Sarutobi Hiruzen was no fool.
In his heart he knew—whatever the truth might be, it no longer mattered.
Just as Nara Shikaku had said, the only thing that mattered now was stabilizing morale.
After all—
The village was in the middle of a war. Who had the time or energy to investigate a murder case?
And besides…
The dead were Uchiha.
The village had always been on guard against the Uchiha anyway; the fewer of them, the better.
Even if they didn't die inside the village, sooner or later he would see to it that plenty of Uchiha died on the battlefield.
The clan had to be contained—they could not be allowed to grow too powerful.
In this light, their deaths were simply deaths.
And so, with all this in mind, Hiruzen made the decision on the spot, putting the matter to rest with a single stroke. Conveniently, he could even smear the Cloud in the process, while raising Konoha's morale.
That was nothing but good news.
Without the slightest hesitation, he issued the order.
And Shikaku did not disappoint—he spread the story across the entire shinobi world.
Naturally, as the tale fermented, the reputation of the Hidden Cloud plummeted.
What else could anyone believe?
There were corpses, there were injuries—seeing was believing.
Especially the three Uchiha's condition, killed without resistance—such taijutsu power, at that level, was assumed to exist only in the Cloud. No one else fit the profile, not unless Maito Dai himself made a move.
The Hidden Cloud: "…"
We have a thousand curses on our lips, but don't know whether we should speak them.
This scapegoat was so heavy, it nearly made them weep.
Rumor has it, when the Third Raikage heard the news, he rushed to issue a public declaration across the shinobi world: all of this was Konoha's slander, that he, was a man of honor, and would never stoop to such actions.
But—too bad.
Konoha promptly produced evidence from two years prior, when a Cloud squad was caught trying to steal a kekkei genkai. The records, the corpses, the proof—it was all there.
This time, Konoha said nothing more.
They simply showed the evidence.
Silence louder than words.
The Third Raikage: "…"
He had nothing left to say.
In a rage and humiliation, he smashed everything in his office.
Damn it!
He was truly furious.
If he had actually done it, he would admit it, even if he failed.
But the problem was—he could swear to the heavens, this wasn't his doing!
He was a victim too!
But it was useless.
No one in the shinobi world believed him.
Even Hidden Stone Village, their secret ally, began treating them with suspicion. Negotiations grew cautious, the looks in their eyes full of mistrust—driving the Third Raikage to madness.
This scapegoat was simply too heavy to bear.
In his heart, he swore—if he ever found out who the real culprit was, he would kill them, even if it meant halting the entire Third Shinobi War.
Too vile.
Utterly disgusting.
Konoha, meanwhile, reaped the benefits.
The village's morale surged.
Especially in battles against the Cloud, shinobi charged with fire in their eyes, roaring for vengeance.
Clearly, the Cloud's "treachery" had stoked their fury.
Elsewhere, in the Uchiha compound—
The man at the heart of it all, Uchiha Kai, had no idea just how big a storm his actions had set off.
At that moment, he was seated in his living room, entertaining his guest—Shisui.
"Can you tell me?" Kai asked.
"What exactly happened? Today's lineup seemed a bit too much. Of course, if it's confidential, you don't have to say."
Looking at Shisui across from him, Kai couldn't help but probe.
Shisui, however, only smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry, it's been sorted out. There's nothing secret to hide. Uchiha Yoshio and the other two—they were killed last night. The investigation is done. From beginning to end, this was the Cloud's plot, meant to throw Konoha into chaos."
"Truly, wolfish ambition!"
"Fortunately, we of Konoha have the brilliant Nara clan. Our current commander, Nara Shikaku, cut through the deception with one keen analysis, exposing Cloud's scheme. The matter has already been announced to the entire shinobi world. Everyone will know the Hidden Cloud for the filthy, vile village it is."
Uchiha Kai: "…"
He was dumbfounded.
What in the world?
The Cloud's conspiracy?
He was the one who'd done it—how did he know nothing about this?
It was true he had left a Cloud corpse behind as a fallback scapegoat, but that was only to cover his tracks. He hadn't thought too deeply about it. In his mind, as long as suspicion didn't land on him, everything would be fine.
Yet here was Shisui, face full of righteous anger, nearly ready to storm the battlefield to cut down the Cloud himself.
Kai didn't know what to say.
This kid… too damn earnest.
Still, something felt off.
He frowned.
"Shisui, don't be so quick to rage. Could you explain it to me in detail? Since this matter involves me, I want to understand it properly. What exactly did Clan Head Nara say?"
Kai's tone was serious.
Yes—
He dared not underestimate Nara Shikaku.
This was the man hailed as the brain of Konoha, the top strategist even among Hokage advisors. He wasn't some naïve child like Shisui, swallowing every word at face value.
So Kai needed the details, to judge for himself.
Shisui didn't hide anything. He recounted everything that had been said in the Hokage's office, especially Shikaku's deductions, word for word.
When Kai finished listening, he only had to think for a moment before the whole picture became clear.
He was certain now—
Shikaku was spinning a tale.
Yes.
The story had a setup, a process, even psychological reasoning.
But the problem was—
This was the Hidden Cloud.
From the Third Raikage down to the lowest shinobi, they were all brawn-over-brain muscleheads. Did they even have this level of cunning?
What a joke.
Since the founding of the Cloud, when had they ever used their brains? Their solution to everything had always been one word: charge.
The only Cloud shinobi with a shred of tactical sense was Mabui.
But Mabui was only the Fourth Raikage's secretary. Right now, in the era of the Third, she was still just a child, about Kai's age.
Could she be guiding the Cloud's schemes?
Utter nonsense.
Which meant only one thing—
If even he could see through this, could Nara Shikaku, the mind of Konoha, truly not?
Impossible.
Even if the shinobi world was skewed toward brute force and weak in political scheming, anyone with half a brain could tell the Cloud wasn't capable of such elaborate plotting.
And the Nara clan?
They were the pinnacle of intellect in Konoha.
For Shikaku not to see it?
What a joke.
Who was he trying to fool?
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