At those words, Shisui could not hold back.
"Hokage-sama, absolutely impossible."
"Jin is an Uchiha. How could he kill his own."
"They had grudges, but that happens often in our clan. It does not escalate to murder."
"Besides, Jin only just graduated. He does not have that kind of ability."
Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent.
He neither nodded nor shook his head.
Time trickled by.
At last, Fugaku spoke.
"Shisui makes sense. Uchiha Jin does not have the ability."
His tone was firm.
In his eyes, Jin was an ordinary clansman, even a disgrace.
How could he kill three elite clansmen.
Yamanaka Haiichi hesitated, then spoke up.
"I should remind everyone of the state of the bodies."
"They were killed in an instant. From start to finish, there was no resistance."
"The killer's body flicker was exceptional, and each heart was shattered with a single strike."
"This was a taijutsu specialist who excels at high speed."
HISS!
Shock rippled through the room.
They had known the outline, not the details.
Hearing Haiichi, they fell into thought.
Were there taijutsu specialists in the shinobi world.
Yes.
But true masters were few.
Only Kumogakure came to mind.
Everyone knew the Third Raikage had forged a method for tempering the body with lightning, so Cloud shinobi often had strong taijutsu.
Which looped them back to Cloud.
Koharu spoke. "Cloud and Konoha are already at war. Would they play this sort of game."
Homura added, "If it was Cloud, what is their aim. What benefit do they gain."
With the elders' questions, the room grew heavy.
By now, the idea that Jin had done it had vanished from everyone's mind.
A useless Uchiha was not worth the time.
He did not have the ability.
Power politics in the shinobi world was still rudimentary. Even Hiruzen, the craftiest in Konoha, would have been a grade-schooler by Jin's standards in another life.
They could not imagine Jin's thinking if they tried.
Shisui, listening, quietly exhaled.
At least Jin was safe.
Then Hiruzen said, "Shikaku, your thoughts."
All eyes turned to Nara Shikaku.
When it came to strategy, the Nara were the brand.
Shikaku had been rubbing his chin since the start. Now he let out a long breath and spoke, faintly puzzled.
"I have been wondering."
"Are we overcomplicating this."
"Maybe it is simple."
"Let me start from the top, and you tell me if it holds."
"Two years ago, a Cloud team came to seize bloodline limits. When most were killed or captured, one shinobi lost his nerve."
"He ran."
"Recently, Cloud caught him again."
"With war on now, they decided to make use of trash and staged this."
"The goal is simple."
"Make Konoha fall into civil strife."
"Right now Cloud has no reason to strike openly."
"This, in fact, distances them while sowing suspicion among Konoha's clans. Choosing the Uchiha is a masterstroke."
"We all know the Uchiha temperament."
"By normal logic, this would set off a huge internal storm."
"The moderates might hold, but the radicals would not back down."
"The Uchiha run the Police Force. If they dig in, Konoha will be thrown into turmoil."
"Konoha will be chaos."
"Even if not the village, the Uchiha could tear themselves apart."
"Consider our current situation. We are at war on four fronts."
"If we erupt in civil strife now, what happens."
"Cloud's top minds are not fools."
HISS!
The guess sent a shiver through the room.
Thinking it over, it fit.
At this moment, the enemy would want Konoha to implode.
Then the other villages would not need to lift a finger to topple the strongest village.
Such a temptation was hard to resist.
Almost unconsciously, they accepted it.
"Yes, that is it."
"Cloud is vile. Shameless."
"We must not fall for it."
"Especially now, we have to stand as one."
Voices rose around the room.
Cold sweat beaded on foreheads.
Especially the Uchiha.
Fugaku snapped to attention and spoke like he was issuing an order.
"Hokage-sama, everyone."
"I, Fugaku, guarantee the Uchiha will not make trouble."
"In the name of our ancestors, during the war if anyone stirs unrest, I will be the first to refuse them."
His back was slick with sweat.
If the war was lost because of the Uchiha, he could not carry that weight.
Even Hiruzen found himself sweating.
Terrifying.
He had nearly taken the bait.
If he truly pursued this, disaster would follow.
Konoha was surrounded.
Cloud, Stone, Sand, Mist.
All four had declared war. Konoha lacked shinobi so badly that even fifth-years were being sent to the front.
If an internal fight broke out now, the fun would be fatal.
Whatever the truth, the probe could not continue.
Stabilizing hearts mattered most.
He rose and spoke.
"This ends here."
"This is Cloud's plot to incite Konoha's chaos."
"Fortunately, Jonin Commander Nara Shikaku saw through it at once."
"Announce this to the shinobi world. Let them know the pettiness and malice of Cloud."
"And a stern warning to all. Such poisons will never work on Konoha."
"Be warned in advance."