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A few minutes later, under ANBU escort, Fugaku and Ren stepped into the Hokage's office.
The moment they crossed the threshold—
three invisible waves of killing intent brushed past like blades… then vanished.
They're really holding it in, huh? Ren thought, suppressing a laugh.
His face remained blank as he walked in.
Last night, after wiping out the Sarutobi clan's shinobi, the Uchiha had moved overnight, abandoning their district and regrouping in a large underground chamber beneath the Naka Shrine.
As for how they slipped past ANBU surveillance—
simple.
Sharingan genjutsu.
ANBU never even realized what had truly happened in the Uchiha district.
"Clan Head Fugaku," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, his pupils tightening for the briefest instant before he forced a gentle smile. "You're here."
He didn't spare Ren so much as a glance.
Fugaku's expression stayed calm, but his eyes were cold.
The instant he entered, Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura had stared at him as if they wanted to tear him apart.
Hiruzen picked up his pipe and spoke as if making casual conversation.
"Was the Uchiha clan… alright last night?"
"There was trouble," Fugaku answered immediately—face full of alarm.
Hiruzen's eyebrows twitched. His grip on the pipe tightened.
Koharu and Homura exchanged a glance and, without making a sound, each slid a kunai into their hand.
"What kind of trouble?" Hiruzen asked, voice even.
Then Fugaku laughed.
"Relax. I'm joking."
"There was no trouble at all. The Uchiha had a wonderful night."
Hiruzen froze for half a beat, then nodded with a stiff smile.
"I see. Good. That's good."
Koharu and Homura looked like their faces had been punched into stone. Their knuckles whitened around the kunai.
If Hiruzen hadn't told them to hold—
they would've already ordered ANBU to seize Fugaku and interrogate him on the spot.
Ren watched the scene quietly.
They're all born politicians, he thought. They know he's lying. They're furious. They're waiting for the moment the mask drops.
And yet no one was the first to tear it off.
Maybe that was why Hiruzen—longest-reigning Hokage, "Professor," the so-called Shinobi Hero—had survived this long.
As for "strongest Hokage"…
That was another question entirely.
While they continued to circle each other with polite words and sharpened knives, Ren moved silently in his mind.
"System. Check in—Hokage's Office."
One second.
Ten seconds.
Thirty.
Finally, after a full minute—
A crisp notification chimed.
Ding… Congratulations, Host.
Check-in location refreshed: Hokage's Office. Check-in successful.
Reward obtained: Five Elements Unsealing, Three Directions Seal, Reaper Death Seal, Five Release: Great Combo Barrage, Composite Ninjutsu: Flame Dragon…
Rewards stored in System Space. Once integrated, the Host can perform them with a single hand-clap.
Ren's eyes didn't change, but inside he nodded.
As expected. Hokage's Office rewards are stacked.
In ten years, the system had never refreshed this location.
Now it finally had.
Two S-rank sealing techniques, one A-rank seal, and multiple composite techniques—
A harvest worth remembering.
One reward in particular caught his attention:
Three Directions Seal—something he vaguely remembered from older shinobi records.
Likely involving two shadow clones, forming three green, transparent pyramid-like barriers from three directions to trap the target inside a sealed space.
While Ren was sorting through his gains—
Hiruzen finally stopped pretending.
He rose, slammed the desk, and roared:
"Uchiha Fugaku!"
"What exactly did your clan do last night?!"
"That damn—" Koharu spat, face twisted.
"Fugaku, you can really act," Homura snarled.
The two elders flashed forward instantly, pinning Fugaku between them—left and right—like a pair of blades closing in.
Outside the Hokage Tower, sharp sounds cut through the air.
ANBU—already prepared—surrounded the building in an instant, slipping into combat formation.
Fugaku's eyes hardened.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi," he said coldly, "you still want to ask what happened last night?"
"Last night, Danzō led Root into the Uchiha district to exterminate us."
"Don't tell me Konoha's leadership knew nothing about that."
"I knew," Hiruzen admitted, face dark.
"Then there's nothing left to ask." Fugaku's voice sharpened with disdain.
"Root… and Danzō… were wiped out by the Uchiha."
"What?"
"By the Uchiha?"
"Impossible."
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura stared for a beat—then shook their heads like they'd heard the funniest lie in the world.
They knew the Uchiha's strength.
If the Uchiha could wipe out Danzō and Root, the extermination plan would never have been approved.
Fugaku's expression didn't change.
"The Uchiha alone couldn't."
He paused—then turned his eyes toward Ren.
"…But."
The meaning was clear:
I've said what I can. Now it's your turn.
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