"Asuma is dead... it's Kuroki again!"
Itachi's pupils widened as he glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen, lying on the ground, face pale as death, his fate uncertain.
The atmosphere in the office was heavy.
Cries of shock and rescue efforts filled the air.
Standing by the desk, Itachi grew increasingly calm, deep in thought, as though detached from the world around him.
His expression was serious as he quickly reviewed the intel on the scroll. He soon deduced why Konoha's upper echelon had urgently summoned him.
On the northwestern border of the Land of Fire, Sarutobi Asuma had led a team on his own accord to pursue a Uchiha squad.
This resulted in a temporary squad of five Jonin suffering three deaths and one capture.
Asuma and Chiriku had gone missing.
There was almost no chance they had survived.
The reinforcements from the Fire Temple, with the exception of Chiriku, were all slain by some strange means.
For Konoha, this was a significant loss. For the Hokage, it meant he had lost his only remaining son.
Itachi's face darkened. He knew that his ally had probably been involved in that battle.
Under such circumstances...
Could Uchiha Kuroki really have escaped with nine Uchiha members unscathed?
Suddenly, a raspy voice broke the tense silence in the Hokage's office.
"Itachi... come here..."
The voice was weak, lacking its usual authority.
Itachi's eyes twitched slightly. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked toward the source of the voice, seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged face flushed with a hint of color.
Itachi walked over, crouching before the elderly man.
"I didn't let you go after them before… because the village needed internal reorganization. The near-defunct Root organization also needed you to handle it."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's dim eyes stared directly at Itachi, his voice trembling. "After a week of adjusting, how has the progress been?"
Itachi calmly replied, "Hokage-sama, the reorganization of Root is complete. In no more than a year, Root will be able to provide nourishment to the tree of Konoha again."
"Good, faster than I expected."
Hiruzen's expression darkened as he reached out to hold Itachi's hand, his calloused, wrinkled palm patting the back of Itachi's hand as he spoke earnestly:
"Now go, bring back your mother, and take out Uchiha Kuroki for Konoha. If possible, it would be best… to capture him alive!"
"Yes—"
Itachi's expression shifted slightly, but he did not ask any further questions and nodded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen continued patting Itachi's hand, rasping:
"Sasuke is a smart and exceptionally gifted child. Now that the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha has ended, the old grievances are over.
So, the three of us have decided that after Sasuke graduates from the ninja academy, Kakashi will be his Jonin instructor.
You know, Kakashi was Minato's disciple. He's reliable, someone we can trust.
I hope that one day in the future…
Konoha will have an Uchiha Hokage!
We will do everything we can to support Sasuke.
If he proves suitable!"
With that, Sarutobi Hiruzen released Itachi's hands and fell silent.
"Yes—"
Itachi's eyes grew sharp as he slowly rose, left the office, and departed the Hokage building with his Root subordinates waiting in the hallway.
Putting aside those promises...
Itachi had already suspected.
His mother's defection...
It was probably related to Kuroki .
Hearing Hiruzen's words today resolved Itachi's doubts.
It proved that the Third Hokage's spies were also tracking the Uchiha defector squad!
Now, Itachi himself had to personally head to the northwestern border of the Land of Fire, hoping that he wasn't too late.
Though the Konoha leadership had just granted him permission to act on his own, he had already made his move ahead of time.
Inside the Hokage's office.
"Sigh…"
After a long while, Sarutobi Hiruzen, supported by Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, sat back in his chair and let out a deep sigh.
"Hiruzen, is that really how you feel about Sasuke?" Koharu asked seriously, narrowing her eyes.
Hiruzen shook his head, leaned back in his chair, and gazed out the window at the Konoha scenery, his fists clenched, veins bulging on the backs of his old hands.
His aura, far from the weakness and sorrow caused by grief, was now fierce and unyielding.
Kuroki dared killed Asuma!
He destroyed the Fire Temple!
How dare he?
Asuma was Sarutobi Hiruzen's only remaining son!
"So, the Uchiha truly are born evil!!
First Danzo.
Now Asuma, and the Fire Temple.
Koharu, Homura.
From this day forward.
No matter dead or alive, at all costs, we will hunt down this Uchiha squad from the ninja world!!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, consumed with rage, slammed his fist on the desk, leaving a deep dent.
Bang—
Boom—
With a loud crash, the desk collapsed into pieces, sending wood chips flying. Several Shadow Guards, who had previously been absent, appeared in an instant, sensing the Hokage's fury. They respectfully knelt before his chair.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes blazed with anger, his aged face gradually twisted. The calm composure he had maintained over a decade as Hokage shattered in a single moment.
At this moment, all he wanted was to kill Uchiha Kuroki with his own hands.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado stood silent, heads bowed. Even when Orochimaru defected from the village, this Hokage had only remained quiet for a few days.
But now, Kuroki had killed Sarutobi's last remaining son!
The pain of a son's death—
It was an irreconcilable grudge!
The two Hokage advisors knew that the Uchiha defector squad would soon face the wrath of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the rage of all of Konoha.
It was a fight to the death!
...
Night had fallen at the foot of Mt. Katsuragi. In the midst of towering mountains, a red campfire burned brightly on the plain.
Various game animals roasted over the fire, illuminating the weary faces of the Uchiha team members.
After this time on the run, they had not encountered any more pursuit squads.
The Uchihas, whose nerves had been stretched tight, could finally relax. With Tamao nearly fully recovered, the team's mood had also lightened.
"Captain, what were those white creatures?" Izumi asked, pulling out her water bottle. She uncapped it and held it out to Kuroki with both hands.
Izumi's large, dark eyes sparkled with curiosity. Her round face, adorned with a tear-shaped mole, looked both cute and beautiful.
At her question, all the Uchihas turned to look at Kuroki .
From the day they escaped Konoha, this Uchiha squad had established Kuroki as their central leader.
Now, there was only one captain of the team.
They too were curious about the monsters that had appeared that night from the monks' bodies.
But, during their escape, they hadn't had the time to think about anything else—not even time to mourn the Uchiha clan's destruction.
Now, having fled the Land of Fire, far from Konoha, and after surviving the first wave of pursuit, they finally had a moment to catch their breath and feel a sense of security.
Everyone was deep in thought.
The creatures seemed neither human nor non-human, their bodies like wood.
They moved strangely, were difficult to deal with, and had immense vitality. If not for Kuroki 's black flames that night, it might have been impossible to kill them all.
"Those were White Zetsu," Kuroki said, accepting the water bottle and taking a sip. His eyes stared into the lively flames, their clear reflection flickering with the firelight.
The sweet taste touched his tongue.
He looked down at the bottle in his hand.
Pink. A girlish design.
Sitting next to him, Izumi rested her chin on her knees, and her heart pounded when she saw Kuroki didn't mind sharing her bottle. Her face flushed as excitement bubbled up inside.
Yūhi Kurenai noticed Izumi's small delight. Smirking, she asked Kuroki for the water bottle right in front of Izumi, her eyes narrowing with amusement.
"Sorry, I'm a bit thirsty too," Kurenai said, her voice rich and seductive.
Kuroki didn't react to this.
Izumi's eyes widened, staring at Kurenai with disbelief and suspicion.
Kurenai raised the bottle and drank, her posture bold, lips slightly parted.
Deliberately, she let the water trickle from the corner of her mouth, down her delicate cheek, flowing over her smooth neck and disappearing beneath her armor into the pale skin hidden by her collarbone.