My name is Uchiha Touhuan, and I beat the villagers so badly they cried out in pain.

Chapter 96 December 12th, Year 56 of Konoha (Part 2)

Inside the Hokage's office, six captains of the security department stood at attention.

"Salute to the Hokage!" Uchiha Touhuan said, raising his right hand.

"Loyalty! Sincerity!" The six captains of the garrison shouted in unison and saluted.

"The ceremony is complete!" Uchiha Touhuan lowered his hand and looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Captain Touhuan, you've been quite busy tonight." The Third Hokage's gaze sharpened as he stared directly at Uchiha Touhuan. "Even when reporting this matter to me, are you using shadow clones?"

"This matter is of great importance, and I did not have time to report in advance. Please forgive me, Hokage-sama," said Uchiha Touhuan.

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku, who was next to Uchiha Touhuan, also closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan appeared.

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was originally planning to take action, stopped himself from moving.

"Another pair of Mangekyou Sharingan? You Uchiha people really know how to keep things hidden." Hiruzen Sarutobi took out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, lit it, took a deep drag, and slowly spoke.

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced out of the corner of his eye at the hiding place of the Anbu who usually guarded the Hokage's office, but he found that the Anbu who were supposed to be guarding the Hokage's office had already disappeared.

"Third Hokage, we will wait here until you sign," said Uchiha Touhuan.

……

In the office of the Hokage's assistant in Konoha Village, Jiraiya and Uchiha Touhuan faced each other across a desk.

Jiraiya took a deep breath and asked, "Why? Why do you have to do this?"

"Why?" Uchiha Touhuan asked. "Of course, it's to ensure the purity of the village's Will of Fire."

"A coup d'état, is this the Will of Fire you speak of?" Jiraiya questioned. "You will lead the village into the abyss."

"The Abyss?" Upon hearing this, Uchiha Touhuan threw his head back and laughed wildly, his unrestrained laughter echoing throughout the office.

"What are you referring to, Jiraiya-sama? Is it some ridiculous prophecy you learned from Mount Myōboku?" Uchiha Touhuan said after he had finished laughing.

"Douhuan, what you're doing will plunge the world's future into complete and unknowable chaos!" Jiraiya shouted.

"So what? Should I just sit idly by and watch the darkness of this world unfold, doing nothing, waiting for that prophetic child, who may appear at some unknown time, to bestow that mindless peace?" Uchiha Touhuan said.

Jiraiya wanted to explain, but Uchiha Touken didn't give him a chance to speak.

"The Toad Sage, the hero of Konoha, Jiraiya, what a joke!" Uchiha Touhuan said. "You've been a coward from beginning to end. You've clearly seen the darkness of this world, but you've never had the courage to face reality. You happily accepted the pie-in-the-sky promises that even a three-year-old wouldn't fall for from that old toad of Mount Myōboku. You're terrified just because that old toad couldn't keep up his lies."

"In my eyes, you are as laughable as your so-called peaceful ideal of mutual understanding between people. I didn't want to pay any attention to you. Kakashi and I are both working towards true peace, but you insist on jumping out in front of me like a clown. Isn't it better to just enjoy yourself in the dream woven by the old toad of Mount Myōboku?"

"You roam the world like a stray dog, and whenever you meet someone with a little talent, you bombard them with your ridiculous dreams. Don't you realize that you're constantly bringing misfortune to people? Anyone who believes your nonsense today will be in big trouble tomorrow! And you'll never see the tragic deaths of those you've fooled. You'll just shake your head and say they're not the person you predicted, and then go find the next unlucky one."

Jiraiya blushed and paled repeatedly at Uchiha Touhuan's words. He wanted to refute them, but at that moment, images began to unconsciously appear in his mind.

Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, and Minato—these were the people he had placed so much hope in—seemed to have truly died on the path of pursuing the ideals he spoke of, just as Uchiha Tohsen had said.

Am I really a bastard who brings misfortune? Were they... all killed because of me?

Jiraiya stared blankly at the reflection of his own face, which had become deathly pale, in Uchiha Touhuan's Mangekyou Sharingan, and thought to himself.

