Hokage's Office.
"This assassin... Could it really be connected to the Uchiha clan? Or perhaps Uchiha Kinya offered him something, making him go so far to protect the Uchiha members?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the assassin who had taken a brutal hit to protect a little girl. There was a mix of murderous intent and confusion in his eyes.
In his mind, assassins were supposed to be cold and merciless.
To complete a mission, they would stop at nothing—even sacrificing teammates.
But this assassin, instead of just completing the task, took a heavy blow for a little girl, and he got injured in the process. Was it really worth it?
Hiruzen puffed on his cigarette, his eyes flickering with an uncertain light. He wasn't sure what he was thinking.
But one thing was clear—this assassin was definitely tied to the Uchiha clan.
Heh.
This might be a good thing. The assassin's act of risking his life for the Uchiha clan had exposed a weakness.
From now on, as long as Uchiha Itachi keeps targeting the Uchiha clan, this assassin will continue to take the blows.
There are only two possible outcomes—either he'll be crushed by the attacks, or he'll helplessly watch as the Uchiha clan members are killed.
The assassin shouldn't be so foolish. He shouldn't have sacrificed himself for an innocent Uchiha child.
The most foolish part was that he had already been injured for this child.
Outside the Uchiha Clan.
"Looks like the assassin is heading toward the clan. It seems Uchiha Itachi has already solved his problem!" Shimura Danzo grinned as he watched the assassin approach the Uchiha territory.
Now, with a hundred Root ninjas already in the Uchiha compound, and adding this powerful assassin to the mix, even if the Uchiha clan has strong fighters left, victory was all but assured!
Those Uchiha eyes would soon be his.
"Lord Danzo, something's wrong!" But just as Danzo basked in his victory, a heavily wounded Root ninja, wearing a mask, rushed back toward him, stumbling.
He was fast, but blood continued to pour from his wounds.
Clearly, during his escape, he hadn't even had time to stop the bleeding.
Seeing the ninja, Danzo's brows furrowed, a sense of unease growing inside him. Could there have been a flaw in his plan?
No, his plan and the people he sent had been meticulously organized. The Uchiha clan had been under his surveillance for days. There was no way something unexpected should have happened!
So what went wrong?
This person... seems to be from the team that went to Uchiha Hospital.
"What's going on?" Danzo stepped forward to support the person, his tone flat as he asked, "Is there an issue at the hospital? Do you need backup?"
This was the worst-case scenario Danzo had considered. If that was true, he had dozens of ROOT ninja at his disposal and could send them for reinforcements.
"No..." The ninja who had returned shook his head bitterly. After taking a few deep breaths, he looked at Danzo and said, "We followed Lord Danzo's orders to hunt down the Uchiha clan members at the hospital, but we ran into Might Guy!"
"Might Guy?" Danzo's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.
Might Guy was the strongest Taijutsu user in Konoha, especially when he opened the Eight Gates. When he did, he was unstoppable, no one could beat him!
Not long ago, Konoha had sent Might Guy on a nearly impossible mission, but he came back alive, having completed the mission flawlessly. This proved just how terrifying his strength was.
This was bad luck. To think they ran into him during the hospital attack.
If the ROOT members encountered Might Guy in his full power, it would be a massacre.
A Kage-level ninja can face off against thousands of others. For example, Madara fought against the Ninja Allied Forces alone, and the Third Raikage fought against tens of thousands of ninjas from the Land of Earth for three days and nights.
Even though he died, his battle proved the vast difference between a Kage-level ninja and regular ninja!
Even though Might Guy was younger, once he opened the Eight Gates, he could easily handle more than a dozen Jonin.
Danzo furrowed his brow and continued to ask, "What about the others? Why are you the only one who made it back?"
Danzo had sent out the best of ROOT. Losing even one was painful, especially since he had sent a total of sixteen ninja to the hospital, including the team's leader.
"04 stayed behind to cover our retreat and fought Might Guy. In the end, I was the only one who escaped," the injured ROOT ninja said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "They might already be dead."
Although he didn't want to admit it, he gritted his teeth and said it anyway.
ROOT ninja were trained from a young age never to be captured. If captured, their only option was to commit suicide, especially for a mission as secretive as today's.
Those captured ROOT ninja had most likely already taken their own lives.
"Then how are you still alive?" Hearing this, Danzo's single eye widened. He grabbed the ninja by the collar, removed his mask, and pried his mouth open to check his tongue.
When he saw the cursed seal on his tongue, his anger slightly subsided.
This person wasn't an imposter. Then, it was likely that 04 and the others were really dead.
The ninja, who was being glared at by Danzo, felt some fear, but he still said awkwardly, "It was 04 who told me to come back and report on the situation at the hospital. I ran back as fast as I could!"
Thud!
After hearing the explanation, Danzo roughly threw the ninja aside, not even looking at him. With a hateful tone, he muttered, "Might Guy, you killed my Root ninjas. I will make you pay for this!"
At this moment, everyone could clearly see the anger burning inside Danzo.
However, Sarutobi Eisuke, who had been watching everything from the side, was stunned. The ninja sent to the Uchiha hospital had only been gone for a short time, and it was already destroyed!
Was Might Guy really that strong?
As he thought about it, he couldn't help but glance at Danzo and ask, "Should we send someone else to the hospital to…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone knew what he meant—kill him!
"No need," Danzo shook his head. "With Might Guy there, let the people inside live a few more days. The task now is to wipe out the Uchiha clan members!"
Danzo paused, frustration in his voice. With Might Guy there, it would take at least twenty Jonins to defeat him!
But now, he didn't have enough people left!
For now, he would have to give up on the Uchiha inside the hospital.
And one more thing…
His right eye kept twitching, and vaguely, he had a sense that something else would happen soon.
Sure enough…
Before long, 03 stumbled over, dragging his injured body as he ran. Blood kept coughing out of his mouth as he staggered along.
The mask symbolizing Root was gone!
"03, what happened?"
Danzo stepped forward to support 03, his face even darker than before.
"Danzo-sama, I was attacked by the Police Force members. Everyone I took with me… was wiped out!" 03 looked at Danzo, his face bitter, as though seeing a family member. "Everyone… is dead…"
****
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