A world like glass released a dreamlike radiance, enveloping and shrouding Uchiha Inabi. In this state, he had forgotten everything, including his own identity.
Is this... the Divine Kingdom?
He slowly closed his eyes, savoring this moment of absolute tranquility.
Outside, the mist that had blanketed the entire street slowly dispersed. Uchiha Inabi, the Vice Captain of the Uchiha Police Force, was lying on the ground. Standing beside him was the youth who had appeared out of nowhere, the suspected subordinate of Elder Danzo.
Seeing this, all the Uchiha shinobi placed their hands on their weapons, shouting emotionally, "Let go of Brother Inabi!"
They were members of the Uchiha Clan; how could they endure seeing their kinsman humiliated like this? Just as they were about to rush forward to avenge Uchiha Inabi, Itachi suddenly appeared before them and blocked their path.
"Don't be impulsive. Leave this to me."
Itachi's calm voice caused all the Uchiha to stop their movements. He then looked at Simu and said, "You are from Root, aren't you?"
Simu raised his chin slightly and said proudly, "I am a subordinate of the great Lord Danzo!"
Hmm...
Although Itachi could roughly confirm Simu belonged to Danzo based on his actions, hearing it stated with such a prideful tone was indeed unexpected. Of course, that wasn't the point.
"I wonder if you could first release Brother Inabi?"
Itachi looked at Uchiha Inabi, who was being stepped on by Simu, and felt a pang of pity. Simu frowned and refused decisively, "That won't do. This guy actually dared to disrespect Lord Danzo. Anyone who disrespects Lord Danzo must die!"
Hearing these words, even someone as good-tempered as Itachi couldn't help but darken his expression.
"Consider it as giving the Uchiha Clan face."
Itachi's voice lowered, and a hint of his anger could be faintly felt. Although he hoped the clan and the village could get along peacefully, he would not stand by while the clan's honor was trampled upon. Unexpectedly, Simu maintained his slouching, careless attitude.
"Uchiha's face? How much is that worth?"
"Damn guy!"
Now, even if Uchiha Itachi could endure it, the other Uchiha could not. Just as they were about to move, a raspy voice rang out.
"Yi, that's enough!"
Simu, who was prepared to beat these evil Uchiha into the ground, suddenly paused. Because that voice belonged to...
Everyone looked toward the source of the sound. An old man with half his body wrapped in bandages appeared quietly, leaning on a cane. Several masked Root shinobi followed beside him.
"Great Lord Danzo!"
Simu immediately released his foot from Uchiha Inabi and pointed at him, saying, "Lord Danzo, this guy actually dared to be disrespectful to you! I've already taught him a harsh lesson!"
Danzo's gaze scanned Simu. Seeing the expression on his face, which was so sincere it couldn't be more sincere, he suddenly let out a sigh. "Return to the base for now."
"Then this one..."
Simu pointed at Uchiha Inabi on the ground, seemingly asking if he should finish him off. Danzo felt a bit of a headache. "I will handle things here. Return immediately. That is an order!"
"Yes!"
Simu didn't delay. He immediately disappeared from the spot using a Body Flicker Jutsu. Uchiha Itachi did not choose to stop him; instead, he fixed his gaze on this member of the Hidden Leaf higher-ups. Since he chose to appear here, it meant he intended to clean up the mess for the youth.
"Elder Danzo, if that person was your subordinate, then shouldn't you give the Uchiha Clan an explanation?" Uchiha Itachi asked straightforwardly.
After all, the Uchiha Police Force was performing official duties and maintaining public order. This was a right granted to the Uchiha by the village! Even if the Anbu or Root had any dissatisfaction, there was certainly no reason to suddenly attack and injure a member of the Uchiha Clan.
Danzo also knew he couldn't avoid this matter. After all, that fellow Yi was indeed a bit... reckless. Therefore, he spoke decisively, "You are Fugaku's son, Uchiha Itachi, right?"
"Yes."
Itachi's gaze met the Darkness of the Shinobi. He did not retreat at all, remaining firm and calm. Danzo looked deeply at Itachi. This was precisely why he was wary of the Uchiha Clan. This clan always produced terrifying geniuses. Unfortunately, the more talented an Uchiha was, the more... easily they strayed onto the wrong path.
