Chapter 143: 143.Caught

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Late at night, Kazuki held a sweat-soaked Kurenai in his arms, gazing at the ceiling as he brought up topics that Kurenai was reluctant to face.

“The Nine-Tails incident had nothing to do with the Uchiha. At the very least, that mysterious figure wasn’t someone from the Uchiha clan.”

Kazuki clearly felt Kurenai’s body tense up.

It took a while before she relaxed again.

“Kazuki, it’s all in the past now. I trust you.” Kurenai didn’t want to think about these things, as they reminded her of sad memories. She snuggled into Kazuki’s chest and closed her eyes.

Looking down at the person in his arms, Kazuki thought to himself. ’Obito, you must have noticed that pile of trash I left in the alternate space. Do you have any thoughts on it?’

Why dispose of the body in the Kamui space instead of destroying it entirely?

Because leaving the body in the Kamui space would attract Obito’s attention. Given his current vengeful nature, he might even sneak into Konoha to observe Kakashi in secret.

That was exactly what Kazuki needed—to lure Obito into Konoha to observe Kakashi and the Uchiha.

Once Tsunade decided to reorganize, she directly issued the notice, which had a huge impact on the members of the Anbu.

Because of certain individuals and incidents, the Anbu had come under scrutiny and suspicion, unable to earn the Hokage’s trust, which made this cleanup necessary.

As soon as the notice was issued, some people began to panic.

Thus began a purge of the Anbu, ostensibly to calm the villagers’ anger. Even the retired Third Hokage participated. Tsunade had invited him, along with Jiraiya, to handle the matter. She was curious to see what hidden evils might come to light.

The result was somewhat unexpected—even a bit embarrassing. In a hidden underground chamber below a rundown shack on the village outskirts, several Anbu members gathered.

“The first thing Lady Hokage did after taking office was to purge the Anbu. What should we do?”

“We need to find a way to contact Lord Danzo.”

“But we can’t infiltrate the Konoha prison. The Uchiha will be guarding him personally, and they won’t give us any chance.”

It was unlikely for Anbu to contain spies, but there were many planted pawns.

Sure enough, as soon as the notice was issued, some of Danzo’s pawns grew unsettled. Since Danzo’s confinement in Konoha prison, all communication with him had ceased.

Even his “Root” operatives had been eliminated—dead, imprisoned—leaving these pawns leaderless and forced to remain hidden in Anbu. Who would have thought that a person discontented with the Third Hokage could stir up so much trouble?

This left Tsunade unable to trust the Anbu.

“It’s all that Kazuki’s fault! If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be facing this!”

“Damn it!”

“We must find a way to contact Lord Danzo. We cannot betray his trust in us!”

Throughout Konoha, no one’s brainwashing was more effective than Danzo’s. In this regard, even the Third Hokage was no match for him. Everyone brainwashed by Root remained unerringly loyal to Danzo, with few ever breaking free from this fate.

“Let’s go. Staying too long will arouse suspicion.”

After a brief discussion, the group prepared to leave. But the moment they stepped out of the hidden chamber, they were dumbfounded—surrounded on all sides by people.

Tsunade, the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, and numerous summoned ninja squads were waiting for them.

“Well, you’re all quite something!” Tsunade’s face was as cold as ice, her voice seething with suppressed fury.

Following Kazuki’s advice, she had issued the notice and made thorough preparations to prevent anyone from acting recklessly. The reckless individuals hadn’t shown themselves, but they had flushed out plenty of pawns.

“Oh no!”

Realizing the situation had been exposed, the pawns tried to flee immediately. But surrounded as they were, they had no chance to escape. Out of the five, three died in the ensuing fight, while two were captured.

After a night’s work from the Intelligence Division, Tsunade finally received the information she wanted at the Hokage’s office.

In the office, the atmosphere was icy and tense.

The Third Hokage sighed repeatedly, Tsunade maintained a stony expression, and Jiraiya could only scratch his head in frustration.

When the report arrived, Tsunade tossed the scroll to the Third Hokage.

“Old man, read it yourself. I don’t know how deep your connection with Danzo goes, but it was enough for him to freely plant his people in the Anbu.”

“This is all my negligence.” After reading the contents, the Third Hokage sighed.

“…”

Yet again, he cited “negligence” to excuse all responsibility?

Tsunade was tempted to punch him.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to that.

Tsunade restrained her anger, and Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief. The scene was tense; with Tsunade on one side and the Third Hokage on the other, Jiraiya didn’t dare make a sound.

“Starting tomorrow, all Anbu squads will report to the Intelligence Division for questioning and investigation. I won’t allow any disloyal individuals to remain in the Anbu. They don’t deserve it.”

Previously, Tsunade had shown restraint.

But after discovering so many pawns in the Anbu, she completely lost patience with the Third Hokage. Facing the current situation, the Third Hokage was in no position to plead on Danzo’s behalf and could only acquiesce to Tsunade’s arrangements. This was entirely Danzo’s doing, a consequence of the negligence he was allowed to perpetuate.

The Third Hokage left, dazed, while Jiraiya remarked.

“I used to think Kazuki’s stories about the injustices suffered by the Uchiha were somewhat exaggerated. Now, I see every word was true. Danzo was ruthless enough to go to such lengths against the Uchiha, and the old man did nothing to stop him.”

“Ah…” Thank goodness the Uchiha hadn’t acted out. If they had turned against the village, even if the Uchiha were subdued, the village would have paid a heavy price.

Thank goodness someone like Kazuki had stood up for the Uchiha clan.

Jiraiya felt relieved.

“All for the sake of power—a sham! Despicable!”

Reading all this information, Tsunade broke into a cold sweat. It was fortunate that Fugaku Uchiha could endure, control the situation, and act diplomatically. If the Uchiha had a more aggressive leader, they would surely have clashed with the village.

The way the Third Hokage and Danzo targeted them—no one would tolerate it. In a way, Fugaku had helped maintain stability without realizing it.

Tsunade dreaded to imagine what Konoha would become if the Third Hokage and Danzo were left unchecked. As for the future Konoha after Naruto and the others grew up… well, that’s a story best left untold.

Danzo’s various machinations had caused all sorts of chaos, stirring up trouble for all the village’s clans.

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