In his heart, Sarutobi Hiruzen actually wanted to ease relations with the Uchiha clan. However, the Uchiha clan's coup was now like a fully drawn arrow, ready to be loosed. Therefore, this problem had to be completely resolved before the rebellion could erupt. That was why he and the other Konoha higher-ups gave Uchiha Itachi the "clan massacre" order.
"Then why tell me specifically? And recruiting me is also a baffling matter. You could have just let Uchiha Itachi kill me. That would have eliminated both the potential trouble of me being a 'Root' member and an 'Uchiha clansman'." Lexon said slowly.
"This was Uchiha Itachi's idea," Sarutobi Hiruzen explained.
'Itachi's idea? Itachi wants to let me off and spare my life? Are we that close?' Lexon was a bit surprised. In his memory, Itachi was extremely thorough when he carried out the massacre. With the exception of his most beloved younger brother, every other Uchiha clansman, whether he had a relationship with them or not, was killed. No exceptions.
'This kind of Itachi would specifically ask the Third Hokage to spare me?' Lexon didn't think that playing a few games with him was enough to build the kind of relationship where Itachi would go out of his way to spare him.
"Because he told me you are very strong and would be an obstacle to his 'clan massacre plan'," Sarutobi Hiruzen continued.
'Fine.' Lexon finally understood.
'It wasn't that he was sparing me. It was that Itachi told the Third Hokage I would be difficult to kill, so the Third Hokage pulled me into his camp and leaked the information. The goal was to prevent me from obstructing the 'clan massacre plan'.'
'Speaking of which, Itachi, you sensed my strength... How sharp...' Lexon, only just realizing today that Itachi had a vague idea of his true strength, couldn't help but think.
"Alright, I'll stay away tomorrow," Lexon agreed.
"That's good," Sarutobi Hiruzen replied.
Suddenly, Lexon changed the subject. "Lord Hokage, if I were to express dissatisfaction with your 'clan massacre plan'... would you have me suppressed on the spot?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's sharp eyes rested on Lexon for a moment before he said, "I would not."
'Liar.' Lexon thought to himself. He had already unconsciously activated his keen sense of smell and detected the chakra signatures of at least five Elite Jonin.
'But while you're lying to me, I'm lying to you too...'
'I'm not leaving tomorrow...'
Meeting Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze, Lexon said his farewell, "Well then, I'll be heading back."
"Mn," Sarutobi Hiruzen responded.
Then, Lexon walked off in the direction of the Uchiha clan.
Only after Lexon's figure disappeared did a high-ranking ninja in Konoha attire approach Sarutobi Hiruzen and ask, "Lord Third Hokage, why not detain him? What if he leaks the information? Or what if he doesn't leave tomorrow and deliberately obstructs Uchiha Itachi?"
"There's no need," Sarutobi Hiruzen replied.
"Why, Lord Third Hokage?" the ninja asked, not understanding.
"His position within the Uchiha clan means that few would believe anything he says. Besides, people like Uchiha Fugaku have likely already guessed that Uchiha Itachi will carry out the 'clan massacre plan'... As for him staying in the Uchiha clan grounds to deliberately obstruct Uchiha Itachi... he would die." After saying this, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't elaborate further.
In truth, he had left something unsaid. The reason he felt Lexon would die if he stayed...
...was because Itachi had found a member from an unknown organization called "Akatsuki," whose strength was no less than his own, to assist with the "clan massacre plan." After the plan succeeded, Itachi would become a rogue ninja and join "Akatsuki" as an undercover agent.
Itachi, with his strength, might find Lexon troublesome. But with the help of an individual whose strength was no less than Itachi's, a powerful alliance, if Lexon were to interfere, he would surely come to a bad end.
And the Anbu would secretly seal off the Uchiha grounds, ensuring that no one "who shouldn't live" would escape alive.
If Lexon really did interfere, it would mean he had no loyalty to the Konoha leadership... In that case, even if he managed to escape from Itachi and his assistant, he would become one of the "people who shouldn't live," and would die in the end.
...
Lexon walked steadily back to his residence in the Uchiha clan grounds. As Sarutobi Hiruzen had predicted, he didn't say anything to the clan about the "clan massacre plan." He wasn't interested in such things.
He simply activated his keen sense of smell, roughly sorted the Uchiha clan members by age, and screened out those above and below a certain age. Tomorrow, he would take away the Uchiha clan members below that age, in order to fulfill his promise to Uchiha Shisui.
The next night quickly arrived.
Inadvertently, it was almost time.
Lexon sat on the sofa in his room, legs crossed, chin propped on his hand, quietly gazing at the moonlight outside the window.
The night sky, free of pollution, glittered with starlight.
'It's quite beautiful.'
'Speaking of which, I wonder how the Demon Slayer world is doing? I wonder if Oyakata-sama is dead yet... Huh? It seems a story world's time is just an instant relative to the real world, but after the Demon Slayer world became a base, I think I set its time to flow with the real world... Doesn't that mean only a little over a month has passed?'
His thoughts drifted, and he mused about many things.
'They're here.'
Suddenly, his nose twitched.
The lights in the room flickered, and two figures suddenly appeared inside, standing right in front of Lexon.
Uchiha Itachi, in Anbu attire... and a man in a black cloak with red clouds, wearing a single-eyed spiral mask...
Lexon knew this man's identity. It was Uchiha Obito, the true mastermind behind "Akatsuki".
"Lexon..." Uchiha Itachi looked at Lexon with a somewhat complicated expression, and slowly drew the sword from his back.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had already told him about their contact with Lexon and his joining their side. But seeing him here now meant that Lexon had not obeyed the Hokage's words.
'In other words... Lexon needed to be killed.'
"He's very troublesome. Let's finish this quickly," Itachi said to the person assisting him.
"Wait." The masked man's deep voice emerged from under the mask. He stretched out his hand, blocking Itachi. "He's one of ours."
Lexon took a ring engraved with the character "Blue" from his pocket, slipped it onto his hand, and said to Itachi with a gentle smile, "That's right. I'm one of you."
Itachi looked at his assistant, then at Lexon, his expression somewhat blank.
'What the hell?'
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