"Lord Hokage, no Uchiha clan members went out last night!"
The ninja responsible for monitoring the Uchiha clan said seriously. No one he was watching had left the Uchiha compound.
"Not a single person? Uchiha Fugaku and the few captains of the Police Force Division didn't go out either?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked again. He was a little skeptical that the Uchiha clan had shown no unusual movements.
"Did you check carefully?"
Among all the people, he was most suspicious of the Uchiha clan!
But...
The Uchiha clan was the one he suspected the most. If there was a shape-changing ninjutsu involved, the most suspicious person would be Uchiha Fugaku!
After all, he suspected Fugaku had activated the Mangekyo Sharingan, and his abilities were unknown. The black flames seemed like the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"I checked carefully. Not a single person went out!" The ninja shook his head, his voice filled with surprise. "Fugaku and the Police Force members in the Police Force Division stayed inside. Uchiha Kinya, his strange son, and Uchiha Shin have been in secret talks, maybe planning to deal with this assassin. They might also be discussing matters of the merchant association!"
"Hmm." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, not asking further.
If that's the case, then it wasn't the Uchiha clan behind the attack.
But who was it?
The four highest-ranking officials of Konoha all frowned. They couldn't figure out who the enemy was this time.
"Hiruzen, why don't we use our clan members as bait to lure out the assassin and then kill him together?" Danzo suggested, already thinking of killing the assassin. He wanted to use members of the four clans as bait.
Once the assassin showed up, Konoha's strongest ninjas would arrive.
At Danzo's suggestion, the others' eyes lit up.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, however, shook his head. "Impossible. From Kakashi's description, this person has a very strong sense of awareness, and a terrifying sensory ability. He'll be able to detect our plan!"
Hiruzen was right—this assassin was intelligent!
"What should we do then?" Mitokado Homura, his face cold, asked. "Are we really going to let the assassin who killed our clan members get away?"
Such a provocation could never be left unanswered!
"Heh... Since the assassin is so confident in his sensory abilities, we'll send three teams, with only one Jonin per team, to head in different directions. Let the assassin choose which team to attack!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought deeply, his tone serious.
"And that ninja must have the strength to hold the assassin off until Konoha's Jonins arrive!"
"I have a few people in mind who can take on this mission!" Danzo's eyes narrowed. "Kakashi—his ninjutsu is good. He might not win in battle against the assassin, but he can hold him off until reinforcements arrive. Uchiha Shisui is also a possibility, and finally, I'll have to ask the Hyūga clan to send someone from the main family to help!"
After Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, Danzo immediately came up with a plan.
He also thought of three people.
This shows just how well Danzo knows Konoha after all these years!
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, agreeing with Danzo's selection.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's take action now!" said the eager and impatient Koharu.
"No, the assassin probably won't act in the next couple of days. We should wait for two more days," Sarutobi Hiruzen explained his plan, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
But Danzo was not convinced: "Hmph, that guy is obviously targeting our four clans. Now would be the perfect time to provoke him!"
Although he muttered under his breath, Danzo still had to follow the plan set by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage.
And so, Konoha Council finalized their detailed plan!
They called this operation the "Head Hunt Mission."
In the Police Force...
Bang! Bang!
Uchiha Fugaku's eyes were filled with anger, his face twisted in fury: "The Third Hokage is going too far. Not only does he suspect our Uchiha clan over the Nine-Tails incident, but he's also sending people to spy on us!"
If they had been suspected during the Nine-Tails attack, that would have made sense. But this time, why is Sarutobi Hiruzen suspecting them?
"Why should he suspect us?" others echoed, their frustration with Sarutobi Hiruzen growing. For years, they had worked hard and diligently.
But they had always been suppressed by the Hokage's faction.
And now, out of nowhere, an assassin appears and suspicion falls on them.
"They're going too far!" someone else added. Finally, someone turned to Fugaku and said, "Leader, it looks like our plan needs to move forward now, or we might find ourselves unable to make a move in Konoha in the future!"
"No!" Fugaku shook his head firmly. "This matter must be handled carefully. We can't rush it—there can be no mistakes!"
With that, the Uchiha clan settled down, but the thought in their hearts only grew stronger.
After explaining everything, Uchiha Fugaku suddenly started laughing loudly: "Haha, but this assassin is impressive! They only targeted the Sarutobi and the Shimura clans—it's really satisfying!"
At this moment, Itachi, standing next to Fugaku, could clearly hear everything they said. Itachi's eyes were unreadable, and he remained silent. Not a word was spoken for the rest of the day.
The next afternoon, Genya evaded all surveillance and returned to his residence!
Perhaps due to the tense situation in Konoha, his father had not gone to the merchant association, and Uncle Shin had been constantly protecting him.
"How did it go? Were you injured?" As soon as Genya returned, Uchiha Kinya eagerly asked, having been worried for the past two days.
"I'm fine. And yesterday, I killed five of the Sarutobi clan's Jonin!" Genya smiled as he excitedly described what had happened on his journey.
"Haha, Genya, you're truly a prodigy!" Uchiha Kinya was genuinely happy. The loss of so many of Sarutobi's Jonin would make Sarutobi Hiruzen hurt for a while.
It would make him think twice before attacking the merchant association again!
In the Hokage's office...
"Damn assassin! I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, will tear you to pieces!" Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted furiously after listening to the report.
Their clan's genius, Sarutobi Aimura, had also disappeared, and even the ninjas sent to search for them had gone missing. The assassin didn't spare a single member of the Sarutobi clan!
How could Sarutobi Hiruzen not be enraged?
In just these few days, the Sarutobi clan had already lost dozens of ninjas, most of whom were Jonin.
"Hiruzen, it's time to act!" Shimura Danzo, observing Sarutobi Hiruzen's fury, spoke up. It was time for their plan to begin.
"Yes, we need to hunt down that assassin. Konoha won't be safe until they're dead!" Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and turned to an Anbu ninja beside him, saying, "Go summon Kakashi, Itachi, and Hyuga Hiashi."
The hunt for the assassin began!
Moments later, Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and Hyuga Hiashi arrived at the office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the three of them and said in a deep voice, "I want each of you to lead a team to different areas to lure out the assassin. Once they arrive, delay them until we can reinforce you."
This time, Sarutobi Hiruzen planned to take matters into his own hands!
But the assassin has powerful sensory ability, so he couldn't be the bait.
****
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