Chapter 11: Enraged Hiruzen

In the eyes of the Hyūga branch family jonin, a trace of greed appeared. He had never achieved much in his clan and, being from the branch family, truly needed a dazzling accomplishment to prove himself.

The Inuzuka and Akimichi clan jonin were equally lit up with excitement.

They too harbored similar ambitions.

After listening to Asuma's analysis, even the hesitant Inuzuka jonin began to feel a stirring desire.

Only Kurenai felt a deep worry for Yu. She wanted to question him face to face—what was his reason for doing this?

"As for the rest of you, don't worry. Their group has at most a dozen Uchiha. I have a backup plan," Asuma said with a confident smile.

Upon hearing this,

the rest of the jonin felt their anxiety melt away completely.

Kurenai's worry only grew stronger. She had to go along on this mission. Even if she couldn't save Yu, she couldn't allow him to die in disgrace.

She had no feelings for Danzo.

And even less for the ANBU and Root.

These people—dead or alive—meant little to her.

She simply refused to believe—

That Yu would betray the village.

The five figures turned into shadows and disappeared into the night. The search would be led by the Hyūga and Inuzuka jonin.

…

Late into the night, approaching midnight, even Konoha's busiest, most bustling district was falling quiet.

At the entrance to the Hokage Tower—

Two rows of ANBU stood at attention, elite among the elite. Their backs were straight, ninja blades on their backs, and under the cover of animal masks, they exuded a killing aura.

Judging by their presence alone, these elites were even more formidable than the ANBU vanguard unit.

In the darkness, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado paced back and forth, waiting for reports from the front lines.

Like Danzo, the two were Hokage advisors—and as such, possessed political acumen and authority.

But now, worry and tension were etched deep into their aging faces, only growing heavier by the minute.

"Why haven't we heard anything yet…" Mitokado Homura muttered, face gloomy, his brow furrowed with deep creases.

Koharu tried to comfort him:

"No need to panic. Whether the Uchiha are destroyed tonight or not—they have no future. If they don't want to die, we'll at least help them die with some dignity."

Homura hesitated. "Let's bring Hiruzen out. The time is about right. It's up to us to clean up the mess."

The two had played key roles in Danzo's proposed "Uchiha Extermination Plan," and both strongly supported it.

If the Uchiha harbored rebellious intent—

Then it had to be snuffed out in its cradle.

Since they couldn't resolve the longstanding hatred between the village and the Uchiha…

They would simply resolve the Uchiha.

Just then, a heavily wounded ANBU suddenly appeared, kneeling in front of the two advisors.

Koharu and Homura's faces darkened further at the ANBU's battered state—this was beyond what they had anticipated.

Had the Uchiha risen in full revolt?

The two advisors exchanged grim looks.

The ANBU quickly reported everything that had happened in the Uchiha district in full detail.

And upon hearing it—

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado's pupils suddenly dilated, their entire bodies trembling. The unease on their faces turned into shock and disbelief.

Their expressions darkened as if they had swallowed a dead rat. Without a word, the two hurried side by side toward the Hokage's office.

The Uchiha clan had been annihilated as planned.

But Danzo was dead. Root and the ANBU vanguard unit had suffered catastrophic losses!!

"Senior, what happened?" In the ANBU ranks, Yamato quietly asked the fox-masked ANBU beside him.

Kakashi, without trying to hide anything, replied, "Didn't catch it all—basically…"

CRASH—

From the brightly lit Hokage office window, the sudden sound of a shattering teacup echoed out, followed immediately by Hiruzen Sarutobi's furious roar.

The bodies of the ANBU trembled in unison.

Their kind and wise Third Hokage… how long had it been since they'd seen him so enraged?

Clearly, something major had happened in the village.

Kakashi immediately fell silent.

Yamato dared not ask again.

…

Uchiha Clan Forest Grounds

A large number of ANBU infiltrated the forest once again—a place that had just witnessed a fierce and brief battle.

At the forefront stood Hiruzen Sarutobi. His aged face was grim beneath the Hokage hat, the white ceremonial robes on his shoulders billowing as he led the charge into the forest.

Two Hokage advisors and elite ANBU closely followed behind him. Other ANBU members spread out, securing higher ground throughout the area.

