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Inside the dimly lit mine…
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru, frustrated with his disappointment, glared fiercely at the three people. He paced back and forth restlessly, pointing at the three with trembling anger.
"You! You have caused a huge disaster!"
Glaring at the three with resentment, Uchiha Yoru had already constructed a rough framework in his mind. Perhaps this was a good opportunity; a bad situation could potentially be turned into something beneficial.
He was unaware of how the Third Hokage's eldest son and daughter-in-law died in the original story. He only knew that currently, the Third Hokage's daughter-in-law had her heart torn out by Kakashi, and Sarutobi Shinzo was captured alive.
It seemed like the secret of him activating the Mangekyō Sharingan could continue to be hidden. Now, only Tsunade and Terumi Mei knew about his ability to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Yoru gradually calmed down. Looking at the three, he pondered for a moment and said, "Kakashi, when you and Shisui captured Sarutobi Shinzo, were you discovered?"
Faced with this question, Shisui and Kakashi looked uneasy. When asked this professional question, they did not dare to hide anything, especially Shisui.
"We caught him off guard. Moreover, with Kakashi and me using a genjutsu to end the fight, Sarutobi Shinzo definitely did not discover any traces of us."
Hearing this, Uchiha Yoru showed a solemn expression. He then looked at the figure in another cell. Kakashi, seeing this, spoke solemnly, "This is the body of Sarutobi Umeko. Since it's too important, we dare not tamper with it recklessly."
"Forget about this matter."
As if making some resolution, Uchiha Yoru's expression made the three tense up. Kakashi spoke gravely, "Yoru, this was my oversight. You are the hope for reform; you must not be involved."
"I've already destroyed Sarutobi Umeko's brain tissue, and the wounds on her body have been made unrecognizable. It can be made to look like the work of a bounty ninja."
Although this incident was accidental, both Sarutobi Shinzo and his wife were unpopular, especially Sarutobi Umeko, who was deeply sinful. Kakashi did not feel much guilt, but rather a sense of administering justice for the village.
"No!" Looking at Kakashi Hatake, Uchiha Yoru spoke sternly, "I encountered people from Kumogakure outside the town, the leader being the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki."
"No matter how much we disguise Sarutobi Umeko's wounds, there will always be clues left behind. After all, what is fake can never be real."
"Kakashi, later disguised Sarutobi Umeko's wounds. Tamper with the traces of your Chidori, but at the same time, leave traces of Raiton. Then, use Doton as a cover."
Covering up the truth only leads to more trouble, diverting the disaster elsewhere.
Kakashi's mind was extremely sharp, and he instantly understood what was meant, nodding solemnly, "I know. When I return, I will secretly create traces of Rock ninja activities, but in reality, these people will be ninjas from Cloud Village."
Seeing Kakashi's quick reaction, Uchiha Yoru also showed a relieved smile. Having such an assistant indeed made things easier. No wonder Orochimaru liked geniuses.
Indeed, idiots only cause annoyance, while geniuses save trouble.
"Leave the body to me. I'll exchange it for a bounty in secret as a bounty hunter. Soon after this body appears on the black market, the village will discover it."
"With the village's methods, they will surely find out that the Earth Release was used to cover the real wounds, which were actually caused by Lightning Release. And coincidentally, ninjas from the Cloud Village have appeared in the Land of Whirlpools."
At this point, Uchiha Yoru revealed a cold smile. It was such a coincidence that they had someone to take the blame.
Hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi, who was nearby, nodded in agreement. He had almost fallen into the hands of the Cloud Village.
"Exactly. This way, all suspicion will shift to the Hidden Cloud Village. Now it's all on Sarutobi Shinzo."
When Hyuga Hizashi spoke of Shinzo, there was not a trace of respect, not even the slightest camaraderie as fellow villagers. Even Kakashi and Uchiha Shisui were somewhat silent.
Was it really okay to hand over a fellow villager to the Hidden Cloud Village? But if not, the matter would not just involve a few of them, but would also lead to a wave of purges in the reform movement.
Kakashi had already made up his mind. As a calm ninja, he naturally understood the principle of sacrifice.