Uchiha Touhuan's words undoubtedly tore everything apart, presenting the bloody reality directly to Jiraiya, which immediately shattered Jiraiya's fragile psychological defenses.

"Jiraiya, have you thought it through? Will you surrender and come back to the police headquarters with me, or will you fight this battle with me here and let the innocent villagers around us be buried with your ridiculous prophecy?" After Uchiha Touhuan finished speaking, the lightning surrounding his body began to gather and quickly condensed into a viscous sea of ​​lightning.

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya looked up with difficulty at Uchiha Touhuan, his hands falling limply to his sides as if all his strength had been drained.

Although his opponent possessed Sage Mode and the Mangekyou Sharingan, Jiraiya did not believe that his combination with the two Toad Sages was completely powerless. However, if the two of them were to fight here, everything within a hundred meters would be destroyed.

Are we really going to drag these innocent villagers into this?

Jiraiya turned to look out the office window. In the evening sunset, wisps of smoke rose from the surrounding houses.

Seeing this, Uchiha Touhuan also withdrew the lightning around him and came to Jiraiya's side.

Uchiha Touhuan formed hand seals and used Sage Mode chakra to create a sealing technique, sealing Jiraiya's chakra. Throughout the entire process, Jiraiya offered no resistance whatsoever.

"Let's go, Jiraiya-sama. Don't try to break the seal yourself. You should know very well what the consequences of natural energy surging within your body are." After doing all this, Uchiha Touhuan said expressionlessly.

After Jiraiya followed Uchiha Touhuan out of the office, he looked up and realized that the Anbu ninjas who were supposed to be guarding the area were now standing with the security ninjas that Uchiha Touhuan had brought, coldly watching him.

"Inahime, Zaito, take him back to the security headquarters. Treat our Lord Jiraiya well, and try to fulfill any of his requests other than releasing him," Uchiha Touken instructed the two.

"Yes!" Uchiha Inahisa and Uchiha Zaito nodded in acceptance.

Uchiha Touhuan nodded and turned to head towards the Hokage Building.

"Hey! Touhuan!" At that moment, Jiraiya suddenly looked up and called out to Uchiha Touhuan.

Uchiha Touhuan stopped and turned to look at the other person.

"You will... bring peace to this world, won't you?" Jiraiya's expression was very complicated, and his eyes even carried a hint of pleading.

Uchiha Touhuan chuckled dismissively: "Of course, you just need to be a good audience member."

……

Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the entire process of Jiraiya's arrest without saying a word. He looked up at the people in front of him, wanting to say something, but Uchiha Touken's shadow clone suddenly exploded.

The next moment, Uchiha Touhuan's true form pushed open the door and entered, arriving in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen, and said, "Now, may I sign, Third Hokage?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at Touken Uchiha and said, "You guys are... acting first and asking questions later."

Uchiha Touhuan didn't speak, but just looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a half-smile.

"If I don't sign, are you planning to use that eye technique?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in a deep voice.

"Lord Hokage, why do you think I would use my trump card in a gamble that I'm sure to win?" Uchiha Touhuan asked with a smile.

"Do you think you've won?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said slowly.

"Then... let's wait and see," Uchiha Touhuan said with a smile.

……

Inside the ANBU headquarters, Itachi Uchiha and Shikaku Nara were dealing with a mountain of documents when a member of the Yamanaka clan suddenly burst into the office.

"Something's wrong, Captain Itachi, Assistant Shikaku! The security department has ordered martial law in the village for some unknown reason!" Masahiko Yamanaka reported in a panic.

"What?" Itachi Uchiha and Shikaku Nara stood up and looked at each other, their faces showing shock.

"What on earth happened? Why is martial law declared again? What is the security department trying to do?" Itachi Uchiha slammed his fist on the table and roared.

Has this day finally come?

Nara Shikaku sighed inwardly, but remained calm and said, "Captain Itachi, the most important thing right now is to find out what exactly happened."

"That's right." Seeing this, Uchiha Itachi calmed down and walked out of the office with Nara Shikaku. However, Uchiha Itachi immediately froze on the spot after walking out of the office.