As the thick scent of blood filled the air, a deep solemnity flashed in Hiruzen's eyes. His fists, resting behind his back, tightened. With a glance over the corpses littered across the ground,

He quickly deduced that the ANBU vanguard team had likely charged in carelessly and been ambushed by Root.

Root had suffered over 80% casualties.

More than half of the ANBU vanguard had been wiped out!

"That damn old fool Danzo really did deserve to die!!" Hiruzen choked back his fury, unable to spit it out or swallow it down. He then waved his hand. "Move all the wounded out. Recover the bodies!"

The ANBU captains all nodded and began their cleanup. This was routine for the ANBU—kill, clean, and burn.

Kakashi and Yamato, as the Hokage's close guards, didn't need to leave his side.

Faced with such devastation,

Kakashi and Yamato could only sigh inwardly.

This operation had brought massive losses to Konoha. The elite Root and ANBU operatives lost tonight would take years to replace—if they could even be replaced at all.

Hiruzen, face dark as thunder, marched deeper into the forest. The group soon came upon the massive tree.

There, the two Hokage advisors stood dumbfounded before a hollow in the trunk—staring in disbelief at a familiar old face embedded within it.

"Dan… Danzo…"

Homura Mitokado pushed up his black-framed glasses, the wrinkles on his forehead twisted together. He quickly stepped up to the tree hollow, placed two fingers beneath Danzo's nose, then against the artery on his neck.

A moment later,

Homura lowered his head, turned around with a grim expression, and shook his head, indicating that Danzo had no signs of life left.

Koharu Utatane's expression was equally grave. She stepped forward, retrieved some medical equipment from a storage scroll, and began checking for life signs.

She was already proficient in medical ninjutsu, having once served in the Second Hokage's elite guard unit as a medical ninja.

The electronic medical tools showed no response.

Koharu's heart turned completely cold. She shook her head and said, "There are no signs of life. Biologically speaking, he's dead."

Danzo's death would have a massive impact on Konoha.

First, the intelligence department would be thrown into disarray. The sleeper agents scattered outside Konoha might never be recovered.

Second, with the loss of Root, Konoha essentially lost a sharp internal blade that helped keep balance within.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils widened. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Rage surged through his chest, and he felt a sweetness in his throat. He forcefully swallowed the blood threatening to rise and stepped forward to inspect Danzo himself.

Staring at the familiar old face embedded in the tree hollow,

Hiruzen's eyes landed on the hilt of the ninja blade that had been precisely driven into Danzo's heart.

It was a Uchiha ninja blade.

His mind became a storm of chaos, as if thousands of explosive tags had gone off inside his head.

Danzo had lived all these years... for what?

He couldn't even handle a regular Uchiha, and he'd died dragging both Root and ANBU into a disastrous loss.

He truly deserved to die!

"Danzo was really killed by that Uchiha Yu."

Hiruzen pulled the ninja blade from the tree, but he could no longer suppress the fury burning inside. A mouthful of blood burst forth, and he staggered backward several steps.

"Lord Hiruzen!!"

Koharu and Homura immediately stepped forward to steady him, supporting his swaying body.

"Don't worry about me. Have someone bring his body back—he's still carrying Wood Release-derived material, infused with the First Hokage's cells."

Hiruzen lowered his aged eyes, tossed the ninja blade to the ground, forced himself to stand straight, and looked toward the Uchiha clan district.

"Head to the Uchiha compound first!"

…

The full moon dipped into the west.

Night faded. Dawn approached.

Northwest of Konoha, deep within the wild forest of the abandoned Training Ground No. 007—

Uchiha Yu's squad continued heading northwest.

With chakra flowing through their bodies, they had covered in two hours what would take an ordinary army a full day of marching in Yu's previous life.

No one spoke along the way.

It wasn't until they passed a ruined camp that a young Uchiha carrying Tamao on his back suddenly shouted:

"Captain Yu! Tamao passed out!!"

Uchiha Yu stopped and turned back to look. At that moment, words popped into his mind:

> [Side Mission]: Heal a Teammate

[Options]:

1. Heal the teammate.

[Reward]: Green Medicine

°°°

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