Uchiha Tonan returned to the town, had breakfast in a hotel, and went back to the inn to catch up on sleep. The next few days, the town was calm. Tonan stayed in the inn, continuously using white pigeons to monitor if anyone was coming from the border.
As each day passed, he felt something was amiss. With Hatake Sakumo’s strength, he should have already returned by now. Could it be that Sakumo and the others arrived at the towns where the two Root ninjas were stationed?
Since there was no one there, no one released the signal flare to notify the rest of the team members?
This was possible. However, Tonan had no intention to go over and investigate.
If by chance he did run into them, how would he explain? Should he say he had some sort of telepathy and guessed the jonin stationed in that town had disappeared?
In the middle of the night on the tenth day, a red light streaked across the sky, flying over to the town. Tonan got up and rushed to the window to look over. He saw a red light arriving in the sky above the town and exploding like fireworks.
“Looks like this signal flare had tracing properties,” Tonan muttered to himself.
Soon afterward, he jumped out of the window and ran toward the direction the red light had flown over. Kamiya Kazuki and Yoshida Taro had intentionally arranged for Tonan to be in the farthest border town to seize the Sharingan.
This place was the outermost from where the signal flare was released. Tonan ran for nearly five hours before he arrived at the location. The sky had already turned bright. This place was also a garrison town.
He saw Hatake Kakashi standing at the town’s intersection. Seeing Tonan, he waved his hand. Tonan ran over and pretended to be panting as he asked, “What about the mission?”
“Failed.” Kakashi shrugged indifferently.
Tonan frowned and asked, “What’s going on? With White Fang-sama involved, how can it fail?”
Kakashi looked behind him, then lowered his voice. “That guy was poisoned by Suna, and to save him, my father exchanged the hostage for the antidote.”
Tonan suddenly realized, “So, that’s what happened… That’s the correct choice. After all, that person is the Root captain, and for Konoha, he’s more important than the hostage. In any case, even if the hostage was handed over, Suna would also escort the hostage safely to the employer. Konoha just lost the rewards. It’s not a major problem.”
“That guy has a conscience. He said he’d make up for this mission’s monetary reward after returning to the village.”
After speaking, Kakashi pointed to a tea shop in the town behind him and said, “Minato-sensei has already arrived, you can join them. I’ve to wait for the other two guys.”
Tonan smiled faintly and said, “You’ve been waiting all this while. How about I wait here instead? Your father failed the mission, you should go console him.”
Tonan didn’t want to meet the Root captain, lest he might give himself away when talking about the other two. Kakashi rolled his dead-fish eyes and said, “There’s no need to console. It’s just an S-ranked mission.”
Tonan reached out, pushed Kakashi, and said, “Just go. In any case, it’s the same whether you wait or I wait.”
Since Kakashi failed to persuade Tonan, he could only nod. “Fine.”
Time passed by slowly. It was already noon but there was no sign of the other two team members.
Sakumo, Aburame Ryoma, Namikaze Minato, and Kakashi had all come to the town’s intersection. Sakumo said solemnly, “They’re still not here. Perhaps, they ran into enemies. Let’s divide into two teams and look for them.”
However, Ryoma rejected this suggestion without hesitation. “No need, since they haven’t arrived yet and haven’t called for help with signal flares, they are dead.”
“Shouldn’t we go check in case they’re still alive?” Minato scratched his head and asked. Ryoma replied, “It was clearly explained that in this mission, whether it’s coming late, or not releasing the signal flare in case of danger, both are very serious crimes. Even if they’re alive, they’ll be executed when they return. This is the Root’s rule.”
Sakumo sighed and nodded, “We’ll not delay in that case. Let’s return to the village.”
……
In the Hokage Residence, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the four people in front of him. He appeared irritated as he smoked.
“White Fang, you did the right thing. Ryoma, after all, is your companion and also the Root captain. Whether it’s for you or the village, saving him is more important than an S-ranked mission. Go back and rest for some time. This mission was hard on you.”
After everyone left, Hiruzen couldn’t help sighing, looking at the big monetary reward on the mission sheet. If he had known earlier, he would have sent White Fang alone for this mission.
Meanwhile, at the Root headquarter, Shimura Danzo looked at Ryoma, who was kneeling on one knee, with a gloomy face. “Do you know how much effort I wasted to get this opportunity? And what are the results? The hostage was handed over to Suna because of you. We didn’t get that brat’s Sharingan. And both Kazuki and Taro are missing.”
Ryoma lowered his head and impassively replied, “Danzo-sama, this mission’s failure was indeed my fault. As for Kazuki and Taro, I suspect they exposed flaws midway and made Minato suspicious.”
A hint of chill flashed through Danzo’s eyes, “You mean, Minato killed those two?”
Ryoma wasn’t completely certain of this, and he stated another possibility. “It could be the Uchiha kid as well.”
Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded. “This possibility can’t be ruled out. As long as an adult Uchiha awakens the three tomoe, he would have an elite jonin’s strength. Although this brat’s still young, he’s already in the golden stage of development.”
“Last time, he was able to kill Ryosuke relying on traps, but this time he might truly be able to defeat two jonin by himself. It’s just that the possibility is too small. After all, before Kazuki and Taro set off, I warned them to pay close attention to his genjutsu.”
After speaking, Danzo looked at Ryoma who looked like a robot, and discarded his plan to punish him. He sighed, “Withdraw for now. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Yes.”
After Ryoma left, Danzo leaned on the seat and muttered to himself, “Orochimaru’s experiment has stopped completely now. I’ve to find a way to get Sharingan. But none of the Uchihas with the three tomoe Sharingan leave the village… That abominable evil clan…”
Everyone who returned to the village thought they would go back to their former calm lives. However, one piece of news from the Land of Waterfall pushed the entire Konoha into turmoil.
On that day, Hiruzen furiously rushed to the Root headquarter. Danzo stood opposite him and asked indifferently, “Hiruzen, how come you found the time to come to my place?”
Hiruzen threw a scroll at Danzo’s feet and said with a solemn look, “Look at this information yourself. You need to give the village an explanation.”
Danzo frowned and opened the scroll. Immediately afterward, his pupils shrank.
“How can this be!”
