Hokage's Office.
Kakashi handed a freshly compiled interrogation report to the Third Hokage. "Lord Hokage, this is the intel that the Interrogation Division just put together."
Taking the report, the Third Hokage asked, "Did they confirm those people's identities?"
"Mhm, it's confirmed." Kakashi nodded and continued, "The leader is a rogue shinobi from Hidden Mist named Night Owl, a jōnin from the Hogan clan. The other three members are more complicated—some are rogue shinobi from Hidden Mist, some from the Land of Hot Water's shinobi village—but none of them are weak; their strength is roughly at the level of tokubetsu jōnin."
The Third Hokage frowned slightly and carefully flipped through the report.
Kakashi continued his briefing: "That group is quite infamous in the Land of Hot Water region. Hidden Mist tried multiple times to capture them, but always came up empty-handed."
"They tried to kidnap Uchiha Shinji?" The Third Hokage glanced at Kakashi. "That's why they infiltrated the village?"
Kakashi nodded lightly. "I've triple-checked. Their primary target was indeed Uchiha Shinji."
The Third Hokage asked, "So how do you explain their assault on Sasuke—abducting him, too?"
Kakashi answered, "Coincidence… That's their version of events."
Not pressing that issue further, the Third Hokage continued reading the report. After a few moments, he set it down. "So according to this, Sasori and Deidara from the Akatsuki hired Night Owl, instructing him to sneak into the village to capture Uchiha Shinji. Then 'A,' also of the Akatsuki, ambushed Night Owl in the Forest of Death and stole both pairs of Hogan from him and one of his subordinates?"
"That's correct. We examined Night Owl's corpse. His Hogan were indeed removed, and there were also severe burn marks on his legs—everything matches the testimony."
Kakashi nodded.
The Third Hokage asked gravely, "And what about 'A'? Have we detected his whereabouts?"
Compared to Night Owl's group of rogue shinobi, he was obviously more concerned with "A," who was still hiding somewhere inside the village.
Kakashi shook his head in frustration, then said, "I have a suspicion that perhaps 'A' has been secretly watching Sasuke all this time."
The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes. "Tell me what led you to that conclusion."
Kakashi linked two events: the time when Sasuke rescued Naruto from 'A,' and now Sasuke being attacked, with 'A' intervening immediately. "So I suspect that 'A' has likely been keeping Sasuke under surveillance—or, you could even say, protecting Sasuke."
The Third Hokage realized something. "You're suspecting…"
Kakashi nodded. "I suspect 'A' might actually be Uchiha Itachi in disguise—that Itachi is still hiding in the village!"
With the sudden appearance of so many Mangekyō Sharingan wielders in the Akatsuki, it was suspicious to begin with. Taking Kakashi's line of reasoning, the Third Hokage felt it was plausible.
If 'A' was actually another identity of Itachi, that would explain why such a powerful 'A' had previously been unknown.
It would also explain how 'A' managed to slip into the village without detection.
Because not only was Itachi extremely familiar with the village, but he'd also served in the ANBU and knew how the village conducted sweeps. If it was Itachi, it wasn't impossible for him to avoid repeated searches by the ANBU.
That left only one question: why would Itachi rather disguise himself as 'A' than reconnect with the village?
Why he would remove Night Owl's Hogan and so forth became less significant by comparison.
...
BBQ Restaurant.
Having completed the entrance exam, the students of that year gathered once again.
This time, it was Choji's turn to treat, as he'd earned second place.
Kimimaro and Neji were both a bit sullen and initially had no intention of coming. But upon hearing that Sasuke and Uchiha Shinji would be attending, they decided to show up after all.
While the food was still being prepared, Sasuke immediately declared, "The identities of those jerks who attacked me have been uncovered. The ANBU didn't tell me all the details, but it's confirmed that they were indeed jōnin! Now you have to believe what I said, right?!"
Shion murmured, "Jōnin? They felt pretty weak, though…"
She felt particularly annoyed this time, because Kimimaro's accidental killing of Night Owl forced her to activate her distress flare, costing her the exam.
Tenten chimed in, "Yeah, maybe there's some mistake?"
Sasuke stood up. "How could the ANBU be mistaken?! They're jōnin—that's why I lost to them!"
Seeing how worked up Sasuke was, Neji added, "Their chakra was indeed unusual. Kimimaro and I only beat them because they were already injured at the time."
Kimimaro nodded in agreement.
Only afterward did he learn that the reason Night Owl died so inexplicably by his hand was because Night Owl had lost both his eyes beforehand.
"You all heard that?"
Sasuke let out a long sigh.
He'd been holding this in for ages: in what was supposed to be a routine exam, he got randomly ambushed and thrashed. Then, just when he wanted revenge, his enemies got effortlessly dispatched by Kimimaro and Neji in just a few moves, leaving him furious and frustrated.
Even worse, the whole fiasco happened in front of all his classmates.
He cared more than anything now about the honor of the Uchiha clan. So despite his injuries, he came to this get-together specifically to explain everything.
He wanted everyone to know: he had been defeated by jōnin!
Shion blinked in confusion. "But how did Uchiha Shinji also manage to beat them? Were they already hurt by the time he ran into them?"
"Well, that's obviously…"
Halfway through, Sasuke faltered.
He was absolutely certain Night Owl's group hadn't been injured when they met Uchiha Shinji. Uchiha Shinji faced them while they were at full strength, yet he rescued Sasuke anyway.
Plus, Sasuke recalled how Uchiha Shinji had borrowed the enemy's own hands and chakra to form seals, and in just a single exchange, both saved him and severely wounded their foe. The memory now made Sasuke feel extremely conflicted!
That kind of trick…he had never even imagined, let alone tried.
Everyone turned to Uchiha Shinji, awaiting his answer.
Uchiha Shinji waved a hand dismissively. "They really underestimated us. That's the only reason we managed to surprise them! Right, Haku?"
Haku nodded vigorously. "Y-Yes, we just got lucky saving Sasuke and driving them off!"
Ino, eyes shining, stared at Uchiha Shinji. "Even so, that's amazing! As expected of you, Uchiha Shinji. You can even beat jōnin!"
Shion agreed. "Yeah, yeah, Uchiha Shinji is so awesome!"
Tenten chimed in too. "Uchiha Shinji took first place last time and again this time—he's really something!"
Hearing the others pour praise on Uchiha Shinji, Sasuke—who had been explaining everything at length—felt that all his efforts had gone to waste. He grudgingly sat back down, muttering, "Those idiots…they were so useless. So annoying…"