BAM!
Tahara Rokuro's kick landed heavily. The ANBU's mask shattered beneath his heel — along with his skull. The man's face collapsed inward, nose crushed flat, and he fell unconscious on the spot.
Rokuro raised his foot again, ready to smash the man's head entirely — when the current ANBU captain, Kakashi Hatake, burst out of the crowd.
"Uchiha Rokuro, what do you think you're doing? Stop, now!"
Seeing that familiar face, Rokuro gave a short snort. He flung the two receptionists in his hands straight toward Kakashi.
Kakashi had no choice but to leap forward and catch them mid-air. By then, a wave of ANBU, nearby shinobi, and even the Third Hokage himself had arrived at the scene.
Seeing that the audience was now complete, Rokuro relaxed slightly. He wasn't here to kill — just to make a statement.
If someone died now, the situation would spiral out of control.
"Rokuro, what the hell are you doing?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was dark as storm clouds. "Why attack your own comrades from the same village?"
He had been in the middle of negotiations with a noble from the Land of Fire when Rokuro's shout interrupted him. The deal was probably ruined now — and that did nothing to improve his mood.
"Perfect timing, Hokage-sama," Rokuro said coldly. "I was just about to ask you something. When a Leaf shinobi betrays his own village — selling intelligence to rogue ninjas, leading to the deaths of his comrades — what's the punishment for that? Is death enough?"
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. He glanced at the two receptionists in Kakashi's arms — and had a bad feeling about what was coming.
At the same time, the loyal trio of Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans — always quick to protect the Hokage — arrived as well. Among them were Shikaku Nara, Chōza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka.
And from the Uchiha side, Fugaku Uchiha hurried over with several clan members, including Shisui himself.
Seeing the crowd gathering, Rokuro nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Everyone's here."
"What in the world happened?" Fugaku asked, panting slightly. He had rushed straight from the gate after receiving an urgent report from the guards. The message had given him a bad feeling — and now that he was here, his gut told him this was serious.
Rokuro gave a brief nod, then began recounting the entire story — from accepting the mission with Anko Mitarashi, to their encounter with Kakuzu — leaving nothing out.
When he finished, he turned to Anko.
"Anko-senpai, do you have anything to add?"
"I…" Anko's voice trembled. She was visibly nervous — especially under Hiruzen's dark, piercing gaze. Her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
At that moment, a pale hand rested gently on her shoulder, followed by a deep, hoarse voice.
"Anko," said Orochimaru, "just tell the truth. Konoha values fairness above all else… isn't that right, sensei?"
Anko turned toward him as though she had found a savior. Orochimaru's cold eyes met Hiruzen's — mocking, unreadable, yet full of dark amusement.
"You're right," Hiruzen said stiffly. "Konoha values fairness. Anko, tell us exactly what you saw."
The Third Hokage already knew Rokuro's story was mostly true — after all, Kakuzu's corpse lay right there on the table. As a so-called "immortal" shinobi from the same era as the First Hokage, his appearance and abilities were well-documented in the village's archives.
Even the forbidden jutsu he practiced — Earth Grudge Fear — had been studied by Tobirama Senju himself. So when Hiruzen saw the corpse covered in those black tendrils, he immediately recognized it. There was no mistake — this was Kakuzu.
If that much was true, then Rokuro's account probably was too. And Hiruzen had a strong hunch who was behind this: Danzo Shimura. That old viper again.
His anger simmered — yet he knew he couldn't expose it. Not now.
Danzo was his shadow hand, his necessary evil. As much as Hiruzen despised his methods, the village's precarious situation couldn't withstand a public scandal over internal corruption.
"The situation was just as Rokuro said," Anko continued nervously. "We encountered a rogue named Kurote near Iwami Mountain. I almost had him — but then Kakuzu appeared. From their conversation, it was clear that Kurote had already learned about our mission in advance. Kakuzu had been hired as his bodyguard."
Anko recounted everything she knew, sparing only the gruesome details of Kakuzu's death at Rokuro's hands.
When she finished, Orochimaru extended his tongue slightly, chuckling in that eerie way that could haunt a child's dreams.
"From here to Iwami Mountain, even I would need half a day at full speed," he mused. "Yet the enemy received the intelligence mere moments after the mission began. That means the leak came from within Konoha's Intelligence Division. The message must've been delivered by a summoning beast — normal messenger hawks aren't that fast."
As he spoke, Orochimaru walked to Kakuzu's corpse, his golden eyes gleaming with morbid curiosity.
"It's said that Takigakure possesses a forbidden jutsu that grants immortality — Earth Grudge Fear. It allows one to steal the hearts and chakra of others to extend one's own life. This body bears all the marks. There's no faking this."
Then he turned to his old teacher, his smile razor-sharp.
"Sensei… with both the evidence and witnesses here, I believe we can reach a conclusion."
Hiruzen looked around — every shinobi present, even the loyal trio of Pig, Deer, and Butterfly, had grave expressions. He knew he couldn't simply sweep this under the rug.
As much as he despised the Uchiha, he also had to maintain his image of fairness and integrity.
That was why he needed Danzo — someone to do the dirty work he couldn't afford to stain his own hands with.
"Fugaku," Hiruzen said finally, "I'll see to it that you receive an explanation for this incident. You have my word."
He was offering a way out — and Fugaku, ever the timid clan head, was exactly the kind of man who usually took it. He'd folded before, and likely would again. The man had long since made peace with being a turtle.
But just as Fugaku was about to speak, Rokuro's booming voice cut through the air again.
"Hokage-sama! I'm the one involved in this incident — not our clan head! If you're going to give an explanation, give it to me!"
Fugaku's mouth froze mid-word. Shisui quickly ran up to Rokuro.
"Rokuro, please — I'm sure the Hokage will handle this fairly. Just calm down—"
"Calm down?!" Rokuro snapped. "I'm the victim here — and you want me to calm down? Are you out of your mind? Don't you realize I'm trying to protect the village's honor and unity?"
He jabbed a finger right at Shisui's nose.
"If we don't get to the bottom of this today, what's going to happen next time? Any ninja who leaves the village could end up stabbed in the back by his own comrade! Who'd dare take missions after that? How would Konoha function? And tell me — would our clients, our sponsors, ever trust us again?!"
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
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