The Hokage Building's conference room was the venue for the village eting.
Present were the heads of various clans, elite jonin from the civilian shinobi ranks, as well as the Third Hokage and his two advisors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
Seated at the head of the table, the Third Hokage swept his gaze over the attendees before speaking in a grave, slightly furious tone.
"I have unfortunate news to share with you all. Several days ago, Advisor Danzo went missing. Based on our investigation, it is highly likely that he has been killed."
At his words, the expressions of so major clan heads remained unchanged—clearly, they had already known.
Only the leaders of smaller clans and the elite jonin among the civilian shinobi reacted with shock.
"What? Advisor Danzo is missing… and possibly dead?!"
"Wasn't Advisor Danzo always stationed at the Root headquarters? How could anyone possibly kill him there?"
"How many years has it been since sothing like this happened to an advisor?"
Murmurs spread among the smaller clan leaders and civilian jonin, their faces filled with disbelief.
So clan heads who had begun distancing themselves from the Shimura clan due to the Wood Release bloodline limit users quietly sighed in relief.
With Shimura Danzo gone, the Shimura clan would no longer be as powerful as before.
Their decision to distance themselves now seed like the right move.
"Hokage-sama, has the investigation uncovered who—or which faction—was responsible for Advisor Danzo's death?" asked Nara Shikaku, the Nara clan head with his signature spiky hair.
As the leader of a major clan, he had already known about Shimura Danzo's disappearance but was unaware of the latest developnts in the investigation.
"No. The last known location of Advisor Danzo was in the Land of Rice Fields. As for who or what killed him, we have yet to determine that."
The Third Hokage glanced at Uchiha Fugaku, who had remained silent since the eting began.
Naturally, he suspected the Uchiha clan was behind Shimura Danzo's disappearance, but without concrete evidence, he couldn't hold them accountable.
However, he hadn't been idle.
Over the past few days, a rumor had spread throughout Konoha—that six Uchiha clansn had died, and Uchiha Fugaku had led a team to the Land of Rice Fields to avenge them.
The spread of this rumor had been his doing, and its purpose was…
"Advisor Danzo went missing in the Land of Rice Fields a few days ago… Huh? Wasn't Clan Head Fugaku also in the Land of Rice Fields around that ti?"
"Advisor Danzo disappeared there, and Clan Head Fugaku was there too… Could it be…?"
"Given the relationship between the Uchiha and Shimura clans, perhaps Advisor Danzo's disappearance was…"
Many suspicious glances turned toward Uchiha Fugaku.
Though no one voiced their thoughts aloud, the implication was clear—they suspected Uchiha Fugaku of being responsible for Shimura Danzo's disappearance, especially since both had been in the Land of Rice Fields at the sa ti.
This was precisely why the Third Hokage had spread the news of Uchiha Fugaku's trip—to cast suspicion on him.
"Uchiha Fugaku! Speak! Did you kill Advisor Danzo?!"
A furious voice erupted in the room.
The red-eyed Shimura clan leader, Shimura Naoya, glared furiously at Uchiha Fugaku.
Knowing that Shimura Danzo had plans to deal with Uchiha Fugaku, he was almost certain that Danzo had been killed by Fugaku.
"Clan Leader Shimura, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want," Uchiha Fugaku spoke for the first ti since the eting began.
His voice was calm, yet laced with warning.
He had long anticipated that the Third Hokage's faction would target him during this village eting.
So Shimura Naoya's accusations ca as no surprise.
"Then how do you explain Advisor Danzo's disappearance in the Land of Rice, while you just happened to be there as well?" Shimura Naoya demanded angrily.
"I went to the Land of Rice because six of my clansn were killed by bandits there—sothing everyone present already knows," Fugaku replied, his gaze briefly flickering toward the Third Hokage.
He could easily guess that the news of his trip to the Land of Rice had been deliberately spread through the village—undoubtedly the Third Hokage's doing.
And the purpose? Naturally, to set the stage for this very confrontation.
The tactic had worked, as many now suspected him of being involved in Danzo's disappearance.
Though, admittedly, that was indeed the truth.
"You still haven't explained why you and Advisor Danzo were in the Land of Rice at the sa ti!" Shimura Naoya pressed furiously.
"I've already explained why I was there," Fugaku said mockingly.
"As for why Advisor Danzo was in the Land of Rice—how should I know?"
"If you want answers, you'll have to ask the missing Advisor Danzo himself."
Shimura Naoya's face flushed red, montarily speechless.
The others in the room also wore strange expressions.
Indeed, the only one who could explain Danzo's presence in the Land of Rice was Danzo himself—who was now missing.
The logic was flawless.
Yet, they couldn't shake the feeling that sothing was off.
How exactly were they supposed to ask a man who might already be dead?
After a long pause, Shimura Naoya finally spat out,
"You—you're just twisting words!"
Fugaku gave him a cold glance, not even bothering to respond.
Such a weak retort wasn't worth acknowledging.
"Hokage-sama, do we know why Advisor Danzo went to the Land of Rice?" Nara Shikaku frowned slightly as he addressed the Third Hokage.
Advisor Danzo had always spent most of his ti within the heavily guarded Root headquarters.
Why would he suddenly leave Konoha and travel to a minor country like the Land of Rice, which didn't even have a proper shinobi village?
The whole situation reeked of sothing suspicious.
His instincts told him that uncovering Danzo's reason for going there would reveal the truth behind his death.
"The reason for Advisor Danzo's trip to the Land of Rice… has not yet been determined," the Third Hokage replied, his eyes twitching almost imperceptibly as he shook his head.
Of course, he knew why Danzo had gone—but that reason could never be spoken aloud.
Doing so would undoubtedly cause an uproar.
"Hokage-sama, regarding the investigation into Advisor Danzo's disappearance, I believe we should focus on determining his purpose for traveling to the Land of Rice," Shikaku said after a mont of silence.
He could sense that the Third Hokage was hiding sothing.
Faced with the Third Hokage's concealnt of information, with the current intelligence at hand, he could only offer this rather conventional suggestion.
Of course, considering the hostile relationship between the Uchiha clan and the Shimura clan, he already had so suspicions about Shimura Danzo's motives for traveling to the Land of Rice. However, these suspicions were absolutely not sothing he could voice aloud.
"Very well. I'll have the Anbu investigate from that angle."
The Third Hokage nodded sowhat listlessly.
The purpose of convening this eting today was naturally to pressure Uchiha Fugaku, and preparations had even been made days in advance.
However, this attempt had already been dood to fail the mont Shimura Naoya was left speechless by Uchiha Fugaku's rebuttal.
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