turmoil
Danzo rambled on for a bit, then had her dragged out and locked to a pillar outside before leaving. Luna was unmoved; being kidnapped was to be expected. Danzo was petty; whether she tried to revive the Uchiha clan or speak to Naruto, this was bound to happen.
As long as she is an Uchiha, this is how she is treated by the Konoha higher-ups, and it has remained the same for decades.
Danzo only placed a control seal on her, presumably not intending for her to live long. Unfortunately, Old Man Deng met with Orochimaru outside Konoha, so he didn't have all the information and could only… do his best.
As for Itachi? They're already firmly suspicious of her. They haven't seen her since that day, and on the fourth day they started monitoring and investigating her; it seems he's detected the mind-suggestion magic.
Although she tried her best to be careful, her actions always leave traces. Even if nothing is left behind, when you assume malice towards someone, everything they do is considered unclean.
Right now, that guy is in the Uchiha training grounds, standing in the desolate woods, under the icy snow, doing his mental preparation.
Luna closed her eyes, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
Itachi had been standing in the snow for a long time, dark clouds obscuring the crescent moon overhead, and snowflakes still falling. His heart was devoid of warmth. He sensed something was wrong with Koizumi, and had been ordered by the Third Hokage to monitor her and question her about her thoughts on the Jinchuriki.
But he discovered she had converted most of her money into gold, which was not the behavior of a ninja. The word "betrayal" surged in his heart, and Itachi clenched his fists tightly. He also discovered that she had assisted her father in acquiring wealth and had placed Uchiha clan members in every position she could reach. In just over half a year, the Uchiha's status in Konoha was now completely different from what it used to be.
Upon investigating these matters, he realized... Koizumi was no longer Koizumi. Her deliberate friendliness towards the Jinchuriki was clearly for ulterior motives; perhaps she was unaware that Koizumi's bloodline limit had taken over her body, and was targeting Danzo, attempting to drag the Third Hokage into trouble.
The Third Hokage believed the Uchiha clan had grand ambitions and temporarily unsealed Danzo. After Root arrested Koizumi, the interrogation revealed that his father was behind it all, and that the Uchiha were attempting to overthrow Konoha and repeat the Nine-Tails attack as revenge for years of suppression by the Konoha leadership.
Itachi stood silently in the darkness, the cold piercing his thin clothes, yet it couldn't make him sway in the slightest. Danzo said that most of the clan members were unaware of the situation, and as long as he took action to eliminate the culprit, the entire Uchiha clan wouldn't be prosecuted for treason.
[I've already been merciful by sparing the lives of those key figures in the plan. If you don't do it, your brother will be implicated too!]
This is forcing him to kill his own father.
A vortex appeared in space, and Itachi whirled around, seeing the annoying masked man. Such space-time ninjutsu, and from a member of the Uchiha clan—He thought this man was Uchiha Madara.
The masked man chuckled, casually fanning the flames: "Your little girlfriend is no ordinary person. She secretly sneaked into the Uchiha Eye Bank last night. I went in and took a look too. Most of your eyes have lost their pupil power."
That little girl stole his Sharingan!
"What are you going to do?" Itachi's eyes turned crimson as he stared intently at the other person.
"Want to cooperate?" The masked man was even more delighted; this was a rare opportunity to expand his Sharingan reserves.
Forced by both sides to exterminate his clan, Itachi's mind was a complete mess. One side feared the Uchiha, the other hated them; in every aspect, the Uchiha were no match.
But where is the real Koizumi?
—On the other side—
Mikoto, not seeing her husband or child at home, raised an eyebrow in surprise. Sasuke's absence was odd; in the dead of winter, had the child gone out for training?
Thinking of setting aside food for the children, she put on an apron and started cooking. Lately, the Uchiha clan had been getting along very well with everyone in the village, and she couldn't help but imagine the future, how much more lively it would be with Koizumi at home.
If Hazuki is lonely, she could easily be her neighbor. The house next door belongs to her; she can rent it if she doesn't want to live there. But Hazuki probably wouldn't be so polite if she wanted to see her daughter every day.
The mother, lost in her daydreams, had no idea that her two children were in dire straits. When darkness fell, she discovered only her husband had returned, and she couldn't help but frown.
"Sasuke would never be this playful."
"I'll go look for him." Just as Fugaku was about to go out to look for his son, he heard a shrill cry coming from outside.
"Chieftain, Chieftain—"
"What is that voice?" Mikoto felt it was familiar. The two exchanged a glance and went outside to see Uchiha Hazuki looking worried and fearful.
"Clan Chief, Koizumi has been captured by Danzo! He's going to gouge out her eyes!" Hazuki cried out in terror, her voice making no attempt to hide it from anyone. In the darkness, it easily alerted the neighbors.
Everyone came out and craned their necks to look. No matter how unknown Uchiha Izumi was, even if she were an unknown little girl, the Uchiha clan would not allow anyone to gouge out her eyes.
"What's going on?" Fugaku felt a sudden sense of pressure and became tense.
"Koizumi didn't come back today."
"This doesn't prove she was..."
"It's true, just last night, people from the Root suddenly appeared at my house." Hazuki said that those people used genjutsu to knock her unconscious and kidnapped her daughter, seemingly talking about the Sharingan.
