"The war broke out suddenly two weeks ago," Inuzuka Chi, who was walking on Akira's left, said.
"It was Amegakure that declared war on us—more precisely, war on all three great nations," the ninja on the right, Mokume Kōtō, continued. "They declared war on Konoha first and fought us for two days. Then they immediately turned around and declared war on the Wind and Earth Countries as well. Right now, they're fighting Sunagakure the hardest."
The two walked on either side of Hyūga Akira. On the surface, it looked like casual conversation, but in reality, they were constantly on guard. If Akira made even the slightest suspicious move, they were ready to subdue him at any moment.
"What's really ridiculous," Inuzuka Chi complained, "is that Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, publicly claimed that Konoha's 'Thousand-Faced Hermit, Uchiha Akira' killed the previous leader, Shōzō. There aren't even any Uchiha on this battlefield!"
Where did Hanzo even dig up this so-called Uchiha from?
"…And what exactly is this 'Thousand-Faced Hermit' supposed to be?" Akira asked.
He didn't care much about the name Uchiha Akira—that was technically him anyway—but this title sounded suspiciously strange.
"That's Hanzo's own term," Mokume Kōtō explained. "According to intelligence, that person possesses an extremely powerful Transformation Jutsu that's impossible to see through. Hanzo gave him the codename Thousand-Faced Hermit."
So he even had a title now.
"Heh." Akira let out a cold laugh. "He really is good at coming up with names."
The current Thousand-Faced Hermit.
The future Three Great Ninja of Konoha.
Did Hanzo just have a hobby of handing out nicknames?
Absolutely absurd.
Mokume Kōtō sighed helplessly. "Because of Hanzo's statement, the higher-ups have started to suspect the Uchiha clan. They think the clan has been hiding a ninja who specializes in Transformation Jutsu."
Akira quietly averted his gaze, feeling a bit guilty.
He really hadn't expected things to spiral this far. Back then, when Hanzo insisted he was an Uchiha, Akira had simply gone along with it and made up a name on the spot.
Who would've thought it would actually affect the entire Uchiha clan?
Thinking about how the higher-ups—especially those led by Danzō—treated the Uchiha, it wasn't hard to imagine how miserable their current situation must be.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was wary of the Uchiha, but he hadn't openly suppressed them—he had simply allowed Danzō to do as he pleased.
And honestly, that was already the worst kind of suppression.
Fortunately, Root didn't have much power yet—just a handful of elites at best.
Hiruzen was still in his prime. While he tolerated Root's existence, there was no way he'd fully hand over authority.
Root's true expansion would only happen after the Second Shinobi World War.
It was only because one of the war's heroes—Orochimaru—entered Root that Hiruzen loosened his grip, allowing Root to swell rapidly.
Even so, the current Root was already more than enough to give the Uchiha a massive headache.
The two led Akira into a camp set up within the forest.
"…Why has the camp been moved into the Land of Rain?" Akira asked, looking around. This was already deep within Amegakure's territory.
Mokume Kōtō suddenly turned and stared at him.
"You wouldn't happen to be that Uchiha Akira Konoha sent as a spy into Amegakure, would you?"
Akira scratched his head awkwardly.
To be fair, it really wasn't hard to guess—his name was Akira, after all.
Mokume Kōtō let out a long sigh. "You really caused a huge mess."
Akira suddenly appearing in the Land of Rain, when Konoha's frontline had already pushed forward…
No record of Hyūga reinforcements being dispatched…
A former member of Hiruko's squad who didn't even know the commander had been replaced…
All of these clues lined up far too neatly.
"Didn't think it through back then. Really didn't think it through. Haha…" Akira tried to laugh it off.
Mokume Kōtō patted him on the shoulder. "You'd better be careful around the Uchiha from now on. They probably hate your guts."
Being targeted for no reason at all—any clan would be furious.
Akira curled his lip in mild disdain.
As if he was afraid of the Uchiha. Besides, they were all heading toward annihilation anyway.
"Still," Mokume Kōtō added with a sigh, "you actually made a major contribution."
They entered the central tent. Although Mokume Kōtō was already convinced Akira was a Konoha shinobi, formal verification was still required.
"…How so?" Akira asked, genuinely puzzled.
Instead of answering, Mokume Kōtō turned to the ninja inside the tent.
"Pull up the file for Shinobi ID 005188."
"Yes, sir!"
The green-vested ninja stepped into a small side room. Retrieving shinobi records required summoning techniques to connect directly with Konoha.
Only then did Mokume Kōtō explain.
"If another country had started the war, their first target would've been the Land of Fire. That would've caused massive losses for us. But because Amegakure struck first, Iwagakure and Sunagakure didn't react in time. That gave Konoha a huge opening."
Hanzo had ignited the war by accusing Konoha. Initially, the other two great villages were just waiting to see Konoha humiliated.
After all, a small village openly declaring war on Konoha—win or lose, Konoha's prestige would take a hit.
But then Hanzo immediately turned around and attacked Iwagakure and Sunagakure, accusing them of violating the Land of Rain's borders.
And Amegakure's military strength turned out to be far greater than anyone expected.
They actually managed to withstand the combined pressure of three great villages.
From Iwa and Suna's reactions, Konoha could clearly tell they had already been preparing for war.
Especially Sunagakure—they had committed the largest force in the Land of Rain, which was exactly why they became Amegakure's primary target.
In other words, Akira's actions weren't just harmless—they were beneficial.
The only problem was that everything had initially been pinned on an Uchiha.
Thanks to someone's "reasonable objections," it went from "no merit" straight to "pure fault."
Now that the truth was out—that it wasn't an Uchiha—the fault magically turned back into merit.
Anyone with half a brain could feel how unfair this was to the Uchiha clan.
"Still," Mokume Kōtō concluded, "I have no idea how the higher-ups will ultimately judge this. All I can say is… good luck."
Akira rolled his eyes.
He honestly didn't care. What were they going to do—skin him alive?
The ninja from the side room returned quickly and handed Akira's file to Mokume Kōtō.
After flipping through it and checking the photo, he nodded.
"Your identity checks out. However, just to be safe, you'll need to return to Konoha. Since Hiruko has already gone back, as a member of his squad, you're required to return as well."
"…I can't stay?" Akira asked, looking genuinely reluctant.
This was a war zone. EXP was practically lying on the ground waiting to be picked up. He really didn't want to leave.
"No," Mokume Kōtō said firmly. "Unless the commanding officer approves. Otherwise, you'll have to discuss it with Hiruko, or submit a request to Konoha."
"…Then can I ask who the current commander here is?"
"That's no problem," Mokume Kōtō replied. "It's one of Konoha's advisors—"
He paused briefly, then spoke the name.
"Shimura Danzō-sama."
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