"This matter was my oversight in not restraining my subordinate. Rest assured, I will give Fugaku an account."
Danzo brushed the matter aside with a casual sentence. He then had someone check Uchiha Inabi's body. Finding that the latter was fine, he immediately left the scene. The Uchiha shinobi wanted to chase after him, but Itachi stopped them.
"Brothers, let my father handle this matter."
Since Itachi had put it that way, they could only stand down. However, they still grumbled with dissatisfaction, "That damn Root actually dared to bully the Uchiha Clan! Sooner or later, I'm going to wipe them all out!"
"It's not just Root. Haven't you noticed? Even the villagers are looking at us differently now, as if we are some kind of monsters."
"Clearly they were the ones in the wrong. If they didn't cause trouble, how could we arrest them?"
"Exactly!"
"In my opinion, the village higher-ups are intentionally targeting us. I think we should just—"
"Ahem!"
Uchiha Itachi coughed, interrupting their next set of comments which were becoming quite dangerous.
"Um, brothers, I'll leave Brother Inabi to you. I'll go home first and report today's events to my father."
After speaking, Itachi walked directly toward his home. Once Itachi had left, the squad members began discussing again.
"That kid Itachi is a member of the Anbu now. Be careful when you speak in front of him!"
"Surely it's not that serious? Itachi is the Clan Leader's son, after all. Could he really betray the Uchiha Clan?"
"That's not certain..."
Amidst the discussion, Uchiha Inabi was finally taken to the infirmary. After some treatment, he successfully regained consciousness.
"Where am I..."
He observed the world somewhat dazed.
"Vice Captain, you're finally awake."
Inabi felt a stabbing pain in his head. After a while, he managed to recall his identity. Uchiha Inabi, one of the Vice Captains of the Hidden Leaf Police Force. Seeing him like this, the surrounding members hurriedly asked with concern, "Vice Captain, are you okay?"
Uchiha Inabi shook his head. "I'm fine. I just had a dream. A... very beautiful dream."
"A dream?"
The squad members looked at each other. Sir, you were just instakilled by a little brat, and you went off to dream? You weren't just taking a nap over there, were you?
"Could it be that he fell under a Genjutsu?" one member speculated.
But this theory was quickly dismissed.
"What Genjutsu could be stronger than the Sharingan?"
"That's true."
If nothing else, the Uchiha shinobi never bowed to anyone in the field of Genjutsu. Moreover, Uchiha Inabi's Sharingan had reached three tomoe. Although he might not have activated the three tomoe during the battle, his visual prowess was right there. It definitely wasn't just any Genjutsu that could make him fall victim. As the old saying goes: the only thing that can defeat a Sharingan in Genjutsu is a stronger Sharingan.
"I used my Sharingan to launch a Genjutsu at the time, wanting to resolve him easily. But unexpectedly, after I launched the Genjutsu, I fell asleep. And I had a very beautiful dream."
Uchiha Inabi didn't quite remember what happened in the dream, but even upon waking up, he still felt a sense of lingering longing. Hearing Inabi's words, the Uchiha shinobi fell silent. After a while, they said heavily, "If it's as the Vice Captain says, then I'm afraid that old fellow Danzo has developed a new way to counter Sharingan Genjutsu."
"Perhaps Danzo already has the intention to move against our Uchiha Clan!"
At these words, everyone's expressions changed drastically.
"We must tell the Clan Leader about this..."
"No, we shouldn't just tell the Clan Leader. We must explain it clearly to all the Elders at the clan meeting!" Uchiha Inabi said coldly.
If he only told the Clan Leader, he might endure it for the sake of the so-called big picture. But if he told those Elders... Hmph, with the tempers of those Uchiha Elders, they would absolutely not tolerate that old dog Danzo shitting on the Uchiha's heads!
Upon returning to Root, Simu was immediately questioned by Tatsuma Aburame. "Yi, do you know how much trouble your actions will cause Lord Danzo?"
Facing Tatsuma Aburame's questioning, Simu shrugged, showing he didn't care at all.
"If you want to criticize or punish me, you'd better wait for Lord Danzo to say it to me personally. Otherwise, you might be killed by my own hands before you're halfway through."