She was in a daze and couldn't get up, but when she opened her eyes in the morning and saw that her daughter was fine, she thought nothing was wrong. Koizumi didn't remember anything from the night before. However, there were trampling marks on the snow on the windowsill, and there were traces of illusion on Koizumi.
"Besides her Sharingan, what does my daughter have that the Root organization would covet?"
The Uchiha members instantly perked up, revealing expressions that said, "That's exactly what I meant." What could a little girl like Koizumi, even if clever and quick-witted, possibly have that would make Root envious?
Danzo had been spying on their Sharingan for quite some time.
"Chief, we must go and find the child."
"It will be too late if it's too late."
"Alright." As the clan head, Fugaku naturally had no choice but to accept the responsibility.
"Yes, yes, go find the Third Generation Lord quickly." Hazuki nodded hurriedly. She didn't need to act as an anxious mother at all; she just wanted to cooperate with her daughter's actions. Success or failure depended on this.
"Why should we go to the Hokage?" The Uchiha frowned. Why should the village interfere in their affairs? The discovery of Kakashi's Sharingan last time had already made many Uchiha dissatisfied.
"It took three generations of leaders to keep Danzo in check! There are many places the guards can't enter."
"..."
"..."
The Uchiha's expressions darkened further; this was indeed a real problem.
"You all gather together, I'm going to find the Third Hokage." Fugaku didn't waste any words, gave his wife a look, and the couple went their separate ways.
Hazuki followed behind the clan leader, and the security team quickly followed. The group headed to the Hokage Building in a grand procession.
The observers in the shadows were stunned. The process of reporting the news was only three minutes faster than Fugaku's arrival.
The two groups faced each other. The Third Hokage was squinting at Fugaku, his mind just beginning to conjure up thoughts of the Uchiha's rebellion, when he heard a woman's wailing.
"Third Hokage, please save my daughter." Hazuki knelt on the ground, chanting and reciting the events of that night. Finally, she looked at the Third Hokage with pleading eyes: "Koizumi said that if anything really happened, he should ask the clan head to find the Third Hokage. Hokage, you will definitely protect the people of the village."
That's right!
This is a common understanding among Konoha ninjas, and no one would doubt it.
Only the Third Hokage knew that he had tacitly allowed Uchiha Izumi to be brought to Root for interrogation. But now, with so many eyes watching, her mother insisted that she had been captured by Danzo, and on the surface… Danzo was still under house arrest, so he couldn't say it openly.
He never expected that a woman would dare to bring this matter to the Hokage's attention so quickly, putting him in an awkward position.
The Third Hokage could only gently reassure her, telling her not to worry too much: "This is Konoha, the child will be alright."
"Lord Third Hokage, please, go find her right now! I can't lose my child, she's all I have left!" Tears streamed down Hazuki's face as she clutched the Third Hokage's robes and begged.
"Let's find her first, no matter what. Hazuki's husband died in the Nine-Tails' attack, and she only has this daughter, her only family left." Fugaku quickly spoke up, asking questions slowly.
The Third Hokage glanced at the large circle of Uchiha around him, unable to bring himself to refuse. He led his men to Danzo's side to inquire. After all, with such a large commotion by the Uchiha, and many clan leaders leading their groups, they wouldn't dare to do anything too outrageous.
Given Danzo's past record, several clan leaders gathered around the Third Hokage, and they all arrived at the entrance to the small courtyard where he was being held. The two Anbu guards at the gate remained motionless. The Eighth Hokage went to investigate and saw a small snake fly towards them. He quickly used his kunai to dodge the venomous bite.
The two secret agents fell straight to the ground due to the swaying, their bodies stiff, indicating they were already dead.
With a loud crash, the courtyard collapsed, and a giant python sprang out. The golden eyes of the white phosphorus serpent made the Third Hokage's pupils shrink. He instantly thought of someone; if this person had returned, his purpose in cooperating with Danzo must be far from simple.
[Danzo... has betrayed my trust again.] The Third Hokage gritted his teeth, his anger churning. He had already been so merciful, yet Danzo had done this again and again.
"It's Orochimaru! Orochimaru is back!" the other clan leaders shouted, their faces turning extremely grim.
"Quickly, go back and protect Hinata and Hanabi." Hiashi Hyuga immediately ordered. If they didn't hide the children well now, they would be kidnapped like the Uchiha.
"Yes!" The Hyuga branch family ninja beside him responded and quickly went back to mobilize his troops.
"Yes, yes, quickly hide the child!" The other clan leaders were also shocked. Orochimaru was a notorious human trafficker!
"Yes," the chief's deputies responded in unison, determined to protect all the children in their families.
This isn't Orochimaru returning at all.
This is clearly a cry of alarm: The human traffickers are back!
Seeing these people's actions, the Third Hokage's face twitched uncontrollably. A mud wall trapped the snake, and his head began to throb. He had thought the Uchiha were going to use this opportunity to cause trouble, but it turned out that his unfilial disciple had returned.
This is a serious matter now; Danzo has let a wolf into the house.
"Sasuke, my Sasuke still hasn't come back." Fugaku felt a surge of panic at the thought of his young son who hadn't returned home. He grabbed the Hyuga clan leader's sleeve: "Help me check if there's a secret room here."
"Alright, alright, don't worry." Hiashi Hyuga's eyes were full of sympathy as he informed them that there was indeed a secret passage here.
All the clansmen present felt sorry for them. The Uchiha's bloodline limit was second to none in the ninja world: "See, they've been targeted."
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