Chapter 195: Wrapping Things Up

Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Wrapping Things Up

As he surveyed the bone spears before him, each one towering straight into the clouds, the Third Hokage’s expression shifted uneasily.

The same was true of Uchiha Clan Head Fugaku.

In their eyes—or rather, in the eyes of most shinobi from the established hidden villages—bounty hunters were nothing more than a rabble who operated in the shadows, scrambling after money like flies. They were hardly worth taking seriously.

But the brutal battles that had unfolded one after another tonight had completely overturned Konoha’s perception of bounty hunters!

"To think there were so many powerful shinobi hiding among the bounty hunters..."

The Third’s expression was exceedingly grim. Beneath the cold moonlight, his face looked especially dark and troubled.

The situation with the Uchiha Clan inside the village was already giving the Third no shortage of headaches. They had finally managed to sign a peace treaty with Kumogakure, only for this troublesome mess to erupt immediately afterward.

It was enough to leave him mentally and physically exhausted.

In truth, the Third had not gone all out tonight.

Even the Hokage Guard Platoon at his side had noticed that much.

The reason the Third had chosen such a conservative approach to the battle was because he feared what would happen if something happened to him. Without him around, the Uchiha Clan would have far fewer reservations, and the village could very well descend into civil war.

Meanwhile, external enemies such as Kumogakure and Iwagakure would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to strike.

With enemies both within and without, Konoha could truly find itself facing utter ruin.

But looking at things now, the Third felt that he had indeed been far too conservative in the earlier battle.

As a result, he had failed to capture even a single enemy.

Losing some prestige was a minor matter. What truly mattered was that he had missed an opportunity to obtain intelligence on the organizations behind these bounty hunters.

At this moment, Fugaku’s thoughts were entirely focused on Kamigami’s Homura.

To the Uchiha Clan, a Mangekyo Sharingan wielder harboring such sinister intentions was an enormous threat that simply could not be ignored.

If the previous Nine-Tails’ attack had truly been orchestrated by this Homura, then it undoubtedly meant that Homura did not merely want to destroy the Uchiha Clan—

He wanted to destroy all of Konoha!

"Unforgivable!"

Fugaku silently made up his mind.

No matter what, he would uncover Homura’s true identity.

Unlike the deeply troubled Fugaku, the Uchiha elites were all consumed with embarrassment.

Not long ago, they had been aggressive and overbearing, carrying themselves with supreme arrogance. Now, every last one of them was in a miserable state. Not only were they all injured, but despite having vastly outnumbered their opponents, they had still come away empty-handed.

Under the gazes of the ANBU across from them, the naturally prideful Uchiha wished they could simply disappear into the ground.

Nevertheless, they all remembered Clan Head Fugaku’s warning and said nothing about the fact that Kamigami’s Homura was an Uchiha—and, moreover, possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

It wasn’t because the Uchiha Clan was plotting anything.

They simply had no desire to air their clan’s dirty laundry in public.

Moreover, this matter concerned the Mangekyo Sharingan.

In Fugaku’s plans, the ill-intentioned Homura had to die.

But Homura’s pair of Mangekyo Sharingan had to be recovered by the Uchiha Clan.

Allowing Kakashi to keep even a single Sharingan was already the greatest concession the Uchiha Clan had ever made to the Hokage.

And even that was only because Uchiha Obito had willingly given his Sharingan to Kakashi.

Had Kakashi obtained that Sharingan through any other means, the Uchiha Clan would never have let the matter rest.

...

Meanwhile, on Hyuga Kagami’s side.

After shaking off Sasori and Kakuzu, Kagami didn’t fly very far before dispelling the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

After fighting several fierce battles in succession, even with the Dragon Vein’s chakra supporting him, Kagami was beginning to reach his limit. He no longer had the strength to keep the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals active.

Shisui asked worriedly, "Senpai, how are we going to wrap this whole thing up now?"

Kagami smiled. "What are you worried about?"

"Lord Hiashi knows that Gloya’s corpse was in our hands." Shisui frowned before continuing, "And then, out of nowhere, the corpse was suddenly stolen by two bounty hunters. That flaw is way too obvious. I’m worried Lord Hiashi will see through our disguises!"

Kagami shook his head.

"You don’t need to worry about Lord Hiashi. No matter what happens, he won’t complicate matters any further."

After all, this entire incident had begun because Gloya had deliberately tried to frame the Hyuga Clan.

Now that they had finally managed to throw the blame for Gloya’s death onto someone else, there was no way Hyuga Hiashi, as the head of the Hyuga Clan, would be foolish enough to snatch that blame back and place it on his own head.

Shisui asked anxiously, "Will Lord Hiashi keep Kamigami’s existence a secret for us?"

Kagami patted Shisui on the shoulder and laughed.

"You’re overthinking it. Lord Hiashi will never guess that the two of us are Kamigami’s Kawa and Homura. I was using Ice Release. That fact alone is enough to completely clear me of suspicion!"

Shisui instinctively asked,

"Then what about me?"

Kagami glanced at Shisui, then shook his head with a soft sigh.

Shisui was simply too straightforward by nature. On top of that, he had hardly ever done this sort of underhanded work before.

Unlike Kagami, who was already quite experienced in such matters, Shisui couldn’t help becoming flustered under the weight of his guilty conscience.

"Keep your composure!" After a brief pause, Kagami continued, "Don’t worry. The two of us have been together the entire time. If I’m cleared of suspicion, then naturally, you’ll be cleared as well."

"Phew..."

Hearing this, Shisui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Kagami thought for a moment, then turned to Shisui and asked, "By the way, when you fought your clan head earlier, did you expose your Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Shisui hurriedly replied, "I didn’t use any of my Mangekyo Sharingan’s dojutsu. And with the mask you gave me—the one engraved with sealing formulas that block detection—the Clan Head probably didn’t get a clear look at the pattern of my Mangekyo Sharingan."

As he continued speaking, however, Shisui’s voice gradually became less certain.

"But the Clan Head used a dojutsu from his own Mangekyo Sharingan, and I managed to break it. He should have been able to sense that my ocular power was also at the level of the Mangekyo Sharingan."

After hearing Shisui’s explanation, Kagami asked another question.

"If we’re judging purely by ocular power, then if Homura were to ambush you, is there a chance you could fall victim to his genjutsu?"

Shisui froze for a moment before immediately understanding what Kagami was getting at.

"You mean... we fabricate the appearance that we were ambushed by Kamigami’s Kawa and Homura, and use that to clear ourselves of suspicion?"

Kagami nodded.

As far as he was concerned, all they had to do was create the impression that he and Shisui had encountered Kamigami’s Kawa and Homura.

With that, they could easily wash away any suspicion surrounding the two of them.

After thinking it over for a moment, Shisui said, "Although there are differences in ocular power even among Mangekyo Sharingan wielders, if I were caught off guard by an ambush, it wouldn’t be strange for Homura to subdue me."

"That makes things easy!"

With Shisui’s answer, Kagami barely needed to give it any further thought before an entire plan for staging their supposed ambush rapidly took shape in his mind...