Konoha: The Soul King from the Uchiha Clan

Chapter 310 A Death Well-Deserved by the Public (4400 words)

They said they would fight until dawn, but they ultimately failed to do so.

Redness and broken skin can be removed with medical ninjutsu, but it's not so easy to do if you don't have enough stamina.

Anko's physical strength was ultimately far inferior to that of Uchiha Gen in this world.

It can only be said that the senior brother is still the senior brother, and the junior sister is still too green to try to overthrow the Heavenly Gang.

However, Hongdou was not one to give up easily. The next morning, after regaining her strength, she launched a provocation, attempting to turn the tide of the battle.

The idea was good, but they ultimately underestimated their senior brother's strength and were still brutally suppressed!

After their morning exercise, the two took a shower together, washed up and got dressed together, and then went out.

Because they were delayed and didn't have time to make breakfast, the two bought some food on their way to work.

In the morning, Hongdou conveyed Uchiha Gen's message to Hong and Xiyan, and the two girls agreed.

At noon, when Uchiha Gen went home for lunch, he also conveyed his message to Mikoto.

Mikoto was already mentally prepared, so naturally she didn't object and even enthusiastically offered to arrange the best living conditions for the three women.

Of course, to be realistic, Mikoto has no right to object.

Gen Uchiha, naturally, wouldn't be indifferent to Mikoto's friendly and enthusiastic attitude, and said he would let Mikoto make arrangements.

Under Mikoto's arrangement, Itachi's living location changed from the backyard to the middle yard.

At Itachi's age, he should gradually start living independently.

Not only Itachi, but Sasuke will also have to start living independently when he grows up.

Now we're moving from the backyard to the middle yard, and when we get a little older we'll move from the middle yard to the front yard. After we get married, we'll move out to live elsewhere.

Sasuke is still young and hasn't changed yet; he still lives in a side room of the main house in the backyard.

The courtyard where Hong, Hongdou, and Xiyan live is centered on the main house in the backyard, with each of them located to the left, right, and rear, and the distance from each location to the main house in the backyard is basically the same.

In every place, Mikoto arranged for the same level of basic necessities as those she used, without any bias.

Three days later, Hong, Xiyan, and Hongdou all moved over together.

That evening, Uchiha Gen prepared a lavish housewarming dinner for the three women, both to welcome them home and to help them better integrate into their new lives.

The arrival of the three women was a great thing for Uchiha Gen, allowing him to enjoy the blessing of having multiple wives.

This is also a good thing for the three women. Putting aside the change in material conditions, at least they can spend time with the people they like.

This is hardly a good thing for Mikoto, Itachi, and Sasuke.

For Mikoto, the arrival of the three women would greatly reduce the amount of affection Uchiha Gen received, and would also disrupt the family atmosphere.

The same applies to Itachi and Sasuke.

The arrival of the three women will reduce the attention they receive and disrupt the family atmosphere.

However, none of the three could change Uchiha Gen's decision.

Although the sensible Mikoto and Itachi were somewhat disappointed, they showed no sign of it on their faces and instead greeted the audience with great enthusiasm.

Sasuke did throw a tantrum in private, but Mikoto and Itachi quickly calmed him down.

In conclusion, a new chapter has begun in Uchiha Gen's family life.

Uchiha Gen was a man who liked new things but didn't dislike the old. He showed a lot of care for the three new women who had moved in, but he didn't neglect Mikoto either.

Furthermore, their attitude towards Itachi and Sasuke remained unchanged, which gradually put the three of them at ease, and their mindset returned to normal.

Uchiha Gen was living a carefree life, walking with a confident stride every day, but Sarutobi Hiruzen's mood had been getting increasingly irritable lately.

……

Danzo has not returned because his leave has exceeded the permitted period.

That was bad enough, but what was frightening was that two days later, when the people at the root tried to contact him, they couldn't get in touch with him at all; he had lost contact.

This gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a bad feeling, and he worried that something had happened to his good friend.

Therefore, while having the Root unit make all the necessary contacts and search, Hiruzen Sarutobi also mobilized his own ANBU units.

The task Danzo left at Root before leaving was a completed task. What could the Root and Anbu ninjas find if they followed this line of investigation?

It took considerable effort for the Root and Anbu ninjas to finally pinpoint the daimyo's trusted ninja.

The investigation stalled there, and Kakashi, who was in charge, immediately reported it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also somewhat dumbfounded when he received the news.

Could it be that Danzo's disappearance has something to do with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire?

If that's the case, then it's going to be tricky.

However, since it concerned the comfort of his best friend, even if it might involve the daimyo, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't just ignore it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi carefully chose his words, wrote a letter, and sent it to the daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire.

After receiving the letter, the daimyo of the Land of Fire sent a reply to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Besides various greetings and polite words, the daimyo of the Land of Fire explained why he sent ninjas to see Danzo.

It turns out that the Fire Country Daimyo sent Danzo to the Daimyo's residence so that Danzo could give him some guidance on the training of his secret ninja group.

