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"Damn it!"
In a dense forest outside Konoha, Obito's figure suddenly appeared. However, the moment he emerged, he furiously punched a nearby tree.
Leaves scattered in all directions, mirroring the chaos in his heart. This time, he had been completely outplayed by a mere brat.
That kid was insane—his actions were reckless yet somehow meticulously calculated.
However, his logic did not align with the typical mindset of a Konoha shinobi, which was precisely what made him so dangerous to Obito.
"Don't get so worked up. That's just how people trained in Root are."
As Obito was on the verge of exploding with rage, a pitcher plant sprouted from the ground nearby.
Black Zetsu emerged partially, shaking his head at the sight of Obito's frustration.
He had always felt that Obito's plan was unreliable, but changing his mind had never been an option. Besides, pointing it out now was meaningless.
"From what I know, Shimura Danzo harbors deep resentment toward the Uchiha. It's not surprising that someone he trained turned out like this."
"Shimura Danzo…" Obito had heard that name before.
He knew Danzo was one of the Hokage's advisors, but beyond that, his knowledge was limited to what was written in reports.
"He was the Second Hokage's disciple, and that Hokage was always wary of the Uchiha," Black Zetsu continued, anticipating Obito's thoughts before he could even voice them.
"Danzo inherited his teacher's ideology and took it even further."
"A rat-like man." Obito scoffed coldly, his eyes dark with resentment.
At this moment, his hatred wasn't just directed at Shuuzawa—it had completely shifted toward Danzo.
That lunatic had trained another lunatic, and as a result, his entire plan had crumbled.
Worse still, he was again schooled by the Flying Thunder God technique. He wouldn't forget this humiliation.
"No matter. There will be other chances."
Shaking his head, Obito forced himself to move on. However, one issue still gnawed at him.
"That brat actually figured out my identity. That could be a problem."
"They have no proof. But you should keep a lower profile," Black Zetsu nodded.
The kid's quick wit was astonishing. "For now, the bigger concern is dealing with that Flying Thunder God mark on you."
"Agreed."
Obito nodded as well. Since Minato's death, he hadn't given much thought to the technique. He had assumed that no one else could use it.
More importantly, he had never fully understood its mechanics—he hadn't realized that the Flying Thunder God formula could persist and remain active.
Now that he had been caught in such a trap, he had no choice but to find a solution.
Otherwise, every encounter with that guy would put him at a disadvantage. That was something he absolutely could not allow.
The thought of it filled him with frustration once more. Given that Shuuzawa was Danzo's subordinate, Obito instinctively assumed that Danzo had passed down the Flying Thunder God technique.
When he combined this with everything that had happened tonight, he concluded that Danzo had officially made his hit list.
"You're dead, Shimura Danzo!"
"Why do I feel uneasy?"
In the Hokage's office in Konoha, Danzo suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.
Frowning, he scanned the room. But when his gaze landed on the gathered Uchiha, he quickly dismissed the feeling. It made perfect sense.
Even though night had fallen, the Hokage's office was still brightly lit.
Given the severity of the situation, it had to be handled swiftly and with caution. Otherwise, the consequences could spiral out of control.
"Hmph, Uchiha. Why is that brat still alive?"
Danzo scoffed internally. Nearby, Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples with a weary sigh.
Of all times, something like this had to happen in the middle of the night. An attack within the village—on Uchiha Itachi, no less.
If not handled properly, the Uchiha might erupt in outrage.
For a moment, when he saw Shuuzawa with Itachi, Sarutobi even suspected that Shuuzawa was the perpetrator.
However, he remained composed and waited until everyone had arrived. Once Kakashi and the first responders were present, he finally spoke.
"Alright, everyone's here. Let's hear what happened."
Sarutobi sighed, glancing briefly at Shuuzawa before shifting his attention to Itachi.
"Itachi, you were the victim. Explain what happened."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Despite his disheveled state, Itachi had received basic medical attention and was stable. He bowed respectfully before speaking.
"Tonight, I intended to depart early for my mission, but I was ambushed along the way. The attacker used a space-time jutsu."
"I didn't even see them—only a kunai—before I was knocked unconscious. For a moment, I suspected that Shuuzawa-senpai was responsible."
At these words, the room fell into hushed murmurs.
The assembled Uchiha exchanged uneasy glances, but Uchiha Fugaku remained silent, his expression unreadable.
His silence deterred the others from speaking recklessly.
Sarutobi glanced at Danzo, momentarily wondering if he had ordered the attack. But he quickly shook the thought away.
Shuuzawa was too intelligent. If he had done this, he would have left no trace.
Especially considering he possessed the Flying Thunder God technique.
