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Hiruzen Sarutobi tried his best to keep the Root's attack on Ken and Itachi under wraps.
But nothing stays hidden forever.
In the end, the incident—vile as it was—still leaked out.
A Root jōnin and a chūnin had actually attacked two six-year-old Uchiha children. If Fugaku hadn't arrived in time, the two boys might already be dead.
It was outrageous.
As time passed, the situation only grew worse.
The story spread, gaining momentum, until it became a full-blown controversy.
Some villagers even gathered outside Hiruzen's office, openly filing complaints against Root.
That left Hiruzen in an extremely passive position.
After this incident, whether they were members of great clans or ordinary civilians, everyone began to fear Root.
They feared being targeted.
Feared their children might be taken.
For a while, as soon as night fell, almost every parent forbade their kids from going out. The entire village of Konoha became eerily quiet after dark.
Public opinion kept intensifying.
Root's reputation sank lower and lower.
As its leader, Danzō had no choice but to act.
He mobilized Root and the Shimura clan's influence to quietly steer public opinion, slowly trying to bury the incident.
Becoming Hokage had always been Danzō's dream.
Even now, despite his age, that ambition hadn't faded in the slightest.
He couldn't let this scandal damage his standing in the village too much.
With various forces at work—and people's tendency to forget—time gradually dulled the impact.
Eventually, most people let it go.
But Itachi didn't.
He couldn't let it go.
The incident had shaken him deeply, almost reshaping his entire worldview.
Root had clearly attacked them.
Yet in the end, due to "lack of evidence," no action was taken against Danzō or Root.
That made one thing painfully clear to him:
Konoha wasn't reliable.
The only thing you could truly rely on… was your own strength.
As for the so-called Will of Fire?
Just empty words. Meaningless nonsense.
Meanwhile, Ken's life went on as usual.
Every day, he used chakra to exchange for energy points to upgrade his bloodline limits, attended classes seriously, and spent his free time in the library.
Bit by bit, both his strength and knowledge continued to grow.
…
Late at night.
Root headquarters.
Koharu Utatane rushed into a hidden chamber, her steps frantic.
She had just received word from Root—
Her most beloved junior had died in the Land of Grass.
The moment she got the message, she came straight here.
Inside the chamber stood Danzō, Orochimaru, and several Root shinobi.
Deeper within, on a stone platform, lay four bodies.
All of them were wrapped in white cloth.
The moment Koharu saw the shrouded corpses, her body wavered. She nearly collapsed, stumbling forward as if her legs had given out.
The usual harshness and sternness on her aged face were gone.
All that remained was shock.
Under the guidance of a Root operative, she approached one of the bodies.
Summoning her courage, she pulled back the cloth.
What lay beneath was a charred corpse, burned black beyond recognition.
A horrifying sight.
And yet, from a few remaining features, Koharu still recognized him.
Besides, there was no reason for Danzō to lie.
"My… my little Kaito!" she cried, her voice tearing through the chamber, raw with grief.
She rushed at Danzō, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently.
"Danzō! Didn't you promise to protect him?! How did he end up dead?!"
"You broke your word! You liar!"
Koharu had no children of her own.
So she had treated Kaito Sarutobi, the most outstanding junior of her clan, as if he were her own son.
And now, that boy—her boy—had been burned to death, reduced to a blackened corpse.
How could she not be devastated?
"Koharu… I'm sorry." A rare trace of guilt surfaced on Danzō's usually grim face.
Kaito Sarutobi had been his student.
Now that he was dead, Danzō felt both pain and regret.
If he had known this would happen, he would've sent a different jōnin to the Land of Grass.
Any other jōnin could have died—it wouldn't have mattered.
But not Kaito…
Not him.
But regrets were meaningless now.
The boy was already dead.
"Koharu-sama, the dead cannot return. Please, restrain your grief." Orochimaru's cold, eerie voice cut in, accompanied by a faint, unsettling smile.
Though he and Kaito both belonged to Root, the latter had crossed him more than once.
Orochimaru had never liked him.
So upon hearing of his death, his only thought had been:
Serves him right.
Koharu ignored the faint mockery in his tone. Her eyes locked onto Danzō, burning with fury.
"Who killed him?" she demanded sharply. "I want revenge."
If she found out who had done this, she would mobilize every connection her clan had.
She would make them pay.
Danzō glanced at a nearby Root operative, who immediately understood and spoke:
"Koharu-sama, based on our investigation at the scene, Captain Kaito likely encountered a Kage-level shinobi skilled in Fire Release. He was killed instantly, without any chance to resist."
"A Fire Release Kage-level shinobi?" Koharu froze.
Among the Five Great Villages, there weren't many who fit that description.
The most likely suspect… was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But she quickly shook her head.
Impossible.
Hiruzen would never kill Kaito.
Which meant—
The real culprit had to be someone else.
"A Fire Release expert… If Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui worked together, they might've been able to kill him. It must be those damned Uchiha!"
The thought ignited her fury.
She turned, ready to storm out and gather forces for revenge.
"Koharu, calm down!" Danzō stopped her and explained, "Shisui has been carrying out a secret Anbu mission this entire time. There's no way he could've done it."
Given the recent tension between Root and the Uchiha, Danzō had also suspected them at first.
But after reviewing the intelligence, he ruled it out.
There was no possibility of Fugaku and Shisui acting together.
Besides, Shisui was Anbu—a true believer in the Will of Fire. He would never kill a fellow Konoha shinobi.
And Fugaku alone couldn't have killed Kaito so effortlessly.
So Danzō had no choice but to discard that suspicion.
"Then who was it?!" Koharu shouted, her face twisted with anger, grief, and helpless frustration.
"I will find the killer as soon as possible," Danzō said.
It sounded like a promise.
But in truth, even he had no answers.
He might be the leader of Root, but there were still many things beyond his reach.
Koharu let out a weak, exhausted sigh and turned to leave.
But deep down, she swore—
No matter what, she would find the true culprit.
And avenge Kaito Sarutobi.
"....."