"Let's go. We're grabbing someone!"
The moment Shinju finished speaking, a burst of noisy chaos erupted outside the Hokage's office!
"Down with the capitalists! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"
"New Future Company, get out of Konoha! ヽ('⌒´メ)ノ"
"Sixth Hokage, heartless toward the rich, exploiting ninja! 凸(｀0´)凸"
"…"
Hearing the shouts, Shinju curiously opened the window and leaned out, only to see a long procession filling the street!
The crowd held banners high, their faces burning with anger!
Seeing this, Shinju instantly put the pieces together.
"So this is a protest against the New Future Company?"
Shikamaru analyzed calmly, "Ever since the Byakuya Gang's 'steal from the rich to help the poor' deeds spread through the village, the villagers' resentment toward wealth has been growing… but it shouldn't have escalated into a full-blown march yet."
"Besides, you're the Sixth Hokage, a hero of the Fourth Great Ninja War, with immense prestige in the village… something's off!"
Shinju scratched his head. "Yeah. My company isn't even built yet. I haven't even had time to exploit them… ◝₍ᴑ̑ДO͝₎◞"
The moment he said that, Shinju froze, suddenly realizing something. He threw the window open again and looked down at the crowd.
"When something's abnormal, there's always a monster behind it. Someone's pulling the strings!"
As his words fell, Shinju's sharp eyes caught sight of something unusual—several people in the march bore special genjutsu markings on their necks!
"Just as I thought. Someone's orchestrating everything from the shadows! Ծ‸ Ծ"
Without hesitation, Shinju leapt out the window, his body hovering in midair as he shouted,
"I'm right here!"
That single shout instantly drew everyone's attention!
At the same time, the whites of Shinju's eyes turned blood-red as the Sharingan activated!
"Genjutsu: Release!"
In the next instant, everyone on the scene shuddered violently!
Once the genjutsu was undone, the crowd looked utterly confused, staring at one another in disbelief.
"Huh? Why am I here? I was supposed to be eating ramen at Ichiraku!"
"I don't remember anything…"
"Did I sleepwalk again?"
"My memory's getting worse lately. I really need to cut back…"
"…"
With the genjutsu broken, the bewildered crowd gradually dispersed.
...
High in the air.
Shinju swept one hand forward!
"Whoosh—!"
A blood-red chakra cloak flared into existence!
Entering dual Sage Mode, Shinju followed the faint chakra traces left behind by the genjutsu markings and began his hunt!
Under the terrifyingly precise chakra perception of dual Sage Mode, Shinju quickly pinpointed the mastermind's location!
"Konoha Research Institute!"
As he spoke, Shinju casually formed a hand sign.
"Heavenly Transfer Technique!"
"Whoosh!"
Shinju's body turned into a streak of light, transporting himself to the Konoha Research Institute at near light speed!
Inside the institute, experimental equipment lay scattered everywhere, and a massive hole had been blasted through one of the walls!
Katasuke lay gravely injured on the floor, his face twisted with regret.
"Damn it… they took that data—"
Before he could finish!
"Swish!!"
Shinju appeared right in front of him!
Feeling the surging blood-red chakra radiating from Shinju, Katasuke struggled just to breathe.
Shinju asked coldly, "What happened?"
Katasuke replied weakly, "A few minutes ago, a group of Masked Men broke into the lab and stole the chip containing your ninjutsu data, Sixth Hokage-sama!"
"Wasn't that scientific ninja tool destroyed back then?" Shinju asked in surprise.
Katasuke lowered his head in shame.
"When I returned, I immediately repaired the scroll… The chip couldn't store everything, but it still preserved a significant amount of critical ninjutsu data."
"I'm sorry… this was all because of my selfishness. I wanted to use your ninjutsu data to develop new scientific ninja tools…"
After hearing this, Shinju felt something was off.
The Byakuya Gang was supposed to steal money—so why steal a chip containing his ninjutsu data?
Even if the chip could be sold, the data had only been recorded this morning. How could their timing be so precise?
And after lying low for so long, they suddenly became active—doing good deeds to build a reputation, then orchestrating riots this afternoon—all just to divert attention and steal the chip?
Could it be… that they had targeted him from the very beginning?
Was there a mole inside the institute?! (º Д º*)
At that thought, Shinju turned his gaze to Katasuke.
As the primary developer of scientific ninja tools, his suspicion was the highest.
Katasuke panicked. Faced with the Sixth Hokage enveloped in crimson chakra, he was terrified—convinced Shinju could kill him with a single slap.
No—he wouldn't even need that much!
In the end, Shinju simply patted Katasuke lightly and left behind one sentence:
"Go wait for me at the Konoha Police Department."
Then he was gone.
...
Rooftop of the Hokage Office.
Shinju, still clad in blood-red chakra, sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Strange… I can't sense that marked chakra anymore…"
...
In the forest outside Konoha, the Masked Men of the Byakuya Gang were sprinting at full speed.
"Boss, we're already out of Konoha's range. Let's take a break," one member panted.
At the front of the group, a large, burly Masked Man replied sternly,
"No slacking. Move faster!"
"Do you think the Hokage of Konoha is just for show?!"
One member snickered. "Isn't he, though? We ran circles around him, and he didn't even touch a single hair on us. (ﾉ∇︎〃 )"
The leader of the Byakuya Gang immediately snapped back, "Shut up! (▼ヘ▼#)"
"You think avoiding his search is your own skill?"
"If it weren't for the sacred relic granted by that lord, hiding our chakra signatures, the Sixth Hokage would find us as easily as playing a game…"
"But boss, if he can't sense our chakra, why rush so much? ┐(´-｀)┌" another subordinate said.
The leader replied grimly, "When I orchestrated the protest, I used genjutsu markings… Even though the residual chakra on them is negligible, I still feel deeply uneasy."
Just then, one of the members noticed the sky had gone dark.
Everyone looked up.
What filled the sky wasn't clouds—but people, dense and countless, like a swarm of locusts blotting out the heavens!!
"Shadow clones! So many shadow clones! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
"This is insane—way too many!"
Very soon, the flying Shinju shadow clones in the sky spotted the Byakuya Gang below!
...
Hokage Office.
Shinju raised his hand and removed the mask from the Byakuya Gang's leader.
Beneath it was a man in his twenties or thirties, with short white hair styled like a rooster's comb and sharply defined features.
"So you're Gekkō? The leader of the Byakuya Gang?" Shinju asked.
The rooster-haired man nodded honestly. "Yes."
Shinju continued, "You planned the uprising against New Future?"
Gekkō replied, "Yes."
"Why steal the chip? And who's buying it from behind the scenes?"
Faced with this question, Gekkō hesitated.
"I don't know that person's true identity. After giving me a chakra-cloaking device, he told me that as long as I obtained that ninjutsu data, he'd pay me a huge sum."
"And all of the Byakuya Gang's actions and schedules these past days… were decided by him."