But now, a bigger problem has emerged. Did someone else in the village also know the Flying Thunder God?
"However, it turns out Shuuzawa-senpai wasn't the culprit. The true attacker was someone else."
The very thing Sarutobi had hoped not to hear was exactly what came next. Itachi hesitated for a moment but ultimately continued.
"While I was unconscious, Shuuzawa-senpai woke me up. He then fought against the mysterious assailant."
"During that battle, I had a chance to observe the enemy closely. That person possessed a space-time technique, and according to Shuuzawa-senpai's deduction… he was likely an Uchiha."
"What?! Impossible!"
Chaos erupted.
The Uchiha present were visibly shaken. Fugaku's eyes widened in disbelief before shifting toward Shuuzawa.
A space-time jutsu… An Uchiha… Could it be?
Danzo also stood up, his cold gaze sweeping over the gathered Uchiha. A sinister aura radiated from him, making the air feel heavy.
Meanwhile, others in the room broke into hushed whispers.
Only Nara Shikaku remained composed, subtly nudging Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza beside him.
The three of them chose to stay silent. This wasn't something they wanted to be involved in.
"Enough. Quiet down." Sarutobi's expression turned grim. He fixed his gaze on Itachi.
"Are you certain about what you're saying? Yes, Lord Hokage."
Itachi was well aware of the weight of his words, but he had no intention of returning them.
"Very well." Sarutobi then turned to Shuuzawa and, after a brief pause, asked in a low voice,
"Shuuzawa, what do you think? Lord Hokage, he is correct."
After listening for so long, Shuuzawa finally spoke. He nodded decisively.
"And I have a suspicion regarding that person's identity."
"Oh?"
Sarutobi frowned. He had expected more details about the attack, not speculation about the enemy's identity.
But seeing Shuuzawa's serious expression, he decided to entertain the thought.
"Go on. I suspect…"
Shuuzawa's voice was firm.
"That man might be Uchiha Obito." While Itachi remained unfazed, having already heard this theory, the room was silent momentarily.
Then, Hatake Kakashi, who had been quietly standing among the group, suddenly stepped forward.
"That's impossible!"
Kakashi's face was filled with disbelief, and even a hint of anger crept between his brows.
Obito was his best friend, who had long since died as a hero of the Hidden Leaf!
Now, Shuuzawa had brought up Obito again, even claiming that he was an attacker. Kakashi simply couldn't comprehend or accept it.
"Shuuzawa, are you mistaken?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was also momentarily stunned upon hearing that name, but he quickly recalled the origins of Kakashi's eye.
He understood why Kakashi was so upset. After some thought, he decided to remind him.
"Obito has been dead for a long time, and when he died, his eye— Never mind, just tell us what you discovered."
"Yes."
Shuuzawa knew this wasn't easy for people to believe, but he didn't care.
He had witness testimony and solid evidence, so there was nothing to worry about.
"After completing my mission, I was heading home when I unexpectedly ran into that brat, Naruto." Shuuzawa briefly explained his situation.
The matter regarding Naruto wasn't something he had any concerns about mentioning, and Hiruzen showed no particular reaction when he heard it.
But as Shuuzawa continued, describing how he had sensed a spatial disturbance and later discovered Itachi Uchiha, Hiruzen's brows began to furrow.
He soon regretted it, however, because Shuuzawa immediately launched into an elaborate discussion about his 'body disposal' plan.
Was this something to say in front of everyone? Even if he wanted to deceive them, did he have to be so detailed?
A glance at Fugaku Uchiha confirmed his suspicions—Fugaku's face had turned ashen.
Meanwhile, Danzo remained outwardly calm, but Shuuzawa couldn't shake the feeling that the man looked... a little disappointed.
As for the others, they all remained silent. No one dared to comment on something like this.
"Enough, stop." With no other choice, Hiruzen had to intervene.
"He came out because he was worried you would dispose of the body? Yes."
Shuuzawa felt annoyed at being interrupted, but he still nodded honestly.
"And when he appeared, I suddenly noticed that he possessed a Sharingan—and its form was rather unusual."
Shuuzawa picked up a pen and paper as he spoke and quickly sketched out the shape of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.
"It looked something like this. At first, when I saw him, I suspected it was an act of Uchiha revenge. After all, I was the proctor when Itachi took his Chūnin Exam."
He handed the completed drawing over. Hiruzen's expression darkened as he looked at it before passing it to Fugaku Uchiha and Danzo.
He was almost certain at this point—it was a Mangekyō Sharingan!
"My apologies, though I have no right to accuse you, I believe you have misunderstood us. The Uchiha clan is not so petty."
