Seeing Uchiha Shun killed, Yōkō said, "Now there are no loose ends, I can report..."
Danzō spoke first: "Fox! You must..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Uchiha Mahiru's corpse, especially the bloody, hollow eye sockets, and said,
"Danzo, you shut up. I want to hear Fox's report!"
Danzo's eyelid twitched slightly with anger, revealing his inner turmoil.
Yōkō said, "Hokage-sama, Lord Utatane Koharu, Lord Yellow Dog, the incident began when an Anbu shinobi monitoring the Uchiha compound was brutally killed via wire-induced craniotomy.
Having witnessed Uchiha Mahiru's sharp Wire-Guided Shuriken Technique in the Land of Rain, and knowing his particular skill in combining wires and shuriken, I focused the investigation on him.
Golden Eagle's team monitored Uchiha Mahiru, Uchiha Kirika, and Uchiha Shun heading to this remote area, so I brought men to follow.
After arriving, I intended to bring Uchiha Mahiru to the Anbu for questioning. However, Uchiha Mahiru resisted desperately and used Susano'o!
Uchiha Mahiru had actually awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and fear in each other's eyes.
The appearance of every Mangekyō heralded a storm of bloodshed.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Fox, continue."
Yōkō said, "I engaged Uchiha Mahiru and was controlled by his ocular jutsu.
It was a technique called 'Ameno Mihashira'.
I escaped using a Wood Clone and saw Uchiha Mizukiku appear and ambush Uchiha Mahiru.
The nearly fully-embedded kunai in Uchiha Mahiru's abdomen was left by Uchiha Mizukiku."
Uchiha Mizukiku bowed his head even lower. On such an occasion, he shouldn't say anything.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Uchiha Mizukiku.
He knew Uchiha Mizukiku was now a Root member. Kagami's son had become Danzō's capable subordinate.
Yōkō continued:
"Then Lord Danzō appeared and tried to seize Uchiha Mahiru from me.
An Anbu shinobi was brutally killed by Uchiha Mahiru. I wanted Uchiha Mahiru to come with me to the Anbu.
Uchiha Mahiru had awakened the Mangekyō and was extremely dangerous. I wanted to kill Uchiha Mahiru, but I found Advisor Danzō protecting him.
I was confused, but then I understood..."
Yōkō leaned close to Yellow Dog and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Advisor Danzō wanted to seize Uchiha Mahiru's Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Yellow Dog walked up to the Third Hokage and quietly reported what Fox had said.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils trembled. He looked at Uchiha Mahiru's bloody eye sockets and asked, "Where are the eyes?"
"The eyes?" Danzō spoke up:
"Fox disobeyed my orders, single-mindedly wanting to kill Uchiha Mahiru.
He even dared to attack me. In the end, Uchiha Kirika profited from our conflict and took the Mangekyō."
"Fox attacked you?" Utatane Koharu turned to look at Fox. "Does the Anbu no longer obey the orders of the high command?"
By convention, although the Anbu was the Hokage's direct force, if the Hokage was absent, they could not refuse orders from the high command.
Utatane Koharu thought to himself, If Fox dares to disobey Danzō, would he also disobey me in the future?
He glanced at Yellow Dog again; Yellow Dog's influence was expanding too quickly.
"Lord Utatane Koharu, it's not that I disobeyed Lord Danzō, it's that I couldn't," Yōkō said.
"Uchiha Mahiru awakened the Mangekyō, a pair of extremely dangerous eyes.
Hokage-sama, Lord Utatane Koharu, Uchiha Mahiru is dead, so now we can chat easily around his corpse.
But the pressure he put on me was immense.
His ocular jutsus were all instant-cast. A single moment of error, and I would have died.
Anyone facing Uchiha Mahiru would be killed instantly.
I don't believe my judgment was flawed in any way. I fought with all my might to kill Uchiha Mahiru to avoid my own death, to prevent the deaths of the subordinates I brought, and to avert greater losses for Konoha.
His left eye, Ameno Mihashira, instantly creates a chakra pillar from which one cannot break free.
His right eye, Yono Shima, causes anything that touches it to collapse into pulp; it's undefendable.
I had to go all out. If we didn't kill him here, he could have killed anyone in the village."
Yōkō looked at Utatane Koharu, implying that you would also be killed facing Uchiha Mahiru.
Utatane Koharu was startled, realizing his mistake.
He couldn't assume that just because Fox and Danzō survived, he could also survive facing the Mangekyō.
Fox survived because he specialized in defensive secret techniques, possessing top-tier defensive abilities that made him difficult to deal with.
Danzō survived... because Danzō learned Izanagi from Uchiha Kagami, allowing him to reverse life and death with an illusion.
Yellow Dog said, "Fox is a frontline combat shinobi. We cannot, after the fact, question whether his judgment in the heat of battle was absolutely rational.
The situation changes in the blink of an eye during combat. Facing a legendary ocular jutsu like the Mangekyō, one must inevitably go all out immediately.
If any other Anbu member were here, not only would they have failed to survive, but the Anbu would have suffered significant losses again."
Yellow Dog believed Fox's actions were correct.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked his pipe and finally made a decision: "This incident does not count as the Anbu disobeying the high command.
Danzō's goal was to seize the powerful Mangekyō Sharingan for the village.
Fox's goal was to eliminate the dangerous Uchiha shinobi for the village.
Neither is wrong; there were just some communication issues.
What about Uchiha Kirika? Where did he go after taking Uchiha Mahiru's Mangekyō?"