At this time, the Anbu base should normally have at least a hundred ninjas on duty, but now, apart from a mere forty-odd people, the entire Anbu base is deserted.

"Where are the Anbu members?" Seeing this, Itachi Uchiha was furious.

"Captain Itachi, the security department issued a joint mission this afternoon, and it seems everyone else has gone to participate in the mission," a Sarutobi clan civilian staff member from the base reported.

"What mission could the Security Department possibly require so many ANBU to coordinate?" Itachi Uchiha asked incredulously. "Give me the list of those involved in the mission!"

Sarutobi Shinya quickly handed the list to Uchiha Itachi. When Uchiha Itachi saw it, he was surprised to find that all the members of the Isshinkai from the Anbu were on the list.

Moreover, the officers of the two battalions and one company that were taken away did not report to him. If he had not seen the mission report, he would not have even known that this had happened.

"Yamanoka Masahiko." Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath and turned to look at the ANBU who had come to deliver the message.

"Here!" Masahiko Yamanaka hurriedly stepped forward.

"Go to the Hokage Building and report the situation here to the Hokage." Itachi Uchiha took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

After Yamanaka Masahiko left, Nara Shikaku approached Uchiha Itachi and said, "Captain Itachi, it's highly likely that the Security Department is staging a coup."

"Don't even think about it anymore, the coup in the Security Department has already begun." At that moment, the door to the Dark Guard base was pushed open, and Yamanaka Inoichi walked in.

"I rushed here as soon as the police cordoned off the streets, and it took me a while to get here," Yamanaka Inoichi said. "However, on the way, I saw Jiraiya being escorted to the Anbu by several members of the police cordon. Since the people escorting him were all members of the Uchiha clan, I didn't make a move because my abilities were being suppressed."

"What? They've already made a move against Lord Jiraiya?" Itachi Uchiha gritted his teeth.

Soon, Masahiko Yamanaka, who had just left the house, returned to the base with another member of the Utatane clan's ANBU.

"Captain Itachi, the Hokage Building is now surrounded by the Security Forces and the Second Anbu Battalion," reported Utatane Akira.

"Damn it! Is this their joint mission? They even dared to surround the Hokage Building?" Itachi Uchiha roared.

"Captain Itachi, calm down. Things haven't gotten to the worst yet." Nara Shikaku patted Uchiha Itachi on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about the Hokage Building for now. They shouldn't dare to do anything to the Hokage. The most important thing right now is to rescue Jiraiya."

"I understand," Itachi Uchiha nodded, then looked at Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka and asked, "How many men can we still mobilize at our disposal?"

"Our three clans combined have 24 Jonin and 75 Chunin who can completely obey your command," Nara Shikaku said. This was all the strength that their three clans could put on the table, and Nara Shikaku was prepared to abandon this part of the force, including himself.

"Can we assemble now?" Itachi Uchiha asked.

"Of course, I'll contact Choza at the family headquarters right away." Yamanaka Inoichi nodded and contacted Choza Akimichi, who was staying at the family headquarters today, via radio.

Not long after, Yamanaka Inoichi hung up the radio and said, "At most 20 minutes, the troops of our three clans will be able to assemble and arrive."

"Okay, thank you." Uchiha Itachi nodded, then thought for a moment, picked up the radio beside him, and made a call to the captain of the second battalion, who was also the only Jonin in the Gekko clan of the village.

In the office of Uchiha Touhuan in the Security Department, the radio on Gekko Tetsuya, who was staring at the sand table with Kakashi, started beeping.

Gekko Tetsu took out his radio, and after connecting, Itachi Uchiha's voice, barely containing his anger, came through: "Gekko Tetsu! What are you doing?"

Upon seeing this, Gekko Tetsu quickly covered the radio receiver and looked at everyone: "It's Uchiha Itachi."

"I'll take it." At this moment, Yoshimura Ryoto, the captain of the Jonin squad, took the radio.

"Feed? Is that Captain Uchiha Itachi?"

"Who are you?" After the office fell silent, everyone present could clearly hear Itachi Uchiha's voice.

(End of this chapter)