At this thought, Seimei sighed with a hint of regret and said, "No official order? Then I'm sorry, I have other matters to attend to. I'll be leaving now."
With that, he stepped between the two ninjas and continued forward.
However, before he could take two steps, the two Anbu ninjas flickered and reappeared in front of him, blocking his path once again.
Seimei halted his steps. The faint smile that had lingered on his face quickly faded.
"Oh? Do you two still need something?"
This time, his tone was noticeably less polite than before.
The two Anbu ninjas caught the change in his demeanor and became more vigilant. Ignoring the issue of the official order, they simply repeated, "The Third Hokage has personally ordered you to report to the Hokage's office as soon as you return to the village. He has matters to discuss with you."
This time, they revealed the meeting location.
The Hokage's office—indeed, a relatively safe place.
Questioning him there meant they weren't planning to use force immediately.
But…
So what?
Seimei had no intention of being treated like a criminal, interrogated back and forth—even if he had killed Danzo.
Ignoring the implications in their words, Seimei responded bluntly, "So, you really don't have an official order from the Hokage?"
The two ninjas remained silent.
Seeing this, Seimei lifted his foot to continue walking.
This time, however, the two Anbu ninjas took a synchronized half-step forward, making it clear with their actions that they wouldn't let him pass so easily.
Seimei didn't hesitate. His Sharingan activated instantly.
In a flash, his pupils turned blood-red, and three black tomoe appeared, rotating ominously. A suffocating pressure descended upon the two Anbu ninjas.
Still, they were elite warriors. Their reactions were swift, and they immediately distanced themselves from Seimei.
Then, they split apart, taking opposite positions on either side of the street to prevent both from being caught in a genjutsu at once.
The clashing auras of the three Jonin made the very air seem to freeze, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
Even the insects, which had been chirping moments ago, fell eerily silent, as if their throats had been seized.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Though Seimei had yet to make a move, the two Anbu ninjas were already sweating beneath their masks.
As the saying goes, hearing about someone is one thing, meeting them in person is another.
They had heard of Seimei's many achievements and studied his intelligence reports, but facing him in person was a completely different experience.
Their strength might not be at the absolute peak of the Jonin ranks, but they were certainly above average.
Yet, even with their combined skills, they dared not make the first move against Seimei.
Fortunately, when Seimei had first asked about the official order, they had already anticipated trouble and secretly sent out a distress signal for reinforcements.
All they had to do now was stall for time until backup arrived.
After all, this was still inside the village. No matter how strong Seimei was, surely he wouldn't dare to go all out… right?
Just as they were lost in their thoughts, a series of hurried footsteps echoed through the streets.
The sound grew closer and closer, until finally, a group of figures arrived, surrounding the three of them.
At first, the two Anbu ninjas thought their reinforcements had arrived and felt a surge of relief.
But to their dismay, the newcomers were all members of the Konoha Police Force—the Uchiha Clan's domain. Their uniforms bore the unmistakable Uchiha crest.
Seeing this, the two Anbu ninjas' expressions darkened beneath their masks.
Now, the Uchiha had the numerical advantage. If they insisted on taking Seimei with them, there was little the Anbu could do to stop them.
As the Anbu operatives considered their next move, another whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sounded—more figures appeared.
Dressed in black cloaks and wearing identical masks, they were unmistakably Anbu reinforcements.
Their arrival brought a sigh of relief to the two original Anbu ninjas.
However, even with the reinforcements, the Uchiha side still held the advantage in numbers.
After a moment of silence, it was an Uchiha Jonin—one of the highest-ranking members present—who finally spoke first.
Seimei had seen this man a few times before. He knew that he was from the same generation as Uchiha Fugaku, the current head of the Uchiha Clan, but Seimei didn't know his name.
This man was also a Deputy Commander of the Konoha Police Force.
Uchiha Fugaku, as the Commander, rarely handled day-to-day matters himself, leaving most responsibilities to his deputies.
This man was one of them.
He turned to Seimei and asked directly, "What exactly is going on here?"
Seimei saw no reason to hide anything. He bluntly explained how the Anbu had suddenly appeared, demanding that he go to see the Hokage—without an official order.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding Uchiha shinobi exchanged looks, their expressions turning strange.
Some of the younger Uchiha were even questioning whether an official order was truly necessary in this situation.
However, the Deputy Commander of the Police Force immediately understood—there was something suspicious going on.
Otherwise, Seimei wouldn't be making such a big deal out of this.
Wait a moment~
He suddenly remembered a rumor that had surfaced in the village earlier this morning: it was said that the advisor elder, Danzo, had been killed, and the culprit was one of their own.
At first, this rumor had spread like wildfire, but by the afternoon, it had been suppressed.
Initially, he had thought it was just baseless gossip.
But now, it didn't seem so far-fetched after all!
Combining this with the reactions of both Seimei and the ANBU, a bold idea began to form in his mind.
"No way!"
The deputy captain of the Police Force gave Seimei a deep, meaningful look.
He didn't say much. Regardless of whether things were truly as he suspected, the most important thing right now was to escort Seimei back to the clan.
Conveniently, Seimei had provided them with a ready-made excuse.
Indeed, the procedure the ANBU followed this time could, strictly speaking, be called problematic.
Logic was on their side.
However, they couldn't afford to drag things out for too long.
If someone actually showed up later with an official Hokage decree to summon him, they'd lose the initiative.
With this thought, the deputy captain of the Police Force immediately turned to the ANBU ninjas in front of him and said, "Since everything is clear now, let's call it a day. Once you've obtained an official decree from Lord Hokage, it won't be too late to come back for him."
After speaking, he didn't give the ANBU ninjas any chance to argue further. He exchanged a glance with a few Uchiha jonin nearby and left with Seimei in tow.
Seeing this, the two ANBU ninjas seemed ready to intervene.
But at that moment, the Uchiha jonin, who had caught on to the signal, simultaneously activated their three-tomoe Sharingan.
The other Uchiha ninjas followed suit, activating their Sharingan one after another, subtly encircling the ANBU ninjas in the center.
Being stared down by so many Sharingan eyes, even seasoned ANBU operatives who lived in the shadows couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.
In the end, one of the ANBU jonin waved his hand, signaling the others to stand down, preventing the conflict from escalating into a full-blown battle.
However, the commotion they had caused here had already attracted quite a bit of attention.
It was only a matter of time before word of what happened here spread throughout the village, prompting reactions from all the major and minor clans.
That, however, had nothing to do with Seimei.
At the moment, he was following the deputy captain of the Police Force to the home of the Uchiha clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku.
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