Yōkō quickly said, "Hokage-sama, a powerful White Zetsu appeared beside Uchiha Kirika.
I saw that White Zetsu in the Land of Rain. He called himself Tobi and is a subordinate of Uchiha Madara.
After Uchiha Kirika took Uchiha Mahiru's eyes, it seems he has become a rogue ninja and pledged allegiance to Uchiha Madara.
Hokage-sama, after Uchiha Mahiru was killed, Uchiha Kirika, under the stimulation, also awakened the Mangekyō!
It's a brand new Mangekyō, with unknown abilities!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression turned grave.
Two Mangekyō had awakened in succession within the Uchiha clan, one dead, one fled.
Was this another pair of brothers like Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna?
The First Hokage could deal with Uchiha Madara, but could he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, deal with such an enemy?
After a moment's thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately decided:
"Publicly announce that Uchiha Kirika, driven by ambition to gain power, killed his brother Uchiha Mahiru and stole his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Designate Uchiha Kirika as an S-Class rogue ninja of Konoha, with a danger level second only to Uchiha Madara and higher than Sarutobi Kanenosuke.
Notify all shinobi in Konoha: if they encounter Uchiha Kirika, report immediately!"
Yōkō thought this move was quite good. The Uchiha had a tradition of brothers killing each other; it was just too fitting.
"Koharu, you handle the Uchiha clan. Yellow Dog, you direct the cleanup of the scene.
Fox, take your men and pursue Uchiha Kirika immediately! Don't let Uchiha Kirika reach Uchiha Madara's side!
Danzo, come with me."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had already turned around, but found no one carrying out his orders.
He turned back sharply, his gaze fierce.
Since when had his orders gone unheeded?
Fox hadn't moved because Danzō was staring at him with a cold glare, as if he might erupt into violence at any moment.
Danzō hadn't moved because he had lost a precious Three Tomoe eye and gained nothing.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "Danzo! What are you doing? Haven't the losses for the Anbu and Root been great enough? What are you planning to do to Fox?"
Danzō had no choice but to withdraw his gaze from Fox.
He sneered inwardly. In the past, he did the dirty work, and the other higher-ups had no choice but to humor him.
Now there was this Fox, who was also receiving the preferential treatment that only he used to enjoy.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was far too lenient with Fox.
Danzō turned and followed Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Yōkō breathed a sigh of relief. After all the dirty work I've done, I've finally gained some leverage.
He couldn't let Danzō obtain the Mangekyō, which was why he had defied Danzō so strongly.
He quickly looked at an Anbu member who wasn't severely injured: "Have White Ram bring a squad and catch up with me as soon as possible!"
He body-flickered away, pursuing outside the village.
Yellow Dog watched Fox's retreating figure, thinking, It's a good thing I repaired my relationship with Fox. Otherwise, who would dare take on a mission like this?
That's the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.
Uchiha Kane and the others, stopped by several Anbu shinobi, were filled with humiliation.
In the distant forest, ocular chakra emitted terrifying fluctuations, yet he wasn't permitted to enter the scene.
Behind him were over a dozen Uchiha shinobi.
Uchiha Tōka and the others were somewhat restrained, but representatives of the Militant Faction like Uchiha Rikiga were on the verge of furious outbursts.
Utatane Koharu body-flickered to appear behind White Ram and Golden Eagle.
"Clan Head Kane, please come quickly. Two Uchiha shinobi corpses have been discovered ahead!"
Uchiha Kane's face twitched. "Alright, please lead the way, Lord Utatane Koharu."
Uchiha Fugaku felt exceptionally bitter. Clearly, the Anbu had stopped the Uchiha clan, and now Utatane Koharu was hypocritically inviting them to the scene.
The village and the Anbu had ample time to process the scene.
When the Uchiha group entered the scene, they first saw the various signs of battle.
Everyone activated their Three Tomoe Sharingan, frantically scanning the area, reconstructing the battle.
Over a dozen pairs of Three Tomoe Sharingan was quite a pressure-inducing sight.
Important intelligence had long been removed from the scene, leaving few clues for the Uchiha.
Uchiha Kane walked to the two corpses.
One corpse had a kunai embedded in its forehead: Uchiha Shun.
The other corpse's eyes had been gouged out, leaving only two bloody holes: Uchiha Mahiru.
Seeing Mahiru's body, seeing the sunken, bloody holes where his eyes should be, Uchiha Kane's vision went dark. He staggered back half a step.
Uchiha Tōka moved forward to support Uchiha Kane.
Uchiha Kane blinked several times, catching his breath.
The Uchiha clan had just produced a Mangekyō Sharingan, and in less than a month, it had been gouged out.
His expression returned to calm.
This wasn't the first time he had seen such a scene.
When his father, Uchiha Hikaku, was clan head, he too had found a body.
Uchiha Kagami, his eyes turned into bloody holes, his pair of Mangekyō gouged out.
Mangekyō... Haha, the Mangekyō...
Uchiha Kane turned to the highest-ranking person present.
"Lord Utatane Koharu, what exactly happened here?"
Utatane Koharu said, "Clan Head Kane, when we arrived, we found two of your Uchiha shinobi fighting each other.
Uchiha Kirika, in his pursuit of power, killed his brother Uchiha Mahiru and gouged out his eyes.
Clan Head Kane, why didn't you report to the village that someone in the Uchiha clan had awakened the Mangekyō?"
Uchiha Kane was stunned. The amount of information in Utatane Koharu's few sentences was immense.
***
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(End of Chapter)