"Hiruzen!"Danzo quietly stepped forward, grabbing the Third Hokage's sleeve just as he was about to storm away.
At the same time, Danzo found himself at a loss for words after hearing Naraku's statement.
"Ask Shinnosuke to explain the situation."
What did that even mean?What could Shinnosuke explain?Wasn't he… a black mark on the earth now?
The Third Hokage clenched his fists tightly, burning those words into his heart.
He couldn't wait to slice Naraku into a thousand pieces!
That bastard—Naraku had clearly provoked him on purpose!
The clan heads nearby, however, only felt confused.Why was the Hokage suddenly this angry again?
"Wait... something's off."
In the mind of Nara Shikaku, countless thoughts suddenly raced by.
"If this attack on Naraku had really been orchestrated by the Third Hokage, then the force deployed would've numbered in the hundreds."
As the famed strategist—later the chief commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces—Shikaku immediately grasped a key detail:
A group of that size would require a proper chain of command.And most importantly, a supreme commander.
Without it, such a large force would be chaotic and inefficient.
And for such a shameful and secretive mission to assassinate Naraku, that commander had to meet two critical conditions:
First, they had to be someone the Third Hokage trusted absolutely. No outsider could know of this disgraceful mission.Second, they had to hold enough authority to mobilize hundreds of shinobi.
As Shikaku quickly connected the dots, a single name emerged:
Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
There was more evidence to back it up.
For one, Shinnosuke was from ANBU—and yet during all this chaos, he hadn't appeared on the scene.Second, Naraku had only just mentioned Shinnosuke's name… and the Third Hokage instantly exploded in rage.
"Maybe it's not that he hasn't come," Shikaku thought grimly, "Maybe he's already here... just unrecognizable among the corpses."
More than a hundred bodies littered the battlefield. Who knew if one of them belonged to Shinnosuke?
Shikaku narrowed his gaze at Naraku—who, despite speaking so seriously, looked annoyingly relaxed.
Was the Hyūga clan going to war with the Hokage?"No," Shikaku quickly dismissed that idea, glancing at Hiashi, who appeared uninvolved."This is all Naraku... he alone is challenging the Hokage's authority."
"Where is Shinnosuke?" Shikaku asked aloud, feigning confusion."After such a huge incident, why hasn't he shown up? And why hasn't ANBU arrived?"
Hiruzen's fists trembled.He wanted nothing more than to kill Naraku right then and there!
Why hadn't ANBU shown up?
Only two people could give them direct orders: Hiruzen and Shinnosuke.
Given that Hiruzen had leapt out the window in alarm just moments ago, clearly he hadn't given the order.
As for Shinnosuke… he was nothing more than a black scorch mark on the ground now.
"He has... something else to attend to. He'll be late," Hiruzen said coldly, his face tense and final.
But by now, even the slowest mind in the crowd had pieced it together:
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was not "delayed."He had already been permanently silenced.
And not by spies or saboteurs from another village—No, he and his hundred shinobi had been annihilated by Hyūga Naraku.
Shikaku studied the Hokage's expression and smirked internally.
If Naraku had been killed instead, Hiruzen would've celebrated.But now, it was Shinnosuke who lay dead—so of course, the Hokage was enraged.
Naraku calmly added, "It's true Shinnosuke is... delayed. But ANBU's poor response time must be addressed."
"I hope the Hokage will order a full investigation and give the village a proper explanation."
The crowd fell silent.
Shinobi had died—who else was there to investigate?
And then—A strange thought struck Shikaku. One that was ridiculous, yet oddly fitting.
Is Shinnosuke really dead?
Yes.He was dead.
But at the same time—no.Not in the official record.
No one would admit he died here. No one would dare.
The version of this incident that would be archived?That spies attacked the village—and died.Shinnosuke's name wouldn't even be mentioned.
Because if the record acknowledged his death, it would implicate the Third Hokage.
From this moment on, Shinnosuke would vanish.No funeral.No public notice.No grave.
He would simply cease to exist.
Death in a different sense.
His identity would be erased as if he had never been born.As if the Commander of ANBU, the eldest son of the Hokage, had never existed at all.
No one would look for him.No one would speak his name.
He would vanish into the shadows of history.
Forever.