Chapter 204: Insurance

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Insurance

The fact that a jōnin of his clan had been unable to withstand even a single move from the enemy had truly terrified Sasuke.

As he watched the mysterious figure approach him step by step, his expression gradually became dazed beneath the overwhelming fear.

For a moment, it almost seemed as though the mysterious man wasn’t merely wearing a mask depicting a hungry ghost.

Rather, he himself seemed to be a hungry ghost that had crawled straight out of the underworld!

Hyuga Kagami didn’t stop.

In just a few steps, he arrived directly in front of Sasuke.

Still sitting on the ground, Sasuke scrambled backward in panic. "W-What do you want?!"

Gripping Sasuke’s little face, Kagami examined his pitch-black eyes and said coldly, "You haven’t even awakened a one-tomoe Sharingan? Looks like you’re nothing but a useless piece of trash!"

Sasuke’s face immediately flushed bright red.

He struggled desperately to break free from Kagami’s grip, but to Kagami, his resistance was no different from being tickled.

Shisui also turned his gaze toward Sasuke, his face beneath the mask filled with concern.

Although he knew Kagami wouldn’t actually hurt Sasuke, he was still somewhat worried that the young Sasuke wouldn’t be able to handle what was happening before him.

After all, the Uchiha of Sasuke’s generation had never truly experienced cruelty or death!

At that moment, Kagami yanked Sasuke to his feet and lifted him into the air. Then, in a calm yet contemptuous voice, he said,

"A worthless piece of trash like you isn’t even qualified to die by my hand!"

With that, Hyuga Kagami punched Sasuke in the stomach and tossed him aside.

"Ugh..."

After taking the punch, Sasuke dropped to his knees and began dry-heaving.

Naturally, Kagami hadn’t used much strength in that punch. But even so, what amounted to a light punch from him was more than enough to make the young Sasuke suffer a little.

The main reason Kagami had done this was to maintain the image of Kamigami’s members as bounty ninjas.

Otherwise, inexplicably sparing an Uchiha clansman would inevitably arouse the suspicions of the Uchiha Clan, and perhaps even Konoha’s higher-ups.

After all, silencing witnesses to ensure that no one had seen an operation was practically a required lesson for every ninja.

Besides that, Kagami also wanted to put a little pressure on Sasuke ahead of time.

To Kagami, Naruto and Sasuke were his final insurance policy.

Kagami had complete confidence in himself, but that didn’t mean he would become blindly arrogant and believe himself above everything.

For someone as naturally cautious as him, preparing an insurance policy was only necessary.

If he ever screwed things up beyond his ability to recover, Naruto and Sasuke would be able to fulfill their role. At the very least, they could prevent the situation from deteriorating beyond salvation.

After all, their enemies weren’t limited to those within the shinobi world.

There were also those predatory members of the ōtsutsuki Clan from outer space, any one of whom could descend upon this world at any moment.

Suddenly, numerous chakra signatures appeared within the field of vision of Kagami’s Tenseigan.

Realizing that a large group of ninja was rushing toward them, Kagami immediately flickered over to the unconscious Uchiha Hideki.

Lifting Hideki up, he whispered to Shisui,

"Proceed according to plan!"

Shisui glanced worriedly at Sasuke, who was lying on the ground in pain, then nodded.

......

Within the Uchiha Clan compound.

Itachi, who had just finished a mission, was making his way toward the training ground where he had promised to meet Sasuke.

Thinking that his little brother was probably sitting there bored out of his mind waiting for him, Itachi smiled faintly.

If there was anything in this world that could make Itachi feel truly happy and warm, it was probably Sasuke’s love for and dependence on him.

It was a feeling he couldn’t get enough of.

Boom...

Suddenly, a signal flare shot into the sky from the direction of the distant training ground.

Itachi immediately looked up, and his pupils contracted sharply.

He recognized the signal flare.

It was the distress signal issued specifically to members of the Uchiha Police Force!

"Sasuke!"

The image of his young little brother flashed through Itachi’s mind immediately.

Without even taking the time to think, Itachi flickered away, using the Body Flicker Technique as he rushed toward the location of the signal flare.

And Itachi wasn’t the only one.

At that moment, numerous Uchiha clansmen who had spotted the signal flare were also rushing toward its location. Before long, they converged into a large stream of people heading in the same direction.

Not only that, many Konoha ninja who happened to be nearby also began heading toward the signal flare, their minds filled with confusion.

In everyone’s understanding, signal flares were generally used on battlefields or out in the wilderness. Firing one inside the village was extremely rare, with only a handful of incidents such as the Nine-Tails’ attack being exceptions.

Before long, a large number of ninja arrived at the place where Uchiha Hideki had been attacked.

But what greeted their eyes was neither the aftermath of a fierce battle nor any suspicious figures.

There was only a child kneeling on the ground, dry-heaving uncontrollably.

A Konoha ninja who wasn’t an Uchiha stepped forward and asked, "Kid, were you the one who fired that signal flare just now?"

Since there were no signs of a battle anywhere nearby, he subconsciously assumed that the child before him had accidentally triggered the flare and fired it by mistake.

At that moment, Itachi also arrived.

His gaze quickly swept over Sasuke’s body. After confirming that Sasuke had no obvious external injuries, he walked toward him while vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid a succession of rushing sounds, more and more ninja arrived at the scene.

Everyone’s attention fell upon Sasuke in the middle of the training ground.

Itachi crouched beside him and gently asked, "Sasuke, what happened here just now?"

"Big Brother!"

The moment he saw Itachi, Sasuke threw himself into his arms.

The tears he had been desperately holding back finally burst forth uncontrollably.

Itachi gently comforted him. "It’s okay, it’s okay. Tell me what happened here. What was that signal flare just now?"

After finally calming down enough to speak, Sasuke said through tears and a runny nose, "There were two strange people here. They attacked Uncle Hideki! They... they were really strong! They beat Uncle Hideki in an instant, and... and they punched me really hard too!"

"What!?"

The surrounding Uchiha clansmen immediately turned pale with shock.

At first, just like the Konoha ninja who had arrived before them, the Uchiha clansmen had assumed that the young Sasuke had accidentally triggered the signal flare, so none of them had paid much attention to it.

Only now, upon hearing that Uchiha Hideki had been attacked, did they realize the seriousness of the situation.

Itachi didn’t appear particularly surprised—or perhaps he simply concealed his surprise extremely well.

In a steady voice, he asked, "Sasuke, did you get a clear look at the people who attacked Uncle Hideki?"

Kagami and Shisui’s appearances as members of Kamigami had left an extremely deep impression on Sasuke, so he immediately replied, "They were both wearing black cloaks, and they had strange masks on their faces!"

"Black cloaks? Masks?"

Itachi’s expression darkened.

He already had a faint idea of who they might be.

He then asked softly, "Do you remember the patterns on their masks?"

Sasuke nodded. "One had a scary demonic pattern, and the other had a flame pattern! The one who defeated Uncle Hideki was the one wearing the flame-patterned mask!"

At that moment, a voice came from atop a nearby tree.

"It’s Kamigami!"

Everyone turned toward the voice and saw the figure standing on the tree.

It was none other than the head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku, his expression dark and grim...