According to his subordinates, Danzo agreed, but the daimyo of the Land of Fire did not see him at the daimyo's residence.

This story was told by Uchiha Gen on purpose to influence the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Given Konoha's investigative capabilities, the involvement of the Fire Country's daimyo will be discovered sooner or later; it will be difficult to cover it up.

Instead of going to great lengths to cover it up, it's better to find a reasonably plausible excuse and openly reveal it.

If the cover-up is discovered, it will only attract more attention; if it is told directly, it will be more difficult for Konoha to handle.

Firstly, the words of a daimyo carry significant weight and are easily believed; secondly, even if Konoha suspects something, they cannot easily take action against the daimyo, and can at most conduct a side investigation.

If we investigate from the side, the results of Konoha's investigation will be the same as what the Daimyo said.

It's worth mentioning that the letter the daimyo sent to Danzo was destroyed by Danzo himself.

These sensitive letters are usually read and then burned by respectable people; they wouldn't deliberately leave them for others to find...

Clearly, Danzo was a man of integrity when it came to keeping secrets.

Actually, it doesn't matter that Danzo was improper, and it's not a big problem that the letter was discovered.

After all, with the daimyo taking the blame, it's practically impossible for Uchiha Gen to be implicated...

To implicate Uchiha Gen, three conditions must be met.

First, the Konoha leadership must realize that someone is audacious enough to use the Daimyo to set a trap.

Secondly, one must dare to use ninjutsu to investigate the daimyo's secrets based on this suspicion, without alerting the daimyo himself, the Twelve Guardian Ninja, the Fire Temple, and other armed forces.

Using ninjutsu against a daimyo would cause a major rift between the Land of Fire and Konoha if word got out, with potentially severe consequences.

Third, Konoha has the capability to detect the anomaly in the Daimyo's mind and obtain evidence that proves Uchiha Gen was behind it.

That's right, it has to be evidence that Uchiha Gen was behind it; evidence that the Uchiha were behind it alone isn't enough.

Because Uchiha Gen could shift the blame onto Obito, and this blame was very convincing.

The mysterious Obito dared to release the Nine-Tails, wreaking havoc on Konoha and harming the Fourth Hokage. Is it strange that he would kill another Hokage to assist him?

The first two conditions might be met, but Uchiha Gen was confident that Konoha could never meet the third.

Because Uchiha Gen didn't believe that anyone in Konoha was more proficient in Yin Release and Genjutsu than him!

To find even the slightest clue, one needs at least a similar level of skill. Currently, no one in Konoha is comparable to Uchiha Gen in terms of Yin Release and Genjutsu mastery...

Therefore, Uchiha Gen could be said to be sitting on the sidelines, his mindset as steady as an old dog.

Upon receiving the news, Hiruzen Sarutobi consulted with his two best friends and then dispatched Root and Anbu ninjas to search along the various routes from Konoha to the Daimyo's residence.

The three of them never thought the daimyo's words could be unbelievable, and they certainly never imagined that someone would dare to use ninjutsu to control the daimyo and set up a trap...

This was utterly outrageous and lawless in the eyes of the three of them; it was simply unimaginable.

The Konoha leadership is like this, and the Sunagakure leadership is even more so, just as they would never dare to blame the handsome father for the mistake.

If Danzo had taken the conventional route, even after so much time, it would have been possible to find some clues. But Danzo didn't take the usual route; his route was very remote.

With Danzo and his guards' skill level, traversing mountains and rivers was as easy as walking on flat ground, unlike ordinary cannon fodder genin who were limited by the terrain.

As a result, despite expending a great deal of manpower, resources, and time, the search by Anbu and Root ninjas yielded nothing.

Danzo and his three companions seemed to have vanished into thin air, disappearing without a trace...

In reality, it was no different from simply vanishing into thin air. The four bodies were all eaten by sharks, and after so much time, even their excrement had disappeared.

The search results greatly disappointed Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two, who were now basically certain that Danzo and the others were in grave danger, but they still held onto a sliver of hope that a miracle might occur.

……

Two weeks later, Danzo was absent again from a routine meeting of class leaders and ministers in Konoha.

Danzo's repeated absences had already raised concerns, because given his lust for power, he wouldn't easily skip any meeting.

After the meeting ended, before everyone had left, Uchiha Gen spoke up.

"Lord Hokage, Elder Danzo has been absent from the meeting for the third time in a row. Could it be that something has happened to Elder Danzo?"

"If anything goes wrong, Hokage-sama, you can speak frankly."

"Although I don't get along well with Elder Danzo, we are from the same village after all, and I can't let outsiders bully us."

"If something happens to him, I wouldn't mind lending a hand, after all, there's strength in numbers."

Uchiha Gen's words immediately attracted the attention of many people, and those who were unaware of the inside story looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with curiosity.

Now that things have come to this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's will to keep it a secret is no longer strong, because sooner or later he will not be able to hide it.