After examining the drawing, Fugaku spoke gravely. "Moreover, there is no such eye within our clan. We have not seen an eye like this for a long time."
"This is undoubtedly a Sharingan," Danzo added after studying the image carefully. "But it is a more advanced form."
He then looked deeply at the Uchiha before turning his gaze to Shuuzawa.
"What happened next? Why did you conclude that the Uchiha were framing you? How did you determine his identity, and how did you respond?"
These three questions were crucial. He might finally have leverage against the Uchiha if he could get clear answers.
The Uchiha had been rather restless lately. "A more advanced form?"
Shuuzawa deliberately blinked, but he didn't press the issue.
"As for what happened next, I fought him and confirmed that he was using a space-time jutsu."
However, what was interesting was that his space-time jutsu seemed slow, and all his chakra fluctuations originated from his eye.
Furthermore, only one of his eyes reacted, which led Shuuzawa to conclude that he only had a single Mangekyō Sharingan.
He then turned to look at Kakashi.
"His eye and Kakashi-senpai's are symmetrical. It's his left eye. And as far as I know, his body was never recovered or buried in the Leaf."
Shuuzawa's words caused a heavy silence to fall over the room. Though it could have been a coincidence, it was a plausible lead worth investigating.
"And to confirm it, all Kakashi has to do is activate his Sharingan. We might get a different answer."
Forcing Kakashi to awaken his Mangekyō—this was Shuuzawa's best piece of evidence!
Kakashi's eye had already reached that level, but since Obito had died so early, no one believed he could activate it.
It wasn't until Itachi Uchiha beat him that he began to uncover his eye's potential. Shuuzawa pushing for this now was completely reasonable.
Frame me? I'll just smash your mask off, idiot!
"I can help with that,"
Fugaku Uchiha volunteered after some thought, and Hiruzen nodded.
"Then, I'll leave it to you. Kakashi-kun, please relax."
Fugaku approached Kakashi, his eyes activating the Sharingan. Kakashi hesitated internally but eventually nodded.
Just as everyone was watching intently, Shuuzawa suddenly spoke again.
"Also, I suspect he is connected to the Nine-Tails incident!"
His words were like a thunderclap, freezing everyone in place. Even Fugaku's body stiffened for a brief moment. Then, the room erupted.
"What? That's impossible! That guy… just who is he? Do you even know what you're saying?"
The Nine-Tails incident was a deep wound for the Leaf. That night, countless people lost their loved ones.
That night, they lost the Fourth Hokage and his wife, leaving the village with a talent gap.
Even Danzo had used that tragedy to spread rumors that the Sharingan had controlled the Nine-Tails, shifting blame onto the Uchiha and manipulating public opinion.
The Nine-Tails incident had changed everything, and now, Shuuzawa was saying that the masked man he encountered was involved. How could anyone stay calm?
"What do you mean?"
Hiruzen's expression turned grave, and his eyes locked onto Shuuzawa. Tonight had begun with an attack on Itachi Uchiha, but now, so many hidden truths were surfacing that even he felt overwhelmed.
"It was the Flying Thunder God formula." Shuuzawa sighed and explained.
"When that man used his space-time jutsu to appear, I sensed a Flying Thunder God seal on him."
"The patterns of those seals vary, but they can be connected once mastered."
"The seal on him did not belong to the Second Hokage—it was one left by the Fourth Hokage."
"And considering the rumors that the Uchiha controlled the Nine-Tails that night… it's entirely possible that he was the real culprit."
"It was by exploiting this seal that I managed to ambush and injure him."
"!!!"
Everyone was dumbfounded. But when they thought about it, everything suddenly aligned perfectly.
The Nine-Tails going berserk was an orchestrated event—everyone agreed.
The Sharingan could control the Nine-Tails; Hiruzen and Danzo had witnessed Madara Uchiha do it!
The mysterious attacker had a Mangekyō Sharingan, which meant he could do what Madara had done.
Since he possessed space-time ninjutsu, he could have fought Minato without dying. It all fits. Every single piece fits.
"Ah!"
At that moment, Kakashi let out a pained gasp. His visible Sharingan began spinning wildly as if it had been stimulated.
Within moments, the black tomoe fused, forming an unmistakable pattern—
The same shape Shuuzawa had just drawn. Just then, a faint flash appeared in Shuuzawa's vision.
[Mission Complete: Defeat the Attacker]
[Mission Rating: S]
[Reward Earned: 7 Free Points]
[Hidden Mission Complete: Expose Uchiha Obito's Identity]
[Mission Rating: S]
[Reward Earned: 6 Free Points]
[Special Reward Granted: Wood Release Experience Insight]
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