The last words Aburame Ryoma heard before losing consciousness were:
"Drown in the genjutsu of Chicken Little's beautiful dream."
Seeing that Aburame Ryoma had fallen into the genjutsu, Uchiha Yato finally relaxed his guard slightly.
Meanwhile, the three in the street stood there like quails, foolishly waiting for Uchiha Yato's return.
Without Yato present, none of them dared make a move, fearing they'd give him another opportunity to cause trouble—which would be tantamount to suicide.
When Uchiha Yato returned, they saw him holding a small, black-clad figure like a chick.
The three were utterly docile and equally confused: why was Uchiha Yato carrying a child?
Then, Yato explained: "This child is from the Aburame clan."
"He used insects to agitate you two, causing that fight and all this commotion."
"He's likely one of Root's operatives under Elder Danzo, so I'll be handing him over to the Military Police Force. Do you want to come along?"
Instantly, the two who had fought glared furiously.
It was all Aburame Ryoma's fault they'd given Uchiha Yato an excuse to mess with them.
Then, Uchiha Ren asked, "What should we do about these two now?"
"Do they still need to prove their friendship?"
Hearing this concerned their own fate, the pair simultaneously looked at Uchiha Yato, hoping to end this farce.
Yato replied bluntly, "How can we skip that?"
"Didn't they just say they'd stay at each other's houses? I didn't force them."
The two cursed him inwardly:
"What a shameless liar! You threatened us into saying that!"
Uchiha Ren, steeling himself, said, "Understood. I'll supervise them."
"The real culprit is your responsibility now."
After a final exchange, Uchiha Yato left the street with Aburame Ryoma in tow.
Once he was gone, Hyuga Bōya and Sarutobi Tsuru approached Uchiha Ren: "Since he put you in charge, let's just fake it."
"After six days, tell him we stayed over. We'll back you up."Uchiha Ren said righteously at this moment, "Trust me, don't resort to these petty tricks. And you two better behave yourselves right now."
"If I tell him you weren't obedient and didn't follow his instructions, guess what will happen?"
Hearing Uchiha Ren's words made the two feel somewhat embarrassed, casting resentful glances at him.
Uchiha Ren then patiently added, "Just bear with it for now. Do you want to know what happened to that Aburame kid in the end?"
"If you're curious, I can go find out for you right now."
Upon hearing Uchiha Ren's explanation, the two immediately recalled how this entire incident was connected to that kid.
Before Uchiha Yato left, he specifically used the Uchiha Clan's unique hand sign to signal to Uchiha Ren:
"Come find me later."
Leaving behind a shadow clone, Uchiha Ren then followed the path Uchiha Yato had just taken.
...
Inside the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force headquarters.
Uchiha Kei was currently feeling uncomfortable.
Uchiha Yato hadn't lifted the genjutsu yet, and its effects had already taken hold. Aburame Ryoma could be seen dancing in a bizarre, hypnotic manner.
Uchiha Yato had kindly provided him with a private room to "enjoy" himself for a while.
On his way out, Uchiha Yato set up an endlessly recording camera.
Uchiha Kei then said, "So you're saying Danzo sent this kid to carry out this underhanded attack."
"And he managed to provoke both the Hyuga and Sarutobi clans."
Uchiha Yato nodded obediently.
At this point, Uchiha Kei asked puzzledly, "Then why did you insist on targeting members of these two clans?"
"It's bound to create tension, and it won't be easy to explain to these families."
Uchiha Yato responded, "Clan leader, you need to understand clearly."
"If you let such tricks slide lightly, Danzo will definitely try them a second time, a third time."
"The moment our Uchiha Clan gets caught in one of these schemes, we'll earn everyone's disdain. So rather than that, it's better to tear off this facade from the very beginning."
After speaking, Uchiha Yato glanced at the interrogation room where Aburame Ryoma was being held and added,
"We even have a witness here. If necessary, we can have the Yamanaka Clan interrogate Aburame Ryoma."
Hearing Uchiha Yato's explanation and arrangements, Uchiha Kei expressed confusion.
"Then why not just deal with it directly? Why bring him to the Military Police Force?"
Uchiha Yato explained, "Although the Uchiha make up the Military Police Force, we can't let everyone think the Military Police is just an extension of the Uchiha Clan."
"I want this matter made public—not only to humiliate Danzo but also to show everyone that the Uchiha operate by logic."
"Haven't certain nobodies been constantly accusing our Uchiha Clan of violent law enforcement and disregarding regulations?"
"I'm going to shut them up hard!"
Uchiha Kei thought what Uchiha Yato said made sense.
But upon reflection, Uchiha Yato's own actions had indeed never violated laws or regulations.
Uchiha Kei said, "So the next step should be for me to summon the Aburame Clan head and Elder Shimura Danzo, right?"
Uchiha Yato nodded in agreement.
Just as the two finished their discussion, Uchiha Ren walked in.Uchiha Yato said directly, "Make sure these two have a bit of trouble during this time. Don't let them have an easy six days."
Uchiha Ren was puzzled and asked, "Why?"
Uchiha Yato explained, "I want them to hate Danzo."
"Only by keeping Shimura Danzo busy can we have a chance to take him down."
Only then did Uchiha Ren realize that Uchiha Yato was playing a much larger game. Not daring to be careless, he asked, "Then what should I do?"
"It's simple—just make sure they suffer these next few days."
"No need to deliberately mention Shimura Danzo's name. As long as their days are miserable enough, the first person they'll think of is me, and the second will be Shimura Danzo."
"Later, you just need to say that Uchiha Yato isn't someone to mess with. All their anger will naturally shift toward Shimura Danzo."
After hearing Uchiha Yato's plan, Uchiha Ren nodded and immediately left to carry out the task.
What Uchiha Yato didn't mention was that these two were actually quite important.
Hyuga Bōya was from the Hyuga main family—his forehead bore no Caged Bird Seal. Having someone with influence like him targeting Danzo would be enough to make him uncomfortable.
Sarutobi Tsuru was also Sarutobi Hiruzen's nephew and held some standing within the Sarutobi clan.
As for whether this move would succeed?
Uchiha Yato didn't care. It was just a casual play—if it worked, great. If not, no loss.
At the very least, it would leave a bad impression of Shimura Danzo among the other clans.
The real leverage, however, lay with Aburame Ryoma.
"If I don't make Danzo lose a piece of flesh today, I'll write my name backward."
Soon, the first to arrive was the Aburame clan head.
After all, Shimura Danzo of Root was a busy man.
Uchiha Yato immediately ran up to the Aburame clan head and wailed, "Clan Head!"
"Aburame Ryoma tried to kill me!"
Seeing this, Uchiha Kei's mind instantly screamed—"Holy shit!"
He thought, "This wasn't in the script you gave me! How shameless can you get?"
Even the usually composed Aburame clan head nearly lost his cool.
He thought, "As expected—the most shameless Uchiha of them all."
At this point, Uchiha Kei spoke up, "Enough. Don't embarrass the Uchiha Clan."
Turning to the Aburame clan head, he said, "Let's discuss this inside. It's better not to air this publicly."
With that, the three entered the police chief's office to talk.