Three days later
Konoha — Hokage Office
The entire office was filled with such dense smoke that even a single breath could have given a normal person stage-one cancer.
Itachi sat silently on the chair opposite Sarutobi Hiruzen. His face was calm, unreadable—but inwardly, he had already decided how he would torment the man before him… and his family.
' I was right to kill your son first.
After him comes your other son.
And when your grandson turns eighteen—
I'll personally send him to the Pure Land.'
Several minutes passed.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen finally decided that Itachi had likely inhaled enough smoke to reach at least stage two Cancer, he stood up and opened the window. The thick clouds slowly dispersed.
"Cough… cough… Sorry, Itachi," Hiruzen said, rubbing his pipe absentmindedly.
"It's supposed to be a day of celebration for you, yet I've kept you locked in a room with an old man."
He sighed heavily.
"You also know that Shinnosuke has been missing for three days now. I was worried about him… lost in thought."
Hiruzen sat back down, his posture and expression practically screaming—
' Comfort me '
' Comfort my ass '
Itachi thought coldly.
He couldn't tell whether Sarutobi Hiruzen had made him wait in that suffocating cloud of smoke intentionally or not.
In his previous life, Itachi had watched more than enough interviews to recognize such tactics.
Making someone wait was often deliberate—
to show who held power,
to assert dominance,
to test patience,
or simply to humiliate the other party.
And looking at the old Hokage now…
Itachi doubted this had been an accident.
"Hokage-sama, the only people capable of harming Shinnosuke-sama so quietly within Konoha are the very cream of the ninja world. Such individuals would, at the very least, possess Kage-level strength.
"Moreover, Shinnosuke-sama is the most likely successor to you as the Fifth Hokage. For the enemy to strike at him now… their intentions are truly vicious.
They are clearly trying to create a fracture in the Hokage succession line."
Itachi paused briefly before continuing, his voice heavy with self-reproach.
"I am deeply ashamed. Even after three full days, and despite mobilizing the resources of the Konoha Military Police, I have been unable to uncover a single clue regarding Shinnosuke-sama's whereabouts."
As he finished speaking, Itachi lowered his head.
His posture was that of a man burdened by guilt—someone ready to accept any punishment to atone for his failure.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched him quietly. A faint ripple passed through his eyes.
He was… touched.
And satisfied.
---
{ This is previous explanation about Itachi easily leaving the ANBU }
Just a week ago, Itachi had abruptly requested permission to leave both ANBU and ROOT. At the time, Hiruzen had been confused—and wary.
The decision was too sudden,
even though Itachi's reasoning had been sound, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already decided to discard this pawn and withdraw his trust.
As for the reason Itachi had presented—
It was simple.
He was the young master of the Uchiha clan and the next in line for its leadership. Fugaku had supposedly discovered traces of Itachi acting as a double agent.
To prevent a future betrayal of the clan, he had ordered Itachi to sever ties with ROOT and ANBU, join the Konoha Military Police, and begin preparing for succession.
At least—
That was the story Hiruzen had been given.
Hiruzen also felt that the reason Itachi gave was reasonable.
Other clan heads began grooming their successors far earlier. The Hyūga clan was a prime example—its leader had already started training Hinata Hyūga as the future head of the clan.
Compared to that, an Uchiha successor beginning formal preparation at the age of twelve was already late.
As Hiruzen pondered this, another possibility surfaced.
Perhaps the other elders of the Uchiha clan were also involved. For the past few years, Fugaku had been trapped between rebellion and restraint, unable to decisively control the clan's growing unrest.
It was possible that the elders had lost confidence in Fugaku's leadership and had begun placing their hopes on Itachi instead.
If that were the case… then this development was not necessarily bad.
The succession of an Uchiha clan head would take several years. During that time, the clan would be occupied with internal restructuring, tradition, and preparation. The issue of a coup would inevitably be postponed.
And once Itachi eventually became the clan leader, the possibility of rebellion would become even smaller.
Taking all of this into account, Sarutobi Hiruzen had allowed Itachi to leave ANBU with surprising ease.
Under normal circumstances, leaving ANBU was nearly impossible.
Every member was exposed to classified information—secrets that no one outside the shadows was ever meant to know.
That was why a saying circulated within the village:
"You can join ANBU by choice…
but you only leave ANBU as a corpse."
---
Hiruzen than began to truly process Itachi's words—and the more he thought about them, the more he realized that Itachi's explanation carried far greater weight than his own earlier conclusions.
Everyone in the village knew the truth.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was grooming Sarutobi Shinnosuke as the next Hokage.
---
{ This is Uchiha's current situation }
And this single fact lay at the heart of the Uchiha clan's resentment, their fear, and ultimately—their thoughts of rebellion.
The Uchiha remembered everything.
They had watched as the position of First Hokage, once promised in spirit if not in name, was taken by the Senju clan—those they viewed as inherently hostile to their existence.
When the time came for the Second Hokage, and hope flickered once more, the seat was again claimed by the inherently evil Senju.
By the Third Hokage's ascension, there was not even the pretense of fairness. No real election. No open discussion. Sarutobi Hiruzen rose to power through connections, influence, and what the Uchiha saw as naked nepotism.
Having finally accepted that an Uchiha might never become Hokage, the clan shifted its support to Minato Namikaze.
And for a brief, shining period—it worked.
Relations between Konoha and the Uchiha improved. Trust began to return.
Then Minato died.
And overnight, the Uchiha were branded the sole perpetrators of the Nine-Tails Disaster.
With Sarutobi Hiruzen reclaiming the Hokage seat, the pressure on the Uchiha clan increased drastically.
Yes—Danzo played no small part in that.
The clan had once believed that a new Hokage would ease their situation. That time itself would heal old wounds.
But six years had passed.
Hiruzen still clung to the title of Acting Hokage.
And instead of relinquishing power, he was now openly preparing Sarutobi Shinnosuke as his successor.
To the declining Uchiha clan—
This was practically a death sentence.
If Shinnosuke became the next Hokage then the Uchiha clan will be suppressed for the next fifty years.
That's why there is so much voice about coup in the Uchiha clan.
---
With the death of Sarutobi Shinnosuke, there were only two parties who truly stood to gain.
The first was his longtime ally—Shimura Danzo.
The second was the Uchiha clan.
Yet Hiruzen did not believe the Uchiha were responsible.
Even if they wished to act, they simply could not.
Hiruzen didn't only Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha firmly within his camp, beyond them, many members of the so-called dove faction had aligned themselves with him—some out of genuine loyalty to the village, others out of fear, benefit, or profit. If the Uchiha had truly moved, even slightly, some trace would have surfaced.
But there were no reports.
No disturbances.
No warnings.
Moreover, the Uchiha clan was under constant surveillance. ANBU and ROOT agents monitored them day and night. Any large-scale movement, any conspiracy involving Fugaku, Shisui, or Itachi, would have been discovered almost immediately.
Finally, there was Fugaku himself.
Hiruzen trusted in Fugaku's indecision.
He believed Fugaku to be far too cautious—perhaps even cowardly—to commit to something as extreme as assassinating the Hokage's successor.
A man forever caught between rebellion and restraint did not suddenly leap into regicide.
Which left only one possibility.
Danzo.
And yet—even then—Hiruzen could not bring himself to believe it.
Danzo had tried to assassinate him countless times, all in pursuit of the Hokage's seat. That much Hiruzen could accept.
But to sink so low as to murder his best friend's son?
For the first time in years, genuine rage boiled within the Third Hokage's chest.
If you want to become Hokage, then kill me.
Why would you lay your hands on what little family I have left?
DANZO… YOU WILL REGRET THIS.
---