Simu said this in a very frivolous tone. However, the killing intent radiating from him made even someone as battle-hardened as Tatsuma Aburame feel terrified, his whole body turning cold.
"Yi, don't think you can do whatever you want just because of Lord Danzo's favor."
Just as he finished speaking, several thick tree roots suddenly burst from the ground. With lightning speed, they tightly bound him, erupting with terrifying power!
This kid really wants to kill me!
Tatsuma Aburame finally realized this problem, but it seemed a bit too late. Even though the rinkaichu on his body were frantically gnawing at the roots binding him, the pressure of these roots was still increasing, winding tighter and tighter until his bones made a creaking sound.
"Stop, Yi!"
Danzo's raspy voice rang in Simu's ears once again. Since Simu joined Root, the frequency with which he said the words "Stop" seemed to be getting higher and higher... Danzo thought to himself with a bit of mental exhaustion. Fortunately, although Simu was recalcitrant, arrogant, and filled with every vice imaginable... he was still very "loyal." He complied with almost everything Danzo said. Aside from being extremely hot-tempered, he was quite good.
This time was no exception. Upon hearing Danzo's order, Simu immediately released the tree roots. Tatsuma Aburame, who had almost been crushed by Simu's roots, fell to the ground panting frantically. In that moment, he truly felt like he was going to die. This kid was truly terrifying!
At this time, the terrifying kid in Tatsuma's mind was smiling as he turned around and greeted, "Lord Danzo!"
Danzo's head ached again. But he had to give Simu a proper scolding; otherwise, he didn't know how much trouble he would cause in the future!
"Why did you attack those Uchiha fellows?"
Danzo stared into Simu's eyes. With his years of experience, if Simu showed any flaw in his gaze, he would capture it clearly. But Simu clearly had no flaws. He said with total sincerity, "Because they defiled Lord Danzo."
"Defiled?"
Danzo's expression was a bit unsightly. He had lived for decades; many people hated him or cursed him, but no one had ever used the word "defiled" to describe him. Simu seemed to realize he had misspoken and hurriedly corrected himself, "Um, not defiled. They insulted Lord Danzo's great name!"
Hearing Simu's explanation, Danzo's expression softened slightly. He didn't want to dwell on such a boring matter, so he continued, "How did they defile and insult me?"
Simu's mouth twitched, wanting to laugh, but seeing Danzo's expression turn sour again, he hastily held it back.
"They said 'that guy Danzo'."
"That's it?"
Danzo was somewhat taken dazed. They just said that and you tried to beat them to death? Simu's face was filled with pride and a sense of "it's only natural."
"Of course! You can talk about me, but if anyone dares to say a single bad word about Lord Danzo, I'll kill them!"
Tatsuma Aburame, standing aside, fell into deep self-doubt upon hearing this. What do you mean 'talk about you'? What kind of 'okay' is that? Getting almost crushed to death by tree roots? At this time, Danzo looked into Simu's eyes and found them full of sincerity. When a subordinate is this loyal, how could you have the heart to scold him?
However, Danzo was not dazed by Simu's words and continued to ask, "And before they spoke ill of me? Why did you stop the Police Force?"
This time Simu scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and explained, "Doesn't Lord Danzo always say the Uchiha are an evil clan? I just wanted to test and see how strong the Uchiha people actually are. If they were just average, I was going to help Lord Danzo wipe out the Uchiha."
Ah, this...
Both Danzo and Tatsuma Aburame fell into silence. Good lord, they are the premier clan of the Hidden Leaf and even the shinobi world, and you want to wipe them out by yourself? After another moment of silence, Danzo asked, "Then how do you find their strength?"
Simu curled his lip. "Average." He then added, "If Lord Danzo agrees, I'll go and wipe them out tonight!"
"No need!"
Danzo hurriedly stopped Simu's idea. Not to mention whether it was possible, if he didn't give the order to stop, Danzo felt that this guy really would run to the Uchiha compound tonight to go on a killing spree! After thinking for a moment, Danzo finally let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm sentencing you to three days of solitary confinement. From now on, you are not allowed to get into conflicts with others without my order!"