"Brother Yoru, reform requires bloody sacrifices. Right now, it's just a few scum from two villages shedding blood, which is better than letting more people bleed."
Shisui immediately agreed, and seeing Hyuga Hizashi's expression, Kakashi also silently nodded. He too agreed, as they were no longer just individuals, but part of a collective force for reform.
One action leads to a whole chain of events. Once exposed, it will lead to a bloodbath. Kakashi knew the village's darkness better than anyone else.
With a creak, the prison door opened. Looking at Sarutobi Shinzo, covered in seals and unconscious, Uchiha Yoru's heart hardened, and he was about to press his lightning-charged palm on the back of Shinzo's head.
Just then, three hands grabbed his arm to stop him. These hands belonged to Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, and Hyuga Hizashi.
"Our Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist can destroy the brain tissue without killing."
First, Hyuga Hizashi said solemnly. He knew that once he boarded this ship, he couldn't get off. Now, he had no choice but to follow this path to the end. In terms of trust, he was not as close as Kakashi and Shisui.
After all, the latter two shared bonds of classmates and clansmen, while his branch of the Hyuga family was only tied by interests from the start.
So, for himself and the Hyuga branch family, since there was no way back, he had to move forward bravely.
"Gentle Fist will leave traces, but my Lightning Release chakra can be used to eliminate them, which can also confirm the Mist ninja's deed."
Just as Shisui was about to speak, Uchiha Yoru coldly said, "What do you think this is, a merit competition?"
"Shut up, leave this matter to me to handle. You just need to cooperate well."
Pig - Dog - Rooster - Monkey - Sheep
A wisp of summoning white smoke flashed by, and two large snakes appeared, winding themselves around the unconscious body of Sarutobi Shinzo and the corpse of Sarutobi Umeko.
Uchiha Yoru's pupils, bearing the three-tomoe Sharingan, flickered momentarily as he cast a genjutsu on the two summoning snakes.
The two snakes coiled around the bodies, and then they slowly opened their mouths to swallow, swelling up after fully ingesting their prey.
In that moment, Uchiha Yoru exuded the aura of a leader, as if he had already made up his mind, calmly issuing orders to the three individuals.
"Listen carefully, don't let even a hint of this leak out, or else!"
As he spoke, Uchiha Yoru's eyes revealed frightening bloodshot veins, exuding a fierce and intense warning.
"If anything goes wrong, I won't be able to save you!"
His final words carried a breath of utter exhaustion, and the three, upon hearing this, nodded firmly, especially Kakashi, who felt somewhat guilty for having escalated the situation.
"Go back now, forget everything. Remember! Sarutobi Shinzo and Sarutobi Umeko, the couple, are missing. You were all at the camp at that time. Now, immediately! Put all your effort into searching for these two!"
With a roar, one could imagine the immense pressure Uchiha Yoru was under.
One was already dead, what about the other? Who would dare to let them escape? If there was the slightest slip, it wouldn't be as simple as just the three of them dying.
In the dimly lit mine, a collapse occurred shortly afterwards, completely erasing all traces of their presence.
…
After everyone left, Uchiha Yoru found a hidden place and calmly summoned a large snake, spitting out the body of Sarutobi Shinzo.
Ninjutsu: Mind Reading Technique
In an instant, Uchiha Yoru's consciousness invaded the opponent's brain. Gently reaching out, he touched the cerebral surface where the spirit connects, instantly materializing a huge ninjutsu scroll. This was a manifestation of memory, not something real.
However, this memory-manifested scroll was densely covered with black patterns of sealing jutsu.
Seeing this, Uchiha Yoru smiled and muttered, "A seal set in the mind to prevent enemies from invading the brain and extracting information? Unfortunately, the outdated higher-ups still haven't changed their ways even after the Orochimaru incident."
Confidently, Uchiha Yoru thought about these brain seals, which would be almost impossible for an enemy nation to decode perfectly. However, his teacher was Orochimaru, a disciple of the Third Hokage of Konoha and a former candidate for Hokage himself.
Orochimaru would almost know about the Sarutobi clan's techniques even with his eyes closed, naturally having countermeasures already.
Logically, after Orochimaru's incident, all the codes of the village's Anbu, Root, and Intelligence divisions should have been changed, along with the Barrier Team.
