"Sasuke… grow stronger. My eyes will always be waiting for you."
As Uchiha Sasuke collapsed mentally and lost consciousness on the ground, Uchiha Itachi, tears still on his face, cast one final glance at the bodies of his parents before turning away with unwavering resolve.
"Tsk tsk… what a loving family—kind father, devoted son, caring brothers."
Two white figures quietly emerged from the ground.
"You handle things here. I'll go search the house."
After all—
this was the residence of the Uchiha clan leader.
The home of Uchiha Fugaku surely contained valuable items.
There had to be ninjutsu and secret technique scrolls stored somewhere.
"Rip—"
Without hesitation,
the eyes of Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku were mercilessly removed.
"This ocular power… so he really awakened the Mangekyō."
Looking at the bloodied eyeballs with three tomoe, the Wood Clone disguised as a White Zetsu could clearly sense the powerful ocular energy within.
It couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Without even glancing at the unconscious Sasuke,
the clone sealed the collected Sharingan into a storage scroll
and slowly sank back underground.
Meanwhile—
On the streets of the Uchiha district,
Root operatives had begun entering the area.
Under Shimura Danzo's command,
they started collecting Sharingan from the corpses.
Not long after,
the Third Hokage, who seemed completely unaware of everything from the beginning, finally arrived with the ANBU.
Seeing the horrifying scene throughout the Uchiha district, Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared deeply shocked.
"Begin searching immediately."
"Collect the bodies and check if there are any survivors."
After taking a deep breath,
the Third Hokage issued his orders.
"Now the hidden danger within the village has finally been eliminated, Hiruzen."
Danzo spoke calmly.
"No matter what, the Uchiha were still part of Konoha."
The Third Hokage frowned.
"Danzo, you should not have acted without authorization."
"This was a necessary sacrifice."
Danzo replied coldly.
In his view, the troublesome Uchiha clan should have been eliminated long ago.
"You've gone too far, Danzo…"
The Third Hokage said sternly.
"The situation had not yet reached this point. Yet you bypassed me, the Hokage, and manipulated Uchiha Itachi into attacking the entire clan."
"Everything I've done was for Konoha!"
Danzo's expression changed as he argued loudly.
"For Konoha?"
The Third Hokage slowly took a puff from his pipe.
Then he suddenly said,
"I suppose Shisui's death also had something to do with you, didn't it?"
"Danzo… I can no longer ignore your actions."
Before Danzo could respond,
Hiruzen spoke firmly in a commanding tone.
"From today onward, you are relieved of your position as Hokage Advisor."
"The Root organization will be placed under the direct control of the ANBU."
"In addition, you are confined to your residence and forbidden from leaving."
"Hiruzen, I—"
"No more."
Watching Hiruzen walk away without looking back—
having stripped him of his Hokage Advisor title under the guise of righteousness—
Danzo's face darkened.
Yet he could not openly defy the Hokage.
Moreover,
he feared that if he argued further,
Hiruzen—the man who looked kind but had a dark heart—might force him to hand over Shisui's Sharingan.
"Damn it…"
Danzo slammed his cane against the ground.
His eyes were cold and gloomy.
After all—
he was not the Hokage.
"Lord Danzo…"
A Root ninja appeared and knelt before him.
Danzo suppressed his anger and asked,
"Have the bodies been fully checked?"
"A large number of Sharingan have been removed."
The Root ninja reported.
"Even the eyes of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto are gone."
He hesitated before adding,
"Could it have been done by Uchiha Itachi?"
"What?!"
Danzo's face instantly darkened.
From the very beginning, he had already regarded those Sharingan as his own possessions.
Now someone had dared to snatch them right under his nose.
His anger surged immediately.
"Impossible."
After calming himself slightly,
Danzo analyzed the situation carefully.
"If Itachi wanted those eyes, he would have taken his parents' bodies with him."
Clenching his teeth, he issued the order:
"Search everywhere. Don't overlook a single clue!"
"Yes, sir!"
…
Meanwhile—
At the Akira residence.
After finishing dinner with Yuhi Kurenai and Akira Nao, Ren escorted Kurenai home.
Then he returned to his room.
One white figure after another emerged silently from the walls.
They placed storage scrolls in front of him.
Inside those scrolls—
were large amounts of money, ninjutsu scrolls, and even Sharingan eyes.
"Quite a harvest indeed…"
After checking the wealth,
Ren couldn't help smiling.
Besides cash,
there were piles of gold, silver, and jewelry.
Although it wasn't the entirety of the Uchiha clan's wealth—
not even a tenth of the money stored in their bank accounts—
it was still an astonishing amount.
Most of it came from the homes of Uchiha elders and powerful jōnin.
"Ninjutsu… Genjutsu… Taijutsu…"
Ren continued examining the scrolls.
"Not even counting the scrolls found in individual houses, the Uchiha archive alone contains ninjutsu from all five elements—wind, lightning, water, fire, and earth."
"From low-level techniques to advanced ones."
"There are even S-rank forbidden techniques."
"And quite a number of powerful Yin Release Genjutsu."
Ren grinned.
"As expected of Konoha's most powerful clan."
"And the Sharingan haul is impressive too…"
"57 pairs of one-tomoe."
"33 pairs of two-tomoe."
"15 pairs of three-tomoe."
Looking at the blood-red eyes,
his excitement grew.
"And…"
"One pair of Mangekyō Sharingan."
"This was a huge jackpot."
He had to admit—
the abilities he gained from devouring that White Zetsu clone had been invaluable.
Otherwise,
he wouldn't have dared to take such risks.
And he certainly couldn't have obtained such massive rewards without anyone noticing.
Without White Zetsu's infiltration abilities,
if he had
participated directly,
he would have inevitably exposed himself.
After all—
Konoha's sensory ninjas were not useless decorations.
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