After mulling over it from different aspects, Sarutobi Hiruzen suspected that Abe Seimei might be the head of Kumo. After all, it could be estimated that only Kumo had such a powerful lightning-style secret technique. “It’ll be a bit troublesome. I reckon ordinary diplomacy is of no use toward those reckless idiots. Unless the war is waged…”
“Shinnosuke, Asuma… If the next war starts, I’ll avenge you two.”
A hint of guilt flashed through Hiruzen’s eyes. Both his sons died not long ago but he had almost forgotten about them. He opened his drawer ready to take a look at their photos and cherish them once more. But as soon as he did that, he found a photo lying in the middle. It was Uchiha Tonan’s graduation photo. On that day, he had become a genin.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and picked up the photo. He looked at it for a while. In the photo, Tonan had his usual calm smile. Hiruzen couldn’t help smiling looking at it, recalling the discussion he had with Tonan about the village.
“This child… He’s truly reassuring.”
Hiruzen placed the photo on the desk and continued to rummage through the drawer to find Shinnosuke and Asuma’s photos. But he couldn’t find them even after nearly turning his drawer upside down. It was only then that he recalled he was afraid the photos would remind him of his dead sons back then, so he took them back to his home.
He couldn’t help the guilt filling up his heart and also felt sorry for his sons. Since he couldn’t see them, he decided to focus on the enemy. Hiruzen took out Seimei’s information. Two photos came into his view. One was black and white and the other was color. The two people looked the same but Hiruzen recalled what Tonan had said earlier. So, he focused on their eyes.
Sure enough, Hiruzen felt he noticed something, and his eyes gradually narrowed. The eyes were indeed different. On careful observation, he discovered that the proportion of the pupils and the white of the eyes in the two photos were different.
“This is very strange. He’s indeed a spy in disguise.” Hiruzen took a deep breath, but the more he looked at it, the angrier he became. He threw the photos back into the drawer and shut it. He then picked up Tonan’s photo and looked at it to soothe his mood.
After looking for a while, Hiruzen was about to put Tonan’s photo away. But he stopped when his right hand was just about to completely close the drawer. Since the drawer was not closed tightly, it left a gap, through which only the eyes of Seimei’s color photo could be seen. Bereft of the other facial details, Hiruzen suddenly felt that the eyes were familiar.
The Hokage Office seemed to have fallen into a dead silence. Even a dropping pin could be heard. Hiruzen stared at the photo’s eyes. After a long time, he picked up the photo on the desk with his trembling hand and put it in the front for comparison.
Hiruzen was drenched with cold sweat, and he subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He found it difficult to breathe. In the next moment, he suddenly pulled open the drawer and took out the color photo. He then held Tonan’s graduation photo in one hand and Seimei’s color photo in the other and walked to the window.
Facing the dazzling sunlight, he held the two photos high and slowly overlapped them. Like this, the two seemingly unrelated people overlapped each other. Tonan had a gentle smile in the photo and Seimei, on the other hand, had a strangely fierce expression. But their eyes aligned perfectly.
At this moment, Tonan and Danzo’s words appeared in his mind one after the other.
“Eyes are the windows to people’s souls. Different people have different eyes.”
“According to the investigation, the lightning style ninjutsu used by Abe Seimei is very similar to White Fang’s secret technique.”
White Fang died in Tonan’s hands. Allegedly, he taught Tonan swordsmanship while he was alive. Perhaps, he also taught him the lightning-style secret technique. A thought appeared in Hiruzen’s mind but he immediately shook his head, trying to get the ridiculous doubt out of his mind.
“No… Tonan is not such a person… He has no reason to kill Shinnosuke and Asuma. Not only did he have no reason, but he also had no strength to do that.”
Suddenly, Hiruzen recalled the report he heard on the day Orochimaru died. On that day, Tonan had been fighting Orochimaru for a long time. And later, he used super compound ninjutsu to burn Orochimaru to ashes, leaving nothing behind.
Could it be that he had been hiding his strength? But how can one explain the Transformation Technique? Ordinary Transformation Techniques are easy to see through.
At this moment, Hiruzen’s entire body was soaked in sweat, and his legs were trembling. He turned around and placed his hands on the desk to support himself. He then recalled Tonan’s growth trajectory.
Suddenly, he raised his head and shouted, “Guards!”
An Anbu member opened the door and knelt on one knee, “Hokage-sama.”
He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, “Go and bring me all the information on Sanbo Motoyoshi. No! I’ll check it myself.”
After speaking, Hiruzen straightened up. Using the Body Flicker Technique, he went straight to the intelligence room. After searching for a long time there, he finally retrieved Motoyoshi’s information.
There was much recorded on the deceased man and Hiruzen read all of it meticulously, afraid that he might miss something. Finally, he stared at a record of intelligence, and muttered while trembling, “Re… construction Technique…”
Pop… The intelligence document fell to the ground. And Hiruzen staggered back two steps. In his mind, he recalled the time when Abe Seimei appeared and disappeared, and compared it to Tonan’s time in Fire Capital.
Some things seemed unrelated, but when you find a connection line, you would find too many coincidences which couldn’t stand critical examination on their own. Hiruzen’s legs lost power. He fell to the ground and placed his hands on the ground to support himself.
“Ah!” He roared like an old lion. His voice was hoarse and filled with grief. In addition, his face was filled with madness.
“Hokage-sama!” An Anbu member, who was guarding the intelligence room, pushed open the door and entered. Hiruzen with a red face and bloodshot eyes yelled fiercely, “Get out! Leave me alone and go away!”
The Anbu member was so frightened that he quickly left the intelligence room and closed the door. But he could still hear the sounds of pounding and Hiruzen’s intermittent growls from inside the intelligence room.
“Why is it you… why is it you!”
