponent's taijutsu mastery is extremely high, and he has conducted considerable research into the Hyūga Gentle Fist. However, his specific taijutsu style remains unknown."
Hiashi was too embarrassed to admit they had been taken down in just a dozen exchanges, so he had to embellish his words.
"The ninjutsu he used was something I have never seen before. It appeared to condense chakra into a spherical form with immense destructive power," Hiashi added.
"Chakra condensed into a sphere..." Hiruzen's first thought was the Rasengan invented by the Fourth.
But Hiashi continued: "It bears some resemblance to the Fourth's Rasengan, but it was much larger in scale. Furthermore, unlike the brightness of the Rasengan, the sphere condensed by the enemy was dark in color. Its destructive power was terrifying; Hizashi was hit by this move and nearly lost his life."
"Then what exactly is his goal?" Koharu Utatane asked, puzzled. "Is it to incite war between the Cloud and the Leaf?"
With the Cloud Envoy dead at the Hyūga estate, if the Hyūga hadn't held off the intruder until Anbu support arrived, the blame might have been successfully pinned on the clan.
Hiashi Hyūga replied without changing his expression: "Perhaps so."
In reality, he wasn't sure what the mysterious man's goal was either. He had killed the Cloud Envoy on the spot after discovering the kidnapping of Hinata; if the mysterious man hadn't appeared, this meeting might have been about the Konoha leadership questioning the Hyūga's motives.
"I will have word sent to Jiraiya and our ninja traveling abroad to look for information on this mysterious person." The meeting ultimately failed to reach a definitive conclusion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could only order increased security and task people with contacting Jiraiya to gather intelligence.
As the crowd dispersed, only Danzo remained in the room.
"Hiruzen." Danzo's single eye fixed on Hiruzen in his Hokage robes, his tone suddenly turning cold. "It has been only three years since the Nine-Tails incident, and the village has been attacked again. Is this the political performance you offer since retaking this seat?"
"The village is currently short on high-end combat power. It would be better to hand Naruto over to Root..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted him sharply: "That is Minato's child!"
"Precisely because he is Minato's child, he should be trained vigorously!"
The Third Hokage replied with iron-clad finality: "Enough! Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
"Hiruzen! You will regret this!" Shimura Danzo left those words behind and slammed the door as he departed.
Door: *BANG!*
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(End of Chapter)