But due to the suddenness of the event and its terrible impact, the village was not unprepared. The village's Anbu and Root divisions had changed their codes, but the problem was that Sarutobi Shinzo was outside at that time.
Considering Shinzo's special status, nobody brought this up, after all, who knew he could still be captured alive.
Seal: Release
Placing both hands on the scroll, as the sealing technique was undone, the black patterns of the seal slowly faded away. Subsequently, the huge scroll began to unravel quickly, like pulling tape, and at the same time, Sarutobi Shinzo's memories appeared in his mind.
Memories flickered past, like watching a film. However, this was the spiritual world; the longer one views another's memories, the more it tests the caster's mental strength.
Mental strength, especially under the enhancement of the Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Release, completely overwhelmed Sarutobi Shinzo.
Numerous memory scenes appeared, but when Uchiha Yoru saw the Third Hokage and even Sarutobi Shinzo personally researching some ninjutsu, his brows furrowed deeply.
"Blank! This part of the memory wasn't sealed away but deleted."
What should have been life memories started to show gaps. Uchiha Yoru murmured to himself, "It must be because they didn't master these powerful ninjutsu and feared leaking secrets, so they deleted their own memories of it."
S-rank ninjutsu, or any powerful techniques related to the village, even forbidden techniques, aren't just something one can learn at will.
When a Jonin learns certain A-rank ninjutsu, due to the difficulty of learning, aptitude, rejection, and other challenges, it could take years to master just one. Some ninjutsu might even be impossible to learn. But to prevent leaks, the village makes them delete their memories of learning these techniques.
All this is to better protect the ninjutsu.
"But ninjutsu doesn't matter. What I lack now is not ninjutsu, but information."
Some secrets of the Sarutobi clan, as well as the dealings between the Sarutobi and the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, were almost all seen by Uchiha Yoru.
As Uchiha Yoru probed recklessly without any concern, Sarutobi Shinzo's real body became even paler, his unconscious brows instinctively furrowed, showing a pained expression.
Probing memories in the mind is an extremely dangerous ninjutsu, especially since Uchiha Yoru did not consider the wellbeing of the other party.
Under such circumstances, brain cells were continuously affected and damaged. Sarutobi Shinzo's face started to redden in pain, and his forehead temperature began to rise rapidly.
Although he was unconscious, the human body has many secrets. The body instinctively began to raise its temperature for its natural cleansing process.
At this time, Uchiha Yoru, who was recklessly watching the other's memories in the mental world, also felt a repulsion.
As the brain's temperature continued to rise, indeed, the body's instinctive cleansing process began to repel him as a foreign mental entity.
"Just one more step."
Uchiha Yoru, slowly opening his eyes, saw the surroundings glowing red. Even he felt the high temperature from the mental world, a natural repulsion of the physical world against foreign entities.
Seeing this, Uchiha Yoru's lips curled into a cold smile, "I have grasped your secrets, Sarutobi clan and Ino-Shika-Cho. Our contest has just begun."
In his eyes, a pair of Sharingan slowly emerged, showing a mischievous and evil look. Under the power of the strong eyes, the shape of the Sharingan began to change bizarrely.
It turned into a shuriken shape. If Kakashi saw it, he would surely be shocked. Isn't this the shape of his own Sharingan?
Then, under the powerful Sharingan's spiritual force, the memory scroll that materialized instantly shattered into countless memory fragments.
The shuriken kept spinning, stirring with powerful spiritual force. Countless memory fragments started to break and delete, or recombine. The real-world Sarutobi Shinzo was in so much pain that his body convulsed, and his eyes began to whiten.
In the real world, Uchiha Yoru suddenly groaned and opened his eyes, showing a tired look.
The process seemed simple, but it took a tremendous effort, equivalent to the strength of nine bulls and two tigers. As for transforming into the shape of Kakashi's Sharingan, who said it was Kakashi's? It was clearly the culprit behind the Nine-Tails.
"I forgive everything you did on behalf of my teacher and myself."
Looking at Sarutobi Shinzo convulsing, Uchiha Yoru narrowed his eyes, revealing an evil smile.