Chapter 174: The Raccoon and the Panda
Uchiha Jiangshu was dead.
He had died during a mission to pursue a wanted criminal, fighting with all his strength until the very last moment. His deeds inspired many Konoha ninjas, and he was even hailed as a hero of Konoha—noble in life, great in death!
But in just a few days, it seemed that everyone had completely forgotten him. People could barely even remember his name anymore. Yet there was one person who could never forget it all…
"What am I supposed to do? The clan or the captain!?"
Inside Uchiha Yuya's mind, the red-and-white fan crest and Li Jiexuan's unfathomable smiling face kept flashing back and forth.
Perhaps the other Uchiha only suspected the Anbu's explanation, but he alone was certain…
Elder Jiangshu and Cousin Menwei were absolutely not killed by Kakuzu. Because Kakuzu had already been killed by Captain Li Jiexuan back in the twelfth year of Konoha!
Although he hadn't accompanied Li Jiexuan on that mission, he had heard the entire process retold countless times by Hyuga Yizhen: how Li Jiexuan had calculated everything with divine precision, deliberately feigning exhaustion to set a trap, and then crushing Kakuzu with superior combat experience…
He even knew every single detail of it.
And the more he knew, the more painful it became.
If he stayed silent, he would be betraying his clan. But if he spoke out, he would be betraying Li Jiexuan!
Between his clan and Li Jiexuan, he had to choose one…
For Uchiha Yuya, this was especially agonizing. On one side was the clan he had been proud to belong to since birth; on the other was the powerful figure he had resolved to follow for the rest of his life!
"Heavens, why did I have to learn the truth?"
For the first time, Uchiha Yuya hated the truth so much.
What he didn't know was that all of this had been part of Li Jiexuan's plan.
"Uchiha Yuya, which side will you choose? I'm really looking forward to it."
Li Jiexuan smiled and shook his head. Sitting comfortably in the Anbu office, he brewed himself a cup of tea that Uchiha Zhenxiong had sent over, enjoying the moment…
But before he could enjoy even half a minute of peace, the office door was slammed open with a bang.
The Tanuki Anbu, bound tightly with iron chains from head to toe, charged in.
"I've already analyzed all the known ninja rosters of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Among them, only you could have done something like this!"
"What bitter tea…"
Li Jiexuan rubbed his forehead helplessly. Was this guy an idiot? At a time like this, he was still stubbornly refusing to let go of He tian's death. What exactly made him so hard-headed?
"You bastard, bothering the captain again!"
The Panda Anbu rushed in right after him and grabbed the Tanuki Anbu by the neck. "Next time, I'm going to seal you with a jutsu!"
"It won't work!" the Tanuki Anbu roared unwillingly. "Until I uncover the truth, I will never yield!"
"You…"
Panda smacked her lips in frustration. "Isn't there any ninjutsu in this world that can shrink a ninja and stuff him into a tiny box?"
"Uh…"
The Tanuki Anbu froze again. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I haven't conducted research in that area, but that is indeed a possible line of suspicion."
"Then why don't you hurry up and leave?"
Panda forcibly dragged Tanuki out, chains and all.
As soon as they stepped outside the Anbu building, Panda leaned against the wall, panting heavily.
"You idiot, why do you love courting death so much? Why do you keep provoking that captain?"
"This is my destiny. I am willing to devote myself to justice and truth—even if the price is my life!" The Tanuki Anbu spoke without hesitation, his expression righteous.
"If you die, that's your problem. Just don't get your family killed along with you."
Rolling her eyes, Panda said irritably, "I might even end up being buried with you!"
Hearing this, Tanuki's eyes widened in surprise.
"Li Jiexuan would kill my family? Isn't he afraid?"
"Afraid? Afraid of what!"
Panda slapped Tanuki on the head.
"You know about the recent deaths of Uchiha Jiangshu and Menwei, right?"
"Mm-hmm… I heard they died at Kakuzu's hands. A glorious death!" Tanuki said with admiration.
"Glorious my ass!"
Panda lowered her voice mysteriously.
"Those two had just had a conflict with Li Jiexuan, and the very next day they were dead. Even an idiot could figure out what happened!"
"You mean… murder?" Tanuki's eyes lit up with excitement.
"You idiot, keep your voice down!"
Panda immediately covered Tanuki's mouth.
"You don't want to end up being 'gloriously' dead someday too, do you?"
Panda Anbu was trying to use this example to scare Tanuki into backing off.
Unfortunately, what she didn't notice was that Tanuki's eyes were shining brighter and brighter…