Chapter 75: A Sunny Day's Nightmare
Silence.
The entire office fell into a suffocating silence.
Clink!
The sound of porcelain shattering echoed—Koharu's teacup slipped from her trembling hands. As one of Konoha's senior advisors, even she couldn't hold her composure. That alone said everything about the situation.
But at this moment, no one even paid attention to Koharu anymore.
Every person in the Hokage's office—the ANBU, the Sarutobi clan shinobi, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mito Menyan, and Koharu—was in utter shock, pale and stunned.
"Damn it..."
Bang!!!
It was unclear how long the silence lasted before Hiruzen collapsed into his chair, eyes wide in disbelief, his soul seemingly having fled his body.
In all his life, the Third Hokage had never faced a shock like this.
The massacre of the Sarutobi clan wasn't just a tragedy. It was a direct, brutal statement—The Sarutobi clan is finished.
And with Shimura Danzo also dead, he had just lost one of his most powerful allies.
"Aaaaaah!"
Koharu finally snapped, letting out a terrified scream as she stumbled backward into her seat.
"This... this can't be happening!"
Mito Menyan staggered, his face twisted with horror. He clutched his head with both hands, trembling violently as the reality hit him.
Yes.
That box.
It had contained Danzo's severed head.
Bloodied and disfigured as it was, none of them could mistake it. After working together for decades, they could recognize their old comrade even from a decayed face.
The wide eyes, frozen in rage and disbelief, were clear.
Danzo was truly dead.
"Why... why is this happening...?"
Hiruzen's gaze remained fixed on the severed head, his voice low and hoarse. His body was covered in cold sweat.
And then it hit him.
The Uchiha clan had vanished. The entire Sarutobi clan had been slain. Danzo... murdered.
It was as if a chilling fog had settled over his soul.
"How could Danzo have died? Don't tell me... did the Uchiha have some kind of secret backup plan?"
Koharu and Menyan forced deep breaths, trying to stabilize their nerves. But the more they thought, the more their fear grew.
They had believed tonight would be one of celebration—a night marking the end of the Uchiha.
They were so excited, they hadn't even slept.
But instead of a triumph, they were greeted with a nightmare.
The Uchiha were gone.
The Sarutobi were slaughtered.
Danzo was dead.
They thought Uchiha Yuta was the clown.
Now, it seemed they were the ones dancing in the palm of someone else's hand.
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Menyan exchanged looks. Deep in their eyes was a shared dread.
A realization.
They had been played.
"Everyone leave."
Hiruzen's voice was low but heavy with force.
The ANBU and the remaining shinobi from the Sarutobi clan didn't dare hesitate. As if being granted amnesty, they scrambled out of the office.
They weren't fools.
They could feel it in the air—Konoha was facing a storm, and staying in that office any longer might cost them their lives.
"Damn it! We've been set up...!"
"Who is behind this!?"
"All the Sarutobi clan shinobi are dead—this isn't a message. This is a slap in the face!"
Once they were alone, Hiruzen, Koharu, and Menyan could no longer hold back their fury.
In all their years as Konoha's ruling elite, when had they ever suffered such humiliation?
Slaughtering the Sarutobi clan?
Was this a test of their bottom line?
"Now what?"
"The plan to wipe out the Uchiha must have failed."
"We need to find the real mastermind..."
The three shared grim expressions, their eyes filled with murderous intent. Never before had Konoha's high command faced such a dark, incomprehensible blow.
The worst part?
They had no idea who was behind it.
They could only stew in rage and helplessness.
"Could it really be the Uchiha?"
Koharu muttered at last, voice shaky. "That accursed clan... they must've retaliated. After killing Danzo and his Root shinobi, they wiped out the Sarutobi as well and escaped."
"Impossible," Hiruzen snapped, his tone cold and firm. "We all know the true strength of the Uchiha clan. That's why we passed the extermination plan to begin with!"
"If they really had such strength, do you think they'd have endured this long?" Mito Menyan growled. "All these years we've been suppressing them, and they never dared resist!"
Koharu went quiet.
They all did.
The office fell into an uneasy stillness.
For some reason, all three of them felt an ominous chill creeping in, as if some invisible net had already been cast over Konoha.
Bang!!
Suddenly, the door burst open.
A flustered ANBU stormed in, panic etched across his face.
"Hokage-sama! Uchiha Fugaku, the patriarch of the Uchiha clan, and the elite jonin—Uchiha Yuta—have arrived!"
"What!?"
"Uchiha Fugaku... He dares show his face!?"
"They actually came on their own! Ha... excellent!"
Just like that, the atmosphere shifted.
Their expressions brightened, twisted with fury and anticipation.
So they dared walk into the lion's den?
There's a saying: Heaven has a path, but you refuse to walk it; hell has no gate, yet you choose to enter it.
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