The two senior advisors of the village were assassinated at the sa ti, causing alarm across all the clans.
Lights flickered on in every direction. Villagers who had been sleeping got out of bed, trying to figure out what had happened.
ANBU and guards with torches patrolled the streets, searching for the assassin.
The corpses of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were imdiately transported to the Intelligence Analysis Division to extract residual mory data.
"Who killed them?"
The Third Hokage, who had already been resting, rushed to the division, anxiously waiting for results.
He was furious—but also deeply unsettled.
Although Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were not on par with him in strength, both were elite jōnin.
Yet both had been assassinated silently, with no signs of struggle. That alone indicated the enemy's terrifying power.
Soone capable of killing two elite jōnin unnoticed might even succeed in killing a Kage-level target.
Judging by the nature of the attacks, the assassin clearly intended to target those two specifically—and he himself might be next.
The thought sent a chill down his spine.
"Could it have been Uchiha Fugaku?"
He couldn't help but suspect Fugaku, especially after their confrontation during the day.
With the strength Fugaku had shown, he was certainly capable of pulling off these assassinations.
Creak—
The door to the analysis room opened, and several ninja walked out.
Leading them was a tall blond man with long hair—Yamanaka Inoichi, head of the Yamanaka clan and captain of the Intelligence Division.
"Captain Inoichi, do you know who killed them?"
The Third Hokage stepped forward urgently.
"It was a Wood Release Kekkei Genkai user. Both Advisor Koharu and Advisor Homura were killed by a Wood Release user."
Inoichi spoke with a complex expression.
The heads of the victims had been intact, so using the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques, he was able to peer into their final mories.
He had seen the image of a man in a spiral-patterned mask, wearing a black cloak with red clouds—exactly the figure associated with the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai ninja.
As intelligence captain, he recognized the identity at once.
But what disturbed him more was the fact that, through the mory, he had learned that Advisor Koharu had been planning to initiate a war in order to eliminate Uchiha Fugaku.
Having fought in the Third Great Ninja War, Inoichi knew better than anyone how brutal war could be.
He was deeply disappointed by Koharu's intentions.
"A Wood Release user?"
The Third Hokage's pupils shrank.
The Wood Release ninja—who hadn't attacked Konoha for so ti—had struck again, and this ti the victims were Koharu and Homura?
But sothing didn't feel right.
From past behavior, the Wood Release user had only targeted the Shimura family. Why now go after Koharu and Homura?
Wouldn't Fugaku make more sense as a suspect?
He voiced his doubt.
"Could soone have been disguising themselves?"
"It's unlikely."
Suppressing his emotions, Inoichi shook his head.
"The assassin used both Space-Ti Ninjutsu and Wood Release. Only the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai ninja is known to possess both."
Even Wood Release alone could potentially be faked. There were individuals in the ANBU with partial Wood Release traits.
But soone using both Wood Release and Space-Ti Ninjutsu?
Only one person fit that bill.
"So it's not a disguise…"
The Third Hokage's expression darkened.
His guess was wrong. The one behind this wasn't Uchiha Fugaku—it really was the Wood Release user.
But why? Why would that person target Koharu and Homura?
Their known enemy was the Shimura clan—so why attack these two now?
"Captain Inoichi, what do you think? Why would the Wood Release user go after Koharu and Homura?"
"Hokage-sama, the Wood Release ninja never explicitly stated his targets were limited to the Shimura family. That was our own assumption."
Inoichi paused for a mont before continuing.
"Now, that assumption appears to be incorrect. His targets are clearly broader—perhaps anyone affiliated with a certain faction in the village."
He gave the Third Hokage a subtle glance.
Koharu, Homura, and Shimura Danzō had all been from the sa political line—the Hokage's faction.
By extension, the real target might be the Third Hokage's entire faction.
"So... others in Konoha as well…"
The Third Hokage lowered his eyes in thought.
He understood Inoichi's implication.
The Wood Release ninja was targeting his people—his faction.
"But why target us?"
He couldn't rember doing anything specific to offend the Wood Release user—nothing that would rit this level of hatred.
"Hokage-sama, the Wood Release user is suspected of being associated with Orochimaru. Could this be related to him?"
Inoichi offered a theory.
"Orochimaru…"
The Third Hokage's face shifted slightly.
If this was about Orochimaru, then it all made sense.
Orochimaru had likely harbored deep resentnt after being exiled, and the Wood Release ninja might be one of his creations—made by transplanting Hashirama's cells.
If that was the case, the attacks were clearly ordered by Orochimaru as revenge.
So the enemy wasn't just so rogue ninja—it was Orochimaru's revenge.
"Fugaku poses a threat from within… and Orochimaru from outside…"
His face fell, brows deeply furrowed.
He had unknowingly been backed into a corner.
Internally, the Uchiha clan was rising fast.
Externally, Orochimaru had launched assaults using terrifying creations like the Wood Release ninja.
And worst of all—his longti allies were gone.
Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura—all dead.
He now had no trusted aides.
Tsunade and Jiraiya might have been assets—but with the strained relationships he had with them, they were unlikely to offer their support.
At so point, without realizing it, he had beco utterly isolated.
(End of this chapter)
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