Chapter 39: The Fruits of Victory
"That eye was originally meant for you; Shisuiasked me to give it to you."
Naruto looked up at the roof toward the voice and saw Uchiha Itachi hanging upside down from the ceiling.
Naruto said somewhat speechlessly, "When did you get in?"
"I came in while you were using the Flying Thunder God to go to the Uchiha Clan Compound."
"You certainly arrived early!"
"It's not that I arrived early, but that you returned late."
Naruto nodded and said, "That's true! I took some things that are useless to you."
Uchiha Itachi frowned in confusion, but he didn't ask Naruto what he had taken.
"I'm leaving the Village as a Rogue Ninja. Once again, I'm entrusting you to take care of Sasuke."
"You sent a Shadow Clone over specifically just to say this?"
Uchiha Itachi nodded in silence, looking at Narutowith a hint of expectation in his eyes.
"If Sasuke comes looking for me, I'll naturally take care of him. If he doesn't... then there's nothing I can do. You should also know my situation is a bit special; I'm being monitored at all times."
"Understood! Thank you!"
After saying that, Uchiha Itachi dispelled the Shadow Clone.
Naruto sighed, rubbed his temples, and said, "There certainly are a lot of Shadow Clones tonight."
Not long after Naruto lay down, there was a knock at the door.
Naruto said somewhat irritably, "Who is it? It's the middle of the night!"
"It's me! Anbu!"
Naruto's lips twitched slightly as he said, "Come in yourself! Do I really have to invite you?"
Just as Naruto finished speaking, the white-haired Kakashi pushed the door open and walked in.
"What is it? Not sleeping in the middle of the night."
Kakashi stared at Naruto for a while before saying, "You should have awakened the Uzumaki Clan's Kagura Minds Eye, right?"
Naruto gave Kakashi a flat glance and said nothing, neither confirming nor denying it.
Kakashi ignored Naruto's attitude and continued, "Use Kagura Minds Eye to see if there are still people monitoring the surroundings."
Naruto looked at Kakashi and thought for a moment, roughly understanding that Kakashi had something to say to him.
Naruto had no choice but to activate the Kagura Minds Eye and said, "There's no one monitoring within two kilometers. Go ahead and say what you have to say!"
To Naruto's surprise, however, Kakashi actually shook his head.
"I have nothing to say. Go to sleep! Oh, right! After tomorrow, it's best if your Original Body goes to school in person."
Hearing this, Naruto curled his lip and said, "If Danzo wanted to make a move on me, he wouldn't care whether it was day or night."
After saying that, Naruto lay down on the bed, covered himself with the quilt, and went back to sleep.
Watching Naruto sleep, Kakashi also felt that Naruto had a point. After the Uchiha Clan was eliminated, the Great Clans could be said to have become estranged from the Hokage faction; there shouldn't be any more conflicts breaking out.
Next would likely be the internal struggle between Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Having figured this out, Kakashi shook his head and left Naruto's room.
After Kakashi left, Naruto opened his eyes, wondering why Kakashi had asked him to probe the surroundings.
After thinking carefully for a while, Naruto finally understood what Kakashi meant.
It was likely that Kakashi had discovered he left the Wooden Hut, or perhaps he found out about Uchiha Itachi's visit, and wanted Naruto to check the surroundings for any other monitors.
If there were still people, Kakashi might have used the night of the Uchiha massacre as a pretext to deal with those monitoring Naruto.
While Naruto was fast asleep...
Danzo was throwing a fit at the Uchiha Clan Compound. He had planned the Uchiha's destruction specifically to collect enough Sharingan, yet now that the Uchiha were gone, not a single Sharingan had been collected.
After raging impotently for a while, Danzo calmed down. Regarding the Uchiha massacre, besides Uchiha Itachi, there was the Masked Man, and then there was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
How many Sharingan could one Masked Mancollect? At most, he could have gathered all the Sharingan from the Uchiha Police Force; there simply wouldn't have been time to collect the eyes of the rest of the Uchiha Clan members.
And it was impossible for Uchiha Itachi to have collected the Sharingan.
That left only Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Realizing this, Danzo gnashed his teeth and said, "Hiruzen, what a deep scheme. I take the blame while you take the benefits. There's no such thing as a free lunch."
After speaking, Danzo gave the order with a dark face, "Search! Find all the assets of the Uchiha Clan."
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
Just as the Root members were about to search for the assets, Danzo thought of Uchiha Itachi again and added another order.
"Do not touch the belongings of Uchiha Fugaku's household."
"Yes! Lord Danzo!"
But before long, the Root members brought some scattered small bills and piled them in front of Danzo.
Danzo looked at the money recovered on the ground, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Why is there only this much?"
"Report, Lord Danzo! It seems the Uchiha Clan has already been searched. All the useful scrolls and wealth appear to have been taken."
Hearing this, Danzo roared, "Hiruzen! You've gone too far!"
With that, Danzo turned and left the Uchiha Clan Compound, heading for the Hokage Building. He intended to settle the score with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
However, to Danzo's surprise, as soon as he entered Hiruzen Sarutobi's office...
Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Danzo, "Leave half of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan for me. The wealth of Uchiha Fugaku's house must not be touched, and you must bring me seventy percent of the remaining assets."
Listening to what Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted, the veins on Danzo's forehead throbbed violently, and veins popped on the hand gripping his cane. Once Hiruzen Sarutobi finished, Danzo finally exploded.
"Hiruzen, you've gone too far! It's one thing that you collected all the Uchiha Clan's wealth, but you took all the Sharingan as well, and now you're asking me for them? Your greed is simply unsightly!"
Danzo thought Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to keep all the Uchiha spoils for himself, which was why he was making a preemptive strike by demanding them from him.
"Danzo! You're the one going too far! Not a single member of my Anbu moved today; they were all monitoring the Uchiha from the perimeter. How could they have collected the Sharingan and wealth? You'd better hand over what you should! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite."
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought Danzo wanted to keep all the Uchiha's wealth for himself and was thus making excuses.
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's threat, Danzo thought Hiruzen was feeling guilty and was using a tough stance to demand things from him.
"I didn't take them! After Uchiha Itachi wiped out the Uchiha, I rushed over and didn't see a single pair of Sharingan. All the cash and scrolls had been looted; I got nothing."
Danzo thought that once he stated the facts, Hiruzen Sarutobi would surely compromise