"Hiss!"
Fugaku Uchiha sucked in a sharp breath, a shiver of fear crawling up his spine.
If Heiyan hadn't reacted quickly and pulled him away just in time, he would have been at least severely wounded—death wouldn't have been unlikely.
In other words, Heiyan had already saved his life twice tonight.
Thinking about it, Fugaku's gaze toward Heiyan gradually shifted from shame to gratitude.
"Did someone set off a delayed jutsu before dying to destroy their own body?" Fugaku muttered, staring at the scorched ground.
Heiyan didn't answer.
He was certain that someone had activated a jutsu remotely, incinerating Kurokawa's body—and from an impossibly vast distance...
Meanwhile.
Inside a highly secret underground facility dozens of kilometers southeast of Konoha.
An old man with snow-white hair sat on a huge stone throne, breathing laboriously. Clearly, he was near death.
Moreover, the old man was blind—the pupil of his right eye had turned completely white, having lost all sight.
Beside the armrests of the stone throne rested only two imposing objects: a blazing war fan taller than a person and a massive scythe resembling a god of death's weapon. They were silent testaments to the elder's former glory.
This man was the legendary ninja—Madara Uchiha.
Back then, Madara had seemingly died during his battle against Hashirama Senju in the Valley of the End. But in truth, he had sacrificed his right eye to activate Izanagi on himself moments before death.
Later, successfully revived, he used a Shadow Clone as his own corpse to deceive the Second Hokage, pulling off a masterstroke—faking his death and vanishing into obscurity.
Afterward, by implanting the flesh he had bitten from Hashirama's body, Madara combined the power of both the Uchiha and the Senju clans. For decades, he remained hidden in darkness, patiently awaiting the activation of his Rinnegan.
However, even Madara hadn't expected his wait to last this long.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly frowning, Madara muttered to himself, "Kurokawa is dead... Could he have been discovered by Konoha ninja?"
These past few decades hadn't been idle for Madara—there were many plans he had set in motion behind the scenes.
One of them involved manipulating part of the Mist Village's forces.
Kurokawa, a rogue ninja from the Mist, was one of Madara's subordinates, secretly embedded within Konoha to gather intelligence for him.
But just now, Madara sensed it—Kurokawa's flame of life had extinguished.
Instantly, Madara's left eye turned blood-red, forming three black tomoe swirling in a circle like guardians around its core.
[Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!]
Without hesitation, he activated his dojutsu, summoning hellfire from afar to reduce Kurokawa's body to ashes.
"Kurokawa is dead. Discover who killed him."
Madara said slowly, his voice weakened from chakra exhaustion, making him appear even more frail.
"Yes."
A voice answered from the shadowy corner of the room.
That was a very strange person wearing an enormous triangular straw hat that completely obscured his face, revealing only two small beady eyes. At first glance, he looked exactly like a walking rice dumpling.
The figure with the straw hat cast a meaningful glance at Uchiha Madara, then silently melted into the wall, heading underground.
Underground, within a forest.
Not long after Kurokawa's death, a few shadowy figures dashed to the battlefield.
It was the police force arriving on the scene.
"Captain Fugaku, what happened? Are you alright?"
When the Uchiha ninja arrived and took in the chaotic scene, they were momentarily stunned.
They noticed blood oozing from the corner of Fugaku Uchiha's mouth and his pale complexion, immediately rushing forward to check on him anxiously.
At just fourteen, Fugaku had already become the captain of the Third Squad in the police force. Given his tremendous potential, it was only a matter of time before he eventually commanded the entire police force or even became the clan leader.
Therefore, these men feared that Fugaku might have sustained injuries, which would bring upon them punishment for failing to provide timely rescue.
Heiyan watched the Uchiha ninja closely, a plan forming in his mind.
Although Kurokawa had died, there must still be someone behind him pulling strings. That hidden hand possessed terrifying strength, capable of launching ninjutsu from afar to burn away Kurokawa's body.
They couldn't afford to be targeted by such a person.
At this moment, the Uchiha clan could play its role perfectly.
After all, the Uchiha clan already attracted much attention and had made many enemies—what difference would one more make?
Thinking thus, Heiyan glanced at Fugaku, then spoke to the others:
"I'm entrusting Uchiha Fugaku to you now."
He briefly explained the situation to the officers present, claiming both of them together defeated Kurokawa.
Technically speaking, Heiyan hadn't lied. However, he deliberately omitted certain combat details, subtly twisting facts through carefully chosen language...
Upon hearing this, Fugaku felt even more ashamed. In his eyes, Heiyan had said that to protect his dignity and help him save face in front of the others.
As he was about to speak, Heiyan turned around and left swiftly.
He left without a word, concealing both his deeds and fame.
And left them holding the blame.
Then the few Uchiha men gathered around Fugaku, showering him with exaggerated praises once again.
"Kurokawa was an S-rank rogue ninja wanted by both Kirigakure and Uzugakure! Captain Fugaku actually managed to kill such a fearsome enemy—truly the greatest prodigy our Uchiha clan has ever seen!"
"And that rich kid Heiyan, who's been stuck as a Genin for years, dares to claim he participated in this battle! I wonder what he actually did—probably just stood aside cheering the whole time."
They naturally assumed Fugaku had dominated the fight entirely.
But for Fugaku, those flatteries ringing in his ears felt piercingly painful—like daggers piercing his heart over and over again.
Finally, he broke down completely.
Thud!
In front of their stunned gazes, Uchiha Fugaku knelt silently onto the ground without saying a word, arching his back and lowering his proud head.
No matter how they called to him, he stood there like a man without a soul, lost in thought for a long time.
Unseen by them, from the nearby woods, a shadow rose silently from the earth, like a ghost surfacing from the depths.
He had overheard everything those people said in praise of Fugaku.
"So it seems that guy Kurokawa was killed by Uchiha Fugaku,"
the straw-hatted stranger murmured, a teasing smile curling his lips. "Heiyan would have instantly recognized this—Uchiha Madara will definitely find this Uchiha genius interesting..."
Black Zetsu!
Black Zetsu, the third son of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the primordial ancestor of the ninja world, and the secret architect behind centuries of chaos all designed to resurrect his mother.
Long ago, he had incited Indra, the ancestor of the Uchiha, to battle Asura—the ancestor of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans.
Later, he altered the inscription on the stone tablet left by the Sage of Six Paths, repeatedly manipulating the reincarnations of Indra and Asura to uncover the secrets of the Rinnegan—but all attempts failed.
Until Uchiha Madara appeared.
The invincible Uchiha Madara would never have imagined that from the moment he met Black Zetsu, his fate had already been destined for tragedy.
Back then, after Madara lost his younger brother Izuna, Black Zetsu first appeared to him in the form of a mysterious straw-hatted figure, constantly planting thoughts in his mind and pushing him forward—ultimately guiding him down the path of betraying his clan and challenging Hashirama Senju.
Madara had spent years believing he was in control—but sadly, his whole life had long been in Black Zetsu's grip.
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