Since that's the case, let's try anything, even if it seems hopeless, and see if a miracle can happen with the help of the energy of those present...

Hiruzen Sarutobi, with a pipe dangling from his lips, said with a grave expression, "Elder Danzo has indeed encountered some trouble."

"According to the investigation by the Anbu and Root, Elder Danzo mysteriously disappeared on his way to the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire, and there has been no news of him since."

Upon hearing this, all five department heads, except for the head of the Dark Division, showed surprise on their faces.

Hmm... Uchiha Gen was faking it, but the others were genuinely shocked.

"You all know how important Elder Danzo is. If he falls into the hands of enemies who are eyeing Konoha, it would be too dangerous for Konoha."

"Although I believe Elder Danzo will fight to the bitter end, sometimes the profound power of ninjutsu is beyond human control."

"Therefore, Konoha's defense deployment needs to change its old habits. The Anbu, the Police Department, and the Barrier Team need to make appropriate adjustments."

"Yes," the three ministers replied in unison.

"In addition, you all have connections and resources, so I hope you will also mobilize your resources and give it a try."

"Alright, meeting adjourned."

"Lord Hokage, please wait a moment!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "Minister Gen, is there anything else?"

"Lord Hokage, I will use all available resources to investigate Elder Danzo's disappearance as thoroughly as possible."

"What I want to ask is, if Elder Danzo unfortunately dies or cannot be found, what will happen to Root?" Uchiha Gen asked with a slight smile, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.

Is this guy planning to take over the roots?

Dream on. No matter how much trouble they cause, it's not up to the police department to take over the grassroots forces...

As thoughts raced through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, he calmly retorted, "What do you mean?"

Let's see what moves you come up with first, and then I'll respond accordingly.

"What I mean is to abolish the special structure and role of the Root and truly turn the Root into a second-level dark training department."

"The roots were a product of the times, and now that those times have passed, they should have disappeared long ago."

"I believe this is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of the Uchiha clan, the Hyuga clan, and most other clans."

"The leaves that bask in the sunlight only need this dark main root in the dark part; they don't need another, even darker root."

The smile on Uchiha Gen's face disappeared, and he said solemnly.

By offering this suggestion, he is sure to gain prestige among most of the clans in Konoha.

After all, the major clans of Konoha, especially the smaller ones, have long suffered under the influence of Root!

In fact, it's not just ninja clans; almost all Konoha ninjas who know about this organization are dissatisfied with Root.

In the original story, after the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Root organization was officially disbanded amidst opposition from the people of Konoha.

The approach of simply dissolving the company was too simplistic and crude.

The Root ninjas are the mission machines among mission machines, the killing machines among killing machines.

How could such a ninja be allowed to wander freely?

Being stranded outside will only harm both yourself and others; it must be dealt with gradually and systematically…

Upon hearing Uchiha Gen's words, everyone reacted in different ways.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke was overjoyed to have replaced his wife as the head of Konoha's Anbu.

If Father agrees, then the power of the Dark Division will increase significantly.

The other ministers and class leaders' eyes lit up, and they all nodded in agreement, including Nara Shikaku, the leader of the Jonin class.

Although Nara Shikaku was extremely close to the Hokage faction, he actually harbored deep resentment towards Root.

Now that Uchiha Gen is leading the charge, and others can follow suit and express their opinions, they naturally won't back down...

Mitokado Yan and Utatane Koharu were somewhat angry.

Although Danzo's fate is uncertain, his life or death is still unknown. Is it a bit excessive to want to destroy Danzo's foundation as soon as you hear the news?

However, due to the attitude of others and the imposing presence of Uchiha Gen, the two did not explicitly express their dissatisfaction, but their expressions and eyes showed considerable displeasure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat surprised...

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan, Gen Uchiha probably wanted to take over the Root organization's power or disband it directly, thereby weakening Danzo and his power.

Unexpectedly, he was reverted to a proper second-level department, which not only did not diminish his power but actually strengthened it.

Compared to Danzo, his own son was much more obedient and wouldn't engage in double-dealing.

Seeing the astonishment on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, Gen Uchiha chuckled inwardly.

He wasn't that petty; he only needed to overwhelm with overwhelming force, and he looked down on the power of the roots.

Because once he achieves his goal, the power from his roots will at most allow him to make one more slash...

After weighing the opinions of those present and the almost predictable attitudes of the major clans of Konoha...

Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice, "If Elder Danzo is truly dead or cannot be found, then Root will become a true training department for the Anbu."

He lost a lot of points on the fundamental issues, and given the current situation, he can't let others have all the credit; he must seize the opportunity to regain some positive impressions.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's expressions froze upon hearing this, while everyone else, including Sarutobi Shinnosuke, showed obvious smiles.

I believe many people will raise a glass to celebrate tonight after the news breaks.

What does it mean to die in a way that is widely expected?

That's what it's called!

Well, I accidentally crossed the line again with the last chapter, so I had to delete some content before releasing it.

(End of this chapter)