The Third Hokage had just returned to his home when he heard the explosion.
He immediately ordered the Anbu to go and investigate the source, while he himself quickly rushed back to the Hokage's office.
When they delivered the news, he stood frozen in stunned silence. It was as if his soul had left his body for a moment.
His old friend and advisor, Homura Mitokado, had been assassinated. Hiruzen felt dizzy, stumbled a few steps, and dropped into his chair.
A few minutes later, Koharu Utatane opened his door and entered without knocking or asking for permission:
"What is it, Hiruzen? What was all that noise earlier?"
Hiruzen gave Utatane a sorrowful look, saying nothing at first. His lips trembled slightly, and then he managed:
"Someone killed Homura."
"What?" Utatane didn't understand what Hiruzen was saying for a moment.
It was as if he had spoken in a foreign language. Hiruzen's words were truly shocking to her.
"Who did it?" she quickly recovered,
but Hiruzen shook his head: "I don't know. The killer escaped."
Utatane, observing Hiruzen's sorrowful state, asked: "Hiruzen, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he said, getting up.
"It's just... the death of an old friend has left me a little stunned, that's all."
He then ordered an Anbu: "Investigate everything immediately. Inform Kakashi to be present to examine the crime scene. Even the smallest trace of the attacker must be analyzed."
He turned to Utatane and instructed: "Homura's body has been recovered. Tell the interrogation team to search Homura's mind. His final moments are crucial. We must find out who was responsible."
Utatane confirmed, but simultaneously asked, "Do you think it's Orochimaru's work?"
"I don't know. But whoever did this will pay the price!"
...
Kakashi frowned, looking at the burn marks.
Homura's two Anbu guards had been burned almost to ash.
It seemed the attacker deliberately wanted to leave a terrifying impression.
He looked around.
There were no footprints from the attacker on the ground—it was as if they had arrived and left through the air. His gaze settled on the body of Elder Homura.
His body was relatively intact, but his shoulder and chest were covered in countless small, fine scratches.
The wounds weren't deep, but their sheer number suggested a rapid, relentless attack from multiple directions. And finally, there was a deep wound in his chest.
It was clear the attacker had been toying with him before finally aiming for the heart. Shunshin Ninjutsu... these types of wounds were familiar to him.
Wounds only a fast and precise ninja could inflict. This style reminded him of one of his former subordinates...
He stood up and, with a swift movement, bit his thumb and placed it on the ground. Kuchiyose No Jutsu!
Poff!
"Pakkun!"
"Oh, Kakashi."
"A murder has happened here. Can you tell me how many people were present?"
Pakkun, his summoning dog whose specialty was tracking, grumbled a little, then began sniffing the surroundings.
Just then, an Anbu approached Kakashi. "Kakashi-san... have you found anything?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Not yet... the crime scene is too clean. It looks like the work of an Anbu. The killer seems to have trained for a rapid assassination."
...
The excessive cleanliness left a bitter taste in Kakashi's mouth.
He stroked his chin.
Could this be connected to the events in the Forest of Death and Orochimaru?
At that moment,
Pakkun yelped: "Kakashi, I found something!"
Kakashi turned to Pakkun: "What is it?"
"The scent of two people other than the Anbu and Homura-san is here, and a trace of..."
Kakashi asked, "Are the scents familiar to you?"
The dog shook its head: "One of the scents is vaguely familiar, but I can't recall where I've smelled it before... The second scent is completely indiscernible, as if it's mixed with something else that disrupts my sense of smell—like the smell of burnt paper... I also sense the scent of Earth Style and Reverse Summoning."
"Earth Style? But there's no trace of a battle involving Earth Style here."
Pakkun nodded: "But the smell is present." Kakashi pondered for a moment and asked: "Can you also find the source of the smell?"
Pakkun sniffed the air again: "No... I can't pinpoint the source of the scent exactly. It seems to have vanished into the air."
It might be Space-Time Ninjutsu, Kakashi thought to himself.
He then conveyed the information he had gathered to the Anbu.
"Earth Summoning?" the Anbu was startled and asked in a surprised voice,
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Why?"
"..."
Kakashi looked at the Anbu. "Tenzō, is there something you're not telling me?"
Tenzō hesitated: "It's just a possibility... A few months ago, something happened one night..."
He recounted the story of the night Naruto stole the Second Hokage's scroll. Kakashi raised an eyebrow:
"You found traces of Earth Style where the scroll was stolen?"
Tenzō nodded. "We suspect it was going to be stolen, but wasn't. When we checked the cameras, we found a blurred image. An image of someone wearing a crow mask."
Kakashi murmured to himself:
"A crow... If it's that famous crow... But why would he assassinate a Konoha Elder?"
Kakashi stopped thinking and said, "In any case, there's nothing more I can do... This is all the help I could offer."
Tenzō praised Kakashi in response, saying, "Even this is more than we've been able to achieve. Thank you, Senpai."
Kakashi sadly left the crime scene.
He thanked Pakkun for his work and prepared to dispel the summoning. "Kakashi, there's one more thing,"
Pakkun said in a serious voice. "What is it?"
"One of those two scents... the one I said was familiar. It's very faint to me, but it reminds me of someone. Someone you know."
"Who?"
"Shisui Uchiha."
"What?!" Kakashi was shocked,
and he now understood the unnatural, familiar feeling that enveloped him.