Just as Yamanaka Inoichi was about to call his clansmen over to help, two figures suddenly burst into the Yamanaka clan's compound and blocked his path.
"...Root?!"
The masks worn by the Root ninja were very distinctive, and Yamanaka Inoichi immediately recognized the masks with their strange patterns.
He frowned.
He became vigilant.
"Why has Root come uninvited?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked expressionlessly. He didn't want any connection with Root, as he was aware of Danzo's ambition for the Hokage position.
Danzō wanting to be Hokage was like the Uchiha clan wanting to stage a coup; it was a "secret" that many people could guess.
The Yamanaka clan ultimately stood with the Hokage faction.
They naturally felt a sense of resistance towards Danzo, who wanted to usurp the position.
Of course, Yamanaka Inoichi also wanted to distance himself from the Uchiha clan's coup attempt. It was a pity that Uchiha Chisen had people from the Konoha Military Police Force bring corpses over every day. Even if Yamanaka Inoichi wanted to distance himself, he had to come into contact with them due to the need for autopsies.
At this moment, the Root ninja standing on the left said coldly, "Clan Head Inoichi, these eight corpses are all ninjas from my Root. The Yamanaka clan has no right to explore the secrets within their brains."
The Root ninja standing on the right added, "You are not allowed to touch these corpses. Our people will come to take them away."
Yamanaka Inoichi's pupils contracted imperceptibly.
All eight corpses were Root ninjas? Had Uchiha Chisen clashed violently with Konoha's Root again?
"Alright."
Since Danzo was willing to clean up this mess, Yamanaka Inoichi was happy not to cause himself any trouble.
...
Not long after.
Indeed, many more Root ninjas arrived at the Yamanaka clan's compound.
Moreover, Yamanaka Inoichi discovered that the one leading them was none other than Shimura Danzo!
Danzō stood beside Yamanaka Inoichi, quietly gazing at the eight corpses covered with white cloths. As a gentle night breeze blew past, it lifted the white cloth from one of the corpses' faces, revealing a face that Danzo found somewhat familiar...
Danzō took a deep breath.
"U! CHI! HA! CHI! SEN!" The veins on the back of his clenched fists were already bulging. The name Uchiha Chisen was squeezed out from between Danzo's teeth.
Yamanaka Inoichi, standing beside him, could clearly feel the immense anger building up within this Konoha elder.
Yamanaka Inoichi also noticed Danzo suddenly turn and glare at him.
Yamanaka Inoichi: "???"
"I haven't even started examining their memories yet." He felt like he was being unfairly blamed, which made Yamanaka Inoichi somewhat unhappy. As a result, his explanation sounded rather cold.
As Yamanaka Inoichi spoke, he also inadvertently glanced at Danzo's left ear and noticed that Danzo's left ear was missing.
Danzō looked deeply at Yamanaka Inoichi.
Once he replaced the Monkey King, every single person in the Yamanaka clan would be branded with the Tongue-Cut-Off Seal, only then could he feel somewhat at ease with them.
They knew too much!
Of course, Danzo only filtered these thoughts in his mind.
Seeing his Root ninjas carrying the corpses away one by one, he walked straight out of the Yamanaka clan's compound.
But just then, Danzo suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Wait!"
Danzō frowned and immediately called out to his subordinates who were about to carry the corpses back to the Root base.
His sharp gaze swept around in all directions.
Seeing Danzo's demeanor, the Root ninjas also became vigilant.
Tap... tap... tap...
The faint sound of footsteps approaching from a distance made Danzo and the others instantly focus their attention on the thick, dark night ahead.
The Root ninjas immediately dropped the corpses, drew the ninja swords from their waists, and surrounded Danzo.
As the owner of the footsteps gradually emerged from the pitch-black night, and their face vaguely appeared in the moonlight, Danzo's expression instantly turned grim.
He gritted his teeth and shouted the name of the person approaching him.
"Uchiha Chisen!!!"
...
"Dad, why is it so noisy outside..." Ino, wearing cute pajamas and holding a stuffed toy, walked out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes with bare feet.
Yamanaka Inoichi was initially shocked by Danzo's sudden, almost neurotic shout of "Uchiha Chisen" from outside the door.
When he saw his daughter woken up and coming out.
He immediately realized what was happening outside.
"Ino, quickly go back to your room! No, go hide in the secret underground room of the clan compound!" Yamanaka Inoichi said with a stern expression. "Don't come out, no matter what sounds you hear!"
"...Huh?" Ino hadn't even processed what was happening.
"Hurry!" Yamanaka Inoichi snapped at her.
Ino flinched.
Her father's sharp reprimand brought tears to her eyes, but she didn't dare ask any more questions, quickly heading to the underground secret room.
"Hoo..."
Watching his daughter's retreating figure, Yamanaka Inoichi let out half a breath of relief, but his gaze remained anxious as he looked outside the compound.
"...This is truly a troublesome night!" If he wasn't mistaken, Uchiha Chisen must have guessed that Danzō would bring Root ninja to the Yamanaka Clan compound to retrieve the bodies.
And what Uchiha Chisen was doing was waiting outside the Yamanaka Clan compound, quietly anticipating Danzō's arrival!
—He was hunting Shimura Danzō!!!
Yamanaka Inoichi knew Danzō had previously clashed with Uchiha Chisen in a physical confrontation.
It was the Hokage himself who had intervened to stop their conflict that time.
"Perhaps... in the eyes of the [Absolute Justice] that Uchiha Chisen believes in, everyone in Root is to be purged? This is bad, I need to quickly notify the Hokage."
Yamanaka Inoichi's head throbbed.
...
Danzō's expression was as dark as water, feeling a dull ache in the wound on his left ear that had long since healed.
He remembered clearly...
It was Uchiha Chisen who had exposed his secrets to the Monkey, causing him to lose several Three-Tomoe Sharingan and even forcing him to hand over some Sharingan data to the Monkey.
"You naturally evil Uchiha brat! After what happened last time, you still dare to appear before me alone? You've become arrogant just because you possess the power of Lava Release, your Uchiha clan's innate arrogance truly displeases me!"
Killing intent blazed in Danzō's sinister eyes. As he spoke, the Root ninja surrounding him stirred restlessly.
Uchiha Chisen's gaze met Danzō's mid-air.
"I've been waiting for you for over two hours, 'Lord' Danzō."
Uchiha Chisen's indifferent tone made Danzō laugh in rage.
Danzō questioned him sinisterly, "Were you deliberately baiting me?"
Lava dripped from Uchiha Chisen's fingertips, its faint orange-red glow illuminating half of his profile.
Uchiha Chisen replied softly, "If not for this, how could I drag a filthy rat like you out of Konoha's gutters?"
Crack—Cracks appeared in the ground beneath Danzō's feet.
Even though he knew Sarutobi Hiruzen had warned him not to engage in any further physical confrontations with Uchiha Chisen.
Danzō knew even better that if he didn't kill an Uchiha with such an extremely evil personality as Uchiha Chisen...
Konoha would never know peace in the future!
He, Danzō, wouldn't be able to sleep at night!
"Kill him!!!"
He shouted coldly.
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