There were too many corpses—far too many to take all at once.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo left behind a portion of the ANBU to watch over the bodies, then departed with the majority of their forces.
Yako stepped forward and asked Captain Yellow Dog for permission to remain. He was willing to stand guard until the Konoha ninja arrived to transport the fallen.
Yellow Dog agreed without hesitation.
Yako's reason for staying was simple: he didn't want to follow Danzo.
Danzo had already implanted a Sharingan into his left eye.
The bandage covering that eye surely bore some high-level sealing technique—one designed to block all sensory jutsu, preventing the Uchiha from discovering he possessed a Sharingan.
Yako narrowed his eyes. He needed to come up with a way to deal with Danzo's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Once the Fox Squad had finished arranging the fallen ANBU, Yako stood in silence, watching as the Senju clan gathered the bodies of their own.
In the distance, Senju Hanaki stood surrounded by the last five jonin of the Senju clan.
In this sealing operation, the closer one was to the center, the stronger the shinobi—and the faster they died.
All six of the Senju elite jonin had perished. Of the thirty-plus regular jonin, only Hanaki and five others remained.
Now that the sealing was over and the immense pressure had lifted, grief carved deep into their faces, refusing to fade.
Jonin Senju Nan spoke quietly to Hanaki, who nodded blankly in return, her mind on the verge of collapse, thought itself slipping away.
Her gaze shifted—and landed on the Fox Squad.
Something was wrong. None of this was normal.
The appearance of Susanoo on the Nine-Tails… bearing the form of the Uchiha Clan… that was what led to Mito's untimely death.
Then, when her brother Rinju died—his face was twisted in anguish and confusion, as if he had suffered an unbearable injustice.
But the chaos had been too great. He hadn't even had the chance to leave a final message.
Everything was too strange.
Hanaki's eyes narrowed on the ANBU. She remembered—before the sealing began, Danzo had arrived in haste.
But not from Konoha.
He had come from the northwest—from the direction of the Land of Rain.
There were too many doubts surrounding this sealing.
If not for Kushina's outbursts, the Senju clan would have been entirely wiped out.
Who had wanted the Senju dead?
Hanaki's first suspicion fell on the ANBU.
Before the sealing, Brother Rinju had clashed several times with Konoha's leadership over Kushina's future.
"Hanaki, are you listening?" asked Senju Nan. "We've decided to elect you as the new clan head."
"Sorry, I got distracted," Hanaki replied.
"Contact Tsunade tonight. Tell her everything that happened here. Don't change a word. Especially details about the ANBU's behavior and Danzo's sudden appearance."
The jonin looked stunned. "Hanaki, are you saying—?"
"Shhh." Hanaki raised a hand.
"Any shinobi clan can betray Konoha. But the Senju cannot. I'm not implying anything else—I just want Tsunade to know the full picture."
This was something Hanaki had to do without letting most of the clan know. She added, "Send for Kato Dan. I need to see him immediately."
She was thinking of his Forbidden Jutsu: Spirit Transformation Technique—a jutsu that let one's soul leave the body.
To investigate the ANBU openly was suicide. Only Kato Dan could gather intel silently and invisibly.
Even the ANBU couldn't block his method of investigation.
It had to be kept secret—completely secret.
All four ANBU divisions involved in the sealing, as well as Danzo's two assistants, were now suspects. The real culprit had to be found.
Hanaki quickly adjusted her expression. When she turned back toward the ANBU, her eyes no longer held suspicion or hate.
Yako, meanwhile, glanced at Hanaki carrying Princess Kushina on her back, and at the two massive sealing scrolls beside her. All that effort hadn't been wasted.
The Senju clan had survived. They still had a voice in the village—and that meant Danzo wouldn't have unchecked power.
***
Some time later, Kushina finally awoke.
When she saw the rows of corpses laid out before her, she began to cry.
Lady Mito… Uncle Rinju… they had been so kind to her.
She tugged at Hanaki's hand, asking her to bend down.
Hanaki listened—and froze.
Kushina said… there was someone from the Uzumaki clan among the ANBU.
That person had infused her with chakra—twice. Chakra rich in sealing power. It had helped her suppress the Nine-Tails.
So that was how she had managed to erupt with such power twice.
There was a spy from the Uzumaki clan among the ANBU.
Not even Rinju had known.
Hanaki made a mental note: when Kato Dan begins his investigation, he had to be careful—no sudden moves. They couldn't risk harming the Uzumaki spy.
Several hours later, a large contingent of Konoha ninja arrived. They transported the Senju and ANBU corpses to the area surrounding the Memorial Stone.
The Next Day – In Front of the Memorial Stone
Half the village had gathered—shinobi dressed in black.
Lady Mito, wife of the First Hokage Senju Hashirama, had passed. Her death marked the true end of Konoha's founding generation.
Hashirama and his brother Tobirama, Uchiha Madara, the former heads of the major clans—they had all died in different ways, for different reasons.
With Mito gone, Konoha was now fully in the hands of the new generation, led by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Hiruzen stood at the front, presiding over Mito's funeral.
"I still remember the first time I met Lady Mito," he began, "I was just a boy, following Lord Tobirama into the Senju compound."
"It was a grand wedding that day."
"Lady Mito gave her all, side by side with Lord Hashirama, for the founding of this village."
"Lord Hashirama is gone. Lord Tobirama is gone. And now… Lady Mito has left us as well."
"But even though they are gone, their greatest legacy remains—our village. Konoha will carry on the will of the founding generation…"
Yako stood near the back, masked in full ANBU uniform.
What could he say? The Third Hokage spoke with such emotion, and many around him were moved to tears.
Danzo stood in the front row. Uchiha Kagen, the Uchiha Clan Head, didn't spare him much attention.
Yako's hunch had been right. Danzo's bandaged eye was sealed against all forms of detection.
But where had he gotten such a sealing jutsu? Could it have come from Tobirama? Perhaps the Second Hokage had studied Sharingan transplants before his death, leaving behind notes?
Tobirama's abilities seemed tailor-made to counter the Uchiha: Water Style to suppress Fire Style, Body Flicker to outpace the Sharingan, and Darkness Illusion to counter genjutsu.
The idea of transplanting a Sharingan… maybe Tobirama really had experimented with it.
Next to Kagen stood the young Uchiha heir, Uchiha Fugaku—fresh out of the Academy this year.
When the funeral ended, most of the mourners began to leave.
Kagen brought Fugaku to personally offer condolences to Senju Hanaki.
That's when the shouting started.
"Uchiha Kagen! You owe me an explanation! Where were you last night?!"
Hiruzen turned back, glancing first at the hysterical Hanaki, then at the baffled Kagen. He said nothing—and walked away.
Kagen explained over and over that he had been at the clan compound all night. Dozens could vouch for him.
He had heard what happened to the Senju that night. He knew Hanaki was blaming the Armored Susanoo incident on the Uchiha.
He insisted—he didn't even know how to use Susanoo. It wasn't him. It wasn't any of them.
But Hanaki refused to believe a word, her accusations growing more and more heated.
In the end, Kagen had no choice but to bow out. He promised to apologize in person when she had calmed down.
When everyone else had gone, Senju Nan stepped up and asked, "Clan Head Hanaki… was it really the Uchiha?"
Hanaki gave no reply.
She was muddying the waters—deliberately keeping the pressure on the Uchiha, fueling the conflict.
It was all a smokescreen.
A smokescreen to protect Kato Dan's investigation.