Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

In less than a minute.

The clear blue sky was shrouded in layers of dark clouds, with thick, overlapping clouds completely blocking out the sunlight.

Rumble.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Immediately, a torrential downpour began, cascading down like a waterfall.

The wind howled, blowing leaves and breaking branches, and splashing mud everywhere.

The raindrops, which had formed a dense net, instantly turned into hail, pelting the ground and leaving it pitted and uneven as they flew about.

Storms, downpours, hail, thunder...

The abnormal weather followed one after another, instantly causing panic among all creatures in Exercise Field No. 0.

Driven by instinct, they began to flee blindly, their cries and howls of various animals and beasts mingling together to create an unsettling, disordered cacophony.

Or perhaps that's all there is to it; these rare and exotic beasts kept at Training Ground 0 probably won't cause much damage to Konoha Village.

But under the guidance of those with ulterior motives, a strange order emerged from the chaos.

Looking down from above, one can see that the directions in which these wild beasts fled and charged vaguely form a line.

The direction the line ends points directly towards the entrance of Exercise Field No. 0.

……

At the entrance, the ninja on duty was awakened by the unusual activity.

He frowned and went up to the observation platform to observe the situation.

However, before he could even step onto the high platform, the dense layer of dark clouds and thunder in the distance made his eyes widen.

Even the most oblivious person would know that something unexpected must have happened in Training Ground 0.

Once he realized this, he no longer needed to climb the observation deck.

They immediately prepared to relay the situation to their superior ninja.

But just as he took out the communication scroll, before the ink had even touched the paper, a figure suddenly appeared behind him.

The ninja on duty parted his lips slightly, as if about to say something.

The next moment, a sharp pain shot through my back.

Immediately, that sense of worry was completely extinguished in death.

The pharmacist glanced expressionlessly at the corpse, then looked toward the other guard rooms at the entrance to Exercise Field No. 0.

"It should be cleaned up by now."

"Leave the rest to them."

After muttering a few words, Kabuto casually ripped off his disguise mask, put on his hood, and quickly left the scene.

All that remained were corpses scattered on the ground and an empty entrance left unguarded.

……

When Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was processing political documents, received the urgent intelligence, the strange beasts from Training Ground 0 had already rushed to a position several hundred meters outside Konoha Village.

Although most of them are ordinary wild beasts and birds of prey, they are not a threat to ninjas with a certain level of skill.

But to the Konoha civilians who don't even know how to extract chakra, these wild beasts and birds of prey are savages who can easily slaughter them.

Moreover, some of them are capable of using special abilities and can become summoned beasts.

They can escalate the harm into a disaster.

The moment he saw the urgent intelligence, Hiruzen Sarutobi realized that this was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one!

Konoha has managed Training Ground 0 for so many years and there has never been a wild beast uprising.

Even if it happened, these strange and exotic beasts should not have flocked to Konoha Village.

Therefore, someone must be stirring up trouble in the dark.

—Is it Danzo, or Orochimaru, or perhaps…

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag of smoke, his aged gaze hidden in the haze.

His political instincts told him that this was most likely orchestrated by Orochimaru.

Perhaps it was out of a desire for revenge, or perhaps for other reasons.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt even heavier.

That outstanding disciple whom he once had high hopes for has now become like this.

Dangerous, cold-blooded, and incredibly cunning.

Even though he sent out the strongest squad of the Anbu, he failed to capture Orochimaru. Instead, he alerted Orochimaru and allowed him to escape.

Shaking his head to put those trivial thoughts aside, Hiruzen Sarutobi began to face the current situation squarely.

Regardless of who is behind this, Konoha is currently facing the threat of a wild beast uprising.

Although this incident itself is unlikely to cause much damage to Konoha.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi was worried that the mastermind's plans were not limited to this.

The wild animal uprising was likely a diversionary tactic, and the true intentions of the mastermind were probably elsewhere.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly recalled the scene in the village.

Ultimately, his thoughts lingered on the Uchiha clan.

—Could it be that…

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and slowly said:

"Itachi, tell Kakashi."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Itachi Uchiha appeared in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Lead all the Anbu ninja and immediately go to monitor the movements of the Uchiha clan."

"if……"

He didn't finish his sentence, but Itachi already knew the answer in his heart.

Itachi already had his own thoughts on the beast uprising, and now seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude only strengthened his resolve.

—Father, what exactly are you planning to do?

Despite his many thoughts swirling in his mind, Itachi's face remained expressionless.

He closed his eyes, nodded in agreement, and then disappeared from the Hokage's office.

After Itachi left, Hiruzen Sarutobi went to the window, seemingly gazing at the unstoppable pack of beasts.

He sent ANBU ninjas to suppress the Uchiha clan.

Therefore, the task of stopping the beast uprising can only be entrusted to the various ninja clans and Danzo, who controls Root.

As for whether Danzo was involved in planning the beast riot...

Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze was deep as he exhaled puffs of thick smoke.

……

Root Base Headquarters.

Danzo glanced at the Hokage's command in his hand with hostility.

"What is Sarutobi trying to do?"

"Why not send ANBU ninjas instead of using my Root personnel?"

Danzo was full of doubts. In the past, Hiruzen Sarutobi disliked his planting of Root members in various matters.

Now he's actively making Root ninjas do things for him; this isn't Hiruzen Sarutobi's style!

Just then, a Root ninja stepped forward and whispered to Danzo what he had observed.

Upon hearing this, Danzo frowned.

"You're saying a large number of ANBU ninjas are heading towards the Uchiha clan's territory?"

Danzo's first thought was that Hiruzen Sarutobi suspected this was a Uchiha conspiracy.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Because Danzo is now absolutely certain that Hiruzen Sarutobi has long been colluding with the Uchiha clan.

Then there's only one answer.

"That old bastard Sarutobi wants to preserve his strength!"

"They claim to be sending Root ninjas to guard Konoha, but in reality, they're using this as an opportunity to deplete Root's manpower and suppress my power!"

With this thought in mind, Danzo had even more ideas.

"Therefore, those ninja clans that act with Root might secretly sabotage or even actively kill Root ninjas."

Snapped--!

Danzo angrily pounded on the armrest of the chair.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is clearly going to attack him!

"Heh, Sarutobi."

"Do you really think I'm someone easy to bully?"

Danzo gritted his teeth and said viciously:

"Tell all root members."

"Don't interfere in the defense of Konoha!"

"Always be vigilant against the ninja clans around you. If they make any unusual moves, be prepared to retaliate!"