Chapter 130: Search and Return to the Village

Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Search and Return to the Village

After memorizing the location where Uchiha Yui had been buried, Hyuga Kagami pondered for a moment before saying, "It’s not safe here. Clean this place up and find somewhere else to recover."

This cave wasn’t far from the battlefield where Kagami and Uchiha Shinichi had fought earlier.

Once either Kumogakure or Konoha discovered that Shinichi had disappeared, they would inevitably use the battlefield as the center point and conduct a carpet search of the surrounding area. It wouldn’t take them long to find this cave, so staying here was out of the question.

Uchiha Shinichi nodded. He then turned toward the area covered in large patches of blood and cast the Great Fireball Technique.

Under the intense flames of the Fire Release ninjutsu, all the bloodstains on the ground were burned to ash. Where Shinichi had been lying moments earlier, nothing remained but a pitch-black patch of scorched earth.

Back on the battlefield.

The standoff between Team 11 and the Kumogakure shinobi was still ongoing.

However, both sides had their reservations, so neither dared to make the first move recklessly.

Team 11 wasn’t afraid of the Kumo shinobi standing across from them. As the squad captain, Kakashi was merely worried that a clash here could trigger an all-out war between Konoha and Kumogakure.

Because of that, his hands were tied.

On Kumogakure’s side, after Yugito learned that Shisui also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan—and that Hyuga Kagami seemed to have defeated Uchiha Shinichi, another Mangekyō Sharingan wielder, in a one-on-one fight—the thought of retreat had already begun to take root in her mind.

After all, they were currently within the borders of the Land of Fire. The Konoha forces led by Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin, were not far away. Once Konoha’s reinforcements arrived, the Kumo shinobi would find themselves attacked from both front and rear.

Bang...

Suddenly, a brilliant red light flashed across the distant sky, piercing through the layers of darkness.

A Kumo jōnin moved beside Yugito and whispered, "It’s Konoha’s signal flare. We should retreat!"

"Retreat!"

Yugito coldly swept her gaze across the four members of Team 11 standing opposite her. In the end, she still gave the order to withdraw.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

At Yugito’s command, the Kumo shinobi transformed into streaks of afterimages and swiftly disappeared into the deepening night.

"Whew..."

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.

Shisui, however, immediately turned to Kagami with an anxious expression and asked, "Senpai, which direction did Shinichi escape in?"

Kagami replied, "Don’t rush. Let’s rendezvous with Lord Jiraiya and the others first."

Knowing that Jiraiya and the reinforcements would soon arrive, Shisui suppressed the anxiety in his heart.

After all, with only the four members of Team 11, trying to pursue an expert in counter-tracking through a dense forest in the dead of night was no easy task.

Before long, Jiraiya arrived at the battlefield leading a large force of Konoha shinobi.

Even Jiraiya, who had seen his fair share of massive battles, couldn’t help clicking his tongue in amazement as he surveyed the devastated battlefield before him.

Kakashi hurried forward and reported the details of Team 11’s confrontation with Kumogakure. Finally, he said, "After Uchiha Shinichi fought Kagami, his current whereabouts became unknown."

Jiraiya walked over to Kagami and looked him up and down before smiling.

"Kid, we meet again!"

Kagami had already removed his ANBU mask. He gave Jiraiya a respectful salute.

"Lord Jiraiya."

Come to think of it, Jiraiya could almost be considered Kagami’s lucky star.

During that mission Kagami had gone on with Itachi, if they hadn’t unexpectedly encountered Orochimaru and Jiraiya, there was no telling how things might have ended.

Jiraiya casually said, "Tell me what happened when you fought him."

Naturally, Kagami had no intention of telling him the truth.

In Kagami’s version of events, Uchiha Shinichi had activated his Susanoo and launched a relentless assault, while Kagami himself had done nothing but evade his attacks. In the end, Shinichi had seemingly exhausted too much chakra and was forced to disengage and flee.

There were no obvious holes in this explanation.

That was because nearly all the destruction to the surrounding terrain had been caused by Uchiha Shinichi’s Susanoo.

Kagami, meanwhile, had deliberately exercised restraint with every attack he made.

Therefore, no matter who investigated the battlefield, there was simply no way to find any holes in Kagami’s story based on the traces left behind.

After understanding the situation, Jiraiya personally organized the search operation, while Kakashi once again summoned his ninja hounds.

However, Kagami’s true body was right there beside Uchiha Shinichi.

So whether it was the search operation arranged by Jiraiya or Kakashi’s ninja hounds, neither managed to uncover even the slightest clue.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

With Uchiha Shinichi’s mobility, three days was more than enough time for him to escape beyond the borders of the Land of Fire. With the search yielding nothing, Team 11 had no choice but to return to the village first.

As soon as they arrived back in Konoha, Team 11 was summoned to the Hokage’s office by the Third Hokage.

Hokage’s Office

The Third Hokage sat with his pipe between his lips, his brows tightly furrowed and his gaze stern. It seemed as though several new wrinkles had appeared across his forehead.

On the sofa nearby, Danzo wore a gloomy expression, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

The two advisor elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, were equally worried, their faces weighed down with concern.

As the captain of Team 11, Kakashi gave a detailed report of everything that had happened during their pursuit of Uchiha Shinichi, leaving out no detail.

After listening to the entire report, the Third Hokage asked,

"So, you’re saying that Uchiha Shinichi has already defected to Kumogakure?"

Kakashi could only bite the bullet and reply, "We can’t be certain yet, but there’s a strong possibility."

The Third Hokage waved his hand, signaling for Team 11 to leave.

After Team 11 had left the office, Danzo said coldly,

"There’s a Kumogakure spy inside the village!"

It wasn’t difficult to arrive at that conclusion.

After all, if there hadn’t been a Kumo spy secretly turning Uchiha Shinichi against Konoha, there was no way Kumogakure could have reacted so quickly and dispatched a force to receive him before Konoha’s pursuers caught up.

Pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, Homura Mitokado added, "This spy was able to learn about the conflict between Uchiha Shinichi and Root, and even managed to bypass the Uchiha Clan to establish contact with Shinichi. That means his position within the village can’t be low."

After a brief pause, he continued,

"There’s a good chance the spy is hiding within Root or the ANBU."

Danzo’s expression darkened.

"There is absolutely no problem with my Root!"

Koharu Utatane immediately rebuked him. "A single Uchiha Shinichi managed to break through your Root base. I heard that not only did you suffer severe personnel losses, but even your secret vault was looted. Danzo, you really ought to reflect on your failures this time!"

"You...!"

Danzo glared at Koharu before giving a cold snort.

"Hmph! I’ll conduct a thorough investigation of Root, but I firmly believe that none of my subordinates are spies from Kumogakure!"

Danzo had thoroughly humiliated himself this time.

His Root base—his very stronghold—had actually been breached single-handedly by Uchiha Shinichi. Not only had the Root shinobi under his command suffered devastating losses, but even the secret vault and laboratory had been looted by unknown individuals.

As a direct result, Danzo’s prestige had plummeted, and even his influence within the advisory council had suffered.

The Third Hokage said, "I’ll conduct an investigation within the ANBU as well."

At that moment, Danzo rose to his feet with the support of his cane and said,

"Hiruzen, you should understand the threat posed by the Uchiha now. If we continue to leave them unchecked, sooner or later, the village will be destroyed by their hands!"