Boom!
As Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly rose, a terrifying surge of chakra exploded.
The desk shuddered violently, ripples burst across the tea's surface, and the floor creaked under the pressure.
Eiya felt his body sink, as if a mountain pressed down on his back.
It wasn't just the terrifying chakra—his killing intent and presence were so intense they rivaled genjutsu.
Breathing turned difficult; he couldn't move an inch.
It reminded him of the first time Sasuke faced Orochimaru.
But he wasn't Sasuke.
There was no worship of strength—only a mad defiance welling up inside.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"With just this…"
"You think I'll bow?"
Chakra surged through him.
Eiya clenched his teeth, lifted his head, and stared straight into Hiruzen's eyes. "I see. So this disgrace twists right and wrong like this."
Hiruzen's pipe paused a beat; a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes before calm returned.
"As a Konoha shinobi you've mastered a Cloud secret—Lightning Release: Armor. You're a chūnin, yet you walked away from a Kumogakure squad."
"Give me a reasonable explanation."
Danzō, expressionless, added:
"Judging by your chakra, you're not at an ordinary chūnin's level."
"The operation failed—were you planning to keep lurking in Konoha to steal intel?"
"Speak. What's your purpose? When did you contact Kumo? Who's your handler?"
The harsh questions came one after another, suffocating.
The air in the office seemed to harden.
Satō stood in the shadows, a satisfied curve at his lips.
Eiya suddenly smiled and pointed at his eyes.
"Did you forget I'm Uchiha?"
"Copy jutsu?" Danzō sneered. "With a mere one-tomoe—"
He didn't finish. The silver-haired ANBU waiting in the hall stepped in.
"Kakashi?"
"Hokage-sama."
Under everyone's gaze, Kakashi came to Hiruzen's side and murmured a few words.
Quiet as they were, everyone heard them clearly.
A sharp light flashed in Danzō's eye. "Three tomoe?"
Hiruzen drew on his pipe in silence, slid open a drawer, and took out a file.
Through the smoke came his even question.
"Uchiha Eiya, at the chūnin exams half a year ago you still had a one-tomoe Sharingan."
"Now that you've awakened three tomoe, you qualify for jōnin assessment. Why conceal your strength?"
Eiya's face cooled. He touched his eye.
"Before this mission, I still had one tomoe."
"As for why I look like this now… you should ask Captain Satō."
Just then, a steady, resonant voice came from outside the door.
"Hokage-sama, I believe this matter is best handled by our clan."
A black-haired man in his thirties entered, the Uchiha fan crest on the back of his vest.
Danzō snorted softly when he saw him.
"Uchiha Fugaku. Your ears are quick."
Fugaku replied without change of expression. "Maintaining order is the Police Force's duty."
"There was quite a commotion in the street. I've only just received word."
He turned to Hiruzen.
"Please hand Eiya to the Uchiha for interrogation. I will get to the bottom of it and answer to Konoha."
"I guarantee it as clan head."
"No need," Hiruzen cut in.
"If Uchiha Eiya is truly a Cloud agent, he already threatens the village's interests and safety."
"This is not merely an internal clan matter."
He tapped the desk, meaning heavy. "Remember, the Uchiha are part of Konoha."
"Kakashi, notify Morino Ibiki. Interrogation will be turned over to the T&I Department."
"Yes."
As Kakashi moved for the door, Fugaku's face went black.
"Hokage-sama! T&I interrogation causes irreversible neural damage. You're—"
"I understand your feelings, Clan Head Fugaku," Hiruzen said, drawing deep on his pipe. "If we've wronged him, I will apologize in person."
Fugaku drew breath to continue, but Danzō cut him off.
"Clan Head Fugaku, are you defying the Hokage's order? Is this your position—or the Uchiha's?"
Fugaku froze, fist clenching tight, then slowly loosening.
In a few short lines, Eiya's fate was pronounced.
Yet the man at the center of it watched coldly, as if it had nothing to do with him.
A clan head, a wielder of the Mangekyō—so craven.
No wonder the once-glorious Uchiha ended in massacre.
Weak, inept, indecisive—sending a three-year-old to war and preaching forbearance.
The Uchiha's future shouldn't be thrown away by this father and son.
The Uchiha's power—
He would take it in hand.
The thought sparked—and spread like wildfire.
Eiya raised his head and swept them one by one, finally resting on Hiruzen.
"To pass judgment on a single word—once you were a famed titan of the shinobi world. Now you're old. Senile."
The room's atmosphere snapped tight.
"Impudent!"
"Silence!"
Shouts cracked like whips; cold killing intent flooded the office.
Eiya ignored it and turned to Satō.
"Accusing me of being a Kumo spy? Fine."
"Where's the proof?"
Satō's smile never reached his eyes.
"I am a Konoha jōnin who has bled for this village for years. How could I frame a comrade?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. How could it be false?"
"So you have no proof," Eiya said, his smile widening. Under wary eyes, he slowly drew a sealing scroll from his pouch.
With a whisper, Kakashi's kunai touched his throat.
"Don't move."
"No need to be jumpy. It's a storage scroll." Eiya gave it a shake. "The proof you want is right here."
Hiruzen dipped his chin. "Open it."
Kakashi took the scroll, wove signs, and released the seal.
With a pop, four bloody heads thumped onto the floor.
"What—"
Danzō's lone eye shrank. He rose without meaning to.
He recognized one of them.
The scarred one was a Cloud jōnin—
Also listed as high threat by Root.
The office fell silent enough to hear a pin drop; every gaze fixed there.
Without warning, Eiya exploded into motion.
Half-expecting it, Satō's face twisted; he moved on instinct.
In the next instant the world warped.
Jōnin instincts made him scramble his chakra—
"Release!"
As the genjutsu shattered, a kunai was already through his chest.
A wet sound.
Satō stared, stunned, at the blade tip jutting from his sternum.
"You…"
Eiya leaned to his ear, his voice too soft for anyone else.
"When you framed your comrade…"
"You should have known this day would come."