After a long moment, Senya lifted his palm.
"So that is it."
From the Root captain's memories he learned their target was the Sharingan stored inside the shrine.
They belonged to clansmen who had fallen at the front.
Some were even three tomoe.
Shimura Danzo had long coveted the power of those eyes.
He sent a Root squad to steal them.
By mishap they ran into Uchiha Senya at the Guard Tower.
Senya was not surprised.
Danzo had always lusted after Uchiha strength.
He meant to keep himself powerful by transplanting eyes.
Later he would fight Sasuke with dozens of three-tomoe Sharingan.
Many came from the night of the massacre.
He had also learned Izanagi.
Finished with the memory search, Senya cleaned up.
He erased signs of battle, then quietly placed the Root corpses in a wall-side blind spot.
Patrols would find them soon enough.
With defenses this tight, unknown bodies in the heart of the district would cause an uproar.
He had no interest in explaining the intruders' true motive to the clan. Too much trouble.
It might expose him.
He would simply lay out the bodies and make the Uchiha more alert.
As for power games between clan elders and village leaders, he did not care.
Against absolute strength, schemes were pale.
He already had one foot in super Kage, a quasi super Kage.
More than once he had tried to step across.
Each time he fell just short.
The stronger you are, the steeper the climb.
...
At dawn, after a night of cultivation, Senya's eyes snapped open.
Visitors.
He strolled downstairs.
Those bodies must have been found.
Investigators would follow.
"Oh. Him again."
When the clan shinobi reached the door, Senya already stood there with it open.
Solemn beyond his years, Uchiha Fugaku led the team in.
"So you already know about last night."
Seeing Senya waiting, Fugaku stepped inside.
News of the incident had spread fast, and many had seen the corpses.
The elders had identified the dead in rough outline.
They ordered a full investigation and forbade gossip.
If enemies reached the Uchiha heartland so silently, there had been a leak.
The killer was certainly Uchiha.
He was hidden among them.
Thinking of the night he had been knocked out, the Great Elder suspected the same hand.
Very few strange events had troubled the clan in recent years.
Fugaku agreed.
When he heard that the intruders had been eliminated by a mysterious expert, he thought of that night.
It had to be the Uchiha senior again.
He asked to lead the inquiry himself to help the clan.
He also hoped to find that senior.
Judging from both incidents, the senior bore no malice.
Perhaps he could become an ally of the clan.
Fugaku would soon be young clan head. He needed talent at his side.
After the crucible of war, Fugaku's Sharingan had reached three tomoe.
His strength neared elite jonin.
Yet the senior's skill outstripped his own.
Likely Kage level.
Among the Uchiha, only the Great Elder barely touched that height.
"Were you on duty last night. Did you notice anything strange. Hear anything."
Fugaku entered the hall and asked evenly.
"Last night? Nothing out of the ordinary."
Senya pretended to think, then denied it.
He had tossed the bodies into the tower's blind spot on purpose.
Hearing the answer, Fugaku's gaze dimmed.
Disappointing, but expected.
This classmate still looked like a genin. Missing things was normal.
Even the shrine guards took a long time to discover the dead. Senya's ignorance made sense.
"Last night's matter is grave. Do not speak of it outside."
"If you recall anything, inform the clan at once."
After a moment's thought, Fugaku performed a routine inspection of the tower.
Senya only shrugged.
When it was done, Fugaku led his team away at a swift pace.
...